Lee Pitofsky

9.4

Excellent 08. Chave and Allemand nailed the difficult vintage in Northern Rhône, and 2008 Hermitage is showing beautifully tonight, fresh, elegant and detailed with aromas of juicy red berry fruit, bacon, herbs and smoky minerals. Perhaps a little rough around the edges as expected for the vintage but really, a beautiful rendition this year and it’s fully open and ready to drink. — 12 hours ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 7 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

Garnet core , terracotta rim . Spiced red fruit undergrowth , touch of brown sugar , grafite , tobacco , dried mushroom, touch of smoke . On the palate quite elegant red fruited , dried cranberry , red currant , still very much alive , just enough acidity. Slightly short on the finish , but with a round palate and a slightly sweet , brown sugar tinged finish . Still very much alive and enjoyable . Better than expected — 9 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Another great btl of this vintage consistent with my prior notes showing clean & pure aromas of dark cherry, raspberry, smoked meat, bacon fat with savory spice, graphite, pepper, olive & violet — 4 hours ago

Gilbert Van Hassel

9.6

Almost perfect. Stewed fruit, great bitterness, extremely round and perfect tannins. Close to a grand cru burgundy in a good year with 10-15 years of age. — 6 days ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Initially this was incredibly closed, but after 2 hours in the decanter it’s starting to open, tannic, very structured, very 1986 in its leanness, but incredible depth and length, not perfect, but still outstanding!! — 8 hours ago

with Jim

Freek Welter

10

Drinking, not tasting! Late release grande cuvee, vintage unknown, but somewhere between 1967 and 1981 — 15 days ago

Ella Cicone

9.0

Drank on Marmon. Sat well with me and easy to drink — 9 days ago

Joe Weinberger

9.4

This was still incredibly youthful. Would never have guessed ‘89. — 5 months ago

Willie Carter

9.8

What a superb wine, first and foremost. Just so beautiful and powerful. A deep, dark burgundy color in the glass. The nose is pure and alive with cherries and blackberries initially. Oak, as ever, along with a slight hint of vanilla and earth. Really pretty floral notes which accentuates the total package.

Terrific depth and balance here. Every now and again Napa reminds you of what it can really be. Very modern and elegant with so much personality. Everything here is restrained and refined. The fruit on the palate is dramatic and fresh. Vibrant red fruit with the customary woodsy elements. A touch of tobacco and well integrated smoke just for good measure. The finish is long and lusty and leaves you wanting more. Made for the long run for sure but so delicious now. A true gem of a wine. — 9 days ago