5/11/2014 - rwatkin Does not like this wine:

Flat and past its prime. Earlier bottles much better....

5/11/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Silky smooth with moderate tannins acidity. Went well with food. Recommend drink now

5/11/2014 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Fabulous Barolo. Complex fruit on midpalate. Consider yourself lucky if you have this wine. Much to think about. This bottle showed brillantly

4/6/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Nose of roses and tar. Light brown rim. Acidic finish that lessened over time. Fruit on midpalate is receding as the mushroom and forest flavors take hold. Went well with Turkish lamb dish. I would drink know.
Not the '97 but awfully good

3/2/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Blew me away with its combination of power, complex fruit flavors and tannins. Should get even better with age. Decanted for 1 hour

3/1/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

This bottle was disappointing...overly tart and acidic finish. It had lost the depth of flavor i had noticed in previous 1999s.

3/1/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Very intense nose of black pepper. Wine was smooth and elegant in the mouth but featured a vegetal, greenl taste on the finish..More Northern Rhone in taste profile. Likely that a few years of bottle age would improve this wine

3/1/2014 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Absolutely gorgeous. Rich, lush fruit but very focused. Loved drinking this 2011, and this was an "off" year

2/1/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Popped and poured, which was a mistake. Dense syrah that is just beginning to show Syrah flavor profile. I will wait 2-3 years to try my next bottle. Great wine that will get a much higher scrore in a few years.
Decant for a few hours if drinking now.

2/1/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

This zin surprised me. It had alot of fruit, alot of spice, cracked pepper, alot of tannin and a nice acidic finish. All the pieces are here and i would not be surprised if it comes together more with age. Great Turley

2/1/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

The wine was a light elegant syrah that was a bit thin and finished with an offputting vegetal taste on the finish. I expected a bit more.

1/13/2014 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

I liked the bright red fruit of this pinot which has an underlying density at midpalate that improved on the second day. Not the most complex pinot of earthy, forest, and mushroom flavors, but a cheerful wine that is a pleasure to drink. My second bottle, this had improved since last summer when i drank my other.

1/5/2014 - rwatkin wrote:

Lean though with a certain elegance. The green/tannic finish was off-putting. I will hold my other bottle for several years. Hopefully it will smooth out. I was surprised by the lack of mid-palate fruit in a great Burgundy vintage.

12/26/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

This has really improved since i first tasted it in 2012. Lush fruit on midpalate that is underpinned by a noticeable supporting weight. Tannin and acidity balance this quite nicely Gorgeous wine to drink now, but might improve a bit, gaining complexity if you wait. Classic Pauillac tastes of cassis and pencil lead.

12/10/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

My second bottle. Felt this one had entered a closed phase. Tasted more like lean claret than grenache. Will wait a year or two to try next bottle

12/10/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Disappointing. I found the wine to be a huge gob of cabernet-based fruit on the mid-palate with too much acidity on the finish. Even though i know this was a difficult vintage i expected more complexity from pontet-canet. I will wait a couple of years to open my next bottle.

11/30/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Past its prime. Noticeable browning in color, the wine was mellow and one dimensional, balanced by some acidity. Tannins had receded. Still worked with salame and parmesan. Wish i had opened this bottle 2-3 years ago

11/3/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Well done Roussane/Viognier blend. Thought it liked acidity on the finish and thus was a bit flabby at the end

10/19/2013 - rwatkin Does not like this wine:

Very disappointing. Still had a bright garnet color in glass, but the wine had a souring taste at midpalate with a puckering acidic finish. Decanted for 1-2 hrs. This tasted past its prime

10/13/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

A huge mouthfull of juice that clocks in at about 16% alcohol..it still maintains intense flavors and focused fruit taste in the mid-palate. I thought the 2011s from Paso would be "smaller" wines. Should calm down in a couple of years, but i love it now

10/13/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

My last of 6 bottles. This one tastes more like the Northern Rhone with pronounced wet earth and barnyard flavors. No quite as good as previous bottles as the mid-palate fruit and the integration of flavors was not as much in evidence.

10/13/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Intense and focused. I like the fact that the grenache fruit does not stray into the bigger, Paso style. Great wine here that shows the complex side of grenache as opposed to the "slutty" style, which i like to. Should age quite well for 5-8 yrs.

10/13/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Perhaps i should have waited 6 mos or decanted. I found the wine a bit wound up and tannic. I will wait another year or two to try the next bottle. Since it is made by Keplinger I expected a bit more

9/22/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Fascinating mix of a Northern Rhone wet earth nose with a dense fruit midpalate a la California. The wine then returned to its terroir with firm tannins and nice acidity at the end. It could easily go for 5 more years

9/22/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

I found the wine surprisingly one dimensional on the midpalate, very mature fruit flavors with noticeable tannin and acidity. I was expecting a bit more fruit based on recent reviews. However the tannin and acidity were still prominent and made it more food friendly. It went very well with a spicy Italian meat and sausage dish. I don't have the expertise to say if this can improve with additional age.

