Jae Cho

8.9

So fun playing that fruity/savory gamey (mortadella?) syrah streak. But much lighter perfect turkey pairing. — 6 years ago

Matt

9.0

Solid, muddled fruit wrapped in American oak. No formal notes but seems to be cruising past its prime drinking window (for me) — 7 years ago

Tom Hamilton

9.0

Coravin model two allowed me to tap into this 70 year old bottle. Smooth at first, didn’t improve much during the first 30 mins. Stayed solid throughout. — 8 years ago

James Webb

9.5

A fitting 600th wine for me on Delectable. Such a youthful, wonderful being. Lemon and lemon zest. Melon and slate. Softness beyond its years. Finish was a floral and citrus explosion that goes on into a velvet abyss. — 8 years ago

Andrew S

9.6

This will likely wrap it up for me. A birth year bottle on my birthday and my 1000th bottle on Delectable. It’s a bottle that makes you appreciate the beauty of the wine, it’s story, and times and occasions you share a bottle. Faint red fruits, leathers, dust, tar, and a pretty acidity. It opened up over an hour, drank well for a couple and did some fading thereafter. — 8 years ago

Bryan Cloninger

8.9

Tastes beyond its Year. Reminiscent of an Italian, reminds me of Pinot noir. But unique and something special — 9 years ago

Kelly Carey

9.3

Love this wine. Very smooth. — 10 years ago

Aron Caruso

9.2

Really enjoyed this. Heavy vanilla and oak. Reminded me of circus peanuts in a good way. I love this f*in wine. Wish it wasn't $40/bottle. — 11 years ago

Alexander Vadas

9.2

Good structure and body - nose a little too ripe for me — 11 years ago

with Michael and Stephen

Nicole McLendon

9.5

A little throw back Charleston Wine Festival circa 2014 with my bestie Brooke! — 11 years ago

The Savory

10

Oh my gawd dawg! I tried this at the California Wine Festival and loved it so much that I took it away from the crowd and had a quiet moment and a wee whisper with it. It's really wonderful when you drink some average to decent wines and suddenly throw an absolute stoater in there for perspective.

I can't really do it justice with my ham-fisted tasting notes, but believe me when I say that this is a delightful wine that reminds you how wonderful Napa can be. - Ross Gardiner — 12 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Happy Spring! It’s one of our favorite points in the year. More; daylight, a little warmer in CA and everything starts to bloom which, means a long summer of gardening and being outdoors every day/night is not far off.

Since it was such a great day and basically most Californians are shut-Ins, the voluntary self quarantining was getting to me. I did the landscaping and got an afternoon of fresh air today. A breath of fresh air...ahhh! Wow, was it needed after Gavin’s Newsom’s estimate of 25.5 million Californians would be infected with Coronavirus over 8 weeks yesterday.

So, a good night to celebrate another day of being virus free with my 2nd favorite N/V Rosé Champagne.

All my numerous previous notes apply.

Stay safe everyone and remember the new terminology of the new decade...social distancing! Cheers! 🍾🥂

Photos of; Spring in our backyard & a Billecart Grand Cru Vineyard.

— 6 years ago

Shay A

9.2

BBQ & Zin night!

This surprised me. The fruit here wasn’t as sweet as expected. Black peppercorn spice and tart black cherry pie. I think this is actually young and could go quite the distance. — 7 years ago

with Dan, Clare and 1 other

Vincy

9.5

One of the best vintages, inky fruits, plum, scents of floral, concentrated aroma, adorable and sweet smiling. A little flabby for me made it not a perfect night.
2018/6/21 — 8 years ago

Palmer Emmitt

Owner/Winemaker Judge Palmer

9.4

I think my first Monte Bello and it does not disappoint. A very charming wine with an intriguing tomato component backed up by tons of cassis - "classic" California Cab. Great structure and for me in its prime right now (from half bottle). — 9 years ago

Nathan Timm

9.5

To the tune of "play that song" - "drink that wine, the one that tastes oh so fine." — 9 years ago

with Kim

Steve Matthiasson

Owner/Winemaker Matthiasson Wines

9.5

A classically done wine by a classic producer. This Morgon expression is more on the garden earth/mineral/floral spectrum than the fruit spectrum, which is fine by me. Dense and structured, was singing after an hour in the decanter. — 10 years ago

Douglas Eddins

9.1

Cranberry, fig, prune and dried dates all over it! Full body with an extremely soft mouth feel. It is showing its age though. Overall very pleased! Happy Birthday to me! 😝 — 11 years ago

Mike Blom

9.0

Deep reddish/purple color which has me on guard relative to Pinot. Worried that darker than lighter raspberry red has had Mega Red or other manipulation but this Pinot just has concentrated character. Varietal rose petal and cherry notes in aromas. You can see the broad influence from the 3 appellations that comprise the wine. Weighty on the palate without being too over bearing for the varietal. Great accompaniment to the saffron broth salmon this evening. — 11 years ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.5

Vintage 03
Surprisingly (to me), this has sufficient freshness and clarity! Wonderful. — 11 years ago

Alberto Lorenzi

9.2

Classic Champagne, great vintage, drank in 2008 vs Puro bianco for graduation celebration. Traditionalists enjoyed Champagne the most. Me, Puro since I'm an innovator ! — 13 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I corvined this last weekend and put it back in storage for tonight. I had a very different experience & thoughts on this wine last weekend un-decanted. This is wine comes from a period when I loved Caymus. After 2011 when they started picking later and at higher brix’s, they lost me but, got higher Parker scores and rave words from people that like sweeter Cabernet that drinks young.

