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Wine Type Vintage Name Variety Locale Date Posted Score Helpful Comments Comment Date Community Score More...
Red

2021 de Négoce OG N.370

 Santa Ynez Valley Red Blend more
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12/26/2023 - brianschool wrote: 86 points

Translucent wine, not much on the nose, on the palate a light but hot wine with the high abv. Lots of sour cherry, and red fruits with some herbal qualities. I don’t know what to make of this yet. It’s not drinking incredibly well now. Will the alcohol (16.1%) tamp down and will more of the wine and terroir show in the future?

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    12/27/2023 8:33:00 PM - Same, seems like a shame, but perhaps there will be improvement in time. Fingers crossed.
Red

2018 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.139

 Horse Heaven Hills more
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2/5/2023 - brianschool Likes this wine: 89 points

Upon open, a nice aroma of black currant (cassis), raisin and dust. On the palate dark berries, butterscotch, chocolate, almond, toast, pine and vanilla.

This is a quality wine, but one that is made more in the Caymus style than the Bordeaux style. The wine drinks like a cocktail, does not improve with food, and can sometimes have a sappy sweetness that overpowers. Likely some light residual sugar here. It's a shame as the fruit is clearly quality fruit, but the sweetness and oak can dominate. I didn't see much improvement on day 2 other than the tannins did soften a bit and a tinge more acidity seemed to appear. However, this is a wine that is drinking young now and should improve.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    12/21/2023 5:19:00 PM - Thanks! That said, check out my updated review. It did improve with time.
Red

2021 Eleveur Cabernet Sauvignon Sage Ridge

 Napa Valley more
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11/5/2023 - brianschool Likes this wine: 94 points

This is an outstanding bottle of wine. Big, brawny structure, with blueberry, sandalwood, cedar, a tinge of pine needle, baking spice, vanilla bean, and fine specs of graphite. This is all framed by cola & lots of powdery tannins - big up front, but get finer over the hours.

However, after a couple of hours, the wine actually seemingly began to close up for a couple more hours, then opened up again on day 2. This is a baby.

Mouth-coating and delicious, this wine still has a ways to go, the baby fat will certainly come off, but this is a 94-point wine today, in my book, and I believe there is room for this to get even better. I prefer younger cabernet and the energy & structure that they offer. This is it. In my very humble opinion, it was not a waste to open this so early, it was incredibly satisfying. While I'll save the majority, this is one I wouldn't mind opening every year to see where it has gone.

This is an outstanding first effort by De Negoce's Eleveur label. Very impressive.

The 2021 Éleveur "Sage Ridge Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon was hand-harvested at night, inoculated with native local yeasts, and aged for 20 months in 100% French oak barrels (65% new oak).

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    11/5/2023 7:01:00 PM - Cheers!

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    11/5/2023 9:14:00 PM - @dariuskoenig: Wow, it would be really cool to do a side by side comparison of the Geodesy and the Eleveur! I once compared n.17 to its purported source, though the actual source bottle was an inferior vintage, and the n.17, though clearly the producer's wine, was better. Thanks for the comment. Cheers.
Red

2018 G.B. Crane Disciples

 Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend, Zinfandel more
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6/19/2023 - brianschool wrote: 86 points

Made from grapes grown on Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford and the Tofanelli Vineyard in Calistoga. As the descriptions states, this has lots of Strawberry preserves, then dark fruit. This is a good wine, but unfortunately the winemaking here was too heavy-handed. The alcohol content is high, leaving a gin-like finish as opposed to a wine-like finish. It's unfortunate that the extremely high alcohol covers up a lot of the quality fruit here. It got better on day 2, but the alcohol didn't blow off enough, and I doubt it will.

The Crane Disciples 2018 red blend is nearly 50% Zinfandel, matched with Bordeaux and Rhone Varieties.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/12/2023 10:09:00 AM - Not quite. Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford and the Tofanelli Vineyard in Calistoga.
Red

2020 de Négoce Zinfandel OG N.254

 Dry Creek Valley more
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5/6/2023 - brianschool Likes this wine: 93 points

This is a fabulous Zinfandel, one of the better Zins I’ve ever had. It’s got a lot going on as it relates to the nose: fruit, chocolate, light toast. On the palate, inky black fruits, balancing power with finesse, including truffle, caramel, dark cherry, and chocolatey oak. All very well balanced and absolutely singing in the glass right out of bottle.

I was unable to decant this, so no idea if any improvement to be gained with a decant. The wine was excellent right out of bottle.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    5/19/2023 9:24:00 PM - Cheers!
Red

2018 de Négoce Merlot OG N.124

 Napa Valley more
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5/13/2023 - Mdmiller wrote: 93 points

Decanted, then back in the bottle until the next night. This is one of the best merlots I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Cherry flavors stand out, lifted by some menthol. Medium-dark flavors & lengthy finish. I will be holding on to my remaining bottles of this beauty to let them reach full potential.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    5/14/2023 10:10:00 AM - Cheers!
Red

2016 San Felo Aulus Toscana IGT

 Cabernet Sauvignon more
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5/5/2023 - brianschool wrote: 90 points

The San Felo Aulus Cabernet from Tuscany has a medium purple hue with some bricking. On the nose, notes of plum, leather, and "scorched earth" (as Cameron would say). On the palate, a pleasant, bone dry, red-raspberry-fruited wine, with blueberry tones, plum, leather, and a velvety medium length finish.

