11/2/2023 - dkanter Likes this wine:

Solid Classic Napa cab with room for improvement with more time. Nice balance after a 2 hr decant.

10/14/2023 - dkanter Likes this wine:

Ooooh this is really good. But still too young. Will revisit in 2 years with high expectations.

3/27/2023 - dkanter wrote:

Picked up a couple bottles at
Costco. 1 hour decant. Lightly seasoned porterhouse steaks on the grill. Smooth, elegant and balanced wine. Dark fruit. Nice compliment to the steaks and may improve with patience.

4/1/2022 - dkanter Likes this wine:

Wait a while. A fair amount here but will definitely benefit from more time in the cellar

3/12/2021 - dkanter wrote:

Meh. There’s some tasty fruit lurking in this wine but it gets overwhelmed by the ever present dominating influence of oak. Maybe a few more years in the cellar will balance things out but I won’t be buying again.

3/2/2021 - dkanter Likes this wine:

BGROPP4’s description of this wine pretty much sums it up. Opened last night to enjoy with a black angus filet and salad and it paired nicely. Delicious wine that’s drinking well. However, I would knock it down a point or two because at $50+ per bottle I want a bit more.

11/24/2020 - dkanter wrote:

Smooth, bright full bodied with a snap of acidity that’s an easy drinker and a screaming value. I’ve enjoyed several vintages of this wine.

7/27/2018 - dkanter wrote:

Tasty wine for the price that punches above its weight class.

3/22/2018 - dkanter Likes this wine:

I've tasted other vintages of Altamura but not in the past few years as it has my opinion that the quality to price ratio was not quite there. Each has been big, fruit forward, juicy and in most cases enjoyable. The 2009, however, seems to lack the balance/acidity of other vintages to keep the fruit and juiciness in check. Very easy to drink and tgasty, but became a bit one note after the second glass. I have one more bottle and will open it in the near future. Also have 2 bottle of the 2013. Perhaps that vintage will have more balance.
The wine looks purple colored. It tastes like blackberry. The body is full. The wine has juicy texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has low acidity.

12/7/2017 - dkanter wrote:

Not the depth of flavor and intensity I’ve come to expect from Trespass. An enjoyable but unremarkable Wine and certainly not a good QPR.

10/23/2017 - dkanter Likes this wine:

Exceptional bottle of wine, but still a baby. Really started to come around after about 3 hours. I have one bottle left and will hold on to it for another 12 months or so.

10/18/2017 - dkanter Likes this wine:

Not a huge fan of port style wines but instantly loved this selection while tasting at the winery in 2010 with Heather Griffin. Bought a few bottles of the 02 and 03 and pretty much forgot about them. While reorganizing my cellar tracker inventory and noticed the drinking window passed so we opened one last night. What a pleaseantly enjoyable surprise. The unctuous overwhelming sweetness seems to have dissipated and this is drinking very well right now. Enjoyed it with a blueberry tart. Will find occasion to drink remaining bottles and hope to have the same experience.

4/11/2017 - dkanter Likes this wine:

The drinking window for this wine shows 2020-2030 but I'll never find out. They make so little and it's so delicious now how can you resist drinking it. I swear the one bottle I have left whispered to me to open it now but I'm trying to resist. Dark fruit, rich, smooth and balanced. Just got my allocation of their recent releases. Maybe that will keep me away from that last bottle of Falstaff.

12/13/2014 - dkanter wrote:

Stunning. Big, bold and elegant all at the same time. Delicious fruit and very smooth. Sorry, I'm not capable of describing flavors (tar, chocolate, plum, etc.).

1/22/2013 - dkanter wrote:

This is drinking very nicely right now. Well integrated and the fruit is coming through. Not terrribly complex but delicious.

12/24/2012 - dkanter wrote:

A bit closed and somewhat disjointed upon opening but after an hour or so decant this baby really struts her stuff. Big, bold, smooth and elegant at once. Lots of sediment. Going to sit on the remaining couple of bottles for a bit

4/23/2011 - dkanter wrote:

My wife and I visited Darioush last fall. It was the last vineyard we visited on a three day guided tour of some spectacular wineries with our new bestest friend Dan Dolan of Reserve Wne Tours. After spending most of our time drinking wine on the back porch with the owners of small wineries we had been spoiled beyond belief. When we pulled up to Darioush we immediately thought we were going to be disappointed given the gaudy architecture and the tour bus parked outside. Fortunately, we had a reserve tasting with 3 other couples. We were taken away from the carnival atmosphere into a private room and treated to one of the best tours and tastings of our trip. Diana was fabulous. She poured the Viognier liberally throughout our tour then took us into the owner's private tasting room. We tasted a number of wines along with perfectly matched tid bits ending with the shahpar. WOW!! Grapefruit rind, just enough sweetness, flowers, smooth, spectacular. I just cooked dinner for my wife, mother, sister, mother. in law, sister in law and daughter. We ended a great meal with one of the two bottles of the Shahpar we purchased. What a hit. I wish I had purchased more. Spring for the expensive tour if you visit and keep your wife out of the lobby (my wife managed to leave with a nice piece of jewelry and a great hat that she wore to Stan and Joan Boyd's backyard party for the Oak Knoll winemakers later that day). We have a couple of cases of wine from Darioush - cab, shiraz, Viognier, and their luxury cab Darius II. It's expensive, but exceptional wine. Sorry for the editorial. I'll be touting the Dunn Howell Mountain cabernet shortly. We learned a thing or two from Randy Dunn while we were there.

4/22/2011 - dkanter wrote:

wm3395 has it right. medium body, great bouquet, flowers, vanilla, fresh acidity, very nice. Tasted this with Donny at the the vineyard late last summer. It will continue to improve over the next couple of years. Resist the urge and give it a bit more time. Trespass does amazing things with cab franc/cabernet blend.

4/19/2011 - dkanter wrote:

I wish I had a few more bottles of this vintage as this is really coming into it's own and drinking well right now. Opened to drink with dinner and was greeted with a nicely balanced combination of power and finesse. Not exceptional, but a very pleasurable wine for Tuesday night.

2/12/2011 - dkanter wrote:

This is definitely food wine. Funky nose at first that evolves after decanting for a couple of hours to menthol, crushed stone and maybe violets but not fruit. Somewhat austere, old world style. Wish I had a veal chop with Rosemary and thyme and mushroom risotto to go with it as the acidity (typical for Kelham wines) and minerals would be the perfect accompaniment. I would drink this now as it appears to be all it will ever be. (hey, Khill, holla at your apprentice!!!).

1/19/2011 - dkanter wrote:

Danielbleier is right on the money about this wine. A bit hot of the gate but smooths out with a little time in the glass. I'll decant the next bottle for an hour and see what happens. I think the price point for is wine is a bit on the high side for what i would consider a weeknight wine so I would knock off a couple of points for low QPR.

1/8/2011 - dkanter wrote:

This is not a pop and pour wine. Let it breath and open up. I love the Clio and El Nido wines. Yes, they are big and bold, but when you give them a chance to open up they show a number of dimensions. This vintage is starting to show it's stuff and the 06 may be closer to being ready than the 05.