Justin Wilson

9.5

Birthday Dinner @Bern's Steakhouse

Tannic Son of a Beast! I'm too impatient to wait for these most recent GREAT Cali vintages to mature. If that makes me immature I don't wanna grow up...Will love to taste this in 10 years — 6 years ago

Henrik Poulsen

9.2

14.3% alc.

This is a tight and tannic beast at age 5.
I could be wrong but I detect a hint of Brett which I think can be complimentary (in small doses).
However with such a structured varietal as PS which normally reward extended cellaring, I think this wine may not be a candidate for another 30+ years in the cellar?

Please prove me wrong if I'm still around by 2047....
— 7 years ago

Tan Ernest

9.2

Still a beast at the moment, but after some air, hints of its elegance appears. I'll put this away at the bottle and revisit again many years later. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

Jerome Prevost Champagne is hard to find in Australia but his Rose is a rare beast indeed. None available this year for example. The year of harvest is found in the fine print beginning "LC". Colour is Salmon pink with a tinge of Bronze. Has the finest bead I have ever seen. Notes of strawberries, pepper and minerals. A fine wine in every sense of the word - an exercise in perfectly executed restraint. 100% Pinot Meunière. Most importantly my wife loved it on her Birthday !! — 7 years ago

Brad Pejcic

9.0

Peachy vanilla lemon curd, with a kind of slightly bitter grapefruit finish. Showing hints of it's glory days but is sadly fading. — 8 years ago

D Dean Williams

9.2

Our good friend joe Carr is with us. Wonderfully ripe yet supple and silky in the mouth. Touches of cinnamon in the nose. Great wine!! — 8 years ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.2

Several hours of decanter time is needed to appreciate this beast.
Still very compact and concentrated, black pepper, brambly fruit, dried sausages, blood, kirsch, some farmyardy funk. Strong alcoholic component. Lots of potential here.
100% Mourvedre. — 9 years ago

Michael Housewright

Writer/Photographer Wine Enthusiast Magazine

9.2

Here I am again with a pop goes the bramble weasel moment. Even at a listed 15.5 alcohol (certainly a lie) this beast had some elegance and subtlety. I think it's a testament to terroir. Even over ripe as this is (to me) it has the depth, and more importantly, width of flavors to hold up to the glycerin floating on top, like grease from my father-in-law's chili cook-off, red ribbon special. On the third day it seems that the wine rested a bit, and it sang a good hymn with my bacony crepinette. — 9 years ago

with Juliet

Dean Lapthorne

9.2

2012 shows well; she's a beast and will improve come 4-5 years of bottle ageing — 9 years ago

Megan Jasper

9.5

I love this one. It reminds me of the wine version of Licorice Allsorts. I can taste licorice, cherries and all kinds of deliciousness. Plus, hello BEASTMODE! — 9 years ago

John B

9.4

SQN is full of surprises. This Syrah is all about the blackberry cobbler, iodine and pencil shavings. Piercing focus, not the syrupy meat drippings and black olive tapenade of other bottlings. Tannins are fully resolved. Always such a pleasure to open one of Manfred’s treasures. Just ask @Roman Sukley. Goes great with roast beast.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! — 6 years ago

B Williams

8.9

Lots of fruit in this cab. — 7 years ago

Jean-Francois Pelletier

9.9

A beast of a wine. Dense, complex with dark and red fruit soil and spice. Incredible finish. Best wine I ever had. (Drank on 06/27) — 7 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

Last drink before the work week starts.

A cocktail of whisky, umeshu, chamomile, and honey could probably come close to this. Interesting Chenin. Stank a little out of the bottle (kinda yeasty cheesy aroma) but as it warmed up, everything kinda lifted - aroma, texture, body. Didn't have the weight or concentration of the Chidaine from two days ago. Different beast really, like a rich meat broth vs creamy mushroom soup. — 7 years ago

James Parker Huston, CWE

Sommelier Charlie Palmer

9.7

Wow. Tons of fruit left on this beast. Called 89 Leoville Les Cases blind. — 7 years ago

