Reviews

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Weitz Vineyard

Extraordinarily smooth and well crafted. Took about two hours to really open up and start showcasing its core purple and red berry fruits, red and black licorice, blue wet slate, asphalt, and some…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Clearly too young to completely get a grasp on evaluating its full potential. PnP was understandably primary and a bit linear in terms of overall complexity. However the core red and purple berry…

Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Same specific flavors as my notes 6+ months ago. This didn't take long to wake up and become a great example of an appellation Pinot. For the price-point, it's no question its ability to deliver.

Blankiet Estate Proprietary Red Wine Paradise Hills Vineyard

A beautiful example of a Napa blend. This shows awesome purity of fruit, just enough restraint delivered by excellent craftsmanship, and wonderful tiered flavors. The best Blankiet I've had to date.…

Carlisle Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard

Previous notes apply. In a perfect drinking window right now. Decanted for an hour and it was singing. Wonderful interplay of black, blue, and purple berry fruits, tar, camphor, black slate, and…

Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL

Somewhat similar to 6 months ago in terms of specific flavors, except I noticed a nice singed eucalyptus note on the back end that elevated this wine...a bit. Started to fade off after about three…

Francis Ford Coppola Petite Sirah Reserve

Oddly sweet and wonky tasting. Not completely undrinkable I suppose, but a weird rendition of a PS. No real distinguishing PS characteristics identifying it as the varietal. Some strange funk, oak,…

Carlisle Syrah Sonoma County

Same as previous notes. Some ok plum and blackberry notes. Nothing much beyond that. Last bottle.

Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Actaeon Quixote Vineyard

Such a beautiful transformation since I last had this wine a year ago. I feel like a broken record lately as I rant on about the superior quality of Aaron Pott's wines.

L'Aventure Estate Cuvée

Similar to my notes from a year ago except that this only took about 30 minutes in the decanter to really fan out. The Syrah component was dominant (which wasn't a bad thing). Full of blackberry…

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands

Probably one of the best KB appellation Pinots I've had in a while. After a string of disappointments (enough to make me walk from the allocation list after many years), this wine at least made me…

Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Elysian Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

Well, this was likely one of the best Myriad Cabernets I've ever tasted. I'd even venture to say this was one of the top wines I've ever had in the 2012 vintage. The only thing keeping this from a…

Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard

Not exactly ready for prime time just yet, but surely showing promise of good things to come. I wouldn't recommend touching another one of these bottles for at least a year. Let it fatten up and fan…

Sarocka Cabernet Sauvignon

Same as 5 months ago. Good stuff. The only thing that keeps this from elevating further is that it seems to level out after an hour or so and never really kick into any exhibiting any full-throttle…

Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Same as my notes 9 months ago, except this took only about an hour in the decanter before it was singing nicely. Two hours and it was really kicking out some nice black cherry liqueur and dark…

Mark Herold Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard

Same as previous notes. Developing a nice overall finesse, while still maintaining a profile driven by awesome depth and power. Decanted at 54 degrees for a total of two hours, which broadened the…

Cirq Pinot Noir TreeHouse

So a little bit of a different experience with this wine from 5 months ago. PnP started out with vibrant high-toned red berry fruit. Good flavors and a lot of energy. An hour decant at 54 degrees was…

Salinia Syrah Heintz Ranch

Saline-driven syrah, with muted purple berry notes and a little wood. Nothing complex at this stage. A bit of a dud. I'm probably the only one on the planet who actually had a bottle of this left…

Topel 6Y

Overtly fruity and almost reminding me of a kid's juicebox. Not totally undrinkable, with some "red wine" characteristics, but just barely tolerable. Simplistic and a bit dead, like cran-grapejuice.…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall Napa Valley

A downright beautiful bottle of wine. Balanced beyond belief. This followed the Bergfeld (which was my favorite in the lineup), so the Kathryn Hall had some real catching-up to do in terms of…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Bergfeld

This was my favorite in the lineup, as it kicked out wonderful blue and black berry fruit notes, along with some signature Saint Helena minerality. This wine had so much of what I love about Napa…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Jack's Masterpiece

Essentially identical to the 2013 Eighteen-Seventy-Three except that the Jack's Masterpiece had a bit more depth. The Jack's carried the same higher register red berry fruit and spice as the…

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Eighteen Seventy-Three Napa Valley

A little tight, with some high-toned red berry and currant flavors punching through the darker berry fruit notes. Some alcohol and vanilla, with a spicebox note that was fairly prominent on the back…

Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Katrina Eileen

As expected, this was the star of the lineup. The quality oak influence showed through in spades, but the near-perfect core of dark berry fruit could handle the 100% new French oak without any…

Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon

This definitely needs a little bit of time to unwind and sort itself out; but what presented itself after about an hour decant was a very well delineated and focused core of deep, dark fruit. Notes…