One Fine Day (or Night)

hmmmm.... wine... The 1995 Chateau Talbot was not the best bottle... not sure what happened with it other than perhaps it was still a bit shaken from delivery (got them in a week ago). Showing massive earth, cedar and leather with little of the black plum that I love about this wine. Not a great wine by any means. The 2003 Flor de Pingus, Ribera del Duero is still a blockbuster... tasted this a few weeks ago with similar notes (although this bottle showed a bit more mocha than the last... I think this was even better). The 1995 Monsanto "Il Poggio" Chianti Classico Riserva is a baby... loads of underbrush (twigs, dried leaves) with a healty amount of oak and dried cranberries. A long finish... one of the greatest CCRs out there... try the 1968 - it's spectacular. The 1999 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Echezeaux is beautiful... after a few hours it really opened up revealing clove, turned earth, ripe wild strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. A long, long elegant finish to this fabulous wine... it's only getting better!!! Last, but certainly not least... a wine I vastly underrated and criticized the other time I tasted it... Clearly the greatest young Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine I've ever tasted... even more opulent and robust than the 2001... the 2002 Harlan Estate has blossomed into an amazing, mouth-filling, super-concentrated, weighty monster. Maybe just a little less balanced than the 2001, but I attribute that to it's more-concentrated, powerful style that hasn't completely come together yet (which is scary). This wine is everything anyone could ever want out a young Cabernet. Of all of the "perfect" California wines, this takes the cake by far... better than 1997 Bryant, 1994 Colgin Herb Lamb, 2001 Harlan, 2001 Shafer Hillside Select, 2002 Vineyard 29, 2001 Pride Reserve Claret, 2001 & 2002 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer-To-kalon - this is the stuff. I am completely amazed at the transformation this wine has had in the last few weeks... I wish I had a bottle - because I'd wait one more year - then I would drink it. Don't wait... This is California at it's finest... by the way, I've officially pushed the 1982 Chateau Latour to the top of my list... with the 2002 Harlan in second, followed by the 2001 Harlan, than the 1961 Chateau Latour (notice a trend?)... these are the two best Cabernet producing estates in the world, without question.