Valley Vineyards

Shafer Vineyards

Hillside Select Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

2003 vintage. Opened and decanted without issues or concerns. Used a Durand to open and cork was in great shape. Tasted after 30 minutes. The usual light-medium body. Plenty of polish at the 20+ year marker with unanticipated, ruff splash of chunkiness on the finish. Approx 4-5 years away from the absolute, top of the bell curve now but, given the pedigree, could possibly absorb that timescape another 5-spot and I wouldn't argue. Drink now or later. Either or. Ain't gonna disappoint unless you swing exclusively on Napa mountain fruit vines. 7.1.26. — 14 days ago

Jeroen, Ted and 22 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

You know I have had this young and I have had it aged like. Oddly for me, some of the younger vintages were really good, which is strange for me. Cheers! 🍷

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

Big and dense. Olives. Otherwise mostly what one would expect. Quite dark.
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— 18 days ago

Scott@Mister, Zach and 3 others liked this

Freemark Abbey

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1994

Somm David T
9.3

Oh…the fruit is still solid with dry herbs. 94 a special Napa vintage. 13.4% ABV, miss it. This is when FA was still rocking it.

This gets better & better with each sip. The fruit still ripe, ruby and glorious. When Napa didn’t pick overly ripe fruit. Blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, both plums, purple fruit blend, dark cherries, strawberries, blueberries & raspberries. Sage, black earth, dry twig, red & dark berry cola, softly layered baking spices-clove, cinnamon & vanillin, caramel, mocha powder, chocolate pudding, anise to lighter tarriness, some graphite, soft charcoal, volcanic ash, understated; oak, leather, tobacco, fine grain still somewhat grippy tannins, touch olive tapenade, fresh florals that are; dark, red, blue with liquid violets, balance, length, mid structure & tension with polished elegance for days.

Recent retail purchase. Large library allocation they bought winery direct.

This well stored has another 4-7 yrs left.

What is a good 1994 memory? A question I ask friends when I enjoy an older wine with them.
— 18 days ago

Neil, Scott@Mister and 12 others liked this

Heitz Cellar

Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

40 years birthday crazy party. So many 1986’s. No formal notes. This was bright and surprisingly fresh. My favorite of the evening. — 18 days ago

Tom, Shay and 2 others liked this

Orin Swift

Papillon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2012

Oak, sawdust, coco nibs, tobacco, black currant and blackberries. This is rich, deep and dark. Mostly secondary and tertiary flavors at this point, not a ton of fruit left. — 12 days ago

Dave and Joel liked this

Dominus Estate

Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1998

A bit faded but still an excellent pizza wine — 5 days ago

Merry Edwards

Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Such a great nose of fruit and flowers. Palate coating fruits and citrus and acidity. Outstanding — 25 days ago

Tom, Leo and 6 others liked this
Tom Casagrande

Tom Casagrande Influencer Badge

One of my favorite labels too

Beringer Vineyards

Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Wonderful, aromatic nose. Beautiful deep purple color. Great balance with strong tannins. Hints of black currant, oak, and dark fruit on the palate. Dry with a long lingering finish. Great wine. — 4 days ago

Ridge Vineyards

Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel Blend

Mo
9.2

A superb Zinfandel blend that tastes great now and possesses the requisite structure to age. Ridge sets the standard in American winemaking. Their corpus of high quality wines is unmatched in America and challenges the entire industry worldwide. — 5 days ago

Château Musar

Bekaa Valley Red Blend 2000

2000 vintage. Ancient. Otherworldly. Eternal and undying. The ultimate vampire wine. $101 a bottle resto cost. Picked up a 6-pack and we’ll see how it does. You either get it or you don’t. 7.8.26. — 7 days ago

Ted, Paul and 18 others liked this
Daniel Bloom

Daniel Bloom

I used to sell @ChateauMusar to unsuspecting customers at an airport wine bar with a forward thinking mgr.
Snuck it into flights of three samples and then watched as whole glasses were ordered and minds widened.
Now…I’m taken aback at what these beauties command.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego Premium Badge

@Daniel Bloom For the pricing of a 25 year old wine that kicks absolute tuckus and blows minds, it’s ridiculously affordable.

Ridge Vineyards

Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2022

It is time for my #FridayCabernetfix.

Dark ruby in color with a purple rim.

Beautiful nose and medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with nice complexity.

Showing red and black fruits with cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee and light green vegetables.

Spicy finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This iconic Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Santa Cruz Mountains in California is still very young, but already delicious, even by itself.

Needs a few hours to open up properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 30 years. Showing good potential to become a 95+ point wine.

A great sipping wine that paired beautifully with my Lamb chops.

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in American oak barrels for 20 months.

13.8% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$300.
— 12 days ago

Jay, Tom and 11 others liked this

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

2018 vintage. From magnum. Last tasted 3.19.26 (9.4), 12.5.25 (9.4), 1.31.25 (9.4) and 10.26.23 (9.5). Decanted and tasted after one hour. Yeahhh. 7.1.26. — 14 days ago

Jeroen, Ted and 14 others liked this
Neil Valenzuela

Neil Valenzuela

Great wine! Cheers!

Cakebread Cellars

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

Ted
9.0

Served to warm. I do enjoy cake bread. Very young. Needs a minute — 22 days ago

Jeni
with Jeni

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

4th of July wine!!! Celebrating an iconic winery. — 11 days ago

Joe, Joel and 6 others liked this

Duckhorn Vineyards

Napa Valley Merlot 2023

John W
9.0

Dark ruby coloration. On the nose, cardamom and chocolate. On the palate, currant, plum and spice. Highly tannic. — 10 days ago

Frank Family Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

A very good Cab given to me for a Christmas present one year by my brother. Drank on 6/27/26 with Matt — 18 days ago

Caymus Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

As always, a perfect pairing with steak. — 24 days ago

Sagee and Robin liked this

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2022

2022 vintage. From Coravin. The same vintage Overture shows better currently and likely for quite some time. 2022 a fairly pilloried Napa vintage. Feel this could be similar to the 2011's that are finally showing to the best of their abilities now. Give this a decade and a half but don't expect it to eventually show top-notch like the 1987, 1994, 1997, 2001 or 2012. 6.24.26. — 21 days ago

Jan, Bob and 14 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Complete agreement.
Neil Valenzuela

Neil Valenzuela

🔥🔥🔥

Harlan Estate

Napa Valley Proprietary Red Blend 2022

Somm David T
9.2

Two things were true tasting this 2022, it wasn’t their best bottling & it was no near ready to drink. Hard to tell which is more true. Maybe, it improves in time?

2022 Napa Cabernet’s more than less boil down to when did you harvest, before or after the 10 days of intense heat during the harvest window. #

2026 Taste of Oakville.
— a month ago

Tom, Scott@Mister and 8 others liked this

Stags' Leap Winery

Napa Valley Petite Sirah 2020

This is a full bodied wine providing intense, concentrated flavors of blueberries, raspberries, violets, and cassis, with an underlying layer of dried herbs. It has quite high tannins that provide a chalky mouthfeel, but it’s balanced nicely by med/high acidity. On the finish, notes of earthy bitter chocolate accompany the fruit and violets, and the tannins provide just a slightly drying mouthfeel. I think this wine would go well with something robust like ribeye, lamb, or smoked ribs/brisket. I had it with sausage and mushroom pizza, and after the first glass it became a bit too much. — a month ago

Tom, Matt and 3 others liked this