1/6/2013 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Lovely wine. Rather full, balanced wine. Ripe berries on the nose with some spiciness. Black currant, blackberry, cinnamon, a bit of chocolate. Very polished wine, well made. Ready now but no hurry to drink up. Fabulous WTSO purchase.

1/6/2013 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

I don't really get this wine. Lots of VA, tart, medium weight. Some interesting but somewhat rustic earthy, woody, mushroomy, meaty flavors. Medium finish. I'm thinking this will be a polarizing wine -- love it or hate it.

11/19/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

We are off to LA tomorrow and I decided to pull out something from the Fall delivery deluge. And I made a seriously good choice.

It's hard to believe that such a young wine can be this complete. Remarkable beautiful nose of rich, rich fruit -- red and black fruit -- and a bounty of spice, sandalwood. Maybe a little vanilla, burnt sugar?? This is nose candy. The empty glass smells great. Pretty big wine, not shy. Lovely ripe dark cherry fruit with a bright tart finish. with more Asian spice.

11/3/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Tart, fairy lean, not much fun at this point. 12% alcohol so perhaps the grapes weren't as ripe as usual. I'm going to give this some time to see if it rounds out and softens a bit.

10/24/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

This may be a Pinot that leads Oregon Pinot lovers to raise their brows. It's big, it has oak, it's extracted, it's black fruit. It is also friggin' delicious. Plus it does have a real core of the minerality that I love in OR pinot. Still dark, still with some tannin. And again still delicious with a long, long finish with nutmeg and other spices.

This certainly has the big body of many CA central coast wine but it's Oregon when it comes down to it.

10/6/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

A little hot at first. Ultimately lovely nose with cinnamon and cardamon, with plums and a bit of oak. Medium bodied, fully resolved, more spice - cinnamon, asian spice - ripe fruit but still taut and together. More complex over time, alcohol receding. Long finish of ripe but still tart fruit, cherries maybe and spice with a cleansing bit of acidity. I wouldn't worry if I had more bottles (sniff, sniff, I don't) but I'd drink over the next few years.

A pretty wine of both richness and finesse. Well done!

9/22/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Big, spicy, full. Lovely wine, a big but in control Central Coast Pinot. Black fruit. Very spicy on the palate and finish. Some tannin. I think this will age pretty well over the next 5 years.

9/8/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Beautiful purple-red. Nice nose of blackberries, bit ripe raspberry, Am. oak, spice. Some tannin but mostly resolved. Medium bodied with great Zin fruit with the Petite adding some pepper, black fruit and earth to the mix. Lovely spice finish with enough acidity to balance the ripe fruit.

I didn't notice the high alcohol content, finding it beautifully balanced and a pleasure to drink. It's in a great place. With a case remaining I'll try again in 3 months. Yum.

9/8/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

This wine was abused, moved from place to place with less than optimal storage. So I had my doubts. Took it with us for a boy's trip to Pinehurst. (As an aside, Pinehurst has incredible customer service. And the golf ain't half bad either.)

Opened and decanted at the 1898 Grille. Still very deep, dark purple-black. On the nose, dark berries, mint, a bit oak, some earth and coffee. Big and inviting. On the palate, still some tannin, big, black, black fruit, ripe blackberries. Mouthcoating. More coffee, med herbs, tar - I loves me some tar in a big red. Long and big finish. The wine opened some more over dinner but didn't change much. Quite complex.

Wonderful now but I'm betting this will be fine in 10-20 years too. Still a big treat and a great way to finish off a day that started with 18 at the Crenshaw-restored Pinehurst #2.

8/24/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Beautiful deep red-purple hue. A bit hot on the nose. Forward very spicy toasty nose, warm. A big beautiful mouthful of Zin. Mélange of spice, complex bright fruit with plum, tart raspberry. Nice long coating Zin finish.

A lusty and satisfying wine, a really terrific Zin from a classic vineyard. Points off for the heat but high, high on the yummy factor.

