Reviews

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Uproar

Similar experience as mentioned in my notes from 12/2/2015. I think there is only so far a wine can go and be "different" or "unique" before it ends up not being a worthy expression of the varietal.…

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Brown Label

Some marked improvements from the last time I tried this wine on 10/30/2015. Still, nothing I would ever seek out or recommend. The green pepper and chili notes are still present and distract from…

Mark Herold Wines Herold by Mark Herold

Same as my notes on 10/30/2015. A decent bottle of wine for 2011, but nothing I would admittedly pay $200 for. This drank so much better than the 2011 Uproar and 2011 Herold Brown Label served next…

Mark Herold Wines Herold by Mark Herold

Similar to my previous notes on this wine. I bumped it up a point to 95, as it was drinking really well today. This was served side-by-side with the 2013 Herold White Label. Both were very well put…

Mark Herold Wines Herold

Same as my notes from 3/25/2016. Tasted side-by-side with the 2012 Herold White Label. The 2013 was much tighter by comparison, but still showed excellent potential for the coming years. 96+ points.

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Brown Label

Similar to my notes on 3/25/2016 (especially in regards to the Coravin pour). I bumped this up to 94 points, as it is drinking really nicely at the moment. A nice punch of dark black fruit at the…

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Brown Label

Same as my previous notes from 2/12/2016. Tasted side-by-side with the 2013 Herold Brown Label. The 2012's younger sibling was far more interesting at this stage. The 2012 is a great bottle of wine…

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard

Same as my previous notes from 2/12/2016 in terms of flavor profile. This was a Coravin pour, and didn't have as much time to air-out as I would have liked. The 2013 Coombsville bested the Stagecoach…

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Brown Label

Same as my notes from 3/25/2016. Outstanding bottle of wine. 96+ points.

Bevan Cellars Pinot Noir Petaluma Gap

Motivated by AGEVERETT's most recent note on this wine (and in the name of science of course), I decided to pop the cork on one of these guys; I had not tried this since 11/15/2015. Thankfully, this…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

PnP with notes of deep red and black currant, black amber plum, cacao, red and black licorice, "dark sweet and sour cherries" (which was Yackman's reference - spot on!), slate, and a hint of anise…

L'Aventure Côte-à-Côte Estate

Notes of purple berry, raspberry, blueberry, kirsch, limestone, and chalk. On the back end, a bitter spring flower element emerged.

Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon

Similar to previous notes. Fruity and a bit sweet. Fairly one-dimensional. A good, easy-going drink, but nothing to get too excited about. Seems to be on the decline for me; not enough structure to…

Saxum Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard

PnP with high-toned red berry fruit notes of bitter cranberry, pomegranate, chalk, and brush. Extremely Grenache driven, with the bitterness of the Mourvèdre clipping the finish almost immediately.

Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cour de Vallée

It has been almost a year since I last had this wine and it still seems like it needs another year or so to start really fattening up and fanning out its true flavor profile. PnP was fairly…

Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL

This took about an hour in the decanter before it opened up and showed its hand nicely. Notes of red/black licorice, wet black pebbles, red/black currant, black cherry, spicebox, pulverized granite,…

DuMOL Pinot Noir Estate

PnP with notes of tart cranberry and raspberry, black cherry, cola, black tea, earth, and some menthol. Into the decanter it went for over an hour (and consumed over another hour+).

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Kings Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

PnP with notes of black and red currant, black licorice, granite, asphalt, purple berry, blackberry, and clove. I let this sit in the decanter for an hour or so, which allowed the depth to unleash…

Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas

This was clearly not ready on the initial PnP, with tight, palate-puckering notes of chalky purple and red berry fruit, asphalt, wet hay, and earth.

Carlisle Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard

Same notes as 6 months ago. Great on a PnP and no need for a decant. Drink now! Good stuff!

Bevan Cellars Pinot Noir Summit 1376'

Coming along very nicely since my CT tasting note on 11/11/2015. Allowed to decant for about two hours at 54 degrees. Rich black raspberry, black cherry, hard candy (a little like "red hots" only not…

Bevan Cellars The Curmudgeon

Like others have mentioned, this is a nice bottle of wine, but admittedly nothing that "wowed" me by any stretch. 97 from RP seems like a complete stretch. Maybe insofar as a 2011 Napa red is…

Carlisle Syrah Rosella's Vineyard

MATT SCOTT nailed it again with many of the specific tasting notes on this wine. Flavors of elderberry, blueberry, blackberry, violets, limestone, and earth. It almost tasted to me as though there…

Carlisle Zinfandel Saitone Ranch

Poured at the Carlisle pickup alongside the 2014 Carlisle Rosella's Syrah and 2002 Carlisle Dry Creek Zinfandel.

Carlisle Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley

Poured at the Carlisle pickup alongside the 2014 Carlisle Rosella's Syrah and 2014 Carlisle Saitone Zinfandel.