Delicious and balanced. Rich and unusually dry (in a cab franc-ish way) for a CA cab. No obvious oak. A real treat. Thanks for making this wine, Steve!
Just had a small pour from a bottle that had been open for 6 days, and kept in fridge.
Dark-fruited, with good acidity. Noticeable jalapeno-pyrazine note, which I love. Excellent wine. Kicking myself for not having bought multiple cases when it was being blown-out on clearance. Drink Now or continue to Hold.
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Damn good wine. Day 1 didn't show the green notes of before, but more lush fruit and some tobacco. Medium-full bodied with balanced acidity and tannin. Day 3: This was singing! Much better than I expected, and as good or better than Day 1. Plenty of dark fruit and earth. Not oxidized in the slightest and was quite delicious. 92-93
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-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over approximately one hour --
NOSE: "dark"; bell pepper/jalapeno; bread & butter pickles.
BODY: medium-full bodied.
TASTE: "dark"; jalapeno; light creamy oak note; hint of chocolate; a bit "bigger" than I remember from the previous bottle; this presents more as Napa Cab than Cab Franc --- previous bottle came across more like a Cab Franc, due to pyrazines.
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Dark garnet color. Complex nose of green tobacco, herbs, and dark cherry with jalapeño and deft oaky notes after some air exposure. There is no initial greeness on the palate, only pure black cherry, blackberry, herbs, and earth, but with air, hints of green pepper and mint emerge and add complexity. The structure is well rounded with integrated tannins and balanced acidity in this medium-bodied wine. The finish has medium length and displays more dark cherry and mint. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this unique wine’s complexity, and while I am not a fan of green pepper in wine, the small amount in this wine made it more interesting. It was a lovely pairing with hearty beef stew because the herbaceousness of the wine melded with the herbs in the stew.
Popped and poured. Nice freshness. Not too oaky. Super strong bell pepper and/or jalapeno note, which I enjoy (but not everyone will). Happy to have more in the cellar.
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s recommended, I gave it a decant (about 3 hrs). The short tasting note: insane value. Classic Napa Cabernet, with much more up-front fruit than the vintage's spotty reputation would lead you to expect. The decant is almost essential, as it is somewhat shy on first opening. Once it opens up, though, it is both generous and stylish. I personally really like some pyrazine notes in my Cabernet, and this one has a pleasantly moderate amount. Lots of plum and dark fruit, but in great balance with the acid and fine tannins. Finish is long and pleasing, a bit of chocolate and raspberry on the tail end. This will almost certainly age very well. I'm not at all happy to see a good winery cease operations, but I'm very happy to have gotten this wine for my collection.
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C: Quite dark with no signs of age. N: Big red fruit, red raspberry for sure, red and black cherry. P: Red cherry, dark red fruit, some spice. Medium body and medium acidity. F: Medium+ full of dark and red fruits. IMPORTANT: This definitely needs a decant and absolutely flourishes. I've had this open for 3 hours and it's still evolving. I served it blind and all noticed that it continued to evolve and get better. The wine in the bottle was significantly more restrained than the decanted version. We planned on drinking a glass or two, but the bottle was done. 91-92
Floral plum, bell pepper, hints of earth and herbs. Palate is surprisingly rich and round initially, with hints of cocoa. The bell pepper/jalapeno note went in and out, as expected. This should be interesting to follow over the next 10 years or so.
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Similar to our other bottles. Licorice root, leather and black cherry. Still young ish, but very enjoyable with a decant. 93. I think this winery shuts down today. Lift a glass in honor.
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This was a bottle where the vintage won out. Day one had bell pepper notes so strong I couldn’t get past one glass. Day two was better, but everyone identified it. Some liked it, sadly I did not.
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good mix of red/dark fruits with herbal green peppery flavor, some tobacco, light vanilla, very good acidity. Blind would have thought cabernet franc. Very interesting and a good contrast from the other wines in our lineup; Jen's favorite. 92 pts
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Medium bodied. Slow-Ox for to hours before serving. Opened with a green pepper/veggie note that never completely receded. Initial taste on open showed very astringent. Wine smoothed out over the couple of hours it rested but the finish still had a bit of sour tannins to it. Flavors otherwise were typical young Napa, no real intense angle to it. Solid effort with minor flaws.
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PDH Offline Berserkers (PDH): It would not have tasted it so young but when Steve serves, would you say no? It is a classic continuum of the congruence wine that has years ahead of it to enjoy. If you do open now, decant for a while. Very enjoyable (that said, the '08 is so enjoyable now I would just leave this one aside for now)
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2/20/2024 - danielito Likes this wine: 93 Points
Absolutely delicious. Rich fruit, balanced. No discernable oak. Subtle tannins on back end add complexity.
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2/14/2023 - EMichels wrote: 91 Points
Rich brown sugar; Sweet; Great balance;
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7/4/2022 - RDHudak wrote: 91 Points
As before and showing no signs of decline
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2/19/2022 - danielito Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious and balanced. Rich and unusually dry (in a cab franc-ish way) for a CA cab. No obvious oak. A real treat. Thanks for making this wine, Steve!
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1/27/2022 - grafstrb wrote:
Just had a small pour from a bottle that had been open for 6 days, and kept in fridge.
Dark-fruited, with good acidity. Noticeable jalapeno-pyrazine note, which I love. Excellent wine. Kicking myself for not having bought multiple cases when it was being blown-out on clearance. Drink Now or continue to Hold.
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5/28/2021 - EMichels wrote: 89 Points
Darker and dustier than I remember
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10/12/2020 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 94 Points
Licorice root, leather, ripe black cherry. Only getting better.
