Harlan Estate Vertical Tasting at Wine Watch

"By making this wine vine known to the public, I have rendered my country as great a service as if I had enabled it to pay back the national debt."
~ Thomas Jefferson

If only a modern day politician could contribute as much to the quality of our life as the late great Thomas Jefferson.  He was one of the first advocates of wine in the United States and he is one of the reasons why we have the greatest selection of wines from all around the world in the U.S. today.  So, remember...no matter how bad it gets, we still have great wines here in the U.S. of A.

Speaking of GREAT wines from the U.S.A…. I need a few good men or women to help me drink some really fine wine on this occasion- our last tasting of the year here at the store.  Since Harlan Estate was the winner of our California Cult tasting this year and we have over 10 vintages in the store I decided to host a Harlan Estate tasting on the last Saturday of the month of November. 

And the perfect offering on Halloween - A California Cult Wine offering for those of you that can’t make this event we have a list of everything in the California Cult category at the end of this e-mail announcement. 

What makes a "cult wine"? Do the producers pick the grapes at night under the full moon? Do they make it under a secret oath or while sacrificing a small farm animal? These ultra expensive, hard to find wines from California just have more customers than they do bottles to go around.  The simplest factor in the economy kicks in with these wines, good old supply and demand.  Some of the greatest examples of the Napa Valley elite are included in this tasting.

Wine Watch Caterings Toni Lampasone will be making a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines.  This tasting is limited to 12 tasters and the fee for this event is $495 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Harlan Estate Vertical Tasting
Saturday, November 28th
7:30pm

1995 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa

(99 points) The 1995 Proprietary Red Wine is almost as perfect as the 1994. It has gotten even better in the bottle, and remains one of the most remarkable young Cabernet Sauvignons I have tasted. The wine, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, was aged in 100% new oak, which adds subtle pain grille/toasty scents. This opaque purple-colored Cabernet offers up a nose of smoke, coffee beans, black and blue fruits, minerals, and roasted herbs. It is extremely full-bodied, with spectacular purity, exquisite equilibrium, and a seamless personality with everything in total harmony. The finish lasts for more than 40 seconds. This extravagantly rich, profoundly complex 1995 will give its 1994 sibling a run for its money. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2027.

Proprietor Bill Harlan, his winemaker, Bob Levy, and consultant, Frenchman Michel Rolland continue to produce what may be the single most profound wine in California. This wine possesses all the elements of greatness - individuality, power combined with elegance, extraordinary complexity, remarkable aging potential, and compelling richness without ponderousness. The vintages produced to date give signs of improving in the bottle for 20-30 years. In 1995, a second wine, which has not yet been named, has been produced, which allows the selection process to be even more severe once the 35-acre vineyard is in full production. Recent production has been 1,500 cases for the 1994, 1,200 cases for the 1995, 1,500 for the 1996, and approximately 2,500 cases for the 1997. Many readers who have been on the waiting list for Harlan Estate may finally receive an allocation in 1997. This year produced the highest yields to date (a still modest 2.7 tons per acre) at this hillside vineyard. Wine Advocate # 120 Dec 1998

1996 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $750.00    Your Price: $660.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(98 Points) The 1996 Proprietary Red Wine appears to be one of the vintage's most noteworthy offerings. Some 1996s tend to be rustic, with more obtrusive tannin than their 1995 and 1994 counterparts, but that charge cannot be made here. The 1996 exhibits a tell-tale opaque purple/plum color, as well as a spectacular soaring nose of wood fire, roasted herbs, black currants, tobacco, minerals, and all spice. The wine is full-bodied and multi-layered, with terrific flavor concentration, well-integrated tannin, and a blockbuster finish. This is another candidate for perfection. As accolades spilled from my mouth like a baby dribbling milk, I was told the wine had been bottled the day before my visit! Anticipated maturity: 2004-2035. Proprietor Bill Harlan, his winemaker, Bob Levy, and consultant, Frenchman Michel Rolland continue to produce what may be the single most profound wine in California. This wine possesses all the elements of greatness - individuality, power combined with elegance, extraordinary complexity, remarkable aging potential, and compelling richness without ponderousness. The vintages produced to date give signs of improving in the bottle for 20-30 years. In 1995, a second wine, which has not yet been named, has been produced, which allows the selection process to be even more severe once the 35-acre vineyard is in full production. Recent production has been 1,500 cases for the 1994, 1,200 cases for the 1995, 1,500 for the 1996, and approximately 2,500 cases for the 1997. Many readers who have been on the waiting list for Harlan Estate may finally receive an allocation in 1997. This year produced the highest yields to date (a still modest 2.7 tons per acre) at this hillside vineyard. Wine Advocate #120 (Dec 1998)

1997 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $1350.00    Sale Price: $1075.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points) 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. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2030. Wine Advocate #132 (Dec 2000)

2000 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $575.00    Your Price: $506.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(91 Points) I have never been totally convinced by the 2000 Harlan Estate, but now that it’s in bottle, it is a very fine offering. The problem is that it must be compared with the other Harlan Estate wines made to date. A Graves-like perfume of roasted coffee, scorched earth, black currants, cedar, and a hint of menthol emerge from this dense dark ruby/purple-colored 2000. Lighter than normal, but medium to full-bodied and elegant, with soft tannin as well as a silky, precocious personality and texture, it can be drunk now and over the next 12 years. Harlan Estate and its perfectionist owner, Bill Harlan, who is backed up by the peerless team of Michel Rolland and Bob Levy, is truly an estate of monumental aspirations that more often than not hits the proverbial bull’s eye. None of the wines produced since 1990 has yet reached full maturity. While the 2000 is their lightest vintage to date, it is no wimpy wine. As I have written so many times before, what makes Harlan such a singular tasting experience is that while it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated offering from the hillsides above the Oakville Corridor, and it obviously has the power and extraordinary ripeness afforded by Napa Valley’s favorable viticultural climate, it has a degree of complexity that is only shared by a handful of other California Cabernet-based wines, and the finest Bordeaux. Harlan Estate represents exactly what a genius owner, who suffers no fools, and refuses to make any compromises, is capable of achieving ... is that a surprise? Wine Advocate # 150, December 2003

2001 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $1050.00    Your Price: $924.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points) Rivaling the 1994 and 1997, the 2001 Harlan Estate is a perfect wine for my palate. Tasted on four separate occasions, this offering, which spent 28 months in oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered, is an extraordinary effort that comes across as a hypothetical blend of Mouton-Rothschild, La Mission-Haut-Brion, and Montrose. A synthesis in style between the more elegant, delineated, structured 1994, and the port-like, over-the-top, viscous 1997, this extraordinary 2001 was the wine of my trip, even though I had already had it from bottle several months earlier. An inky/purple color is accompanied by a stupendous bouquet of lead pencil shavings interwoven with coffee, new saddle leather, melted licorice, cedarwood, black currant liqueur, and violets. Explosive richness, a marvelous, full-bodied texture, and fabulous purity, concentration, complexity, and nobleness are the stuff of legends.

