5/18/2024 - Badmonkey wrote:

Thinking about buying more to lay down in light of the 95 to 97 rating from Dunnuck but wanted to get an idea where it’s at first. As provided on their website, “this bottling has consisted of new sites we are trialing, declassified barrels from single vineyard wines and vineyards that fell out of contract along the way. It’s a diverse mix but the common thread is there has always been a minimum of 4 sub-AVAs represented in every edition.” Purple fruit - blackberry, currants, and dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate with decent depth/concentration. Rich flavors of cassis, some spice/herbs, cocoa, oak, and a little graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep - it could use more time to open-up with the finish which isn’t a surprise in light of its youth. Slow ox during the day for around ten hours and then drank out of a decanter for a couple more. Improved a little with time. Revisited on day two and it was better as it opened-up more. WA anticipated maturity 2024 to 2035 but I disagree - this wine needs another year or two to soften/open-up further. For me, closer to the 92 rating from WA and 93 from Galloni on day two.

5/20/2024 - Franken Berry wrote:

I can remember buying this wine from Bill Seavey, back in the day. Several bottles have remained, neatly forgotten in the cellar. I can recall that in its younger life, the wine presented with the promise of rich fruits hidden behind a massive wall of tannins. Now, at age 20, the tannins are all but faded. It still possesses a beautiful nose of blueberries and dark chocolates, with blueberries, plums and morello cherries on the palate. The viscosity and lingering alcohol give the wine a port like quality in the mouth.it finishes with scorched earth, and a smoky quality. Very Bordeaux like, overall. Melka still had his hand in this, from what I have read.
While I enjoyed this more than I thought, it is beyond its peak, for my palate.

5/17/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

90-minute double decant. Very deep dark magenta core, with more faded ruby color outside. Mushroom, milk chocolate, blackberry, cassis, waffle cone, and subtle candy corn. Smooth , dry palate. Full tannins on the longish finish.

This was the surprising WOTN at our monthly supper club. It’s definitely drinking at its peak for my palate. Excellent QPR here.

5/18/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

I found this single bottle languishing in my mother in law’s cellar, so I brought it along to dinner at a French bistro. My first Quintessa, so I can’t speak to how this wine compares to better vintages. This was a tasty Bordeaux blend with a classic Rutherford mouthfeel, rich black fruits, black cherries layered with cedar, Asian spices, chalk, and some dark chocolate.

5/17/2024 - Cablover1982 Likes this wine:

Slow ox during Ooni pizza evening. Intense and flavorful. Dark black fruits, vanilla custard, tobacco, crushed flowers, cigar wrapper, hints of licorice and some minerals. Good acidity, huge tannins on long finish.

5/12/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

One hour decant. Deep dark, yet bright, magenta color. Blueberry pie and milk chocolate are the dominant notes. Smooth, dry palate, with satiny acidity. Full tannins on the longish finish.

Good, stereotypical Napa CS. Surprisingly simple, but certainly an easy drinker. Enjoyed at Luke in New Orleans.

5/10/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

The 2013 Mount Veeder is a beautiful wine that has entered its prime drinking window. Deep toned red and black fruits fill the mouth, nicely balanced with silky tannins, forest floor, tapenade and sublime salinity. Mid weight, plush, with no hard edges.
I think that most CTers, who tend to store their wines well, can ignore AGs recent comments about tainted bottles.

5/10/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

PNP. Walnut, truffle-dusted chocolate, blackberry, plum, fig, and subtle spearmint. Very smooth, dry palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish.

This has aged beautifully. I can hardly believe it.

5/10/2024 - sean7711 Likes this wine:

Drank over 3-4 nights. Very enjoyable, bold big ripe fruit as others have mentioned. As it got more air, became very soft and good finish. I need to seek out more of this label.

5/5/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

This has entered a nice drinking window with a two hour decant. Dark cherries, cassis, hint of plums, vanilla, oak. Round, rich, darker fruits.
I don’t see this changing much. Nice wine for a Sunday evening

5/9/2024 - PIZZAandBAROLO Likes this wine:

This Barb drank really well. Well not initially. I did a PNP. I thought I'd be a man's man, like the John Wayne type walking through the saloon doors and boisterously telling the bartender, "hey bartender, gimme some of that there umm Barbaresco. I''ll take it in a glass straight up" To which he replied "well sir, umm, don't you want me to...." I cut him off immediately, "Don't you sir me. Just pour the damn Babarusco"

So he did. He popped the cork on a new bottle and poured into a house table water glass. And so I drank. The wine was not ready or as accommodating as I had hoped. Still, I wore my stern, weathered, battle hardened leather face through tasting my 1st 4oz pour. I kept my cowboy poker face and composure like there was nothing not to like here.

