Mark Flesher

9.4

Thanksgiving wine 2019. Red cherry licorice and a hint of cola. At first this wine was a bit acidic but needed about 30 minutes to work itself out. Graphite hits in the middle. Medium + bodied wine. Got a little brambly towards the finish bit definitely not in a bad way. Going to hold nicely for the next 10 years. Beautifully done. — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.3

Nice, aged Cabernet. Debated opening this one. This started more on the plum and raisin side and a little muted. 15 minutes later? Fig and mushroom with basil and oregano, but not a whole lot of fruit. 30 minutes after that? Dirty black cherry, plums, seemed to find itself after a 31 year sleep. Rather substantial weight in the middle. Finishes with a gritty note. Tannins are definitely dropping here and this one is showing all it has. Good time to drink now! — 7 years ago

with Dan, Shay and 1 other

Mark Flesher

9.4

Really still not able to be rated right now but would be solid at 94 (previous rating given here). This wine is so young that it was finally starting to show its character after being open for an hour and a half....but overall, still locked up. Nose on this wine is hawthorne, rose petal, and red fruits. The wine is medium bodied, red fruit dense, medium acidity to the middle, and finishes with anise and red clay notes among a floral and youthful red berry backbone. The proper thing to do with this wine is cellar it for another 5 years. Considering that I've now consumed 9 of 12 bottles purchased, that's not going so well. Will go another 10 years with ease. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Wonderful Merlot. Nose of wild berries and bittersweet chocolate. The entry of this wine is dark. Brambly and blackberry and baking chocolate. The middle has a chocolate covered almond character to it. Hint of herb. Finished with toasted oak and nice acidity. I am 100% sure I will not have the willpower to hold on to my other bottle of this. I can also appreciate the 95 this one scored as well. Nice, nice Columbia Valley Merlot! Rolland and merlot are an excellent combo! — 8 years ago

Keith Whitener WSET Diploma, CSW

9.3

Deep purple🎼hush, hush🎼ruby rim m+ acid m++tannin black fruits and cherries. Could've cellared for several years but no, not this time. Impatience is my middle name-or should be! — 9 years ago

Andrew S

9.1

Nice tropical tones. A solid down the middle Napa Chardonnay. — 9 years ago

with John

Jonathan Wall

9.0

Carmelized toast. Great with middle eastern lamb tagine. And it elevated my olives. — 9 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

A lot of floral lift at the front. Wonderful drive and freshness through the middle. Definition, lemon curd, some saline. This is great and really long. Wow. — 7 years ago

with Bex

Mark Flesher

9.4

Ready to rock and roll. Blackberry and red clay on the nose. Entry of black cherry and cola with acidic character. Middle is dark, smoky, leather, more blackberry and hint of cocoa. Still finishes with a young semi sweet baking chocolate and Rutherford dust! Black pepper finish is unmistakable with a ton of black fruit, and plenty of life left. Dang. — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Another Christmas wine from yesterday. I know this wine gets a bad rap, and its reputation has been a bit of a roller coaster. We were even a bit underwhelmed when we visited a few years back. All that to say, this was a welcomed surprise. It needed an hour+ in the decanter to blossom.

Superb aromatics of baked blackberries, saddle leather, bay leaf, violets and clay. A persistent battle between fruit and secondary notes. The palate was big without being overbearing. Silky. Just glides down the middle of the palate with dusty red and black fruit, vanilla pipe tobacco, pencil lead, and dark roasted plum.

Can be a tough price to pay based on other wines at similar quality and cheaper prices in Napa Valley, but this really is a gorgeous wine that is still years away from its peak. — 7 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Sweet, bright. Light fruit. Good acidity and great zesty middle. Yummy. — 8 years ago

with Larry

Bethany S

9.1

My go to cab. — 9 years ago

Cheryl

9.5

Great all around wine well balanced sipping wine — 9 years ago

James Forsyth

9.0

My sister will be serving this at her wedding in September so she and I and our third sibling road tested it over dinner at Brixton's painfully cool and appropriately named popup concept, Pop. After a couple of minutes in the glass the wine softened to become a highly attractive wine with red fruit and floral notes. This wine will be a hit at the wedding! — 9 years ago

with Sangeetha, Antonia and 3 others

Mark Flesher

9.2

This is a big wine. Although it does not have the luscious fruit characteristic of the 2015, it has arguably more brambly young acidic raspberry fruit in the front and middle. As close to full bodied as it gets. A little bit of mint in the middle. Finishes with some oak and baking spice. This is a bit closed off IMO and still think these will benefit from time in the bottle. Really nice but still think I'm in love with the 15 vs the 16 or 17. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Opened tonight. And, I feel like a broken record saying that here is ANOTHER great 2011 considering the "damned vintage" that this one received press for being. I have 43 more 2011 Napa wines and I have a feeling that I'm going to be writing the same thing another 43 times. Not powerful, but these wines truly show the complexity that Napa cab CAN be. Nose of iodine, black licorice. Very front of this wine is sweeter black cherry giving way to an herbal infused middle (getting more dried basil with a hint of oregano and cumin). The red clay terroir is unmistakably present here through the middle and finish, which is usually more present for Ponente only at the very finish. The wine finishes with black cherry and black licorice dominated notes. I have a feeling that this wine is still on the way up. Has a few more years until it is at the top of the hill, but drinking OH SO WELL right now. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Gooseberry, bramble, violets, hint of sage. This is a full-bodied Merlot. However, the middle picks up a cola note but doesn't really go to a chocolate like the 2010 and 2012 had more of a tendency to do. This one really did not have a ton of acidity nor did it really have a ton of tannin to resolve. There was definitely enough tartrate in the bottle though! I really look for this one to continue aging quite nicely for another 10 to 15 years. But oh man, this one is drinking pretty darn nice right now. — 8 years ago

Ron R

9.7

The man, the myth, the legend (Mike Smith, with his wife) decided to throw us a bone and grace our dinner. How cool is that?
This wine is so complete. A meal on its own. Black as the night in the glass. Nose displays maple syrup and a hint of balsam. Huge mouthfeel, with a teeth-staining extraction. So plush and sweet. Still very primary, more bottle age will take this to an even better place. Anne-Marie (my wife) in the middle. From magnum. — 8 years ago

with Mike, Anne-marie and 7 others

Patrick Derdeyn

9.1

These are just starting to loosen up. Whether its the mountain fruit, the vintage, TRBs direction or all 3 with this wine they've taken a number of years to show much. Good with a 2 hr decant and improving for several more years. — 9 years ago

Andrew S

9.9

An expanse of fruit, down the middle of Cabernet profile. A kiss of dust and leather on the nose to remind you it was harvested 26 years ago. Amazing fruit, cocoa, acid, balance. The finish is nearly two minutes. Just try not to smile. Happy Mother's Day! — 9 years ago