First post here, thought I’d throw up some TNs, all from memory so not as detailed as usual:
Night 1:
Herb Lamb Cab vertical.
1997 HL Cab
Still deep purple with a little bricking. Deep black and blue fruit (trademark blueberry), leather, espresso, smooth tannin and overall delicious. Great wine. 95
1999 HL Cab
Very dark purple, lots of acid and some VA and potent tannin, not enough fruit to carry this and too much acid, never going to come into balance. 88
2000 HL Cab
Between the 1997 and 1999 in color, started closed but showed up late. Nowhere near the balance of the 97, but still very concentrated with house style black and blue fruits and chocolate, nice finish. A great wine for the weak vintage. 92
1978 Shafer Cab
Corked, damn.
Night 2
1996 Fevre Les Preuses
Surprisingly dark yellow. Looked like an aged GC white burg. Saline, mineral, loads of crushed seashell with somewhat reticent fruit but showing some tangy lemon and finishing long. Great life ahead, fine wine in 5-10 years if it doesn’t oxidize, color is a little concerning. 93
1999 Sandrone Le Vigne
Big black color with no clarity at the rim. Smelled like Christmas cake on opening, big dark fruit showed up after 6 hours decant with loads of dark cherry and tar, but finished with some astringency. Hold onto these for a few more years. 91
1997 Scavino Rocche della Annunziata
Dark purple, after 5 hours in decanter this showed pure cherry, tar, espresso, spice, good balance and acidity. Very concentrated and not for purists. A few more years will do this wine well, impressive. 94
2000 Scavino Rocche della Annunziata
Very dark, barely budged after hours in the decanter. Roasty ripe dark fruit with huge bitter chocolate. Monolithic, I can see people liking it but it’s pretty one dimensional and I don’t think it will show much more. 90
1989 Giacosa Falletto Riserva
Mama. Light red/brown, wild nose of balsamic, scorched earth, cherry, raspberry, asphalt, same on the palate plus cinnamon and all kinds of othe rstuff, unbelievable silky mouthfeel with enough structure to carry it and an endless finish. This is almost as good as it gets. 98
Night 3
1982 Mouton
Oy, what to say, this wine has it all. Pure cherry, integrated tannins, spice, graphite, scorched earth, power, finesse, the bomb. 99
1986 Mouton
Stunningly youthful, bright cherry, raspberry, big acid with tobacco leaf on the nose and loads of tannin. If you have these, wait for 5-10 years at least. 97
1989 Mouton
Dark in color and on the palate, this is drinking beautifully. Neither the balance of the 82 or the power of the 86, this has loads of dark fruit, spice box, cedar, long finish. Lovely. 95
1990 Mouton
Surprisingly light, this had a big barnyard nose with light cherries and the palate followed. Needs fruit but the overall wine was very nice with soft cherry, leather, and a bit more structure than the wine would support. 91
1977 Fonseca
Rich but shedding youth, somewhat tame fruit with an unexpected nutty note, and showing some alcohol, but also giving up milk chocolate, raisin, and spice with a long finish. Delish. 97
Great lineup over 3 nights, now I need a nap.