Alpha Omega, Era, Napa Valley

Decanted for one hour. Aromas of violet, blackberry, currant, black olive, chocolate, anise and spice. Blackberry, currant, chocolate, anise and spice on the palate. Very long, layered finish with excellent depth. Full bodied. Drinking well and very good for the vintage. Served with reverse seared ribeye and blue cheese, black truffle butter.

2011 vintage

The wine is getting late in its drinking window and the tannins have softened. It remains a well balanced, thoroughly enjoyable wine. Ripe blackberry, cherry on an inviting nose and front palate with a long, but slightly biting finish.

2009 vintage

Amazing on the nose, no tannin stickiness, Perfectly smooth. Fantastic after decanting for only 30 min

2011 vintage

Mellowed, but well structured and exceptionally long, smooth finish.

2009 vintage

House of Prime Rib

2011 vintage

After a short decant it was smooth, in good harmony and nice finish but after 20+ minutes it started to fall apart and it tasted oxidized.

2011 vintage

Has been in the 58 degree cellar since purchase at release from the winery. Deep purply cordovan color with phenomenal nose even when decanting. We let it breathe for an hour and was simply fabulous...smooth, rich & complex with a long finish. Paired perfectly with duck cassoulet. Enjoy!! Btw, while the cork seal had held with no seepage, it completely disintegrated when attempting to open with a regular corkscrew.

2008 vintage

Consistent with previous bottle. I don't see much upside for holding this wine much longer as the structure is starting to fade. Very well made and delicious wine but again, not a great QPR.

2009 vintage

Decanted for one hour. Nose of blackberry, black cherry, currant, cedar, graphite and chocolate. Red and black fruit, cedar, graphite, mocha and crushed rock on the palate. Long finish with good depth. Full bodied. Very Bordeaux-like and outstanding for the vintage. Served with reverse seared ribeye steaks.

2011 vintage

Reminds me of a Bordeaux yet 100% Cab Sauv. Complex, and drinks younger than its age. This wine will last for a long time. This was truly a highlight for the evening!

2011 vintage

Dark berries, rich with a little spice. Not as big as subsequent vintages, but a smooth finish makes it a pleasing wine.

2009 vintage

Such an elegant balanced wine with juicy rich secondary fruit and smooth tannins. Fantastic with the superb cassoulet prepared for us tonight. Thank you Jean for such a wonderful wine! As a side note, cellared well but the cork was brittle, so a two pronged cork puller would have been best, but the bottom of the cork did come out intact so just took a little bit longer to open this beauty!

2009 vintage

From my bedroom at 70F place in the fridge for about one hour, then a quick double decant and place again in the fridge for another 30 minutes. I didn't remember I had this wine a couple of years ago and I agree with my past score, a solid 95 pts. The wine is medium plus, closer to big&bold, solid tannins that are beautifully resolved and integrated. Good balance between acidity and fruit, it's earthy and delicious finish. YES PLEASE!

2008 vintage

Splash decanted. Dark crimson color. Ripe blackberry and cassis with some charred oak and vanilla coming through. Still very primary for a 12 year old wine. Similar flavors on the palate with a bit of cocoa on the finish. Medium acidity and sweet medium tannins. Smooth mouthfeel and finish. Overall, a very tasty, well made and polished Napa cabernet but lacking a bit of complexity for the price point. Excellent wine but poor QPR.

2009 vintage

Outstanding. Still big. Still had tannin. But definitely a great wine to drink right now.

2009 vintage

Lost its vitality and depth, barely drinkable

2011 vintage

It’s perfect right now!! Not sure it can get any better.

2008 vintage

Tight very fruit fwdon first sip. After 20min it softened. More jam. Smoke with a .delicate weight to it Very well balanced. Some spice at back ebd. Dark heavy color but drinks light compared to it

2011 vintage

Decanted for one hour. Nose of blackberry, cassis, black olive, mocha and spice. Black fruit, black olive, mocha, spice and fine tannins on the palate. Rich, layered, long finish. Full bodied. Excellent for the vintage. Served with filet Béarnaise.

2011 vintage

Great notes of dark cherry and pepper on the nose. Still some tannins on the palate and had a long finish of acidity. Front of the palate his smooth though with nice cherry notes.

2009 vintage

Fantastic!

2008 vintage

Still very good, but a bit more acidity and not as powerful as previous notes.

2009 vintage

Curious that there is such a dearth of recent notes on this one, but I'll try to fill in the gaps. I had the 2011 A-O To Kalon and loved that. No different here with the Era. Even if I had to pay retail (>< $200, though I was fortunate to get it at auction for $95) I'd say it was worth the money. Proving once again that great 2011 Cabs were made. PnP or an hour of air, either …

2011 vintage

Pop and pour. Aromas of blackberry, currant, touch of leather, dried cherry and touch of earth. Flavors blackberry, black cherry, currant, plum and just a touch of earth. Ends with a long finish of 40+ seconds with chocolate and blackberry notes. Aging at a glacial pace. Impressive stuff.

2008 vintage

Spectacular and getting better with age (as Jean promised). Settled nicely after an hour decanting. Minimal tannins, blackberry and licorice.

