Paul J

9.4

Needs more age and was served too cold. Still great, but not as good as it should be. — 22 days ago

with Brooke

Billy L.

9.4

1.5 hr. Decant, lots of dark cherry notes; paired nicely with our bolognese pasta dinner. Cheers 🍇🍷👍🏻 — 18 days ago

Gabriella Boros

10

A perfect wine. Balanced and complex. A gorgeous first hit of plum with a hint of cherry. So broad fruit at first but then settles on the tongue with a noise terror of tannin. No bitterness just smooth and lovely. Girgeous wine. 2010 vintage gift bottle from Donna and Anders — 8 days ago

Tom Garland

9.3

Decant for sediment(decent chunky sediment). A remarkable still dark ruby red color. On the nose: Seductive notes of stewed plum, worn leather, soy sauce, pencil lead, mint. Taste: velvety, creamy, savory, layered, polished wine with dried dark cherry/plum, dark chocolate, tar, graphite, and a peppery-smokey earth dry long finish. YUM! Great showing and what you need in an aged Insignia. — 14 days ago

with Brenda

Marc Melser

9.4

We had the 2012 vintage on 8/4-5/26. Dark ruby in color. Raspberry, leather and tobacco on the bouquet. Raspberry, cherry, leather and spice on the palate. Still tannic. Needs more aeration. Ready to drink. Old World. Very good — 5 days ago

"Odedi"

9.2

It is time for my #FridayCabernetfix.

Dark ruby in color with a purple rim.

Beautiful nose and medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with nice complexity.

Showing red and black fruits with cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee and light green vegetables.

Spicy finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This iconic Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Santa Cruz Mountains in California is still very young, but already delicious, even by itself.

Needs a few hours to open up properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 30 years. Showing good potential to become a 95+ point wine.

A great sipping wine that paired beautifully with my Lamb chops.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in American oak barrels for 20 months.

13.8% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$300. — a month ago

Andrea Watt

9.4

Cherry, raspberry, blueberry, cinnamon, and oak. Maybe a touch young but still delightful. — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of dinner. The 2021 Riserva pours a garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of Morello cherry, red flowers, old wood, dried green herbs and gravelly earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is medium+. A young, taught Monsanto CCR and I believe this will open with some more time on its side. Drink now if you must but better after 2031 and through 2046. — 2 months ago

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.1

Writing tasting impressions from memory as it has been many months but wow this was a complex, layered yet lean #marlborough #sauvignonblanc. — 4 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Always a treat to drink this with notes of dark cherry, berry, meat, iron, spice, licorice, graphite, tobacco & violets. — 8 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2021 vintage. Tasted via Coravin. So the deals definitely afoot in Napa (and elsewhere in CA) currently. This was light-medium/medium body. Not the biggest Cabernet footprint on the delicate palate. But wow...immediately engaging and intimate simultaneously. Having tasted the late 60's, some 70's, most of the 80's, and nearly all of the 90's-2010's vintages of this at some point...actually feel like this is the wine this property has always wanted to make since inception. It's pure, authentic, and pared to the bone. Zen-like. No fluff, no fat. Tasting a Cabernet like this reminds me (yet again) how bastardized things have truly gotten along CA Hwy 29. Picked up two 6-packs and we'll see how it does. Leaner and biting-playfully. So unlike nearly all Napa cabs these days so it comes across as a huge palate/Napa Cab market reset now. Have been able to take or leave BV over the decades compared to Phelps, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Dunn, Diamond Creek, Mondavi, Mayacamas, Heitz and the rest of the really old guard but blind taste this against any 2020 or newer Napa Cab and/or Bordeaux and see where it slots for you. 8.5.26. — 4 days ago

Rick Phillips

9.7

Bold Blackberry Cherry with earth tones! Has room to grow in the bottle! — 25 days ago

with Letha

James Pauls

8.9

Upon opening, VERY bitter and strong. Have to let this one open. Upon opening got pretty good. Similar flavour to the previous rioja I’ve had many times that I love, but this is just more of it and much stronger and more flavourful. Not sure that I want that out of a wine, pretty sure I’m not willing to pay more for it. Not sure if I should attribute that to the wine or its age (oldest bottle I have yet tried).

