For a number of reasons, I just couldn't get behind this wine. It was clearly young and came off like it had some serious working out to do in-bottle before a logical conversation about its…
Well made. Skillfully balanced. Beautiful and pure fruit flavors. Nice red cherry, raspberry, and some subtle spice and cola notes. This was decanted for approximately two hours before consumption. I…
PnP and decanted over two+ hours. Didn't change much over time. Immediately accessible and kicking out great blackberry, olive, mushroom, earth, and streaks of black raspberry flavors.
I like it. It's good. It goes good with food. It is a nice combination of modern and restrained. My girl really loves this wine (like 94 points loves it). Drink now.
Same as previous notes. Much more of a spicebox element evident this time around. Still a really interesting bottle of Pinot, and one of my favorites of the vintage. Drinking great with a splash…
Same as all of my other notes on this wine. Really nice, and a deep, dark-pitched soul of a Pinot. If you love high toned red cranberry types of Pinots, then pack a suitcase full of Cran-apple fruit…
A truly amazing example of a CA Chardonnay. Perfectly balanced but also displaying a nice kick of spice box, smoke, and grey pebble/river rock to elevate the yellow citrus fruit and lemon curd…
Served with a few of the "heavier"/final courses in the evening at Madrona Manor, but still managed to have enough finesse to act like a Pinot when it needed to. Paired great with dishes that…
Sonoma County · Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Served at Madrona Manor (amazing dinner!) with the first few amuses. Decent depth and a little less crisp than expected. It made it an easy drinker in that regard. Not overly brut, dry, or…
PnP was very tight and acidic; typical young RM notes of cranberry, pomegranate, red cherry, and hints of orange rind and spice box. No worries, as this is usually the way most of these little guys…
A pleasant, round, and inviting Chardonnay. The creamy, yeast and almond-laced notes were at the forefront, with agreeable lemon curd and citrus fruit rounding out the finish.
Sonoma County · Green Valley of Russian River Valley
This is in as perfect of a drinking window as I would imagine it will ever be. Hugely plush, deep, fruit forward, and extremely giving on the attack. The silky glide is unreal, with a glycerin-coated…
Similar to my notes from last summer. Double decanted and then swirled it around in a wide bottomed decanter at 54 degrees for about one hour. Notes of kirsch, black cherry, black raspberry, thyme,…
Same as last month. A decent bottle of wine that is on the downswing of its life (not in a bad way, but just reaching the secondary/tertiary stages of its maturity). It didn't need decanting at all.…
I'm not sure how some folks are getting all of these tiered flavor profiles out of this wine at the moment. For me, it stayed fairly linear and static over the course of a three hour decant. PnP…
Sonoma County · Green Valley of Russian River Valley
It's been over a year since my last bottle and time has certainly allowed this wine to evolve into a more interesting animal. The evergreen and pine needle notes were evident (which do add some…
Lemon, quince, stone, and the faintest hint of alkaline and alcohol on initial PnP. Air time didn't change this much, except that the fruit flavors fanned out a little more with some extra swirling…
Same as my previous notes. This wine was paired with homemade fresh crab beignets with a lemon/chive aioli. The wine was probably a little heavy for the dish (my fault on pairing), but overall the…
Same as my previous notes, with earthy funk and olive brine flavors to compliment the otherwise dark core of purple, red, and black berry fruit. Asphalt and some spice on the back end. My girl…
Same as my notes from last month except that I moved this up a point. It was tasted side-by-side with a 2010 KB Gap's Crown. Both were very good, and sort of intersecting each other in their…
Same as my notes from July, except that I knocked this down a point, as it seemed to fade fairly rapidly after a few hours of air. I would not recommend decanting. Enjoy sooner than later; I feel…
A little darker than the Sun Chase, but a little more muted and thin, with black cherry, mulch, and a hint of mushroom. Once the Sun Chase got past its balled-up tartness and predominantly red,…
Fairly high-toned and a little tart at first, with cranberry and pomegranate flavors. Acid seemed high initially, with a drying quality on the finish. Some swirling in the glass coaxed out some nice…
A really beautiful bottle of Chardonnay all the way around. Notes of lemon olive oil, lemon verbena, quince preserve (hints of tropical fruit), pear, and some faint vanilla bean. A bit of a buttered…