2008 vintage

My last bottle from this vintage, decanted yet not so tight. Ripe fruit, very balanced and soft tannins. Very enjoyable.

2009 vintage

Chablis and 3 Cabernet Sauvignons. (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.) : Thank you Alex for the taste which had been opened the night before, nose showed heat, black cherry, black berry, and sage, same on the palate, big body, fruit was very subdued as Alex stated the previous evening, never opened over the two hours in the glass, showed more heat as it sat in the glass, and medium amount of harsh tannins which did not help it in …

2009 vintage

Wow! This is as when Jean was at the top of his game in 2009. Beautiful wine all around.

2009 vintage

Truly special wine. Medium color and minimal sediment masked the full bodied beautifully integrated wine. Smooth long finish. Glad a lot more in my cellar!

2009 vintage

This wine is spectacular, dusty, earthy, with tobacco leaves and endless finish. Now I’m more fan than ever of AO!

2008 vintage

There is lots of cassis, flowers, incense and a hint of menthol in the aromatic profile. Medium- to full-bodied in the mouth, with black cherries and other dark fruits dominating the mid-palate. Long on the finish, with some lingering fine-grained tannins that show up quite late. With nearly all of the oak absorbed and most of the rough edges gone, this is now firmly in its early drinking window. I would imagine that the 2008 ERA will remain quite enjoyable …

2008 vintage

2008 Napa Cab Retrospective (Fresno) : 93-94 Big ripe fruit with a savory component. At a nice spot and drank well.

2008 vintage

Really nice wine, though I'm challenged as to say why. It's got classic Ca. Cab traits but is basically nondescript. That said, we enjoyed it immensely (Cabs are not her favorite, but Mrs. Ozziewine loved it!). After 5 hours of air it still had some tannic bite. As others have said, it's good now. Hard to predict what ageing will do to it...soften the tannins for sure, but perhaps at the expense of the brightness that makes it so enjoyable …

2009 vintage

One of top wines of the day. See prior notes and I think the wine is at its optimum right now

2009 vintage

Wonderful wine. Very well integrated and lush - stunned a lot of others at the table who had never had it before.

2008 vintage

One of the best Cali Cabs I have had in a long time. Lush dark fruit on the nose, follows through with "dense elegance" on the palate. About as good as it gets. Just got better and better as it sat over 3 hours. So much better than any of the 2009 BDX wines I have had which are still unapproachable.

2009 vintage

Big dark fruit with integrated tannins and nice body

2008 vintage

Very nice. Dark chocolate, gravel and flowery hints with dark red color. Medium acid and over the 60-90 minutes it opened very nicely. I think its drinking well right now

2009 vintage

Black cherry fruit. Leather, dry chewy tannins on finish. The fruit is fading a bit- disappointed in this given its pedigree and cost.

2008 vintage

Badly corked

2008 vintage

- Violet color - Drank with Mark and Sara

2011 vintage

awesome. best between Shafer and Darioush.

2009 vintage

Outstanding. Dark fruit, chocolate and vanilla oak. Rich mouth feel, lingering finish. Moving into a great place with a brilliant future. If scoring 94-96.

2009 vintage

Coming into it's own, the 2011 ERA was delicious to the last drop. None of the greenness found in this vintage several years ago. Cassis and cherry fruit with secondary flavors of licorice and toasty vanilla oak. Smooth in the mouth with a lingering finish. Bright future for my remaining bottles.

2011 vintage

Disclaimer: My first review on CT. Also, purchased this bottle through a wine auction. Cassis, alcohol, medium toast, light vanilla, black olive aromas. Cassis, dried fig, dust/mushroom, black pepper, hot (alcohol) taste. High acidity. Alcohol really comes through, though not quantitatively high. Starts to come together and show some chocolate and velvet texture after an hour, but then falls apart. If this wine were $20, I'd still probably purchase a different $20-30 cab over it based on taste alone. Poor …

2011 vintage

Decanted for around 4 hours. Dark crimson color. Powerful nose of ripe blackberry fruit and cassis with some dark chocolate and some charred oak. Ripe, dark berry fruit on the palate with some oak spice and chocolate. Medium to medium+ acid with integrated sweet tannins and a smooth mouthfeel and finish. This is very well made cabernet but questionable QPR.

2009 vintage

Outstanding wine from the nose to the finish. The nose had me coming back for samples multiple times. Bold, beautiful flavors of cassis and blackberry lead to a strong mid-palate featuring some minerality and spice with an excellent finish adding some sweet tannins on the end. This wine is going strong with no end in sight.

2008 vintage

This has settled into a pleasant and well structured wine. There is a very powerful presence, but over the last few years it has become settled and smooth. It may get better with additional age, but it is excellent today.

2009 vintage

Decanted for 3 hours. Opened up nicely. Nice mix of deep berry and caramel flavors.

2008 vintage

Drinking beautifully. Pronounced tannins yet softly gentle. Lovely chocolate taste and good finnish

2008 vintage

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Alpha Omega, Era, Napa Valley

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