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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.1 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 83 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by wirelesswine on 4/11/2021 & rated 92 points: Opened a 2009 and 2010 Firebelle for a side by side comparision, alongside some grilled Delmonico steaks. The wines came off more different than just the extra year of bottle age would suggest, so I looked back to the original winery materials that came with the shipments. Sure enough, the 2010 was referenced as less fruit-driven than its 2009 predecessor, even in its early years. For 2010, the percentage of merlot had dropped and the Cab Sauvignon and Malbec increased in the blend. This corresponds well to my experience - almost everyone at the table preferred the 2009 which was very much open for business; the 2010 seemed a bit shut down. 2009 also had a redder fruit, whereas 2010 seemed darker, perhaps more savory too. I'd open the 09's now for the excellent fruit, and continue to sit on the '10. (1750 views) | | | Tasted by tann0008 on 1/17/2021 & rated 94 points: Blueberry and anise on the nose. Leather, dark fruit, and a hint of tobacco on the palette. Cocoa and raspberry on the finish. Drinking well now. (1543 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 1/9/2021 & rated 91 points: Final of 3 bottles. Delicious red blend, nicely matured and rounded. Great with dinner and conversation. No formal TN. (1565 views) | | | Tasted by DucksLaw on 12/7/2020 & rated 93 points: Started out with very dusty tannins but after about 1/2 hour really opened up to become a medium-full, concentrated, and complex wine. The merlot shines through up front, with a firm Cabernet backbone and even the floral notes of the cab franc shine through. Lingering finish. Still has years left. Well done. From back in the day when Larkmead was a relative bargain...those days are gone. (1567 views) | | | Tasted by prism on 6/22/2020: Drink by 2020 in my cellar; 3/1/2020-7/8/2020: Popped and poured, drank from disposable (sorry; not my call) clear plastic cups by a waterfall with cheeses (just btw, I believe few wines pair well with cheese and few cheeses pair well with wine, but oh well...). Circumstances aside, this bottle shone. Too expensive, but very delicious and gone before you know it. (1845 views) | | | Tasted by retired_and_roving on 1/19/2020: Decanted for about 2 hours prior to serving. This was a much better showing than we did a pop and pour on this wine last year. I think it needed the decant to open up. Served with Texas Chile and cornbread. Red plummy fruit, round mouth feel with some nice earthy and tobacco notes. Really enjoyed by all and the best wine tonight. (1425 views) | | | Tasted by retired_and_roving on 5/26/2019: Blend is -53% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 5 % Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc. I am feeling pretty neutral on the Firebelles after this and a recent 2008. The blend just leaves it kind of flat and neither here nor there for me. Would not purchase again. (1619 views) | | | Tasted by dmwilsondvm on 5/11/2019 & rated 94 points: Pair it with Parmesan cheese, you won’t regret it.... (1452 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 9/14/2018 & rated 92 points: Popped 'n poured at a NYC restaurant. Nice wine, medium length finish. Pretty bouquet. (1873 views) | | | Tasted by prism on 4/28/2018 & rated 92 points: Decanted for three hours. A pleasant and well-made Merlot-dominant Red Bordeaux Blend; very easy drinking. Last tastes in 11/16; the time sideways since then was quite beneficial to this bottle. (1893 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 4/9/2018 & rated 89 points: Consumed this wine over 2 days. The first day, the wine was thin and short on fruit. Big difference on the 2nd day. Opened nicely, showing black fruits and embers, with gritty tannins and nice acidity. Medium finish, this wine will drink well now through 2022+.
