Jay Kline

9.1

Opened 24 hours prior and decanted for sediment before returning to the bottle; enjoyed over the course of two days. The 1981 pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of tart brambles and plums, green bell pepper, tobacco, leather, all of the decomposing earth and soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium, mostly integrated tannins with medium+ acid, borderline high. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. Overall, a wine that is a reflection upon the vintage and at 43 years of age, that’s a big compliment. The 1981 is very much alive and will likely live for a very long time. However, it is backward, rustic, and somewhat tough to love unless you’re an old-school masochist. But I’m guilty and this wine is charming despite all of its green character. Drink now and over the next 30 years probably. — 2 years ago

Nick Arensdorf

9.4

Bold leather and sweet vanilla oak with titch of anise bouquet, cooked black cherries and berry reduction aroma, borderline smoky with suggestion of dried thyme/basil; earthy richness; semi dry, super smooth tannin, and mild acidity. Garnet color. Yum! — 6 years ago

Martin Sher

9.1

Viscous even borderline oily. Could have used a bit more acidic zing with all the amazing seafood tonight, but it was versatile enough. Restaurant Fiskekrogen. Amazing fish if you find yourself in Gothenburg Sweden. — 7 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

8.9

Vibrant, pale ruby. Reserved nose, hint of typical warm stone aromas for Priorat, not a lot of fruit, more dried red fruits/fruit leather. On the palate first is the noticable acidity. It has a energy to the tannins that is lively. And the finish is slightly firm and drying, borderline bitter.
I like the amplitude in this wine, but wish it offered a bit more breadth/richness of fruit, especially given its 14.5% alc. May bloom w time in bottle, with air or show more fruit on a different day since this is a biodynamicaly farmed wine. — 8 years ago

Andrew Lohse

9.0

Super ripe, juicy / floral, honey, baked orchard fruit / chamomile / med body, med acid / develops into and through finish. . . Clean with sweet, borderline tart fruit — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.7

My father: There is nothing wrong with this wine. (This means somewhere between 96-98 points... shoulder shrug = 93 points). Me: This is borderline epic (also means somewhere between 96-98 points...)
From Beckstoffer To Kalon, on the Oakville Bench, and widely considered the greatest vineyard in Napa Valley. Everything comes with such ease and gracefulness, yet it’s one of the most powerful wines I’ve ever tasted. Extraordinary balance and a wine that could serve as the definition of Cabernet Sauvignon. Currant, cassis, cranberry, pine, loam, chocolate, clove, cardamom, and cedar. Luc Morlet was the winemaker at Peter Michael in the early 2000s before creating his eponymous label in 2006. — 9 years ago

Gilbert Van Hassel

8.9

The wine is old and borderline maderized. Unfortunately just got a case of this. — 2 years ago

David Rein

9.3

An elegant wine that is very enjoyable and special but not quite elite. I’d actually give it a 9.35 as its borderline 9.4. Easily the heaviest Bottle of wine I’ve ever seen- which I personally think means quality. A friend brought it to dinner and it was the best of the night but can’t say It is worth the price tag if I had to purchase. Not a white but easily Complimented my sea bass and mussel meal perfectly. — 5 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

8.9

Borderline 9.0 it is very good but not outstanding. Definitely better on the palate than on the nose. On the palate it has a lovely sweet spice finish with hints of cedar, sage and clove. #pinotnoir #newzealand — 6 years ago

Gavin Baum

9.6

What can you say about a wine like this? I don't think there's any arguing that if nothing else it constitutes an incredible feat of engineering and basic human ingenuity. Dry extract is absolutely off the charts; fruit is borderline jammy but somehow still vibrant and succulent; and the structure is at once dense enough to cause a mild histamine reaction (not a frequent occurence for me) yet utterly silken in texture. It's incredible. Truly incredible. But frankly, nothing about this wine tastes like it came from this earth. Every sensory element of its overall gestalt is so exaggerated in scale as to seem utterly unnatural. It's cyborg wine. It performs all the tasks we expect of wine better than any natural wine ever could and yet there's no beauty to it. I'm scoring this highly because as a winemaker and vineyard manager I can only begin to conceive of the astronomical sums and herculean effort involved in producing such a monument to oenological wizardry. But when it comes to wine, all the money in the world can't buy a soul. — 7 years ago

Michael H

9.1

Not huge nose but perfectly matches what hits the palate. Light, subtle and delightful with just a hint of green Apple on the finish to give a touch of bite. Pretty sweet and borderline but given plenty more years will be perfect. Think the Spatlese would be ideal right now though only got the 15 and 16 of that. — 8 years ago

Michael Goldstein

9.2

Who doesn’t love a subdued natural that tastes faintly of icing sugar? This retains a Chardonnay’s oak, is borderline too sweet but balanced enough to make me want to gulp it like crazy. This would pair with a cheese board like JLo and Puff Daddy 👌🏻 — 8 years ago

Weijie Shi (Jay)

9.0

Very obvious dill weed and coconut on the nose with a hint of tobacco leaves. Fruit condition is ripe, borderline overripe. Delicious — 9 years ago

Jess

8.9

Pale lemon color.
Aromas of citrus,
Dry. Flavors of citrus, kiwi, mineral, borderline herbal. Notes are very green.

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 1/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — 3 years ago

Alvin Tan

9.9

Don’t have much experience with Brett but maybe that’s the stuff I didn’t like about this wine in the first few days. When that blew off this wine had herbaceous notes and was borderline savory for me. Don’t have a great reference point for such a wine but hopefully I get more opportunities to taste more of this in the future. — 4 years ago

Martin Sher

9.1

Almost amaro-like aromatics - gentian, Chinese 5 spice. Just peeking at maturity. Like Meletti. Which I love. But borderline overwhelming. Fascinating gamay. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Trying this next to the ‘11 Marcassin was quite interesting. This was borderline reductive in profile. More Chablis like than typical Cali chard. At 9yrs though, the bright fruit has darkened a bit...golden pear, kumquat, sea spray aromatics. Tart on the palate with oyster shell and bruised Granny Smith apple. — 7 years ago

with joe, Benjamin and 1 other

Blake Walker

9.0

Fruit forward. Cranberry. Mid weight. Borderline jammy. — 8 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.1

This is just a really delicious, enjoyable wine. Spiced cherries and sweet tobacco on the nose with hints of dark chocolate. On the palate smooth, lively, fresh and borderline gulp-able 🙌🏻 — 8 years ago

with Krystal

David Kline

9.4

Light Sumatra coffee notes, with dark cocoa nib and baked red plum with a borderline persimmon coat on. A drop of night blooming jasmine surfacing briefly and African violet, and a fat lily thickness. There are baked cherries and a smoky paprika, too. Black cherry, that coils dustily into a toasty oak and resin dappled raspberry and roobios bitterness and fine grained tannins. #brunello #poggiocastellare #PianBossolino #italianwines #montalchino #Tuscany #riserva #wineallyouwant — 9 years ago

with Courtney