7/25/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Old Sterling Vineyards reds: Ruby with light edges, no browning. Soy, brown sugar, straw nose. Light to med body. Alive but not much going on. A tad astringent. Bit leather and rose petals. Soy. Sweet nose. Bit lemon. Later more soy but no sugar. Rounder, more weight, more interesting with time. Herbal, soy, bit smoke later. 2nd day, muted nose, hanging on but not a whole lot of pleasure.

Well worth the $10 from Winebid for a bit of Napa history.

7/25/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Old Sterling Vineyards reds: Soaked cork. Brown edges, medium red ruby. Much darker than the Pinot. Musty, dusty nose, a little funk. Alive. Astringent finish. More soy now after a bit. Gaining weight. Bit mint and meat. In an hour bigger. Meaty. Not bad. Lots more sediment than the 71 Pinot. Survived to day 2 but more muted nose, held on better than the Pinot.

An interesting experience and well worth the $10 from Winebid.

7/22/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Deep red-purple. Beautiful nose of spice, some oakiness, plum. Medium to full bodied this is a pure complex expression of Cab. Plum, blackberry, cassis, cocoa, with great mouthfeel. Long and lively finish with just a bit of tannin. A delightful, rich, ripe (but balanced) cab that will appeal to those with an aversion to astringent tannins. A beautiful expression of RRV cab.

7/15/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Recommended by Jenn at Barley & Wine (we'll miss you!). Fairly dark, deep red. The nose, reticent at first, but opening up to flowers, burnt sugar, some earth and spice. Still a bit tannic this really opened up over 2 hours. Chocolate, ripe blackberries, burnt sugar, forest/tobacco and a nice long somewhat tannic and clean finish. A rich but in proportion wine that hits on all cylinders and has a good 5-year future ahead of it. High yum factor.

Plays above its pay grade.

7/13/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

I had a very bad day (my golf game got rained out on 7 and I was playing really well) so I pulled this out to make the hurt go away . Sniff, sniff.

Perhaps a bit lighter around the edges than the last bottle, still pretty deep red. Still a ripe and rich nose, flowers, black fruit, spice but not showing minerally aspects. Medium-full bodied, big for OR Pinot but not overblown. Great Asian spices, ripe blackberries, a bit of forest floor. Medium finish, lovely spice, ripe fruit but not a bit cloying or over-ripe.

This was perhaps not up to a bottle last year but still a damn good cup a Murto. Still have 3 left so I think I'll wait a year or two before my next taste.

As an aside, we had a 2003 BP Murto at Joel Palmer's a couple of weeks ago. I haven't written up the TN yet, but it was really singing and fresh. I'm guessing Brian is up to the challenge of ripe vintages!

6/22/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

PnP. Medium red, light rim. Dusty, musty nose with significant heat. Stewed fruits, earthy, mushroom, medium length finish. Later, more stewed fruits on the nose, turning sweet and a bit clumsy. Not bad but a disappointment.

4/8/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

From what is considered a feminine grape, from an area and vineyard, the RRV’s Olivet Lane, that often produces sexy, ethereal and feminine wines (and along with the WV is my favorite home for the grape), and from a female producer/winemaker which is largely irrelevant really but makes for a nice trilogy, comes this rollicking, adventurous, blockbuster of a Pinot.

Staying with the analogy I might compare this wine to Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien but it seems more Steve McQueen as Hilts in The Great Escape: brooding, bigger-than-life but also mysterious, complex and surprisingly nuanced once one looks under the hood. Add in Merry Edwards as Katniss in the Hunger Games.

I could talk about the deep red and the spicy, spicy nose, the bright explosive fruit with lovely burnt sugar on the nose and palate, the undercurrent of mineral and rose petals that stay in the background and the long satisfying finish. But I won’t. ;-)

Let’s just say this was one deeply satisfying wine to accompany the third round of the Masters and a lovely lamb stew. I just hope that Phil Mickelson as Hilts 'The Cooler King' actually makes it over the fences and out alive this time to put on his 4th Green Jacket as we finish the remainder of the bottle this evening.

