12/31/14, 2:31 PM - I just popped one of my two bottles with a Coravin. We all got hosed on this wine for $350. I personally won't hold onto my other one long, as I feel it is ready to drink now. I had one back in 2007 and it tasted like cherry cola. It was just terrible. The winemakers should be ashamed of swindling all of us for $350 a bottle. They messed this wine up in the barrel, kept us on hold for extra year and then released a dog. IMO that was very poor business on their part. Like you I'm just happy I cut bait on this wine, after this lousy bottling. I would be disappointed, if I had paid $50 for this bottle. At $350, it is the worst wine purchase I've made in 20 years.
8/5/14, 12:50 PM - Agree with your comment 100%. This Champagne is fantastic and at $28 was a steal. The score you posted is justified too.
7/18/14, 2:24 PM - Odds:First, I will state again that I have had Caymus going back to 2002 and have enjoyed both the Napa and Special Select bottlings from this winery. The 2012 just really missed the boat for me. The wine wasn't flawed, it hadn't been exposed to a lot of oxygen (the restaurant was pouring it consistently while I sat at the bar) and it is from a very strong vintage. It wasn't a hot vintage in Napa so the wine should not have had "a warm vintage characteristic." I would like to get some feedback on the 2011's that I have in my cellar. I remember liking the wine at a tasting enough to think $64 was fair. The Special Select that I tasted that night (2010) was a monster but it was made very well and will reward patient cellaring. I will throw this question out there. Why do you reduce the price (by $10) of a wine that sells out every year? Sure you can say it's our 40th anniversary here's one on us but next year you will have a lot of unhappy folks thinking the winery raised its price. Disclaimer..... I've been in this business for 20 years. I like the folks that work for the winery so I'm not trying to bash a brand by any means. I just know you don't reduce your price, if you have a consistent wine year in and out, in a fantastic vintage. Unless..... There is an issue and you have a lot of juice to move.This, of course, is just my opinion and my palate is different from the next person. It is what makes drinking wine great. Some you like, some you don't but there is always one out there that will be an new and exciting discovery.
7/24/14, 4:58 PM - I'm not sure what you mean by undersold. 2012 was a big yielding vintage. I didn't know they got slapped on the wrist for exceeding the production permit.
1/5/14, 7:17 PM - I was fortunate to have paid $60 for this wine. It was the last of the two bottles I was able to buy.
1/21/13, 11:10 AM - FM III,I'm a big fan of TRB going back to his earliest days at Outpost. In fact, that is how I was added to his initial PN release at Rivers Marie. Not only is he a very talented winemaker but he is a good guy so I'm all for giving him his props. I've been in the wine business a long time and really have not come across a Chardonnay that confuses me this much. I think this wine is much better just a little cooler than room temperature (slight chill). As one other review note's say, it is a cloudy Chardonnay too so he most likely did no/or very little filtering on this wine. I think I would have been a bigger fan if there was no oak treatment. There is a lemon note that is pretty strong on the attack and then it gets a little odd smack of oak. I'm wondering what the clonal selection is here and what surrounds the Thieriot vineyard. I'm going to wait another couple months before I open my last bottle just to see if the Chardonnay is in a funky stage right now. I've bought his Pinot's for years and even with vintage variation they are still solid. We use a couple of Dijon clones for our Chardonnay's in Oregon. Wines taste different to each and everyone of us. I hope that you find this Chardonnay more appealing than I did. Cheers!
1/23/13, 12:56 PM - Just read TRB's notes on the Chardonnay and he says to lay it down for a while so that's what I'm going to do with my last bottle.REX HILL/A to Z up in Willamette Valley.
1/23/13, 8:42 PM - Had the 2009 RM PN Occidental tonight and it was really good. Now to figure out what to purchase tomorrow.
1/10/13, 1:23 PM - Having worked for Quintessa for a few years and selling the 2003 vintage, which I too am drinking now, I can tell you Q is not built to age. I would always tell the consumers, who bragged about their case of '97 etc. in the cellar, that the wine was toast because it is not built for the long haul. I don't know if Charles Thomas has changed the makeup of the wine during his tenure. My '03's have held up well so far. I just finished the 02 vintage. Storage is key and it's origin. Mine came directly from the winery and went into my cellar. I will finish the 03's this year and move on to the 04's. Cheers!
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