Reviews

Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten

Vertical of 2012/2013/2014 Sea Smoke TEN. All were very similar, with only the vintage characteristics standing out (if barely at all).

Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten

Vertical of 2012/2013/2014 Sea Smoke TEN. All were very similar, with only the vintage characteristics standing out (if barely at all).

Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten

Vertical of 2012/2013/2014 Sea Smoke TEN. All were very similar, with only the vintage characteristics standing out (if barely at all).

Château Boswell Pinot Noir Absolutely Eloise Rita's Crown Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills

Once again, I concur with CRISTAL's on-point description of this wine. Much more modern indeed, especially in comparison to the Sun Chase served before it. Dark, dark black cherry, muddled ripe…

Sine Qua Non Grenache Jusqu'à l'os Eleven Confessions Vineyard

An absolute monster of a Grenache-dominated blend, with viscous and deeply pitched black raspberry, red/black licorice, Amarema black cherry syrup, black and blue river rock, and subtle incense…

Torrin The Maven

PnP at 54 degrees with somewhat reserved notes of kirsch, black and red cherry, saline, and some underbrush. Cloudy in the glass and fuzzy on the palate, with a medium attack and somewhat simple…

L'Aventure The Sibling

Previous notes from a few months ago still apply. Needed a decent decant (2+ hours) before it really started to come alive and lose some of that firm grip it was exhibiting on PnP. Still good advice…

Melville Pinot Noir Block M

Similar to previous notes. Ripe red and black cherry and red raspberry core, with some strawberry, orange rind, wood, and spice. Drinking fine now. A tad heavy on the fruit, but the flavor push is…

Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

Same notes as three months ago. Showed some reductive qualities toward the end. Drink now.

Clos Solène Hommage À Nos Pairs Reserve

PnP was fairly hot and cocktail-esque initially. After an hour in the decanter, some of the booze dissipated, but never fully ceased distracting a bit from the overall core fruit. Dark red and…

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…

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…

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…

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…

La Rochelle Pinot Noir Recherché Reserve Soberanes Vineyard

High-toned bright red cherry, vanilla, and some white travertine. Simple, lithe, and watery. Hardly any depth to speak of. Gains some points for energy and zip, but otherwise this is a runny nose of…

Saxum Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard

Two years ago to the day since I last had this wine; a wonderful progression since that time, with notes of blackberry compote, dark cassis, lower-toned dark cherry kirsch, Black Forest gateau, black…

Clos Solène L'Insolent

Finished the bottle. Previous notes apply. It took about two hours of decanted air to blow off some heat that pulled away from the core fruit flavors. In the end, I would hold for another year+ on…

Clos Solène L'Insolent

Another Coravin pour. Same as last week. Solid...but...in need of some oomph... I'll finish this bottle soon enough, but I'm not super confident I'll be chasing this wine down in the coming vintages.

Clos Solène L'Insolent

Coravin pour. A little more subdued and "quieter" than the last time. Still, excellent purity of fruit, with a black, red, and purple core that delivered ripe but controlled levels of extraction.…

Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosemary's Vineyard

Same, same, same. Previous notes apply. I'm about as excited as I've been previously about this wine, which is not much... likely even less so this time around. It has some saturated black cherry and…

Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

At Mr. Jiu's in SF.

Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

Saturated black and red raspberry, wild blackberry, boysenberry, black cherry, camphor, green olive, railroad tie, earth, cinnamon, and limestone. A little funkified and exhibiting a heavier red…

L'Aventure Estate Cuvée

Same notes as last week. The most accessible and hedonistic of the bunch. Drinking great now as a PnP.

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Architects & Saboteurs

Previous notes apply. A massive Pinot with a massive attack of ripe black and dark red core fruit, glycerin-laced blackberry and black cherry, saturated black raspberry liqueur, black spicebox,…

L'Aventure Estate Cuvée

All of my previous notes apply. Drinking very well as a PnP. Drink now and over the next few years.