2002 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $1425.00    Sale Price: $1175.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(100 Points) I believe the 2001 Harlan Estate and 2002 Harlan Estate’s 100 point scores represent the first time I have given perfect ratings to two successive wines produced in the New World. However, the styles of the two wines couldn’t be more different as each reflects its particular vintage. The 2001 is a classic, long-lived, backward wine with most of its potential concealed at present. On the other hand, it is impossible to resist the flamboyant, extroverted 2002 Harlan Estate's charm, richness, and overall seductive personality. This profoundly complex wine exhibits notes of cedar, black currant liqueur, scorched earth, smoke, and graphite. Incredibly broad, sweet, full-bodied, opulent, and voluptuous, it literally has everything one could ever want in a great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine. Already drinkable, it promises to evolve effortlessly for 25-30 years. This prodigious offering is worth mortgaging the farm! Wine Advocate # 162, Dec 2005

2004 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $675.00    Your Price: $594.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(98 Points) The 2004 Harlan Estate is probably the most precocious and accessible Harlan Estate that this perfectionist team has made. Already compelling, the wine has notes of roasted coffee, charcoal, blackberry, spring flowers, and some background sweet, toasty notes. Dense, fleshy, exuberant, even flamboyant by the standards of Bill Harlan, this wine exhibits no jaggedness or rough edges, has relatively high tannins, but they melt away on the palate. The wine is sensationally well-endowed, long, and rich “ a tour de force in winemaking. They can do no wrong at Harlan, and it is obvious, even in the most challenging vintages such as 1998, that this estate is a true grand cru/first growth, making wines of irrefutable world-class quality. Of course, none of this comes cheap, as the price is now moving up into the league with Screaming Eagle, but there are no shortage of takers. Wine Advocate # 174, Dec 2007

2009 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $1195.00    Your Price: $1051.60
Quantity in Stock: 3

(97 points)  The 2009 Proprietary Blend Harlan Estate is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Cloves, dark plums, cherries, smoke and graphite add richness and resonance to this powerful, incisive wine. Juicy and exuberant, the 2009 has always had a certain raciness that is impossible to resist. Layers of fruit continue to build to the enveloping, sensual finish. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this hugely delicious wine. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2034. Wine Advocate #204 Dec 2012

Menu

Buffalo Mozzarella served over Grilled Beefsteak tomato with aged balsamic vinaigrette

BBQ beef short rib with Beemster au gratin

The fee for this event is $495 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

All the California Cult wines that we have in the store:

2009 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $1195.00    Your Price: $1051.60
Quantity in Stock: 3

(97 points)  The 2009 Proprietary Blend Harlan Estate is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Cloves, dark plums, cherries, smoke and graphite add richness and resonance to this powerful, incisive wine. Juicy and exuberant, the 2009 has always had a certain raciness that is impossible to resist. Layers of fruit continue to build to the enveloping, sensual finish. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this hugely delicious wine. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2034.  Wine Advocate #204 Dec 2012

2008 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $725.00    Your Price: $638.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(96 points)  Espresso, mocha, dark red berries, rose petals and spices are some of the many notes that emerge from the 2008 Harlan Estate. The wine fleshes out beautifully in the glass as it shows off its class and true pedigree. This is a decidedly ripe, forward vintage, but in exchange the wine will drink well right out of the gate. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2028.  Wine Advocate #198 Dec 2011

2005 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $650.00    Your Price: $572.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(97 Points) Not unexpectedly, the 2005 Harlan Estate performed slightly better than it did last year. As these wines often do, it continues to put on weight as it is bottled very late by Napa standards, and there is no fining or filtration. The 2005 exhibits a gorgeous thick-looking, ruby/purple color in addition to a beautiful nose of burning embers interwoven with creme de cassis, roasted meats, sweet black truffles, and spring flowers. A hint of lead pencil shavings also emerges from this cuvee, which seems to want to be both a Pauillac and a ripe vintage of La Mission Haut Brion. Full-bodied, dense, pure, and revealing sweeter tannin than I remember, it can be drunk now, but it will no doubt display even greater complexity in 10, 20, and 30 years. Wine Advocate # 180, Dec 2008

2004 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon MAGNUM
Price: $1500.00    Sale Price: $1199.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

2004 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $675.00    Your Price: $594.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(98 Points) The 2004 Harlan Estate is probably the most precocious and accessible Harlan Estate that this perfectionist team has made. Already compelling, the wine has notes of roasted coffee, charcoal, blackberry, spring flowers, and some background sweet, toasty notes. Dense, fleshy, exuberant, even flamboyant by the standards of Bill Harlan, this wine exhibits no jaggedness or rough edges, has relatively high tannins, but they melt away on the palate. The wine is sensationally well-endowed, long, and rich “ a tour de force in winemaking. They can do no wrong at Harlan, and it is obvious, even in the most challenging vintages such as 1998, that this estate is a true grand cru/first growth, making wines of irrefutable world-class quality. Of course, none of this comes cheap, as the price is now moving up into the league with Screaming Eagle, but there are no shortage of takers. Wine Advocate # 174, Dec 2007

2003 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon MAGNUM
Price: $1300.00    Sale Price: $1020.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(95 Points) The bottled 2003 Harlan Estate is as good or even better than I had hoped. With a dark ruby/purple color, silky tannin, and abundant quantities of licorice, graphite, chocolate, espresso, black currant, truffle, and earthy characteristics, it comes across like a hypothetical blend of a top-notch Pauillac and Graves. Superb texture, low acidity, and gorgeous purity as well as richness suggest it will drink well for two decades or more. Wine Advocate # 168, Dec 2006

2003 The Maiden by Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $159.00    Your Price: $139.92
Quantity in Stock: 1

(91 points) Made in the Harlan Estate style, but more supple and evolved, the 2003 The Maiden exhibits plenty of caramel, black currant, and espresso roast characteristics, a fleshy mid-palate, and a long, supple finish. Consume it over the next 10-15 years. Wine Advocate # 168 Dec 2006

2002 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $1425.00    Sale Price: $1175.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(100 Points) I believe the 2001 Harlan Estate and 2002 Harlan Estate’s 100 point scores represent the first time I have given perfect ratings to two successive wines produced in the New World. However, the styles of the two wines couldn’t be more different as each reflects its particular vintage. The 2001 is a classic, long-lived, backward wine with most of its potential concealed at present. On the other hand, it is impossible to resist the flamboyant, extroverted 2002 Harlan Estate’s charm, richness, and overall seductive personality. This profoundly complex wine exhibits notes of cedar, black currant liqueur, scorched earth, smoke, and graphite. Incredibly broad, sweet, full-bodied, opulent, and voluptuous, it literally has everything one could ever want in a great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine. Already drinkable, it promises to evolve effortlessly for 25-30 years. This prodigious offering is worth mortgaging the farm! Wine Advocate # 162, Dec 2005

