Reviews

The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo The Third Twin Vineyard

Deeply pitched purple and black-red fruits ooze on to the palate, with an entry that is intense but controlled. With a few hours in the decanter, the flow is enhanced and the saturation pulsates with…

L'Aventure Estate Cuvée

Similar to my note on January 4, 2022 (more info than you probably need to know in that note), the Estate Cuvee shows much more complex and reachable than the bruiser boy Côte-à-Côte. Where the…

L'Aventure Estate Cuvée

Composed of 50% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot, the 2019 L'Aventure Estate Cuvée is quite a purring black panther of a wine, even without the benefit of a decant or extended air.…

The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo The Third Twin Vineyard

This is my second shot at the NUESTRA SENORA DEL TERCER GEMELO (refer to my recent and lengthier tasting note from 09/20/2021). This bottle is a bit spun up at first, but its concentration and drive…

19 Crimes Red Wine

The 20th crime: drinking this wine.

The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo The Third Twin Vineyard

Saturated red and black raspberry, kirsch, black cherry, spice, toast, forest floor, and stems traipse around in a striking exhibition of confident flavor-parading. The entwining of ripe and ready…

The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo The Third Twin Vineyard

A couple of domestic pirates made their ways into the mix, specifically two Krankl creations (outside of the Chimere) - the Third Twin Nuestra Senora and the SQN Dirt Vernacular Grenache.

The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo The Third Twin Vineyard

So, this was a wild ride of a wine, with a screaming baby and thundery boozy-blast start that luckily touches down at the right landing field after a succession of layovers and misconnections. I kept…

Fairchild Estate Stones Longitude - Latitude

Red and black fruits, with the red berry and currant notes ultimately elbowing their ways ahead of the overall march of flavors, this offers slightly more depth than the Sigaro initially, but then…

Accendo Cellars Laurea Red Blend

Ripe plum, deep red and black cherry, and cedar ride the crest of the flavor wave, almost immediately skipping over the mid-palate and skirting into an exceptionally dry finish. This wine desperately…

L'Aventure For Her

Blackberry compote, blueberry skin, black cherry, ripe black and purple plum, wet limestone, asphalt, railroad tie, and spices (clove and cardamom). Beautifully built, with frame and flavor…

Roam Vineyards Xaga St. Helena

From Glass Mountain comes a thrilling wine that I had never heard of before. A one-off side project involving a handful of kinda-celebrity-ish type Napa starlets deciding to concoct yet another…

L'Aventure For Her

An even more integrated and overall improved animal than when I last had this wine two years ago. This took a couple of hours of decanting to open up, but once it did it kicked out beautifully deep…

Saxum Paderewski Vineyard

PnP was wound up tight with all sorts of Russell Crowe angry, just spitting poisonous nails across the palate and finishing with a hot, linear, and bitter barb on the tail. Double decanted and back…

Whitehall Lane Tre Leoni Napa Valley

Red and black cherry and some spice. Medium mid-palate with a round, light finish.

Grieve Family Winery Double Eagle

Flavors of black and red currrant, cedar, tree bark, dust, and grandma's couch. Bony dry and bitter on the back end.

B Cellars Blend 24

Similar to last month. Blackberry pie, jam, fig, pomegranate reduction, and some spice. A wine that shouldn't work, but it turns out kinda ok. Some chocolate emerged, helping to elevate its profile…

Carter Cellars Hossfeld Coliseum

Previous notes apply. Still amongst the big boys in the 2016 Carter lineup, this beautiful wine manages to keep pace and hold interest with its wonderfully inviting dark red and purple core fruit.…

B Cellars Blend 24

A blend of primarily Petite Sirah and Sangiovese. A wine that seemingly should not work, the Blend 24 surprisingly manages to pull off a decent amount of flavor and body. Dark red core fruit, with a…

Hourglass 36-24-36 Blueline

Previous notes apply. Air is a friend to this wine. Beautiful bitter chocolate and coffee ground notes popped out over time to compliment the dark core fruit. Drinking great now, but I'll try to hold…

JCB The Surrealist Red

Fancy-schmancy bottle with Bellagio-esque adornments, and a velvet case to boot (since the bottle is clear glass and hence requires a royal robe to cloak it from the light that stands to harm this…

JCB Passion

90% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Petite Sirah. Black raspberry meets bitter blackberry seed. I can only imagine that the healthy dollop of PS is the culprit that threw this thing into a goofy tail spin.…

Hourglass 36-24-36 Blueline

Finished the bottle. Previous note applies. This wine manages to pull off unctuous concentration and intensity while also maintaining a notable balance and texturally smooth delivery from beginning…

Hourglass 36-24-36 Blueline

Coravin pour. An extraordinarily dark, concentrated wine, with black core fruit flavors of black currant, blackberry, black rock, dark bitter chocolate chunk, espresso, tar, black licorice, clove,…

Carter Cellars Hossfeld Coliseum

A great effort; a huge step up from previous vintages and by FAR the best Hossfeld Coliseum I've ever had. A tremendous amount of concentration, especially considering its comparative profile against…