Jeroen Koenen

9.4

Great freshness and fruit purity. Lovely acidic silver linings. Backed up by some rusticity/sturdiness and a smoky, ashy, mineral finish. Still some chewy tannines present.
Peak drinking now, plenty of life ahead. — 13 days 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. — 4 months ago

Eric Urbani

9.3

Six Pinots, all made by Ed Kurtzman, of August West and Roar fame who also consults to Freeman and Mansfield Dunn. Ed joined our tasting. Elegant — 3 years ago

Dom Such

9.5

Wow. Yes. Tough vintage, cool year with late heat spike pushing ripeness. This 1999 showed the vintage character well, not a powerhouse but well balanced. Gorgeous layers and nuance from black fruited, pencil graphite, savory tobacco. Impeccable balance on palate with melted tannins and well judged acidity. — 16 hours ago

Delectable Wine

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9.8

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Trailer is a young wine that has a bit more mid-palate juiciness, texture and sweetness than the Howell Mountain Cabernet. Dark red fruit, blood orange, rose petals, and spice abound. This is a powerful, inky and explosive wine. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2024)
— 6 months ago

Doug Powers

9.3

Rich dark and red fruits, still some evident firm, tannic structure (but I guess cellaring Madiran is like cellaring Dunn Howell Mountain, as life may not be long enough for them to shed their tannins? LOL), long, lingering firm finish, really quite fine!! — 2 years ago

with Jim

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. — 14 days ago

Mandi Speidel

City Territory Chicago, Maverick Wine Company

8.9

Overdue Gardner Dunn Chicago Visit. “Comfort Food” for Lunch — 7 months ago

Eric Urbani

8.9

Six Pinots, all made by Ed Kurtzman, of August West and Roar fame who also consults to Freeman and Mansfield Dunn. Ed joined our tasting. Whole cluster, seemed a bit too steamy for my palate. — 3 years ago

Eric Urbani

9.3

Six Pinots, all made by Ed Kurtzman, of August West and Roar fame who also consults to Freeman and Mansfield Dunn. Ed joined our tasting. More fruity, slightly reduced. My #2. — 3 years ago