Definitely not worth the $82 USD that I paid for this wine, however. (1904 views) | | | Tasted by yeti575rider on 1/28/2018 & rated 91 points: The firebelles are always a solid pick. Doesn't blow your socks off by any means but still nice fruit with some earthy elements. Clearly in drinking window but still holding up well. (2049 views) | | | Tasted by kgdunn on 12/27/2017 & rated 85 points: Very solid cab! Deep flavors and great texture from start to finish! (1912 views) | | | Tasted by Skip4wine on 11/19/2017 & rated 92 points: I have found that I follow the advice of others and drink this wine too young. This has a lot of structure and drinks more like a cab first blend than a Merlot first. Lots of freshness that it may lose with time but given the structure I want to wait and see. (1748 views) | | | Tasted by EMTAME on 7/23/2017 & rated 92 points: Excellent and, with an hour of air, showing very well at age 8. This leads with its plush Merlot fruit (just over half the blend), but the Cabernet and other supporting varieties add plenty of complexity and interest. This probably has 4-5 years of good drinking ahead of it, but there's no reason not to enjoy it now. (1870 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 10/1/2016 & rated 93 points: Really liked it. Sorry, no detailed notes, but I gave a glass to the wine director at the restaurant and she loved it! It may have helped that I had the bottle open for 30 minutes before pouring out a glass. (2413 views) | | | Tasted by prism on 9/17/2016 & rated 92 points: Slow O'd for three hours, no decant. Should have done, because initially the wine's oak masked the fruit. By the time the bottle was finished an hour later, the fruit was really beginning to shine. A very well made wine that could use another year or two sideways. Hold. (2201 views) | | | Tasted by Coachron13 on 8/25/2016 & rated 89 points: Still too much oak in this, creates a bite that is a little tough to get past. Would wait a couple years if I had more of these. (2306 views) | | | Tasted by gmbdds on 7/15/2016 & rated 92 points: Notes of black cherry, currant, pepper and tobacco. Soft, round and ready. So much so, that I don't know how long it will go. Excellent now, that's for sure. (2429 views) | | | Tasted by BobMilton on 2/6/2016 & rated 95 points: Great fruit (black cherries and black currants), rich, full-bodied. This is drinking wonderfully right now. (2378 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 11/3/2015 & rated 92 points: Very nice Merlot dominated blend. From WA "53% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc." The Merlot may be less than enough to call it a Merlot, but you can definitely taste it. For comparison, its a little lighter than the Cab Sauv Larkmead based wines from the same vintage. Always a favorite of mine from Larkmead. (2180 views) | | | Tasted by domco on 10/4/2015: Dark fruits, big and juicy, smooth sweet tannins. (2107 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 9/8/2015 & rated 92 points: Quite a deep and brooding color.
Complexity was nice on the palate and nose, showing faint vanilla, nice plum and black cherry fruit, bittersweet chocolate.
Drink now through 2020+. Very nice. (2137 views) | | | Tasted by uncle al on 7/21/2015 & rated 92 points: Very well balance with red and dark fruit. Medium body with very nice finish. Merlot in the palate but smooth and not overwhelming. (2298 views) | | | Tasted by yeti575rider on 7/9/2015 & rated 92 points: Took to Live Oak in Hilton Head SC to celebrate parents 50th. Wine made trip from CA. Not overly fruity with a more restrained plum and blackberry leaning. Coffee and licorice notes. Well made and well balanced in a Bordeaux sort of way. (2260 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, New Releases from Napa Valley (Dec 2011)
(Larkmead Firebelle Calistoga) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2011, IWC Issue #156
(Larkmead Firebelle Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2011, IWC Issue #156
(Larkmead Firebelle Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Larkmead Vineyards Producer website2009 Larkmead Vineyards FirebelleWinemaker: Andy Smith
Winemaker Notes
100% Estate grown fruit, produced and bottled at Larkmead Vineyards
53% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot
5% Malbec & 3% Cabernet Franc
Aged for 17 months in 55% new French oak barrels
902 cases produced
"Very deep ruby red color. Wonderful aromatic intensity — floral violets, black cherry, blackcurrant, sweet thyme & cedar then complex secondary notes of soy and game. Lively exuberant palate entry then immediate density of blackberry and cassis fruit. Bold, rich and youthfully assertive but retains inner-mouth perfume and energetic brightness. Lingering chewy tannins on a flavor-packed finish.
Our 2009 Firebelle bottling is a wine of true character in the authentic Larkmead style. At this early release stage it's bound up in its youthful exuberance, drive and freshness. It needs some time to unfold, relax and open up. But it's a dynamic wine that really expands in the glass with some air offering that beautiful echoing Larkmead signature throughout. It's the product of a very low-yielding vine crop which means that it's packed full of natural vineyard density and structure, yet our wine making approach ensures that it retains plenty of brightness and energy. On first opening the wine's full of ripe sunshine-filled fruit but with time this mellows then recedes allowing the full complex vineyard character to emerge. Expect eight to ten years of developing complexity in bottle and decant for an hour in the first three years following release."Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican 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)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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