Over four years since my last sampling this, the '16 FM LPV has gone from a high-rider taut teaser to a lush, plush, and gurgling gush of muddled blackberries and choc-o-late silkiness. If you know…
This was an especially ripe and ready showing. Deep and dark plum, black cherry, blackberry, smoke, wet tobacco, and slate notes are delivered in balanced but gushing and plush waves of chewy fruit…
Plum skin, unripe berries, wild blackberry, and tart cherry all scream young Bordeaux, with the acid and structure really biting down on the flavors' attempts to expand. There is power here as well.…
Almost two years since my last note on this wine. Unlike a number of 2013s out of Napa that are still a bit prickly and in need of further unfurling, this Fait Main was singing from the first pull of…
Blackberry, blueberry, earth, river rock, and pulverized granite. This started off as many 2014s do with a giving amount of fruit and flavor on the front end. Finished plump and ripe (but balanced on…
Previous notes apply from last year, though I do think another couple of years will produce even more upside for this wine. The 2014 is an agreeable vintage no doubt, with a personable delivery of…
Previous notes apply, though this behaved a bit more like a Sauvignon Blanc this time around (especially when it was on the colder side). Linear but hyper-clean pure yellow citrus, flint, and chalk…
Improving with time (since I last had it in the summer). Previous notes apply, but this was a bit more accessible and giving flavor-wise than before. Promising progression so far. Deeper on the…
Racy and energetic flavors of electric purple plum skin, red raspberry, red licorice, blackberry seed, wet limestone, pumice, and red and purple Skittles. More expressive in terms of drive and verve…
Black cherry, currant, and cigar box dominate the profile of the 2016 Sleeping Lady. Medium-bodied, with a clean and pure execution, this particular sample showed a touch shy on its overall delivery.…
Black and red cherry liqueur, purple plum skin, electric blackberry, scorched earth, and some cardamom and cinnamon spices. An alluring interplay of fruit and earth notes, with the gravelly elements…
With some vigorous decanting, this showed signs of real promise. If you've had this wine before, y'all know Benoit has his Burgundian flair kicking off with this particular white. This is indeed a…
There's a big part of me that almost grows tired of anointing super high scores to some of these Napa Cabernets. Maybe I should stay in that agreeable 94/95 realm when something is really good, just…
Served side-by-side with 2016 Carters Bam and Verdad. The FM was more purple fruited and displayed a softer grip than the Carters. Less intensity and concentration mid-palate from the FM by…
An decent showing, but missing that next-level oomph. Refreshing and crisp, but a bit singular in its delivery of would-be complex flavors. Paired well with the seafood dishes. As a stand-alone, it…
PnP with notes of zippy white stone and somewhat pithy yellow citrus core fruit; fresh lemon juice, lemon seed, quince, unripe pear, and pumice. The front end of the attack was full of verve, with an…
PnP. Nice but linear. Purity of fruit was good, but I felt this was missing some tiered flavors; weight mid-palate was just ok, with a focused but simple attack. Previous notes apply in terms of its…
Previous notes apply. This was delivering really beautiful black and blue berry fruit flavors right away on PnP. A little softer and more plush than the 2014 Memento Mori LPV SVD served alongside it,…
Previous notes apply. Finished the bottle. Likely in that 92 point arena for me right now. There are some potentially fascinating flavors lurking deep within the bowels of this coiled-up snake, but…
Continuing to follow this bottle with another Coravin pour. Same as last month. With a decent amount of coaxing, plum, limestone, currant, and subtle cassis notes emerged. Flat, linear, and otherwise…
Refer to previous notes for the initial Coravin pour on this wine. Today, I consumed the remainder of the bottle after essentially giving this wine a couple of days of slow O2. This go-around it was…
Coravin pour. Initially, notes of black cherry, black and red currant, unripe plum, garrigue, and Christmas fruitcake dominated. The attack was youthfully linear, with the core fruit hitting the…
Another Coravin pour from the same bottle as last month. Gave it a few hours of air. Still not enough. Previous note applies. This didn't budge much. Some identifiable unripe purple plum, currant,…