My wine of 2012 so far.

1/5/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

With nearly a case on hand we figured now was a good time to check on this one. I've found some 08s not in the greatest place at this time, losing the baby fat but not yet gaining a lush complexity. This baby was not that all. Clearly Oregon, with minerals and herb with lovely bright fruit and an excellent lingering finish. Beautiful mouthfeel and length. Perhaps better on day 2. I'm betting we're just beginning to see its potential and I'll stretch out the drinking of these babies.

Really a beauty.

1/5/2012 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Brought to a Xmas party and didn't spend much time analyzing but I remember a pretty and pretty dense Zin with good concentration and reasonable extraction and alcohol. Take the points with a grain of salt but certainly a good wine.

12/27/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Not bad, can't complain...what's the rest of the John Prine song? A bit flavor challenged but a decent drink at $20.

12/27/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Spoofilated but tasty wine. Decent depth of flavor just seems a bit manufactured. Good at $20 but just okay at $32.

12/27/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Cork stained 2/3 up but looked pretty good. Decanted but little sediment. Nose of rose petals with some barnyard (so go stand by a newly fertilized but blooming rose garden). The earthy flavors continue in a medium bodied and fully resolved wine. Some cherry and just a touch of soy. The earthy garrique melange made for an interesting experience. (Others couldn't get past the barnyard.) Better than a previous bottle.

9/4/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Great fruit accompanied by bracing acidity. Minerals, citrus with a full crisp finish. 89+ as I think this will improve.

9/4/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

I don't why but I wasn't expecting much from this wine. Now I'm glad to discover that I have 4 more bottles left! This medium bodied beauty is one to sneak into a tasting with a few of the "07s have no fruit" crowd in attendance. Really balanced and lovely expression of Pinot.

9/4/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Rich, lovely nose of forest and red fruit. Balanced and full. The 2008s seem to be getting to a good place but I need to remember to keep my hands off of them and leave some for the longer trem.

9/4/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Wow, started out a bit reserved but was tremendous by the last glass. Medium bodied, coming into a great place. Spice, rhubarb, rich beautiful fruit. Great nose and long finish

8/20/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Quick note. Lovely bright nose with a bit of a minty component. Medium bodied, lovely fruit with some forest floor and black cherry. Medium length finish. Very nice with a light summery pasta dish. Lovely now and will improve.

4/14/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Bummer I forgot to write a note when we drank this a couple of weeks ago but I was very impressed. Ripe without being overblown, still quite young, lip smacking good.

4/14/2011 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Still pretty dark, deep red. My first impression was "This is still really young." Rich fruit with excellent acid backbone. Some forest floor and an anise thing going on in the nose and a bit of candy. Medium to full bodied. Lovely herbs and more deep ripe fruit as it opens. Delicious long finish with red and black fruit. A pretty dense Pinot with a good life ahead of it though there is little tannin remaining.

High on both the yummy factor and the intellectual interest scale.

11/27/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

This falls in the there are no great old wines just great bottles. The cork was good, the fill was bottom of neck. Unfortunately the wine was tired with little fruit and not much to recommend it.

11/4/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Sadly this bottle was pretty shot, maderized. Not undrinkable but not much fun either. I haven't had a SM Riesling in a while but I was expecting much more.

I wonder about the storage so no score.

11/4/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

I was wondering how Brian would do with OR fruit. Fairly dark and not unexpectedly a bit riper than many OR PNs. 14.7% ABV. What a beautiful nose, wonderful cherry and raspberry with some spice and a touch of mineral/earth. The alcohol was no problem. The palate wasn't quite as impressive but the fruit was lovely, ripe but medium bodied with a somewhat muted finish. Overall a well done California rendition of OR fruit!

