4/21/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Bright fruit, cherry, raspberry, lovely aromatics. Sue loved it.

4/21/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

A beautiful, floral wine. Red fruit, raspberry, cherry, cranberry. Lovely and tasty. Great with the slow-roasted duck and with the herbal lamb.

3/27/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red fruit, cherry, black currant, tobacco, herbs.

Delicious with the venison curry, which improves the wine.

Curry ingredients are cumin, coriander, tumeric, ginger, garlic, onions, stewed tomatoes and cooked raisins. It offset the sweetness in the wine and brought the savory notes forward

4/19/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Dry wine (13% alcohol) with florah, peach, apple, lemon lime notes. Delicious on its own and with the guacamole with pomegranates.

3/24/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Had this wine with Sue, both with food and solo. Notes of bright, red fruit - cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, good acidity and some herbs on the finish.

4/20/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Sue liked it. Under $10 at Trader Joe

4/19/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Delicious notes of red fruit, baking spices, herbs. Delicious on its own and with the roasted, herbal rack of lamb.

4/9/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Delicious now. Cherry, smoke, spice, a little Sonoma Coast brine, herbs. Charming withnour slow-roasted duck.

I wonder how this winery got grapes from Kastania Vineyard? Drink now. Best with food.

4/7/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

This was really the Zede de Labegorce 2013 ( Annie 2013). Not the Benjamin.

4/7/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Chery, blackberry, deep fruit, purple red. Better with the slow -roasted duck and herbal, baked potato. Bit still a little thin and narrow throughout. I wonder if this would be better with more time? (It’s 11 uears old)

60% cabernet sauvignon, 33% merlot, 5% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot.

We paid $11 plus shipping and fees: $16 total. A good wine for that. I’d like to try an older bottle.

Maybe hold to 2027?

3/10/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, currant, blackberry, spice and some tannins. At home with the Italian pizzas (tomatoes, oregano, herbs, mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage, other meats) at Tino’s. Such a versatile wine for pairings with food.

4/2/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Big Covarin pour.

4/5/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Dewine, Beautiful, bright fruit. Cherry,

4/5/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Delicious wine. Brighth, juicy, red fruit,cherry, raspberry, fennel. Delicious with all 3 salmon.

3/29/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Our friend gave us a bottle after dinner -- and it sure didn't last long. Delicious with our meat lasagna with fennel and herbs. Cherry, plum, strawberry, fennel, licorice and some herbs on the finish. The 15% alcohol was concealed.

3/27/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Great wine and what a surprise! Cherry, plum, strawberry, fennel, licorice and some herbs on the finish. The 15% alcohol was concealed. Great on its own and with the grilled, Roseda dry-aged strip steak. Would be very good with lamb, too.
I saw this on sale for $13 / bottle. Great QPR at that price -- or higher, too. I expected it to me more expensive.

Drink now.

3/29/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, currant, spice, herbs. Delicious with the roast chicken and potatoes.

3/27/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red fruit, currants, black fruits, spice, mineral, gravel and some fine tannins.Delicious with the dry-aged strip steak.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Past its prime. With Roseda dry-aged strip strak

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red and dark fruits, red cherry, berry, baking spices, rhubarb, violets, mushrooms and some herbs.

I loved this wine with pizza and with roast lamb with herbs.

Great qpr for $20 / bottle. These are almost all gone now.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

These were delicious, with bright, red fruit - cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, good acidity and some herbs on the finish. Also good with Indian food: cumin, coriander, ginger, tumeric.

They are almost all gone now.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Decent wine for weekday drinker. Long gone.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

We had this wine sometime ago with Sue and some dry-aged steak. It was terrific. Amazing for $30.

Lovely red and black fruits, including cherry, current, maybe some blueberry?, cedar, vanilla, some spice box and loads of fine tannins.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

From memory. Big and unctuous wine, with red and black fruits, cherry, cassis, some dark chocolate and smoke on the finish. Delicious now.

We had this with some smoked beef at our friend’s house. It was a good pairing.

3/23/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

The wine was pretty good. It is long gone. Cellar clean-up

3/22/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, currant, strawberry, rose, minerals, earth.
Especially delicious with the foul (fava neans with cumin and with the sautéed mushrooms with onion, garlic, herbs, and truffle oil

$70: retail at winery. Shouldn’t need food for that retail.

3/22/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red and black fruit, berry, spice, earth. Delicious with the herbal, roasted rack of lamb.

3/19/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red berry, cherry and spice. Delicious with the sweet and spicy venison curry. Our last bottle.

3/14/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

This wine really improved since the 9/2023 Coravin taste. Notes of red and black fruit, blackberry, coffee, cigar box and some smoke on the end. Mature and with character. Delicious with the grass-fed, lean (93%) Australian burgers.

Gret QPR for our $11 purchase price. ($16 delivered).

Still good at 10 years of age. Drink now.

3/9/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Still great after all these years. This bottle was a little restrained vs the others. Red fruit, earth, cedar, forest floor, herbs and spice on the finish. Great with herbal rack of lamb leftovers.

Marked New.

3/1/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Wine During Sue’s Visit; 3/1/2024-3/3/2024 (Princeton, NJ): Delicious wine. Red fruit, blackberry, herbs, leather, forest floor. Sweet berries on the finish.Complex and not showing its age. A great pairing with the herbal, roasted rack of American lamb.

3/3/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Wine During Sue’s Visit; 3/1/2024-3/3/2024 (Princeton, NJ): Sweet red fruit, cherry, raspberry, herbs and some mineral. Delicious with our herbal, roasted Griggstown chicken.

Such a good food wine.

I think this was our last bottle, so I wanted to share it with Sue.

