Take It To The Grave Wines
Lokoya
Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Top 2-3 Napa Cabs I've ever had. Magical nose, cassis, cocoa, red flowers. Rich but nicely aged mid-palate, spreading into a wide swathe of candied red and black fruit, soft but powerful. Secondary stuff in spades. Then - an explosion at the back-end of cedary fruit and fig, tobacco, dark chocolate that lasted for >60 seconds. Just a monumental wine, sadly a solo.
This is note #500 for me, grateful to so many Delectable contributors who take the time to educate and expand my wine perspectives (or, in the case of @Bill Bender...other stuff, too!). Thanks to @Anthony Lombardi @Kimberly Anderson @Jörgen Lindström Carlvik @Jeff Savigny@Ron R@Shawn R @Richard Steinberg @Martin G Rivard (who is living the dream), @Greg Gregory among so many others, not to mention @Roman Sukley with magical reach to inaccessible, iconic SQNs (and the will to pop them) and frank open perspectives from legendary winemakers like @Mike Smith and @Cathy Corison, you all make this a neat community of which I try to be a small contributor.
Finally - a renewed plea to @Antonio Galloni to return "trending" to this community, as it was stolen by the bean counters! I'm no social media expert (I do have 2 teenagers!) but I'm pretty sure that "trending" speaks to the integrity and will to contribute of an entire community...take a look! — 9 years ago
Joseph Phelps Vineyards
Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1987
Out of magnum. On the nose, slight sweet liqueur dark & mid red fruits. Ripe and sweet fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, cherries, poached strawberries, cranberries & pomegranate extract. Black olive, a hint of pyrazine, understated vanilla. Great volcanic minerality and soils with dry dark florals. The body; round, elegant and completely resolved. Smooth as silk. The fruits are, ripe, fresh and leaner. Blackberries, dark cherries, rhubarb, sweet & sour cherries, cranberries, dry pomegranate seeds, hints of blue fruits and raspberries. Sweet tobacco & sweet suede leather, volcanic minerals/soils that are so beautiful you might eat them on their own, a touch of pyrazine, black oil, crushed dry rock powder, raining perfect acidity and a ripe, leaner, fruit driven finish that lasts over a minute. Beautiful wine and a treat to sip slowly and just take it in. — 8 years ago
Marc Plouzeau
Les Cornuelles Vieille Vigne Chinon Cabernet Franc
Big cab franc. Showing big fruit with enough herbaceousness to balance it out. May take a couple years to bloom but drinks great now — 9 years ago
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1997
Fantastic Bordeaux. Lots of earth. Curious to see how it would be in 5-10 years. Tannins will prob take this gem out for several years to come. — 12 years ago
Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier
Les Amoureuses Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Pinot Noir 1999
Forgot to take a picture last night , but a perfect time to enjoy. A fairly large scale Chambolle that had tons of extract , with good acidity still to keep it from being heavy. Serious juice. — 8 years ago
Château Haut-Bergey
Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2004
How is it? "It's Bordeaux. It will take 2 hours to open up." This one will need 4 hours. — 9 years ago
Macchia
Amorous Sangiovese 2013
Big and bad for this grape. Plenty of tannin, oak and fruit. Maybe a touch over the top to take it putt of balance. — 10 years ago
Jim McCusker
Gotta love Cris Cherry's take on grenache (my favorite varietal). This one is a bit young - could probably use a year or two more in the cellar - but it still boasts great fruit on the nose (albeit a bit restrained for a Paso wine) with a nice, medium-plus bodied palate and plenty of backbone to suggest several more years of evolution. If you're opening it up now I'd suggest a 1-2 hour decant, but this is a great QPR for a Paso grenache! — 8 years ago