This wine can age a decade more easily; and maybe you should aim to do so. Very pure fruit, mostly in the dark red profile. Mouth watering acidity to hold everything in place. Long finish with very pure fruit and some bordeaux essence with lead pencil, tar and cigar box. A little too sweet for my ultimate balance but I believe in a few years it will be 95-96 points. Great wine, wish I had more.
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PnP and then in the decanter for three hours, tasted throughout. No question it’s a well made wine but at $165 it just misses the mark for me. Starts off a bit too astringent (from wood or alcohol), I don’t mind either, enjoy them actually, luckily it slowly fades over the decant but never goes away entirely.
A mild attack (would be a higher score if a bit stronger), cassis but not syrupy, nice middle, black cherry, followed by a medium finish. Within the cassis and dark cherry, there are plenty of herbal, tobacco and spice to keep everything nice. Why is my rating out of line with others- I feel like this wine is high quality but lacks the complexity I would have expected from a wine of high pedigree parts. Feels like the ‘better parts’ were middle of the road vs top of the line.
Where does this leave us/me, I feel like a winery has two choices, kill it with top barrels in a blended wine or pull out the best barrels, have killer single vineyard offerings and a second label of the blend for ~$100. I will open the Petit to see how that compares. I could be judging this to harshly however I consider price ranges and what’s available. I love Vice Versa wines, especially the single vineyard (regular and BBS) its just an internal struggle at the $175 price point for a blended offering where the best barrels are pulled for Mag 7, the next best are pulled for BBS, next best pulled for single vineyards and then the rest for this blend. I feel like this should be at the $100 Ontogeny price point to make it a great buy. My two cents.
This outstanding 2015 is playing the white keys, the black keys, and the cracks right now! It's playing with everything it's got.
Blueberry, dark cherry, and spice with an incredibly long finish that has shed its tartness in favor of a completely balanced and smooth delivery. I love trying all sorts of wines from the world over, but when I open a Vice Versa, it's like coming home.
Ranks right up there with the elite wines of Napa. Double decant and about 1 to 2 hours later I was drinking a beautifully balanced wine. Dark fruit, dark chocolate and a hint of herbaceous notes. Enjoy now with a decant and I am sure this has the stuffing to evolve over time.
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After a long week (60 hrs, on two continents), a well deserved wine for Saturday night. Open for business immediately, this wine was well worth the $150 price tag paid. I have a few SVD VV wines, so I can't wait to open those, but the standard NV bottle is a knockout.
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This 2015 VV continues to improve and delight as it matures. The youthful sweetness has now mostly resolved. Right from the attack, the pure and finessed layers of dark cherry, blueberry, and spice really shine. Still a bit tart on the very lengthy finish which I found adds to the mouth-watering experience.
It's open for business, and currently not in any sort of "shut-down" phase -- PnP is fine -- and after an hour decant it really starts gliding across the palate.
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This 2015 vintage is coming along nicely and catching up to the drinkability of the superb 2014 Vice Versa Napa Cabernet.
After a 2 hour decant, the nose is a delightful amalgam of blueberry and menthol while the elegant and full mid-palate has filled out with tart cherry, wonderfully fine-grained and silky tannins, and a minerality that keeps everything well grounded. Waves of spice and chocolate undulate on the finish for over 45 seconds. Velvety smooth and delicious!
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The Vice Versa Napa Valley Cabernet is about as good of a wine as I have had from the 2015 vintage. Needs a solid 2-3 hour decant but is worth the wait. This is full of dark and red fruits, has wonderful structure and balanced tannins. Nothing is out of place and this rich wine is everything I want from a Cabernet with the perfect length finish. Simply put, VIce Versa is just killing it with everything they are producing and if you haven’t gotten your hands on some you need to.
Second stop on our eighth day in Napa Valley is to Wheeler Farms where we tasted wines from Wheeler Farms, Tor Kenward, Arrow and Branch, and Vice Versa. Fifth wine is from Vice Versa and it is their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Only 450 cases produced.
Mix of purple and ruby red. Rich black and blue fruits on the nose with a touch of purple flowers. Medium plus tannins (7/10) and full bodied. Rich and dark palate with tons of black fruit, baking spices and a hit of black currants on the finish. Quite well rounded too. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2028.
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This rich and polished wine is drinking well right now, especially after a few hours of air, but it still seems like the best is yet to come. I initially thought this was a sugary mess, but air helped calm down and open up; there is a lot of good here, but I'm going to wait another year or so in order to open my other bottle.
Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of blueberry, Hershey's chocolate bar, menthol, and herbs. Tastes of boysenberry, cherry pie, pencil shavings, and cedar, with a sweet finish carrying fine-grained tannins and a hint of tartness. 15% alcohol. Be sure to decant, since this needs 2-3 hours of air to bring down the volume. I'm not typically a huge fan of Melka, but this wine has uniqueness and depth to go along with the usual polish - it's easily the best of his wines that I've ever had.
Having tasted a few (wonderful) 2015s lately, I think this is a step behind the best, at least at the moment. The Carter Verdad 2015 is a revelation: compared to the Vice Versa, the Carter had more depth and integration, with none of the youthful, almost cloying, sweetness. The Maybach Materium 2015 was also a step ahead of the Vice Versa, which was not as nuanced or full as the Maybach. They're all lovely wines, but those are my impressions at the moment.
In short, the Vice Versa tastes plush and promising, yet not completely formed. It (understandably) needs more time to come into its own, but - when it does - I have very high hopes for this wine. 94-95 for now.
For an entry level blend, Vice Versa's Napa Valley Cab over-delivers! Purple and red in the glass, primarily plum and blackberries with a hint of licorice. Rich and creamy with well integrated tannins and not a hard edge anywhere. Chocolate notes on the finish. I could drink this wine everyday and be a happy camper.
Some friends in town that enjoy wine so I decided to pop a bottle. Once again, solid depth/concentration, beautiful purity, full/vibrant flavors, fairly long finish, etc.. In addition, this bottle showed a little bluer fruit profile which I prefer. Gave this bottle a little longer three hour decant. Although young, really enjoyable now with a decent decant.
Tasted at a fairly high-end wine tasting. I thought this was clearly the wine of the night. Similar notes as before - really solid depth/concentration, beautiful purity, really nice full flavors of dark berries, fairly long finish, etc.. This bottle was decanted for a couple hours which appeared to help - I thought it showed a little better than my last tasting. Once again, impressive now with a decent decant - a really nice combination of depth and purity/elegance. However, I would be inclined to give this vintage another 6 to 12 months to let the fruit soften and open-up a little more.
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Vice Versa (Saint Helena): Same as my previous notes on this wine from August. This is both strong and beautiful in its delivery of red and black fruits. An interesting hybrid of sites that ultimately ends up creating a compelling profile with intensity and finesse. This "introductory" wine from VV is better quality than what most other wineries would tout as their best/reserve wine.
95 solid points. Despite drinking incredibly well now, I would still recommend leaving this alone in bottle for at least another year.
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My first experience with their higher-end cabs. Although young, I decided to pop a bottle because I'm considering buying more but wanted to see where this vintage is at first. From what was conveyed to me, a blend of various vineyards from Napa, Oakville, St Helena, and Prichard Hill. Dark red and black fruit - blueberry, blackberry, currants, and dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth and purity. Nice full flavors of dark berries and some spice. A little rich. Fairly long finish. Decanted for three hours and drank over another two. Improved a little with time but drinking well after the decant. However, I believe this vintage could probably use another year or two for the fruit to soften and open-up some more which is no surprise in light of its youth. A nice wine - I look forward to trying their single vineyard cabs.
Vice Versa: A Stagecoach (Pritchard Hill side)/LPV hybrid, this Cabernet showed the best of what can become of Stagecoach fruit, with some much elevated flavor assistance from LPV. I wouldn't have been able to distinguish the sites necessarily based on the wine, but the combination worked well here.
Fruit-forward, pushing primarily dark berry notes and some smooth, spiced oak headfirst across the palate. As with the other Vice Versa wines, this Cabernet struck a nice balance between ripe black and dark red core fruit and a decent grip to hold all the forward flavors in a well-crafted frame. Not as complex or concentrated as the LPV BBS or Magnificent 7 tasted alongside it. Time will certainly help this youngster broaden its shoulders and better bring all the flavors into focus.
9/27/2023 - ta75 Likes this wine: 94 Points
94 points +
This wine can age a decade more easily; and maybe you should aim to do so. Very pure fruit, mostly in the dark red profile. Mouth watering acidity to hold everything in place. Long finish with very pure fruit and some bordeaux essence with lead pencil, tar and cigar box. A little too sweet for my ultimate balance but I believe in a few years it will be 95-96 points. Great wine, wish I had more.
