94 Michel Schlumberger Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve [Dry Creek Valley] 13% abv. acquired last year. Over two nights, no decanting. Dark garnet color, no bricking, nose of fennel, mint, herbs, pine. The fruit has faded a bit here and we have more secondary notes. On the first night it seems in balance, and is what I would consider as ‘good’ but not great. I don’t have much familiarity with the producer, having had a few wines on release in the 90s, maybe the base 96 and 97 bottlings, and then drifted away. The wines were ok, but not memorable, and at that price point, I used to like their (now sold and rebranded) neighbor Ch. Souverain a bit more. This reserve bottling is solid enough, but really didn’t seem that rich/dense. Time has not developed the complexity one would expect with a reserve level wine. And by the second night, even decanted into a small 375ml to prevent oxidation, the fruit had faded fast, and the tannins had come to the forefront. The fruit is on the restrained side, and maybe 15 seconds in length. Sound bottle, great looking cork and label, so I just think it was something that would have been better younger. I’d give it a B, and am left with the same impression of M-S as I started – solid enough, but not something to particularly seek out. I have heard their estate is beautiful and worth a visit if only for that. We’ll be up the area in the near future so perhaps I might swing by.
I tasted the '90 and '95 versions of this wine a couple of months ago and my impression was very similar to yours - good wines, but lacking density and richness.