But my thought was that the wine is not so pleasurable off the PNP and needs some air time. That's when I (John Wayne :) blurted out, "hey little lady! Bring me one of those flower pots (vase) over here. Would you be a darling and do that for me, little lady?" The glass flower vase would serve as my makeshift on-site decanter. It worked and it helped. The bottle was saved. YAY!!!

So coming back to real life. Yes, this wine eventually drank well. And drank as it was meant to be drunk. With some bottle age, and airtime, and with a little food. We was Gucci...

I like it. I'll have it again. And then maybe again. But I gotta keep my paws off the Riservas. I have been recently adding these to the war chest.

Those are for days when the time is just right and I'm not feeling as much as a gun slinging cowboy, but more of a Wall St hedge fund honcho who needs these wines served perfectly, at just the right temperature, and in just the right stemware. And of course with the best food and with all the glitzy people of esteemed social circles. This on an evening, prearranged months in advance of course, at the Hamptons oceanfront compound. And for those that may frown upon this, well you're not invited. So take that LOL

Don't mind my gibberish...

Cheers all!

5/3/2024 - AGELVIS wrote:

Two hour double decant. Deep dark magenta color. Plum, fig cake, and subtle sage. Smooth, dry palate. Soft tannins on the longish finish.

This was not nearly as good as I expected. I’ll have it as a pop and pour next time. Easy drinker nonetheless.

5/6/2024 - iamandyc Likes this wine:

Excellent pinot that I feel will improve with age and add 2+ points. Didn't get to decant for long but improved in the glass over the next hour. Deep dry fruit with complexity and a solid backbone of fine tannins and acidity. Long finish. Not as expressive as it probably would have achieved with more decanting and/or age.

4/27/2024 - Franken Berry wrote:

Last vintage for Benoit. For me, this label has never impressed to the level of the pro review enthusiasm. Mostly Cabernet, with a huge dollop of Malbec (I have read, but JD states merlot). A very dark, inky appearing wine ( Malbec?), with mostly restrained black fruits, bitter chocolates and expresso, hint of olives. There was a bitterness on the palate that never quite faded. Decanted for an hour, drank over next three.
hopefully Biagi can work better magic here

5/1/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

black fruits, gravel, hint of baking chocolate. firm tannins, drying finish. great structure, fruit pushed towards the back but it was balanced.
not my usual mid week pick, but I really enjoyed this cabernet from Santa Barbara.
would it be accurate to describe this as Bordeaux like, w/o the funk?

5/4/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

Two hour decant. Very deep dark intense ruby magenta color. Stewed plum, blackberry, Oreo cookie, tobacco, and black pepper. Dry, spicy, full bodied palate, with good acidity. Full, satiny tannins on the longish finish.

This is a fun drinker. Comes across a touch overripe, but otherwise it’s your classic Bevan intense Napa CS.

4/10/2024 - #1Winelover Likes this wine:

This is a placeholder as I only had a 1/2 glass last night. I plan to open the bottle tonight for the full experience.

Dark purple black in the glass with strong smells. Fruits of blackberry, either currants or plum with blackberry pie. Tons of chocolate and mineral notes. I think that my score will go higher and not lower. We shall see. It needs a nice decant as well!

11/26/2023 - #1Winelover Likes this wine:

Could be higher than 97 points and definitely the best bottle I have ever had from The Lewelling Vineyard. This is an historic vineyard on the western slopes of The Mayacamas Mountains. The Vineyard begins on the downward slopes and ends on Route 29. Farmed by the same family since the 1800's, it is finally getting the recognition that it deserves based on selling fruit to others and the others labeling it as Lewelling Vineyard!

This wine is singing right now. Full-bodied, black and blue fruit, strong yet well integrated tannins. Dark purple in the glass, a great balance of acid, tannins and long-aging structure. A little creamy with a mineral streak that cuts through everything. chocolate notes on the mid-palate and on the long finish. I haven't had a sip in 15 minutes and I still taste this gem in my mouth. It is a great representation of wine from St. Helena.

4/29/2024 - Badmonkey wrote:

Dark ruby fruit - currants, dark cherry, and blackberry. Fruit forward and fairly rich but a little structure which was nice in comparison to the 2020 vintage which is a fruit bomb. Smooth mid-palate with solid depth/concentration - medium plus body. Nice vibrant flavors of cassis, some spice/licorice, and a little graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep. Popped/poured but drank out of a decanter for a couple hours. Not much improvement with time but appears to be at a nice drinking point. A solid vintage of this wine but the 97 rating from Dunnuck is generous in my opinion. 100% cab.

