Black, black, black fruit, with black wet burnt cedar, tar, scorched earth, and black rock. Extraordinarily complex, with the best of Venge's often flamboyant style perfectly harnessed by the best…
Almost a year and a half since I last had this wine. Notes of red and purple core fruit, earthy plum, blackberry, black and red cherry, blueberry skin, red and black licorice, railroad tie,…
Exhibiting beautifully brooding and complex flavors of black, purple, and dark red core fruit, the 2015 Amoenus kicks out notes of deep, dark black cherry, wild blackberry, black soil, black olive,…
Previous notes apply, except that this had a warm, muddled plum tinge that it couldn't seem to shake all night. The wine was ok, but under-performed tonight in my opinion.
This wine wiped the floor over the other wines at the table. In its class, it and a '14 Bevan Ontogeny were the WOTN. Powerful and concentrated, awesome black core fruit flavors, with black rock and…
Previous notes from last month apply. Medium bodied and middle of the pack amongst other wines at the table. Nice black and some blue core fruit. Similar profile to a '14 Buoncristiani Cab. Drink now…
Definitely more fruit-driven than the Morlets and Rudd served alongside it, with seemingly less backbone and acidic grip. Ripe red and black core fruit, with lush, plush, rounded edges that would be…
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…
All previous notes apply. A little more muted than the last bottle. Grossly improper stemware is likely to blame for that. Drinking fine now otherwise.
Open for business right on PnP. Drink now and over the next few years. Not a long terms ager by any means, but enjoyable for what it is. Good flavor (really nice dark black and blue fruit). Good…
Purple and red berry core fruit. The 13% Cab Franc provided a nice lift to the otherwise basic delivery of flavors. Some black and red currant, red licorice, allspice, and subtle minerality rounded…
Perhaps a slight improvement from the 2016 version of this SB, the 2014 exhibited more of a prairie grass note that added some lift...."some" lift. The main issue here was that the core fruit didn't…
A wonderful nose of tropical fruit and grass. Yet, once this hit the palate, its delivery of flavors was mostly deadpan. Light lemon, pear flesh, alkaline, and dry grass. Expressionless for the most…
Unlike the BTK, Poetry, or Scarlet Love, I was fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) able to rate this wine with some semblance of disciplined inquiry and analysis, though a numeric quantifier at…
Previous notes apply. Same as last month. Lush, ripe (but not over-ripe), and beautifully balanced. A nice rush of dark berry core fruit, with some bitter chocolate and subtle clove and black slate.…
Served alongside the 2014 Bone Ash. I favored this 2015 just a bit more, as its complexity, grip, and drive were more prominent. The fruit was a little more focused and the delineation of flavors…
Served side-by-side with the 2015 Bone Ash. I favored the 2015 a bit more, but this held its own quite well. Deep, plush, and a hallmark representation of the 2014 vintage. Contained some nice power…
Not an entirely lost example of the varietal, and a significant improvement over the Scout's Honor served beside it. As others have noted, this was a little hot and lacking overall complexity (the…
Same as previous notes. The first two hours were filled with huge fruit and some slaps of alcohol (most similar to my last experience with this wine). However, after a few hours of air, this really…
Same as previous notes. I feel as though I rushed through it this time around. 93-95 points. An excellent wine, especially for the price-point, but I should've taken some more time to follow it…
Same as previous notes. Held up nicely over two days. Best after a couple hour decant after PnP. 93-94 points. Likely to level out at this point and start to gracefully age. Has plenty of life left…
Previous notes apply. This is already coming into an extraordinarily beautiful drinking window at the moment. After two hours of air, this wine was performing like a total phenom. Unctuously…
Similar to my tasting notes in March, except that this especially showed dominant red and black cherry liqueur notes, along with red volcanic minerality and red clay earth notes. A fascinating wine…
A beautifully concentrated and opulent wine. Just a hair more intense and powerful than the standard 2014 Grade Cabernet. Dark blue and black fruit, deeply pitched, and a hint of sweetness on the…
