Paul K

9.1

Glad I picked up a bunch of these from Costco a few years ago. Great value! Looking forward to enjoying for the next few years. Don’t think this is a long term lay down but over next five years a great mid week bottle. — a year ago

Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 2 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

78% Cab Sauv, 12% Merlot, 7% Cab Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec, deep Ruby, concentrated youthful aromas, ripe black fruit, subtle nutty spice & creamy chocolate. Aged 24 months, 85% new & 15% 1-yr American oak. Palate fresh fruit flavors, sweet plum, blackcherry & dried blackberry, bits of oak & cacao peeking through. Tannins present, but a tad persistent. Long & elegant finish with vanilla & slight mineral tang. Drinks well now continue to develop over the next 15+ years! Outstanding! Tasting Sample! — 3 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.3

Taken from what was generally a tough vintage in the Northern Rhone, the 1997 ‘La Chapelle’ Hermitage is a striking rendition at more than twenty years of age. Bulls blood, iodine, red cherry puree and crushed mint flavors provide some serious refinement. Silky throughout, this will continue to evolve over the next five to ten years — but is marvelous right now. Drink 2019-2025- 93 — 5 years ago

Peter Marks

Master of Wine, Educator Constellation Brands

9.3

Definitely one of the best Napa Cabs of the vintage. Dark cassis and blackberry combine with sweet herbs and a hint of oak spice. Long, savory finish ensures this will only get better over the next 15+ years. — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From the wine list at EMP bought by a new friend at the table next to us to go mano a mano against the 88 La Turque I shared. Slightly darker red and more pure in color. Amazing aroma that is more linear than the animalistic La La but in the same league. Hit its stride right out of the pop and pour gate. Lovely perfume with a more briary nose but speaks Cote Rotie from the get go. Perfectly integrated fruit and structure. Best Jamet I've had. Thanks to Danny for this treat. — 7 years ago

M. Christopher Roebuck

9.4

First taste reminded me of Firenze in that the leather belts and purses were on the nose. Lots of floral arrangements now, solid round, very nice as always. Shout out to my 1 follower @Bill Bender ... it's my birthday and my goal is to be drinking at your level next year!

94 points — 8 years ago

Mr.Pink

9.2

Auction purchase. Next to the 75 Rose, my favorite of the group. Great bubbles, long Chardonnay taste. — 8 years ago

Evan Bloom

9.3

What a treat. From the company to the antics of the cork removal, all was fantastic. Not surprised with some immediate mustiness on the nose, giving way to a rich but smooth aged blue cheese, mushrooms, soy sauce, earth, and just a faint hint of dried red fruit. Over the next 20 minutes the glass development was out of control, changing with each and every whiff and sip. Earthy umami, oxidative, and and slightly stewed reds to begin quickly opened to nice dried strawberries on the palate and nose, and advancing to moderately subdued ripened strawberries and cranberries- after 61 years and still kickin with fruit! Amazing. Then after about 20 minutes of rapid metamorphosis, it gave in and decided to fade to a very pleasant sipper...awesome. — 8 years ago

with Rajiv and Tim

Ryan Key

8.9

Classic deep purple and ripe berries. Quite smooth and flavorful. Favorite of the night. — 11 years ago

"Odedi"

9.4

It's time for my #FridayCabernetfix.

Deep purple in color with a short purple rim.

Pretty nose of blueberries, cooked black cherries, blackberries, figs, cedar, vanilla, spices, chocolates, earth, herbs, coffee, tobacco, licorice and black pepper.

Full bodied and smooth with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, currants, black cherries, raisins, dried figs, vanilla, cedar, cola, spices, dark chocolates, coffee, earth, bitter herbs and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley. Feels like a Napa Cabernet with a Bordeaux touch. Fruity and rich, yet elegant.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after 2 hours in the decanter, but it definitely needs longer than that.

What a great mouthfeel. I just love these Napa Bordeaux blends.

Still young and would be better in 5 to 10 years. Could be a 97+ point wine in 10 years. Will continue to age nicely in the next 20 years.

Thank you John for sharing this with me.

A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$500. — a year ago

Martin Mazner

9.0

Lovely smooth cab. Mellow, full bodied wine just made for a perfect medium rare filet. I’d bet it has a bit of merlot blended in. Would love to taste it with 5 years of aging but probably give in and drink it with my next hunk of red meat. Very enjoyable! — 2 years ago

with Jeremy

Mike R

9.5

Wine Nerd Herd a week ago in Iowa with gracious host @Eric LaMasters on Thursday night for paired tasting - the herd delivered some amazing wines — 5 years ago

with David, Aaron and 3 others

Mike Saviage

9.5

Medium gold color. Nice energy and bubble intensity. Notes of lemon, stones, crisp red apples. Expansive in the mouth. Toasty. More developed and complex than the 96 next to it. BDay dinner 1/12. — 6 years ago

Marlee Koenigsberg

9.5

Smooth oaky, little bit of spice. Not heavily sweet or dry. Savory. Beautifully balanced. Personal favorite cab sauv. — 7 years ago

with Matthew

Geoff Troup

Sales Eder Brothers, Cellar Fine Wines

9.4

Such beauty and elegance. I'm sure some of it is the age, but an AOC known for power emitting such elegance...Wow. Anyhow, jammy raspberries and a whole garden of vegetables on the nose. Palate is quite refined with white pepper, rock and all the trademark CDP flavors. Im never a huge fan of that fruit in the front, but the mid and back arr gorgeous. What's truly remarkable is the balance...The ability to isolate any single flavor to ruminate on, how each nuance to perfectly morphs into the next. Still some pronounced tannin in this guy! — 7 years ago

