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

2019 Bevan Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard

 St. Helena more
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9/9/2021 - csimm wrote: 97 points

BLIND REDS - Bordeaux varietals (mostly Napa and BDX) - Over/Under $100: Holy shirtless Vladimir Putin on a Clydesdale! What sort of wicked concoction from the entrails of Hades hath been presented before me here? If Chris Hemsworth was a Starbucks barista in charge of vehemently hucking quadruple espressos down your slackjaw facehole, he might as well be flinging mags of the 2019 Bevan Crane at your noggin as well. Titanic black berry flavors broadsword fight with fresh black coffee grounds, cardamon, and char notes in an epic clash of evil versus evil. At once black and dense, and then insanely dynamic and fresh, this 2019 is the 2018 Crane on steroids (if you ever thought that was possible). It’s loud and proud in its current state, which should settle down with time, but its “settling down” means it will eventually just be a megatsunami instead of the current worldwide calamity of Poseidon.

Helpful hint: Make sure to bust out a crater-sized coffee filter to figuratively strain out some of the black murderous viscousness that pumps through the zombie arteries of this Tyrannosaurus tonic. Hold for a decade, unless you like the feeling of black tar peeling off the front of your face.

PS: I liked this wine quite a bit, but if you have even the slightest sensitivity to needing immediate nuance or have a propensity to get uppity about finesse in wine, don’t even bother with this. It’s great because its super rad, not because it’s cosmopolitan. In fact, if you actually use words like “cosmopolitan” or say “Namaste” to your yoga friends, or if you’ve ever taken a yoga class at all in your entire life, best venture elsewhere.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    6/7/2022 11:24:00 AM - Too funny csimm! Glad you added in a PS that you liked it. One of my Bevan reviews confused some people who weren't sure if I liked it or not so I should have done the same. Bought my allocation today as well, Mark.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    6/7/2022 1:31:00 PM - Csimm, I agree that a Bevan Mega Monster at the right time and place is special because not many Napa Vineyards can do it as well and there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Well, Barossa has a few Mega monsters that I love too, and likewise there's nothing like those anywhere else in the world. I always say it's nice to have choices.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    6/7/2022 3:36:00 PM - Rusden Black Guts is one, especially if you can find the 2005, 2006, or 2007 which have aged really well.
Red

2015 Bacio Divino Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen Cloudy's Vineyard

 Napa Valley more
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5/21/2022 - Badmonkey wrote: 95 points

Had to go to an old reliable when another wine wasn’t ready. Love this vintage especially at the $95 close-out price. Dark ruby fruit - currants, blackberry, dark cherry, and blueberry. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity and solid depth/concentration but a little lighter profile than around a year and a half ago. However, the tannins are incorporated quite well. Nice vibrant/rich flavors of dark berries, spice/licorice, cassis, and a mineral/graphite component. Fairly long finish. Popped/poured but drank out of a decanter for a couple hours. Improved a little with time but drinking quite well right away. Once again, a nice vintage of this wine. 100% cab.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    5/22/2022 3:50:00 PM - Nice note Badmonkey, think I'll grab this vintage from the cellar tonight.
Red

2013 Durant and Booth Reserve

 Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more
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1/8/2022 - GQG wrote: 97 points

Just a really solid showing tonight, besting another of my favorites, a 2012 Bevan Wildfoote also opened. And that's no small feat!

It just has so much complexity. There's herbal sensations one second, there's dark black fruit another, then morphs into cherry and flirts with blueberry with swirling intensity all around, and the fruit's all there, it's still quite pure. I don't know what barrels it came from but it had to be from one of the upper echelon of Rudd's Oakville offerings. Maybe my best QPR buy ever.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    1/30/2022 6:12:00 AM - Hi #1, it's a brand that was made by Rudd and sold in the Oakville Grocery Store. After Rudd died they sold off all of them and that's when I bought them. A new company bought the name in 2016 but I don't know anything about their production or their wines. I doubt the 2013-2015's are available anywhere because it was only sold through the one store in Oakville. l had the same problem looking around for the 2013 Trespass Cab. My tasting notes are just to let other holders know its current state.
Red

