Wine Doctrine
Every tasting note

Reviews

3,968 notes

2020

MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley · Oakville

(If you want the punchline, skip all the drivel and just go to the last sentence at the bottom of this lingual mess I've created here).

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2016

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

Another bottle of this got thrown into the mix courtesy of Cristal2000. This bottle OWNED the table in its own right. A Howell Mountain beauty that really outshined its other Adamvs peers all the way…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2019

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Spinning Plates

California · Napa Valley

The polish and texture here is really something to take note. Accessible and giving, the Spinning Plates is more than just an introduction to the Vice Versa portfolio. It possesses a singular…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2019

Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard

California · Napa Valley

Ok, so it has now gotten to the point where it infuriates me every time I have a Colgin. I mean, does every bottle always have to stomp on everything else around it due to its supreme awesomeness?!…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2021

La Pelle Syrah Bien Nacido Block X

Central Coast · Santa Maria Valley

Salty and funky on the nose, with an instant cool climate aura that makes you wanna stick your face further into the glass and pretend you tripped and fell in a blackberry field off the coast of…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2018

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

After having the earth-shattering 2016 Adamvs, it is admittedly a tad more difficult to "academically" assess its 2018 sibling. Ironically, I catch a little old school profile here, with grandpa's…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2015

Keplinger Caldera

Sierra Foothills · El Dorado County

Iron, earth, black raspberry, muddled red raspberry, and plum notes fill the mouth with superb purity. The bit of age the Caldera has received in bottle has helped broaden the span of flavor. This is…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2019

Impensata Merlot

California · Napa Valley

Plush and opulent in the mouth, with blackberry, chocolate, dark spice, pink roses, fresh soil, and ripe red and black raspberry notes wasting no time in enveloping the palate and leaving a deep…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2021

La Pelle Chardonnay Bien Nacido - Block I

Central Coast · Santa Maria Valley

I'm tellin' ya, Maayan is just destroying it with these whites, and this Chardonnay, which I've had a number of times from the previous couple of vintages, is totally my style all the way around.…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2016

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

Arguably the best wine in the lineup (though the 2016 Quintvs was stylistically more in my wheelhouse), the 2016 Adamvs is a stallion of a wine. Massive dark berry and meaty flavors are interplay…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2019

La Pelle Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hen Vineyard

Napa Valley · Oak Knoll District

Dark and deep, with ripe blackberry, purple plum, and red and black raspberry notes almost immediately landing on the mid-palate with a perfect dollop of savory goodness, but also with red currant…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2014

Keplinger Mars

Sonoma County · Moon Mountain District

I used to drink the 2013 vintage of this wine back when it was an inaugural release. I loved it then and I find it just as interesting now. The 2014 is a more rounded delivery and less intense than I…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2012

Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard

California · Napa Valley

This was a bottle purchased at the restaurant (Thanks again Bill!). It was very good and, with some time and air (two things that were kinda lacking at the time the bottle came to the table), it…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2020

Keplinger Syrah Gratus Amico Bien Nacido

Central Coast · Santa Maria Valley

100% Syrah from Block 45 of the Bien Nacido vineyard, the Gratus Amico leads with a bouquet of roses and a red berry fruit basket, followed by red raspberry, red and black cherry, and faint stone…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2015

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

The front end on the 2015 Adamvs shows quite a bit of plush and deep fruit flavor as it immediately gushes over the palate and forms a wave of mixed berry and dark earth elements. A half second…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2018

Promontory Penultimate

California · Napa Valley

Black currant, unripe black cherry, and a hit of sour berry flavors lead off the charge on the 2018 Penultimate. It stayed tight and a bit wiry on the first pop of the cork, but it became much more…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2018

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Quintvs

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

The 2018 is a somewhat softer version of the 2016 Quintvs, which really just means it wasn't as much of a powerhouse as the 2016. The 2018 is rounder in the mouth, with more succulent blackberry and…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2019

La Pelle Cabernet Sauvignon Ceniza

Napa Valley · Coombsville

Comparatively darker and chewier than the Red Hen, The Ceniza rolls out the blackberry, ash, bitter chocolate, pulverized granite, pencil lead, and wet cave flavors with a gothic and semi-serious…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2015

Keplinger Sumo

Sierra Foothills · Amador County

The one thing I was curious about with this sample was the integration of the Viognier element. Past infant Sumos have been overridden by the floral component put out by the Viognier, masking what…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2018

Promontory

California · Napa Valley

So chiseled and linear that it almost seems like this thing is gonna stayed locked and loaded for the next 30 years. With air, air, air, and more air, blackberry seed, black cherry, and fresh herbs…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2016

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Quintvs

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

Hands-down my favorite Quintvs of the lineup, with a depth and purity that truly delivers all the goods with one gorgeous gulp. The 2016s at this address are phenomenal, and the Quintvs showcases it…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2016

Promontory

California · Napa Valley

A perfect wine. And in 10 years it'll be a perfect wine. And in 15 years it'll be a perfect wine. And in 20 years it'll..well, you get the picture. So, we all know that taro card reading wine is an…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2021

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Napa Valley · St. Helena

The 2021 LPV and Crane especially lead with vanilla and chocolate notes, flaunting their baby fat like the happiest kid on the planet with a triple scoop ice cream cone in one hand and a pinwheel in…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2015

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Quintvs

Napa Valley · Howell Mountain

Well, I asked for some tension and I got some tension. The 2015 is tighter and more linear than the 2014. This is indeed a long-hauler, with quite the grippy frame. More herbal and exacting on the…

Reviewed 7 April 2023
2018

Ultramarine Blanc de Blancs Michael Mara Sonoma Coast

Sonoma County · Sonoma Coast

Putting on the California shades and temporarily leaving Champagne in the rear view mirror, I get a real sense of what this sparkler is trying to convey, which is basically, let me be me. Every time…

Reviewed 26 March 2023