Reviews

Roadhouse Winery Pinot Noir Gold Label Middle Reach

From magnum. Light, bright, and kicking out some medium-to-light bing cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate flavors. Relatively thin mid-palate, with a light finish. The flavors come off pure and clean,…

Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard

Seemingly in a good drinking window currently, with mature earth, cedar, and dark mulch notes to complement the black cherry and black raspberry looming underneath. A touch heavy on the cedar/soil…

Hawkes Cabernet Sauvignon Hawkes Pyramid Vineyard

Served as a horizontal trio of 2011 Hawkes Cabernets, to include the Red Winery, Stone Vineyard, and Pyramid Vineyard. This came off extremely high-toned, almost as if it was a young Pinot. Cranberry…

Hawkes Cabernet Sauvignon Stone Vineyard

Served as a horizontal trio of 2011 Hawkes Cabernets, to include the Red Winery, Stone Vineyard, and Pyramid Vineyard. This was in the middle for me in terms of preference. It has some decent flavors…

Hawkes Cabernet Sauvignon Red Winery Vineyard

Served as a horizontal trio of 2011 Hawkes Cabernets, to include the Red Winery, Stone Vineyard, and Pyramid Vineyard. This was my favorite of the three, with a decent push of red berry fruit. Still…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. This was my least favorite. Thin, watery, and muted. Some light currant, cedar, and cranberry notes.…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. This 2010 had some leather and cedar notes along with the light currant flavors. Fairly thin and…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. This 2009 held some interest, but like its siblings, it was dominated with a strong cedar element…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. This 2008 was fairly flat and lacked much delivery of flavor overall. Like its siblings, it threw…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. A decent amount of cedar and thin red and black currant dominated throughout the attack. This 2007…

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Éloge

From a vertical of 2006-2011 Conn Valley Eloge. The 2006 and 2007 were my favorites in the lineup. A decent amount of cedar and thin red and black currant dominated throughout the attack. Drink now.…

Scarlett Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Same as all of my previous notes. Served next to a 2014 D.R. Stephens Napa Cabernet. I slightly favored the Scarlett, but both came off with decent pushes of fruit (2014 vintage showing a lot of baby…

D.R. Stephens Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

A very agreeable example of this varietal in the 2014 vintage. Not a ton of fireworks, but some nice black and blue core fruit to compliment the vanilla bean and subtle clove notes. Round, plush, and…

Argot Pinot Noir Estate

Same as all of my previous notes. The sappy, deeply pitched red raspberry and spice notes really drive this wine into the next level for me.

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Nine months since my last bottle. I think this needs even more time in bottle (2020). PnP has a decent amount of alcohol to blow off; it took about 3+ hours before it settled down and unveiled some…

Quixote Petite Sirah Helmet of Mambrino

Similar to my notes from last year. Some nice railroad tie and camphor flavors developed after about three hours of air (decanted).

Favia Cabernet Sauvignon

Previous notes apply. Displayed a beautiful, silky finesse throughout consumption. Extremely focused and balanced delivery. The perfect amount of weight and lift working in tandem to enhance its…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Previous notes apply. This is just as solid as it gets for a 2014 sub-$100 wine. PnP and it was good to go, though some air in the glass with a little swirling brought out deeper black cherry and…

Pruett Vineyards Syrah Championship Cuvee

Same as all of my previous notes. Drinking great now. Decanted, but it didn't need it. In a good window currently. Drink now and over the next 3+ years.

Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL

At first sip, a similar experience to my CT notes a few months ago. However, a soft plum note appeared after an hour or so of decanting, which threw off some of the initial classical Cabernet flavors…

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

Same as previous notes. Nice sappy red raspberry, accompanied by red and black cherry notes. Not too much spice or cola flavors in this KB. Solid acid and grip throughout consumption (2+ hours).…

Quivet Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Same as my notes from 8 months ago. Black cherry and plum liqueur dominated for the first three hours (slowly draining the bottle between our two glasses - no decant). Showed especially beautiful and…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Teucer Vineyard

Likely one of the best representations of the Coombsville site that I've ever had. Beautifully haunting and dark blackberry, black cherry, black raspberry, black currant, charred oak, melted dark…

Realm Cellars The Tempest

PnP with notes of blackberry, black cherry, charcoal, bitter chocolate, and hints of cassis liqueur. After a 30 minute decant, the alcohol/liqueur flavor tapered off; the charcoal note became more…

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

This was the best showing of this wine that I've had so far. Nice sappy red and purple core fruit, raspberry, wild cherry, and some spice. Not much of the signature KB cola note, but a nice sassafras…