2018 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

 St. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more
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11/18/2021 - GQG Likes this wine: 97 points

2018 Classified Bordeaux Tasting -- 39 Wines (Old Woodward Cellar Event, Michigan): Full-bodied mouthcoating flavor bursts out of the glass at the attack, fills the palate from top to bottom, doesn't ever let go, and finishes long and strong. It does so with a purity of sweet (but not too sweet) dark fruit, structured yet smooth tannins, and buoyant freshness that all seems very ebullient and alive. It's powerful and accessible which makes it a blast to drink young.

Of 39 vintage 2018 Bordeaux wines sampled, this was clearly the wine of the night. Click on the link above to see the 39 wine tasting story.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    11/19/2021 9:34:00 PM - Thanks WB, I was like a kid in a candy store jumping from left bank to right bank and across the various appellations. At the end of the night I could see that a pattern had emerged in my preferences. Sampling 39 wines in a number of hours lets one zoom out and get a bigger picture of at least Right Bank/Left Bank preference instead of trying to figure it out wine by wine. It's only a snapshot in time but it was interesting.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    11/20/2021 5:02:00 AM - #1, I feel exactly the same way as you about Bordeaux wines! At this point in my life I'm nearing the time where I would be buying some Bordeaux wines for my kids instead of me, so it's nice to find some wines with accessibility now or in the near future. It seems that some Bordeaux winemakers are modifying their approach to allow early access, which causes stuck-pig squeals from some traditionalists but for me it's nice when I can find such a wine. Let me know how you like the Domaine de Chevalier Rouge.

    I overheard good things said about the Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, too, if that's of interest to you.
Red

2018 Andremily EABA

 Santa Barbara County Red Rhone Blend more
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11/11/2021 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine: 97 points

Wow. I may have found my nearly perfect soulmate wine.
On opening, a nose of bacon fat and sweet berries. 3 hour decant and the nose has become ever changing—black fruits, exotic spices, a touch of green, some white pepper, a touch meaty but much more subtle than say a Cayuse syrah which screams carnivore.
This is so light on the mouth yet so plush and decadent at the same time, I don’t know how it is possible. Dark berries, pomegranate, mouth coating chocolate syrup, accents of garrigue. Silky fine tannins so smooth I am not even sure they can be called tannins—they are like a whisper of tannin. And such a long lasting explosion of flavor.
I foolishly only bought a 3 pack of this as the cellar is full and I’m trying to be more responsible in my wine buying. But now I realize it was irresponsible of me not to buy every bottle that I possibly could.
Wow, just wow.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    11/18/2021 6:00:00 AM - Great review! I have the 2017 and 2018 in the cellar but haven't tried either one. Now I'm really curious and have a green light thanks to your review.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    11/18/2021 6:27:00 AM - So many memes come to mind, most of them inappropriate! But the wine...! :)

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    11/18/2021 7:00:00 AM - Nope, you weren't inappropriate, it's the memes that, well, I'm looking forward to trying this wine. lol
Red

2013 Hartwell Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve

 Stags Leap District more
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3/12/2021 - Cablover1982 Likes this wine: 95 points

Heavenly aromas of red and black fruits. Baking spice and milk chocolate. Gliding so effortlessly on the palate, dusting of cocoa, Cinnabon, sweet ripe tannins and long finish. This 2013 bottle is so fine right now. Lucky me! Cheers!

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 5:36:00 AM - This 2013 is back again at Vivino (last time?) for 59.99. I still believe the 2013 takes top honors vs. the 2014, and both are great.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 8:43:00 AM - Mark, lol -- your deep cellar gives you the best of all worlds -- selectively jump on current deals or just cruise on aged gems from your cellar. Nice work, my friend!

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 8:49:00 AM - Cab -- like you, I laid down a lot of the 2013 Reserve and also their T5 (especially 2013 T5). The performance of the 2013 T5 over the 2014 T5 is pretty noticeable and I see that translate in to their respective Reserve bottles, too. But like I said, they're both really good.