Greg Collins

9.7

Ohhh my like a velvet glove cast in stone. Big wine with impeccable finesse. Classic Paulliac Classic Lafite! Nice red fruit, spice lead pencil and wood. Next to the 98 HautBrion, it was the wine of the night. My friend Michael stated the differences perfectly. I wanted to like the graves better but the Haut Brion challenged the pallet more. This is fantastic now, from a properly cellared 375ml bottle 97points.
— 8 years ago

with Michael

Paul Jeszenszky

9.3

Violets and meat on the noise. Great light palate with plenty of punch. Minerals, earth, dark fruit, meat juice and good acidity. Med+ finish. Still young but plenty tasty now. Next bottle in 10 years if the can stay patient... — 8 years ago

Steve Matthiasson

Owner/Winemaker Matthiasson Wines

9.6

1985. Tasting this was like sitting next to a WWII vet on a train...some respect for an old school gentleman...they don't make wines like this any more: herbal, pencil shavings, cigar, tea, lots of acid, grainy tannins, light body, refreshing...let's bring cab like this back! — 9 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.4

50-100 years old 3500kg per liter very small under2tons per acre 100% new barrels better for barrel fermentation deep dark earth soy espresso dark berry and plum fruit meaty dark and wild animal very aromatic black licorice 2010 the best vintage ever2008amaxing next to 2005and of course 2004 very rich and well endowed on the palate very round and silky tannins a big but well balanced wine lots of dark spices and fresh on the finish dark spices and some wild animal like but has lots of fruit earth and dark earth with layers of everything here and in balance. Finish 50+ most excellent — 11 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind. Deep tawny color. Heavy nose with lots of drama going on. Notes of old wet cedar desk, red fruits, pepper, mocha, dark moist earth and some spice. Great structure. Has a perfect balance of fruit that strongly remains in the picture with structure and acidity. Silky, coats the mouth. Might have been the WOTN until the next bottle was poured. — 2 years ago

"Odedi"

9.0

It's time for some Merlot on this #MerlotThursday.

Dark ruby in color with a reddish rim.

Strong nose of black plums, black currants, oak, vanilla, licorice, cloves, herbs, spices, earth and peppercorn.

Full bodied with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with plums, cherries, oak, earth, vegetables, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee and black pepper.

Nice finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a young Merlot from Bordeaux. Showing mild complexity with a nice mouthfeel.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after 2 hours of airtime.

Will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.

A good food wine that I paired with pizza.

A blend of 68% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon.

15% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$55. — 2 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Been awhile since I pulled out an Insigna.

The 03 Pichon Lalande is the better wine and steak pairing. However, Napa Cabernet is the choice to finish steak and enjoy on its own after. You never want to do Napa before Bordeaux IMHO. It’s much harder to adjust from sweeter to something more earthy.

Enjoyed the 05 as my score reflects. I don’t remember it being as sweet as it was in previous tastings. Still quite good. It just tipped my sweet scale a little too much.

The body is, rich, lush & round. It’s achieved good evolution after 13 years in bottle and will continue to improve over the next 6-8 years and last another 15 years. As I mentioned, the fruit was ripe & sweet. Blackberries, black plum, black raspberries, plums, hints of blueberries and strawberries haunting the backend. Rich, dark earth, Rutherford dusty tannins and dry soils, purple cola, touch of fresh tobacco & graphite, light baking spices of; cinnamon, dash of clove, nutmeg and vanillin, anise to black licorice, saddle-wood, used leather, dry stems, some dry, crushed rocks/limestone with red, dark, purple and blue florals. The acidity round and nicely executed. The finish was similar wire to wire. It’s, lush, rich, elegant, touch too sweet, polished, well balanced & knitted with a soft, persistent, dark spice on the long set. Very enjoyable second bottle.

Photos of; Joseph Phelps Winery & sloping estate vines, inside lounge are with views of the back side, tasting terrace and front lobby/salon area upon entering past check in. — 4 years ago

with Christina and James

JJ Lumia

9.5

From the Haro-Lumia Tasters Dozen. Faint notes of cherry are evident, but secondary flavors dominate this medium-bodied wine. While lighter on the palate, it is full of forest floor, mushroom, and tobacco flavors. The finish is long and ends with a hint of menthol. Just a beautiful, seductive wine that will only get better over the next 10 years. A WS Top 100. — 6 years ago

Eric Linderman

9.5

No 4 in magnum — 7 years ago

with Jill and Stephen

Joe DAscoli

9.2

Final red wine of the night. Moving more towards bold fruity forward wine to cap the night. Dessert wine next. — 7 years ago

Diane Kessler

9.2

The first night, it was part of a 1995/1996 Bordeaux tasting and it showed beautifully next to its 1996 counterpart, and was the stronger of the pair. It didn't lose anything on the second night when I had the one remaining glass. The fruit is lush but kept in check by the tobacco notes, tannins and acidity. Pure pleasure in drinking it now. — 8 years ago

John Lin

9.1

Had with prime rib at Christmas dinner. Decanted 2 hours. Opened up and was quite tasty. Fine bouquet of round, lush Cabernet fruit. Holding up well but I will not be keeping the remaining 10 bottles for more than the next five years or so. — 8 years ago

Jeff Shapiro

9.2

The trademark burnt oak takes this cab to the next level. Sitting on a bottle of the 08 and can't wait to compare. Coffee, blueberry, leather. Everything in every sip. — 8 years ago

Alexander Littauer

9.6

2012 is a fantastic rendition of the Geyserville bottling. Looking forward to following this wine for the next couple decades! — 10 years ago