2002 The Maiden by Harlan Napa
Price: $212.00    Your Price: $186.56
Quantity in Stock: 1

(94 Points) Sweet, deep black currant fruit, espresso, licorice, graphite, and earth aromas emerge from the dense, ruby/purple-colored 2002 The Maiden, which cascades over the palate without a hard edge. Like its bigger sibling, it’s impossible to resist at present, but promises to age well for 15 years. Wine Advocate # 162 Dec 2005

2001 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $1050.00    Your Price: $924.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points) Rivaling the 1994 and 1997, the 2001 Harlan Estate is a perfect wine for my palate. Tasted on four separate occasions, this offering, which spent 28 months in oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered, is an extraordinary effort that comes across as a hypothetical blend of Mouton-Rothschild, La Mission-Haut-Brion, and Montrose. A synthesis in style between the more elegant, delineated, structured 1994, and the port-like, over-the-top, viscous 1997, this extraordinary 2001 was the wine of my trip, even though I had already had it from bottle several months earlier. An inky/purple color is accompanied by a stupendous bouquet of lead pencil shavings interwoven with coffee, new saddle leather, melted licorice, cedarwood, black currant liqueur, and violets. Explosive richness, a marvelous, full-bodied texture, and fabulous purity, concentration, complexity, and nobleness are the stuff of legends.

2000 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa MAGNUM
Price: $1200.00    Sale Price: $925.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

2000 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $575.00    Your Price: $506.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(91 Points) I have never been totally convinced by the 2000 Harlan Estate, but now that it’s in bottle, it is a very fine offering. The problem is that it must be compared with the other Harlan Estate wines made to date. A Graves-like perfume of roasted coffee, scorched earth, black currants, cedar, and a hint of menthol emerge from this dense dark ruby/purple-colored 2000. Lighter than normal, but medium to full-bodied and elegant, with soft tannin as well as a silky, precocious personality and texture, it can be drunk now and over the next 12 years. Harlan Estate and its perfectionist owner, Bill Harlan, who is backed up by the peerless team of Michel Rolland and Bob Levy, is truly an estate of monumental aspirations that more often than not hits the proverbial bull’s eye. None of the wines produced since 1990 has yet reached full maturity. While the 2000 is their lightest vintage to date, it is no wimpy wine. As I have written so many times before, what makes Harlan such a singular tasting experience is that while it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated offering from the hillsides above the Oakville Corridor, and it obviously has the power and extraordinary ripeness afforded by Napa Valley’s favorable viticultural climate, it has a degree of complexity that is only shared by a handful of other California Cabernet-based wines, and the finest Bordeaux. Harlan Estate represents exactly what a genius owner, who suffers no fools, and refuses to make any compromises, is capable of achieving ... is that a surprise? Wine Advocate # 150, December 2003

2000 The Maiden by Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $135.00    Your Price: $118.80
Quantity in Stock: 1

(89 points) The 2000 The Maiden reflects the softness and easy-going nature of the vintage. Attractive in a fruit-driven, earthy style with notions of dried herbs intermixed with espresso roast, cappuccino, white chocolate, and black currants, this modestly-endowed, evolved 2000 is best consumed over the next 8-10 years. Harlan Estate and its perfectionist owner, Bill Harlan, who is backed up by the peerless team of Michel Rolland and Bob Levy, is truly an estate of monumental aspirations that more often than not hits the proverbial bull’s eye. None of the wines produced since 1990 has yet reached full maturity. While the 2000 is their lightest vintage to date, it is no wimpy wine. As I have written so many times before, what makes Harlan such a singular tasting experience is that while it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated offering from the hillsides above the Oakville Corridor, and it obviously has the power and extraordinary ripeness afforded by Napa Valley’s favorable viticultural climate, it has a degree of complexity that is only shared by a handful of other California Cabernet-based wines, and the finest Bordeaux. Harlan Estate represents exactly what a genius owner, who suffers no fools, and refuses to make any compromises, is capable of achieving ... is that a surprise? Wine Advocate # 150 Dec 2003

1999 Harlan Estate Napa MAGNUM
Price: $1250.00    Sale Price: $999.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(92 points) The 1999 Harlan Estate (1,700 cases) reveals moderately intense aromatics of sweet vanilla, menthol, espresso, chocolate, and cassis. The wine is medium to full-bodied, suave, and elegant. It is more restrained and not as intense as previous vintages, reflecting 1999's cool growing season. Nevertheless, this is still an outstanding wine. The finish is long, elegant, and Bordeaux-like. It is not as prodigious as the Harlans produced between 1991 and 1998. I would rank it behind all those wines. Anticipated maturity: now-2016. Wine Advocate #142 Aug 2002

1998 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon MAGNUM
Price: $1250.00    Sale Price: $995.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(95 Points) “The 1998, which is a candidate for the ""Wine of the Vintage,"" was produced from yields of 0.9 tons per acre. There are only 1,100 cases, and it is the first Harlan Estate to be composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. A spectacular achievement, it boasts an opaque plum/purple color as well as a sumptuous nose of espresso, mineral, blueberry, blackberry, tobacco, licorice, Asian spice, and roasted meat smells. In the mouth, it is seamless, full-bodied, with an unctuous texture, gorgeously sweet tannin, and layer upon layer of concentration. This is a tour de force in winemaking. It is hard to believe that a wine such as this has emerged from 1998. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2030." Wine Advocate #132 (Dec 2000)

1997 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Magnum
Price: $2550.00    Sale Price: $2175.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

1997 Harlan Estate Napa
Price: $1350.00    Sale Price: $1075.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points) 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. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2030.†Wine Advocate #132 (Dec 2000)

All of the Cult wines that we have in the store:

 2003 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard Napa MAGNUM
Price: $995.00    Sale Price: $850.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(98 points) One of the candidates for “wine of the vintage,†the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard represents 1,600 cases produced from a 40-acre vineyard, which tells you how Draconian Araujo’s selection process is. The final blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot has resulted in a beautifully pure wine displaying an extraordinary floral, black currant, and mineral-scented bouquet, with no hint of new oak. The purity, richness and full-bodied power yet surreal finesse and impeccable balance should be cherished by wine lovers. This beauty can be drunk now and over the next two decades. Wow! Wine Advocate #168 Dec 2006

