Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — a month ago

Shay A

9.4

This was served during my annual WWC hosting. Typical format of sparkler, three whites, four reds, one dessert, all served blind.

Poured alongside the 2003 Mondavi VHR as a comparison. 60 cab/40 merlot.

Decanted an hour. The similarities between this and the ‘03 Mondavi VHR the first hour was shocking…even as the host, I wondered if I switched the wines. Slight hint of brett but certainly not overpowering. Leather, herbs de Provence, sweet vanilla pipe tobacco, graphite up front aromatically. Dark roast mocha, red and black berry fruit, cassis, really nice vein of acidity and tannin. This remained unchanged during the lunch. Seems like it’s in a peak window (maybe close to the top?) where I imagine it will hold another 5-7yrs easily before turning more tertiary. — 9 months ago

Paco Suro

9.1

Really good. — 3 years ago

Douglas Braun

9.0

2019 - Vintage earthy ,wild fruit, rose petal, (little bit of V.A. & Brett) but still drinking well and fairly well balanced — 6 months ago

Ed Chin

9.2

Where is that signature brett funk? Loads of dominate fruit yet the structure isn’t quite up to par. — 8 months ago

Roberto Carli

9.1

Now I see how this wine can be so divisive. LOTS of brett at first, more band-aid than barnyard. Takes a while to get past it and then lots of exotic spices show up. But after 40 minutes in the glass still nothing primary. It’s got the funk I can appreciate in some good left bank Bordeaux but also feels somewhat single-threaded. — 3 years ago

Alex Hughes

9.3

Held up well over the 21 years. Complex red and dark fruits, smoke, white pepper. A little Brett that eased with air and ended up adding to the complexity. — 3 years ago

Tom Garland

9.2

1.5 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A majestic deep purplish magenta color with a little bricking. Always have a soft spot for aged Cain Five and Chris's old school savory style(embrace a little brett!). On the nose: stunning nose of worn leather, funky wet earth, red fruit, touch of menthol, nutty. Taste: Restrained, silky, elegant, balanced wine with dusty earth, herbaceous, currants, plum, cedarwood, and peppery dark chocolate medium finish. YUM! Hitting its stride with time to go. — 7 months ago

with Brenda

Seth Masterson

9.0

Amazing that this is 9.5% because it's so easy to drink a 750mL bottle. It really is wine quality. I have a hard time identifying the nose on beers but it reminds me of being inside the cow feed silo as a kid. It smells like late summer harvest left to ferment.
It's a very clean taste of...... Wheat grass? — a year ago

David J Rodriguez

8.9

Shame the Brett barnyard doesn’t integrate better with the lovely berry-cherry undertones swirling about...three days in, funkadelic subsided into pleasant, easy drinking juice. — 3 years ago