Cloud View 1999 with Beef Tenderloin

Cloud View 1999 Bordeaux Blend with Beef Tenderloin for intimate New Years' dinner

For a quiet News Years Eve dinner at home, Linda prepared a delicious beef tenderloin, with fresh baked bread, bacon mac-n-cheese, and peas and corn. I pulled from the cellar this aged vintage Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend as an ideal wine accompaniment.

I wrote about Cloud View in a detailed blogpost last summer - Cloud View Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. I wrote that the estate was sold and is now owned by Tim Mondavi of Continuum.  Excerpts from earlier posts ...

The Cloud View Vineyards estate was located on Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range that forms the eastern wall of Napa Valley, just south of Lake Hennessy and to the east of the Oakville AVA. The vineyards are grown between 1,000 and 1,500 feet above the Napa Valley floor. They were originally planted by owners Linda and Leighton Taylor who moved to Pritchard Hill in 1990 and began planting 23 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot on the 90 acre property five years later in 1995. 

The property eventually included 26 acres planted to Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot, planted by the original owners Linda and Leighton Taylor.

After selling the property, the Taylors had intended to continue the brand, but use purchased Pritchard Hill grapes but we've never seen any indication of a release from them. 

Pritchard Hill is the site of some of Napa's most prestigious labels including Brand, Bryant Family, Colgin, Del Dotto's ultra-premium Villa Del Lago, Ovid and one of our favorites, Chappellet and David Arthur.  We visited David Arthur on Pritchard Hill during our Napa Wine Experience in 2013, and previously, we visited Chappellet on other side of Pritchard Hill during our Pritchard Hill, Napa Valley Experience - Autumn '09 with our visit to long time resident/producer Chappellet Vineyards.

While Pritchard Hill is not an official appellation (AVA - American Viticultural Area), it certainly could be, but lacks a sponsor to apply and lobby for designation. Donn Chappellet, owner/producer, the earliest settler in the modern era owns the 1971 Pritchard Hill trademark and firmly declares, “It will not become its own AVA.”

This 1999 Cloud View release was the inaugural release of wine and this label from this estate. Production was limited with 400 cases produced in 1999, 560 cases were made in 2000, growing to 2,000 cases were made in 2004.

We have six vintages of this label, from the 1999 through the 2005 vintage. A fellow Cellertracker'er contacted me year before last, seeking one of our vintages to fill out his vertical collection. We traded bottles to each fill out our verticals in a perfect trade scenario. Of our six vintages we hold of this label, we selected the oldest one, tonight, as part of cellar inventory management. Also, we recently drank a ultra-premium Napa Bordeaux from this same 1999 vintage, so I was eager to compare the two. 

This vintage release is a blend of 44% Merlot and 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, all sourced from the winery's estate vineyards. Interesting that they publish the lower percentage Merlot first and the majority Cabernet second (on the rear label - as shown here). Note this very limited production release was acquired at auction at Winebid.com.

The winemaker for these wines was Karen Bower Turjanis who previously worked under Paul Hobbs at Lokoya and Cardinale Estate. We tasted a Cardinale Estate just the other evening, as featured in a blogpost in these pages - Boys night features flight of ultra-premium Napa Cabernets. Fernando Espinoza was the cellarmaster and owner Linda Taylor was the vineyard manager.

The entire 85-acre Cloud View property was acquired by Continuum, the wine label owned by brother and sister Tim and Marcia Mondavi with Margrit Biever Mondavi, widow of the legendary Robert Mondavi. The Continuum brand was founded in 2005, and is Tim Mondavi's first venture since leaving the Robert Mondavi Winery in 2003. Both the 2006 and 2005 vintages were made from grapes from a leased Oakville property, and the Pritchard Hill purchase helps realize the family's goal of being a single-vineyard estate winery. The switch from an Oakville bottling to a Pritchard Hill bottling began with the 2008 vintage.

The late Robert Mondavi, who was also a partner in the Continuum brand, visited the site with his family before he passed away in May of 2008. "It's so meaningful that he saw it, to see where we are headed in the future," said Carissa.

Winemaker Notes for the Cloud View Vineyard's 1999 Proprietary Red Table Wine .... "is rich with intensely dark ripe fruit, round mid-palate and a long lingering finish of velvety tannins. The myriad of aromas includes anise and fennel, black olive and wild ginger, and is supported by a solid base of dark fruit and the toasty vanilla of fine French oak. On the palate, the ripe fruit opens up to hues of raspberry, blackberry, and dark black cherry with subtleties of lavender. The tannic backbone, which draws itself directly from this mountain site, weaves seamlessly with the warmth of creamy oak. We have crafted this wine for enjoyment now and well into the future. Aroma & Color Earthy–red dust, dark ripe fruit, wild sage, anise, fennel, black olive, ginger, vanilla oak. Profoundly garnet with the deep colors unique to mountain fruit. Flavor - Dark ripe fruit, raspberry, blackberry, lavender, velvety tannins, and subtle, creamy oak. Overall comments - Lush, delicious, round mid-palate, long finish, mouth filling.

I featured other vintages of this label in these pages in these blogposts and Cellertracker posted tasting notes.

In February 2018 - I wrote I like this wine: and gave it 92 Points.

This was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, with firm concentrated structured core of brambley earthy black currant and black berry fruits with a layer of sweet caramel accented by tones of cassis, sweet spicy tangy oak and silky tannins on the lingering finish.

I featured it in a blogpost in these pages - Cloud View Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2004.https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/02/cloud-view-napa-valley-pritchard-hill.html

In June last summer, 2023 I featured this label in these pages in this blogpost - Cloud View Napa Valley Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The hill is named for homesteader Charles Pritchard who planted vines and produced the 1890 vintage of Zinfandel and Riesling. Pritchard Hill’s modern era began in 1967, when Donn Chappellet acquired and developed their property on the advice of André Tchelistcheff, then at Beaulieu Vineyard.

