Shay A

9.3

(Two previous 1983 vintage wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from CT).

My experiences with 1983s has been fairly positive, and this PL certainly is among the better I’ve had from the vintage. Holding color nicely with deep ruby and slight bricking around the rim. Started off a bit dense and muddled, but hit stride about 30mins later with a mix of red and black berry fruit, cassis, a streak of herbal green down the middle (something I always get with PL). Excellent example of the fruit showing lots of flavor without being overly ripe. Leather, sweet pipe tobacco, graphite, and still some vibrancy at the finish with tannin structure. Clean and elegant at this stage. Showed well over the course of two hours. Drink up and enjoy. — 3 days ago

A. R.

9.1

Just don’t open this yet folks. Took about 4 hours in a decanter to open up at all. Very classic dusty and graphite nose. Powerful red fruit and tannins. Good mid palate. Good acid. Very long finish. QPR not great. Needs min 10 years to calm down. — 3 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2001 vintage. Nice fill and great cork. Opened and decanted. Expected sed but fairly minimal compared to a Cabernet-based wine. Beguiling nose. Light-medium body that had dropped any extra fat long ago. Spiced plum definitely afoot. Tasted after 15 mins open, 1 hour open, 1.5 hrs open and 8 hrs open. Remarkably consistent. Likely another half-decade at this plateau before dropping down. 10.16.24. — 4 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Opened several hours prior and decanted off sediment and a portion of the cork that had broke and crumbled before returning to the bottle. The 2007 “Howell Mountain” pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core and very slight rim variation. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous notes of dark fruit: black currants, blackberries, tobacco, leather, earth and gentle spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. This is firing on all cylinders right now and the structure suggests the power of the 2007 vintage is not slowing down anytime soon. Drink now with a decant and through 2037 with ease. — 5 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 2 , wine 1 . Quite deep garnet , less terracotta rim . This had a whiff of oxidation about it at first which seemed to somewhat dissipate with time . Some dark spiced fruits , liquorice and menthol hints , cedar and sous bois . On the palate good ripeness and spiced dark cherry hints . Good acidity and rounded tannin . Nice length also , offering some spiced black fruits and menthol hints . Don’t think this is a pristine bottle but was enjoyable none the less , I was unsure at first if this was Napa , but coming back to it … and reading my notes , it became quite obvious . However I had this down as the Ch Montelena , not the Dominus — 3 hours ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2020 vintage. Last tasted 7.7.24 (9.3) and 3.15.24 (9.2). Medium-heavy body. Previously hesitant and reticent tannins beginning to creep into the finish right off the bat. Starts off fairly fruity, then tapers that down a bit at the end. Harmonious and über-pleasant. PNP now, double park it for a ten-spot or investigate somewhere in between. Consider the invitation proffered. Haut-Médoc doesn't move the needle at work (wish it did) but always more than happy to crush this Bordeaux bestie off premise. Consistent catch-all producer with "that's all?!" pricing. 12.03.24. — 3 months ago

Joe Weinberger

9.3

Never mad about opening Gonon. Delicious as always. Will be really incredible years down the line. — 10 months ago

Vanessa

9.2

Okay this wine was amazingly delicious but was undoubtedly quite young in this present moment.

There is so much more potential to unveil over time.

It has concentrated plum, fig, red currant, pomegranate, boysenberry notes next to licorice, meat, earth, peat, clove notes. Tannins and acidity are firm.

With time, we anticipate edges will be soften and complexity will be deepen with more tertiary notes and we cannot wait to revisit this wine down the road again. — 2 months ago

with Deked1

Mark Rosse

9.2

Great cork. A bit of a let down after the Fonsalette. — 3 months ago

Rob Wilson

9.3

Incredible now but could age for decades. Perfect choice to have before we hunker down for Hurricane Milton — 4 months ago

with Rio