This is drinking extremely young right now and would benefit from cellaring. Lots of potential here. From CT review:
Really young and in need of a good decant, which I didn’t get to do under the circumstances. A little jammy and disjointed without it. Just gobs of dark berries, pencil lead, and violets. Slight alcoholic heat. Rich without being overbearing. Screams for steak. Just needs to settle down.
Score: 92+. Relative to expectations: ++. Could be more in time, not sure
Well I opened 300 just now for a decant for Mother’s Day lunch. This is bottle 2/6 with the first being opened 18 months ago. Maybe if I had read this post, I would have opened it last night….on a sip on pop and pour its certainly not ready (granted all ive had this morning is coffee (with cream, no sweetener @larry_schaffer) . So I poured it into my widest decanter and will do a few aggressive swirls this morning in hope that it will be ready by 1-2 pm….if not 240 can bail us out like it always does.
Edit 1 hour into decant. Think it will be fine by 2 pm lunch. Fruit forward and floral bouquets but not too jammy.
Hanger steak, bib salad, mashed potatoes. Lot 300. six hour decant….its basic a perfectly balanced wine. I’m sure I’ve had a half dozen wines that were slightly better but for the purposes of a great meal, I’m not sure I could much tell the difference. At 39$ a bottle it’s close the the upper limits of my dN price… reportedly a $250 bottle of wine, I’ve not had too many wines at that price point to know if it is a $250 bottle of wine, but I can certainly say this wine had no flaws and was perfectly enjoyable… So the fact that it was close to 85% off makes me feel OK that perhaps it is one to two ticks away from transcendence (that perhaps my pallet can’t even appreciate) Makes me OK with the value proposition.
PnP, now. This is top notch and fantastic stuff!! I this wine. !!!
I will be enjoying these while waiting for #321 (the 2018), to further mature. with Ribeye
Day 2, a bit remaining, still fresh! Age worthy, if you choose.
Haven’t been drinking a lot of wine lately but opened a few over the last weekend. First was Lot 353 2021 Single-Vineyard Barossa Valley Shiraz. I remembered this as being a bit underwhelming when I first tried it. This last bottle was much better, especially after an hour or so of air. Second bottle was Lot 240 2019 Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. I’ve loved this since I got it, only wish I had gotten more. This is really fantastic now.
I’ve drank 5 of 12 dN lot 234 so far and have in my notes that it will likely peak in 2025. None of the 5 were opened too young and I got complemented on its quality. Sounds like its entering its best drinking window.
I’m in SF for a conference and I stopped by K&L to pick up a Bottle of wine to have over the next few nights while
I work in my hotel room. (and to check out the store since I had heard it’s a place that some CA wineries off load extra wine). I got a bottle of 2018 teachworth Napa cab for $40….online it retails for $130 at the winery. Let’s just say I’m disappointed even at the 75% discount. And I’d be angry if I’d payed 130. I’d rather have dN lot 17,25, 30,50,145 (these are the 18 cabs that I own) over this wine any day of the week. I’m not sure if they offloaded bc they had extra or if it was just flawed. But it does make me a bit nervous about these 18 RC shiners we have coming. And it does serve as a confirmation that DN isn’t perfect but neither is other discount buying. (Or non discount buying)
2018 de Négoce OG N.82 Meritage - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (5/16/2024)
Decanted off sediment for 1h and back to bottle at cellar temp for 8h.
Still pretty tight and tannic. Palate shows some nice dark red and blue fruits, hints of clay earth. I sense some elegant and graceful fruit down there but not consistently, the big structure is shielding everything here. Finish is long and shows off those tannins.
I’m still very bullish on those wine—it will be better in 5 years and just fabulous in 15.
Can’t figure this one out. At times tastes like a generic Pinot, then I get a flash of what good Sonoma Pinot is all about. The single CT review gives it 88, can’t disagree. It’s good, but nothing special. Only bought six, three left. Been hit-or miss with dN’s Pinots.
Luke,
Run back to K&L in SF and get yourself a bottle of 2021 Kathryn Kennedy Small Lot Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet for $40. My neighbor Marty from the 1970’s make this gem, always impressive, as he’s particular as hell on his growers. Drink local and enjoy.
Jeff,
4 months in the bottle so far, has a good % of new oak, >14% alc, needs time is my answer. I have some through a swap and not considered it opening any for awhile- but I have plenty of past dN inventory.
Cheers, Tim
I for sure will. K&L is only 3 blocks out of the way from the convention center and I need something to redeem this really crappy bottle. (Maybe it will be better tomorrow) but my other 18s (both dN and other brands) have been more pleasant than this one.
One sentimental wine memory : my daughter and I are staying at a hotel in Nob hill . The mark hopkins hotel has a bar on the top floor called “top of the Mark” that has a view of the entire city. My grandfather was a fairly prolific fighter pilot in WW2 (I actually only came to know this from other who flew with him who told me of his accomplishments after he died…. He had like 20 dogfights “wins” in the war and was never shot down….which I guess is why I actually exist as a person) anyway he would take us to the top of the mark when we visited SF bc there was a tradition as that with navy fighter pilots during the and that they would leave a bottle of Champagne for the next group of pilots who docked in sf….and they would show up with a bottle for the next group and drink the bottle left by the past group. (Sort of a “pay it forward” sort of thing). I don’t know how widespread this practice was but I believe him (he was not a BSer, and humble enough that I never knew about what a badass he was until after he died and I met some vets who knew him, and told me how prolific he was. )
Anyway, in the past we have started at the MH but time we are staying at a different hotel nearby ( the reviews are a bit split on the fact that it’s showing its age) but we wall absolutely go to the top of the mark on this trip and order champagne in memory of humble bad-asses of the silent generation like my grandfather.
Had a 280 Barossa old-vine shiraz last night, it was late and I was just looking for an inexpensive bottle, much better than the first one I had over a year ago. The first was unimpressive and uninteresting. This was much better. I generally prefer fairly high acidity, this has none, but good for this style - full-bodied and chewy, chocolate, black fruits, some spice but surprisingly not much pepper for a shiraz, medium tannin. I think it’ll improve more, I’ll give this a while before I open another. But take this with a grain of salt, late night wine…
Had a '16 Xavier Vignon Cuvee Anonyme CdP earlier in the evening - very nice and balanced CdP.
Opened a 438 to drink with some pulled pork yesterday. It was originally pretty thin upon opening but made some good progress in four or five hours. Definitely on the light and floral side of zins, and clearly in need of 6-12 months in the bottle to really come into its own. Even if it doesn’t improve, I’ll still be happy at the t1 price point.
OG N.141 2018 Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon
2nd case, 3.5 years in the bottle, PnP. Glad I got another case, $13/bottle, is an awesome QPR.
Ready & enjoyable now, will age well for several more years. with happiness
My 40 year old son and I just returned from an intriguing Geological (& more) Tour with Randall Carlson, in the eastern Washington Scablands area. Being within sight of the Horse Heaven Hills, I brought one bottle of dN #141. The additional bottle’s I needed, yep needed, I purchased in Spokane, WA. The HHH CS #141 was the best by far.
For Anyone possibly interested in going down a fascinating rabbit hole?
this wine. 
