Catherine Leith

9.1

Medium body. Notes of black fruit and light spices with an oak finish. Well balanced tannins. Great with roast beef or mince on toast. — 24 days ago

Jan de Weerd

9.6

And now a Bordeaux blend expression from… well Bordeaux! Left bank that is. Our favorite left bank Bordeaux fantastic quality for reasonable price. This wine was intense, still rather edgy tannins but already great complexity of waves of dark and red fruit laced in subtle pipe tobacco and spiced oak. — 6 months ago

with RoAnne, Tammy and 2 others

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; enjoyed over a three hour period. The 2010 Chianti Classico pours a deep ruby with a near opaque core; medium(+?) viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, developing and initially, slightly austere but an hour of air did wonders. Funky Montmorency cherry, pipe tobacco, red rope licorice, carnations, mushrooms, decomposing forest floor, leather, tomato leaf, cedar box, a bar of Irish Spring that has been drying out in my in-laws shower basement for years (super specific but IYKYK); there is a little bit of VA too…but this is Italy baby so what do you expect? On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose with a bit of a high-grade Aceto Balsamico di Modena thing going too. The finish is super long, grippy and savory. A beautiful example from the southern part of Gaiole. This is entering its early drinking window and should be great for the next 10-15 years. — 3 years ago

Andrew Liguori

9.3

Cherry plum coming in hot. Dense and full bodied, wet earth and sweet pipe tobacco, hint of clove and fennel frond. Years of life ahead. Grippy tannins that beg for a steak. — 4 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.3

Absolutely pretty nose of dried cherries, rose petals, Forrest Floor and pipe tobacco. Complex pallet of raspberry, black tea, leather and a touch of sweet spices. Very fine tannins and a smooth tannins. Very expressive. One of those years where the producer held off on making his top shelf wines. Their best fruit went in to this one. Gorgeous! — 5 years ago

Nathan Renfro

9.4

Decanted 2 hours. Fairly retrained on the nose, getting some red and black fruit and oak. A little burst of black/red fruit with a light punch of cassis. Earthy, balanced and restrained. Hints of vanilla and pipe tobacco. Drinking well but I need to leave some to age a few more years, this can go a lot further. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.6

Wednesday Wine Committee from this past week. A fantastic hosting by @joe leatherwood . 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 5 reds, 1 dessert wine. All tasted blind as usual.

Possibly in its prime drinking window, and it is gorgeous. Everything about this screams high quality left bank Bordeaux (which is what I called it). It was beautifully perfumed with a mix of potpourri, dried black cherries, blackberries, graphite, saddle leather and herbs de Provence. Perfectly balanced on the palate with dark fruits enveloped in cedar and sweet pipe tobacco. There is a line of ripe purple fruits down the middle accompanied by dust and mocha which is just delicious. — 7 years ago

with Dan, joe and 2 others

Dave

9.4

Delectable seems to be having troubles again. This wine is so young, I let it breathe for an hour while I prepped dinner, and it was still pretty tight. After dinner it began to open up with bright red fruit and a hint of florals on the nose. Also some faint brett.
Flavors include tart strawberries, blueberries, cedar and pipe tobacco. Nice, long ending. Not very complex, but well structured and delicious. And a great value!
Listening to early Elvis. — 17 days ago

Severn G

9.2

1998 | Cabernet Sauvignon
(97.4% Cabernet Sauvignon / 2.6% Merlot)
Stags Leap Wine Cellars; S.L.V.
Napa Valley; Stags Leap District, California, USA
(91-93; Drink 2018-33)

Rest In Peace Warren Winiarski — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; consumed over three days. The first half of the bottle was enjoyed on Day 1 and the second half was enjoyed on Day 3. Best on day three when it freshened up and had time to stretch its legs. The 2000 Tignanello pours a deep garnet color with a slight orange-ish rim; slightly turbid with an opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, deep ripe, black cherry fruit with leather, pipe tobacco, teriyaki, espresso, and earth. On the palate the fruit and non-fruit characteristics are confirmed. The wine is dry with medium+ tannin (which has all but integrated) and medium acid. Finish is medium+. A lovely 23 year old Tig that, remarkably, benefits from a good breather to get its best. Drink now with an extended decant but will continue to hold for at least another 5-10 years given good cellar conditions. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Opened to celebrate my son’s 15th birthday and poured alongside the 2006 Eagle’s Trace “Latitude 38”. The 2006 Seavey Caravina pours a deep garnet color with a completely opaque core. No obvious signs of age in the glass. Medium+ viscosity. On the nose, medium+ intensity, with strong pipe tobacco notes, currants, black cherry, figs, some green bell pepper and leather. On the palate dark fruits dominate with black cherry, black currants and blackberries. The tobacco and leather is also there accompanied by semi-sweet baking chocolate, baking spice and some anise. The wine finishes dry with medium tannins, most of which are well integrated at this point. Medium+ acid. Medium plus alcohol. The finish is long. Another very lovely vintage of Caravina, aging gracefully.
— 5 years ago

