I'm making this one note since they are basically all the same wine. Decanted for an hour to two hours.

"Randy Dunn will be dead before anyone figures out that he had no idea what he was doing." -- (attributed to Ric Henry)

These are tannic monsters, still. They drink like mid-90s... some maybe even 1999 Cabs. No one would believe the '84 isn't a '94 or later.

The problem for me is that some of the fruit is fading due to lower acidity levels than the tannins would pair well with. The '87 and '84 were my favorites. The '86 was the let down, but we're only talking 3 point differences here at the most. They are all dark, big, tannic, with reasonably long finish and a weedy green tobacco hint that I find off-putting. None are terribly complex other than typical Napa spice box that you might find in a Beringer PR or Spottswoode. 88-91 for all of them with the '84 and '87 on top, the '86 on bottom.

Whiner, I am familiar with the Kenwood Artist Series cabs. What is this Dunn Artist Series? Is it the Howell Mountain or just something that they did only for mags?

Dave,

I have no idea. These were mags of, I presume, their best fruit. A good friend of mine is related to the artist. I'll try to get more info for you...

a

I found it. From none other than Dr RichandBold.

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It was a fun night tonight. Baby Drab turned 1 today, and for her B-Day party the family all went out to dinner. My grandfather was an artist back in the day, and when he was alive he did the artist series for Dunn Vineyards from '84-'89. Anyway...out of the family stash came this '88 Artist Series Magnum, in honor of him, and to ring in the little one's birthday. Not to sound bias, but this was a PHENOMENAL wine. Far better than the '86 Magnum we all opened for my birthday two years ago. Dark ruby red/black in color. As I filtered this into the decanter aromas of caramel, ripe blueberry and coffee grounds wafted up. No bricking whatsoever. This didn't look like it was 15 years old at all. I knew we were in for something special. On the palate, intense flavors of dark sweet black cherry, blueberry pie, espresso beans, bittersweet chocolate, cigar spice box, and MINT LEAF. Fat mid section with plenty of glycerin. Finish was one of the longest I've ever had. Well over 1 minute...it stained the tongue. Mint and toasty caramel oak lingered on the finish with a touch of the bluberry pie. Plenty of tannin left, but nowhere near overpowering...this can easily last 10+ more years in magnum. This was a Classic wine, and THE best Dunn I've had to date....I don't know what the critic's had to say, but I would easily give this 97+ pts

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I said...

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A good friend of mine is related to the artist.

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You said...

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I found it. From none other than Dr RichandBold.

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... My grandfather was an artist back in the day, and when he was alive he did the artist series for Dunn Vineyards from '84-'89.

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I'll let you connect the dots

a

Now I've got it. He's your friend! I read it quickly and thought that Dr. Rich made both statements.