When Chappellets bought the property, there was an existing vineyard planted there to Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, Gamay and Johannisberg Riesling. He eventually replaced these with Bordeaux varieties, except for a brief experiment with Chardonnay. Chappellet's approximately 100 acres of planted vines makes their vineyard the biggest on Pritchard Hill.

Following Chappelett over the next decade were two Long families, unrelated. Bob Long and his wife, Zelma (then the chief enologist for Robert Mondavi, established Long Vineyards, which is no longer operating), and David Arthur Long and his father, Donald, planted their vineyard in 1978. Today, David Arthur Vineyards is owned by David, his brother, Bob, and Bob’s wife, Joye. Bob Long also has his own brand, Montagna. 

 

 Pritchard Hill is known for red soil known as Sobrante, described by David Arthur’s and Montagna’s winemaker, Nile Zacherle, as “volcanic clay loam.”The terrain is littered with huge boulders which some wineries, like Colgin and Brand, dynamited to clear the land to make it suitable for planting.

The high altitude well drained poor soils produce low yields of small, intensely flavored grapes with thick skins. Pritchard Hill sits above the fog line which comes up to 1,200 feet above sea level allowing for extra sunshine when the lower elevation is shrouded in fog. Notably, on Howell Mountain, further north in the Vaca Range, the 1200 foot elevation where the fog stops, is the demarcation point between Napa Valley and Howell Mountain appellations' designated wines.

Legendary winemaker Philippe Melka, one of our favorite producers, makes wines at Gandona, Brand and was Bryant Family’s winemaker until 2006, calls Pritchard Hill “the best of both worlds: Oakville sophistication with the extra intensity of a hillside.” We featured a Phillip Melka Bordeaux Blend during that same tasting the other evening mentioned above with the Cardinale, as featured in the blogpost Boys night features flight of ultra-premium Napa Cabernets.

The Brand estate had been owned by the Miner Family Winery till it was purchased by businessman Ed Fitts. Portuguese Gandona owners bought the land from Bob Long (Zelma’s husband) when Long Vineyards ceased operations. 

Another of our other favorite wines in our cellar is Arns Melanson Vineyard Syrah produced by John Arns over on Howell Mountain. He obtains the fruit for this single vineyard designated label from the 10.5 acre vineyard on Pritchard Hill that is planted to Cabernet, Chardonnay and Syrah. Greg Melanson acquired the vineyard back in 1988. Previously, it was owned by Round Pond; Bob and Zelma Long planted the original vineyard in the early 1970s. For years, Melanson sold fruit to the likes of Heidi Barrett (for La Sirena) before starting his own brand. We drank this label just the other evening and will post it in these pages soon.

Cloud View 2005 rear label

The Bryant Family Pritchard Hill 13 acre estate was developed in 1985 by the all-star team that included winemaker Helen Keplinger, consultant Michel Rolland and vineyard manager David Abreu. Todd Alexander worked there on Pritchett Hill where he gained notoriety when his wines earned high ratings and critical praise. There he learned the craft under legendary viticulturist David Abreu and winemaking consultant Michel Rolland, following in the footsteps of notable producer Phillip Melka before moving to Walla Walla Washington to take on winemaking and production at Force Majeure.

David Del Dotto, developer of a vast portfolio of Napa properties and brands, and producer of one of the largest collections in our cellar knew "Pritchard Hill was a key vineyard site from drinking Bryant Family,” he says. “David Arthur convinced me of the potential of these wines.” From the broad portfolio of Del Dotto labels, he reserves the Villa del Lago brand for his ultra-premium estate Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ovid was developed in 2003 by former software entrepreneurs Dana Johnson and Mark Nelson who bought their vineyard land in 1998 and launched Ovid five years later. They assembled the superstar team including vineyard manager David Abreu, winemaker Austin Peterson (who worked with Michel Rolland at Château Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol) and consulting winemaker Andy Erickson (formerly of Screaming Eagle, now at Dalla Valle).

The Cloud View Vineyards estate ceased operation with the 2006 vintage when it was sold to Tim Mondavi when he struck out on his own after the family broke away from Robert Mondavi Winery. When he acquired the Pritchard Hill estate and founded Continuum Estate, the 62 acre vineyard was the second largest estate in the region. Note that the Cloud View brand was not sold so we might see it re-emerge in some fashion at some point in the future although the website is gone and the domain name is for sale.

In November 2021, fellow Cellartracker'er Thirsty1 wrote about this wine in a vertical tasting.

"The 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 Cloud View Vineyards wines were enjoyed side by side at Bourbon Steak with Rib Cap, grilled Vidalia onions and crispy brussel sprouts. The wines were left upright for a day, then opened with an ah-so at home an hour before dinner to keep the corks together, then quickly reinserted to minimize oxygenation. The clear winner was the 2002 - in full flight. Still exhibiting youthful fruit and towering structure, this beauty had weight, leather, dark hanging fruit and stunning aroma. Lingering, lasting finish. It still has much life ahead of it. The 2001 was a bit of a surprise. It was massive and brutish, but reserved. As if it were a towering building draped in a cape. The 2000 was a shocker. From a horrible vintage, it excelled. Not near the greatness of the other vintages there was no expectation it would be good, and it was - just to a lesser note. The 2003, 04 and 05 were fairly interchangeable; mature fruit, acid and tannins in balance. All delicious in their own right. The 1999 was the oldest and looked the part. It was brick around the rim and had that dried blackberry note, plowed earth and cocoa powder texture. It was the only one, aside from the 2000, that I would say was on the decline. Incredible wines on an incredible night."

I've been waiting for an opportunity to enjoy this rare label and the other five vintage releases that I hold in the cellar. This tasting was consistent with earlier tastings of other vintages.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, rich concentrated full round but approachable balanced and integrated dark berry and plum fruit accented by floral, smokey vanilla, clove spice and notes of camphor with a long tangy acidic silky tannin laced lingering finish. 