1999 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard
Price: $336.00    Your Price: $295.68
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95 points)  The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard (a 1,750-case blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, and 3% Merlot) boasts explosive aromas of incense, creme de cassis, minerals, and flowers. It is medium to full-bodied, with great harmony, and a sweet attack as well as finish. This is a classic example of power and richness allied to considerable elegance. Those in the foreign press who accuse California of being incapable of producing elegant wines have obviously never tasted this Cabernet. Anticipated maturity: now-2020.     Wine Advocate #142   Aug 2002

1997 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard Napa
Price: $575.00    Sale Price: $450.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(92 Points) The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard, is a beauty. The healthy ruby/purple color is followed by classic, unevolved but promising aromas of minerals, cedar, smoke, and black currants. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with admirable purity, a sweet, lush mid-palate, and ripe tannin in the finish. The top-notch 1997 is a classic, restrained. Anticipated maturity: now-2020. Wine Advocate # 132, Dec 2000

2008 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Thorevilos
Price: $575.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(98 Points) As outstanding as all the Abreu wines are, if I had to choose one that stands apart from the others it would be Thorevilos. The 2008 Thorevilos is the most complete and deeply satisfying of Abreu’s 2008s because the balance of fruit and structure is so impeccable. The 2008 literally explodes onto the palate with masses of dark fruit, tar, licorice and smoke. There is a fleshiness and depth of the fruit here that separates the Thorevilos from the other 2008s. Layers of fruit build towards the massive, masculine finish. In 2008 Thorevilos is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc and 15% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2038. Wine Advocate #198, Dec 2011

2004 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Thorevilos
Price: $375.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(95+ Points) The 2004 Thorevilos (200 cases) exhibits a deeper purple hue, and the nose is more restrained and closed than the Madrona Ranch’s. It offers up hints of minerality, earth and spice. The wine hits the palate with lots of richness as well as a firmer-structured, Medoc-like style displaying plenty of cassis, blackberry and floral notes and noticeable tannins to be shed. This beauty promises to be even better in 2-4 years and last for 10-15.  Wine Advocate #212, Apr 2014

2004 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch
Price: $375.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(96 Points) The youthful dark ruby/purple-colored 2004 Madrona Ranch(500 cases produced) reveals a slight touch of lightening at the edge along with beautiful blueberry, black currant and floral notes. The enticing entry is followed by a medium to full-bodied, lush, opulent, Pomerol-inspired wine (despite the fact it is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc rather than Merlot). There is enough stuffing in this 2004 to hold it for another decade. Wine Advocate #212, Apr 2014

2001 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch
Price: $775.00    Sale Price: $620.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(100 points) While I am not surprised that the 2001 Thorevilos turned out to be perfect, the 2001 Madrona Ranch was more of an eye-opener in that it has become even more extraordinary than I predicted eight years ago. A prodigious wine, with complex notes of subtle barbecue smoke intermixed with blueberry pie, black currant liqueur, acacia flowers, lead pencil shavings, and sweet foresty floor notes, this wine builds incrementally with layer upon layer of fruit, glycerin and concentration. The finish goes well past a minute, and the wine is full-bodied and deep, with wonderfully sweet tannin. It is still an adolescent in terms of its total evolution, but it is irresistible simply because of the flawless nature of the wine and incredible perfume and flavor intensity. Simply amazing! Both of these wines are adolescents, and probably won't peak for another 5-8 years and keep for 30-40. Wine Advocate # 195 Jun 2011

2008 Colgin IX Syrah Estate
Price: $175.00   Your Price: $154.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(94 Points) Interesting French-like Syrahs are also made from the estate's steep hillside vineyards. The 2008 IX Syrah Estate is performing even better than it did last year from barrel. Juicy bacon fat, roasted meat, grilled herb and smoky notes are classic northern Rhone Syrah characteristics. A floral component suggests some Viognier could be co-fermented, but this is 100% Syrah. The wood is well-concealed in this full-bodied, delicious wine. It is capable of a decade or more of cellaring. Wine Advocate #192, Dec 2010

2007 Colgin IX Syrah Estate
Price: $187.50    Your Price: $165.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95 Points) There are 475 cases of the 2007 IX Syrah Estate, which offers up flowery, roasted meat, balsamic, tar, and blackberry characteristics in a full-bodied format. The wine reveals sweet tannin, and layers of fruit, including a note of lavender that emerges as the wine sits in the glass. It should drink well for a decade.

Colgin’s 2007s, which include their final vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Herb Lamb Vineyard, are all extraordinary, world-class wines. The change in winemakers from Mark Aubert to Allison Tauziet has gone very smoothly, and was made easier by the retention of the highly respected French wine consultant, Dr. Alain Raynaud, who told me that tasting Colgin’s 2007s gave him his greatest emotional high since he tasted the Chateau Pavie 2000! The 2008s will not be available until 2011, but it appears to be a very successful vintage for Colgin. The crop was tiny, and there were no frost issues, but several heat spikes did occur. Both Allison Tauziet and Alain Raynaud thought that the small berries provided powerful fruit intensity. Wine Advocate #186, Dec 2009

2007 Colgin IX Proprietary Red Estate
Price: $549.00    Your Price: $483.12
Quantity in Stock: 1

(100 Points) The staggeringly rich, complex, harmonious, impeccably well-balanced 2007 IX Proprietary Red Estate (1,400 case produced) exhibits aromas of spring flowers, cedarwood, Asian spices, licorice, blueberries, and blackberries. A distinct liqueur of minerals buttresses the full-bodied, massive concentration, giving an overall impression of elegance, purity, and harmony. This is another seamless tour de force in winemaking. It should drink well for 25 or more years.

Colgin’s 2007s, which include their final vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Herb Lamb Vineyard, are all extraordinary, world-class wines. The change in winemakers from Mark Aubert to Allison Tauziet has gone very smoothly, and was made easier by the retention of the highly respected French wine consultant, Dr. Alain Raynaud, who told me that tasting Colgin’s 2007s gave him his greatest emotional high since he tasted the Chateau Pavie 2000! The 2008s will not be available until 2011, but it appears to be a very successful vintage for Colgin. The crop was tiny, and there were no frost issues, but several heat spikes did occur. Both Allison Tauziet and Alain Raynaud thought that the small berries provided powerful fruit intensity. Wine Advocate #186, Dec 2009

2006 Colgin Syrah IX Estate Napa
Price: $275.00    Your Price: $242.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(93 Points) Not to be forgotten are the 400 cases of Colgin’s Estate IX Syrah. The French-styled 2006 IX Syrah Estate offers an exotic nose of roasted meats, bouquet garni, and flowers, silky tannins, and full-bodied blackberry and cherry fruit. Drink it over the next 5-7 years. Wine Advocate # 180, Dec 2008

