This took a while to get to where it needed to be, but once it found its sense of place, it fell into a wonderfully balanced expansion of flavor. Small Coravin pours over the course of a week barely…
Normally I wouldn't even think of messing with this wine inside of the 7+ year mark, but I wanted to get a feel for how it might hold over the course of the next decade and if it stands to be as…
Plum, earthy strawberry, rhubarb, and black cherry skin flavors fool you into believing they will come off too broad and rich, but the script is quickly flipped and the execution veers toward a more…
Heavy and brawny blackberry and dark earthy plum notes carry just enough cut to hold the thickset core together. At times, overly lush on the front end and blocky on the back, the profile here tips a…
Black and red raspberry, blackberry, earth, and spice notes present in a broad but not yet especially deep fashion. There is a strictness to the frame and finish that begs for more cellar time. The…
Four years ago was my last spin with this wine. This bottle is improved from my previous experiences, though I still find this to be more of a plush and simple representation. Agreeable and all,…
A bit more of a stricter presentation with this bottle when compared to the last one in October 2020, this B 20 took some coaxing in the glass before it began to show its more accessible side. Deep…
If you know Bevan and you know Crane, then this inaugural interpretation of the lauded site won't come as any surprise. Big, deep, concentrated, intense, and all those other Schwarzenegger-type…
Warm black cherry compote and spice flavors make it easy to land Santa Rita as the home plot here. Broad shouldered without being overly rich, this Pinot Noir is signature California from beginning…
DAY 1: A blackberry Manhattan of Fireball whiskey bowling over the palate with overwhelming booze intensity and crunchy dark berry fruit. There's no opportunity for a mid-palate here, as it jams…
I'll spare you all from too much of my wacky details akin to my previous note, but I'll reiterate that this wine still needs time. I wanted to get a read on this due to the 2018 EABA release. This…
I've written quite a bit here already, so I won't go too in-depth specifically on this wine. This was full of depth and flavor expansion from the very beginning. Ripe and rich, but not too sweet…
Not as stubborn as the last time I had this wine 2.5 years ago, but still somewhat disinclined to fan out and show its full flavor potential, the 2015 VV LPV is going to be a slow burn of a wine…
Still a hotbox of massive fruit and booze. The berry fruit is unctuous, powerful, and unfurled. The flex on this is all iron fist right now, laying a beat down to the palate; after a few sips it was…
If your nose is woke and you're eyes are blind, black cherry stems and kirsch you'll find. And if noble Grenache is what you guessed, you're equally smart as you are blessed. So sip my friend, and…
Holy heaping heaven of heathen Syrah gloriousness. From the first pop of the cork, the nose immediately lets you know that you're in for the best beefy Syrah amazement you've ever experienced. Is…
A beautiful wine that is performing somewhat surprisingly well given its familial linkage to its brawny Tusk Estate brethren. At home following this now-bottled L'Orange (since my last trying it in…
Hot and ripe on the first pop, but then it gets right into a nice stride, inviting another sip (and another bite of food). Plump black cherry, black and red currant, red and black licorice, and…
Earthy and funky black cherry flavors dolphin their way in and out of waves of furry tannins, further warming the palate with plum, allspice, and faint burnt orange rind notes. Finishes slightly…
I've written a few times on this wine and am always impressed with the wonderful balance between unctuous flavor expansion and cooler climate restraint and focus that ultimately make this wine so…
Higher-toned and red-fruited on entry, with cranberry puckering the tip of the tongue on the first flash of the initial entry, quickly giving way to an instantly easy-going fruity mid-palate.…
A perfect wine in the making, the 2018 Macdonald is undoubtedly going to be one of the top wines of the vintage. For those familiar with the Macdonald lineage, the 2018 will be no surprise as a…
Locked and loaded is most apropos here. Packed, stacked, but not yet cracked, this 2018 M7 is fortified with tense and quivering black cherry, bitter chocolate, and rock notes that stubbornly tell…
Barrel sample. A Cote Rotie lookalike, the 2019 Syrah is bursting with bunches of violets mixed with unripe blackberry, blackberry seeds, Chambord, red raspberry, purple licorice, freshly washed…
An intensely scented nose foreshadows a correspondingly floral entry on the palate, with penetrating notes of violets, deep cranberry, crunchy black cherry, and slight citrus and mineral notes. There…
