A. Rafanelli, Terrace Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley

Popped and poured. The 2000 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon Terrace Select presents a deep ruby color with an opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. Signs of significant of sediment made obvious by what looks like top soil that catches the side of the glass with every swirl before it settles to the bottom. On the nose, the wine is intense. Vinous. Powerful notes of dark fruit: cassis, blackberries, and black cherry with huge amounts of tobacco, …

Great fruit and well balanced with ample acidity. The tannins are soft and round providing a full experience. I would prefer a bit more complexity but, overall, a fine wine.

Excellent. Dark fruit, good acid, long peppery finish. A bit lush with good balance. A real treat!

Chicken salad planned & a invited guest to visit for short time. Seems like the right & wrong all mixed together. P&P - Dark in the glass. Rich, powerful smells wafting oer the rim. Like a musty, oaky, smoky welch's grape concentrate. Great mouth feel, the creamy oak is there w some char. NIce big fruit glob, melts away, some complexity lurking in there. I think this is just what it was like in 07 when they bottled it. Let …

This wine was great. The finish lasted for minutes. We did a blind tasting and this one was WOTN. Great stuff. Get some.

Enjoyed the wine as much as the memory of purchasing over a passport weekend years ago. Very nice.

Excellent. Not sure if it is worth the price, but is a very rich, powerful decadent wine. Nice terrior, evident. Balanced. Delicious.

Really nice cab, but certainly not worth the price. Decanted and gained weight thru the night, but while all components were present and nicely done, lacked the subtleties of a great bottle.

If you let this bottle decant more than 30 minutes you have a great bottle. We tried this one at the PR and the further you drank into the bottle, the better that it was--maybe we needed a larger bottle?

The wine is rich and powerful, but with not enough fruit to earth ratio for my liking.

Very nice wine, but not worth $90 a bottle which was retail when we bought it - you can get lots of good cab for this price or less (for $75 you can get Caymus Napa Valley Cab). Rick says there is a bit of bret, which I don't taste. I would not hold this until 2015. It will continue to age gracefully, but there is no reason not to drink it now. Tannins are soft/integrated and there is still …

Heavy tannins, prolonged fruity finish with hints of cocoa. Opened slowly but very delicious with New York strip! Lingering taste on the pallet is as tasty as the wine itself.

this is the third bottle I have had of the terrace select. (1995 and 2000 previously) The 2005 is my least favorite. This didn't have the fruit or mouthfeel of the 1995 and 2000 and was not due to age. Still love the wine, but was expecting more from previous experience.