First Flight 

All of these wines showed good color, with hints of brick, but no real signs of age.

Wine A - slightly stinky nose, perhaps a hint of brett - good fruit and cigar box on the palate - well balanced and pleasurable to drink.

1985 Buehler:
My #2 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine B - light plum and cedar in the nose - very smooth entry - sweet red cherry and plum fruit flavors - good intensity - clean finish.

1984 Buehler: 
My #1 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine C - the nose opens with cedar and pine, evolving into heavy cedar aromatics - on the palate the fruit is rather nondescript, lacking in character and individuality.

1986 Dalla Valle:
My #5 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine D - pine, cedar and thyme in the nose - good fruit and firm acid structure - still shows some tannins and can probably age awhile.

1986 Buehler:
My #3 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine E - again, cedar and pine aromatics - good balance and well integrated on the palate with good fruit and oak, but lacked intensity - not enough concentration and faded a bit in the glass.

1987 Buehler: 
My #4 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Second Flight

Wine A - restrained in the nose - medium intensity varietal fruit and acids when it opened, but as the wine spent time in glass, the riper fruit flavors really started coming forward, and the wine improved dramatically - it started out perhaps fourth in the flight, but wound up second.

1993 Paradigm:
My #2 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine B - very purple-ish color - sweet Cabernet syrup in the nose - the flavors follow through on the palate - but the wine had not quite come together yet - it was not well integrated - probably quite young.

1995 Paradigm:
My #3 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine C - varietal Cabernet fruit in the nose with hints of cedar and spice - fairly good fruit in the mouth - there were some assertive tannins and a rather bitter finish - in the company of the other wines in this flight, it did not show very well.

1991 Paradigm: 
My #5 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine D - very closed aromatics that eventually opened a bit to show some aquarium, but the nose is not very well evolved in this wine - pleasant plummy flavors with good balance on the palate and showed some promise, but obviously needs a little time.

1992 Paradigm: 
My #4 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine E - sweet cassis fruit with hints of allspice in the nose - on the palate, delicious sweet red currant fruit with good balance - it’s a tremendously appealing wine - went down very smoothly and had a clean finish.

1994 Paradigm:
My #1 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Third Flight 

Filled with glorious wines - many of us thought this was the "Dalla Valle flight" - the wines, almost uniformly showed elegance and breeding, and very similar aromatic profiles

Wine A - started tight, with hints of wood, but opened up to sweet black cherry aromas - on the palate had very pretty fruit and moderate tannins that mellowed over time - clearly needed more bottle time.

1990 Dalla Valle: 
from magnum (double decanted)
My #4 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine B - very closed with aromatics that really didn’t open very well - on the palate showed pleasing fruit and minerals, and excellent balance - also needed time, but opened very nicely.

1992 Dalla Valle:
My #2 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine C - aquarium in the nose that evolved into sweet red current fruit - the tannins were obtrusive and interrupted the midpalate, and prevented me from evaluating the flavor profile or the finish - far too young to drink.

1994 Dalla Valle:
My #6 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine D - closed, with hints of mineral in the nose - black currant and slate flavors - very good wine, and hard to believe it would rank so low in the flight, but the overall quality of this grouping was extraordinary.

1991 Dalla Valle:
My #5 in flight 
Group #6 in flight 

Wine E - restrained mineral notes in the nose - pretty, sweet stone fruits in the mouth with great balance - tasted 3 times over 30 minutes, and continued to open and improve.

1993 Dalla Valle:
My #3 in flight
Group #4 in flight 

Wine F - Yippee!! Very lush and sweet fruit flavors yielding to mineral and subtle lavender flavors, and a hint of garrigue - smooth, soft, and easy to drink - long, smooth finish.

1995 Dalla Valle: 
My #1 in flight 
Group #1in flight 

An extraordinarily impressive flight of wines.

Fourth Flight

Wine A - opens with sweet, syrupy Cabernet aromas - later showing added hints of char - in the mouth, very sweet, well balanced fruit - extremely pleasing, very smooth on the palate, has a long and clean finish.

1996 Paradigm
My #1 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine B - muted Cabernet fruit and hints of aquarium in the nose - on the palate there is rather pretty balanced fruit, highlighting ripe and smooth black plum flavors - minimal smooth tannins suggest some ageing potential.

1996 La Sirena
My #3 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine C - sweet, but shy fruit aromatics - very tightly wound on the palate - clearly needs time.

1996 Jones Family:
My #5 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine D - opens with ripe stone fruit aromas, later showing a bit of funk - Brett? - balanced, sweet fruit on the palate - very rich, with added complexity from the Brett, but there was enough for me to identify, so I demoted this wine from first place.

1996 Oakford:
My #2 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine E - quite restrained aromatics - tight, sweet fruit in the mouth, with very smooth tannins - I felt plus/minus about this wine.

1995 Oakford:
My #4 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine F - offers very little in the way of aromatics - a hint of menthol - likewise on the palate, showing very restrained flavors - clearly needs time, but may evolve into an excellent wine.

1994 Oakford:
My #6 in flight 
Group #6 in flight