Tom Garland

9.3

Decant for sediment (lots of chunky/fine sediment) and pour. A stunning medium ruby red color with little signs of aging. On the nose: big inviting notes of dark fruit/currants, worn leather, herbaceous, smoked meat, funky earth, menthol. Taste: silky, evolved, expressive structure with brambly plum, currants, old leather, dark chocolate, graphite, and a black raspberry-iron-dried herb long finish. YUM! It's what's you want in an aged Napa cab, and glad to have just acquired 3 more bottles. — 5 days ago

with Brenda

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

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. — 4 years ago

Brad Jensen

9.4

Cork fell apart but the wine lives! Bought after Tiva’s baby shower, drank with Mr. Eckstein and Dad, the wine is a DEEP dark red, pale brick color to the edges, which needed about an hour or 2 to open up. The nose slowly emerged with ripe red fruits, crunchy ripe plums and cherries, with hints of soil and a little balsamic so far. Full bodied but not HUGE in alcohol, with a loooong palate with great pepper notes, ripe dark fruits, rasberry coulee, dark chocolate and long finish, softened fruits but still good acidity, with tannins just starting to emerge towards the finish and hints of briar and green peppercorn, with slight menthol freshness. This is at its prime right now! — 2 months 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. — 7 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 — 4 years ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.6

Tannic to the Max.
Bury these for another 15 years…
If you can find it. — 2 months ago

Kate Sidoti

10

Bought at Dunn&Sons in Cape Cod. Enjoyed on Thanksgiving 2024. Notes of cranberry, wet stone, forest floor and mosses. Exciting and unlike any other Pinot I’ve had. — 6 months 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. — a year 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. — 4 years ago