March 27, 2024 - Nicely balanced mountain cab. Blueberry and black cherry on the palate. Medium finish. Moderate tannins. Black fruit on the finish with little else. Solid wine but one dimensional.
June 21, 2022 - Solid Cali Bdx blend, decant and pour.
April 6, 2022 - What a nice wine. Punches above the price, which was $35 a bottle. Part of that is the age — this is drinking well, smooth and not sweet. Nice ruby color, a bit of an indistinct bouquet to me and would agree with others that it is quite jammy. Boozy, too. But it isn’t too heavy on the acid. This tastes great for the price to me — comparing against a Paraduxx that was 50% more expensive. Good buy.
January 14, 2021 - This is a somewhat odd mix of a wine. There is a lot of talk about it being a more Bordeaux influenced bottle. But it's 15.5%(!!!!!!) right on the label. Even the big Napa Cabs don't always go up there. Interestingly it doesn't really show much heat. There is some nice leafy notes probably coming from it's hillier environs. Boldly fruit. Rich fruit flavors but not really a classic Bordeaux sort of mix. It does feel a bit heavy from all that alcohol. Again, not really out of balance. But certainly not a classic wine...unless the early aughts are your Napa classics. At $30 its a decent wine. Not in my wheel house but I know lots of people that would be happy with this. Watch your head.
August 13, 2020 - Lot of fruit.
July 18, 2020 - Surprisingly quite good. I had previously enjoyed the 2009 creation which had a Sonoma Pine Mountain AVA designation. Decanted and paired with a medium rare chargrilled ribeye with grilled asparagus. Medium purple color, full body wine. Aromatics and flavor profile reflect purple violets, sweet bing cherry, ripe blackberry, juicy black plum, milky chocolate, mixed herbs, and crusty dark earth. Very concentrated, developing fruits all supported by a grainy tannic and medium plus acidic structure. Great, long ending. Seems to be enough structure to support another 5-7 years of cellaring.
July 14, 2020 - This wine is a bit of a dichotomy. It mixes mountain fruit which typically lends itself to a bigger wine with a Bordeaux blend that is typically smoother and more elegant. This wine does a little of both. This was a PNP at a wine bar and needed an hour to blossom. The nose was a bit muted on opening but did develop with time as did the wine. On first taste it was a touch acidic but the tannins quickly followed to balance it out. Give this at least a 30 minute decant before drinking.
May 10, 2020 - Superb - breath for an hour and it’s singing - Napa fruits are there, but like a nice left bank Bordeaux are not smacking you in the face...
February 17, 2020 - Star of the night. Fantastic French style Napa Cabernet
April 4, 2019 - Seemed very characteristic of the other spring mountain cab blends I’ve had. Great value via last bottle