Michael Chelus

9.0

Cherry, watermelon, raspberry, currant and hints of lemon. Good acidity and balance. — 11 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2002 vintage. Nice fill, good cork. Decanted with a respectable amount of powdery sed. Smelled great during decanting. Tasted 1.5 hours after opening/decanting. Expected light body with delicate tendrils. Medium body with a light palate footprint. Holy shazzbaat. This was absolutely firing. Like top of the pops, straight up to number one. Exceptional knitting and in a perfect spot now. Go all the way back to the inaugural 1982 vintage with this winery’s cabernet…thought my all-time fave was the 1991 altho the 1986 and 1987 were special. The 2020, picked early, thus avoiding the fires, is phenomenal as well. This was on another level and have had approx 150 bottles of Spottswoode Cab in the last three + decades. It was probably the best out of all of them. Difficult to imagine Napa Cab better than this. Power and finesse on display. Not improving but can hold this intensity for another 4-5 years. 12.24.24. — a day ago

Jeffrey Paul

9.5

Made a big family dinner last Sunday night, not often we get everyone around the table with travel and sports, so kicked it up another notch with a lovely wine — a month ago

Brandon Boesch

9.2

This is very nice. Velvety mouthfeel, a lot of fruit, berry jam, some herbs and pepper, not much tannin. I’d definitely buy again. This is a crowd pleaser bigger red. — a month ago

LM Segal

9.8

Liquorice, graphite over black and dark blue fruit. Fresh and powerful. Big but at the same time lithe and restrained in delivering layers of secondary flavours - asian spice and dried earth. Phenomenal. — 13 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

2002 vintage. Last tasted 10.06.22 (9.4). Similar "gliding along" impressions with feminine characteristics. This bottle (nice fill, cork and decent sed) was a goody. Decanted and tasted after 5 mins, 30 mins and 2 hours. Bit more structure evident after two hours open as to be a different, yet fantastic, wine. Funny how some of these underwhelming, less than aggro wines can take on another life of their own, on their terms, by gently removing all doubt. Still another 5-7 years-easy. 11.21.24. — a month ago

Rick Phillips

9.6

After 35 years I was not expecting much. Especially when the cork disintegrated on opening. Aureated on decanting and was happily surprised. After about 20 minutes opened to dark chocolate, leather but so smooth. The last glass was pure delight. Howell Mountain at its best! — 14 days ago

with Letha

Jeffrey Trezek

9.5

One of the faves for Shiraz. Big, bold, yet easy to drink. Punchy with black and red fruits, not to tannic. — a day ago

Mark Rosse

9.2

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

Jay Kline

9.3

Served alongside beef short rib, xo sauce, pickled mustard seed, cumin stir-fried asparagus. Yes, the 2003 Dominus is big. However, it is also balanced and showing classic Napa typicity with beautifully ripe and some slightly wizened black and red fruit, tobacco, cocoa, some purple flowers and baking spices. I found this to be quite balanced after all the air it saw. Wonderful structure for continued aging as well. Drink now through 2043. — 2 months ago