Reviews

B Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Ehrlich Vineyard

Definitely a tick or two more advanced than the Blend 26 tasted just before it, the Ehrlich displayed some nice black and blue/red core fruit that held up through the mid-palate and into the finish.…

Bacio Divino

An easy-going Cab that delivers some notable dark red and black core fruit flavors. Some dark spice (clove) and cedar elements provided a little extra lift. Medium-bodied overall, but a nice…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Elysian Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Previous notes apply. This Elysian is a textural, silky dream, with wonderful purity of fruit and a finish that really provides a long-distance running feel on the back end. What a glide! Black, red,…

B Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

For a wine that was just bottled a week ago, this showed a nice sophistication and beautiful, seamless delivery of flavor across the palate. Deep, but not exceptionally so just yet, this BTK had a…

B Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

This reminded me of a more regal version of a 2014 Myriad GIII, almost what I'd imagine the Empyrean to be like if Mike Smith produced a 2014 bottling of it. Finessed, elegant, but still pumping…

Bacio Divino Pazzo

A bit too fruity and plumy for my taste. A fun red meat pasta at Olive Garden type of wine, but that's about it. A red cherry note competed with an alcohol-covered spice flavor that thinned out the…

Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Thomas Vineyard

Barrel sample. Red and black core fruit, with some soil and spice. Medium-bodied and a little simple, the Thomas was much more subtle and reserved than I had anticipated. I did not get any of the…

Shafer Firebreak Dessert Wine

Nope. I don't get this thing at all. Serves no purpose. A syrupy simpleton. One wonky note of chocolate-blackberry goofiness. This is why most wineries shouldn't have a desert wine. 79? points.

Realm Cellars The Absurd

Massive but sophisticated in its overall deliver of flavor...and I mean FLAVOR. Black and dark, dark red core fruit, with blackberry, black raspberry, bitter chocolate, clove, allspice, anise,…

Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Barrel sample. Black core fruit, with some soil, dust, and spice to add interest. Delivery on this wine was a little flat and Simple Jack, but it still managed to offer pleasure by way of its…

Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select

Classic meets modern. Tight and coiled-up, like a snake ready to strike. Pretty massive overall, but also displaying an intriguing sophistication that draws one back for another sip. Needs air! Lots…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Teucer Vineyard

Much like the 2014 version of this wine, the 2015 Teucer explodes with dark, rich berry fruit and earth flavors. A full-frontal, velvet glove type of attack, with blackberry, black raspberry, red and…

Realm Cellars The Absurd

An enormous, gushing cascade of dark core fruit encompassed by sweet vanilla bean and oak components. Blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, dark and milk chocolate, fresh vanilla bean, oak char,…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Previous notes from December still apply. A beautiful display of dark fruit flavors, if not lacking just a bit on the concentration side of things. Veers toward a more simple delivery of flavors, but…

Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five

The first pour of this wine was flawed, but the staff was nice enough to serve a freshly popped bottle for comparison. The new bottle was not flawed, but it was pretty disjointed and lacking any sort…

AJ Pearce Cabernet Sauvignon Massoumi Vineyard

Previous notes apply. This wine is certainly higher registering on the acid and structure spectrums, but has enough flavor (though somewhat restrained and classical in its delivery) to hold interest.…

Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Black and red currant, black cherry, cedar, dust, and some spice. A hair better than the AO Proprietary Red, but pretty similar in most ways. The mid-palate was a little fuller, but still fairly…

Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five

Flawed. Slight vinegar and prune on the nose; some stemmy cedar and old world barnyard Syrah funk on the palate. Flat and tasteless otherwise.

Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium

Specific notes of dark candied black raspberry, black and red cherry, cassis, blackberry, fresh vanilla bean, dark chocolate, and some subtle grey river rock (adding a bit of cut through the…

Alpha Omega Merlot

A rush of acidity, followed by notes of black cherry, currant, and alcohol. Pretty disjointed, teetering back and forth between some higher-toned, bitter fruit flavors, and a thin boozy rush on the…

MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon

Bam! Pow! Clench! Grip! Acid! Fruit! Rock! Spice! ...Like a Wham! Blam! comic strip page getting torn out of a magazine, crumpled up, and thrown in your face. The initial delivery of this wine was…

Alpha Omega Era

Barrel sample. Red and black core berry fruit, with a healthy dosage of spice. Higher acid provided a significant amount of tension and verve. A little wound up at the moment, but seemingly just…

Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Barrel sample. Not atypical of the BTK site, this wine displayed hallmark black core fruit, with black raspberry, blackberry, truffle, soil, char, and spice. Plenty of push mid-palate to move the…

Shafer Relentless

Wild blackberry, plum, asphalt, wood, charcuterie, and some garrigue. Some quasi-interesting flavors trying to self-identify, but overall lacking much-needed complexity and finesse. Powerful and…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Previous notes apply, however I did feel like this was displaying in a way that was less concentrated and unctuous than how I had previously experienced this wine (by Purlieu BTK standards at least).…