Last weekend without a decant, very dominate bright cherries and vanilla.

Tonight, the nose reveals, dark, slightly syrupy currants/cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, creamy, black raspberries, blueberries, black plum with lots of skin dominate, baked strawberries, black licorice, vanilla, some clove and a touch nutmeg, underbrush, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, volcanic minerals, black tea, touch of black coffee expresso, liqueur/dark berry cola, used leather, hints of graphite with ruby, fresh, dark, fresh, dark, red, blue florals with violets.

The body is full, sexy, gorgeous and voluptuous. The structure, tension, length and balance are at the start of its high point with another 7-10 years of good drinking ahead. Dark, slightly syrupy currants/cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, creamy, black raspberries, blueberries, black plum with lots of skin dominating, baked strawberries, black licorice to deep anise, vanilla, some clove and a touch nutmeg, caramel, mocha, dark chocolate, dark spices with just a touch of palate heat, underbrush, used leather, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, volcanic minerals, black tea, touch of black coffee expresso, liqueur/dark berry cola, used leather, hints of graphite with ruby, fresh, dark, fresh, dark, red, blue florals with violets. The acidity is like a needed waterfall shower. The long finish is, deep, dark, well balanced, elegant, ruby, ripe, polished and persists endlessly.

It’s been awhile and I’ve missed it. This is a very good example of why I used to adore Caymus. — 7 years ago

Mike Davila

9.6

This wine amazed me, I’ve had it before and it’s never shown this well, maybe just hitting it’s stride? Beautiful perfumed floral nose ( never thought I would say that about a Dunn), exquisite balance, the fruit is slightly sweet, the tannins are fully integrated and refined, with just the right amount of acid in the finish. I would never guess mountain fruit or let alone Dunn if tasted blind. Can’t wait to try it again in a couple of years. — 8 years ago

Beau Carson

9.8

This showed me what d'Yquem is about. Still a baby, but do beautiful tasting the progression over 4 hours. — 9 years ago

Chris England

9.7

🇬🇧 Vivino London Dinner - 01 Apr 🇬🇧

Wine 0️⃣6️⃣

Sassicaia 09 from Carlo Terruzzi

📝 We had to fight my wife to get any of this as she adored it 😎

Lovely rich deep cocoa driven dark fruits that showed awesome potential - drinking 4.5⭐️ but will be a stunning 5⭐️ in 5-7 years & my wife says 5⭐️ as her WOTN & it will be 5⭐️ in time 👍

Check others notes but I'm buying some (I've been ordered to 😂) & I even kissed (or licked) Carlo for this - thanks Carlo for sharing this & costing me a fortune 👅 — 9 years ago

Jason Jordan

9.3

Not a big fan of Pinot Noir wines but this is a good one for me. Not too dry and not a very sweet wine. — 10 years ago

Sarah Stierch

Food & Wine Editor Sonoma Valley Sun

9.4

Happy birthday to me...from dad's cellar. Held up well! Thankfully not a dark moody Cab. Just what you would expect of an Opus of this age. We lost only 1 ounce to sediment. Didn't decant. — 11 years ago

Thomas Hughes

9.5

I was disappointed with my last Caymus Special Selection vintage, but this beauty brought me back to a bottle that won Wine Spectator's #1 Wine of the Year ... Twice!! Incredible fruit and balance. This can be cellared and enjoyed for years to come. Cheers!! — 11 years ago

Carl Steefel

9.8

Informal gathering to drink some Bordeaux varietal bottles with steak.

1986 Cheval Blanc: This one showed suspect ullage, to the point where it had been hard to flip it. And in the end, it did turn out to be a controversial wine--was the orgasm 40 days, or was it 36 days? Hard to say... An extraordinary wine, classic in its own way, with fragrant dark flower and black cassis aromas wafting from the glass, and maybe more importantly for us, exploding in the mouth. Some of the more ordinary adjectives, like "smooth" and "balanced", are accurate enough, but obviously don't do this one justice. One could do a fluid dynamical description of the time evolution of this wine in the mouth, a broad attack that gave way in about 3 seconds to a sensation of acceleration and flaring across the entire breadth of the palate as the wine detonated, an oenological version of a jet... And then a persistent finish where the inner mouth perfume resonates as it fades slowly (or simply moved off to some parallel universe). — 11 years ago

Nataly Gamboa

9.7

This makes me a happy girl! One of my best friends. — 14 years ago