2006 Colgin Cariad Proprietary Red Wine
Price: $385.00    Your Price: $338.80
Quantity in Stock: 3

(98 Points) Meriting the same rating I gave it at its release, the 2006 Cariad is composed of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. One of the stars of the vintage, this thrilling, opaque purple-colored wine offers up sweet espresso, jus de viande, blackberry, blueberry, flower and chocolate aromas. A fabulous texture, tremendous purity, sensational brightness and authoritative flavor intensity allied to striking complexity and elegance are the signature of this creative blend from the David Abreu vineyards of Thorevilos and Madrona Ranch. Six hundred cases were produced. Give this wine another 3-4 years of cellaring and enjoy it over the following 15+. Wine Advocate #195, Jun 2011

2006 Colgin IX Estate Napa Valley Red Wine
Price: $645.00    Your Price: $567.60
Quantity in Stock: 6

(100 Points) From the Pritchard Hill Vineyard, the 2006 IX Proprietary Red Estate is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. The good news is that there are 1,500 cases of this cuvee. It, too, reveals the noble sweetness of tannin, the extraordinary rich, intense mouthfeel, and sumptuous aromas of flowers, burning embers, blackberries, blueberries, spice box, and cedar. With extraordinary intensity, beautiful purity, a texture and flavors that build incrementally on the palate, and a significantly long finish, this is a perfect wine. Wine Advocate # 180 Dec 2008

2005 Colgin Cariad Napa
Price: $465.00    Sale Price: $395.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(96 Points) Colgin is one of the reference points for just what heights mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals, and more recently, Syrah, can achieve in Napa Valley. This beautiful estate and winery overlooking Lake Hennessey is owned by Joe Wender and his wife, Ann Colgin (equally renowned for her auctioneering skills), who are assisted by David Abreu, the well-known Bordeaux wine consultant, Dr. Alain Raynaud, and Allison Tauziet, who has skillfully replaced the brilliant Mark Aubert. As the scores and tasting notes suggest, this was an exceptional tasting. Colgin’s 2006s are among the finest wines produced in the vintage. Wine Advocate # 180, Dec 2008

2003 Colgin Syrah IX Estate Napa
Price: $375.00    Your Price: $330.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95 Points) Aubert demonstrates a superb know-how with Syrah. These wines are macerated for 35-45 days, and given frequent pump-overs as well as punch-downs. They are aged completely in French oak. Colgin’s 2003 IX Syrah Estate (330 cases) has added considerable complexity and weight since I tasted it last year, becoming very Burgundian in its huge aromatics and opulent, full-bodied power. Aromas of road tar, ground pepper, espresso roast, blackberries, and an exotic floral character emerge from this beauty. Enjoy it over the next 7-8 years.  Wine Advocate #168, Dec 2006

2003 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Cariad Napa
Price: $450.00    Your Price: $396.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(96 Points) The proprietary blend from David Abreu's Thorevilos and Madrona Ranch vineyards, the 2003 Cariad (520 cases), 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. This beauty can be enjoyed over the next 20-25 years. Wine Advocate # 168, Dec 2006

2002 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Napa
Price: $525.00    Your Price: $462.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(96 Points) The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard (220 cases) exhibits a dense purple color in addition to a big, rich bouquet of grilled meats, dried herbs, ground pepper, espresso, blackberries, cassis, and blueberries. This seriously endowed yet elegant Cabernet is full-bodied, dense, and rich with sweet tannin as well as a surprising accessibility – a characteristic of this exciting vintage. Anticipated maturity: now-2020. Wine Advocate # 157, Feb 2005

2005 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $315.00    Sale $277.20
Quantity in Stock: 3

2003 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $375.00    Sale $330.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

1993 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $295.00    Sale $259.60
Quantity in Stock: 2

(91 Points) The 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon is a top-flight example of this high class vintage. Deep purple-colored, with well-integrated, spicy, toasty oak competing with gobs of sweet blackcurrant fruit and spice, this full-bodied, well-endowed, concentrated Cabernet is powerful yet well-balanced. It needs another 2-3 years of cellaring to resolve some tannin, but it will easily last 15-20 years. These limited production gems certainly merit the hyperbole and accolades they receive. This wine is only available via the winery's mailing list, and I am sure there are more potential suitors than wine to be sold. Current production has dwindled, largely because much of the vineyard is in the process of being replanted due to the phylloxera scourge. For example, in 1995 only the upper block of the vineyard was in production. Only 75 cases will emerge from this vintage, further ensuring a preposterously high price. In 1994 there are 175 cases. These beautifully made wines are among the finest Cabernets in California. I rarely report on them because they are, for all intents and purposes, unobtainable. Yet there is no doubting the high quality aspirations of the owner, and the skills exhibited by winemaking consultant Heidi Barrett in the production, aging, and bottling of these 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Tel. (707) 963-0808

1991 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $225.00    Sale $198
Quantity in Stock: 2

(89 Points) A soft, elegant, medium-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon, the Grace Family Vineyards' 1991 lacks the concentration and intensity of the winery's marvelous past efforts. Nevertheless, there are generous amounts of rich, black-cherry, and cassis fruit, a gentle touch of toasty new oak, and a velvety finish. It is a Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next decade. Wine Advocate # 93, Jun 1994
1990 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $325.00    Sale $286
Quantity in Stock: 1

(94 Points) Dark and maturing, with complex black cherry,coffee, wild berry, stewed plum, cedar and anise flavors that are concentrated and elegant.Finishes with mild but sufficient tannins. Drinks exceptionally well now.--California Cabernet retrospective. Drink now through 2010. 154 cases made. “JL Issue: Feb 28, 2001

1987 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $325.00    Sale $286
Quantity in Stock: 1

1984 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $365.00    Sale $321.20
Quantity in Stock: 1

(90 Points) Ripe and powerful, bursting with jammy, raisiny fruit and more than ample tannins, chocolatey, with a haunting sense of marmalade on the finish. An exotic, powerful wine, graceful like a big athlete.  Wine Spectator Issue: Apr 15, 1988

2011 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Ark
Price: $525.00    Sale Price: $425.00
Quantity in Stock: 6