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=13924

The website www.cloudviewvineyards.com is no longer active and the domain name is for sale.

Rosemount Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

Rosemount Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

We ordered a carry out pizza from Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria. I opened from our cellar this aged vintage Aussie Shiraz for a full throttle big red.

This is one of our favorite Australian wines from this era, one that we collected going back to the 1992 vintage. We held a decade of vintages of this label including every vintage during the nineties. Over the years, we discovered and collected more Australian Shiraz' from other producers but this was one of our benchmarks. 

This 1999 vintage was one of our favorites from those early years and is one of the few remaining bottles. In those days, these were bottled in six packs which is how we bought them so we invariably had six bottles per vintage (or more).

Rosemount Estate began producing high-quality wines from its founding in 1974. Rosemount’s 1980 Show Reserve Chardonnay won a rare Double Gold Medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London, England, establishing the company’s reputation for quality in Australia and overseas.

Rosemount purchased the 100-year-old Ryecroft winery and vineyards in 1991 and developed other vineyards in the South Central Australia McLaren Vale region, and they source fruit from these vineyards to this day.

The McLaren Vale wine region lies 40 kilometres south Adelaide, the South Australian capital. Built around the coast of the Great Australian Bight, the region has a Mediterranean feel, with its seaside location.

McLaren Vale is a diverse region boasting a mix of sub-regions with different characteristics each best-suited for different varietals, depending on their geology, soils, elevation, rainfall and distance from the sea. Over 18000 acres of the region are covered in vineyards. While 51% of the McLaren Vale vines are Shiraz, the region is also home to many other varieties including Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet, and lesser known varieties such as Grenache, Mouvèdre (Mataro), Fiano and Vermentino.  

With this 1999 vintage, Rosemount Estate was awarded Winery of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. In 2000, Rosemount Estate was awarded Winemaker of the Year and Best Australian Producer at the IWSC in London and Best Australian Producer at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), and in 2011 were awarded New World Winery of the Year from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Rosemount Estate’s Balmoral Syrah is a flagship label, sitting at the top of the Rosemount Estate family tree, achieving international recognition, winning both a Trophy and a Gold medal at the coveted Decanter World Wine Awards in 2011 and again in 2012 and regularly receiving 90+ points in the notable US Wine Spectator across multiple Balmoral vintages.

Balmoral is predominantly sourced from the McLaren Vale sub-region of Seaview, in the northwest corner of the region, northwest of the town center sitting above the McLaren Vale township at roughly 110 metres above sea level. The soils range from quite sandy to red clays with quite a bit of surface iron stone.

 

The Balmoral label is produced from premium parcels from carefully selected vineyard blocks (ranging from 50 to 100 years old) that produce tiny quantities of exceptional fruit that typically delivers intense depth of flavour, superb length and fine acidity with a soft, velvety tannin structure. 

 

Rosemount Estate Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

This release was #37 of Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2002 with a rating of 93 points. It was awarded 92 points by Wine Enthusiast, and 90 points from Wine and Spirits and Jeremy Oliver.

The Winemaker Notes for this release cited: "A classic, collectable Syrah - one of the best red wines to make it over here from Australia. Made from grapes grown on 50-100 year old vineyards, this McLaren Vale classic is matured nearly two years in new American oak prior to bottling. The richly textured fruit and deep, velvety tannins interweave beautifully into a long, harmonious finish. 15 years plus cellaring potential." 

This certainly held up for the prescribed fifteen years. Here at 22 years it is holding its own, showing well, but starting to show diminution from aging. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were all in ideal condition, considering their age. 

I started to remove the cork with a traditional corkscrew and it was a bit soft and threatened to come apart. Switching to the ahso two pronged cork puller it extracted intact. 

The color was garnet colored with some brown bricking starting to set in, medium-full bodied, the full blackberry and black currant fruits are starting to give way to the non-fruit notes of tobacco, spice box, hints of pepper, anise and black olive with tangy acidity on the lingering finish. 

RM 88 points.

My first published review of this label was back in Aug, 19, 2003 - Rosemount Estate Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999, RM 92, WS 93 SS $53, Huge forward long mouth full of currant, plum, blackberry and anise. Bigger and more robust than other recent years. Try it and see why this is one of my perennial favorites - even better this year! 

 

I published follow on reviews: Rosemount Estates Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999 - Aug, 19, 2003, Nov 23, 2002, and my most recent previous review, September 17, 2016.

 

My previous review for this wine: This vineyard is one of the few in Australia with vines dating back a hundred years. The concentrated fruit is akin to the Chateau Tanunda with its legendary 100 year old vines. The story of  we Pour Boys discovering and then capturing the US allocation of this wine is written often in these pages. 

Dark inky purple garnet colored, medium-full bodied, forward  currant, plum, blackberry fruits turning to blueberry on the mid-palate, accented by a layer of anise, raisin and fig with hints of clove and spice.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3000 

 

Fellow Cellartrackers' reviews for this label: 

12/11/2020 - bdhanna Likes this wine: 89 Points  "Just past peak. A near perfect cork after two decades in the bottle. Consumed over two days. Popped and poured this wine, it opened up quickly. On day two the fruit was still fresh, this wine had softened to reveal increased depth and integrated complexity.

Dark burgundy color with little to no oxidation and clarity was medium. Aromas of bing cherry and raspberry. Flavors of black cherry cola, black pepper, raspberry framboise, leather, and a little funk. This Syrah has a medium finish. This is my last bottle of this vintage. Always a great fruit source and a good winemaking effort."

12/31/2018 - corkus Likes this wine: 94 Points "Purple brownish color. Mint, pepper, musk and brambles on the nose. Palette of pepper, blackberry, black cherry with mint overtones and a creamy light tannic finish. Still quite a long finish with a good acid spine. The fruit is not as prominent as it was and I think it's starting to get close to the end of it's drinking window, Hint: Be careful of the cork, it's starting to crumble!"

