Conrad Green

9.2

A touch dusty on the nose with gnarly dark fruit and some spices and wood notes. Soft on the palate and fully resolved. Pretty and lightly inky — 21 days ago

with Paul and Ara

Pooneet K

9.2

Don’t drink a ton of Napa cab but it’s nice to have a nice one made in a somewhat more restrained style. 13.5%. Definitely young, the air helps - would wait several years or give a big decant. But even without a ton of that still very good with deep berry fruit, oaky dusty tannins that are relatively balanced. Great acid on the long finish. Excellent pairing with steaks and lamb chops at Sammy’s Ye Olde Cider Mill. — 7 months ago

Ivor

9.1

My go to Bordeaux classic. Small black fruits, tobacco, cigar boxes and the ever present stubborn dusty bitter note. — a year ago

Kristin the Wine Girl

9.1

Herbal earth and dusty cherries. Cacao and forest notes. — 4 years ago

Paul H

9.4

When they say bring your A game you can think of this bottle. This is an amazing glass of wine. It benefits from decanting for a good bit. Upon opening I thought of dusty plum and cedar on the nose. Tasting brought plum, currant, blackberries, vintage leather plus an array of other items indicative of this style of big wine. There is a good mix of tannins and acid that makes this a classic great glass of wine. I want to try it again in a few years to see how much better it may get. — 4 years ago

Deborah M

9.0

Blackouts are not “rolling” in Dallas. Power is just out forever. Opened this to make the evening a little better. I have power now, but I know it won’t last long. This wine is helping. A little funk on the nose. Herbal notes with a hint of spice on the finish. Don’t hold these for much longer. — 5 years ago

Rob Scalcione

9.5

How God has blessed the Oakville area dusty Cabs! This was Epic. I picked up on the anise and the raspberries & cedar. — 7 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium deep ruby with a thin garnet ruby rim . Quite closed with some grafite, hickory , cedar and crème de cassis , dark cherry , red plum , quite dense but with quite a classic , dusty profile . On the palate this is again quite classic , with crème de cassis , cedar , blackberry, plum . Good acidity and fine , gritty tannin , well balanced . Pretty good length with a saline, grafite touch. With time
in the glass this is drinking quite well , still showing dark fruit and youthfulness but at the same time quite classic and serious. Probably will improve over the next 5 years or so and last well a further 5-10 — 3 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

1989 vintage. From a 375ml. Opened not decanted. Great top shoulder fill. Used a Durand. Pristine cork. Throwing slightly less sed than anticipated. Dusty and earthy nose. Tasted 30 minutes and 1 hour after opening. Light-medium body throughout. Front palate a bit thin and watery but back end had some gamey/meaty notes intertwined with dirt clods. Despite the descriptors, maintained elegance for the duration. Seems to be holding the line here for a spell in the 375ml format. 10.17.25. — 8 months ago

Daniel Bloom

9.3

Ya know it’s Tempranillo, but damn, that nose could be Garnacha.15 % really comes to the fore.It’s iron bloody, w hints of soil. Jammy roses?
It’s big bodied, but full of acidic lift, cherries, dusty earth, always brawnier than the brother Tondonia.fills your mouth with deep redness.
I’ll always have room for these.
Thanks@TRWC


— 3 years ago

David Nicewicz

9.7

Birth year vintages are a roll of the dice but luckily I landed on a pretty solid classic - 1978. So for my birthday this year, we opened an LLC and wow was this perfect. The sommelier was surgical in removing the cork which split in half but he managed to extract it. The nose on this wine was a 10 - loads of cassis, licorice, dusty library and leather. Palate was extracted cassis, leather and great acidity and liveliness, just like my 44 year old self. It’s just pure magic when bottles this old perform - happy Friday everyone. — 4 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.2

The 2015 is the current release of the zesty and potent Montefalco Rosso San Valentino. It’s composed of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 15% Montepulciano, all from 50-year-old vines within the San Valentino vineyard. Also worth mentioning is that this doesn’t spend any time in wood; instead, maturation takes place over three years in stainless steel tank. That said, the intense mix of wild berry, cherry, clove, sweet mineral, violet and dusty rose that forms the bouquet is all terroir, varietal and vintage. It makes its presence known with tart red fruits, sour citrus and spice, as nervous acids force the mouth to water, adding further sweetness and thrust. The expression suddenly turns feminine and perfumed, with a mix of gorgeous inner florals resonating above a tug of subtle tannin. The 2015 is a seductive, eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-your-head expression of San Valentino. (Eric Guido, Vinous, August 2021)
— 5 years ago

Steven Gullo

9.4

Still youthful with cassis and ripe blackberries upfront. Dusty dry tannins with mineral, gravelly finish. Showing some sediment. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

The nose shows, ripe, stewed fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black plum & mix of blue & purple fruits. Anise, used tobacco, medium intensity dark spice, crushed rock powder, tarriness, dry brush, herbaceousness, steeped fruit tea, mixed berry cola, dark liqueur notes, whiff of green pepper, loamy soils, saddle-wood, moist clay, mocha powder, very understated baking spices, red, dark, fresh & withering, candied florals with shades of violets.

