Wine

Item Description

1997 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 100 rated Wine Advocate!

It doesn't get any better than 1997 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, a perfect wine.  The opaque purple/black color is followed by intense, soaring aromas of creme de cassis, in addition to blueberry and blackberry fruit. The wine's extraordinary purity, great depth, and fabulously seamless, full-bodied, multi-layered texture are something to behold, particularly in a wine so young. However, everything is in balance. This is another work of art from an extraordinary terroir.

1997 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon    100 rated Wine Advocate!

One of the most awesome young reds I have ever tasted, it possesses a black/purple color, a seamless texture, and freakishly high levels of intensity (cassis, black and blueberries infused with espresso, chocolate, and licorice) that are flawlessly presented in a full-bodied, massive yet elegant wine. Nothing is out of balance in this explosively rich, thick, highly-extracted Cabernet. A compelling, historic Cabernet Sauvignon, it will drink well for 30-35 years.

1997 Harlan Proprietary Red Wine    100 rated Wine Advocate!

The 1997 Harlan Estate is one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines I have ever tasted. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this enormously-endowed, profoundly rich wine must be tasted to be believed. Opaque purple-colored, it boasts spectacular, soaring aromatics of vanilla, minerals, coffee, blackberries, licorice, and cassis. In the mouth, layer after layer unfold powerfully yet gently. Acidity, tannin, and alcohol are well-balanced by the wine's unreal richness and singular personality. The finish exceeds one minute.

2002 Araujo Cab Sauv, Eisele Vineyard    98-100 / Wine Advocate

A potential candidate for perfection is the exquisite 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard. A 1,650-case blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot made from extremely low yields, it boasts superb intensity, flavor, elegance, and nobility in addition to a marvelously complex nose of minerals, licorice, cedar, creme de cassis, vanilla, and spice. Exceptionally rich, nuanced, and precise, it is a magnificent expression of Cabernet Sauvignon that offers the elegance of a Bordeaux with the power and potency of Napa Valley Cabernet. A tour de force, this wine can be drunk now or cellared for up to two decades

1995 Quintarelli Amarone    97 rated Wine Advocate

The 1995 Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva is a towering, majestic wine of heroic proportions. This big, full-bodied wine flows across the palate with remarkable depth, expansiveness and purity. There are tons of ripe dark fruit here, along with nuances of leather, spices and sweet tobacco. This opulent wine builds on the finish, where it displays superb staying power. This is another reference-point wine from Giuseppe Quintarelli.

2002 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon    98 rated Wine Advocate

This is a terrific example of great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and is a seamless wine with extraordinary concentration, a dense purple color, a beautifully sweet nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, graphite, smoke, and underbrush, it is layered, multi-dimensional, and opulent, with a long finish. Although more accessible and flashy than the 2001, it is capable of lasting 15 more years.

1995 Dalla Valle "Maya"    98 rated Wine Advocate

The terrific 1995 Maya is cut from the same mold as all the great Mayas of this decade. Its tannin may be even riper than in the 1994, but the wine is still an unevolved, massive, and unformed giant, although it is obvious that this will be another legendary effort.

2003 Colgin "Cariad"    96 rated Wine Advocate

The proprietary blend from David Abreu’s Thorevilos and Madrona Ranch vineyards, the 2003 Cariad is made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest primarily Petit Verdot with a touch of Cabernet Franc. This harmonious offering reveals an inky/blue/purple color in addition to sumptuous aromas of new saddle leather, scorched earth, blackberries, cassis, smoke, licorice, and roasted meats. While it suggests a right bank Bordeaux (such as a top-notch St.-Emilion), it is clearly Californian in its ripeness, richness, and overall purity.

1997 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon    93 rated Wine Advocate

The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon from a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc boasts an opaque purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of mineral-infused black currants, and spicy oak. Full-bodied, structured, muscular, and multi-dimensional, it is approachable and best drunk over the next 20 years

1997 Chateau Montelena Estate    98 rated Wine Advocate

Opaque purple-colored with a dense, chewy, full-bodied personality, it displays abundant cassis, mineral, and earth notes. This brilliantly made, super-concentrated, pure, blockbuster possesses sweet tannin as well as a terrific finish. It is a sumptuous, multilayered, profoundly concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon and a candidate for 25-30 years of longevity.

2000 Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia "Massetto"    91 rated Wine Advocate

The 100% Merlot Masseto has proven to be a wine of greater singularity. Its unique, unmistakable personality always comes through, especially in a set of widely diverse vintages, as this vertical attests. The Masseto vineyard measures roughly 7 hectares. Set on a gently sloping hill, the vineyard is divided into three sections which contain different clay-based soil types. The structure of Masseto comes from the central portion of the vineyard (Masseto Centrale), where the terrain is most compact. Towards the upper part of the hillside (Masseto Alto) the soils contain a higher percentage of rocks and thus yield wines that are more aromatic. The lower stretch of the vineyard, known as “Masseto Junior,” is also the most recent to be planted. According to Raspini the fruit from these vines bridges the qualities of the wines from the central and upper portions of the vineyard and thus serves to give Masseto its finesse and balance. There is also a small amount of fruit that comes from the “Vigna Vecchia” plot which is the source of the Merlot that is used for Ornellaia.

Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately. Fermentation and maceration typically last around 25 days, give or take, depending on the quality of the fruit, after which the wines are moved into 100% new French oak barrels for the malolactic fermentations. The wines spend 12 months in oak prior to being assembled, after which the final blend spends an additional 12 months in oak prior to being bottled.

1997 Tenuta San Guido "Sassicaia"

CELLAR SELECTION:  Medium-dark ruby in the glass, with pretty aromas of spices, black currant, cherries and blackberries, this Tuscan red is full-bodied on the palate, with intense velvety tannins. Long, long finish. An outstanding Sassicaia.