Pooneet K

9.3

13.5% Mondavi reserve from 1997. What a lot of fun to try. Not sure what kinda year this was in Napa, but this is delicious. Perfect pairing with prime steaks on the grill - tons of dark red fruit with great refinement and acid on the finish. Really excellent. — 2 days ago

Victor Hsu

9.0

A good, solid California Cab but what’s all the fuss about? I’m seeing ratings of 98, 99, even 100 from JS. Really? No way. This is a clear case of praise crossing over into hype. Granted, still a bit young and not at its peak but after five years in the bottle and an hour of decanting it needs to be more than just fine if it wants to justify stratospheric scores. This wine compares unfavorably to Ridge Monte Bello, Stags Leap Cask 23 and other peers. It lacked sophistication and poise—where’s the promised minerality, graphite, cedar shavings, oak, leather, blackcurrant, cherry, and complex balance of fine grained tannins, fruit, acid and alcohol? Where? We chose this wine for a birthday dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Not a disaster but a disappointment given our high expectations (and the high price).
— 2 months ago

David S. Lopez

9.0

Bold flavors from this excellent wine, that may have been just a little bit past its prime. But a fantastic accompaniment to the Prime stakes we shared at Hanna‘s for for the birthdays of our friends the Swanson and the Bailey‘s. #napacabs #napavalleyred #chateaumontalena — 6 months ago

Adam Kincaid

9.2

Birthday year wine for me. So far, I’ve aged better than this bottle but it’s close! The ‘88 is slightly past its prime but still worth tasting. In the garden of earthly delights - dried figs, plums, dates, and mushrooms. Some peat and chocolate. Plenty of spice. Very fun. Happy birthday to me! — 3 months ago

with Jillian

Ron Siegel

9.3

Rustic old school styled Bordeaux with black fruits, cedar, leather, earth, graphite & cigar box. A wine I have had many times that is just hitting its prime with many years ahead — 2 months ago

Scott Kahn

9.3

Wonderfully balanced wine; deep ruby in color, dark fruit and cedar notes on the palette and perfectly integrated tannins (after 1-2 hours to open!). Moderate acidity with a long fruit-centered finish. This wine is in its prime! — 4 months ago

Dennis Mendiola

10

Best best with steak ! Had it at Prime in Ventura CA — 8 months ago

Steven Perlman

9.3

Cocoa, leather, black fruit; surprisingly bright with soft tannins. Great to drink with our best friends and a 32 oz. Bone in prime rib. — a month ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Medium ruby , hint of garnet , slight narrower rim , more garnet hue . Quite mineral , herbal tinged blackcurrant, seaside scents . Slightly aloof and austere, though this improves with time in the decanter . However on the palate this opens up with classic cedar tinged dark fruits , blackcurrant, grafite , sea shell and saline tinged. Complex , complete , classic , grafite and mineral tinged with pretty long length finish . Still slightly grippy tannins but these are well integrated and quite polished , fresh balanced acidity. This shows very well and is just coming into its prime drinking window, this also held up very well in decanter for the 4 hours we had it open , always retaining great freshness and verve. From now and over the next 10 to 15 years perhaps . — a month ago

Justin Sun

9.2

Nose was divine. Tannins seem to indicate past its prime — 7 months ago