David Kline

9.6

2013. Dark presence with violet-black from edge to end. Unctious. El Capitan tears with solar flare outcroppings linear paralleling across the cliff face. Lovely mushroom and earth interplay here with blackberry bourgeoning and black olive wisps. Forêt Noir leanings with brittle and toffee behind a curious veil of grill smoke. Palate is met with a rush of intense flavor, warm dark chocolate and raw nib, concentrated black cherry, cedar, blackberries and red currant, ripe blackberry, licorice, tobacco, and a drop of treacle. Wild resonance! Flavor permanences.

#Colgin #colginIXestate #2013 #Napa #StHelena — 3 months ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.0

Vintage 2019 | very good concentration, curious how the wine will develop — 3 years ago

Brent Young

9.3

Served this beauty on 2 occasions with Vinloq Preservation

DAY 1
👃Precocious yellow fruit (grapefruit and lemon) and green apples, flinty minerals, white pepper, and grassy herbals
👅Lemon oil with white pepper and spirited minerality. The fruit is more round and more restrained than on the nose.
Salty. Great acidity. The oak treatment is spot on. Long dry, mineral laced finish. So good

The remaining wine was Slow Decanted in my refrigerator and finished a week later

DAY 7
Such a glorious nose on this burgundy. Really delightful. White flowers and peach and even some tropical fruit notes. Flinty and expressive. Totally lovely on both occasions

I knew this was likely young but I was curious to try my first bottle. It's clearly drinking well now but it's going to be stellar with more bottle age.
I am looking forward to revisiting another bottle in time🥂
— 3 years ago

Veronica

9.0

I really enjoy this wine, it’s delicious, balanced, elegant, clean. Drinking it in summer, curious if I’ll enjoy as much in winter. — 5 years ago

Christian Fischer

9.2

That was one tough cork to remove. Took me 15 minutes and several tools, but managed. Of course I kept this bottle too long, this is beyond its peak. That said, still a lovely Bordeaux and I am curious how the air in the decanter will help. A great wine and fantastic it kept that long — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. I brought this bottle. It was part of my most recent delivery from Seavey and I was curious to try it out. Well...it was clearly infanticide. This was reductive at first and most of that blew off after about fifteen minutes. This was just so wound up. Delicious, fresh and almost crunchy fruit with a lot of structure. This was very bright compared to the Heart of Fay that preceded and just fell a touch short due to it being somewhat reticent. That being said, cellar time will be very kind to these and I would imagine this will show better down the road or with a lot of air, which this didn’t get. — 7 years ago

Manny Abascal

9.1

Red fruit, young, primary flavors. Very curious to see how this ages. Like a young Chambolle now. — 8 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

8.9

Vintage 2022 | high acidity and curious light hint of sweetness | — 4 months ago

Peter Sultan

9.3

Broke out one of my cellared Raffaults for my homeboy who graced me with a home cooked Tuscan styled flank steak w rosemary & arugula, as well as Israeli cous cous w chickpeas, charred tomatoes, feta, & herbs. Light Cadmium red hued & strong color though ( good cork- not a guarantee w Raffault!); dense Hibiscus, fresh raspberry & some bramble on nose; on palate very clean & smooth mouthfeel, with the initial flavors repeated but a deeper blend of red fruits & a stronger presence of under brush. Super fresh & integrated. Elegant, & the Burgundy echo was hard to ignore. Not Uber complex but not monolithic either, which this line of Raffault can be in its youth ( or as it ages). Very impressive, & accessible now. Curious how my ‘02 & 07s will fare… — 2 years ago

with Owen

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

Vintage 2016 | Not wine for purists but for bon vivants, I found the Tokay Pinot Gris character barely recognizable. There is a very small quantity made, with one barrel of acacia wood an one barrel of oak wood. That results in a beautiful refined wine that is ultimately harmonious, high acidity, hints of honey and minerals in aftertaste. Tending to Burgundy. Curious ánd lovely. — 4 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.0