Lighter and easier drinking reds are my preference at the moment. Maybe I will feel differently and prefer the stronger flavours once I am more seasoned into wines as I’ve become with scotch.

Definitely will return to this bottle if that becomes the case, otherwise prefer other favorites or to try new wines at the price.

It’s really not a bad wine. A lot of flavour and a lot going on.… I highly suspect I just am not able to fully appreciate what it is giving me at this point in my wine journey. — 9 days ago

Ely Cohn

9.1

Classic Liaison cherry leather cranberry must. Add in some acetone and sandalwood. Fleshy, full, compared to the leaner years. — a month ago

Chris Buggy

9.1

Vanilla! But once it calms down, good round tannins, good body, super smooth at this point, perfect for the obligatory Father’s Day steaks — 2 months ago

with Jennifer

Sagee Aran

9.3

Leaning into a distinctly understated style, this vintage keeps things subtle rather than overwhelming. On the nose, it offers a gentle mix of dried herbs, earth, and soft red cherry. On the palate, the wine feels graceful and light, focusing entirely on proportion rather than heavy extraction or punchy concentration. While the tannins remain firm, it ultimately feels like an elegant wine where you just expected a bit more.
​The wine is perhaps at it's quieter window...well-made and structural, but lacking the mid-palate fireworks or dramatic nose you expect at that price point and prestige. — 17 days ago

"Odedi"

9.2

Dark ruby/ inky in color with a short purple rim.

Red and black fruits on the nose with cedar, chocolates, spices, tobacco, coffee and black pepper.

Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with sweet raspberries, cherries, black currants, black plums, cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, coffee, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf and light pencil lead.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This young Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley is starting to drink beautifully now. Rich and easy drinking.

Fruit forward and complex, soft and smooth. Spicy and entertaining, powerful yet refined. Showing good balance albeit a little hot at the back of the throat, at this point.

Will continue to age nicely in the next 15 to 20 years and shows good potential to become a 94+ point wine.

A great sipping wine that will also pair nicely with food.

A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot.

15% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$250. — 15 days ago

Stephen Fitzpatrick

9.1

2021 vintage. Outstanding Nebbiolo. Leather, smoke, and a hint of fruit on the nose; continued to open up nicely over the course of the first hour. Cherry and complex tannins on the palette with a fine finish. Paired exceptionally well with filet mignon. — 17 days ago

Joel Lara

9.4

Upon opening, this seemed a bit disjointed, with muted fruit flavors and strong herbal notes. Decanting didn’t seem to help much, but day 2 it finally opened up nicely, with nice complexity and intensity on the palate. Cherry, raspberry, cassis, bay leaf, dried Italian herbs, anise, cloves, vanilla, cedar, earth, and balsamic notes all come through. Really tasty, but maybe a bit too intense. I can see this improving with a few more years of aging so the flavors coalesce and soften a bit more. — 22 days ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Presented to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine pours a garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with very faint staining of the tears and no signs of sediment or gas. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful notes of ripe and some tart and dried red fruits: Morello cherry, dried orange peel, roses, tar, dried green herbs, talcum powder, dry gravelly earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ and so is the alcohol. Powerful and delicious.

Initial conclusions: this could be Nebbiolo, Sangiovese or possibly a Grenache blend from Italy or France. But if I’m trusting me notes here, this has gotta be Nebbiolo so that’s what I’m calling. Final conclusion: this is Nebbiolo from Italy, Piemonte, Barolo, and for the hell of it, I’m going to call Serralunga d’Alba…from a producer like Massolino, 2021. Ha! Vietti!! And I don’t hate my call because Castiglione Falletto is right next door. Tasty stuff, of course. Drink now with patience and through 2051. — a month ago