Fairchild, Stones 3 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

4 hour slow ox. Beautiful opulent but not over the top. That said, the QPR is absolutely atrocious as I’d hope for a wow wine.

For my palate this is one of Melka’s better reds. More structured and deserving of bottle age. Nice that a friend shared a bottle that I have in the cellar. Hands off for at least another 10. Hold 96+

Dinner at Terun with WBW. Blind. Wine showed as fruit forward, Napa style. Some earthy, black olive notes that was welcomed. I pegged it as mountain fruit, but that could have been due to the vintage. Very good and clearly bested the 20 LCHB we had side by side.

Blind wine challenge dinner at Terun (Palo Alto, CA) : My bottle for the blind challenge at dinner. Nose of dark red fruits on the plush side, with a lift of freshness from something like blueberries. Clean and plentiful earth under all this pleasant fruit. The palate showed bigger, darker red and some black fruits. Great freshness still with good juiciness and heavily steeped black tea on the finish. Great grip on the palate too, saturated with fruits. I wished …

3+ hour decant...delicious wine!

Embers, smoke and dark fruit frame thins exceptionally expressive cab sauv on the nose. Lots of minerality and rich bur not sweet dark grapes. Silky. Elegant. Robust. Only thing holding this back from perfection is the apparent alcohol in both mid palate and finish. Still, exceptional. Exciting and vibrant, this wine is a winner. Modern Napa. Grace, elegance and unbridled power. At least 15 years of life left.

A generous friend opened this wine up 3 hour in advance of a dinner party. From the decanter the challenge was to guess vintage and ava. I guessed 18 Oakville. Close... The tannins really stumped me on this wine. Slightly bitter and gritty still at 8 years of age. This really hides the fruit and shortens the finish IMO. I happen to have this in the cellar and I don't think I'll be pulling one anytime soon. Hold.

Nose: [57°] Pure purple flowers, tons of dark blue and purple currants, fresh red apple flesh, damp forest floor, a soft touch of clean oak, a hint of dry bedrock and gravel. [67°] Lots of pure flowers of dark colors. Palate: [59°] Black earth, bitter tannin like oak, stems and steeped tea (not overwhelming though), a little bit of tar (goes away with time), black and red fruit, a soft spice, some graphite and slightly savory river rocks. [67°] Any …

At Perarrus dinner, NY, Le Bernardin Perfectly balanced wine, absolute Cabernet perfection

Epic wine. Elegant, balanced, everything I look for in my perfect Cab

This was the star of the 2016 Stones lineup for me. A gorgeous, rich nose of creme de cassis, spring flowers, dark chocolate, red licorice, asian spices and crushed rock. Beautiful deep purple in the glass, this is super concentrated and vibrant on the pallet, with epic layers of blue and red fruit. Totally pure with wonderfully fine grained tannins, there is excellent structure and complexity at work here. It finishes over 1min and leaves quite an impression. 98+