4/26/2024 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine:

WS Grand Tour (Walkaround Tasting) (New Orleans): I did not spend much time on this one but I was pleasantly surprised. Would buy.

4/26/2024 - Decanting Queen wrote:

WS Grand Tour (Walkaround Tasting) (New Orleans): This was drinking like a very average Napa cab. Very disappointed given the price point, producer and vintage. Maybe context (mass wine tasting) or maybe the bottle, but it didn’t do it for me.

4/24/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

PHILLY CT GATHERING -DR CRANE NIGHT
Sean suggested that we kick off the evening with the two '14 that were brought to the table. Why not? 10 years seems like a great starting point for high end Napa cabs. I gave this wine 90 minutes of air in the bottle. This was good to go, and got better with time in the glass. great aromas of blackberries. terrific balance, purity of fruit and polished tannins. Blackberries, black currants, hints of tobacco, leather and tar. finished with nice minerality. this is likely drinking at its peak.

Overall, Dr Crane impresses for the depth and purity of fruit, balanced with a great sense of minerality. Overall, the 2014s have drunk well, up to this point in time

4/26/2024 - Yack Man Likes this wine:

Pretty much in line with my last bottle, a good wine but not showing as well as previous experiences. Good, but not special. 92+ Points.

4/10/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

The Cyclist and I decided to see how a pair of 2018 Howell Mountain cabs are coming along. Admittingly, these tend to drink best with a few more years, based upon past experience. I gave this two hours in the decanter, and it was drinking well with some improvement with time. rather fruit foward, red/black, not surprising given that TRB is the winemaker. Not overly complex but some hints of anise, chocolate. well integrated tannins. hint of smoke/dryness on the finish.
a bit more fruit forward than other Howell Mountain cabs, so it will likely drink well early.

4/25/2024 - Cyclist Likes this wine:

Have heard about this wine for years. Touted as the best domestic US Chardonnay people have ever had. An absolute treat, this lives up to the talk, even with several years of age on it now. A beautiful, French-styled white that is so effortlessly balanced, while remaining quite bold at the same time. I would be glad to have more of these in my cellar.

4/6/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

Still quite primary and a bit of a fruit bomb, but lovely black plums, blackberries, and dark cherries. Should be even better once the oak fully integrates

4/23/2024 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine:

Better than a year ago. Bold & rich fruits. Effortless to drink.

4/24/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

Brought by WGDM to tonight's dinner......decanted for about 2 hours and enjoyed over 2-3 more during dinner with teriyaki skirt steak. Drinks much more reduced with no juicy glycerin noted. Feels like......just Cabernet? Pretty standard at this stage. So different from what I am accustomed to with Outpost. Small amount left under Repour stopper to try tomorrow.....

Next day....more cassis, but slightly bitter and a lot more acidity upfront and throughout. Changed only minimally over another hour. I'm going to assume that this '14 vintage is just in a weird phase right now. I'd be very disappointed if I was holding these expecting 98 pts going forward. I've always questioned what happens to these big fruit bomb cabs as they age. I just don't know what the next phase holds for this one........

4/24/2024 - kend707 Likes this wine:

Wow, this wine is so close to being over the top that you have to stop and categorize all the attributes of this wine. The fruit is huge cherry and plum. Tannins are abundant but well integrated. Nose is from another planet; one can smell it three feet from the glass. The finish is beyond long, with a slight pepper tinge. Folks should be talking about this offering. I'm buying more tonight! This wine has a long life ahead of it. Was decanted three hours. I may decant longer next time.

4/23/2024 - sean7711 Likes this wine:

Philly CT Wine Meetup - Dr. Crane

Echo Frankenberry's notes here. Excellent structure and balance. Almost transitioning to secondary phase but the fruit still shines. There was not much left of this at the end of the night!

4/22/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

Similar my first bottle. black fruits, well balanced. Required about an hour of air

4/15/2024 - csimm wrote:

I LOVE fresh Sauv Blanc right out of the tap. I’ve found my interest in SB waning a bit, to be honest; however, when you have the right one, it really hits the spot. I know there are some smoking jacket types who like their SBs with age, but I say nope to a bunch of that. I want this right now. Poppin New Kids on the Block fresh, with all the Right Stuff (not the astronaut movie, but the song…get it…? …anyway…). This 2023 is turned up to 11 compared to the 2022, with fresh squeezed everything amplified to perfect chord without ever coming off too loud. No noise here. Just a kickin hook with a catchy melody. Ice cold and perfect. Body. Acid. Poppin lime and honeydew notes playing dodgeball with a blade or two of grass. Finishes relatively smooth, indicative of a top white BDX. Drink now. Drink cold.

