Raul Puga

9.3

So delicious and a great job of highlighting the varietal. — 2 months ago

Aji

9.4

Great wine — 2 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.4

The first couple times I tried 08 I was definitely too quick to judge. It needs a ton of air, and it’s different from the rich, oxidative, nutty house style of the past, particularly the warm and ultra forward 2006, the previous release. 2008 is indeed young, tightly wound with a pulsating core of energy.

The first glass offers very little. Subdued, austere and youthfully reserved. But ensuing pours eventually unleash its core of powerful clean orchard fruit, coffee bean and grilled nuts. On the palate it continues to become so much more textural with crazy gains in weight, depth and fruit intensity as the night goes on. It really fills the mouth, saturating the palate with a satin-like texture, ripping citrusy acids and saline laced minerals that follow deep into its finish. Enjoyable now with enough air (needs 2 hours), but no doubt one to hold. To live forever. — 4 years ago

J Chechik

9.3

Besides having a great, cool label - Herman Story wines are so spectacular. This is not your standard “red blend” & the Tempranillo/Petit Verdot give a great complexity. Easily paired w/ a huge range of food. — 5 years ago

Justin Hart

9.3

Wow! Still bright, chalky, and full of youthful grip. Red plum, raspberry, lichee and white pepper notes are most dominant. This could easily go another few years and not be at its peak. — 6 years ago

with Cherish and Jen

Bob McDonald

9.5

Very dark crimson, almost black. Opulent aromas of cassis, mulberry, herbs and earth. Same opulence on the lush rich full bodied palate with notes of milk chocolate and black currant finishing with fine resolved and polished tannins. This to me is a typical high quality Napa Valley Cabernet - so fluid, generous and velvety in my limited experience with the genre. — 7 years ago

Doug Powers

9.0

Blackberry,mulberry, nicely rich and ripe, good balance, medium-long finish, quite good! — 4 months ago

with Jim

Brenda Terzich-Garland

9.3

Dark crimson with purple hues in color. Very aromatic nose giving the wine it’s beautiful scents of black-red fruit, perfume, milk chocolate and toasted marshmallow with subtle notes of mint and cigar. Taste is smooth and elegant with a luscious feel. Red fruit/dark plum , spice and mocha flavors are dominant with secondary notes of gravel, tobacco and leather adding to its dry medium plus finish. A treat for sure on this lovely Saturday night. — 3 years ago

with Leslie, Karin and 1 other

Steven Richardson

9.2

Very Soft apple cider. Maple wood, the “milk” in milk chocolate, not the “lavender” in lavender, but the “milk” of lavender? Whatever it is, there is like a floral or herbal substance or spirit animating the flavour that’s carried by the “milk chocolate”. Some kind of cucumberism?

Lots of complexities to this despite being a red blend. I guess, maybe that explains the encompassing or hard-to-nail flavours. It’s an archetype or an ensemble rather than something singular. That said it’s got plenty of personality. — 5 years ago

Brad Jensen

8.9

Lemons and crisp minerality on the nose, lemon heavy on the front flavor, with a crisp minerality on the mid-palate. Heavy citrus, it's delicious. — 6 years ago

Joe Weinberger

9.0

Breakfast wine. Fun stuff. — 7 years ago

Briggs Donaldson

9.0

A nice well rounded Zen. Didn't drink it with meat, just chocolate and it paired well. — 7 years ago

George Chen

9.5

Gents, Ladies...this is great example of bottle variance. Shitty label belie a neck fill and evenly moist cork from a Durand. Sweet lush core from the beginning and tight structure throughout (not a lot of swirling) and drank phenomenally for 1.5 hours. Hugely unusual for a heavily Cab based St Estephe...fabulous! Why I love wine! Read my past reviews! Crazy — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Merry Christmas 2025! 🎅🎄🎁 🍷 ❄️ ⛄️

23 yrs since birth and 21 yrs in bottle and the evolution is beautiful. Perfect w/the ribroast.

Fruits still holding with excellent integration. Blackberries, black plum to pudding, strawberries, raspberries, black cherries, sandalwood, soft, dark spices with gentle heat, mocha powder, some milk chocolate, caramel notes, understated graphite, anise to some black licorice, gravel, dry stone, used tobacco & leather, mid berry cola presence, dry twig, moist clays, red, dark florals with a violet frame, excellent acidity, well; made, balanced, tensioned, structured with an elegant finish that lasts nearly two- minutes and falls of soft earthiness & soft spice. — 9 months ago

Matthew Cohen

9.2

Lovely balanced nose. Crazy spice panapoly as it opens. Cinnamon. Nutmeg.

Palate is dark cherry fruit. Spice. Very fresh.

Fass selections. — 4 years ago

Sébastien F

9.2

Beau savagnin de maceration. — 4 years ago

Tee nic

10

Smooth, Dry. — 5 years ago

Eric

9.4

This wine is such a classic Bordeaux for me. Gorgeous garnet color with a cherry red rim. Crazy good aromatics and juicy, silky on the palate. This wine reminds me of why I started down this enjoyable wine drinking journey in the first place. A bit like coming home. — 6 years ago

Brit Young

9.0

Day after Christmas, very good for the price!! Cab from dad’s club, very balanced. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

Enjoyed while cleaning out the boss' cellar. Say what you want about this wine, but the one thing you can say is that this wine is incredibly consistent. This wine reminds me of the family uncle who always gives you some silver dollars at Christmas...even though you are now a grown adult. And if you actually listen to his crazy advice on investing when you were a kid, you just might be able to be that Uncle when you grow up. This wine is a thoroughbred. Meant to be consumed at least after 10 years. And this wine is in a really good spot. The nose does show a tiny bit of age as does the palate. This is front-loaded with slightly aged blackberry and a bit brambly. This wine smoothed out quite a bit over 3 hours. Finish with very nice integration, a hint of stiff oak tannin but a lot of it has resolved. Very enjoyable. This wine still has another 10 or 15 years left. — 8 years ago