Reviews

Christopher Tynan Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo

So this wine didn't suck at all. A massive wall of tannins and grip formed an outrageous skyscraper of scaffolding for the pitch-black fruit core. Shockingly, the immensity of the structure didn't…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Much of the same from my last experience with this wine from last year. A more enhanced complexity brought about by a more deliberate delineation of flavors during delivery made for a truly elevated…

Champagne Le Mesnil Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut

A decent yeasty style on the front-end attack, with bread dough, white melon, pie crust, and lemon seed. Skirts the mid-palate a little high and linear, finishing nearly opposite of how it started,…

Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares

Brief note on this wine, as it had already been a very looooong day of Napa Cab palate destruction. So, it is actually saying something that this wine was able to rise to the top and make itself…

Vice Versa Pinot Noir Platt Vineyard

This second installment of the Vice Versa Platt Pinot currently exhibits a much more determined profile when compared to its more exuberant year-older sibling. A fantastically focused and balanced…

Vice Versa Chardonnay Platt Vineyard

A much more complete animal than the barrel sample I had back in November. Initially, the first sips were certainly youthfully linear and hyper-focused. A massive cut and acid blast that was…

Vangone Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Barrel sample. Chocolate, rich black soil, black licorice, bitter Baker's chocolate, and a fat, healthy dollop of bad-assness. I LOVE the earthy qualities of this wine, which really make to elevate…

Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch

Barrel sample. Electric purple fruit, blackberry, black cherry, black licorice, garrigue/underbrush, and some earthy stems. The Vine Hill is a much more expressive and zippy sample when compared to…

Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Barrel sample. The first sip of this barrel sample immediately commands respect and careful attention. Blackberry, black cherry, plum, char, and faint violets. A very refined and focused Crane in its…

Arkenstone Sauvignon Blanc

Green apple, guava, yellow and green citrus rind, and subtle grass. The Arkenstone impresses for its flavor-push of tasty intensity and drive, while all the while maintaining a sense of direction and…

Arkenstone Estate

Energy and power are aptly corralled by an exquisite balance that immediately unveils sophistication and complexity. Black cherry and red and black currant driven; the NVD on steroids, with a focus…

Arkenstone Cabernet Sauvignon NVD

Black cherry and black and red currant encircled by a subtle zing of strawberry give way to a medium-bodied attack that offers supple delivery of flavor. Draws thinner as it approaches the…

Maxem Pinot Noir UV Vineyard

Frame over fruit on the initial attack, with a youthfully linear drive that hones-in on more evergreen and Christmas spice-cedar-earth notes before the wild black cherry and wild raspberry flavors…

Maxem Chardonnay UV Vineyard

A Chardonnay with exquisite balance and poise, while also pushing out party-ready flavors of Meyer lemon juice, yellow pear, green apple, and hints of tropical fruit. Just as pure and alluring as it…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Weitz Vineyard

Similar to how it behaved in barrel, the Weitz is sporting a super fruity profile of uber-ripe cherry syrup, cassis, char, and candied raspberry. Unresolved in its delivery and seemingly searching…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The G.T.O Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Composed and alluringly poised when mirrored to its 2017 counterparts, the GTO lets you know it is showing up to the ball with a touch of class. Less concentrated and intense than the OG, but…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The O.G. Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

On first sip, this OG was a sweeter and riper version of the barrel sample I had before. Rich black cherry starts off the race on the front end, pulsating out additional flavors of cassis, fresh…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Almost identical in profile to the Three Kings, but with more plush and somewhat rotund ripe fruit, the Grand Daddy was the most unresolved of the To Kalon offerings. True to its usual form, the…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Kings Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Black cherry liqueur and licorice rule the roost here, with a kirshwasser note that ramped it up to a higher register profile, especially on the finish. The delivery was party-ready, but certainly…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon La Verdad Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard

Black cherry, saccharine, bitter chocolate, fresh red and black licorice, and black rock steamroll onto the palate and deliver whopping gobs of fruit on the frontloaded attack. A bit overwhelming,…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon La Bam Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard

Much like the Fortuna, but indeed richer and more intense mid-palate, the Bam karate kicks out a "Kiai!" ("Hi-yah" for the uninitiated) of red and black cherry fruit that thrusts across the palate…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Fortuna Vineyard

A pop of dark cherry fruit on the front end, with a higher register blast of bing cherry and alcohol rushing across the palate. Especially unresolved on the finish at this given juncture, the Fortuna…

Alpha Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Black currant and earthy minerality here on the front end of the attack. Deeply pitched black.very black.cherry, and some chocolate, pyrazine, and anise. Green peppercorn and black rock show up as…

Stewart Cabernet Sauvignon Nomad Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Like the Alpha Omega, this wandered around the palate with some misdirection and competing crunchy earth versus bitter currant notes. Registered a little high and alcohol-flat on the mid-palate.…

Arrow & Branch Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

The black cherry liqueur thing was jumping off crazy on this wine at first pull, but then it dropped into a more earthy, almost grainy animal, with some crunchy rock and soil notes encircling the…