9/12/2015 - Bsmith457 Likes this wine: 95 Points "Very dark almost black colour. On second night, aromas primarily of oak and leather. Black berry, pepper and a sweet cherry flavour. Surprisingly fresh still. Tannins have not taken over at all and the fresh fruit is still evident. Still looks like it has few years in it."

6/18/2020 - Bsmith457 Likes this wine: 93 Points "Dark dirty crimson. Dry spice, rotted wood. Sweet plum, strawberry, black cherry, coffee beans. Full body, tannin is remarkably fine. Acidity is a bit low. Some signs of oxidation when first opened, the cork broke apart but could be recovered. Recovers very well, impressive wine for its age. I was worried it would be flat but still has good flavours, even if a bit dull. It’s my last bottle, but if I had more I would be happy to open them."

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3000

https://www.rosemountestate.com/

 

 

 

 

Marco's Kitchen LaGrange

Marco's Kitchen LaGrange (IL) for fabulous fine dining experience

We were invited to join son Sean and Michelle and new grand-baby Lavender for an early New's Years Eve dinner at Marco's Kitchen in LaGrange (IL). 

I pulled from the cellar a special aged Pauillac that we took BYOB for the occasion. 

Marco's Kitchen is new to downtown LaGrange, just south of the Metra rail. 

This was our first visit to Marco's Kitchen and we will look forward to returning again. The warm ambiance and stylish setting has a chic upbeat vibe atmosphere with a menu of delectable artfully crafted cuisine selections with hospitable service. 

Chef Marco brings 44 years of cooking and restaurant experience with an imaginative and artfully crafted international cuisine - as noted on the menu, "From Rome to the Amalfi Coast, From Paris to Barcelona, and from Napa Valley to Puerto Vallarta!".  

There is a large bakery oven in which they bake fresh breads daily.

The seating is limited, but nicely arranged and spaced to be cozy and comfortable. With limited number of tables and Covid sensitive social distance spacing, reservations are a must.

There is a limited but carefully selected winelist offering appropriate selections to accompany the menu and they provided skillful attentive BYOB service as well with quality glassware and appropriate decanting of our vintage wine in light of what follows.

Server Jorge was unfazed and handled gracefully the unruly cork of our 22 year old bottle that crumbled and came apart on extraction.

We ordered a broad selection of starters and everything was wonderful, delicious, delectable and artfully presented. 

For starters we had:

A Dozen Bevan Prime Oysters on the half shell, fresh, large. 

The highlight of the evening for me was the Chicken Liver, Shitake Mushroom Cognac Mousse Pate that was delicious and a perfect accompaniment to my aged Bordeaux. 

Gorgonzola Stuff Black Mission Figs Wrapped in Proscuitto di Parma and Escargot served in a pastry and an imaginative brown sauce. 

Our dinner entree selections were the Pan Seared Idaho Rainbow Trout Almondine (above), Oven Roasted Pistachio encrusted Australian Lamb Chops, and from the starter list, Maryland Lump Crab and Polenta Cakes, and the Pan Seared Cinnamon Chipotle Rubbed Diver Scallops (shown below).

 
There is an extensive dessert menu with several offerings of Creme Brulee, tart pastries, Tiramisu, dark chocolate fruit tartlet and a combination medley plate (shown below).   

We ordered from the winelist this Chardonnay for white wine selection - a perfect pairing with the seafood choices. 

Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2018

This is from David Ramey, one of the best known and most highly regarded winemakers in California. He is widely acknowledged to be among the pioneers who raised the bar for American winemakers and brought California to the forefront of the international wine world. 

 

David Ramey spent his early career creating benchmark wines for such wineries as Matanzas Creek, Chalk Hill, Dominus and Rudd. At Dominus Winery, Christian Moueix agreed to allow David to "make a little Chardonnay on the side".

 

David and wife Carla founded Ramey Wine Cellars in 1996. David left Rudd following the 2001 vintage to go independent but continues to consult with a number of well known wineries and brands.

Ramey's groundbreaking work with indigenous yeasts and malolactic and barrel fermentation yielded a new California style that was richer, more lush and silky smooth than previously known, a new benchmark style now emulated by many.

He produces Ramey Chardonnays from the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, and Carneros, as well as single vineyard efforts from the Hudson, Hyde, and Ritchie vineyards.

 

This label and vintage release combines grapes from a selection of five sites planted from 1978 to 2006, the biggest contribution from the producer's estate Westside Farms, as well as Dutton, Woolsey Road and Rochioli Allen vineyards, among others.

 

This release was awarded 95 points by Wine Enthusiast, 94 points by Wine & Spirits, and 93 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck. 

 

Light straw colored, medium bodied, vibrant fresh, clean crisp acidity with spice and floral notes, hints of stone and citrus, almonds and white blossoms, silky with mineral and freshness on a long finish. 

 

The bright acidity was almost overpowering for standalone casual sipping but when paired with the food it was a perfect complement that amplified the enjoyment of both the food and the wine. 

 

RM 91 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3618843

https://www.rameywine.com/wine-release/2018-chardonnay-russia-river-valley/

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron Pauillac Bordeaux 1999

Celebrating the New Year and for this special dinner occasion I selected and brought BYOB a special memorable wine from our cellar. Linda and I walked the grounds of the magnificent Chateau when we toured Pauillac and the Medoc of Bordeaux during our Bordeaux Wine Experience in 2019.

 

 

I liked this wine such that I last opened it on my birthday back in 2015. Tonight's tasting experience was consistent with the notes I published at that time when I wrote the post below.

"Following the last couple UGC Bordeaux tastings where this wine was one of the standouts, I selected this from the cellar to showcase my birthday dinner. This is classic Bordeaux at its best. Even though we PNP - pop and poured this without decanting, it immediately resonated from the glass with classic Bordeaux bouquet and flavors of dark berry fruits, graphite, violets and hints of smoky tar, tobacco and cassis. Dark ruby  colored, medium bodied, polished and nicely balanced, soft and almost delicate for a Pauillac, the tongue coating fine tannins are silky smooth on the lingering finish. At sixteen, this is likely at its prime drinking now."

