The best wine served during the Vincent Arroyo tasting. This had some decent restraint, avoiding the overly extracted butter/malo notes; instead, this displayed fairly pedestrian notes of yellow…
GIII fruit, but a fairly walk-in-the-park version of the site. A bit of an imbalance between the overt fruitiness and whacky acid. The bottom of the barrel in terms of the GIII site. "It was ok," is…
More structure and focus than its Napa sibling, the Spring Mountain at least had some seemingly decent fruit to balance the otherwise boozy profile. The attack was alcohol first, fruit later. 88…
Hints of decent black and dark red fruits, but pretty boozy. The Spring Mountain version of this was a hint better, but overall, the Harumph wines came off like wines that would be better served at…
In a world amongst $150+ Napa Cabernets, this $35 bugger was a "decent" surprise. Was it epic?.uh, no. Was it captivating?...still no. Was it at least complex and attention grabbing?...not…
Goofy and fruity. No real sense of balance of complexity. Strange fruit cocktail flavors that tasted completely out of place. It tasted like Cabernet Franc for about one second, and then went…
"Much" better than the 2014 Haber Howell Cabernet, but unfortunately that isn't saying much given the prune-tinged extraction and over-ripe flavors that still managed to wash over the palate with…
Completely cooked to the point that even the stewed plum and raisin flavors were only barely identifiable as fruit. Beef broth and wrinkly raisin aftertaste. A muddled grapey note showed up briefly,…
From three different sites (instead of the six sites for the standard Napa Cabernet). The outer limits had a slight bit more push and "depth" than the standard Cabernet, but nothing that would…
From six different "undisclosed" sites (which screams second or third round pick of fruit - especially given the finished product); this was unmemorable and instantly a wine where everyone said, "Ok,…
Another Mondavi sister (Angelina) creation. The Limitless was an ok representation of Howell Mountain (different areas than Aloft), but it fell behind even the Aloft Cabernet in terms of complexity…
Interesting from a science project standpoint. This showed advanced flavors of over-ripe, mature black and red currant, cigar leaf, leather, mushroom, tea, and a streak of deep black cherry. Served…
A decent example of Howell Mountain, with black and dark red core fruit, some spice, a little dark chocolate, and creamy oak. Mid-palate was more medium than I would have preferred, but it had…
Similar to a Bevan Rita's Pinot, the Addax was deeply rich, spicy, and threw off a decent amount of heat. Lacked some complexity, falling a little short on the finish as well. Dark black cherry,…
Almost like a hybrid of the 2014 Bevan McGah and Ontogeny I just had prior to tasting this wine, but injected with 100 cc of horse juice, the Addax was deeply extracted and concentrated with black,…
Same as all of my previous notes on this wine. It was totally open for business, with plump and saturated black and purple core fruit. The PV component seemingly showed a pebbly dark side almost…
A very giving and inviting representation of the McGah site, with a notable finesse that allowed for a seamless delivery of black and dark purple core fruit. Had a bit of a black asphalt, pebbly…
Fairly traditional notes of yellow citrus making up the core fruit; some stone and white fruit flavors on the back end, which kicked out a little bitterness on the finish. Seemed to have the stuffing…
Similar to my previous notes on 1/22/2017. This exhibited beautifully balanced flavors throughout the later courses of dinner. Kobe beef and lamb dishes were certainly friends to this wine. Notes of…