2021/5/3-4 with Ningbo stewed pork with red fermented tofu and yakitori, itadori and mayonnaise, warabi and takenoko yaki onigiri. I was both curious and nervous about this considering my experience with the Montestefano. This also started out a bit ponderous and volatile, but on the second day it had calmed into a nice, bitter cherry dolcetto. — 5 years ago

Matt

9.0

Fleshy, a denser and slightly muscular wine, you can taste the warmth of 2017, it lacks a little definition. A curious expression as always with this Gamay bottling. Muddled wild red fruit, cured meat, black pepper, wilted violets, smashed herbs. VA pokes out a touch. Elevated CO2 adds some prickle, with air it was hardly noticeable. Curious what 6-12mo in bottle will do. Day 2: some air has really helped out. More in line with the style of Souhaut’s gamay. More clarity and definition, perfumed has arrived. Still warm and joli, I quite like its open-knit structure. — 6 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.3

Probably opened this too soon, which is so unlike me😬
Curious how this will stack up against the Carter Hossfeld which is almost the same blend of Merlot & Cabernet.
Find out in a couple weeks when Carter ships
Same price & almost exactly same ratings from WA,
95 for this & 94+ for Hossfeld — 8 years ago

Ericsson

9.4

Myth or Truth? Curious what you all think. — 9 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

1999 vintage. This review a bit of a mixed bag. “Inherited” this bottle and had been looking sideways at it for the better part of three years. Fill decent but both the front and back labels pretty trashed. The foil up top a tad crimped in places. Ugly duckling syndrome. See a ton of this at work and occasionally able to resuscitate what appears to be an abused bottle. Cut off the foil and there was some seepage at the top trapped between the cork and the foil. Not good. Extracted the cork in three passes (3!!!) with the Durand. Cork was half saturated and dunzo. Did not decant. Color was on point at least. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.1% ABV. Less than expected sed. Poured out a fifth of a glass and let sit for 2-3 mins. Nose was big white pepper, roasted cashews and white sage…three notes that I don’t come across often over the years with Napa cabbage and flavors were hidden beneath for a spell. Gave it 15 minutes. That initial nose dissipated and a bit of magic unfolded. Light-medium body, cocoa powder, graphite, feminine, sumptuous milk chocolate, a little sweaty, dried legumes, spearmint, supremely resolved tannins. Echoes of Haut-Brion/La Mission Haut-Brion. This old-school, Stags Leap District Napa cab came through in the clutch. Seemed to gather strength the longer it was open. Given that this particular bottle was not exactly mint, more than a bit curious as to how a decently stored example of this wine would perform. Van the Man was right. Wild night is calling. Come on out and dance. 05.16.25. @Shay A — a year ago

Shay A

9.5

One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group. Poured alongside Mark’s 2012 Oakville Winegrowers mag.

En mag. I was curious to see how this showed upon opening, and it unsurprisingly needed a quick decant to blow off some funk. As a blind pour, it’s tough to get to Mourvèdre heavy in profile, but it absolutely is what makes older CdP so magical. Beautiful faint ruby in the glass. A bit leathery and maybe even a small hint of brett, but then it evolved to show potpourri, spiced red and black fruits and garrique. In the glass, the expected savory notes come out with smoked meat, gaminess, black pepper baked-rhubarb, little bit of truffle. Elegant. Good acidity. Delicious finish! — 3 years ago

Neil Valenzuela

8.9

Pale straw color. Aromas of tropical fruits, key lime and limestone. Tart Sauvignon Blanc- very good for the prize. — 5 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.1

Vintage 2017 | curious grapes, perfumed bouquet, wax, frivolous — 6 years ago

GV

9.2

A favourite of mine. This English lager is smooth, with a subtle malt flavour that has the slightest hint of fruit. Brewed using Saaz and Cascade hops it is in its finally stages re-fremented with champagne yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops.

All-in-all a delightful lager. — 7 years ago

C R

9.3

Way too early but curious to see how this delivers at this stage. Packed, meat, tannins, with very complex structure. Balanced despite the warmth of the vintage. Aromatics are very restrained. To hold or decant 5h. Will improve. — 8 years ago