This was awarded 91 points Wine Spectator and 90 points by Vinous.

Vinous wrote, "Slightly earthy, featuring tobacco, cigar box and dark fruits. Full-bodied, offering super velvety tannins and a long, rich finish." 

Tonight this showed a slight bricking on the edges indicating it is past its apex, but still drinking very nicely. Very pleasant and ideal with the pate' above. 

At 22, the cork was dry and came apart upon extraction using a traditional server's corkscrew.

In 2010 Vinous wrote: "Plenty of subtle things are going on here in the glass, with lots of wonderful fruit underneath. Can't wait on this. Showing beautifully now. Better than ever." It was probably at its peak from then through my tasting in 2016.

RM 90 points, one less than before, taking into account the aging and slight diminution in color. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2339

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/05/pichon-baron-and-viader-v-1999-flight.html 

https://www.marcoskitchen.com/

 

Cherry Circle Room dinner features super wine flight

Cherry Circle Room dinner features super wine flight of ultra-premium Dominus, Kongsgaard and Darioush Napa Valley wines

We spent a getaway weekend in the City (Chicago) and dined at the Cherry Circle Room in the old Chicago Athletic Club on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, opposite Millenium Park and the popular Cloudgate (Bean). I was there to scout the venue for some upcoming corporate events as well as for a superlative fine dining experience. 

The iconic Cherry Circle Room was the members' dining room at the Chicago Athletic Association for generations. It has been totally restored and updated melding the building's historic original features with modern design elements and was recognized as James Beard award-winning space for Outstanding Restaurant Design.

We dined with fellow 'Pour Boy' Dr Dan and our two Lindas. We both took BYOB from our cellars a bottle to share and compare with our dinner entrees. 

Wine flight: Darioush, Dominus Bordeaux Blends
Kongsgaard Syrah

Darioush Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 

We visited the magnificent Darioush estate in Napa with Dan and Linda during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2017, (Dan's) Linda's first trip to the valley. Years earlier, in 2003, Linda and I visited the Darioush estate for a private barrel tasting, during the time the new winery was under construction. 

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2013/01/soaring-red-flight-silverado-solo.html

Darioush Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

We were first introduced to this wine by fellow 'Pour Boy', Bill and Beth when we were invited by them to a wine dinner at their Cress Creek Country Club in the late nineties.

We visited the winery during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2003. Their fabulous winery and tasting facility on Silverado Trail in southern Napa Valley was not yet open but was well under construction at that time.  Tonight's wine selection was from the case we purchased during that visit.  

We attended with Dr Dan a gala Darioush - Domaine de Chevalier Gala Wine Dinner in Chicago. This was a fabulous private dinner hosted by Darius & Shaptar Kaledi of Darioush Winery and Bernard Laborie of Domaine de Chevalier at Everest restaurant in Chicago in the summer of 2004. 

At twenty years of age, this big full throttle Napa Cabernet was probably at its apex, not likely to improve any further with aging, and nearing the end of its prime drinking window. 

Tonight's tasting was consistent with the last time we tasted this label's vintage release in 2013 when I wrote back on 1/26/2013:

"This remains a blockbuster wine, living up to the tone set by the large oversize, almost magnum size bottle - dark inky color, full bodied, complex but smooth and polished, full forward black berry and currant fruits with a layer of spicy cinnamon oak with tones of black tea, anise, tobacco leaf and dark chocolate - well balanced and polished with nicely integrated silky smooth tannins on the lingering finish. RM 92 points."

This is a Bordeaux Blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=462550   

http://www.darioush.com/

Dominus Napa Valley Proprietary Bordeaux Red 2009  

Dan brought from his cellar vertical collection of this legendary Napa Valley super premium Bordeaux Blend label for our dinner. We've dueled with vintages of this label dating back to a case I bought on release of the 1986 vintage. We drank a bottle every couple of years until finally with only one or two bottles left, the bottle was finally emerging and opening to reveal its full potential and character after more than two decades. Such is this long lived ageworthy wine. 

This legendary label is from the legendary producer Christian Moueix who has been producing ultra-premium wines for over fifty years of producing wines in Bordeaux’s Right Bank and thirty-eight in the Napa Valley. 

Son of legendary Jean-Pierre Moueix, after completing agricultural engineering studies in Paris and graduate studies in viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis, Christian returned to France, at the age of twenty-four, to take on the responsibility of managing his family’s many chateaux, including Chateau Pétrus, one of the premier brands in the world. 

He managed Pétrus for over thirty-eight years and today he directs eight family chateaux including, in Pomerol, La Fleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy, Hosanna, and in Saint Emilion, Bélair-Monange. Since 1991 he has been the President of Ets. Jean-Pierre Moueix, a top Bordeaux wine merchant.

In 1983, Christian Moueix began producing Dominus from the historic Napanook vineyard in Yountville. In 2008, he acquired a 40-acre vineyard in Oakville from which he launched the first vintage of Ulysses in 2012.

Collecting this label in those early years was fun with the artist series of pencil an water color drawings of producer winemaker Christian Mouiex which ended with the 1991 vintage turning to this basic label every since after close to a decade. My label library of Dominus and those early art series labels can be found at this link location.

This release was a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and the remainding 4% Petit Verdot. This is estate bottled from fruit sourced from the Napanook estate to the west of Hwy 29, St Helena Highway in Yountville, Napa Valley.

This release was awarded 99 points by  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 98 points by Jeb Dunnuck and James Suckling.

Circle Cherry room Somellier Anika opened and decanted this bottle and we gave it time to blow off some initial heat and aggressiveness, which it did after about an hour. 

Deep garnet colored, medium full bodied, well balanced, smooth, polished, concentrated yet elegant blackcurrant, black raspberry and ripe plum fruits with notes of floral, graphite, sweet mocha chocolate, hints of tobacco, vanilla and earth with finely grained silky soft tannins on a long finish.

