Dark, smooth, nice notes of dried herbs and currant. Decent stuff, not really sure it lives up to the hype of the description or number lot. With that said its still pretty good juice and i certainly ain’t mad at it.
Some impression from recent bottles:
178 2018 Mt. Veeder Chardonnay CA
Popped and poured. Nose: faint buttery/floral notes. Taste: dry, light, crisp, Chablis-esque, not much fruit. Okay with goat cheese, light apps, simple fish, and was better as it warmed up, but too light, needs more fruit/flavor.
One year after the last bottle and this continues to be one of the worst DN buys given the hype and the price. Guessing others are disappointed as well since there are only three CT notes, two from 2021. Never had one close to resembling the “100-pt winemaker”, “Apple and brioche with honeyed citrus notes”, and minute-long finish.
Given that wasn’t what I was hoping for, let’s pop a younger Sonoma chard in hopes of fruit.
245 2020 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay CA
Popped and poured. Nose: reductive, funky, blows off with air. Taste: despite being a younger Sonoma Coast vs. Mt. Veeder, tastes much like the 178: dry, light, crisp, Chablis-esque, little fruit. Saving grace is it was $15 and I only got a sixer of this.
Was hoping both of these just needed time, but they have even less fruit now so can’t see how they get better.
23 2019 Napa Carneros Chardonnay CA
Popped and poured. Nose: faint vanilla, tropical fruits, more pineapple notes as it warms up. Taste: Light bodied and crisp, but with some pretty floral, tropical fruit flavors along with some oak/vanilla to provide a little more weight and flavor. Pretty good deal for a $12 Carneros chard and ready to go.
142 2018 Malbec Horse Heaven Hills WA
Splash Decant. Nose; dark fruits, blackberry, plum. Taste: more of the same blackberry/plum flavors along with some pepper/coffee notes. Nice balance of fruit and savory and entering a nice drinking window. Hard to beat for drinking on the deck with meat on the barbie at this price. I’ll start drinking the rest this summer to enjoy the fruit while it is here.
150 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain WA
Decant two hours. Nose: nice red cherry/cassis fruit with some pepper/spicy notes. Taste: crispy red cherry/cassis fruit, more savory/lean/tart than the nose, which tends to be the hallmark of most DN cabs I’ve had so far. Smooths out and improves with food. Also saved half for next night and was smoother, better integrated, with more pronounced fruit. Nice QPR at $13. Will wait six months or so for the next one as it seems to still be coming together.
Over the weekend,
Friday evening OG N.15 2018 Napa Valley Merlot. Consistent with earlier tasting January 19th this year. 92 points, only have one left as I swapped and sold some (regrettably now). Wine built up over the evening, tannins adding complexity. A Napa Merlot here, those looking for a Borddeax wine stick with Right Bank versions. 92 points
Saturday evening, OG Lot 171 2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Dark, earthy, spicy. Really enjoyed this pinot. Very much bigger RRV Hobbs style here. Love it or Leave it. This can age well, 2nd bottle off a case, 92 points pushing higher with bottle age in my opinion.
Lot 61, the Dry Creek Zin that drinks like a Pinot.
Mistake on my part as I was looking for something “big” to enjoy alongside a combination pizza. I saw Dry Creek on the bottle and thought I had a few DN Zins that were Pedroncelli or something similar that I wouldn’t mind quaffing alongside a pizza.
Well, it’s not a Ped, and still drinks like a Pinot. That said, now that dinner is over and I’m enjoying the wine by itself, this is quite nice. Nothing complicated, just an easy drinking, red berry-ish wine that will probably be enjoyable for at least a few more years.
I was just at the private cellar of what was Moon Mountain vineyard over the weekend. Years ago during the back catalog fire sale i had mistakenly assumed the new buyer was dumping everything, but they kept a ton, they’ve got every vintage going back to the Carmenet days. I tasted a couple from the 90’s definitely fading IMO, but others loved them.
Thanks @Jonah_P I’ll have to visit sometime if I get to that area! Cheers!
Lot 352 2021 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
Into the decanter for serving. Minty eucalyptus and bell peppers on the nose.
Very dark, deep flavored and a well structured Aussie Cab.
This was good on Tuesday night with Kraut and Hot Dogs. This will be on my simple midweek rotation. Thinking Taco Tuesday or pizza, lasagna?
Bottle 2/24, $99/case excellent QPR! 
with Hot Dogs 
Day 2, indicates additional aging up to 4 more years will likely show benefits.
I think that one is pretty good as well, but my wife really dislikes it. So, when I open the bottle, I have to finish the bottle myself. Not the worst problem in the world. 
Nicely made wine. Notes of bergamot, slate, minerals, very faint white powdery flowers. Its balanced and delightful to drink. For the price paid this is quality stuff.
Pretty decent French Rose. The description is accurate and i certainly picked up on melon and citrus notes. Nice pool side wine that doesn’t break the bank.