4/15/2024 - csimm wrote:

The fruit-friendly Genie is a good warm up to the over-the-moon performance of the 2021 Bella Oaks. The Genie is young and gliding on the lighter side of achieving substantial depth at this juvenile stage. It is a bit sweet right now, with black cherry and vanilla dominating. The finish is pleasant and easy going, like playing catch with your kid (assuming your kid can actually throw a ball).

The 2021 Bella Oaks is a flashmob of flavor in comparison. Not surprisingly, more mid-palate density with the Bella Oaks, which is kinda an unfair comparison. The Genie should be given a few years in bottle to form up, which I believe it most certainly will. Personally I think it’s a mistake here to use this as a right-now wine while waiting for your Bella Oaks to age. I think Genie should start hitting its stride in a couple-three years. With air, it really starts to amalgamate more. Final sips are the best.

The Kinsman Hiero showed elevated complexity and development potential compared to the Genie at this flash of time. Price-point here is obviously very attractive by Napa standards. Very nice inaugural run at this wine!

80% CS, 10% CF, 10% PV. 22 months in 76% new oak. 552 cases.

4/9/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

One hour double decant. Deep dark intense magenta color. Blueberry, crumble coffee cake, and red currant jelly. Dry, sultry palate. Plush, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.

This is one of the best Napa CS below $100. I’ve had three bottles now and it’s very consistent. Not likely to get better, but it doesn’t need to.

4/8/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

Two hour slow ox, followed by a 90-minute decant. Deep, dark, yet intensely vibrant magenta color. Ripe black cherry, olive oil cake, wild strawberry, and Italian parsley. There are also background notes of lemon zest, baker’s chocolate, and mushroom. Smooth, dry, medium+ bodied palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish.

This is one of the better QPR bottlings made by Thomas Rivers Brown. Great complexity for under $100. It continued to improve over 45 minutes of drinking.

4/10/2024 - Cablover1982 Likes this wine:

Big, ripe and opulent as always. Crushed blackberries, red cherries, fresh raspberries, dark chocolate, mocha, cigar wrapper and licorice. Great finish. Cheers!

4/6/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

Last bottle of the '16 in my cellar. Pnp'd and enjoyed over about 3 hours of total airtime.

I've always been curious to see what one of these 'entry level' Venge's would do with 8-10 years of age since they are made primarily to be early drinkers. My last bottle in Sept/'22 was still going strong and a 95. This bottle appears to be falling apart/disjointed quite a bit.

Still dark magenta/purple in the glass, still a basic Napa graphite cab nose but the fruit is fading a bit now which is revealing more acid and alcohol being pushed to the forefront. I still enjoyed this bottle, but it's the lowest scoring bottle of Silencieux I've ever had across many vintages. I don't see any reason to continue holding/aging these any longer if you have them in your cellar......IF this is indicative of where they all are now. Then again, it could just be the first off bottle of Silencieux I've ever had?

4/7/2024 - iamandyc Likes this wine:

Still going strong! Rich with oak notes in a velvety package. Good backbone of tannins and acidity on the finish. Consistently good.

4/6/2024 - Badmonkey wrote:

Curious since it’s Thomas Rivers Brown’s first vintage of this wine. Dark ruby fruit - currants, blackberry, dark cherry, and some plum. Smooth mid-palate with solid depth/concentration. Nice rich flavors of cassis, some spice/licorice, cocoa, and a little graphite component. Decent finish but not overly long nor deep - it could use some more time to open-up with the finish which isn’t a surprise in light of its youth. Decanted for four hours and drank over a couple more. Improved a little with time. Drank next to a 2021 Quivet Napa cab on its third day and I thought the Quivet was a couple points better. Nonetheless, a solid vintage of this wine - 93 for me at this youthful stage. 98% cab sauvignon and 2% petite syrah.