RM 95 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1140345

https://www.dominusestate.com/

Circle Cherry room has a modest moderate published winelist. There is however, an extraordinary Reserve Wine List of the property's impressive collection that is not published. We were shown this list by Sommellier Anika, who has served at Chicago Spaggia restaurant. From that list we selected this classic Syrah. 

Kongsgaard Hudson Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah 1999

This is from Fifth-generation Napa natives John and Maggy Kongsgaard who produce powerful, graceful wines which are high intensity expressions of vineyard and variety from a ten-acre vineyard they planted in the late 1970s on a rocky hilltop in southern Napa Valley which has belonged to the Kongsgaard family since the 1920s. In addition to these family acres, they direct the farming under long-term contract on another seven acres in Carneros, the Hudson Vineyard, where they grow Syrah and Chardonnay. 

Kongsgaard wines are produced at their winery, high up on the eastern rim of Napa Valley, in a cave drilled into the volcanic rock. These 97-99+ point wines are allocated and sell out quickly to the producer's mailing list and are pursued by insatiable collectors in the auction aftermarket.

John was mentored by historic and legendary pioneers of Napa Valley: André Tchelistcheff of Beaulieu Vineyard and Nathan Fay—who farmed the Fay Vineyard made famous by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ iconic single-vineyard Cabernet. After his first job in Sonoma, John took a job at Newton, experimenting with Old World techniques and bottling Napa Valley’s first unfiltered Chardonnay. In subsequent years, he worked with numerous world famous luminaries including Fritz Hatton, and Michel Rolland, and trained Aaron Pott and Andy Erickson.

This label was first inroduced in 1995. It is sourced from a two-acre plot of Syrah at the Hudson Ranch in Carneros—which was founded in 1981 by John’s Texas-born Davis classmate Lee Hudson. The terroir consists of proximity equidistant between San Pablo Bay and Napa and Sonoma Valley, and is comprised of volcanic soil. The vineyard was planted to John’s specifications. 

This Syrah is ferment on native yeasts, aged for two years in 40% new French oak, and bottled unfiltered resulting in a wine of complexity, depth, incredible power, and 'endless nuance'. 

Wine Access writes of this label, "Very few Napa Valley wines are mentioned alongside Bordeaux First Growths and the great collectible wines of the world—and they’re basically all cult Cabernets. 

Kongsgaard’s Syrah stands proudly alongside them, but also proudly apart. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind bottling from a master whose name evokes reverence and admiration from his peers. As a display of Napa Valley glory worth cellaring for years or passing on as an heirloom, you can’t do any better."

We drank this Kongsgaard Carneros Hudson Ranch Syrah for my father-son birthday celebration dinner earlier this year. 

We drank the Kongsgaard Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay at our Pour Boys Wine Dinner at Del Ray Beach Wine Kitchen back in June. 

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate call this “One of the Most Provocative” Syrahs in California

Winemaker and Robert Parker Wine Advocate notes for the 1999 Syrah Napa Valley:

The 1999 Syrah Hudson Vineyard is even better out of bottle than it was from cask. Its opaque black/blue/purple color is followed by an extraordinary perfume of barbecue spices intermixed with creosote, violets, blackberry and creme de cassis liqueur, explosive, full-bodied flavors of cassis, and an amazingly thick, juicy yet vibrant and well-defined personality. There is plenty of tannin, but the wealth of fruit and intensity is mind-boggling. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020. Kongsgaard is crop-thinning down to one grape cluster per shoot in an effort to obtain Syrah at its most intense. There are 125 cases of the 1999 Syrah Hudson Vineyard. The wine is 100% Syrah fermented and aged in wood for 18 months, and then bottled without fining or filtration. The result is one of California’s most awesome as well as singular expressions of Syrah.  95 points

Inky purple-black in color, full bodied, dense concentrated muscular yet smooth and elegant, ripe blackberry and black cherry fruits with note of violet floral, cassis, black pepper, toast, allspice, bacon fat and herbs with elegant, plush tannins and on an incredibly long pleasant spicy finish. 

Still holding on at 22 year, likely at the end of its prime drinking window and not to improve with further aging. 

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=24584

https://kongsgaardwine.com/ 

Links mentioned in this blogpost:

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=462550   

http://www.darioush.com/

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1140345

https://www.dominusestate.com/

https://mcnees.org/winesite/labels/label_library_pages/california_label_lib_pages/label_library_california_d-e.htm#Dominus_Estate

https://www.lsdatcaa.com/cherry-circle-room

http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa_03/napa_03.htm 

https://mcnees.org/winesite/napa/napa_03/napa_03.htm

http://www.mcnees.org/dinesite/Dinesites/DineSite_Everest.htm

https://twitter.com/cherrycircleCAA
 

Ristow Estate Quinta de Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Ristow Estate Napa Valley Quinta de Pedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

We had Dr Dan and Linda over for Sunday night dinner and Linda prepared delicious beef bourguignon. I had considered an aged Bordeaux but pulled from the cellar this vintage big Napa Cab for the occasion. 

Prior to dinner with a selection of artisan cheese, fruits and nuts we opened this unique sipper - Moët & Chandon Petite Liquorelle - a cognac infused rich desert and sparkling wine. Linda found this cleaning out the pantry. We don't know where we got it or how long we've had it but it has been several years at the very least. It was very tasty, dark tea colored, full bodied, sweet, nutty with tones of sweet mocha. Like everyone else on Cellartracker reviewing this, there were no sparkling bubbles in it. It was novel and fun sipping as an aperitif, or as a digestive.

For our dinner we served this Ristow Estate Napa Cab. Ristow was located in the eastern hills of Napa Valley between Silverado Trail and Soda Canyon Road, a few hundred yards south of the Stags Leap District near the intersection of Oak Knoll and Silverado Trail. 

