Tom Garland

9.6

1.5 hour decant (decent chunky/fine/cloudy sediment). An amazing dark purplish ruby red color...still looks young. On the nose: Nice big beautiful aromatics of graphite, currants, forest floor, sweet tobacco, creme brulee, and a little green veggie/barn yard funk. Taste: NICE! A smooth, soft, elegant, vibrant medium plus body wine with cedar, leather, blueberry, earth, smoke, and a crushed gravel-pencil lead_medium plus finish. Could drink this all night, but will probably be gone in the next hour. — 4 years ago

with Brenda

Jeroen Wagemans

9.2

High up in the mountains now and also this wine is quite elevated. @Anthony De Blasi — 6 years ago

with Amanda

Joe Lyons

9.2

Dark fruit, needed to decant for about an hour to have it open up! Great tannins really at its peak in my opinion !!! — 7 years ago

with Michelle

Mark Turner

8.9

This old girl is still drinking well. Took about 45 minutes to open up after 52 years in the bottle. Drank nicely for about an hour with good expression of flavors then went south fast. — 7 years ago

Daniel Kozaczuk

9.5

Wow, incredible, and still holding up after all these years. Upon opening, basically no fruit, all secondary characteristics, especially on the nose. As it opened up, some dark cherry appeared and eventually the nose and palate came together. A sensory journey 48 Years in the making and a pleasure to partake. — 8 years ago

with John, Spencer and 1 other

Selim Batibay

9.0

Needed some time to open up, but once it did, this old boy still had some life in it. — 8 years ago

Liz O'Neal

9.1

Just opened in 2017 - was tight the first evening and definitely needed time to open up. Earthy, mushroom/forest floor notes on the palate, despite bright acidic nose. Crowd pleaser - happy I saved this.

Purchased w/ dad in 2014 - industry price $55 — 9 years ago

with Hannah

Richard Steinberg

9.5

Up there for wine of the night in blind old v new world. Great well integrated fruit. Grenache fruit was so pure and well balanced. — 9 years ago

with Mike, Howard and 1 other

Charlie Beatty

Buyer wineworksonline.com

9.7

Needed 2 hours to open up. Huge full body with layers of black fruits, needs more time in bottle. Had to try before buying in here. I would say a keeper for minimum of 3-4 years here. Impressive. CB — 11 years ago

Darren Delmore

10

Where do I even begin? I was the winemaker's assistant this vintage for a very stressed and haunted man. David Hirsch didn't believe in air pumps then, and the press that was installed at the winery wasn't quite high enough to press into barrel with Gravity.... So I can honestly claim that I punched down every lot everyday every time, and I hand bucketed every drop of wine in paint buckets out of the press and up into barrel. Still I never got a bottle of the stuff until I bought it recently for 35 off Benchmark. As dangerous and chaotic of a harvest gig it was, the wine now sure tastes worth all the hellfire. — 11 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2015 vintage. Tons of smoke and baby fat front-loaded. Back end starting to come together. Big-bodied. A little disjointed currently but all the components are there for this to be really really beautiful in 3-4 years. A fave, bang for the buck/qpr Margaux producer. Rating a 9.2 but could see it at 9.4 retasting in 2025. — 4 years ago

D Scher

9.2

1984 vintage. Cork difficult to extract, ended up in several pieces. Beautiful deep color, little to no bricking even at this age. Seductive at one hour+ of air with black cherry, raspberry, some vanilla, green pepper, graphite. 12% ABV. From the FIL’s collection. — 6 years ago

Keith Lite

9.5

A big bold plumy purple bomb As dense and luscious as a wine can get in a glass. Decanted for 2 hrs and its still a baby with blackberry, dark chocolate licorice and pepper on the nose and on the palate. A long long finish and loads of tannins to sum it all up — 6 years ago

with Bruce

Veronica Paulsen

9.6

Love this wine! Light, and delicious, very coastal and cool. Tannins are poppin’ in this wine. Love 👏🏽 it 👏🏽 might be one of my new favs for easy drinking. Pairs with a light meat dish or a meatier fish. — 7 years ago