It's a good value for the price paid and is a quality wine, though needs an hour of decant and can be a bit thin at times. On PnP the finish had a a lot of alcohol before decanting, then it came together. I didn't get the "fine tannins" that James Suckling spoke of, in fact that tannins seemed quite "big".

100% Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards 450-500 feet elevation.
Sandy soils with sandstone
Stainless steel ferment, then 24-months in barrel and one year in bottle before release.
14% alc.

89.5-90 points

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    5/7/2023 5:31:00 PM - Cheers @fingers!

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    5/7/2023 5:31:00 PM - Cheers @fingers!
Red

2019 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.212

 Alexander Valley more
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4/15/2023 - Rbhan12 Likes this wine: 92 points

Decanted for an hour and back to bottle.

Generally agree with Brian’s note. Complex wood and spiced nose, supple sweet purple fruit. Lovely palate with nice acidity. The same purple and dark fruits elevated by the acidity, supple chocolate and baking spice underneath. Nicely woven tannins with a mineral character. Very long and lasting finish, palate staining fruit and minerality. Over time some oak chocolate and cinnamon comes through.

This is fantastic. Nice verve and energy, plenty of fruit, great structure. Easy 92-93, will certainly develop and flesh out more for the next 3-5 years at minimum, look to 10 years or so.

Drinks beautifully now with some air to flesh out, but definitely has its best days ahead.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    4/16/2023 7:50:00 PM - Well said. Cheers.
Red

2019 Antica (Antinori) Cabernet Sauvignon Mountain Select

 Atlas Peak more
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3/4/2023 - brianschool Likes this wine: 93 points

Blackberry syrup, blueberry, licorice, cedary and dusty yet round tannins, with a pique of acidity on the finish. Lots of rich mountain fruit. Nicely energetic overall. I would give this one a couple more years to develop though this is an excellent wine, but lacks some structure up-front, though improves on day 2.

97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    4/15/2023 7:25:00 AM - Cheers! @vino777
Red

2016 Château Paloumey

 Haut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend more
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11/7/2022 - brianschool wrote: 88 points

This was drinking better a couple of years ago. Seems very odd but then last couple of bottles have been thin and uninteresting. Though a quality made wine, just ok as of late.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    3/31/2023 12:16:00 PM - Well said. Thank you.
Red

2019 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.201

 Russian River Valley more
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3/11/2023 - brianschool wrote: 87 points

Dark ruby red in color. Slightly translucent. Slightly expressive nose of tart cherry and herbs. On the palate: cranberry, floral, rocky minerality, dark cherry, clay, and a hint of bay leaf & pyrazine on the finish. Medium- length on the finish. Extremely closed up at first, but opens a bit after a couple of hours. But little to no fruit or tannin on the front of the palate.

In all, a decent Cabernet for the Syrah/Pinot lover, which makes sense if Dehlinger is the producer. It's a quality cabernet, yet in a year where California cabernet's tend to lead with more fruit, this feels thin on entry.

This bottle, n.201 seems to be a bit lighter than n.227 one of my favorites and one I rated very highly. Though I didn't taste them side by side, from memory n.227 offers more power with the same finesse and complexity, and IMHO is the better wine.

That said, this is still closed up to some degree, and I wonder if an improvement will be gained after a 24 hour decant. (Will report back tomorrow). If this does improve than it probably lends to a longer cellar time.

98% Cabernet, 2% Merlot 50% new French oak 14.4% alc.

Day 3 Update: A lack of structure and tannin, something is off here. Though there is fruit and tannin, it's not noticeable up front, and appears with a touch of acidity on the back. Likely a flawed bottle, or maybe this wine is just in a really weird place, but that would be odd 4 years out, IMO.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    3/12/2023 8:16:00 PM - Thanks for the question. Eh, something is missing from this one. I can't put my finger on it. Imagine a wine where there's nothing up front, but everything appears slowly from mid-palate to finish, that would describe this wine. Nice quality, but something is...off.
Red

2019 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.253

 Coombsville more
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10/18/2022 - Rbhan12 wrote: NR

Still oaky. There is a tiny but noticeable amount of sediment.