Ristow Estate was founded when Brunno Ristow, a plastic surgeon from Brazil, bought the property just east of the Silverado Trail in 1983.

Brunno and Urannia Ristow planted 9 acres of Cabernet in 1989 just south of the Stags Leap District. They called the vineyard Quinta de Pedras, Portuguese for "place of stones," aptly named for the topography of the rocky, inhospitable ground.

"From the very beginning, when we wanted to plant, people said, 'Are you crazy? There's no soil here,'" says Urannia, 55, whose family farmed coffee and vegetables in her native Nicaragua.

In 1991, they bought an additional 10 acres on softer ground. Encouraged by the quality of their early crops, they bought and planted eight more contiguous acres in 1992.

In those first few years, they sold the grapes to Raymond, Shafer, Leonetti and William Hill wineries. Brunno had intended to bottle a Ristow Estate label, but waited until the 1995 vintage by which time he was pleased with the vineyard's quality and volume of grapes. In 1995 they produced 1,000 cases. 

Winemaker Pam Starr, 39, joined Ristow in 1997 and crafted the 1996 Quinta de Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon which was already in barrel. After working with the vineyard for three years, Starr recommended replanting Block 1, the original vineyard. The rock was so thick in some places that even a massive bulldozer was unable to penetrate it. It took nearly six months and expenses skyrocketed costing $30,000 an acre just to split the rock.

The 1997 vintage Quinta de Pedras' was awarded 94 points by Wine Spectator with 1684 cases produced. Ristow also grew Merlot and Petit Verdot, but they didn't make the final blend and Ristow released 100% Cabernet until the 2001 vintage release. 

Cecilia de Quesada Harris (Ristow's daughter, step-daughter) began working in the family wine business in 1998 running the marketing and sales for Ristow Estate. In 2005 Cecilia and her husband Wil took over Ristow. They also created Pedras Wine Company, the second generation of vintners to produce Cabernet Sauvignon from the family’s Ristow Estate vineyard. Wil a polo player owned El Ragon Argentine restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, an MBA, he used to own some vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina. Brunno continued to oversee vineyard operations

The Harris's inserted Jamey Whetstone, 37, as winemaker to replace Starr. He was an assistant at Turley. The wines were made at the Napa Wine Company from 40% of the production, the remainder was sold to neighbor Signorella, Joseph Phelps and Maclean.

The vineyard was sold in 2012 but the Harris' continued with the Pedras label sourced with fruit from a historic vineyard in Rutherford. They produce limited production of their Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon, and from 2016, Pedras rosé of Pinot Noir sourced from Sonoma County. Their recent releases were 2017 Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, 2016 Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, and 2017 Pedras Pedras Rosé of Pinot Noir.

Cellartracker shows 27 vintages of Ristow Estate Quinta de Pedras Cabernet Sauvignon with vintage releases as late as 2016, however, only a dozen bottles are indicated in inventory and no tasting notes posted for the vintages 2006 through 2016. They also all show the same label photo. The last indication of life for the brand was 2005. Some published reports cite between 100 and 130 cases were produced of the Ristow label in the following years.

At twenty-one years, this 1999 Ristow Cabernet Sauvignon, Quinta de Pedras Vineyard was outstanding and showed no signed of diminution from aging whatsoever. There is much life left in this release, I could imagine it lasting another ten years. The label, foil and cork were perfect, the neck caked with a layer of sediment. 

For the 1999 release, the Ristow Estate winemaker was Pam Starr and production was 1960 cases. 

Winemaker's Tasting Notes:

The dark purple colored wine exudes aromas of cassis, blackberry, chocolate and exotic spices. These generous flavors follow the aromas with wonderful concentration and acidity on the palate. The intense flavors are balanced by a mineral earthiness reflective of the distinctive rocky terroir, the thumb print of the Quinta de Pedras Vineyard. The wine possesses soft but persistent tannins that finish seamlessly and provide structure for aging.

My notes: Such a complex wine could easily of been mistaken for an aged, quality Bordeaux. Dark inky blackish purple colored, full bodied, intense bouquet of ripe black fruits exploded from the bottle upon opening, blackberry, plum, and black currant with aromas of exotic spice, herbs, anise, and dust,  fruit forward on the palate with ripe black fruits, cassis, dark mocha, spice, leather, earth, and a seamless integration of acid, alcohol and tannin with a long finish that went on and on and on.

RM 92 points.

This was was awarded  94 points by Wine Enthusiast and 92 points by Wine Spectator.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=23873

http://mcnees.org/winesite/labels/labels_California/lbl_CA_Ristow_Napa_quinta_de_pedras_cabernet_1999_remc.jpg

 

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

With the remote family in from both coasts for a wedding and a funeral this week, we're having some fun pulling from the cellar different labels from producers that we have visited together during various trips to Napa Valley. This Napa Cab is from legendary producer Randy Dunn whom we visited together with Sister Jan and Bro-in-law Bill during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We were hosted by Kristina Dunn that day but we had the privilege to meet winemaker, producer, patriarch and Napa Valley pioneer Randy Dunn. 

Randy started his wine career working for Charlie Wagner as the first enologist for Caymus. He was  instrumental in establishing Howell Mountain as a sub-AVA of Napa Valley. He is hands on from the vineyards to the cellars.

While not one of the larger holdings in our cellar in terms of number of bottles, it may be one of our broadest holdings in terms of number of vintages in our vertical collection of this label, and the flagship premium label Dunn Howell Mtn Cab.  We also collect Randy Dunn's "Feather" label that he produces for the Long Shadows Vintners Collection Series in Washington State.

Our Cellartracker records indicate we have a vertical collection of several mixed cases of each label from almost two dozen vintages dating back to 1981. 

Selections from Vertical Collection of Dunn Napa Valley Cabernets

This label release got 90 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar. It has a Cellartracker average rating of 92.1 from 81 user reviews. I acquired this ten years ago when it was already ten years of age.  

With Randy Dunn at Dunn estate high atop Howell Mountain.

