Bottle Date My Rating Comments
1996 Spottswoode 12.09.01 94 Opaque purple color; very elegant showing with seemless and tightly focused cranberry/currant flavors; deep and rich finish with great concentration, yet wrapped in a tannic case. This wine is still a bit closed but, overall, a fine drink.
1995 Fisher Wedding Vineyard 09.23.01 91+ very surprising, very different from the Napa Lamb Vineyard...lots of smoke and tobacco flavors wrapped in spice and gravely tannins...tastes like a Bordeaux...particularly like La Mission. Could use more fruit, but it remains very tannic.
1993 Phelps Insignia 08.26.01 93+ Monumental effort..extremely concentrated; dark purple color, showing no age, with subdued "juicyfruit" nose and flavors on the finish. Tastes like a cherry/craberry liqueur framed in subtle spice. Big surprise...soft tannins. Wow!
1993 Opus One 08.19.01 92 Complex bouquet, quite open at this point. The fruit is full and sweet and the finish is still rather tannic. Hints of cedar, rosemary, and currants produce a compelling and very enjoyable experience.
1996 Heitz Martha's Vineyard 03.25.01 91+ Finally, a new Martha's! Color is very dark--purple--with a final floral and jammy bouquet; full-bodied with mouth-coating flavors and fine length. The flavors are textbook Martha's--minty currants--but is it concentrated enough to make it a classic?
1990 Chateau Montelena Cabernet 02.25.01 93 Very dark and compelling wine...tastes like the essence of cabernet, without anyhints of mint, spice, or related flavors. The texture is full-bodied, almost like a liquor...
1997 Caymus Cabernet 03.04.01 90 This is a very nice wine....sweet, mouth-coating flavors of cedar, currant, and spice. I love Caymus, but this one seems to lack the concentration one would expect given the hefty price tag ($60-70/bottle). I remember when regular Caymus cost $20.
1993 Silver Oak--Napa 01.18.01 91 Beautiful complex bouquet of currant, licorice, and spice; it's a tannic wine delivering restrained fruit; it's elegant, and the length is fine, but it's a very different wine-making style from the Alexander Valley..tastes more like a Bordeaux.
1997 Dominus 01.28.01 93 Wonderful bouquet of herbs, spice, and cedar; very smooth and polished in the mouth with deceptive length. Seems not to be as concentrated as the 94 or 96, nbid
1987 Chateau Montelena Cabernet 11.05.00 94 Very dark color; comples bouquet with mocha, coffee and "juicy fruit" notes; rich, concenttrated fruit framed in strong tannins; finish lingers with sweet aftertaste; great wine.
1994 Stag's Leap Cask 23 10.01.00 92 Good bouquet; coffee, chocolate, toasty oak; well-structured, focused currant/cranberry fruit framed in strong tannins with high alcohol content. Excellent color; a very good, but not great, effort.
1998 Ridge Zinfandel--Lytton Springs 09.25.00 89 Initially a bit lean, but opens up with time. Strong, mouth-coating berry flavors with good length. Drops off mid-palate, but could improve. Very good wine, but Ridge can do much better.
1994 Silver Oak
Alexander Valley 		09.11.00 92+ This wine remains slightly closed. It begins as a restrained, but beautifully made, classic cab; after two hours, it turns into a viscous, port-like fruit bomb framed heavily in oaky smoke and tobacco. There are occasional hints of raspberry and chocolate.
1994 Opus One 09.03.00 95 Very lush, hedonistic wine packed with gobs of primarily cedar/herb flavors; strong currant fruit; tannins are noticable and the wine closes a bit on the finish; surprisingly complex flavors for its age.
1996 Chateau Lynch-Bages 08.13.00 92 Dark color; tobacco; nice bouquet; dark fruit, cassis; gravely but sweet tannins; rich, full-bodied; long sweet finish. Excellent!

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