1999 vintage. Decanted and tasted after four hours. Medium/heavy body. Intense, dark color. Earthy, tannic nose. Plenty of grip and fruit and showing beautiful balance now. Not an Insignia fan but this was excellent and has plenty of quality time left. No rush to crush. 71% Cab, 21% Merlot, 6% PV, 1% Cab Franc, 1% Malbec. 3.5.24. — 2 months ago
The Best Cabernet Sauvignon Wine in Hilton la Romania — 4 months ago
Real pleasure. Started out surprisingly soft and elegant and about 1 hour in it just jumped the river and became a true grippy left bank Bordeaux. I had to check our claim that Vilafonté Bordeaux series m and c can stand shoulder to shoulder with the big rollers of Bordeaux. They sure do! Try for yourself and experience a wine from an ancient soil. You will not be disappointed. www.spokenwines.com. — 5 months ago
Delicious balance, curry night with Audrey’s — a month ago
Flight #2 of our 1997 Retrospective and these were the thoroughbreds. Presented single-blind; no formal notes. Wine #2 had great color, was developing, fresh, focused, balanced; great structure. One of those glasses of wine you didn’t want to end and, for me, a tough call for favorite of the flight along with Wine #1. I vacillated between this being Dominus or Monte Bello; ultimately calling the former. This is in a beautiful phase of life. Monte Bello is one of those wines that needs decades to show its best. Drink now through 2040. — 3 months ago
Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.
Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 15 days ago
Really nice richness to it. — 5 months ago
Bob McDonald
Meaty, charcuterie notes together with black and blue fruits. The palate is rich and savoury - full bodied on the earthy spectrum with ripe plum. Bests are an under the radar Gem in the Grampians. It should be a regular purchase particularly at the price. An average price of around $30. — 18 hours ago