Fairchild, Stones No 2 Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Decanted for one hour. The nose right from the bottle was vibrant dark fruits and violet notes. This wine was a dynamic bouquet of aromas held together with smooth, prominent tannin. Throughout the four hours of consuming the wine (served with hickory smoked, porterhouse steaks and roasted broccoli and carrots) the consistent theme was dark blue fruit notes, with some beautiful cedar, blood, iron and quartz. The tasting profile ranged from thirty seconds to one minute. Kudos to Mr. Fairchild …

Wow, what a stunner. I think Parker was right. 98 points.

Eh. Overblown. Maybe better in time but the overblown never goes away. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have no reason to believe wines made like this will age well. Way too high ABV to stay in balance. I've had many old wines sub 13% that are still SINGING. Not so with wines over 14%. There is so much money wasted here on packaging - and sure it looks nice - but I'm not buying a …

Eight is Enough was a TV show in the early 80s about life lessons, but today’s lesson is that 8 (yrs) is not nearly enough and for this wine that is my lesson for the day. Into a wide body and the journey begins. Beautiful dark purple black, thick yet flowing, a dark concentrated beauty 3.5 hrs. Nose a bit boozy with charred embers, bay leaf, touch of blackberry jam. Nice. Palate? Not so much. Muted, hint of red and …

Outstanding. Although powerful, it exhibits incredible finesse. Likely the best wine I've had this year.

Stunning. Layered. Complex.

Might be my favorite Cabernet. Popped 5 hours before dinner big broodiy wine with a massive nose and big fruit. Decanted for an hour once at the restaurant, the wine opened up with huge aromatics and silky rounded tannins. Beautiful wine.

Tasted at Fairchild member tasting event in NYC as guest of a member. This was a very nice event in NYC and very generous of Lawrence Fairchild. All the wines presented were big, rich, modern and ripe with relatively high ABV's. As a rule This style is not my favorite but most of the wines tasted tonight were clearly well made in this style with exceptional attention to detail. This wine is intense, deep dark and brooding, almost inky black …

Orange County Napa Cab Taste Off (Lang's House) : The Fairchild was 3 of 5 in this group. Not surprisingly, given the vintage and the vineyard, this wine took the longest to come around. Even as we were ending the tasting about 12 hours after first beginning the decant, this wine was getting better and better. At first the nose was super tight and muted, with some notes of licorice, earth and liqueur sneaking out. It was a much different …

Had this with Larry Fairchild @ Taman Ayu over Rosemary tinged tri-tip. While the meal was a lovely paring, this wine demands attention for its greatness. This is the kind of wine to sip slowly letting each minute long finish linger before sipping again. The bouquet is amazing, without giving away the texture, a sniff lets you know you have something special in the glass: violets, lavender, dark fruit with just a hint of tobacco. The palate proves much more …

Tasted at Larry's house in Napa. First time meeting him and have nothing but great things to say. Really good guy. This Stones No. 2 was the consensus favorite from our group on this trip, which including tastings with Memento Mori, Roy Piper, Macdonald and Realm. It is an absolute stunner, with incredible mouthfeel and concentration, backed up by a finish that goes on for days. Melka somehow manages to tame this monster and give it balance. The tannins are …