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Dunn is known for age-worthy Napa Cabernets, especially the premium Howell Mtn label. At 21 years, this label is still holding its own although past both its prime and projected drinking windows. While at this stage, many wines lose their fruit flavors to non-fruit tones, the fruits in this bottle are still holding their own, while also showing pronounced complementary and tertiary flavor tones.

We hold another bottle of this release and we'll note it needs to be consumed in the next year or so before it begins to diminish beyond enjoyable drinking. 

This was garnet colored, medium-full bodied, muscular, full forward rustic blackberry and black cherry fruits with notes of tobacco, graphite, leather and expresso, moderate acidity with firm lingering tannins on the long finish. 

I had trouble characterizing an underlying lingering flavor in the profile - Wine Spectator mentions mineral, iodine and dill - Tanzer speaks of raw meat ... 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=7962

http://www.dunnvineyards.com/

@dunn_vineyards 

 The following evening we did a gala beefsteak dinner and opened another Dunn Cabernet, Howell Mountain 1987.

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis 1999

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis 1999

A year ago this week we were touring St Julien Bordeaux where we visited Chateau Leoville Las Cases which was one of the highlights of our trip there. So it was fitting that for a casual grilled steak dinner with baked potatoes and sweet corn, I pulled from the cellar this Clos du Marquis label from the Domaines Delon estate.

As I wrote at the time in our chronicle of the trip, Clos du Marquis is a label from Domaine Leoville St Julien, a perfect expression of the Saint-Julien features based on structure, harmony, distinction, complexity and ageing potential.

Clos du Marquis was created at the beginning of the 20th century when the vineyard was planted,  inspired by the Petit Clos adjacent to the Château de Léoville, residence of the Marquis de Las Cases.

Clos du Marquis is a historic brand by the Domaines Delon, a separate vineyard that is across the road from Leoville Las Cases, whose first vintage was released in 1902. The creation of this brand was to allow a clear identification of two completely distinct terroirs of the two estate vineyards.

We hold many vintages of the Clos du Marquis and in error always thought it was a second label of Las Cases rather than a distinctive label in its own right. Upon our return home, we opened a 1989 vintage of Clos du Marquis in tribute to visit there and it was excellent.  

Clos du Marquis is located on some of the finest vineyards with their distinctive terroirs of the Saint Julien appellation, near the Las Cases property and the nearby surrounding prestigious Classified Growths such as Léoville Poyferré and Léoville Barton, and Pichon Lalande across the appellation boundary in Pauillac.

The Clos du Marquis vineyard is a separate cuvée – and not a 'Second Wine', with grapes grown in the Petit Clos (Clos meaning an enclosed garden or field) which is surrounded on all sides by other Second Growths. The Petit Clos vineyard is to the south of the Leoville Las Cases Grand Clos vines and covers 12 acres. It is planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

Its name comes from a small walled parcel of land, in French a “clos,” located near the residence of the Marquis de Las-Cases. Clos du Marquis was produced and sold by Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases starting in the late 19th century, which makes it one of the very earliest of the so-called second wines now produced by many Bordeaux estates. The wines are generally made from the fruit of younger vines which are not considered mature enough to produce fruit for the estates’ signature wines. However, they often represent an excellent value and Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that Clos du Marquis in the last 20 years “has been close to the quality of a third or fourth growth.”

Over time it became a wine in its own right and since 1989 has been produced from separate parcels which lie outside Léoville Las Cases' main vineyards. The Clos du Marquis comes from the great terroirs of the Saint-Julien appellation that were not part of the former Léoville estate. These terroirs are located further west and surrounded by prestigious Crus Classés (Classified Growths) including Second Growths from the Saint- Julien and Pauillac appellations: Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton and Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. The Clos du Marquis thus displays typical Saint-Julien characteristics: structure, complexity, balance, distinction and great ageing potential. Clos du Marquis has the ability to challenge many other châteaux of the Medoc. Indeed, it is the equal of most 3rd, 4th and 5th Growths and has been an outstanding performer for many years.

Leoville Las Cases Clos du Marquis St Julien Bordeaux 1999

The 1999 vintage will undoubtedly be a bridesmaid, overshadowed by the much heralded 2000 vintage. Like the 1998 Napa to the much heralded '97, it provides pleasurable drinking at a fraction of the cost of the grand vin for great QPR. As all boats rise with the tide, in great vintages, even the second wines provide superior drinking on par with the grand vins. The 1999 vintage fell short of greatness, when, as so frequently happens in Bordeaux, September rains dashed hopes of a spectacular end to the millennium. Nevertheless 1999 was a respectable vintage, generally ahead of 1991, 1992 and 1993, in some instances surpassing 1994 and 1997 (Right Bank) and 1998 (Left Bank).

Reviewer notes: "A classic Bordeaux with a huge personality. Full color development shows. In the nose showing some smoked wood supported by lovely ripe fruit. Hints of spices, chocolate and some leather tip to detect. The scent is very sophisticated. In the mouth a beautiful entrance. Lots of flavor: fruit, spices, nicely integrated wood, great elegance but still some tannin and this gives the wine firm structure. The wine has a good grip and concentration in the mouth. Although wine is now mature, it can still ripen a while. A classic Bordeaux with a stamp."

This label was awarded:

90 points - James Suckling, Wine Spectator,

89 points - James Suckling, Wine Spectator - March 31, 2002,

86 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #140 - April 2002,

88-90 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #134- April 2001,

90 points - Neal Martin, Wine Journal - July 2011,

90-91 points - Neal Martin, Wine Journal - July 2002, and

88 points - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - May/June 2006.

This is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

Bright garnet colored, medium-full bodied, bright forward pronounced blackberry and tangy black currant fruits are accented by notes of tea, tobacco, hints of cassis and cedar on the firm, structured but approachable lingering tannins on the finish. At 21 years, showing no signs of diminution whatsoever, likely at the apex of its drinkability.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=11896