2/29/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red fruit, cherry, currant, tannins. A good weekday wine - especially with our Roseda dry-aged strip steak, which definitely improved the wine.

I think the wine is good. I am just a hard grader.

2/29/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Completely delicious. Red fruit, herbs, spice, cloves.

With grilled, Norwegian salmon. A great pairing.

Vista Hills Vineyard was planted in Jory clay at 800-ft. elevation. Dundee Hills AVA
The winery website suggests this was the only year this particular wine was made.

Production: 96 - 100 cases (4 barrels)
Winemaker: Jim Sanders

I bought this for $19 / bottle on sale.($27 delivered). Great buy for that price. ($60 retail at winery).
I would like to try the other wines made.

3/8/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Completely delicious. Notes of cherry, strawberry, plum, licorice, spice, coffee, fennel and herbs.

Good with the chili, where the spice offset the perceived sweetness of the refosco grape.
Probably even better with some more time.

3/1/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Wine During Sue’s Visit; 3/1/2024-3/3/2024 (Princeton, NJ): Another good vintage -maybe better with a little bottle age. Stone fruit, tropical fruit, herbs and more. Great with the guacamole with pomegranate. Drink now or age.

3/6/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red fruit, cherry, raspberry, some herbs and secondary notes. Much better integrated than a few years ago. Good with roast chicken and with lamb chops. Drink now.

3/2/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Wine During Sue’s Visit; 3/1/2024-3/3/2024 (Princeton, NJ): Cherry, red and dark fruit, vanilla, oak and some chocolate notes. Alas, I was never able to have the wine with the short ribs (the obvious pairing). At the Princeton Art Museum GALA; I'd like to have the wine again with food, etc.

3/1/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Wine During Sue’s Visit; 3/1/2024-3/3/2024 (Princeton, NJ): Delicious wine. Cherry, berry, red fruit, spice, herb.

2/20/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, red and black fruit, herbs, bramble. Delicious on its own, with ribs (earlier) and with the grilled strip steak with steak sauce.

2/26/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, straw, cranberry flavors. Not,that complex but a good pairing with the Norwegian salmon (grilled and sashimi). Decent value for our $17 price paid but not up to the $65 retail (winery) or the 92 Parker (2014 vintage).

A WineBid bottle of unknown provenance.

Drink now.

2/20/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Another Cru Borrgeois from 2009, but this bottle was completely delicious!
Notes of black fruit, currant, cedar, graphite, leather and herbs. Wonderful with our char-grilled, grass-fed strip steak.

This won a gold medal in the Coucours De Bordeaux competition in 2011. And certainly deserved it.
https://www.concours-de-bordeaux.com/

Great QPR for $15 / bottle in 2013. Drink now / soon. But no rush. The inventory says I have 2 more bottles. I am off to find them!

2/10/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

We had a Coravin taste a year ago (and then picked another bottle). We opened this for the rest. It was thin and plummy, with not much more. But the cork was fragile -- and perhaps damaged. (A friend gave it to me and we know nothing about its storage).

It won a silver medal (Medaille d'argent) in the Concours de Bordeaux competition in France in 2011 (says the label), so it probably once drank better than our experience. https://www.concours-de-bordeaux.com/

I will give it the benefit of the doubt and not score it. We poured it down the drain. Drink earlier. Maybe over-the-hill? In any case, the winery is now defunct.

2/14/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Happy Valentine's Day! We had this wine with our roast, herbal chicken leftovers. Similar to the 2010 (which we had last night), it showed notes of cherry, kirsch, asphalt, tar and some minerality on the finish. A good pairing.
These were $17.29 / bottle (with free shipping) August 2013. Great QPR and deal, for a wine the critics didn't like (then).

2/13/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Happy snow day (no school)! Since we were all at home, I decided to roast an herbal chicken. This wine was a great pairing with it, with notes of cherry, currants, crime de cassis, tar, tobacco and herbs. Although perhaps not as showy as past vintages. Still a good wine. These were $17.29 (with free shipping) in August 2013. Great QPR.

2/25/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Initially quite tart fruit, but opened up with more complexity. Red fruit, strawberry, raspberry but not much complexity on the finish. Better with the grilled, Norwegian salmon, sauteed mushrooms and roast cauliflower with currey spices. The cork was a little funky, so it is possible this wine had cork variation (and another bottle might drink better) - although it is a weak vintage.

Drink soon (based upon this bottle). Okay QPR for our $15 close-out price (750 ml) but I wouldn't have been as happy at the $45 winery retail. But the chardonnay we had earlier was fantastic, and I'd like to try more wines from Tendril.

1/12/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Really a nice wine for what it is. Strawberry, cherry, floral, minerals and a touch of spice. Delicious with our charred, smoked turkey kielbasa. Great qpr.

1/5/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

This bottle was officially disappointing, with some cherry flavors but not that exciting. Although it was the rest of a Coravin bottle, so maybe that was it? With Mamoun’s mid eastern food, that did nothing to improve the wine.

I wish I knew how to make this wine show better. I got these on close-out (for $10 plus shipping) but it doesn’t drink like it should, given its retail and scores. 8 bottles left.

1/8/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Red and black fruit, tar, gravel, some tannins and some good minerality. Delicious with pur roast, herbal farm chicken from Griggstown.

This wine has improved a lot over the past decade. It will be better in a couple of years too, I think. Amazing qpr for $18 / bottle 750 ml back in March 2013 in nyc. Wish I had bought more than half a case.

1/10/2024 - TashNYC wrote:

Cherry, blackberry, currant, gravel, tar and quite a few tannins. Delicious with the roast, herbal chicken.

But the wine could age some more. From 375 ml bottle. This was a great buy for $20/bottle in June 2008. Those were the days!