| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2017 Foxen Pinot Noir Solomon HillsSanta Maria Valley more |
4/21/2022 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 93 pointsI am seldom disappointed by a Foxen Pinot, and those with roots in the Solomon Hills vineyard are among my favorites. The fruit in this one is bright and reminds me of wild cherries. The acidity is pronounced, but no more than needed to achieve balance with the other components. It's good that the bottle contains a limited amount, because otherwise I could drink this for a very long time. It is drinking very well right now. I can imagine good pairings, but actually I just like to sip this one by itself as I watch a good film or my favorite British TV mystery. |
| Red |
2016 Marimar Estate Syrah Don Miguel VineyardRussian River Valley more |
4/3/2022 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 90 pointsMedium bodied with pleasant dark fruit flavors. Better served with a slight chill because its tannins are still quite present. Picked this one up on sale and wish I'd bought more. |
| Red |
2017 Melville Syrah IndigèneSta. Rita Hills more |
4/3/2022 - V.O.Key Does not like this wine: 86 pointsPeterfromthepan has this exactly right. It is remarkably green and peppery. There is no joy in it for me. |
| White |
2014 Nielson by Byron Viognier Santa Maria Valleymore |
6/13/2016 - V.O.Key Does not like this wine: 85 pointsI found this extremely disappointing. Opened it on a warm night in mid-June, eager to taste the soft, subtle, flowery flavors of Viognier but instead I tasted only oak. Why a wine maker would want to do this to good fruit is beyond me. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| White |
2013 Nielson by Byron ChardonnaySanta Maria Valley more |
9/19/2015 - V.O.Key wrote: 85 pointsA popular wine magazine gave the 2011 vintage an 85, noting that it was simply too oaky and the fruit flavors were lost in the buttery/toasty flavor that was dominant in the wine. I think this assessment fits the 2013 vintage as well. You won't like this one unless you really like oak. |
| Red |
2004 Col di Lamo Brunello di MontalcinoSangiovese more |
10/28/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 90 pointsI am always impressed by the various aromas and flavors my fellow wine enthusiasts are able to discern as they sample wine. The taster at Decanter.com detected prunes and licorice in this one! Not me. I simply found it a very enjoyable, if not exceptional sangiovese, medium bodied with plenty of tannins still present. |
| Red |
2006 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll Districtmore |
6/18/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 91 pointsPopped the cork and let the bottle breathe for about 2.5 hours. Delicious at that point, with medium full body and the deep black fruit flavors that Trefethen cabs almost always seem to feature. Add to that some smoke or wood spices, and maybe a bit of black pepper at the end. Nice long finish. Very drinkable now but perhaps even more so as the tannins continue to mellow. |
| Red |
2009 Hartford / Hartford Court Zinfandel Jolene's VineyardRussian River Valley more |
5/24/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 92 pointsDecanted and left to breathe for about 45 minutes. Very smooth, pleasing Zinfandel flavor that leaves you wanting another 250 ml in the bottle when you're finished. Inky appearance (though medium weight) with good nose. Ample jammy fruit to satisfy a Zin lover but not overpowering. Somewhat pricey, but worth it on those occasions when you want to be good to yourself. |
| Red |
2006 Fattoria Scopone Il Bagatto Toscana IGTSuperTuscan Blend more |
4/13/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 89 pointsI did not enjoy this as much as did others in the CT community, primarily because it never seemed to fully open up. Good flavors were hiding beneath the surface, but the mouthfeel was so tight and dry that I felt constantly frustrated in my attempt to enjoy the fruit. Perhaps I ought to have decanted it. Instead, I popped the cork and let it sit for half an hour. Over the course of three hours it did improve significantly. Suggest you decant and let it breathe extensively before serving. At $20 per bottle I suppose I should not complain. I've had far better super tuscans, but admittedly have often paid 2-3 times this price for the pleasure. |
| Red |
2006 Arcadian Syrah Westerly VineyardSanta Ynez Valley more |
3/31/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 92 pointsUncorked to breathe for about an hour and a half but didn't decant. A small group of us found this absolutely delicious with a pot roast. Medium bodied for a syrah and ruby red in color. Although someone here at CT likened it to black fruit, to me the emphasis was redder than that, with cranberry tartness in the finish. We thought it somewhat better when paired with the roast beef than when sipping it alone, afterward, when the tartness became more obvious. We also opened a 2006 Bugay Sonoma County Syrah at the dinner table and the contrast was informative. The Bugay was darker, thicker, more structured with tannins, and lacking the cranberry tartness of the Arcadian Westerly. Both were very good, but the Arcadian was more fun and more interesting to drink. |