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7/20/2020 - RDHudak wrote: 92 Points
As before
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7/4/2020 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Very nice; Medium weight; Medium rich; Long and clean; Nice very quiet build; A slight hint of chocolate;
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2/18/2020 - grafstrb wrote:
Drank over a couple days. Strong pyrazine notes on Day 1, but they receded significantly on Day 2. Dark-fruited.
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11/16/2019 - EMichels wrote: 91 Points
Delicious after decanting for a couple of hours. Still fresh.
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9/25/2019 - RDHudak wrote: 92 Points
Damn good wine. Day 1 didn't show the green notes of before, but more lush fruit and some tobacco. Medium-full bodied with balanced acidity and tannin.
Day 3: This was singing! Much better than I expected, and as good or better than Day 1. Plenty of dark fruit and earth. Not oxidized in the slightest and was quite delicious. 92-93
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3/20/2019 - RDHudak wrote: 91 Points
Be sure to decant. Loads of dark fruit and firming tannin. Surprisingly young with much potential.
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3/7/2019 - grafstrb wrote:
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over approximately one hour --
NOSE: "dark"; bell pepper/jalapeno; bread & butter pickles.
BODY: medium-full bodied.
TASTE: "dark"; jalapeno; light creamy oak note; hint of chocolate; a bit "bigger" than I remember from the previous bottle; this presents more as Napa Cab than Cab Franc --- previous bottle came across more like a Cab Franc, due to pyrazines.
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1/12/2019 - Meerlust wrote: 92 Points
Dark garnet color. Complex nose of green tobacco, herbs, and dark cherry with jalapeño and deft oaky notes after some air exposure. There is no initial greeness on the palate, only pure black cherry, blackberry, herbs, and earth, but with air, hints of green pepper and mint emerge and add complexity. The structure is well rounded with integrated tannins and balanced acidity in this medium-bodied wine. The finish has medium length and displays more dark cherry and mint. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this unique wine’s complexity, and while I am not a fan of green pepper in wine, the small amount in this wine made it more interesting. It was a lovely pairing with hearty beef stew because the herbaceousness of the wine melded with the herbs in the stew.
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1/9/2019 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Phenomenal
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12/22/2018 - grafstrb wrote:
Popped and poured. Nice freshness. Not too oaky. Super strong bell pepper and/or jalapeno note, which I enjoy (but not everyone will). Happy to have more in the cellar.
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12/1/2018 - swillpower wrote:
s recommended, I gave it a decant (about 3 hrs).
The short tasting note: insane value. Classic Napa Cabernet, with much more up-front fruit than the vintage's spotty reputation would lead you to expect.
The decant is almost essential, as it is somewhat shy on first opening. Once it opens up, though, it is both generous and stylish. I personally really like some pyrazine notes in my Cabernet, and this one has a pleasantly moderate amount. Lots of plum and dark fruit, but in great balance with the acid and fine tannins. Finish is long and pleasing, a bit of chocolate and raspberry on the tail end. This will almost certainly age very well. I'm not at all happy to see a good winery cease operations, but I'm very happy to have gotten this wine for my collection.
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11/16/2018 - RDHudak wrote: 92 Points
C: Quite dark with no signs of age. N: Big red fruit, red raspberry for sure, red and black cherry. P: Red cherry, dark red fruit, some spice. Medium body and medium acidity. F: Medium+ full of dark and red fruits.
IMPORTANT: This definitely needs a decant and absolutely flourishes. I've had this open for 3 hours and it's still evolving. I served it blind and all noticed that it continued to evolve and get better. The wine in the bottle was significantly more restrained than the decanted version. We planned on drinking a glass or two, but the bottle was done. 91-92
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10/26/2018 - klezman wrote:
Floral plum, bell pepper, hints of earth and herbs. Palate is surprisingly rich and round initially, with hints of cocoa. The bell pepper/jalapeno note went in and out, as expected. This should be interesting to follow over the next 10 years or so.
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8/16/2018 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Reminds me a bit of a left bank Bordeaux.
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2/28/2018 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Similar to our other bottles. Licorice root, leather and black cherry. Still young ish, but very enjoyable with a decant. 93.
I think this winery shuts down today. Lift a glass in honor.
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12/29/2017 - Cow Town Does not like this wine:
This was a bottle where the vintage won out. Day one had bell pepper notes so strong I couldn’t get past one glass. Day two was better, but everyone identified it. Some liked it, sadly I did not.
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12/27/2017 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Layered with mint, leather, dense black cherry, a touch of pepper and early on, a green pepper note.
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12/3/2017 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking great right now. We love it.
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10/21/2017 - fred o. Likes this wine:
good mix of red/dark fruits with herbal green peppery flavor, some tobacco, light vanilla, very good acidity. Blind would have thought cabernet franc. Very interesting and a good contrast from the other wines in our lineup; Jen's favorite. 92 pts
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10/9/2017 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Spot on for a young Napa Cab. Black cherry, tobacco, green pepper. Resolved tannins. Drink or hold. No decant.
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10/8/2017 - lockestep Likes this wine: 87 Points
Medium bodied. Slow-Ox for to hours before serving. Opened with a green pepper/veggie note that never completely receded. Initial taste on open showed very astringent. Wine smoothed out over the couple of hours it rested but the finish still had a bit of sour tannins to it. Flavors otherwise were typical young Napa, no real intense angle to it. Solid effort with minor flaws.
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3/18/2015 - odds Likes this wine:
PDH Offline Berserkers (PDH): It would not have tasted it so young but when Steve serves, would you say no? It is a classic continuum of the congruence wine that has years ahead of it to enjoy. If you do open now, decant for a while. Very enjoyable (that said, the '08 is so enjoyable now I would just leave this one aside for now)
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11/6/2013 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Fruit more refined and forward than the '10; Great transparency; Excellent definition
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