February 11, 2024 - With my nephew at our house. No detailed notes. Decanted for two hours and drank over another three. Dark ruby colour. Concentrated blue and dark fruit and some red fruit, a vegetal/herbaceous aspect that adds complexity but does not fully fit the rest of the picture, bitter chocolate, light tobacco, spices, and vanilla, with medium-level acidity, lightly grainy tannin, and very good persistence. The alcohol is lightly warming and felt higher than the 14% ABV stated on the label. The new oak is present, and the texture is grainy/sandpapery and not as smooth as one would hope for. The wine has great concentration and outstanding length but needs a few more year to integrate the oak and soften the texture. 91(+)
July 15, 2023 - Dark ruby color with medium legs. Oak, cassis and blackberry on the nose, which really opened up after two hours in the decanter. Chewy palate with plum and black tea dominate. Long leathery finish.
July 15, 2023 - Black fruit,
Blue fruit, cedar, cassis, herbal notes, leather finishes balanced A
February 12, 2023 - Super Bowl 2023: this was better than I expected, not a typical Calif fruit bomb but nuanced & sophisticated. I will try to provide more detailed notes later, but on the nose & palate ripe black and dark red fruits with a pleasant undertone of herbs de provence, lavender, thyme, mint along with cassis and a wonderfully smooth finish. Drinks very easy. Medium to dark garnet in the glass with long, slow legs. Medium acidity, alcohol; low sweetness. Decanted for an hour before serving and consumed over the course of the football game. Has the backbone to go another 5-8 years (maybe 10) without losing any structure or character.
Would I buy again: yes - highly recommended. An excellent Bordeaux blend from a quality Calif producer that has some history. I have a couple bottles left and would definitely buy more if I see it in the $45-50 range. A wine with character, nuance and class that stands out among the usual Napa offerings in its price range.
NB: my wife (who *hates* most Calif wines) said she really liked it, thought it was French (I didn't tell her 🤠)
January 7, 2023 - It's a bit too fruity but not substantial
November 19, 2022 - Much more integrated compare to last time. Napa fruits but not over the top, some herbal characters showed up. Balance on the palate.
August 8, 2022 - Bought one of these almost a year ago to check out the vintage and consider buying more. Just getting around to it while vacationing in Banff NP and happy to report this is a compelling CA Cab with plenty of old world crossover character. Unfortunately, I was forced to PnP at The Sensory restaurant in Canmore. Usually I’d either decant a young cab blend or slow ox. So the structure needed either more time or more air than I could provide but this was totally in my wheelhouse and I’ll buy more if I see them. 91-92
February 23, 2022 - Deep garnet color. Strong alcohol, berry, leather, earth on the nose. Lots of pepper to taste. Cooked cherry, sour apple, oak, black pepper, all spice. Medium high alcohol, medium low sweetness, medium acidity. Drinking fairly well in 2022. Could easily see this going another 5-10 years.
February 23, 2022 - Well balanced, ripe black fruit and slight truffle. Fairly nice finish with
baking spice, cedar and dry tannin mouth feel. Give it 2 to 3 hours of air
prior to serving.
December 3, 2021 - A bit flabby, and also a bit too fruit-forward. Disappointing. 14.2% ABV.
87+