Paul H

8.9

This wine opened up with what seemed like a cherry Vanilla Coke aroma. This may be off because the wine was a little warmer than what I like and I am not sure what effect that may have had on the aroma. We actually asked for a wine chiller to cool it down a bit before we drank. It is a Florida thing because of the heat. Drank pretty nicely with cherry and a slight licorice finish. It was rather smooth and should be a nice restaurant go to in the next few years. #stagsleapwinecellars #artemis #napavalley #cabernetsaugvinon #AtlanticBeach #Ocean60 — 8 years ago

with Kim

Bill Bender

9.4

@David L going John Wall superstar style with his 4 Mag contribution of this dense, vivid beauty. After we consumed about 2 gallons of wine each we hit up the patio fire pit for some s’mores and he ordered up 2 bottles of ‘10 Realm Bard. He’s a beast. — 8 years ago

Matthew Denci

9.3

Heitz has still got it baby, 1998 Napa cab standing up nicely at 18 years old. The color is only just showing signs of age. The nose is full of mint and lamb. In a strange spot since its not especially lush or fruity and yet hasn't fully developed the tertiary notes you would expect. But has the bones to go longer still. — 9 years ago

Ed Chang

9.4

After a couple hours began to open up. Chateauneuf-du-pape is becoming a fav in this house 2012 vintage. — 10 years ago

Ben Rainey

9.5

Really good stuff. Got better and better. 2 hours in we were done but wish we had another bottle to see how it tasted in another hour or more. Smooth. Rich. Held up extremely well. — 10 years ago

with Ed

Meaghan Nolan

10

Woodsy with brighter fruit like strawberry. Some tannins. Opened up a lot in the glass. — 11 years ago

David White

9.2

What a fabulous wine
Decanted and lots sediment left in bottle
Lovely floral tones with soft subtle tannins
Wine grew in stature over time and revealed complex nuances as it opened up
— 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

2013 was the first year that Sea Smoke started practicing biodynamics in the vineyard. Previous years were already farmed organically. At the age of 7, this still comes across as a baby. Dark violet in the glass, this was pretty tightly coiled but after 30min of air, it started to reveal itself. Predominately red fruited with bruised strawberries and some flowers and spices, this was pretty tannic. In fact, the tannins seemed to build with more air; never to the point of being overbearing but pretty stiff nevertheless. Good acid. Nice finish. A polished wine that I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would. Years to go on these. — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.0

Really interesting to drink this one at 16 years old. And although I think this was on the back side of the hill, it was still very much in the game. Lost lots of its sweet fruit cham. More linear. Mulberry and some fig and clove. Can definitely taste the age. If cellared well, I actually think this has a couple of years but I don't think it has more than that. — 6 years ago

with Dan and Shay

Mike Saviage

9.8

From a pristine bottle with a 4cm fill and an appropriate cork. Reddish tawny color with reddish amber rims. Barely translucent. Looks young for its age. Notes of rich warm fruit, cassis, smoke, some cedar planks, and a whole lot of leather saddle. Incredibly rich in the mouth. Silky. Long impactful finish. This wine appears to have no end of life in sight for it. Guesses were all in the 1980’s. Amazing wine. BDay dinner 10/12. — 7 years ago

Victor Charcan

9.3

Very complex in the nose, with notes of spices, scrub herbs, red fruit (some dark hints too). Great balance and length. Up to the name — 8 years ago

Kellin

9.5

Perfectly aged in large format bottle. Tannins have held up over time but don't overwhelm. Aromas: dried roses, burnt blackberry. Flavors: currant, dried cranberry, juniper. Beautiful wine. Once in a lifetime opportunity to taste it! — 8 years ago

Eric Egan

9.5

Another level... Still dense at the core, with steady, attractive bricking: Wonderfully dense nose of blackcurrents, pencil shavings, fine tanned leather, and a hint of woodland floor (fine moss, leaves, and fresh soil after an autumn shower). Velvety tannins and great acidity. Along with the '66 this is one of my all-time favourite Bordeaux vintages. Seems to be keeping up better than the '61s I've had over the last few years!

We drank half of it from the coravin before waxing the top in case the cork had lost too much elasticity to self-seal. I'll have the rest with my brother in a few weeks' time! — 9 years ago

N M

9.2

Needed about 2.5 hours in decanter to open up. Could use more time in bottle. A classic big, bold, chewy California Cab. — 10 years ago

Laurent Charlet

9.5

I get this wine from the vineyard and max out my allocation every year. I let it sit in wine storage for a few years. It needs to age 6 to 8 years to peak. Wonderful paired with most meats, especially grilled. Packs a good punch but remains subtle enough to drink it on its own. — 11 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.3

A bit shy in the nose cigar box coffee starting to open up smooth and silky on the tongue with layers of spice and earth — 12 years ago