David Kingsley

9.1

Slight oak, blueberry and fig. Perfect pairing with my veal chop! — a month ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Blend 95% Cabernet Sauv, 2.5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot, splash Petit Verdot, blended before being aged 24 months in American Oak, 50/50 new and second used. Deep Ruby color with aromas of black fruits, spice and hints of sweet spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry, black cherry and currants with licorice, cacao, vanilla and savory herbs. Fine tight tannins, long finish ending with fruit, spice and savory mineral character. Nice! — 3 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Pair of 21’s tonight where the Tignanello is youthful & not as open as the Ornellaia. Will be a great vintage that needs a few more years — 7 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

No formal notes . Medium ruby . Bit more coffee and roasted character at first , touch of oak perhaps. Quite rich and rounded on the palate , good acidity , good length . More red fruit , more delicate after a while , mineral , oyster shell , mineral and lean on the long finish . Very classic , grafite tinged . This improved with air and really gained in complexity with time . I would be tempted to leave this a little longer or give it a longer decant . No rush here , will continue well for a further 10 years . Tied as my favourite wine of the flight with the Latour. — 5 days ago

Paul J

9.6

This was awesome!! 1hr+ decant. Nose of a great Bordeaux. Super complex with cedar, dark fruit, some sweetness, and a touch of vanilla. Well structured and balanced. — 4 days ago

with Brooke

Conrad Green

9.6

Heartbreaker. Intense fruit. Loads of character and fresh. A Mahler bresse bottling which might explain the quality. Wonderful — 7 days ago

with Chris, Matt and 2 others

Ron Siegel

9.3

From a recently purchased owc showing the classic LB personality of red cherry, black berry fruit, cassis, leather, menthol, graphite, sweet savory spices & tobacco. This has been fully mature for a while where perfectly stored btls are still drinking well. — 4 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

No formal notes. Maybe slightly less dense ruby, wider rim . More refined and quite elegant , medium bodied , slightly more cooler greener fruits . This quite aromatic initially, mix of red and dark hedgerow fruits . A little more refined and small boned , perhaps a little light a shorter than others . This was impressive out of the gate , aromatic and charming quite mineral also , though it was the only wine that faded a little with time in the glass . This appears to be at its peak though probably will remain here for another 5 -10 years perhaps — 5 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1989 vintage. Opened but not decanted. Just got a (generous) side sample of this as I was entrenched with the weekly wine rep tastings. Tasted after 30 mins and one hour after opening. Definitely bretty (as expected) for the first tastes but that mostly dissipated by the end of the glass. Light-medium body with mostly bowed tannins initially. Longer it remained in the glass, the more the tannins came out to frolic. Still plenty of structure, fruit and front-palate intrigue (usually hidden/buried by tannins). Not improving at this point but-depending on storage and/or bottle size-still more than viable and deserving of massive respect. 01.29.25. — 7 days ago

Jay Kline

9.7

Of all the American red wines that participated in the Judgement of Paris, it could be argued that Monte Bello has shown the greatest propensity to age. In fact, I would go as far as it requires lengthy cellaring to extract its best. I’ve had the good fortune to drink a number of tremendous vintages of Monte Bello over the last several years and this one has got to be at or near the top of the lot.

Opened and poured into a decanter about an hour prior to service and enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 1991 Monte Bello pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core moving out towards a light ruby rim; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing (still!) with gorgeous notes of ripe and tart black currants, mixed bramble fruit, tobacco, some purple flowers, dill, mint, leather, earth, vanilla and associated baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. The structure remains tremendous which again, seems to indicate youth. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is super long and immensely satisfying. This is one of those wines that will outlive most humans. Drinking well now with a short decant but this has the gas to see 2061 with ease. — 18 days ago