The body is medium and tannins still show dusty, tarry teethiness. The structure, tension, length and balance are just shy of peaking. It’s elegant with juicy, ripe, slightly fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, raspberries, strawberries, black plum & mix of blue & purple fruits. Anise, used tobacco, medium intensity dark spice with some heat as it lingers on the palate, crushed rock powder, tarriness, dry brush, dry herbaceousness, eucalyptus, steeped fruit tea, mixed berry cola, dark liqueur notes, green pepper pops up here & there, brewed black coffee, loamy soils, dry river stone, saddle-wood, moist clay, dark chocolate, mocha powder, salted caramel, very understated baking spices, red, dark, fresh & withering, bright, beautiful, candied florals with shades of violets. The acidity is like a waterfall. The long finish glides over the palate and is; ripe, very floral, well balanced and persists nicely.

Photos of, Mayacamas, very old school cellar, old tasting room that burned in 2017 and their Mount Veeder Vineyard. — 7 years ago

David Shaw

9.3

Ruby red with a purple tinge. Floral and dusty in nose. Tastes of table grape pulp with dilute cherry initially. Others online mention strawberry and intense cherry flavors but give it time to open, at least 30 minutes. Cedar, cinnamon and orange peel also mentioned and accurate. Balanced structure too. Worth seeking future vintages of this one. Layered flavors are impressive here. — 5 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium deep garnet core , medium wide garnet rim . This shows very well still with some sous bois , dried herbal hints and cherry . On the palate this shows good freshness , red cherry again, freshly cut herbs , touch of tobacco and black tea . Balanced acidity and lightly dusty but resolved tannins . Good length and presence on the palate , with enough fruit still , good balance and a black tea stained finish. This is at peak , and will probably stay here for a few more years , so no immediate rush, but is unlikely to improve further . — 9 months ago

Daniel M

9.3

Opened yesterday and 2/3rd of the bottle was left to rest. Yesterday the nose was made of tar, cigare, cedar and oaky notes. There was very little fruit. 24 hours after the same notes are still showing but I can smell some cassis, some meat juice and a tiny peppery note. This is very concentrated and intense. The palate is very well made with a very strong acid drive, some very nice matter on the sides, a great width, a plush mouthfeel, some cassis and meaty, salty touches, a great mid palate with grainy, dusty tannins that power up a very long finish that tend to expand on the rear: there is that grainy, dusty layer of tannins that carries on for a very long time, these cassis notes that bring a bit of tanginess, and some smoky, oaky notes linger for a while too. This is an aristocratic wine and my last bottle will rest for another 10 years at least. Off vintage but great bottle — 4 years ago

Brendan Baker

9.3

Needed a couple hours of air to come together and best the next day… red cherries and leather, dusty tannin, med + acid, long. A classic for a reason 😋 — 5 years ago

Ian Staub

9.0

What a wine, and an incredible value. Organic Chianti Classico is hard to come by and at $20 I can't imagine it gets much better than this. It's got all the hallmarks - snappy red cherry fruit, sweet florals, dusty earth, musky leather, herbs, all layered in an incredible complete package. Beautiful texture, with high acid and generous tannin, somehow this drinks well today but shows it can surely go for a couple decades. I'm looking forward to seeing where this ends up. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Been awhile since I pulled out an Insigna.

The 03 Pichon Lalande is the better wine and steak pairing. However, Napa Cabernet is the choice to finish steak and enjoy on its own after. You never want to do Napa before Bordeaux IMHO. It’s much harder to adjust from sweeter to something more earthy.

Enjoyed the 05 as my score reflects. I don’t remember it being as sweet as it was in previous tastings. Still quite good. It just tipped my sweet scale a little too much.

The body is, rich, lush & round. It’s achieved good evolution after 13 years in bottle and will continue to improve over the next 6-8 years and last another 15 years. As I mentioned, the fruit was ripe & sweet. Blackberries, black plum, black raspberries, plums, hints of blueberries and strawberries haunting the backend. Rich, dark earth, Rutherford dusty tannins and dry soils, purple cola, touch of fresh tobacco & graphite, light baking spices of; cinnamon, dash of clove, nutmeg and vanillin, anise to black licorice, saddle-wood, used leather, dry stems, some dry, crushed rocks/limestone with red, dark, purple and blue florals. The acidity round and nicely executed. The finish was similar wire to wire. It’s, lush, rich, elegant, touch too sweet, polished, well balanced & knitted with a soft, persistent, dark spice on the long set. Very enjoyable second bottle.

Photos of; Joseph Phelps Winery & sloping estate vines, inside lounge are with views of the back side, tasting terrace and front lobby/salon area upon entering past check in. — 6 years ago

with Christina and James