    Mark -- do you really think the 2013 can go another 10 years? I don't have that sort of experience with Napa Cabs.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 9:15:00 AM - I got my T5s directly from Hartwell on sale at $140 which gave me the chance to taste them for a much better price than the $225 list. They're a bit deeper and fuller than the Reserve, but no way they're ~3x better based on the deeply discounted Reserve price. Get a T5 to try one out, sure, but I'd spend most of my "Hartwell" budget for the Reserve.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 9:36:00 AM - Cab, I just picked up a few 2014 Merlots from Hartwell today on Vivino because, well, because it's a Hartwell... brand loyalty... ironically given to a brand that's no longer being produced, lol.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 9:50:00 AM - Interesting, CAB, as I live in Michigan. Who was selling it?

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 10:07:00 AM - Thanks Cab, I sorta figured it was them as they're pretty active nationally by posting inventory on wine-searcher, etc.. Good folks there, a family run place where I stop in once in a while but never saw Hartwell on their floor. They have a bunch of wine upstairs in storage that is by request only, must be up there.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 10:17:00 AM - Red Wagon is another good place to find back vintages of some favorites. You know Michigan well!

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/28/2021 10:28:00 AM - Cab, thanks for the tip on Celani, will put it on my radar. Seems like I've had one at a restaurant but I know I've never bought any.
Red

2013 Bacio Divino

 Napa Valley SuperTuscan Blend more
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7/18/2021 - GQG Likes this wine: 94 points

Pure dark cherry and cassis flavors with a nice, sweet smoothness coats the palate with fullness from top to bottom. Decanting for a couple of hours delivers the smoothness. There's plenty of freshness and drive across the palate and on through the lengthy finish.

It seems to have filled out well since Badmonkey's 2017 review and is in a great drinking window right now.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/18/2021 5:15:00 PM - Thanks Mark, it's an interesting Super Tuscan blend from Napa. Some 2013's are still "on hold" but this one's surely ready.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/18/2021 5:22:00 PM - It's hard to describe the effect that the small amount of Sangiovese adds to this wine... first analogy that comes to mind is the roundness that Merlot gives Right Bank blends. It's the chill version of a Cloudys Cab, and really good!

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/18/2021 5:38:00 PM - <...looking behind me...> Who're you bowing to? I'm just a wee beastie wine drinker posting my nonsense in front of God and Country for all to see. But if you try it, you might like it!

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/27/2021 2:56:00 PM - Thanks #1, and I wholeheartedly agree on Cloudy's being their best.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/27/2021 4:44:00 PM - Yeah the special thing about Cloudy's is that it has such energy and balanced acidity to go with its earthiness and minerality. It's got a tension that is very uncommon in Napa.
Red

2015 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Iridium

 Napa Valley more
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6/30/2021 - GQG Likes this wine: 93 points

A lifted, floral nose is followed by red fruit with mocha and notes of oak and graphite that expand over 2 hours of decanting, and there's a nice push across the palate from the acidity. Very round and dusty tannins are well balanced by the red fruit that turns a bit darker over time in the glass. I sorta get why some other reviews mentioned a green element but it's not bell pepper, herbal, mulchy, or anything objectionable for me. Instead it comes across as a part of the "Rutherford dust" kind of, sort of... in a non-descript way... and may be from a fraction of whole cluster grape stems used in the fermentation. The floral nose and the freshness both support my whole stem guess. Anyway, the green element is not strong and will diminish further over time in the bottle.

First bottle for me, sub $100 price, and it's drinking well after a 1 hour decant.

  • Comment posted by GQG:

    7/1/2021 7:49:00 AM - Hi Mark - obviously I was also tempted and picked up 4 bottles on the chance this big conglomerate's higher end product would be a deal. It's good but at around $100 there are lots of other wines I would rate higher. 2015 as a vintage is really coming into a sweet spot right now and the immediate consumption aspect also helped me decide to buy them. If you lived closer we'd pop open a bottle and you could try it and decide for yourself! And it wouldn't stop there...

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