+1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A splendid medium dark garnet color. On the nose: perfumed notes of red fruit, herbaceous, eucalyptus, mushroom, smoked meat, ripe olives, sweet tobacco. Taste: rich, velvety full wine with brambly dark cherry/plum, coffee, dark chocolate, orange peel, and a peppery- dried herbs- gamey long finish. YUM! A nicely aged and elegant wine with soft tannins and good acidity!! — 10 months ago

Medium ruby garnet core . Quite austere , red and dark , charcoal tinged berries . On the palate better with a mix of ripe ed and dark fruits , touch of mineral and grafite , quite long and well balanced . This is fine now with time in decanter , though might just need a little longer in bottle to show its best — 3 years ago
Fruit forward and jammy with light tannins — 4 years ago
Maybe stored too long. Not the jammy big nose fruit forward wine I was expecting. Still quite nice. — 4 years ago
2016. Valerie discover this wine at her Von’s. It is our go-to second wine, and many a time, our first wine. Dry and sophisticated for a $15 bottle of wine. — 7 years ago
2014. As always, consistently fruit forward full of dark fruit the makes you want to have another glass. It has the smooth mouth that goes so well with meat. — 9 years ago
Rich color. Lots of layered flavors. Blueberry. Deep flavor — 10 years ago
Deep ruby , garnet , with thin garnet rim . Quite deep and ripe cassis , violet , blackberry , meaty grafite , sea spray , rich but well balanced . Quite well defined on the palate , blackberry , cassis , grafite . Balanced quite fresh acidity , fine but noticable tannins . Quite good grafite , saline tinged finish . Quite classic in style , with freshness from the cool fruit character and mineral focus , but polished with enough stuffing to age further , and probably improve over the next 5 -10 years and last well a further 10 . — 9 months ago
So elegant Montrose. It builds up an epic journey in the aftertaste. Rich and opulent as usual but with a fine touch of incredible level.
Softer extraction resulted on a fruitier, more sapid and rounder wine than usual. It feels it’s going to be approachable in its youth. — 2 years ago
Medium ruby core, garnet rim . More leafy and crunchy cassis, slightly foursquare , cooler slightly mint touches . Crunchy dark fruits on the palate , more tobacco , cedar , grafite notes , fills out on the palate pretty well. Good refreshing acidity , moderate quite fine tannins, slight green notes on the ok length . Good to drink now and probably won’t improve very much , now and over the next 10 years. — 3 years ago
Inky black. Moderate fruity aroma. Dark fruit flavors of blackberry and blueberry. Nice — 4 years ago
Expressive, enticing, aetheric.
Dusty cherries, tobacco leaf, leather, (very) dark chocolate, wood finish, a hint of cigar box. So fresh, so uplifting, so youthful!
On the palate amazing purity, zingy cherry acidity, a hint of orange peel, present, juicy yet very, very fine tannins. After a few hours this shows a darker, richer side. Really nice flow and great energy!
Brilliant, just brilliant. And amazing vale, for this quality! — 4 years ago
Bright, deep ruby. Ineffable scents of dark berries, graphite, minerals, licorice, violet, dark chocolate and sage. Wonderfully suave, fine-grained and plush but light on its feet, and every bit as complex in the mouth as on the nose. Really impeccably balanced, classy wine with uncanny precision and inner-mouth aromatic lift and a resounding, endlessly building aftertaste that leaves the taste buds quivering. A wine of great finesse and energy, not to mention noble palate-saturating, fully ripe tannins. This is more about subtlety than weight, but is still hard to scrape off your palate. This already coats every square millimeter of the palate but may yet expand further. All of this fruit was harvested in October. (Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, May 2020)
— 6 years ago
Like opening up a box of fine cigars — 8 years ago
Of the 2 Bordeaux drinking the best tonight, but long term the Brane-Cantenac 2005 will outlive this wine by 10 years easy. While very complex, a fine touch a green is traceable.
A classic currant and forest floor nose, fall leaves abound with a spike of spice and a barely there green that while subtle is apparent.
The pleasure here is higher for its more mature tasted and feel, while the brawny 2005 is a better wine it was not as enjoyable to me and feel it will be another notch enter in 3 years, and likely 2 notches better in 5.
The elegance and feel on this wine is ready to go and will easily go another 5+ years. — 10 years ago
A bit of oxidation, but otherwise, just fine. Fruit still there. 1970, 45 year old wine for our 45th Anniversary. — 11 years ago
Blend of Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot, & splash of Merlot; estate-owned vineyards Rutherford, Napa, St. Helena & Stag's Leap District. Just opened, 14 years in the bottle after couple of years in the barrel! Still tasting well, young & juicy, should easily last another decade, but nice now. Deep Ruby, dark fruits, spice, complex nose. Palate reflects juicy rich berry fruits, well structured harmonious wine. Fine soft rich tannins, long finish ending with fruit, tobacco and earthy tones. Wow! — 9 months ago
Sometimes no other wine will do for me than old-style (13% ABV) Bordeaux, and this lovely medium-aged Pauillac absolutely fills the bill, redfruits, structured but not really tannic, great acid balance really lifts the fruit, not a blockbuster, but very fine nonetheless, I could drink a lot of this!! — 3 years ago
Fine intensity of developed aromas with a defined ripe and autolytic complexity. Primary red apples, raspberries, lemon and orange fruit drops, secondary aromas of nougat, hazelnuts, butter, toast and a chalky, oyster shell minerality.
High acidity, medium - body. A creamy, peristant mousse and linear acidity drives the palate. Intense presence on the mid palate with characters of red apples, fruit drops, coffee beans and chalk. Medium + lenght finish that lacks some dimension and lenght to compete with the best. — 5 years ago
My second favorite after Ruinart. Lovely fine bubbles exuding citrus, orange marmalade, and just baked brioche. Delicious for brunch and Sunday football. — 6 years ago
Another excellent Tobin James everyday wine. Aromas of fruit and berries, inky black, well balanced. Very nice — 7 years ago
Another excellent bottle of this fine cab. — 9 years ago
Smooth red wine. Not sweet but delicious! — 10 years ago
Vino Joe
It was fine. Maybe a bit immature but it was unfocused and limited vs expectations. Strong tea notes. Limited fruit and more alcohol than typical. — 9 months ago