Andrea Watt

9.5

More fruit forward with cherry and blackberry over oak. Bright and fresh. — 23 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.0

Plum and pepper with a touch of leather. — 23 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.2

A little lemon zest, a touch of pear and oak. Rich but fresh. — 2 months ago

Andrea Watt

9.3

Peach, pear, and Leon with a high acidity and more oak. — 4 months ago

Bill Mowry

9.3

Still young, but drinking beautifully once it opens up. Cherry, chocolate, and plum. — a year ago

with Paul, Olivia and 2 others

Conrad Green

9.6

Plush and plummy. Dark fruit. Rich and lucid with hints of iodine and dried herbs. Gorgeous stuff. Very pure — 2 years ago

with BOT, Jean-Francois and 2 others

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. — 2 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.3

The color has darkened but it’s still vibrant. The oak is stronger but the lemon isn’t gone and it’s got notes of pear and toast. — 22 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.4

Cedar and cocoa with leather. Some bleed on color but Imperial has held up surprisingly well! — 2 months ago

Paul Woolls

9.8

Still strong! What fun! — 2 months ago

Cathy Levy

9.2

Drinking well. Enjoyed very much. — 6 months ago

Andrea Watt

9.1

Coffee, violet, and leather with cherry and prune. Rich and deep. — a year 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. — 2 years ago

Shay A

9.4

One of the better older Bordeaux I’ve had in quite some time. Absolutely at peak with so many layers. It outshined an ‘03 Grand Puy Lacoste (which showed thin), ‘03 Montelena (sadly corked), and an ‘03 BV Georges de LaTour (rich/sweet).

Absolutely on fire from pop, this 20yr old left bank Bordeaux showed none of the overripe/too hot characteristics of the vintage. Deep purple/black in the glass with no bricking. Full-bodied. Mocha, truffle, roasted blackberries and raspberries, graphite on the nose. Ripe (but not overly so) dark berries, plum, cassis with vanilla pipe tobacco and even some iron. Still a good bit of tannin on the finish. This shows as a “modern” style due to the warmth, but balanced. Wish I had more. Pop the corks and enjoy! — 3 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.0

Peach, pineapple, and citrus. Crisp and fresh. — 23 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.5

Oak, leather, blackberry, cherry, and hazelnut. — 23 days ago

Andrea Watt

8.9

Mineral, pear, lavender, and lemon zest. Crisp and slightly tart. — 2 months ago

Tree Kilpatrick

9.2

Definitely old color-wise. Brick-orange. Aroma is old bricks and books. Also has a citrus/orange vibe. Flavors are strange and hint funky. Plenty of acid. Still zippy. Complexity has stuck around. The basic background is excellent. A classic aged wine with the strange background of a classic. This has the ghost of Zin in it. Herbal minty side. Not really Zin of today, but strange and fun to try all these years later. A unique wine drinking experience. Held up in a strange and fun way. — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 4 , wine 2. This was quite a difficult wine to read at first , again quite closed , mineral and tobacco edged . Dark fruits. On the palate rounder than expected , good richness and balance , dark cherry , blackberry fruit . Good rounded tannin and ok length . Quite obviously Bordeaux in the context of this tasting , though I had this as the Lynch Bages 1982 when it was actually the Brane Cantenac 1986 …..I give up ! 90

This was an interesting , though challenging tasting , all served blind in flights of 2 wines , 3 flights of 1 Napa and 1 Bordeaux and 1 of 2 Bordeaux; served in a random sequence . The fact that at least a couple of wines were not pristine didn’t help , though if you will taste 8 , 40 year old wines that is probably par for the course . I found it relatively easy to spot whether what was in the glass was Napa or Bordeaux but didn’t actually get a single wine completely correct ! Probably overall the winner of the tasting was Napa (won the 3 rounds 2-1) as they had more suave polished , rounded personalities. Many put the wines the wrong way round , imagining that Napa was Bordeaux etc. The 1982s in general showed poorly too much funk and brett on the Lynch and Talbot but the Duhart showed surprisingly well . The 86s both showed pretty well and equalled the Dominus (even though I didn’t think we had a pristine bottle) . The Montelena was enjoyable , though was the first to oxidise whilst the Inglenook was the biggest positive surprise , still drinking surprisingly well at 47 . — a year ago

Shay A

9.2

One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group.

Always a treat to open a birth year wine. I had this last year and this bottle seemed to have more stuffing. It was less muddled/clay driven and more distinctly black fruit and spice heavy. Next to a ‘79 Montelena, it wasn’t as full-bodied, but it certainly had more tannin. The tannic finish was quite pronounced and bolstered throughout the lunch. Mid-palate was herbal and black currant with faint tart red fruit and tobacco. Fun to drink. — 3 years ago