Had a bottle of the Collio at Easter and was very pleasantly surprised. Got it in my dN mystery case, would not have bought it otherwise, but well worth whatever the price.
Well worth the price of entry!
OG N.124 2018 Napa Valley Merlot
One hour decant. 42+ months in the bottle, and, it still needs more time.
Note to self, wait another 6-9 months before opening again (14b remaining).
Nice, full bodied and luscious. Powerful acid & tannins. Needs additional bottle age for the nose to open up more.
One plus Yum + currently, improvement expected in the fullness of time.
Said to be Freemark Abbey from the Stagecoach Vineyard. Wow! $180/case is such a deal.
Worthwhile to still age this beastly Merlot, it may become a beauty? 
with Ribeye
Day 2-amazingly fresh still!!! Can age another 5 years.
# OG N.93 2018 Mendocino SVD Zinfandel
Popped and poured this beast. Friend knows I’m not a fan of high octane Zins but brought the wrong bottle out his cellar. OK, let’s give it a try! Very decent Zin, we did NOT finish the bottle as I had decanted a OG N.38 Syrah for the Pacers/Celtics game. The Syrah was the better wine anyhow, but still needs more bottle time. One hour decant and after 4 hours, last glass was the best of evening.
N.93 reminds me of the big octane Zins from ZAP festivals > 20 years ago. What I did recall after those 3 day hangovers.
OG. N.38 note consistent with July 2022 CT note. 92 pts.
Happy Friday.
Cheers, Tim
93 was my second dN purchase, dec 2020. ( First was 50 on Black Friday offer for $180 delivered. I backfilled 17,24,25,30,68,84,86 with later offers). I absolutely hated it. I think I drank six bottles in the first year and use the other six for cooking or sangria. It was part of my personal education in what my palate likes (apparently it doesn’t like a young lot 93) . I hope that someday I stumble across a 93 that I lost in storage disorganization, because to me 93 is one of the dN stinkers…along with 207 and 330…so I’d like to know what it was like 2-4 yrs later. I think my other “infanticide victims” are 101, 102, and 151 which I’ll never know if my palate evolved or the wine evolved. ( I think I have one more 151 that I found recently)
68 tonight before and after sushi…had a small glass before we went out and it was fine….2 hrs later when we returned it’s the wine people rave about. Just a solid dependable cab. Still benefits from a short decant.
What wine do you most regret finishing too soon /cooking with?
Well Luke,
Had 1 of your favs tonight OG N.17 The somewhat controversial liked/disliked de Negoce Cabernet. For many, it was Meh, others like me, found there was a diamond in the rough. That Petite Verdot just needed to integrate to add depth to this wine. It’s arrived. Happy Friday Luke and family.
Cheers, Tim
Luke, I do have two easy dN wines answering your What wine do you most regret finishing too soon /cooking with? Admittedly, at $8-$10 a bottle I didn’t take either wine seriously and unfortunately just abused 'em as not much more than cellar defenders. Lot 123 Napa Valley 2017 Merlot (bottled Nov 2020) was simply a ‘popular’ weekday ‘drink for what it was worth’ back in the 2021 pandemic era. Gee, I was giving this stuff away to those with little to no discriminating wine tastes since we are not big on Merlot at this house. Well, ~ four years later this has turned out to be a rather remarkable little surprise with now only two bottles remaining. Next up, $8 Lot 31 Dry Creek Valley 2018 Zinfandel (bottled July 2020) which completely turned 180° from our initial negative tasting reactions. We do enjoy Zins, but not this one when first purchased [or so we though]. Three years later we learned that this was indeed a fine Zin which we had consumed way too early. For an inexpensive Zinfandel, this left us much too quickly. I’m not very optimistic that the Lot 93 Mendocino SV 2018 Zinfandel will eventually be as nice as the departed Lot 31 example.
Both inexpensive N 127 & 160 Columbia Valley 2018 Red Blends were fine weekday wines, but not horrified that they have passed us by. With almost 100 different dN wines which we have only started to indulge in, we are set for several years of enjoyment coming. With our recent travels to Asia and now enduring covid, we look forward to our tastes reemerging with a successful dN Petite Syrah (Lot 58 McDowell Valley was a bust [dumped], but hopefully one of L 110, 161, 169, 302 or 422 will come into play). Any suggestions on which to try celebrating getting well soon?
My votes for least favorite dN’s:
&
2 free bottles of OG 239 to whom ever, just come and get it……
I did the same with 123, used it as a cellar defender/weeknight drinker… I think I have one bottle left and should have saved more. Time to go look through the hundreds of DN bottles I have for it…
OG dN Lot 249 2019 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
PnP, top quality RRV PN!! Bottle 27/36, better than ever now. If I spent $50+ for this I would NOT be disappointed. Tastes $50+ to me, paid $14.
This is my style preference thick structure with abundant Pinotberry and firm acidity. Double Yum + + Ready now, can age too…….
with grilled Game Hen 
