Severn G

9.4

1992 | Red Blend
Smith Woodhouse & CA.; Late Bottled Vintage
Oporto, Portugal
(93-95; Drink 2017-32+)

In a perfect spot for a well cared/stored for LBV; bought on release with more of its friends just coming out from hiding finally. — a year ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.3

Very peculiar spectrum of aromas. Freshly cutted pineapple and pear. White peach and grapefruit. Very nice and long finish.
A bit flex on the mid palate but lingering pleasant finish — a year ago

Michelle M

9.4

Blackberry bramble, baked black cherry and plum, hints of maraschino, mint and menthol, bell pepper and geranium, cedar, tobacco, and bakers vanilla with whiffs of aged leather jacket on the nose. Blackberry, cherry, juicy raspberry, vanilla extract and weak black tea on the palate with a medium heavy body but a medium short finish. Overall a great wine for pumpkin pie brunch on Christmas morning (no it’s not too early). Merry Christmas! — 5 years ago

Muralee Murugesu

9.3

Crispy, clean straight forward beauty with sweet and citrus in the palate. — 7 years ago

Mike

9.3

#ENOUGHSAID — 8 years ago

Scott Rowe

9.2

Tooo smashable but at the same time easy to savour the endless red fruit spectrum. — 8 years ago

Robert A. Manchester IV

9.1

Stands out with its finish. Fruit forward nose that tails into lingering notes. — 9 years ago

Richard Steinberg

9.5

This rocked. Great black and blue fruit. Great finish. Mike Smith is a master. — 10 years ago

with Mike

John Kemper

9.9

A dense glass-staining purple, the '06 Charles Smith Syrah 'Royal City' is a monumental wine. Big, pungent aromas of game, truffles, black olives and dried fruits exploded from the glass. Complex, but still seamlessly balanced. The tastes stayed on the palate for a seemingly infinite length of time. Simply wonderful! — 12 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

One doesn’t normally associate top flight Cabernet with the Hunter Valley but Lakes Folly , founded by ex surgeon Dr Max Lake (now past) turned that notion on its head and has been making top flight Cabernets for decades. This wine has strong mint aromas with some spice. Red fruited. Would stump a lot of tasters in a blind tasting as to its origins. If anyone can do Cabernets in the Hunter Valley it would be Lakes Folly. — a year ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Lemon yellow in colour. Stone fruit (peach) and melon notes; medium to full bodied palate - low acid. A delicious Hunter Valley Chardonnay showing its warmer climate origins from the excellent 2014 vintage. A creamy leesy peachy luscious Chardonnay still producing the requisite acid cut. A pity there is not more of this made with a wider distribution. — a year ago

Brian Nickerson

9.2

Mike Smith should be knighted. — 4 years ago

PM

9.2

I think it’s delicious. Smooth, full bodied, with some character. — 6 years ago

Liz Bird

9.2

Really light refreshing delish! — 7 years ago

Randall Brater

9.2

Toasty and fabulously tasty. Apricot, pineapple, and lychee. — 8 years ago

Kyle Wallis

9.5

No oak. What the fuck?! Waxy, oaky (if possible), almost nutty. Sublime. — 8 years ago

Clarke Gasper

9.5

In a word, delicious! Silky smooth tannins with notes of cherry, acai, milk chocolate, dried cranberry, baking spices, and eucalyptus. Paired with lamb but the wine definitely holds its own #auction — 9 years ago

with Matthew

Emily Richey

9.0

Loved this. Not too rich, and yet still distinctly "chard." — 11 years ago

Louis Schofield

Sommelier/Wine Merchant East End Cellars

9.4

Acid, acid, acid. — 12 years ago

Andrew Shaheen

9.0

Overachiever — a year ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

After reading the story of this producer, I inspired to try it. Especially, at $59.99 for a quality Napa Cabernet. These two brother’s are true pioneers of the Napa Valley. They do their own thing. Don’t follow trends and are not aggressive with their bottle price, nor do they really wish to. More rare than common in today’s Napa Cabernet market. I have a lot of respect for that and Napa Pioneers.

This also drinks pretty well for a young Napa Cabernet. I was expecting bigger/bolder based on write up. Not that this won’t benefit from cellaring.

The fruits are nicely ripe; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, cherries & blueberry hues. I was expecting more teeth. Think it is showing the finesse & balance of most 21’s I’ve had. Dark spice, grilled meats, light black pepper, barrel dust, dry tobacco, leather, savory herbaceousnes, moist clays, dry crushed rocks, cola, flower bouquet of red, blue & purple fresh flowers, rainfall acidity with a well balanced, softly structured, elegant finish that lasts just over a minute and lands crushed rocks and touch of spice.

It will be interesting to see if this shows more in 5 years.

Photos of; Smith Madrone vineyards and brothers Stuart and Charles Smith — a year ago

Matthew Cohen

9.3

Nose: slightly jammy blackberry fruit.

Palate: reasonably clean blackberry fruit. Some nice internal aromatics. Mineral. Some oak that should integrate.

Long and juicy finish. — 3 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.0

#semillon tart. Interesting #australia #huntervalley — 6 years ago

Maya Kaczorowski

9.0

Very nice rose, very flavorful — 7 years ago

Ben Edwards

9.2

A replacement for the Pairing as a Marry Edwards regular bottle. Definitely sharper and less pronounced stone fruit, but nicely balanced and went well with all dinner courses. Bottles went too fast to see how they opened, so questionable still as a stand-alone (probably great); high marks for elevating the usual crisp white wine dishes. — 8 years ago

North South Wines

10

Full bodied and spicy. Great with grilled ribs — 8 years ago

Brett Pinkin

9.5

Always a winner :) — 10 years ago

Matthew Beckman

9.2

Clean aromatic nose, perfect white to start the night with.....owner says these can age for decades. — 11 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

This has reached a lovely phase for drinking . Very long and balanced , fig, licorice , spice and dried red fruits. Just a joy now. — 11 years ago

Natsuko Nishimura

9.6

カベルネソーヴィニヨン嫌いなアタシでもスッと飲める！かなり好みかも。 — 12 years ago