Tom Garland

9.3

Double decant and pour(lots of chunky/fine sediment). A striking still dark ruby red color with bricking. On the nose: expressive notes of dried marchiano cherry, cassis, herbaceous, floral, minty eucalyptus, cinnamon, touch of funky earth. Taste: sultry, elegant, nice mouthfeel wine with dried cherry, tobacco, red clay, worn leather, lots of pepper, and a wet soil cocoa medium plus finish. YUM! Nice showing at 30 years! — a month ago

with Brenda

Jay Kline

9.2

Flight #1 of our 1997 Retrospective. Presented single-blind; no formal notes. On the nose, this shared similar characteristics to wine #3. The most striking of which was a powerful note of finely ground cumin on the nose. Fruit is mostly desiccated at this point; the structure keeping everything together, but just. I called this to be “Rubicon”. While clearly in the sunset of its life, this showed slightly less energy than the Dalla Valle but no less charm. Drink now.
— a year ago

Brian Hearty

9.2

2016. We really liked the way the oak rounded out this wine when compared to the slightly more tart Barbera d’Asti from the same producer that was poured as part of my daughter’s pairing. Paired with the Tajarin dalla forma finished in a wheel of gran kinara cheese. — 3 years ago

Nathan Renfro

9.5

A really great wine. Drinking fantastic now. Very floral nose. Almost black. Ripe blue and brackish fruit, firm yet silky tannins. Great mouthfeel. Graphite. Nice long finish. Great with a steak meal! — 2 months ago

Bisher Akil

9.2

Enjoyed September 2024
— 3 months ago

Paul T HB

9.8

Franc week ends on another great note, every bottle I’ve tried needed 2-3 days to really open up — a year ago

Al Archibald

9.6

The Black fruit are so balanced.. You could only dream of a CAB like this.. delicious smooth rich.. — 5 years ago

Raul Puga

9.5

Delicioso — 2 months ago

Norman Gennaro

9.5

Very good to excellent but somewhat restrained — 2 months ago

Daron Watson

9.5

aromatics begin with damson plum three quickly turn to black currant with waves of mocha, tapenade, and lavender on top

the palate is all about ripe and bright fruit, juicy and sometimes pastille-like, with the silkiest of tannins caressing the finish — a year ago