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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.3 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 32 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by chuckos77 on 11/1/2020 & rated 94 points: Still drinking well although may be starting to show its age. Drink up (1037 views) | | | Tasted by srh on 6/28/2019: Friday Tasting Group: "Killer Bar" (#03 for me): "New World" Theme (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: Earth with just a BIT of dirty diaper; Intensity lurking
P: MF body; RNDISH entry with very NICE, ALMOST SWTISH frt (at least 1 experienced taster noting some heat) met by some astringent pucker which never loses the init frt as it evolves into a LONG, poss still very, VERY slightly puckerish finish with a chocolatey swtness to the dusty tannins. MIGHT still improve a bit through '21 (?), then holding for another 5 yrs easily. 14.9% ABV; My EXC/EXC+. 93 pts & "Cellar Selection" from WE @ $70, 92 RJonWine, 90 WE, & 89 Tanzer. (1578 views) | | | Tasted by srh on 6/1/2019: Winebar [2 Rosés, 2 Whts, & 8 Reds] from 05/31/19 + 4 Shared Bottles (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Dan, THANK you for sharing this SENSATIONAL mountain C.S.! :)
N: RIPE berries with notable pyrazines with notes of choc; Intensity lurking
P: Med, poss MF, body; RNDISH entry with NICE, ALMOST swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which QUITE resolves by the very LONG, BALANCED finish with an attractive bitter/swtness to the firming, dusty tannins. For now & through '23 safely, poss making its 20th? 14.9% ABV; My EXC+. 93 pts & "Cellar Selection" from WE @ $70, 92 RJonWine, 90 WE, & 89 Tanzer. (1532 views) | | | Tasted by soneill104 on 7/4/2018 & rated 91 points: Outstanding and holding up even 13 years later. Wish I had more (1705 views) | | | Tasted by kiawah1 on 12/31/2017 & rated 94 points: Unfortunately this was my last bottle. Decanted one hour. Deep color and buttery smooth. The flavor was extraordinary. One of the best wines I've had in a while at any price point. (1853 views) | | | Tasted by dines on 12/7/2016 & rated 93 points: Opened up perfectly after about 30 minutes. Drinking beautifully right now. (2159 views) | | | Tasted by 1961Vintage on 11/8/2015 & rated 93 points: Yes , yes and yes. Finally. Totally open and vibrant. Great deep red fruit...Complex an maturing, though several years before peaking. (2505 views) | | | Tasted by mmurph on 8/28/2015: Drinking beautifully but I wouldn't wait much longer... (2710 views) | | | Tasted by chuckos77 on 4/3/2015 & rated 95 points: Drinking absolutely wonderful. Opened up perfectly at about one hour. Blackberry and a little floral. May still have some time on the shelf but I would ask why? Drink it, you won't be disappointed. (2558 views) | | | Tasted by Chapel on 2/27/2015 & rated 92 points: Smooth. Dry . Balanced. Excellent (2450 views) | | | Tasted by 1961Vintage on 12/26/2014 & rated 85 points: Not impressed with this at all. Closed at the pop and never evolved, even day two. Not what I have come to expect from a single vineyard wine from Sam Baxter (1871 views) | | | Tasted by NapaInBaltimore on 12/19/2014 & rated 92 points: This was terrific! (1348 views) | | | Tasted by wmccone54 on 8/8/2014 & rated 89 points: Drank subsequent to the Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 at a birthday dinner party. Although very good, it lacked the finesse, smoothness, and elegance displayed by its Stag's Leap counterpart. As expected the Yverdon's Spring Mountain roots reflected a big and still very structured wine. Even with a short decant, it was still a bit tight and never seemed to really open completely. A bit shy it did start to show dark fruits and some earthiness underscored with a slight touch of oak. Solid finish. Recommend a long decant and hearty food. This will develop for another 8-10 years. (1730 views) | | | Tasted by JVG on 6/4/2014: Mercifully, this was the last of the four Terra Valentine bottles I bought in an apparent fit of madness three years ago. In addition to my notes on my last bottle of this exactly one year ago to the day, which basically mirror my experience tonight, I discovered something I missed before. The back label (clearly with no shame) reveals that this $75 cuvee was made with not-even-four-year-old vines. As in, this is the second vintage these vines have ever produced. So I suppose it's no surprise that this wine tastes like overripe, overextracted nondescript fruit crammed into too much new oak for too long---that's exactly what it is. Incredible that they have no problem selling this. (1601 views) | | | Tasted by JVG on 6/4/2013 & rated 70 points: Color: Still very youthful and dark. Almost black at the center and purplish magenta at the rim.
Nose: Hugely ripe, with thick, dark aromas of blueberry, blackberry, and plum. Smells overripe. Quite a bit of oak as well, with lots of toasty wood, cinnamon spice, sharp dried flowers, and dill notes. Quite a bit of alcohol too, which combined with the character of the fruit makes this smell porty, or even medicinal or liqueur-like. Not getting much of anything in the way of secondary characteristics. Not an encouraging nose.
Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied and coarse.
Palate: Way overoaked. The wood masks the fruit, and most of the palate experience becomes oak and wood-spice, along with a bitterness that I also associate with wood tannin. Combined with the apparent alcohol (14.9% on the label, meaning it might be damn near 16%), this just delivers an assault on the mouth. The finish is Big Red gum and wood chips. There's literally nothing here except alcohol, cinnamon, and wood.
I just cannot understand wine like this. It comes from what seems like a wonderful vineyard on Spring Mountain, meaning it should produce great grapes full of character and ruggedness and brambly fruit, but all I can smell or taste in this wine is alcohol and wood. Even though the nose and alcohol level indicate that it is super-extracted, I can't taste the fruit. That's how oaky and alcoholic it is. You spend $50+ ($75 from the winery) on this bottle, and you can't drink it with food, and you can't drink it on its own---what am I supposed to do with this? If I wanted something that tasted like biting an oak tree, I would buy an 18-year-old bourbon. It would taste better, last longer, and be a better value. If you gave this to me blind and then told me it was a $10 cab from South America or the Central Valley flavored with oak chips, I would believe you. It really pisses me off that I dropped $50 on this joke of a wine. Hopefully my score will help balance the incomprehensible 90+s here. (2410 views) | | | Tasted by cglomski517 on 12/2/2012 & rated 93 points: Excellent wine from this vintage. Solid aromas of dark fruits and sandalwood, as well as graphite, and an earthiness that almost reminds me of Shiraz. On the palate, the dark fruits are just starting to come through along with pencil shavings and a good amount of spice, although they are carving their way through the tannins which are just barely too heavy, along with good acidity. Some time in the decanter cleaned these up and once the wine started breathing, it blossomed nicely showing its vanilla notes that perfectly integrated with the fruit. Another classically elegant Spring Mountain wine. (2040 views) | | | Tasted by flwinos on 11/5/2012 & rated 92 points: Decanted for about 45 minutes before starting to drink. Floral and cherry notes on the nose. Palate showed baked cherry pie, menthol, with some bitter tannins on the finish. After two hours in the decanter, the bitter tannins subsided and this became smoother with nice length on the finish. This wine matches my preferred flavor profile, so I enjoyed this quite a bit - score may be a point higher than it otherwise should be. (2664 views) | | | Tasted by MLD70 on 9/23/2012 & rated 90 points: Decanted 30 min, then enjoyed for two hours. Dark, with maybe a hint of bricking at the edge. Nice dark berries on the nose, lush mouthfeel, taste consistent with aromatics. Medium finish, tannins smooth and well integrated. Seems to have found a nice plateau, but nothing to suggest a lot of incremental development to come. (2438 views) | | | Tasted by CamraMaan on 10/1/2011 & rated 91 points: Not very impressive when freshly opened (my taste buds said 87-88 rating)... poured a glass and re-corked the bottle. Trying it again the next day, a bit better on the first pour, but it really opened up over the next hour or two... the last glass I feel deserves a 91. Just let her breathe for a while. (1790 views) | | | Tasted by dburkes on 11/12/2010 & rated 91 points: Nice and chewy, but the finish was a little bit on the hot side (1980 views) | | | Tasted by rjonwine@gmail.com on 4/23/2009 & rated 92 points: Napa Valley with Altitude Trade Tasting (Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain wines) (Officers' Club, Fort Mason, San Francisco): Sexy lavender, floral and black fruit nose; tart black fruit, lavender and bay laurel palate; medium finish (4455 views) | | | Tasted by mike l. on 11/22/2008 & rated 89 points: finsh is nice but a bit too much oak. (4299 views) | | | Tasted by sasvino on 11/13/2008 & rated 93 points: Another solid fruit forward cab from Terra, Full bodied, nice fruit, big feel. Color is deep dark red, black in nature, Nose: strong spice and hints of red berries, Flavors: I get a dark black fruit with plum on the front, midpalate has a light earthiness/woodiness, finish has a good stickiness to it light vanilla, tannins need time to smooth out but I think this cab has good structure to age. Low 90s for now with potential to improve with time. (3159 views) | | | Tasted by Clarkmeister on 11/8/2008 & rated 86 points: November 2008 Napa Trip; 11/7/2008-11/10/2008 (Napa): Tight as a drum, needs serious time. (3373 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2008, IWC Issue #138
(Terra Valentine Cabernet Sauvignon Yverdon Vineyard Spring Mountain District) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (4/23/2009)
(Terra Valentine Cabernet Sauvignon Yverdon) Sexy lavender, floral and black fruit nose; tart black fruit, lavender and bay laurel palate; medium finish 92 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Terra Valentine Producer websiteCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Spring Mountain DistrictWikipedia article on the Spring Mountain Distric AVA. |
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