Reviews

Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Franc Force de la Nature

Compared/served directly next to a 2008 and a 2012 Morlet Coeur de Vallee. This Force de la Nature had some notable precision (especially when distinguished from the Morlet Coeur de Vallee wines,…

Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cour de Vallée

Compared/served directly next to a 2008 Morlet Coeur de Vallee and a 2012 Morlet Force de la Nature. My previous notes apply on this wine. This was 3rd of the 3 Morlets we had, mostly due to its…

Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cour de Vallée

Compared/served directly next to a 2012 Morlet Coeur de Vallee and a 2012 Morlet Force de la Nature. This was up there as one of my top wines of the night. I loved the way the Cabernet Franc…

Rudd Oakville Estate Proprietary Red

Previous notes apply, though I experienced this as much less angular this time around. With the proper decanting (approximately 5+ hours total), this really started to show nicely. Somewhat…

MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon

Double-decanted and re-corked in-bottle for approximately 8 hours; then consumed out of a decanter over the course of over four more hours. By hour two, this had presented itself in a way that was…

Sine Qua Non Syrah Touché Eleven Confessions Vineyard

Served side-by-side with the '12 SQN Stein. Not surprisingly, the Touché was one of the wines of the night, and especially unfortunate for the 2012 SQN Stein, which received a serving up of a good…

Sine Qua Non Grenache Stein

Served side-by-side with the '12 SQN Touché. Decanted over the course of 5 hours, and followed throughout the night. PnP displayed a dark red and black core fruit profile. A little higher-toned black…

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Cautionary Tale

Not one ounce of doom and gloom here with this "Cautionary Tale." PnP with wonderful black cherry, saturated and sappy black raspberry, bark, cacao bean, and some incense and cinnamon stick. Most…

Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard

"A beautiful wine," was the general sentiment among most of the crowd, though some (myself included) felt like it was holding back quite a bit, with the frontal push of flavoring to be reticent and…

Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 165eme

2009 base. Seemingly more mineral driven and acidic, with an initial pucker factor that needed some time in the glass to sort out before it started to display what I would consider any semblance of…

Salmon Champagne Special Club

Similar to my notes on this wine a few months ago. A little more push and energy down the center of the palate than I recall from last time. Also, a little less ripe than I recall from the last…

Launois Pere et Fils Champagne Grand Cru Veuve Clemence Brut Blanc de Blancs

Same as my previous notes. This displays a nice steely-driven push of white stone fruit and some upper register light yellow citrus notes. Effervescence was strong but not distracting. Compared to…

B Cellars Chardonnay Barrel Select

Previous notes apply. I'm a fan. Decanting is actually recommended here in my opinion, allowing it to smooth out and not be obnoxious with its initial hit of flavor and flair. Softened our nicely for…

Argot Chardonnay Simpatico Ranch

Same as previous notes. Notable acidity and grip. A nice Burgundian/domestic hybrid. A lot of energy here, with some green apple and lemon verbena/lemongrass notes. A little less inviting than a '15…

Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

A year since I had this wine. Man, I did everything I could think of to spoon-feed this wine into being anything beyond a stern-ass liquid Liam Neeson. No dice. This RBS carried a Klingon furrowed…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Previous notes apply. PnP was an initial punch of red and black cherry liqueur and vanilla extract. Decanted for an hour+, which GREATLY improved the overall delivery of flavor. Black cherry, red and…

Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Special Club

Quince jelly, lemon seed, unripe pear, wet cement, and some sea foam. Youthfully vibrant, if not a little tight and linear on initial entry. About 15+ minutes in the glass deepened the mid-palate a…

Saxum Booker Vineyard

Previous notes from last year apply, except that this was showing quite a bit of hot alcohol on the finish, washing out the initial front-end attack of spicy blackberry core fruit out from underneath…

Argot Estate Vineyard Sonoma Mountain

Some alcohol and glycol on the finish this time around, which somewhat stunted the otherwise beautiful yellow core fruit on this wine. Some nice vanilla notes emerged, but some of the booze pulled…

Arkenstone Sauvignon Blanc

Same as last month and other previous notes before. A high-functioning SB for sure in my opinion. Weight, intensity, purity, acid, and flavor all hit the right registers with this version of the…

Venge Vineyards Merlot Oakville Estate Vineyard

This actually performed a couple of steps higher when compared to the last time I had it back in December. Still a little coiled up, but showing some really nice structure and energy throughout…

Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark black cherry and some bitter chocolate flavors dominate. Much more medium-bodied than expected. This performed similarly to a 2014 Grade Cabernet served alongside it. Both the Kobalt and Grade…

The Grade Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard

All previous notes apply. An easy-going crowd pleaser for sure. Flavors are always enjoyable from this wine, if not just a touch simple on the back end. It performed similarly to a 2014 Kobalt served…

Revana Cabernet Sauvignon Block 6

PnP with dark black and red berry core fruit. Chocolate, black raspberry, black currant, clove, allspice, and some black soil notes beautifully glide across the palate. Mid-palate and overall…

Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut

My previous note from March 23, 2018 applies. Unfortunately, I find very little interest to be had here with this Champagne. It doesn't do much to offend necessarily, but it sure ain't trying to win…