Arietta, Red, Napa Valley

@ The Office w/ John Kongsgaard : Sweet & earthy brambly blackberry aromas. Still loads of chewy, medium tannin. Sweetly fruited w/ loads of harmony, red fruited and pollenesque. 96 was the first Arietta vintage and it started as mostly Cab Franc, co-fermented with Merlot.

1999 vintage

Much impressed. This wine was showing very well. Plenty of black, blue and red fruits with nice sweet Oak and dried herbs. Smooth but a very nice food acidity.

1999 vintage

Decanted and served. This mature Cab Franc-Merlot blend showed beautifully with saddle leather, dried flowers, cassis, supple tannins and pencil lead. Drink now.

1999 vintage

I am just amazed how this bottle continues to evolve and offer just a stunning experience. The Hatton/Kongsgaard effort in 98 is just beyond belief, and I do mean the little heralded 1998 vintage. Not only is this wine not tired, but it still has legs. Deep, dark and delicious, no one would argue that there is baby fat, but instead, serious, powerful dark fruit in a muscular body strutting its stuff! Astoundingly good if you've got some.

1998 vintage

This wine is showing beautifully right now . Resolved tannins with bountiful, lucious black fruit and the perfect amount of acidity to carry it through a long smooth finish . Great bottle of mature wine !

1999 vintage

Bordeaux like with black raspberries, black cherries, licorice, leather, earthiness, and hints of chocolate and floral in the nose. Black cherries, blackberries, and currants in the flavor. A full bodied wine with nice complexity and a long finish. Definitely ready now.

1999 vintage

A beautiful effort drawing on the signs of age, the 1999 Arietta Red Wine exhibits a very typical nose full of violets, licorice, saddle leather, led pencil, ballpoint pen and a tad of old cigar box. There is also a subtle scent of wet salty minerals. There is also rather persistant tone of brett, not overwhelming but once noticed totally unavoidable. The palate follows through quite nicely with balance and integration as keywords. All components are in place and I …

1999 vintage

Better than the last bottle, big and chewy

1999 vintage

Absolutely wonderful. Soft. Round. Decanted 2 hours.Still some old wine funk, but that is expected. So glad to have 7 more!

1998 vintage

2 hour decant, drank over 2 days,1.5L. This wine is almost done but on last legs. Color is closing on orange, very little muted fruit, lots of earth, mint and iron and beef blood nose. Still alcohol but out of window and over the hill. Not a fan, but could see how this style would appeal to the Syrah drinkers that like some age on their wines. Oh well, got it at a good price...

1998 vintage

Boy this bottle outperformed all my expectations. Very good wine with little of the rustic 1999 nature I get from so many others in this vintage.

1999 vintage

Mocha with hints of raspberry. Rounds with subtle bouquet of more berries. Very slight fennel on the finish - goes on for some time.

1998 vintage

Pop and pour and a bit better than the prior bottle. The finish lasted longer. Smooth, overripe but not jammy layers of black and blue fruits with some red fruits. Hints of spice. Sweet Oak with some vanilla and hard leather notes.

1999 vintage

Pop and pour. A full tablespoon of fine silt sediment. Silky smooth. Red and black fruits sweet and then slightly sour, some cassis and leather notes.

1999 vintage

Sauvage and plum, soft tannins, good length. This put a big smile on my face, and was one of the more memorable Napa wines I've tasted in some time (though admittedly I don't drink them often). This bottle was pristinely stored. '98 is proving itself to be an interesting vintage for well made wines.

1998 vintage

Nicely balanced good fruit

1996 vintage

Nose: From the outset there is a good dose of petit verdot with bell peppers, dark red cherries, dark red fruits, some dark florals, vanilla, with some berries. The nose is complex and balanced with a layering to the tones too. Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity and good supporting tannins. The feel is silky with bell peppers, dark red cherries, vanilla, berries, and a nice incense finish. While the palate isn't as complex as the nose, the tones are …

1996 vintage

Showing beautifully now.

1999 vintage

right in the sweet spot after 12+ years...

1999 vintage

14.1% alcohol. A delightful wine. Dark red color. Aromatic nose of black fruit, spice, and earth. Brooding and slightly smokey on the nose. In the mouth, however, surprisingly refined yet decidedly masculine, with bold fruit and spicy earth notes. Strong acidity and a tannic but generous back end. A-

1999 vintage

Sad to see it go, but it just tastes so good. Notes the same as last ime...at $35 this is a steal.

1998 vintage

Drank 2 bottles at Mastro's in Chicago - decanted for about 30 minutes before drinking. Nice wine - perfect to drink now.

1998 vintage

Still strong example of this wine. We opened this 3 litre bottle and found it to be a good, deep colour with lots of jammy notes. It's probably a good time to open these now if you still have them.