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6/25/2023 - napasoutherner Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful wine from an amazing producer. Still needs time but was showing strength in note. Pencil shavings and tobacco/cigar. Nice finish
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11/14/2020 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 92 Points
Same notes apply.
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11/13/2020 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP and then in the decanter for three hours, tasted throughout. No question it’s a well made wine but at $165 it just misses the mark for me. Starts off a bit too astringent (from wood or alcohol), I don’t mind either, enjoy them actually, luckily it slowly fades over the decant but never goes away entirely.
A mild attack (would be a higher score if a bit stronger), cassis but not syrupy, nice middle, black cherry, followed by a medium finish. Within the cassis and dark cherry, there are plenty of herbal, tobacco and spice to keep everything nice. Why is my rating out of line with others- I feel like this wine is high quality but lacks the complexity I would have expected from a wine of high pedigree parts. Feels like the ‘better parts’ were middle of the road vs top of the line.
Where does this leave us/me, I feel like a winery has two choices, kill it with top barrels in a blended wine or pull out the best barrels, have killer single vineyard offerings and a second label of the blend for ~$100. I will open the Petit to see how that compares. I could be judging this to harshly however I consider price ranges and what’s available. I love Vice Versa wines, especially the single vineyard (regular and BBS) its just an internal struggle at the $175 price point for a blended offering where the best barrels are pulled for Mag 7, the next best are pulled for BBS, next best pulled for single vineyards and then the rest for this blend. I feel like this should be at the $100 Ontogeny price point to make it a great buy. My two cents.
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3/21/2020 - GQG Likes this wine: 97 Points
This outstanding 2015 is playing the white keys, the black keys, and the cracks right now! It's playing with everything it's got.
Blueberry, dark cherry, and spice with an incredibly long finish that has shed its tartness in favor of a completely balanced and smooth delivery. I love trying all sorts of wines from the world over, but when I open a Vice Versa, it's like coming home.
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2/8/2020 - Deepdrop Likes this wine: 96 Points
Ranks right up there with the elite wines of Napa. Double decant and about 1 to 2 hours later I was drinking a beautifully balanced wine. Dark fruit, dark chocolate and a hint of herbaceous notes. Enjoy now with a decant and I am sure this has the stuffing to evolve over time.
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12/14/2019 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 96 Points
After a long week (60 hrs, on two continents), a well deserved wine for Saturday night. Open for business immediately, this wine was well worth the $150 price tag paid. I have a few SVD VV wines, so I can't wait to open those, but the standard NV bottle is a knockout.
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10/6/2019 - dmwilsondvm Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful! Red fruit/dark cherry, soft tannin. Lively bouquet. Really really good. 1 hr decant.
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9/1/2019 - GQG Likes this wine: 96 Points
This 2015 VV continues to improve and delight as it matures. The youthful sweetness has now mostly resolved. Right from the attack, the pure and finessed layers of dark cherry, blueberry, and spice really shine. Still a bit tart on the very lengthy finish which I found adds to the mouth-watering experience.
It's open for business, and currently not in any sort of "shut-down" phase -- PnP is fine -- and after an hour decant it really starts gliding across the palate.
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4/20/2019 - GQG Likes this wine: 95 Points
This 2015 vintage is coming along nicely and catching up to the drinkability of the superb 2014 Vice Versa Napa Cabernet.
After a 2 hour decant, the nose is a delightful amalgam of blueberry and menthol while the elegant and full mid-palate has filled out with tart cherry, wonderfully fine-grained and silky tannins, and a minerality that keeps everything well grounded. Waves of spice and chocolate undulate on the finish for over 45 seconds. Velvety smooth and delicious!
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8/11/2018 - Jar01015 Likes this wine: 95 Points
The Vice Versa Napa Valley Cabernet is about as good of a wine as I have had from the 2015 vintage. Needs a solid 2-3 hour decant but is worth the wait. This is full of dark and red fruits, has wonderful structure and balanced tannins. Nothing is out of place and this rich wine is everything I want from a Cabernet with the perfect length finish. Simply put, VIce Versa is just killing it with everything they are producing and if you haven’t gotten your hands on some you need to.
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7/3/2018 - Geaux Tigers wrote:
Napa 2018; 6/28/2018-7/3/2018 (Napa): No score as this seemed shut down and did not show well today. A barrel sample of the 2016 VV CS blew this away.
