Doug Brown

9.0

Very nice white wine — 6 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.5

Whenever I see the 12 on the market it’s an automatic buy 👍🏼 had to smuggle it in, — 7 years ago

Sarah Biggs

9.0

Delicious and smooth red blend — 9 years ago

.

9.3

Decided to open this to celebrate our oldest starting college today.

This is showing noticeably better than my last bottle, 2 yrs ago. It really benefitted from 2-3 hours of air and, at the 5+ hr mark, is still going strong. The nose is quite beguiling once it fleshes out and the palate is pure class. Unmistakably Napa in its ripe fruit, but there's a lot more going on than that here. Layers of flavor unfold over time and, along with nice supporting tannins, suggest that this one has a long and wonderful future ahead of it. I wish I had more to see where it goes. — 9 years ago

Robin Cooper

9.2

Drank at the 2016 US Open with amazing friends...gorgeous, and need to get some to see where it goes — 10 years ago

Ming L

9.0

Vanilla, cured meat, cherries, smoky, plum.... a bit of everything on the nose but in a very restrained and harmonized way. On the palate it tastes much like a Burgundy with earthy freshness and fine balance between acidity and alcohol. Medium finish with mellow tannins. For a 15 year old Grand Reserva Rioja, the price is unreal. I can certainly see why it's wine of the year in 2013 for Decanter. — 10 years ago

Adam Froehlich

9.2

Closed at first. It's a little young but great potential for aging. Loved the barn aromas - hay, saw dust, leather. Earthy notes, grape vine tomatoes, mushrooms, red fruits, spicy notes and nutmeg. High acidity. Well balance and elegant. Pairs with Italian foods (tomato and cream based). — 10 years ago

with Claire

Eric Grasser

9.2

Had to try it. Half-bottle. See you again in 20 years. — 11 years ago

Sanjuana Walters

Skurnik Wines Domestic Portfolio, Freelance Writer

9.5

Sanjuana had this 11 years ago

Jeff Totoritis

9.3

Gamay. I would love to see more of you. Such a bright girl.

Dare some Dutch Gouda for contrast of nut and berry.

— 12 years ago

John A

9.4

See prior notes. Enjoyed my last bottle with good friends and an excellent ribeye — 7 years ago

Wouter Aalst

9.0

Past it’s best for a few years now, but still very interesting to taste and absolutely not completely gone.
Garnet colour. On the nose as expected a lot of tertiary aroma’s like tobacco, coffee, ceder, chocolate, meaty, smoke, leather, mushrooms, earth, caramel and balsamic. On the palate it is confirmed that the fruit has faded and so have the tanins. This make the wine a bit thin and structureless, like you see often with wines if this age. Great experience! — 8 years ago

Vincent Seufert

9.0

My Labor Day wine. Sad to see summer come to an end but alway looking forward to fall, which this wine is perfect for. — 9 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Very intense. Powerful gunpowder, flint, lime. A dazzling and broad midpalate. Really juicy and focused with none of the over-ripeness you sometimes see in 05. Killer. No signs of premox and will probably kick ass in 20 years on this showing. — 9 years ago

with Naoko and Larry

Lehshel Kolter

9.0

Oak dominates with hints of blackberry, black plum, and violet. I would like try the 2011 vintage again in a few years to see how the tertiary flavors develop. — 10 years ago

Eric Egan

9.5

From magnum; slow-oxed for three hours.

Lovely deep colour, with healthy (not flabby) bricking, though slightly shaken up from the car journey (despite having held it tightly all the way); enchanting nose, like standing in the depths of a cedar forest! Also hints of peppery leather, sweet liquorice, and pencil shavings. Lovely depth to the nose, permeating into the room as the meal progressed. Wonderful length (40s or more) and great balance, with well integrated but still firmish tannins and fantastically poised acidity.

I inspected the dregs the following morning (see picture) and the bottle still smelled amazing - even stronger than the night before, though the wine itself had started to flag a bit. Nonetheless an amazing drop! — 10 years ago

Flavio Menezes

9.0

Very powerful, extracted. Will still improve, as it took over an hour to open up. Good with food, but I clearly see why I drink less and less Bordeaux. — 11 years ago

Yianni Stone

9.0

Picked this up at Fatted Calf. Love to see 12.8%. Perhaps a little RS but very tasty. At $30 I'll take a case. — 11 years ago

with Haley

Francis Plante

9.4

Wow - you know I had my biggest wine disappointment with a 1998 Beaucastel and this 2005 brings me back on why i pay so much for Grenache. It was an amazing experience and it is still so very young. I unfortunately broke my decanter with this wine but it was worth it. I am glad i still have 2 in my cellar. See you in 6 years brother. — 11 years ago

Michael Lobaza

9.7

Excellent offering from ifyouseekaywine.com. — 13 years ago

Scott Howard

9.9

OMG. I can see why this was the wine Spectator wine of the year. — 7 years ago

Steve Anderson

9.3

Had about 30 sec to pick a bottle as store was closing - Saw the familiar wire mesh and knew I had a winner. Needed some air to shine, but improved steadily over three nights. — 7 years ago

Sarah O'Kelley

9.2

Love this Little known region and little known winery; they actually put the region on the map. They never released their wines as they saw it as a conflict of interest since they were instrumental in creating the Doc. The importer was able to buy their entire cellar resulting in Gems like this 2001 being available. It opened up into something complex and lovely. Dried fruit, earth & leather! — 9 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.3

This wine had some tobacco and earth FUNK after it was opened up. The herbaceous and tobacco ash note on the nose was almost identical to the 1980 Beringer State Lane cab. This did blow off after an hour, but the wine was less fruit than I thought it would have been. Lots of dark figgy jam. Tobacco and cigar box. I'm sure the fruit came back after I left, but this would have been 2 hours after opening and just didn't have the time to see this one though, hence the "NR" rating. Impressed by this wine, and probably one of the older Monte Bello wines I've been able to drink. — 9 years ago

with Benjamin

Roman Sukley

9.8

2000 vintage. Smoky, meaty, mushrooms, forest floor. Very Burgundian in character. Black currants, a little sassafras and a hint of mint. Look up complex in the dictionary and you'll probably see a photo of this wine. I was a little worried that this wine might have been over the hill, but now I'm a little sorry I opened it as this was my last 2000, and it has years to go. — 10 years ago

Diane Kessler

9.1

I've had my bottles for a couple of years but tasted this at the winery last month. It showed really poorly and felt I had to try one of mine and see if the winery had a bottle that was representative or an off bottle. Well, this one is singing. Beautiful red fruit, florals, a little smokiness, and a deliciously long finish. Nothing wrong with the wine, but why such a disappointment at the winery. — 10 years ago

E Alvelais

9.5

What a beauty at this youthful stage! The nose is already complex with blackberry, black cherry, coffee grounds, and an herbaceous scent with minimal spice. The palate is fresh and vivacious with an acidity that just enthralls. It is medium to full bodied, and remains on track all the way through its wonderful finish. Though hard to resist now, you would be wise to cellar this and see how it evolves over the next five years. Top-notch Rhone Syrah! — 11 years ago

Sharyn Grant

9.0

Big quality fruit bomb - 2006 - drinking softly now, open 2 hours. Would like to see if the fruit resolves over the next few years. — 11 years ago

S V

9.6

Elegant and smooth let tour. Quite beautiful and youthful. Beguiling aromatics. Gone too fast, and would've loved to see where it would have been in a few more hours — 12 years ago

Rathapol Limthongchai

9.5

Cant remember. But will definitelybuy one next time i see one. — 13 years ago