11/4/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

A quicky mini-tasting note.

I first drank a Dr. Frank Riesling back in the late 70's. For those who don't know Dr. Frank was one of the first (maybe THE first) to successfully make vinifera in the Finger Lakes. I haven't had any of the wines in a while.

Medium/light yellow. Beautiful nose of citrus and a bit of petrol. Delightfully zingy with attractive and ripe fruit that went perfectly with some speckled trout in butter. Two days later the last glass had lost most of the zing and showed some RS that was hidden on day 1 but also a bit of richness. Still nice but a bit flabby.

A really nice showing and a wine that would not have seemed out of place along side a good Kabinett.

10/29/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Rich, oaky, pretty and vibrant fruit. Some tannic bite. Lots of chocolate and vanilla, decent finish but fairly simple at this point. Good cookbook, cookie-cutter cab that will be popular. Time may help a bit but I'm doubting it'll ever be special. Not bad at $32.

10/26/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

With some friends at an excellent new tiny French Bistro style restaurant in Chapel Hill called Kitchen. The restaurant doesn't have a wine over $30 on the menu and tends to have off the beaten path old world wines with a smattering of new world but only a couple of US wines.

This rich and a bit funky wine is proof that California can make inexpensive (retail $14), interesting wines. The wine had ripe fruit with dark berry flavors but adds a bit of funk, earth, and coffee to the mix. Blind I might have guessed a good Languedoc with some Mourvedre and Syrah. Some tannin and I think this wine will be fine over the next 5 years. Good mouthfeel and finish. Picked at 24.5 Brix and IIRC a bit under 14%. A great accompaniment to the bistro food!

10/14/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Sorry, a bit lazy today. Very nice, good QPR, a bit modern with chocolate and delicious ripe fruit.

10/12/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

I really enjoyed this at Glasshalfull last night. A fairly modern style with chocolate, blackberries, black pepper and some tannins. Even with the tannins it is still pretty open already. A good bit of smoke and while medium bodied quite a mouthful but not chunky. Enough acid to cut through the fruit. Got better with some time open so I'd splash decant if I could. Really tasty with an excellent pork belly in plum sauce. Worked pretty well with the rutabaga soup with grilled onions and apple.

I would never have pegged this as Amarone as it doesn't have any raisiny/pruney flavors.

10/2/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Rich, spicy, full with some oak. Pretty impressive in a full blown oak style of OR PN.

10/2/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

From a bottle than my son brought me from his time in Argentina. This was a special bottling made for the winemaker's daughter's wedding. The front label said Cab, the back label said Malbec. So which was it?

Hard to tell, we both ended saying Malbec but I would bet his inheritance on it. Good medium bodied wine, earthy, smoke, and Med spices. Good fruit but that was in the background compared to the leaves, earthy, oregano, etc. Very food friendly.

10/2/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Medium weight, simple with an odd soap finish. A decent wine but the finish......

10/2/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

The SO loves the 06 of this wine so when it showed up on a local wine list she had to try it. Similar profile to the 06, but this is a deeper and richer wine. Nose of spice, red and black fruits, rhubarb. Some tannin and substantial heft follows with tea, more cherry and raspberry and spice. Nice finish with some complexity. No new barrels were used in aging.

The weight feels right -- it's not overblown at all, worked well with dinner and has a reasonable 14.3% alcohol level. Lovely now, this will blossom with a couple of years in bottle. 90+ and a step up from the less substantial 06.

From Bien Nacido, Torres, Riverbench, and Sierra Madre vineyards.

9/27/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Lovely nose of melon and lemon. Fairly rich with highlight on the nice tartness balanced by the melon and sweet lemon. A nice mouth feel that reflects this balance. Avoids the singing acids and cat pea faults without becoming flabby. Overall a nice round/tart and easy to drink SB that just misses being exceptional by a clipped finish and less than top notch depth of flavor. Decent value in the low $20s and quite food friendly.