I don’t understand this wine. I can’t tell if it’s trying to be a light expression or a dense extracted expression. It has components of both but they don’t play together well. Maybe this is in a weird phase.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/19/2022 4:24:00 PM - I know you typically decant these for a good amount of time, so maybe you've already done this, but in my experience, this needed a minimum 6 hours in a decanter with the occasional swirl before it was remotely ready. I drank n.253 next to a famous producer $100/bottle cabernet and it blew n.253 away on first sip, but after the de negoce had six hours to open up, it was a much closer comparison. IMHO.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/19/2022 7:26:00 PM - Nickel & Nickel Sullenger vineyard. It was definitely the better wine, and in fact it was drinking phenomenally right out of the bottle. N.253 was thin, closed, and there was nothing there. But it was my second bottle of that wine and I knew it needed a long decant. 6-hours later it was fantastic. The next day even better. Now, the Nickel and Nickel was more fruit forward and a better overall wine, but by day two it was a close competition.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/19/2022 7:26:00 PM - Forgot to mention, both 2019 vintage.
Red

2019 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.100

 Rutherford more
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7/26/2022 - wmccone54 wrote: 91 points

IMHO, it’s still early on this. Youthful aroma and flavor profile; ripe and juicy assorted black fruits, which on its own might be problematic from a balance perspective; however, there’s an emerging pronounced structural component of tannin and acidity at mid-palate which adds balance…it just hasn’t completely integrated with the fruits yet. Quality ingredients and wine making, it needs another 12-18 months to come together. Decant short term and drink though 2035.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/16/2022 7:52:00 AM - Enjoyed your review. In your experience, in a wine like this, where in my mind there is a lack of tannin, but some acidity showing in the back, does this add complexity and get better with age. In my experience, the wines that have some backbone (which this certainly has some of, but imho not enough) get better as the tannin tones down and acidity integrates perfectly with the fruit. Would be curious to know your opinion. Thanks.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    10/16/2022 7:28:00 PM - Excellent analysis, and thank you kindly for the reply. Very well stated and agreed on 2012. Great example.
Red

2018 Elyse Cabernet Sauvignon Holbrook Mitchell Vineyard

 Yountville more
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3/5/2022 - Rbhan12 Likes this wine: 92 points

Splash decant, followed for an hour.

Phenomenal nose of blueberry compote with deep cherry and oak underneath. Maybe some mint to that keeps things fresh. Palate retains quite a bit of energy, with acid and soft structure giving the wine nice flow. Finish returns to depth of fruit that starts blue and eventually transitions to oaky vanilla espresso.

Love this wine from Elyse. The extraction and density is definitely turned up, but the blue fruit character of this vineyard keeps things elegant and refined. Will buy more. Phenomenal value.

Day 2: Oak has softened, the fruit has become more integrated, layered, and well defined. Absolutely phenomenal.

Drink now with a 3 hour decant or hold for a few years.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    9/17/2022 7:30:00 PM - I think you and I have a very similar palate. My exact thoughts on this wine. Nice job.
Red

2018 de Négoce Cabernet Sauvignon OG N.17

 Napa Valley more
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9/2/2022 - brianschool Likes this wine: 93 points

Fabulous wine. Description is accurate, replete with hot cinnamon and hard cherry candy, with a long finish. Producer is said to be Beaucanon. I've tried the previous year of this wine from the producer, which wasn't as good. This wine is a level above.

Bottle 2 Update: Wine requires a 4-hour decant to open up, but drinking beautifully.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    9/16/2022 11:46:00 AM - @SCMfan, it's part of the fun. I'm not confident in any source guess, and like you I question most of them. Except for this one. I tasted the producer's wine next to this one and it's the same producer in my opinion. Agreed that it doesn't fit the usual model. However, Beaucanon has been traditionally very hard for me to find outside of the Bay Area. Total Wine now carries it in select cities, in the city closest to me it's about $44 after tax. Hard to get, and with tax and if they ship, it can become a bit expensive.
Red

2019 de Négoce Merlot OG N.202

 Walla Walla Valley more
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4/5/2022 - jeremy_ross Likes this wine: NR

This is really a fantastic value. Drinks like a $30 Merlot. Nice red fruit, mainly cherry. Some green notes and structure that makes me wonder if there's some Cab Sauv/Franc in the blend.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    5/4/2022 11:08:00 AM - Looks like it was 3% cabernet sauvignon, so you were correct!
Red

2015 Sixteen 600 Zinfandel

 Sonoma Mountain more
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11/18/2020 - buffyst Likes this wine: NR

Zinfandel like this is why I live in Sonoma Valley. Pitch w/ ruby rim. Med. plus body (but not at all heavy). Earthy aromas that reach to the sky. So authentic, so homegrown. Acids balanced just beneath the surface, sending subtle currents to the edge of the glass shore. Purest fruits echo from the nose to mouth, and back again. Superb integration of tannins and alcohol (14.6% abv). Black, blue and red fruit mingle and sing, weaving blueberries, boysenberries, cranberries, currants and licorice into a sphere that not so much collapses as implodes to the finish, candied and peppered. So good. Sorry: too difficult to assign a number to this. QPR. D/H.

  • Comment posted by brianschool:

    4/10/2022 8:26:00 PM - Great review, I felt similarly.

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