Similar to my previous notes. This was served next to a 2013 Bevan Sugarloaf, which bested this Realm by a couple of points. The Bard was a good wine, but it came off a little one-note by comparison,…
More structure and focus than its Napa sibling, the Spring Mountain at least had some seemingly decent fruit to balance the otherwise boozy profile. The attack was alcohol first, fruit later. 88…
This version of Bevan's Sugarloaf was indeed a well crafted and interesting wine. Notes of deep, dark black raspberry, black cherry liqueur, a streak of ripe cranberry, dark chocolate chunk, and some…
Hints of decent black and dark red fruits, but pretty boozy. The Spring Mountain version of this was a hint better, but overall, the Harumph wines came off like wines that would be better served at…
Completely cooked to the point that even the stewed plum and raisin flavors were only barely identifiable as fruit. Beef broth and wrinkly raisin aftertaste. A muddled grapey note showed up briefly,…
Similar to my notes four months ago. Spice and cedar lead the way this time. A decent amount of verve to move the flavors through the palate. In the end I found it to be "pretty good," but nothing…
In a world amongst $150+ Napa Cabernets, this $35 bugger was a "decent" surprise. Was it epic?.uh, no. Was it captivating?...still no. Was it at least complex and attention grabbing?...not…
Another Mondavi sister (Angelina) creation. The Limitless was an ok representation of Howell Mountain (different areas than Aloft), but it fell behind even the Aloft Cabernet in terms of complexity…
Same as my previous notes, except that I found this to be especially thin and forgettable this time around. Some red and black fruit, but nothing too complex or captivating about this wine in…
Interesting from a science project standpoint. This showed advanced flavors of over-ripe, mature black and red currant, cigar leaf, leather, mushroom, tea, and a streak of deep black cherry. Served…
FRUITY, with a side order of even more fruit. Fruit on the attack. Fruit mid-palate. Fruit on the back end, with fruit rounding out the finish. I like me some fruit and all folks, but man this black…
Fairly traditional notes of yellow citrus making up the core fruit; some stone and white fruit flavors on the back end, which kicked out a little bitterness on the finish. Seemed to have the stuffing…
A decent example of Howell Mountain, with black and dark red core fruit, some spice, a little dark chocolate, and creamy oak. Mid-palate was more medium than I would have preferred, but it had…
When in doubt, go for the port? Well... It was a rocket-fuel injected vintage port version, with syrupy blackberry and Absolut flavors clashing into each other. The finish was a blast of straight…
Goofy and fruity. No real sense of balance of complexity. Strange fruit cocktail flavors that tasted completely out of place. It tasted like Cabernet Franc for about one second, and then went…
Not much better than the Greenwood, this PS suffered from the same lackluster performance and complete milquetoast flavor delivery. Thin and forgettable.
Even better than when I had this wine four months ago. Much more open and giving (the bottle had been open a couple of hours). Powerful and concentrated blue and black fruits. Some nice char and…
Almost unidentifiable as a Petite Sirah. The wonderful intense fruit flavors of this varietal didn't come through at all in this wine... and this was supposed to be Vincent Arroyo's flagship wine.…
From three different sites (instead of the six sites for the standard Napa Cabernet). The outer limits had a slight bit more push and "depth" than the standard Cabernet, but nothing that would…
GIII fruit, but a fairly walk-in-the-park version of the site. A bit of an imbalance between the overt fruitiness and whacky acid. The bottom of the barrel in terms of the GIII site. "It was ok," is…
"Much" better than the 2014 Haber Howell Cabernet, but unfortunately that isn't saying much given the prune-tinged extraction and over-ripe flavors that still managed to wash over the palate with…
A weak example of the varietal. More approachable than the 2013 Reserve Cabernet, but in terms of complexity and flavor this Cabernet was almost instantly forgettable. Next to no push or energy to…