3/23/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

AN EVENING WITH PAM STARR: Philly CT get together with Pam and Cyrus from Crocker & Starr. Started the evening with this new release alongside appetizers. Such a great expression of valley floor cab franc, from the estate vines in St Helena, adjacent to BV vineyards. Rich, floral, with gobs of black and red fruits, violets, cardamom, hints of cedar. Terrific, layered mouthfeel , great balance and acidity. A decadent and satisfying wine
Fairly old vines in rocky soils if I remember correctly

3/17/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

I love what Jeff Ames does over at Del Dotto. We gave this 3 hours of air, and it was good to do. A very dense wine of concentrated red and black fruits, with dark cherries, blackberries standing out, mixed with forest floor, anise, tapenade. Still has a nice tannic grip on the back end. No discernible tertiary notes at this point.
I’m not sure that this would stand out in a crowd of similarly priced wines, but it went great with lamb chops

3/3/2024 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

I gave this an hour decant, and thought it was best between hours 1 -2. blueberry and cassis on the nose and palate. I like the grip and structure on the mid palate and finish - nice gritty tannins, minerality. It went a bit soft after hour three as the tannins faded.
Probably the best vintage of Post Parade I have had. Starting to view this as a level up from TRB projects like Caterwaul. Pretty solid vineyard sources here, as others have mentioned

4/3/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

Haven't reviewed one of these in about 5 months.....

Picked up at auction, at roughly half price. Opened too close to dinner to really enjoy, as it needed every bit of 2+ hours to fill out and perform, right now.

Thin and fruity to start. Opaque dark magenta in the glass. Nose of oaky, brambly dark berries with forest floor elements and vanilla. Boozy in alcohol throughout. It's stated on the bottle at 14.8%. This bottle was 'high octane' and felt like more. Deepens and integrates better with 2+ hours of air. Red/dark red fruited mostly on the palate. Riveting acidity. Lots of energy currently. Very enjoyable in spite of the boozy-ness at present. Funny, how some of these bottles are more out of balance than others. I find this bombastic Cali 'style' awesome from time to time, but overall, a lot less than what I did 10-15 years ago. To me, this big fruity style is best drinking in this early window. Not sure that it ages out and gives you much more than alcohol, later on?

4/1/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

90-minute decant. Deep dark purplish magenta color. Stewed blackberry, French toast, plum jam, and subtle sage and walnut. Smooth, dry palate, with nice, silty acidity. Full, lower intensity tannins on the longish finish.

I think a shorter decant (30-60 min) would have been better. Might even try a PNP next time. Not quite as enjoyable as my bottle a year ago, but still very good. This was just a touch tart on the palate.

3/31/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

Two hour decant. Very very deep intense ruby magenta color. Fig, chocolate, blackberry, red velvet cake (with cream cheese frosting), graphite, and subtle pistachio. Smooth, dry, full bodied palate. Firm, full, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.

I last tried this at the winery more than two years ago (with Mark1NPT). It’s solid, but very Venge (i.e., somewhat candied/syrupy). I think I like Silencieux more than his more expensive bottlings. I want fruit forward, but not syrupy or extracted. The other three at our gathering would have given this a 95+.

3/21/2024 - Decanting Queen Likes this wine:

A pleasant surprise—both that it was served at a work event, and also that it is drinking so well already. I like SO (I know, another polarizing) but I usually like it to settle down for 5-7 years before I drink it.
This was definitely structured, but I found the tannins pleasant and a great foil for the rich dark soily fruit. It was served pnp.
This is the exact kind of wine I would like to have on hand at home when I want to scratch this itch of something pretty good but not my best bottles and no time for prep.
Tried the Caymus that was being served afterwards and no comparison, the silver oak was so much more complex and serious while still pleasurable.

3/5/2024 - hanasowner wrote:

Splash decant...still a bit tight with noticeable tannins.

3/19/2024 - ftsai71@gmail.com Likes this wine:

This was much better than last year. We had it over two nights and it was much better the second night. I would recommend a 30 minute to an hour decant. This was a really nice version of a California Rhone, lots of tannin still and great fruit. It's a little more black fruit for me than red fruit. On the second night, it felt more complex it tasted more of the syrah in the mid-palate which I couldn't taste the first night.

3/18/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

Thirty minute decant. Deep dark magenta color. Black currant, bing cherry, pistachio, and leather. Super smooth, dry, satiny palate. Full tannins on the longish finish.

Very easy drinking 5th growth that is underrated IMHO. Went great with my “duck three ways” at August (French bistro) in New Orleans.

3/17/2024 - sean7711 Likes this wine:

Belated birth of first child wine. Opened 24 hours in advance. Dark purple hues, beautiful wine, classic Rutherford dust. Worth the price? Probably not. But If I could drink this every day I’d be a happy man. Definitely a wine worthy of a special celebration. This was probably opened a tad on the earlier side, so I think 5-7 more years this will be in an even better place.