David Kline

9.3

Waiting on this big blackberry briar beast to emerge from its dank herbaceous cave, Rosemary, morel, and blackberry nose, kafir lime, grape leaf and explosive tar and black currant dynamite stuffed between black teeth of smoke and granite. Look for an update! — 8 years ago

with Josh, Brenton and 2 others

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.3

Wow. Lots of fruit still on this vintage. Very impressive. I would drink soon if you still have it. — 8 years ago

Martin Redmond

8.9

Pretty salmon color with strawberry, raspberry, stone fruit, and a hint of floral aromas. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, and fresh with juicy strawberry, raspberry, stone fruit, and a hint of savory spice with a mineral element and a lingering finish. 14.1% alcohol. Barrel fermented in 80% stainless and 20% neutral French oak. Retail $28 — 9 years ago

Devin Bray

9.0

Intense, creamy chocolate, licorice and cherries in the nose with a big alcoholic tang wafting off of it. Chocolate covered cherry and a bit of raisin on the palate, with a fair bit of alcohol burn and a big whack of Woody tannins. Mocha. Chocolate. More chocolate. Clearly not ready yet, but I wanted to get a concept of what the Mollydookers were like before I thought about cellaring more of it. One thing's for sure, it's dramatically different from French Syrah, and from the similarly styled Failla Syrah I had a few days ago. People say these wines are huge and overextracted, and so they are. It's lush and sweet, but with some sharp edges that reflect its youth and may round out with age. Not sure I'm sold on this beast. — 9 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.3

2007 vintage in magnum. Medium garnet. Quite pronounced nose. Red fruits on opening - sour cherry and plums. Graphite smells from the oak, hints of savoury cardamom spices. Definite farmyard, meaty development. There's a menthol, medicinal note. On the palate, the wine has high acidity, medium plus body, medium tannins are silky and fine grained. Alcohol is medium and totally integrated. Gorgeous fresh red plum, tobacco and savoury meats. Sweet fruit finish which is persistent. This is still a relative youngster and though there's a lot going on, the complexity is yet to fully develop. Needs five more years plus. Nonetheless, the wine is extremely fine and elegant. Not a big beast but clearly has a lot of power. Lovely. — 9 years ago

Gerardo Suro

9.1

Pure and focused concentration of black cherry fruit with a mineral undertone adding depth of flavor and style. Oak presence is very well integrated after some bottle age. Keeps evolving on the glass with notes of menthol and tobacco. This beast of a wine shows enough restraint to keep you interested and seduced. — 6 years ago

Flavio Menezes

9.2

Monster of a wine, still very young, lots of acidity and tannins to shed. Feral beast, but a great one! — 7 years ago

Barry Evans

10

The best description that I can find of this wine is that it is massively glorious. Born and raised in and around the Napa Valley I have been able to enjoy a lot of great Cabs. But this one is literally now in my all-time top 10. The more air you give this fine 11 year old beast, the better. We are pairing it with the bay area's Best version of Chicago deep dish pizza. — 7 years ago

with Kristin

Cecile B

9.5

Delicious tasting notes of licorice — 7 years ago

Jon Tam

9.5

Hints of pine mixed with black licorice and chocolate. The perfect combination of sweet and robust flavor with a kick. This is a strong, hearty number - get ready to take on the beast. — 7 years ago

with Randy

Austin Beeman

9.5

So dark! Deep black raspberry aromas ring out. Dark velvety sexy smoothness on palate.

Quality and style of a six figure Napa Cult Beast. Word class old vine Petit Verdot. Worthy of the Monte Bello name! — 8 years ago

Ryan Ramos

9.2

First time I've ever tasted a Roussanne. It has some smooth, buttery characteristics, a slight nuttiness, and a mellow sweetness that really rounds out this drink, making it an almost caramely drink. Recommend chilling it for 15 to 20 minutes if you don't want it to taste too rich. I'm a big fan of both grape wine and mead and this was a lovely sort of in between that I greatly enjoyed with my friends. — 9 years ago

BT

9.2

This will be a beast in a couple of years. Solid! — 9 years ago

Bryan Maxson

9.6

Simply a beast. When young it was blackberry sage tea with a dollop of sweet cream. Now it's bold tea, crushed herbs, fruit towards the backside. — 9 years ago

Matt Krueger

9.3

Brooding and wanting more time. This beast has a while to go. Drank out of magnum. — 9 years ago