Reviews

Becklyn Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Moulds Vineyard

Certainly an outlier among the wines tasted, the 2014 Becklyn Moulds was a puckering, tight blast of sour cherry, pomegranate, red raspberry, vanilla-laced alcohol, red vanilla Creamsicle, and more…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Empyrean Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Previous notes apply, though this was a much more reticent showing than five months ago. PnP was somewhat linear on the attack, with a softer back end. The fruit was restrained and holding a lot back…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Cristal2000 and other CT'ers have thoroughly covered this wine in just about every detail. I had a similar experience, with PnP coming off in typical young Scarlett fashion; ultra-modern,…

Forman Cabernet Sauvignon

Same as all other notes. 93 points for me. My girl likes it better than me. Needs some air. A little flat on the attack, but otherwise a decent example of a more classical style of Napa Cabernet.

Bevan Cellars Ontogeny

Same as all other previous notes. For the <$100 category, this vintage of Ontogeny is up there with the best.

Arkenstone Cabernet Sauvignon NVD

This must just be a "me" thing with this wine, because try as I might I just don't seem to "get it." Previous recent notes apply. Light, linear, and fairly flat in its profile. There's some ok fruit…

Switchback Ridge Anniversary Blend Peterson Family Vineyard

Cedar, damp moss, and wet garbage on the nose. The palate was dead and flat with a slight vinegar aftertaste.

TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard

Same notes as last year. Really nice wine after about two-three hours in the decanter. Consumption temp remained at about 54 degrees the entire time, which was perfect. Black licorice, asphalt, dark…

The Grade Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard

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…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld

Similar to my previous note from December 2016, except that this wine is showing a maturity (after about 2 hours of air) that is especially compelling. Reminded me of a 2012 Cliff Lede Beautiful…

Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Actaeon Quixote Vineyard

Similar to my previous notes on this wine. Drank much better after a two-three hour decant. Continued to improve through the final sips. Has years ahead of it. Ideally, hold until after 2019/2020+.

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 1858 Napa Valley

The good news is that this wine at least didn't come across like the total trampy Jamba Juice blackberry smoothy hooker that the 2014 Caymus Cabernet has become. This 1858 showed "some" restraint in…

Celani Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Similar to my previous notes, though this wine totally stepped it up since my last experience in August. Bottle variation? Hard to determine. This bottle was micro-filtered (a definite must) and…

Greer Cabernet Sauvignon Greer Vineyard

Though I just tried this wine on 10/4/2017, I wanted to give it a whirl at home where I could watch its evolution throughout the course of an evening from PnP through a few hours of air. Much like…

Larkmead Vineyards The Lark

PnP started this wine out with some astringent characteristics that masked the core fruit at first. However, it didn't take but 30 minutes or so in a decanter before it really started to leap forward…

Provenance Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

Fruity, simple, and easily accessible. Predictable but enjoyable enough in the flavor department to hold half-interest throughout consumption, with notes of black and red currant, blackberry,…

Realm Cellars The Bard

After a somewhat lackluster performance from a recent tasting of the 2015 Bard, it was surely encouraging to experience this 2013 step up with a pleasurable delivery of black core fruit, clove,…

Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon Connoissuer's Series Jupille Sylvain French Oak NO

PnP with notes of ripe black and red currant, subtle black raspberry, cedar, wet earth/mulch, and some black tanbark. Medium-bodied and a fairly smooth delivery for the 2013 vintage. A good wine and…

Larkmead Vineyards LMV Salon

Well, I suppose I'm in the minority here. This was an ok wine at best for me. Pedestrian and fairly predictable flavors of black and red currant, earth, and some spice. A little leather and dark soil…

Trujillo Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Same as last year's TN. It started out a little restrained, with a classical profile overall and some seemingly nice components of a frame to hold the red and black currant fruit in proper place.…

Fleury Estate Winery BDX

This started out with a great rush of typical broad-shouldered Howell Mountain fruit. Fairly plush and round though, with its tight grip immediately after PnP only lasting about 20 minutes before it…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Drinking even better than a number of months before. Previous notes apply. This was served alongside a 2014 Maybach Materium and 2014 Scarecrow M. Etain. The Myriad held it own really well,…

Scarecrow Monsieur Étain

PnP was a little tight. After an hour in the decanter, prominent notes of black cherry, cassis, tobacco, incense, and hints of vanilla liqueur. Mid-palate was especially notable, with a fuller…

Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium

All of my previous notes apply. Still awesome, if you like your Cabernets on the riper side of things (which I typically do as long as the grip is fully intact - which it absolutely is in the case of…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Well, here I am back to awesome with the wine, experiencing some really nice black and red licorice and asphalt notes to cut through the massive core of red and black fruit. Previous notes apply, but…