(94-96 Points) To further emphasize the success Howell Mountain enjoyed in 2011 is Woodbridge’s 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Arc Vineyard. A fabulous bouquet of mulberries, jammy cherries and black currants intermixed with hints of lead pencil shavings, forest floor and background oak is followed by a surprisingly full-bodied, concentrated, ripe, rich, layered, compelling wine. This is a great success to enjoy over the next 15 or so years.   Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2011 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Napa
Price: $525.00    Sale Price: $425.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(89-91 Points) The lighter, medium-bodied, charming 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan reflects some of the vintage’s issues with less than ideal ripeness. However, Woodbridge has not pushed extraction nor tried to produce something that the grapes just couldn’t provide. It is a more delicate Kayli Morgan offering sweet tannin, ripe black cherry and black currant fruit, not a trace of herbaceousness and a silky, seductive texture and finish. It should probably be consumed in its first 10-12 years of life. Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2010 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Precious Napa
Price: $595.00    Sale Price: $450.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(99 Points) Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the silky 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Precious boasts amazing amounts of creme de cassis, licorice, spring flowers, charcoal and graphite. The quintessential Woodbridge wine, it is busting with sensuality, exuding enormous fruit, and built like a skyscraper. Abundant notes of cassis and the soft, velvety tannins are fabulous. This wine can be drunk now or in 20-30 years.  Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2010 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Far and Few Between
Price: $750.00    Sale Price: $600.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(100 Points)  The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Few and Far Between has a minerality that is also found in the Howell Mountain cuvee as well as deep, luxurious, beautiful black currant and blackberry fruit intermixed with hints of jammy black cherries, licorice, camphor and charcoal embers. Exceptionally full-bodied with sweet tannin, surreal richness and remarkable purity as well as delineation, this pushes ripeness and intensity to nearly over-the-top levels, but it pulls back to simply create a wine of genius. This 2010 should age effortlessly for two to three decades, but there is no reason to delay your enjoyment.  Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2009 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon Deep Time Napa
Price: $795.00    Sale Price: $650.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(100 Points)  The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Deep Time is another perfect wine. Quintessential elegance, seductiveness and ripeness are all present in this full-bodied, gorgeously rich wine along with intense minerality and abundant, corpulent, cassis, mulberry and boysenberry fruit. It takes a wild ride on the palate with incredible intensity yet a surreal finesse and focus that belie the wine’s compelling concentration and intensity. I’ll cut off my notes now since so few people will ever get a chance to try this beauty, but if you do, it takes you deep into the essence of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the complicated think tank of Woodbridge’s brain. Anticipated maturity: now-2030.Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2002 Hundred Acre Kayli Morgan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $687.00    Sale Price: $575.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(98 Points) As for the 2002 Hundred Acre (1,200 cases), this is a terrific example of great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. 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. Wine Advocate # 157 Feb 2005

2012 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $3000.00    Sale Price: $2400.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(100 points)  The perfect 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Screaming Eagle is composed of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Made in the classic, iconic Screaming Eagle style that the original proprietress, Jean Philipps, first showcased in the early 1990s, before the winery was sold to Stan Kroenke, the inky/purple-colored, seamless 2012 possesses an extraordinary set of aromatics consisting of pure blackcurrant liqueur, licorice, acacia flowers, graphite and a subtle hint of new oak. Full-bodied, opulent and voluptuous, this profound wine is as prodigious as I thought it would be last year when tasted from barrel. It should age effortlessly for 20 or more years. eRobertParker.com #215, Oct 2014

2011 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $2850.00    Sale Price: $2250.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(91-94 points)  Made from a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest equal parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the 2011 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon is a sexy, upfront, precociously styled wine exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color as well as lots of licorice, camphor, black currant jam, new oak and spice box characteristics. Dense, rich and impressive, the early drinking charm of the 2011 vintage gives it immediate appeal. It should keep for 10-15 years. Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2010 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: $3800.00    Sale Price: $2995.00
Quantity in Stock: 4

(100 Points) Utter perfection, the 2010 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon (a 610-case blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc; 14.5% natural alcohol) boasts a dense ruby/purple color along with a staggering bouquet of spring flowers, graphite, creme de cassis, kirsch, licorice and subtle toast in the background. Opulent and full-bodied with a multidimensional personality, gorgeous purity and a stunning, flawless texture, this spectacular wine is among the wines of the vintage.  Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2009 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $3300.00    Sale Price: $2600.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

(98+ Points) The 2009 Screaming Eagle is insanely beautiful. It is a relatively open vintage that nevertheless possesses stunning intensity, depth and elegance. Dark red berries, flowers, mint and spices are all woven together beautifully. Layers of fruit build effortlessly to the long, seductive finish. The 2009 continues to flesh out in the glass. All of the elements are in the right place in the drop-dead gorgeous, stunning 2009. A haunting bouquet reminiscent of a great Musigny lingers on the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029.  Wine Advocate #198, Dec 2011

2008 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $3700.00    Sale Price: $2900.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(97 points) The 2008 Screaming Eagle is a model of elegance. Endless layers of sweet, perfumed fruit caress the palate in this captivating, utterly seductive wine. The finesse and silkiness of the tannin is something that is truly unique among the world’s great wines. If Grand Cru Burgundy were made in Napa Valley, it would taste like Screaming Eagle. A delicate, classy finish lets the sheer purity of the fruit come through beautifully here. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2028. Wine Advocate #198 Dec 2011

2007 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (original wooden case)
Price: $4199.00    Your Price: $3695.12
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points) As impossible as it might seem, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon takes things to another level. An exquisite, celestial bouquet melds into endless layers of fruit as this rich, voluptuous wine blossoms on the palate. Full-bodied and seductive, the 2007 conquers all of the senses with its head spinning, beautiful personality. As always, Screaming Eagle is a bit more restrained next to Napa Valley’s other heavy hitters, yet the pedigree of this opulent vintage comes through in spades. A kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors flows through to the creamy, textured finish. I have tasted the 2007 several times recently. It was always beenY.perfect. My only issue with the 2007 is that it appears to be shutting down just a touch. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.

2012 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvigon Napa
Price: $595.00    Sale $523.60
Quantity in Stock: 3

WA 98 (10/2014): The classic 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon included fruit from the 2-acre, old vine parcel that is nearly 70 years of age. It boasts an opaque purple color as well as copious notes of spring flowers, blackberries, black raspberries and wet rocks. The wine’s gravelly minerality and spectacular opulence and density make it an instant classic. This massive, full-bodied 2012 should drink beautifully for 15-20+ years. It showed incredibly well last year, and it still reveals the potential to possibly merit a 3-digit score – it’s that special.