1998 vintage

Bought a couple bottles at auction as a flyer and wasnt expecting much from reviews, but was very pleasantly surprised by this wine. Dark and dense, like the Variation One, his was lively and complex with nice smoke and red fruit. Drinking great now, likely has plenty of legs to last, I wish I had a few more bottles...

1998 vintage

This is in a good place...it has intensity and substance and cassis, cherry, cocoa, tobacco, coffee, soft tannins and a lengthy finish.

1999 vintage

Better than I expected. Very Bordeaux meets California. Has the tobacco and earth of Bordeaux with the fruit from California. Still not at peak and a touch tannic. Solid acidity. This could use about 5 more years.

1996 vintage

The second 1998 wine to give its all during a recent Hap’s steak dinner. Decanted and then quickly poured. It seemed to want to be taken more seriously than the more easily quaffable Affinity, and was deeper, darker, and almost impenetrable at first. It really opened after about 30 minutes and revealed a nose of dark black cherry and plum-y fruit, with coffee, tar, and some smoke. In the mouth, quite full and still just a bit tannic, but not …

1998 vintage

Silky smooth with everything well integrated this was a winner. I decanted two hours before serving. A nose with fruit, leather and coffee, the flavors were black cherry and exotic spice. I'm glad I have one left

1998 vintage

Blackberry and plums on a surprisignly sweet nose. Fruit carried through to the palate along with some subdued mocha and espresso. Some relatively mild tannins on a medium long finish. Nice, but I did not like it as much as the Havens or Neyers in this flight. Just didn't have the stuffing.

1999 vintage

Despite the less-than-stellar tasting notes this has been getting, I found it a very impressive wine. Great looking--some sediment, deep purple color, and big legs. Really amazing nose--complex notes underlying very rich, full fruit. The palate starts off strong--plenty of fruit but some more complex, deeper notes, too, and only a very little of the alcohol taste others have complained of (and even then, was it only because I was looking for it?)--my only complaint is that the finish is …

1999 vintage

Opened 4 hours prior to a tasting event. Decanted 30 minutes before. Opened up considerably and was the hit of the evening. Complex without overpowering. Well integrated fruit, minerality on the finish.

1998 vintage

This started out well enough, decanted for 2 hours, first glass had a slight barnyard smell (which I usually enjoy), good fruit, still tannic but not bad. Second glass...the worm has turned...extremely funky nose coupled with strong alcohol, harsh tannins, sharp taste on the palate, overwhelming alcohol continues to the thankfully short finish. Not an enjoyable experience at all.

1999 vintage

Still quite closed for first hour, with lots of spicey minerality, then it opened up and smoothed out. Smooth thru the mid-palate, with a moderately light finish. Not a muscle-bound wine, and could be overpowered by heavy red meat dishes.

1998 vintage

Wine Club BYO (The Grapevine, Salem, MA) : Tasted blind. Color dark ruby. Smooth nose of cassis, cedar. Well-balanced fruit, earth with a hint of smoke. Smooth tannins. Excellently crafted. Very enjoyable. Guessed California Cab older than 2000.

1998 vintage

After a few hours it just got better and better. Sweet, complex wine.

1998 vintage

Wound up, tight, extremely concentrated, tremendous oaky backbone, and lacking any depth in fruit. Even after decanting for two hours there was no improvement. I closed it back up and put in back in fridge for day two, hoping for it to evolve.

1999 vintage

Nose of soft powdery red cherries and milk chocolate. Not a blockbuster but seamless in the mouth. palate with some spicyness and nice warmth. dark flavors of tar, creosote and licorice. On aftertaste there is an interesting touch of stemminess (must be the Cab Fr.) and cherries.

1998 vintage

Decanted 2 hours. Shafergirl-93.

1998 vintage

This wine got off to a slow start- very tight when opened, a bit of oak and fruit on the nose, still deep purple in color with only slight lightening at the edge; tasted of some oak, plum, berries, and the tannins were a bit dry bordering on austere with a bitter note- but, after it warmed up a bit in the glass (and the kids all went to bed!) this wine opened up beautifully- the oak went to the …

1998 vintage

Cab Franc and espresso nose; yummy, rich, plum, black fruit, berry, chocolate and espresso palate; long tasty finish

1998 vintage

I love this wine! The nose doesn't let you know what you're in for, but one taste, and it's a sh*tkicker! Deep dark fruit with notes of licorice and leather just sit on your tongue and refuse to yield. The body has such wonderful fullness and shifts to a finish that lasts literally over a minute. You taste and taste and taste the richness of the wine.This blend will go for a long time and still be this delicious, but …

1998 vintage

Nose of Black Cherry and Eucalyptus Open for 4+ hours throughout the evening. Mysterious Dark fruits, great concentration, rather full bodied, but more than either of these wonderful balance.

1999 vintage

Gorgeous Cab Franc nose; cedar, tart red fruit, olive palate; long finish 95+ pts.

1999 vintage

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Arietta, Red, Napa Valley

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