9/23/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

This bottle had cleared up compared to the last delicious but very cloudy bottle we had.

Showing perhaps more grapefruit than the lemon in the first bottle. Still lovely ripe melon and maybe some vanilla in the nose. Check my past TN for more detailed notes, but this remains a top of the crowd Cal SB with richness, weight and a long finish. This is really a beautiful wine.

9/23/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Well, this is the second experience I've had like this recently. First the 2006 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Basalt Block was a bit flabby and soft. I'd found the Brittan excellent when we had it at the Carlton Winemakers' Studio last fall and thought it had a long life in front of it. I didn't like the Wahle quite as much but also thought that its tannins would soften and the wine would develop.

It's developed all right! If the Brittan was an Oregon Pinot masquerading as a Syrah then this is an OR PN gone Zinfandel. Quite dark with a nose of ripe black fruit and licorice. Too ripe, very soft with lots more licorice, candy and brown sugar on the palate. While the SO called it cough syrup, I wouldn't go that far. Still.....

I like Syrah and I love Zinfandel. The thing is I like my Pinot to taste like, uh, Pinot. This isn't a bad wine; it's just not the wine that I expected. Shows what I know.

9/10/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Short note: this is quite nice but not up to the quality of the Bergström and Penner-Ash and perhaps a step below the cheaper Lemelson and Bethel Heights. Still a very nice wine in tough company. B with a bit of an upside.

9/10/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Beautiful deep ruby. The nose was a bit earthy, but with great black and red fruit. Follows with a rich medium-full body and more of the earthy, forest floor, mushroom to go with the good ripe but minerally black cherry and tart raspberry. An already complex wine with a bright future. Easy buy at $33.

This is mostly Shea and Estate fruit but with a bunch of other contracted vineyards thrown in. A- now but this will get better

9/10/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

A tremendous nose on this $22 wine! Just lovely bright tart fruit and spice. I couldn't enough. On the palate it's medium bodied and really lively, just pure refreshing fruit. Not as impressive as the nose but this wine is a big winner. B+-A-

8/27/2010 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

My first glass after being open an hour with a glass poured for the SO. Unusually dark ruby red. Wow! An explosive nose that hits you way before you get the glass close. Beautiful Asian spice with dark tart cherry/berry, maybe a touch of cola and smoke. The wine fills the mouth, not ponderously or heavy but with dramatic opulent, beautiful fruit. The dark color doesn't lie; this is pretty big boned for a Pinot but it wears its scale well, a lusty 17th century bosomy nude not a skinny little fashion district tart. You know you're in for a sweaty roll in the hay with this baby! The fruit is delicious, the flavors a complex melange with a long satisfying finish. It has a bit of 06-style ripeness but it works with the high acid frame of this beauty. Still some tannins but they are fairly well resolved.

When we tried this at the winery I thought it had potential but wasn't sure where it would go. Now I know and the fact that we have only one left will send me on the chase for more. I'll bet it ages well but I might have trouble keeping my hands off it.

2/9/2004 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

From one of the older NC wineries, one that has lived off a good review of their wines by RP in the early 90s. This wine was the double gold grand champion at the 2003 NC Wine Competition. Very light yellow, the nose is very fragrant and rich with orange peels and honey. Fairly light in texture with some sweetness, maybe 2 or 3 percent. Decent acid balances the orange and leechee nut flavors. Fairly long floral and citrus finish. Well done and an excellent apertif wine that will be a crowd pleaser. Well priced at (I think) about $12.

3/7/2004 - ChrisBeacham wrote:

Shiraz/Cabernet (65/35). The shiraz plum and earth show better here on the nose compared to the Brave Face. I don’t taste the cab much, the shiraz is upfront. A step up from the Brave Face in quality and price. Pretty unctuous stuff. High $30s