Reviews

Vice Versa Beatrix Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

A pretty wine, with violets and juicy red/purple fruit popping on the palate. Here the nose is muted, but the affable flavors skip along the front end upon first sip, marking the path of a wine that…

Vice Versa Pinot Noir Platt Vineyard

A full bodied, masculine front end kicks off a rush of deep and dark black cherry, black raspberry, and soil notes. A pine needle flavor adds further interest on the finish. This is a broad stroke of…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Mysterons

True to its name the Mysterons was fairly cat-and-mouse on the nose and the palate. It was truly a bit of a mystery with its dodgy flavor expression and somewhat indiscernible profile. For some…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon The Magnificent Seven

At first pass, this thing was balled up like, well. a ball. Quivering and compact, I sensed this might be M7 simply because of the sheer Oppenheimer-type encased fury-boom potential it possessed, but…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Steltzner Vineyard

If a Northern Rhone Cornas butcher met up with a Stags Leap socialite, you'd have the 2021 Vice Versa Stelzner. This thing is slathered in meat drippings, soil, char, burnt embers, and the black…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

I had to laugh because I have always considered Dr. Crane fruit-driven for my palate. The first word in my notes says, "fruity." CT'r Cristal2000 thinks I make this stuff up just cuz I give him a…

Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection

. Purple-frosted doughnut sweat.

Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Tychson Hill Vineyard

Day one under Coravin for this wine made for an angular and a bit boozy showing, with a mechanical delivery that was fairly foursquare from front to back. The fruit wasn't as expressive as I usually…

MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon

The best MACDONALD to date, without question. The refinement, polish, and sophistication that shines through in the 2021 vintage is no doubt a next-next level for what is already a storied legacy of…

Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Bella Oaks

This must have been a perfectly stored bottle, because it was completely singing with beautifully balanced fruit, flowing with macerated black cherry, plum, and orange rind flavors. Not tired by a…

Kinsman Eades Cabernet Sauvignon Käännös Vine Hill Ranch

Punchline first: And 'the Ks' have it!! Kaannos and Kodo! I know I'm supposed to find beauty in all creatures great and small, and that love is discovered in all forms of doe-eyed unicorns and…

Bella Oaks Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Le Génie

The fruit-friendly Genie is a good warm up to the over-the-moon performance of the 2021 Bella Oaks. The Genie is young and gliding on the lighter side of achieving substantial depth at this juvenile…

Bella Oaks Vineyard Proprietary Red

This is as solid as it ever has been compared to the last sample I was lucky enough to try the year prior. At first, it was a gushing glow of fruit awesomeness all at once, but with some air to…

Kinsman Eades Cabernet Sauvignon Hierothesion

The Hiero is a slighter higher riding monkey when compared to the Kaannos, Kodo, and Aphex. Yummy right now and not shying away from letting you know it likes to party, the Hiero is smooth, inviting,…

Kinsman Eades Cabernet Sauvignon Aphex Ecotone Vineyard

If you have twenty minutes of your life you feel like burning, go ahead and check out my tasting notes for the 2021 Kaannos and Kodo. You'll get the sense of where my head was at during this recent…

Kinsman Eades Cabernet Sauvignon Kodo M-Bar Ranch

Punchline first: And 'the Ks' have it!! Kaannos and Kodo! I know I'm supposed to find beauty in all creatures great and small, and that love is discovered in all forms of doe-eyed unicorns and…

Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon GIII Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard

Vanilla slathered banana chips and dried coconut shavings. All oak and no joke. There is also a spearmint tinge on the finish that, along with the lumber, washes over what would be the expression of…

Sine Qua Non Grenache The Duel

A consistent showing from when I've sampled this wine in 2021 and 2018. Spice box, dark black cherry, ripe black raspberry, soil, cedar, and even more spice (cinnamon stick). Expressive and…

Sine Qua Non Syrah The Duel

Boy has this clamped down on itself since I last had it in 2018. Back then, it was gushing 100 points all day long. This bottle was sleepy and strict. Even with air, it was still kinda angry and in a…

Château Cos d'Estournel

This bottle was pristine, and needed at least a couple of hours of decanted air to get into form and offer some decent flavor expansion. Plum, black cherry, cedar, dusty spice, and subtle hints of…

Sodhani Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

This is an incredibly compelling wine. The spine and pulsating energy unite to make for a perfect juxtaposition to the dark, ripe fruit. There is the slightest touch of pyrazine (which I love) to…

Château Canon

There is a polish here that immediately adds to the textural profile of this Canon. Somewhat plush, but not so much that it makes for too fruity or flabby of a delivery, the 2018 is similar…

Futo Oakville

Ya, so, I don't want to like this wine at all, but there is no denying this is top shelf stuff right here, so much so that the only reason I'm not jumping to 100 is because I am in one of those moods…

Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium

Ok, so for those who desire a bit more detail, this is a follow up to my last extremely brief note a few days ago.

La Pelle Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hen Vineyard

This really opens up after a couple hours of air, with a more deeply pitched profile quickly coming into form once a healthy dose of aeration allows the flavors to expand. Earthy black fruits,…