2011 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $575.00    Sale Price: $475.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(91-93 Points) A notable success in an extremely irregular vintage (even more so for Napa’s valley floor vineyards), the 2011 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon possesses a deep ruby/plum/purple color, and a slightly lighter weight and less of a serious foundation of structure than the 2010. However, the wine’s purity and hints of kirsch, black currants, berry fruit and toasty oak are well-displayed and well-integrated into this seamlessly constructed effort. It is on a relatively fast evolutionary track so drink it over the next 10-15 years.  Wine Advocate #209, Oct 2013

2012 Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon RBS
Price: $950.00    Sale Price: $750.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(98 Points) The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard RBS, which is also from Clone 337 but from different blocks on the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, saw oak with 90% new Darnajou and 10% new Taransaud. This wine seems slightly more expansive, shares the black ruby/purple color with all of it siblings, and has a boatload of crème de cassis, incense, licorice, graphite and vanilla along with plenty of spice box and forest floor. This is a killer, full-bodied, super-duper, opulent Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 20 years. eRobertParker.com #215, Oct 2014

2012 Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon LPV Napa
Price: $395.00    Sale Price: $300.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(94 Points) The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard LPV is black/ruby, shows lots of charcoal, scorched earth and an almost Graves-on-steroids personality. Deep blueberry and blackberry fruit, a hint of coffee and chocolate are all present in this impressive, very different style of Cabernet Sauvignon from Schrader. This is Clone 337, planted in a St. Helena vineyard.   eRobertParker.com #215, Oct 2014

2009 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon
Price: $361.50
Quantity in Stock: 5

(95-98 Points) I’ll keep my notes on the 2009s brief, but as one can see, these are among the superstars of the vintage. I do not envision any of them meriting a perfect score, which will finally break the trifecta of perfection for the CCS, but these will all be mid to upper-90 point wines because they are that good. As Thomas Brown explained to me, it was a year of higher yields, cooler temperatures, and virtually all of the vineyards were harvested before the deluge arrived in mid-October. The 2009s are all made from the same Clones as the 2008s. I thought the three top cuvees were the T6, CCS and Schrader, but the RBS looks profound as well. The only wine that is perhaps lighter than expected is the George III. The 2009s should be more evolved, gorgeous to drink out of the gate, and last for 15-20 years as opposed to 30-40. Wine Advocate #192, Dec 2010

2012 Schrader Boars View Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $300.00    Sale Price: $250.00
Quantity in Stock: 5

1994 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon Stag's Leap
Price: $437.50    Your Price: $385.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(99 points) The current release, the 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select, is a prodigious Cabernet. I had it at a tasting in Japan, and the Japanese were as enthusiastic about it as my rating suggested they should be. They were crestfallen when informed they probably would not be able to buy multiple cases of the wine! The 1994 combines the vintage's spectacularly ripe, luscious fruit with a rarely seen degree of elegance and finesse. The wine is extremely rich, as well as gorgeously poised and graceful. The saturated ruby/purple color is accompanied by Medoc-like, lead pencil aromas intermixed with cassis, cedar, minerals, and spice. I wrote the word "great" four different times in my most recent tasting note, which mirrored every other tasting note I have. It is full-bodied and seamless, with a silky texture, voluptuous richness, and fabulous purity. The finish lasts for over 40 seconds. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2025.  Wine Advocate #120 Dec 1998

1999 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon Stag's Leap
Price: $299.00    Your Price: $263.12
Quantity in Stock: 4

(97 points) The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is one of the finest wines of the vintage. The 14.9% alcohol is barely noticeable given the amazing concentration and intensity. A saturated opaque purple color is followed by scents of vanilla, blackberry liqueur, crushed minerals, and a hint of white flowers. There is stunning intensity, tremendous purity, full body, and a remarkable, seamless finish (amazing given the elevated, austere tannin). Give the 1999 another 2-3 years of cellaring, and enjoy it over the following two decades or longer. A brilliant effort! There are 2,000 cases of this offering, which is aged for 32 months in 100% new French oak prior to bottling. It is head and shoulders above any other Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Leap appellation, combining an extraordinary elegance, delineation, and purity with a tremendously layered, thick opulence that coats the palate with exceptional purity as well as precision. Even in vintages such as 1998, this is a formidable offering. Wine Advocate #150 Dec 2003

2003 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District
Price: $349.00    Your Price: $307.12
Quantity in Stock: 1

(95 points)  The 2003 is a singular style of wine, but by no means wimpy or undernourished. The 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has a dense, purple color, notes of creosote, graphite, blackberry and cassis fruit, charcoal and scorched earth. It has a full-bodied mouthfeel and excellent purity, while some rather noticeable tannins kick in on the finish. This wine seems to be moving from adolescence to that early mature stage, where I would expect it to hold for at least another 10-15 or more years. Clearly not one of the superstars in what was a rather astonishing qualitative lineup, but it’s outrageously good Cabernet Sauvignon, and I expect myself, as well as any of my readers, would drink this 24/7.  eRobertParker.com #216, Dec 2014

2009 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $650.00    Your Price: $572.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(96 points) The 2009 Sloan Estate has fleshed out beautifully since last year. Exciting and totally voluptuous, the 2009 covers every inch of the palate with layers of mocha-infused dark fruit. The 2009 boasts striking inner perfume and sweetness, with generous plum, cinnamon, melted road tar and Christmas cake notes that wrap around the highly expressive finish. I imagine the 2009 is a vintage that will enjoy a broad window of drinkability starting pretty much upon release. The 2009 is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Sloan fans will note the Merlot is a little higher than normal in 2009. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2027. Wine Advocate #204 Dec 2012

2008 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $650.00    Your Price: $572.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(96 points) The 2008 Sloan Estate is racy and totally elegant from start to finish. It shows gorgeous freshness and vibrancy in its expressive dark red fruit, flowers, licorice and tobacco. Today the 2008 comes across as a relatively understated, subdued vintage for this wine. It should be absolutely fabulous in another few years. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2028. Wine Advocate #198 Dec 2011

2007 Sloan Proprietary Red Napa
Price: $895.00    Sale Price: $750.00
Quantity in Stock: 3

(100 Points)  The 2007 Sloan, now in bottle, has lived up to the extraordinary quality it exhibited from barrel. A world-class, perfumed nose of charcoal, espresso roast, white chocolate, black currants, sweet plums, Asian soy and a Grave-like scorched earth aroma soars from the glass of this dense purple-colored wine. Full-bodied and seamlessly constructed with a multidimensional mouthfeel as well as a phenomenal finish, this 2007 carries considerable tannin, but at present it is concealed by the wine’s luxurious levels of fruit, glycerin and intensity. This spectacular 2007 should drink well for 25-30+ years. Stuart Sloan’s operation on a beautiful hillside just above Auberge du Soleil has taken off in less than a decade. They produce slightly more than 600 cases, but they hope to eventually reach 1,000 cases. This spectacular vineyard is treated like a spoiled child and Sloan boasts an impressive winemaking team of Martha McClellan and globe-trotting consultant Michel Rolland. The blend is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (80-85%) with the rest some awesome Cabernet Franc and tiny portions of Petit Verdot and Merlot.  Wine Advocate #192Dec 2010

2006 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $500.00    Your Price: $440.00
Quantity in Stock: 8

(98 points) The 2006 is performing even better from bottle than it did from barrel. Sloan and McClellan decided to bottle it later than usual, recognizing the rugged, tough tannins of the vintage could be sweetened up with longer barrel aging. Their strategy worked. The wine’s dense ruby/purple color is followed by notes of white chocolate, burning embers, creme de cassis, coffee, and scorched earth (think Haut-Brion or La Mission Haut-Brion). It possesses terrific structure, melted, well-integrated tannins, full body, and is already bursting with complexity. A great success, it is one of the vintage’s most thrilling wines. Drink it over the next 20-25 years.

