Bill Mowry

9.1

This limited release of Chateau Montelena’s Blanc de Blanc sparkling celebrates the 50th anniversary of the JOP with grapes from one of the three vineyards that produced the winning 1972 chardonnay vintage. Crisp with orange and peach on the nose green apple, lemon, and a hint of ginger on the pallet. — 20 hours ago

with Lou, Amelia and 1 other

Andrea Watt

8.9

Apricot, lemon, and pineapple. Crisp and zesty. — a month ago

Andrea Watt

9.0

Plum and pepper with a touch of leather. — 2 months ago

Andrea Watt

9.2

A little lemon zest, a touch of pear and oak. Rich but fresh. — 3 months ago

Andrea Watt

9.1

Coffee, violet, and leather with cherry and prune. Rich and deep. — a year ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1994 vintage. Nice fill with a slightly shrunken and fully saturated cork. Durand helped plenty in the opening assist. Not decanted and tasted after 1.25 hours open. Hadn’t tasted since the early 2000’s. Definitely dropped all the baby fat. Toffee, coffee and chocolate covered cherries in the nose. Light medium body (thought it would be a touch bigger). Still plenty of focus but slightly less grip than desired. Can it match biggie shizz like Montelena, Dunn, Diamond Creek, BV GDL Reserve, Mondavi Reserve, Araujo, Peter Michael Les Pavots, Mayacamas, etc? No. Is it really really nice? Absolutely. Can hold another 5-6 years at this juncture before boarding the downhill bell curve train. 11.8.24. — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2019 vintage. From a 375 ml format. Amongst what passes for the ne plus ultra in Napa cabbage these days. Rich. Overtly sumptuous. Modicum of umami on the finish. Restrained/polite company version of a fruit bomb. Too extracted/manipulated without representative tannins for this old-school Dunn/Diamond Creek/Mayacamas/Montelena guy but still verry nice for this style. Dunno where this settles in twenty years but that's someone else's problem down the road. 7.7.24. — 2 years ago

Bill Mowry

9.3

100% Petite Sirah. Starts with dark ripe fruit including blackberries, blueberry, raspberry, and cedar and forest notes with semisweet chocolate and creamy finish. Very age able with hints of tannins that set up the structure of the wine. — 18 days ago

with Amelia

Andrea Watt

9.3

Oak, leather, blackberry, and hazelnut. Richer and bolder than I expected for the age. — a month ago

Andrea Watt

9.5

Oak, leather, blackberry, cherry, and hazelnut. — 2 months ago

Andrea Watt

8.9

Mineral, pear, lavender, and lemon zest. Crisp and slightly tart. — 3 months ago

Tree Kilpatrick

9.2

Definitely old color-wise. Brick-orange. Aroma is old bricks and books. Also has a citrus/orange vibe. Flavors are strange and hint funky. Plenty of acid. Still zippy. Complexity has stuck around. The basic background is excellent. A classic aged wine with the strange background of a classic. This has the ghost of Zin in it. Herbal minty side. Not really Zin of today, but strange and fun to try all these years later. A unique wine drinking experience. Held up in a strange and fun way. — 4 months ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Plush and plummy. Dark fruit. Rich and lucid with hints of iodine and dried herbs. Gorgeous stuff. Very pure — 2 years ago

with BOT, Jean-Francois and 2 others

Shay A

9.2

One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group.

Always a treat to open a birth year wine. I had this last year and this bottle seemed to have more stuffing. It was less muddled/clay driven and more distinctly black fruit and spice heavy. Next to a ‘79 Montelena, it wasn’t as full-bodied, but it certainly had more tannin. The tannic finish was quite pronounced and bolstered throughout the lunch. Mid-palate was herbal and black currant with faint tart red fruit and tobacco. Fun to drink. — 3 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.5

Virtually impossible to tell this wine is 10 years old! Still so vibrant with acidity and has a decent amount of fruit left. The pear and lemon are softer, the oak and slate are a little more prevalent. Developing a touch more brioche but if I tasted it blind I don’t think I’d identify it as 10 years old at all. — 22 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.4

Rich but bright with oak and citrus and a touch of white floral notes and a touch of peach. — a month ago

Andrea Watt

9.5

More fruit forward with cherry and blackberry over oak. Bright and fresh. — 2 months ago

Andrea Watt

9.4

Cedar and cocoa with leather. Some bleed on color but Imperial has held up surprisingly well! — 3 months ago

Paul Woolls

9.8

Still strong! What fun! — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 4 , wine 2. This was quite a difficult wine to read at first , again quite closed , mineral and tobacco edged . Dark fruits. On the palate rounder than expected , good richness and balance , dark cherry , blackberry fruit . Good rounded tannin and ok length . Quite obviously Bordeaux in the context of this tasting , though I had this as the Lynch Bages 1982 when it was actually the Brane Cantenac 1986 …..I give up ! 90

This was an interesting , though challenging tasting , all served blind in flights of 2 wines , 3 flights of 1 Napa and 1 Bordeaux and 1 of 2 Bordeaux; served in a random sequence . The fact that at least a couple of wines were not pristine didn’t help , though if you will taste 8 , 40 year old wines that is probably par for the course . I found it relatively easy to spot whether what was in the glass was Napa or Bordeaux but didn’t actually get a single wine completely correct ! Probably overall the winner of the tasting was Napa (won the 3 rounds 2-1) as they had more suave polished , rounded personalities. Many put the wines the wrong way round , imagining that Napa was Bordeaux etc. The 1982s in general showed poorly too much funk and brett on the Lynch and Talbot but the Duhart showed surprisingly well . The 86s both showed pretty well and equalled the Dominus (even though I didn’t think we had a pristine bottle) . The Montelena was enjoyable , though was the first to oxidise whilst the Inglenook was the biggest positive surprise , still drinking surprisingly well at 47 . — a year ago