Nice vibrant nose, with some spice. Fairly bright palate, with cherries. Varietally correct. A decent pinot that's easily forgotten, but the price is right. 84-85
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
I'm a huge fan of this producer, and the 2006 does nothing to discourage that. Big nose of pinot characteristics. he palate has that silky smooth mouthfeel, full of cherries and some strawberries. Light-medium bodied, with bright acidity centering on the medium finish. This pinot takes the next step that so many Cali pinot's fail at. 90-91
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
Bright rasberry flavors on the nose. Candied raz flavors continue on the palate. Bright fruit forward wine. Probably shouldn't have been drank ater the goldfield, as it has none of the formers elegance. This is a happily vibrant fruity wine, with hints of spices. I actually think this will show even better in another 6 months to a year as it settles down. But a nice effort, at a very nice price. 87-88
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Very acidic. Not much in the way of fruit left, mostly sour cherries. Tannins dominating. I didn't really enjoy this, it seemed over the hill to me. Low 80's.
I'm not usually much of a fan of Ramey's clarets. This one was tasting extremely young, and somewhat tight. Medium bodied, with much more acidity then in the other bottlings. It seems like these are going for more elegance versus the power of his other cab blends. But while they are good, they never reach the levels of the others for me. 86-87
This a big, rich, dense bottle of wine. Dark fruits and chocolate are all over the nose and palate of this wine. Lots of wood, causing some bitterness for now. This wine needs some time. But it compares favorably to the more expensice single vineyard wines Ramey does. I'm glad he's doing a wine in this style at a lesser price point. A great pick up for those Napa Cab lovers. 90-92
Drank this to compare with the Ramey Napa, and the larkmead held its own. In fact, probably due to the extra year in bottle, I prefered this wine. The major differences were that this was a little more fruit forward and seemed better integrated. It was much more of a seamless whole. Gorgeous blackberry fruit pretty much defines this full bodied, full mouthfeel wine. There is so much fruit and texture that the tannins are not obstrusive in any way. Low acidity. I'd drink this one over the short term. A great Napa cab for less then $50.
It's been almost a year since I've tried this wine. Load of dark but bright fruit along with a little smokiness on the nose. Great fruit on the palate, with bright acidity. It's a very nice wine, but fairly simple, and the price tag, at least for syrah, is rather high on this wine.
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Seemed quite a bit different from the 2003. Very rich and dense, with lots of chocolate. Not nearly as tanninc as the '03. This needs time, but didn't wow me like I expected. 90-92
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
When I drink a wine like this, I don't understand the craze for all these extracted, huge pinots. This wine is what I look for in pinot. The color is so light as almost to be a dark rose. The nose delicate, pretty, elegant, but full of flavors, each whiff a little different, but reminding me of a spring day in a strawberry field. The palate continues in the same way, as does the long, haunting finish. It's so light, but makes such an impression. Gorgeous bottle of wine. 93-94
2006 Silvan Ridge Pinot Noir 84 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Nice vibrant nose, with some spice. Fairly bright palate, with cherries. Varietally correct. A decent pinot that's easily forgotten, but the price is right. 84-85
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2006 Dutton-Goldfield Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch 91 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
I'm a huge fan of this producer, and the 2006 does nothing to discourage that. Big nose of pinot characteristics. he palate has that silky smooth mouthfeel, full of cherries and some strawberries. Light-medium bodied, with bright acidity centering on the medium finish. This pinot takes the next step that so many Cali pinot's fail at. 90-91
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2006 Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
Bright rasberry flavors on the nose. Candied raz flavors continue on the palate. Bright fruit forward wine. Probably shouldn't have been drank ater the goldfield, as it has none of the formers elegance. This is a happily vibrant fruity wine, with hints of spices. I actually think this will show even better in another 6 months to a year as it settles down. But a nice effort, at a very nice price. 87-88
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1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Very acidic. Not much in the way of fruit left, mostly sour cherries. Tannins dominating. I didn't really enjoy this, it seemed over the hill to me. Low 80's.
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2005 Ramey Claret 87 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
I'm not usually much of a fan of Ramey's clarets. This one was tasting extremely young, and somewhat tight. Medium bodied, with much more acidity then in the other bottlings. It seems like these are going for more elegance versus the power of his other cab blends. But while they are good, they never reach the levels of the others for me. 86-87
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2005 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
This a big, rich, dense bottle of wine. Dark fruits and chocolate are all over the nose and palate of this wine. Lots of wood, causing some bitterness for now. This wine needs some time. But it compares favorably to the more expensice single vineyard wines Ramey does. I'm glad he's doing a wine in this style at a lesser price point. A great pick up for those Napa Cab lovers. 90-92
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2004 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Drank this to compare with the Ramey Napa, and the larkmead held its own. In fact, probably due to the extra year in bottle, I prefered this wine. The major differences were that this was a little more fruit forward and seemed better integrated. It was much more of a seamless whole. Gorgeous blackberry fruit pretty much defines this full bodied, full mouthfeel wine. There is so much fruit and texture that the tannins are not obstrusive in any way. Low acidity. I'd drink this one over the short term. A great Napa cab for less then $50.
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2004 Matthews Syrah 91 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
It's been almost a year since I've tried this wine. Load of dark but bright fruit along with a little smokiness on the nose. Great fruit on the palate, with bright acidity. It's a very nice wine, but fairly simple, and the price tag, at least for syrah, is rather high on this wine.
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2004 Robert Keenan Winery Cabernet Franc Spring Mountain District 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Seemed quite a bit different from the 2003. Very rich and dense, with lots of chocolate. Not nearly as tanninc as the '03. This needs time, but didn't wow me like I expected. 90-92
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2005 WesMar Pinot Noir Oehlman Vineyard 94 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
When I drink a wine like this, I don't understand the craze for all these extracted, huge pinots. This wine is what I look for in pinot. The color is so light as almost to be a dark rose. The nose delicate, pretty, elegant, but full of flavors, each whiff a little different, but reminding me of a spring day in a strawberry field. The palate continues in the same way, as does the long, haunting finish. It's so light, but makes such an impression. Gorgeous bottle of wine. 93-94
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