2004 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $398.00    Your Price: $350.24
Quantity in Stock: 13

(98 points)  The 2004 Sloan’s spectacular inky/purple/garnet color is followed by notes of high quality espresso roast, chocolate, black currants, truffles and a striking minerality. Full-bodied and super-rich with that roasted character that one finds in Cote Rotie and some of the great Haut-Brions from Pessac-Leognan, this full-bodied, rich 2004 is a super-star of the vintage. Although the tannins are elevated, they are extremely sweet and well-integrated. This spectacular 2004 is performing even better now than it did following bottling. It is also one of the more developed and evolved vintages of Sloan, no doubt because that was the nature of the 2004 vintage. Drink it now and over the next two decades.  Wine Advocate #212 Apr 2014

2003 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $309.00    Your Price: $271.92
Quantity in Stock: 5

(96 + points)  The 20003 was made by Martha McClellan and the viticulture looked over by David Abreu. The 2003 Sloan, if slightly less prodigious than the perfect 2002, remains a young wine. Notes of vanillin, espresso roast, blackberries, scorched earth, camphor and hints of charcoal and barbecue meat jump from the glass of this spicy, rich, provocative Cabernet Sauvignon. With a full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet tannin and adequate acidity, the blend includes 14% Cabernet Franc and 86% Cabernet Sauvignon from this extraordinary hillside vineyard above Auberge de Soleil in mid-Napa Valley. This wine is 2-5 years away from full maturity, and should last for another decade.  Wine Advocate #207, Jun 2013

2002 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Price: $999.00    Sale Price: $795.00
Quantity in Stock: 2

(100 points)  The perfect score does not surprise me since I had given this wine a three-digit rating after bottling. However, I was surprised by how evolved and complex the 2002 has become. Compared to some of the other high scoring 2002s, Sloan’s offering seems to be on a faster evolutionary track. There is nothing wrong with that, but based on this one bottle, this blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot can be drunk now or cellared for another 10-12 years. I do not think it will be one of the blockbuster, extremely long-lived wines of the vintage, but I could be wrong, because everything is in perfect balance. It offers a dense plum/garnet/purple color, a sweet nose of roasted espresso, chocolate, spring flowers, blackberries, black currants and new saddle leather, an opulent, voluptuous texture, gorgeous, layered flavors, lots of glycerin, sweet, silky tannin and a phenomenal finish. If you own any of this beauty, don’t hesitate to drink it.  Wine Advocate #201 Jun 2012

1998 Verite Sonoma/Napa
Price: $155.00    Your Price: $136.40
Quantity in Stock: 5

(90 points) Dark, rich and chocolaty, with black cherry and blackberry fruit that's deep and concentrated. Gains complexity with mineral, cedar, coffee and tarry notes, turning dry and tannic. Best from 2002 through 2010. 1,956 cases made. –JL Issue: Aug 31, 2001

2002 Verite La Muse Napa/Sonoma
Price: $390.00    Your Price: $343.20
Quantity in Stock: 6

(99 Points) A blend of 93% Merlot / 7% Cabernet Franc (92% from the Alexander Mountain Estate, 6% from Bennett Valley and 2% from Knight’s Valley), the 2002 La Muse is a “kissing cousin” of the 2001, only softer and more flamboyant. Classically Californian in its exuberant, flamboyant, super-rich, unctuously textured style, the tannins are softer than in the 2001, but the wine unquestionably has the potential to last for another quarter of a century. It exhibits an opaque plum/purple color along with abundant notes of cassis, licorice, graphite, coffee cake and spice box. More approachable than the 2001, the 2002 will offer phenomenal drinking over the next 25 years.

2002 Verite Le Desir Sonoma
Price: $175.00    Your Price: $154.00
Quantity in Stock: 15

Complimentary adjectives are almost inappropriate for the extraordinary complexity, fabulous richness, and sheer nobleness and beauty of the 2002 Le Desir (52.7% Merlot, 41.2% Cabernet Franc, and tiny percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec). Dense aromas of creosote, burning wood embers, blackberries, blueberries, and violets are offered in the full-bodied, fabulously complex perfume. Full-bodied, with tremendous complexity, a voluptuous texture, and flavors of plum liqueur, figs, chocolate, espresso, and minerals, this is a tour de force in winemaking. Anticipated maturity: now-2020. (97 Points) Wine Advocate #157 (Feb 2005)

2002 Verite La Joie
Price: $325.00    Your Price: $286.00
Quantity in Stock: 1

(98) The full-bodied, classically-styled, Bordeaux-like 2002 La Joie?s (64.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28.5% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and .3% Malbec) deep ruby/purple color is followed by gorgeous aromas of black truffles, scorched earth, tobacco leaves, blackberry and cassis liqueur, and notions of minerals as well as acacia flowers. This stunning red can be drunk in 2-3 years, or cellared for two decades. Wine Advocate #157 (Feb 2005)

2006 Verite La Joie North Coast
Price: $207.00    Your Price: $182.16
Quantity in Stock: 3

(95+ Points) A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, the inky/purple-colored 2006 La Joie (1,300 cases) reveals aromas of graphite, creme de cassis, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and incense. It possesses a rich, full-bodied personality with mouth-filling levels of tannin, extract, and fruit. Forget this 2006 for 5-7 years as it is a long-term monster in the making. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2045.  Wine Advocate # 180, Dec 2008

2009 Verite La Muse Sonoma
Price: $390.00    Your Price: $343.20
Quantity in Stock: 3

(96+ Points) The 2009 La Muse (86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec; 14.5% alcohol) is a blockbuster offering complex, intense notes of Asian plum sauce, figs, black currants, white chocolate and cedar. The wine reveals an extra level of texture and richness along with full body, an unctuous texture, and a super ripeness and richness that does not go over the top. The tannins are noticeable, but well-integrated as are the new oak and acidity. This big, backstrapping, Merlot-based wine is meant for long-term cellaring. Give it 4-5 more years in the bottle and enjoy it over the following 30 years. Wine Advocate #210, Dec 2013

2009 Verite La Joie Sonoma
Price: $390.00    Your Price: $343.20
Quantity in Stock: 3

(96 Points)  The 2009 La Joie (14.5% natural alcohol, and a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec) boasts an opaque purple color along with abundant notes of wood spice, barbecued meat, new saddle leather, creme de cassis and forest floor. Rich, full-bodied and powerful with moderately high tannins, it needs to be forgotten for 5-7 years, and drunk over the following 25-30 years.

What I Drank Yesterday- California Cult Tasting at Wine Watch