Jay Kline

9.5

Opened about 90min prior to service; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2001 Monte Bello pours a deep garnet with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with lovely notes of black currants, blackberries, plum, tobacco, purple flowers, an intoxicating mix of exotic Eastern spices, some cocoa, inorganic earth and minerals. On the palate? The wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long and impeccably balanced. To my palate, this bottle has reached the age when Monte Bello starts to really become interesting. What a delight! Drink now with some air, through 2051. — 2 days ago

Charlie Tapp

9.1

Red fruit, black fruit, iodine and red licorice. — 8 days ago

Jason Keefer

9.4

Just fantastic! Tobacco, cherry, herbs, layers galore! — 23 days ago

with Natasha

Mark S.

9.0

Deep cherry red. Good concentration. Black fruits. Deep oak vanilla.
Fruitiness M Sweetness M Acidity M Tannin M Smooth Soft Silky Velvety. Bitterness M Body M Finish M % 14 @3500, chateau, 260709 — 2 months ago

Robert Stackowiak

9.2

Golden color. Green apple and vanilla (light oak) on the palate. Age worthy. April 2026. — 4 months ago

William Goldsmith

9.6

Ungrafted vines. Delicious — 5 months ago

with Ryann

Lee Pitofsky

9.6

One of my absolute favorite California wines. The California Latour. ‘97 is superb—vividly detailed and complex with both power and elegance. A masterful balance of fruit, tertiary character and cooling acidity with a silky palate and melting tannins. Hard to beat for a Wagyu pairing. — 6 months ago

Zach D

9.1

Pours a purple hue with some fading at the rim; aromas of black and red fruit; raspberry, blackberry, some dark cherry, and cassis; palate with good acidity, congruent with the nose; there is a bit of vanilla clove baking spice oak on the palate. Alcohol is moderate at 13.5; I like the wine, and I don’t drink a whole lot of American wines. The oak influence should be more delicate in my opinion, as the fruit is pretty elegant. It overwhelms a bit, and holds it back. I have doubts that this aspect will improve with bottle age, but I have another couple bottles and will leave in the cellar as an experiment. — 19 days ago

Akshay Venkitasubramanian

9.4

bold, powerful, and deeply colored—perfect for steak ; — 13 days ago

Jan A

9.0

Too advanced. Light, acidic — a month ago

Bill Morgan

9.0

Deep red nose tannins bite at the back of the mouth — 2 months ago

Matthew Doty

9.1

2022 vintage. Grand reservation Malbec. Excellent day 1. Goes a bit jammy by day two — 4 months ago

Vinny Brooklyn

9.4

Second & last of my bottles. Wonderful, while ready to drink still has plenty of years ahead of it. — 5 months ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.3

Medium ruby color. Aromas of curry, cardamom, cherry and strawberry. Strawberry flavors, toasted oak, raspberry and black tea. Very interesting Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot. Bottle #32187

🏅94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
🏅93 Points - Wine Enthusiast — 6 months ago

Jay Kline

9.6

Opened about an hour prior to service; enjoyed over the course of two days. Fairly consistent throughout but maybe even a touch better on Day 2? The 1976 “Unico” pours a garnet color with a slightly orange rim and a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with intoxicating notes of cassis, black cherry, red plum, dried flowers, coffee (for dayz), tobacco, leather, sandalwood, some organic earth and a mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long with gorgeous texture. This bottle came across remarkably young and supremely elegant. So much so, that I thought it was an inspired decision by one of our brothers-in-wine to include it in this particular lineup. We had a little leftover for the next day and it continued to show well. Brilliant stuff. Drink now through 2046+ — 6 days ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.5

Pappas jorge b memo b jason — 8 days ago

Len

9.0

Rooftop evening. very light and bright , mild flavored rose maybe could age a little but was great as it — a month ago

Bob Boyle

9.2

Good wine, nice depth to the fruit with long finish — 3 months ago

Kurt Schuster

8.9

Everybody seems to have glowing opinions of this, but mine was just a good wine and all the complexity in depth that I’m hearing about here I just didn’t get. A very good balance of strong flavors drank it across three days, dark pepper, and tobacco notes and ripe fruit and I will say without any overwhelming attendance. The structure was just incredible. Very good wine, maybe I’m just different than the other reviewers.  — 4 months ago

Michael Dierberg

9.5

This one had signs of seepage on it so I opened it planning on throwing it out. What an amazing wine and so fresh! Maybe another bottle seeped on to this one? — 6 months ago