| Red |
2009 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Stump JumpMcLaren Vale more |
2/21/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 86 pointsOne of those nice things to have sometimes -- a drinkable red wine for under $10. Mouthfeel is slighty rough/unfinished, but what do you expect? Light to medium bodied with good depth of flavor, and I believe the comments below about dark cherries with a bit of pepper thrown in are on target. Reasonably smooth finish that tempts you to taste a bit more of those dark cherries. Close to as good as you'll get at this price point. |
| Red |
2010 Pine Ridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valleymore |
2/19/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 89 pointsSurprisingly smooth and approachable for such a young wine, with a dominant theme of blackberries and currants, and to me anyway the oak is not excessive. I may be influenced by Wine Enthusiast's reviews of the 2009 Pine Ridge Cabernets, which tended to report surprisingly soft tannins in various Pine Ridge bottles, but I am also inclined to think that this one should be drunk sooner rather than later. |
| Red |
2009 Hirsch Vineyards Pinot Noir San Andreas FaultSonoma Coast more |
2/16/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 93 pointsSeductively delicious red fruit flavors (and nose), with an emphasis on cherry and perhaps a hint of cranberry. Smooth, refined and complex after it opens up a bit. Good with food, but this would also be a pleasure to drink all by itself. |
| Red |
2008 Beacon Hill Estate Pinot Noir FerazYamhill-Carlton more |
2/16/2013 - V.O.Key wrote: 87 pointsA group of four of us tried this with dinner after finishing off a bottle of Hirsch San Andreas Fault Pinot Noir, 2009. The comparison was fairly stark. The Beacon Hill was drinkable but relatively harsh and certainly lacking the depth of flavor we enjoyed in the Hirsch offering. Probably worth what we paid for it (in the mid-$20 range, I believe), but way over-hyped by Wine Access. I don't see any reason to purchase it again. |
| Red |
2008 Raymond Burr Cabernet SauvignonDry Creek Valley more |
2/14/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 88 pointsI'm a fan of Raymond Burr wines, but this one might be a little young at the moment. Medium bodied with a lot of tart, red fruit flavor -- a little much for me, and on the whole I generally appreciate fruit-forward wines. My wife and I enjoyed the bottle, along with some ribs, but think we will wait another year before we try the next one. |
| Red |
2001 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll Districtmore |
2/1/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 91 pointsThis bottle had been in my wine cooler for 3-4 years, waiting for the proper occasion to be opened. Instead, my wife and I opened it on a recent Friday night simply to celebrate the arrival of the weekend. Dark purple in color, the wine was smooth and silky, with solid punches of black berries and other dark red fruit. Nice, long finish. If you have this one, don't wait much longer to enjoy it. I sense that it might have been even better a year ago. |
| Red |
2008 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana IGTRed Bordeaux Blend more |
2/10/2013 - V.O.Key Likes this wine: 93 pointsElegant, balanced, and complex, and very drinkable now unless you're one of those who insists on waiting until the fruit dies down. But why do that when the flavors are so appealing now? Of course, if you have several bottles it will be fun to see how the wine evolves. I'm far from sad that I drank mine now. |
| Red |
2010 Dois Irmãos Winery Pinot NoirWillamette Valley more |
1/28/2013 - V.O.Key Does not like this wine: 75 pointsA very disappointing wine. Thin and sour. What little taste it has will likely make you scrunch up your nose, and is best obscured by excessive chilling or even the use of ice cubes if you really must insist on drinking it. A complete waste of money. |
| Red |
2005 Pope Valley Merlot Eakle RanchNapa Valley more |
11/28/2012 - V.O.Key Does not like this wine: 75 pointsThis wine was so bad, so flabby and unappealing, that I might have concluded that it was defective, save for the fact that all three bottles displayed the same characteristics. My wife and I finished the first bottle over the course of several evenings. We kept going in part because we couldn't quite believe the flavor was as bad as it appeared at the first pop of the cork. After a period of months, we opened bottles two and three, and we poured both down the drain after confirming the wine's unrewarding flavor. I note that several community reviewers found it to be considerably better than this, so possibly all three bottles were damaged in the process of delivery. |
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- Tasting notes: 19 notes on 19 wines
