Stewed purple plum, black raspberry, juicy cassis, wet limestone, coffee grounds, soil, and red-purple licorice kick off a To Kalon that is perhaps less 'serious' than other examples of this site,…
Honed, focused, chiseled, mineral, black goth berry-rock, and a mean streak all up and down it, the 2016 HSS is serious business in the best of ways. Give it another 5+ years and be rewarded. It…
Muddled and slightly unfocused at first pass, this found a decent glide for a very short period of time before making another hard left on to the dirt road, making for a bit of a rough ride…
From Magnum. A wine that may need some more time in bottle (especially since it was a 1.5L), the 2017 Promontory was thinner than expected. Though the focus and exactitude was impressive, the…
This really is a phenomenal wine. The 2013 is probably the best wine this house has ever made. So much focus and chiseled intensity, with a flavor expansion that can turn on a dime. Expertly crafted,…
Gothic and black as the night is long, the 2019 Ovid is a White Zombie black asphalt Thunderkiss '65 blackberry bonfire of tar, embers, black soil, obsidian blood, and Kraken ink. An intense…
It's big, juicy, and has all sorts of purple-red berry waves rumbling over the palate, though there is a cocktail element that orbits the profile throughout consumption. It's a young pup, so its…
Big, juicy, juicy, juicy, and juicy. Some alcohol comes to the party, but it's washed over pretty quickly by the (you guessed it) juicy fruit. This is rounder than I recall, with a big bubble of…
A very well put together wine. It was overshadowed by a 2019 Ovid, but stylistically was better judged on more of the classical spectrum than that of the more modern Ovid. On its own, the red and…
This bottle presents a good argument to the age-ability of certain Carter wines. This 2010 TK is a beautiful specimen, perhaps even slightly eclipsing the 2013 GTO served beside it (though I think…
A big wine, with redder fruit than I recall, but with a sophistication and focus that is most notable. A great wine, though I was actually a little more drawn to a 2010 Carter TK served next to it…
My note from last year applies in terms of this wine's specific characteristics and flavor profile, though I will say the performance this time around was absolutely beautiful on day one (a healthy…
I guess I'll just have to keep giving this wine 100 points. I've had the privilege of tapping this wine a number of times now, and every time it just kills it. This time, its prowess was tested…
Deeper than the day is long, this was a shot across the bow with a concentration cannon that blasted flavor and depth right to the mid-palate, diving even deeper and with more fortitude as it…
A pretty wine, with violets and juicy red/purple fruit popping on the palate. Here the nose is muted, but the affable flavors skip along the front end upon first sip, marking the path of a wine that…
If a Northern Rhone Cornas butcher met up with a Stags Leap socialite, you'd have the 2021 Vice Versa Stelzner. This thing is slathered in meat drippings, soil, char, burnt embers, and the black…
I had to laugh because I have always considered Dr. Crane fruit-driven for my palate. The first word in my notes says, "fruity." CT'r Cristal2000 thinks I make this stuff up just cuz I give him a…
Powerful and front loaded. Boom! Instantly turns richer and longer with the first sip. A beast of a wine that holds it all together with graphite and mineral elements providing an amazing stretch of…
Great right now. I mean, it's the friendly GIII, so how could it not be?! Concentration and balance are especially notable in 2021, with a refinement that really showcases a sophisticated side of…
True to its name the Mysterons was fairly cat-and-mouse on the nose and the palate. It was truly a bit of a mystery with its dodgy flavor expression and somewhat indiscernible profile. For some…
At first pass, this thing was balled up like, well. a ball. Quivering and compact, I sensed this might be M7 simply because of the sheer Oppenheimer-type encased fury-boom potential it possessed, but…
Like a hybrid of Cousins and Beatrix, the Spinning Plates offers a similar profile to its two brothers (or, Cousins.?), with a concentration that is dialed-down but is more tannic and linear in its…
The best MACDONALD to date, without question. The refinement, polish, and sophistication that shines through in the 2021 vintage is no doubt a next-next level for what is already a storied legacy of…
This must have been a perfectly stored bottle, because it was completely singing with beautifully balanced fruit, flowing with macerated black cherry, plum, and orange rind flavors. Not tired by a…