9/14/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

This was a $30 Barolo that really overachieves. Surprised by the density of the black fruit on the midpalate , balanced with what i would say is more than enough acidity. It might be too acidic for some, but I thought it went well with food. The color was brick red, not the brown i have seen in other old barolos. Drink now

9/2/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

The wine was brownish red in the glass and had a port-like nose.
On the palate it was quite elegant but did have a port taste at mid-palate.
The tannins were polished and balanced with a bit of acidity on the finish.
a bit disappointing considering the producer and vintage. I will try my other bottle soon.

8/21/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Bright fruit but not the depth of flavor i have had in previous vintages of this wine. Quite tasty nonetheless

8/21/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Elegant, lean, but with plenty of Cab fruit flavor to pull everything together. Outstanding value in a Cab/Bordeaux blend. Outstanding wine

7/2/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

This bottle featured much more glycerine, a full-bodied mid-palate, with less acidity and tannin on the finish. More intense but less complex. Still, quite tasty

6/23/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Really flawless Barolo. Elegant midpalate balanced by a clean acidic finish. The rose/tar flavors have integrated beautifully. I could have finished the entire bottle. It should last for years but there is no reason to wait...it is too good now!

5/26/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Absolutely flawless Barbaresco. This surprised me with its smooth integrated flavor profile. Alot of tar on the nose and mid palate with medium tannin but not hard acidic finish. Still plenty of fruit. Hard to stop drinking this!

5/19/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Had all the classic Pauillac flavors, but i thought it too tannic at this stage to warrant a higher score. I will try my next bottle in 2-3 years

5/19/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

I found the tar and mineral flavors a bit too pronounced. The wine had the distinctive northern Rhone nose of barnyard and wet earth, but i could have used flavors associated with Syrah. Held up to grilled sausage, but not a wine to drink on its own. Still quite tannic. Needs moretime?

5/11/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Still intense and a bit tannic on the finish, but a good intro to Napa cabernet-based wines. I don't know why Madrigal does not list the varietals used in the blend.

5/11/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Pure hedonism, and i loved it. The mourvedre, grenache and syrah all
add respective pieces to a gorgeous whole. Should age well, but why wait? Intense, full throttle, pedal to the metal...hallmarks of Herman Story wines

5/11/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

This tastes like no cab franc i have ever had. Much more full-bodied pronounced and very focused flavor profile...a great wine

4/28/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Popped and poured--a mistake! The wine was too dense and tannic at this stage. Better with grilled lamb sausage. Would recommend decanting for hours or just waiting 3-5 years. Obviously has great potential. Needs food and time.

4/22/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Lush wine that was difficult to stop drinking. It had earthy mushroom nose overlaid with bright red fruit aromas. The fruit on the palate made for a slightly more mouth filling pinot, all balanced with a focused acidic finish. I now know why Samsara wines have such a good reputation

4/14/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Wanted to add I drank this after decanting the wine for 6 hours

4/14/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

A bit hot and pruny the first night. More reserved and integrated the second night. Very good but not among Turley's best

4/14/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

Gorgeous, elegant mature Barolo. Flavors of mushroom, tar, and roses have integrated seamlessly. Still features a balanced acidic finish. Difficult to stop drinking!

1/26/2013 - rwatkin wrote:

A beautiful California Syrah from start to finish. Lush Syrah fruit is definitely in the forefront. This should develop well for years but it is quite tasty now.

1/13/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

I really liked the elegant midpalate, the tannic finish with a
noticeable taste of Piedmont "terroir". From start to finish this wine has held up well over the years. Still drinking well

12/31/2012 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

Syrah does not get much better than this. Elegance, power focus, tannin, fruit, great balance. I could go on. More fruit in the midpalate would have warranted an even higher score, but I am quibbling. This is a stunning wine that is markedly better than the amazingBella's Garden I recently tasted

12/25/2012 - rwatkin Likes this wine:

I have always read that 2002 was a bad year in Bordeaux...but this Pontet Canet was awfully good. Lots of dark fruit, spice, and a brambly
finish with solid tannins. Went well with a Christmas tenderloin. It must have another 8-10 years left for those who want to age further

12/21/2012 - rwatkin wrote:

Disappointing for a Cote Rotie...

12/5/2012 - rwatkin wrote:

I loved the focused, clean mid-palate with laser-like fruit.
The fruit went well with the mineral notes on the finish. Really well done. Drink now

11/24/2012 - rwatkin wrote:

This was awfully good...dense fruity mid-palate and pronounced tannins on the finish.
Tasted more like a classified growth than a cru bourgeois. Should have a number of years
left

11/12/2012 - rwatkin wrote:

Absolutely gorgeous with gobs of fruit still prominent. Better than the bottle i had last year. I am surprised this wine has lasted so long.