Conrad Green

9.6

Dark and brooding with great rich fruit. Dark plum, leather, cedar, a whiff of iodine. Still tight and pure. Very good. Years ahead. — 16 days ago

with Garth and Matt

Steven Heydemann

9.1

The 99 is a favorite vintage for the sweetness of the fruit and the intense Mediterranean notes but this bottle was a little short on the finish. — 23 days ago

Veronica S

9.6

After 20 years, it still took extensive decanting to soften the initially gripping tannins. Once it did, beautiful dark fruits came through. Black currants, stewed prunes, delicious and full on the palate. Outstanding. Paired well with Brie and beef chow fun!!  — 12 days ago

Daniel Ciolek

8.9

Nice for a steak dinner at a restaurant for a reasonable price. Pop and pour Zinfandel blend. Deep color, fruit and spice aroma. Palate is heavily red Zinfandel with dark berries, plum, and spice - pepper with a hint of nutmeg and vanilla. Balanced tannins and acidity. Short but pleasant finish. — 3 days ago

Norman Gennaro

9.4

This one was up there for me. — 18 days ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.4

Wifes birth year wine was so impressive. Smoke and leather, very polished. Reminded me of a great Pinot. Great experience — a month ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — a month ago

Vino Joe

9.5

This should cellar longer. Maybe another 5 yrs before I try again. Decanted over 3 hrs. Tight in first hour. It needs a lot air now. Many layers and complex fruit. It lingers. Meaty after taste. Dark fruit. Earthy. I liked it very much and look forward to the next one. — 21 days ago

John Malcolm

9.6

I felt guilty drinking such a young wine, but it was exceptional. Beautifully balanced and fresh right out of the bottle (no time to decant since we were in a restaurant). Tasted a lot of raspberries and blackberries. — 15 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.5

Drinking well can’t see this getting better with a long life ahead showing red fruit, graphite, spice, earth, mint & tobacco — 24 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.6

Medium ruby , slighter narrower ruby / pink rim , a little less bright . Slightly deeper , darker fruits , blueberry, violets , with scorched earth , mineral and grafite . On the palate , more intensity and power perhaps , more noticeable though still velvety tannin , dark fruits , mineral , saline , fresh cigar. Lovely fresh acidity , balanced alcohol . Long saline , mineral tinged, slightly toasty finish . Needs time obviously , but will be one of the great wines from a great vintage in 20 years, just wait — a month ago

Justin Sun

9.2

Nose was divine. Tannins seem to indicate past its prime — a month ago

Gilbert Van Hassel

9.6

Almost perfect. Stewed fruit, great bitterness, extremely round and perfect tannins. Close to a grand cru burgundy in a good year with 10-15 years of age. — a month ago

Delectable Wine

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9.6

The 2012 Insignia is in great shape today. Bright acids lend tremendous energy to a mid-weight Insignia that is more about finesse rather than power. Sweet red-fleshed fruit, cedar, tobacco, mint and rose petal are all beautifully delineated. There's not much left to say. The 2012 offers tons of pure pleasure. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2024)
— 15 days ago

Jack Goldenberg

9.1

Classic Lafite. Hard to put into words. It was delicate yet still powerful. I’ve had the wine in my cellar since a year or so after release. We were stunned at how well it had aged…45?years old and still retained its fruit. It was worth the wait — 7 days ago

Mark Gibson

10

Amazing wine as always — 7 days ago

Nathan Renfro

9.5

Dark dark ruby. Tannins holding strong, a bit tight at the open, but loosens up to a wonderful silky mouthfeel. Black fruit in balance with minerality. Lovely wine but tonight I preferred the Pape Clement. — 25 days ago

Byron Hewett

9.3

Smoooth! Beautifully balanced. Not green at all. — 2 days ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.2

Never not delicious. Love Cristal with a little age. — 6 days ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Initially this was incredibly closed, but after 2 hours in the decanter it’s starting to open, tannic, very structured, very 1986 in its leanness, but incredible depth and length, not perfect, but still outstanding!! — a month ago

with Jim