John Azzopardi

9.0

Juicy delicious relatively complex red with almost no tannin — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.3

Sourced from the esteemed ‘Stoney Vine Vineyard’ in the Walla Walla Rocks AVA, the 2017 ‘Tall Tales’ Syrah begins with lovely stony undertones that mingle with the green olive tapenade, bacon fat, cigar ash and clove aromatics that all marvelously combine in the glass. The texture imparted is seriously good as is the flavor range from Satsuma orange zest to ripe red cherry to shades of Umami, bulls blood and sweet pipe tobacco. Delicious now, this will continue to evolve well over the next eight to ten years — but why wait? Drink 2019-2026- 93 — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Mid Gold in colour - crystal clear. Kerosene/mineral notes with some chalky aromas. Pristine citrusy flavours coming into the stone fruit spectrum. Medium minus acid but medium plus intensity. (12.5% ABV). A well made Eden Valley Riesling drinking at its peak. — 7 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Opened about two hours prior to service; enjoyed over the course of a couple hours. The 1985 pours a deep garnet color with an orange rim and a slightly hazy, near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of dried, desiccated blackberries, pipe tobacco, leather, organic earth and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin (integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. A lovely, mature wine that should be enjoyed over the next several years. Drink now through 2030. — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.6

Double decanted the night before. The 1998 pours a deep garnet purple with a opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous and imbued with an incredible perfume of ripe black cherry, black plum, purple flowers, pipe tobacco, cocoa, a mix of organic and inorganic earth, and fine 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. This is a wine in its prime and it’s a beauty. Drink now with some time for it to breathe before service and this should drink well through 2048. — 9 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 2021 The Bard is fabulous. Rich, ample and beautifully resonant, the 2021 offers up generous dark red cherry/plum fruit, mocha, new leather, licorice, spice, menthol and pipe tobacco. Full-bodied and voluptuous, the 2021 flaunts tons of flavor intensity and vibrancy. It’s a gorgeous wine, especially considering it is the largest-production wine at Realm. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2023)
— 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

See previous note from 96 weeks ago where I said that I would drink the last one when my son Hugh was home from NY (born 1987) which came to pass last night. Overall not as impressive as the previous tasting but retains its silky tannin structure. Very dark in colour - opaque. Notes of cassis and pipe tobacco - overall dusty without the depth of fruit of the previous tasting. Just medium bodied. Tasting Book recommend a drinking window till 2035 which I would not agree with. Leads me to think I will be drinking my bottles of 86 Mouton sooner rather than later. — 5 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.4

Awesome juice, as always. Juicy, ripe, sweet blue and black fruits, Luxardo syrup, clove, star anise, sweet Swedish licorice, moist cherry pipe tobacco, molasses, fig. Absolutely beautiful. — 6 years ago

with Krystal

Severn G

9.1

Just concluded our annual Fall seclusion at our cabin in the Rangeley lakes region of Maine, mobile service up there is mostly non-existent, after several days I am posting again. Notes are somewhat brief, as my focus is relaxing and watching the Common Loons swimming and diving in the cove in front of our camp.

60% Zinfandel, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, for the 2005 vintage blend. This label features Redhead ducks, which we have commonly seen occupying our beachfront, not this year unfortunately.
Nose has vanilla bean, pipe tobacco, ripe cherry, ripe blackberry, prune (light) and over-ripe plum.
Palate has rich blackberry & cherry, oak plank, chalk (light), dried strawberry, ripe plum and raisin (light).
Beautifully long finish and tannins are long gone; this bottle is at the end of its life, also our last bottle of this vintage. Always interesting to see how long they will hold. The labels have always been a favorite of ours. — 7 years ago