Community Tasting Note

• csimm wrote: 97 points

  June 27, 2022 - Saturday get-together: A quartet of VHR wines side-by-side (among 20 other wines that night):
  2018 VHR
  2018 VHR Extended Barrel Age
  2019 VHR
  2019 Arrow & Branch VHR
  
  TN: With a dark and brooding entry, the front end of the 2018 VHR was a rolling and deliberate push of dark berry fruit, bitter chocolate, spice, and some deep cassis. Where the speed picks up is just somewhere north of the mid-palate, where the acidity and tannins gear-up for the finish, with a surge of dark fruit, rock, and a red ferrous note that provided an extra tick of interest on the tail. Texture-wise, I found the 2018 VHR to have a slightly more rounded frame than the more formidable 2019. I slightly favored the 2019 over the 2018 for the former’s more concentrated and intense showing, but with a small sample on Day 2 of the 2018, my preference flipped. On the second day, the 2018 was incredibly balanced and seamless – though still a ticking time bomb of a monster wine. There was a mouthfeel in the 2018 that was much more resolved, allowing the flavors to self-identify with more delineation of flavor and not with just one big detonation.
  
  My score on Day 1 for the 2018 was 96 points (a high mark to be sure), but I ended up at 97 points given the second day of evaluation. On the second day, it was a 98 honestly, if just taking that particular flash of time. Quite honestly, I’m not sure what a one-point numeric means once you’re in the high 90’s echelon, but at least you get a feel for where any given wine might be comparatively in terms of subjective preference.
  
  GENERAL: In the end for me, in this small sample and even smaller window of time, the 2019 VHRs rule the roost as far as I am concerned… and no, this is not one of those, “the newest vintage is the best vintage,” type of thing. Though I have generally found 2019 in Napa to be a notch up from the 2018 vintages, the difference in intensity and concentration between the two 2018 VHRs and the two 2019 VHRs in this particular sampling window was palpable, with the 2019s ticking the one-up meter on essentially every aspect of wine exhibition: complexity, depth, energy, focus, acidity, and tannin refinement. I mean, all four VHRs were all worthy of devoted tender and heaps of demonstrative gushing, with only wine-geek splitting hairs and miniscule squabbling to be had as to the preferential doting on one wine over another.
  
  A special thanks to WBW for providing this and the 2019 VHR!

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4 Comments

• ThomasB99 commented:

  7/8/22, 5:59 PM - Excellent review! Great notes-

• csimm commented:

  7/9/22, 7:29 AM - Thanks TomB99. All were beautiful wines in the making. Given some cellar time, they will be fantastic representative examples of the VHR terroir. A fun night to be sure. Cheers!

• ThomasB99 commented:

  7/9/22, 7:39 AM - I had a 2014 Cakebread vine hill ranch recently and was stunned by how good it was (considering it was cakebread). Now I'm all about that vineyard and on the hunt. Picked up a 3 pack of 2018 VHR and looking for other wine makers that source from there. Thanks for the note on Arrow and Branch... I might pick some up.

• csimm commented:

  7/9/22, 7:58 AM - We were all quite drawn to the A&B, and a number of us slightly favored it to the other VHRs. A&B’s wines can be quite tannic when young in general, but this VHR from them is fairly accessible given the spine and acidic frame it carries.
  
  As a side note, not sure if you are on the Kinsman-Eades list, but their 2021 VHR is going to be spectacular when it comes out.

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