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6/3/2018 - cab blends wrote: 91 Points
Non blind:
Dark brooding nose with light bark
N6 F 6 T7 D8 F6
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6/3/2018 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 94 Points
Second stop on our eighth day in Napa Valley is to Wheeler Farms where we tasted wines from Wheeler Farms, Tor Kenward, Arrow and Branch, and Vice Versa. Fifth wine is from Vice Versa and it is their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Only 450 cases produced.
Mix of purple and ruby red. Rich black and blue fruits on the nose with a touch of purple flowers. Medium plus tannins (7/10) and full bodied. Rich and dark palate with tons of black fruit, baking spices and a hit of black currants on the finish. Quite well rounded too. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2028.
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5/17/2018 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautifully made, concentrated flavor profile, decent structure and complexity even at this young age.
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4/27/2018 - jimyeni Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasting in Napa during Campovelo cycling; 4/27/2018-4/30/2018 (Napa, CA): Lots of baking spices dark cherry, very mouth coating and rich. A powerhouse wine that has a ton of potential but definitely needs time. This is absolutely delicious.
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2/28/2018 - msuwine wrote: 95 Points
This rich and polished wine is drinking well right now, especially after a few hours of air, but it still seems like the best is yet to come. I initially thought this was a sugary mess, but air helped calm down and open up; there is a lot of good here, but I'm going to wait another year or so in order to open my other bottle.
Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of blueberry, Hershey's chocolate bar, menthol, and herbs. Tastes of boysenberry, cherry pie, pencil shavings, and cedar, with a sweet finish carrying fine-grained tannins and a hint of tartness. 15% alcohol. Be sure to decant, since this needs 2-3 hours of air to bring down the volume. I'm not typically a huge fan of Melka, but this wine has uniqueness and depth to go along with the usual polish - it's easily the best of his wines that I've ever had.
Having tasted a few (wonderful) 2015s lately, I think this is a step behind the best, at least at the moment. The Carter Verdad 2015 is a revelation: compared to the Vice Versa, the Carter had more depth and integration, with none of the youthful, almost cloying, sweetness. The Maybach Materium 2015 was also a step ahead of the Vice Versa, which was not as nuanced or full as the Maybach. They're all lovely wines, but those are my impressions at the moment.
In short, the Vice Versa tastes plush and promising, yet not completely formed. It (understandably) needs more time to come into its own, but - when it does - I have very high hopes for this wine. 94-95 for now.
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1/2/2018 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 96 Points
For an entry level blend, Vice Versa's Napa Valley Cab over-delivers! Purple and red in the glass, primarily plum and blackberries with a hint of licorice. Rich and creamy with well integrated tannins and not a hard edge anywhere. Chocolate notes on the finish. I could drink this wine everyday and be a happy camper.
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10/21/2017 - Badmonkey wrote: 96 Points
Some friends in town that enjoy wine so I decided to pop a bottle. Once again, solid depth/concentration, beautiful purity, full/vibrant flavors, fairly long finish, etc.. In addition, this bottle showed a little bluer fruit profile which I prefer. Gave this bottle a little longer three hour decant. Although young, really enjoyable now with a decent decant.
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10/14/2017 - Badmonkey wrote: 96 Points
Tasted at a fairly high-end wine tasting. I thought this was clearly the wine of the night. Similar notes as before - really solid depth/concentration, beautiful purity, really nice full flavors of dark berries, fairly long finish, etc.. This bottle was decanted for a couple hours which appeared to help - I thought it showed a little better than my last tasting. Once again, impressive now with a decent decant - a really nice combination of depth and purity/elegance. However, I would be inclined to give this vintage another 6 to 12 months to let the fruit soften and open-up a little more.
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10/3/2017 - csimm wrote: 95 Points
Vice Versa (Saint Helena): Same as my previous notes on this wine from August. This is both strong and beautiful in its delivery of red and black fruits. An interesting hybrid of sites that ultimately ends up creating a compelling profile with intensity and finesse. This "introductory" wine from VV is better quality than what most other wineries would tout as their best/reserve wine.
95 solid points. Despite drinking incredibly well now, I would still recommend leaving this alone in bottle for at least another year.
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9/18/2017 - Badmonkey wrote: 95 Points
My first experience with their higher-end cabs. Although young, I decided to pop a bottle because I'm considering buying more but wanted to see where this vintage is at first. From what was conveyed to me, a blend of various vineyards from Napa, Oakville, St Helena, and Prichard Hill. Dark red and black fruit - blueberry, blackberry, currants, and dark cherry. Smooth mid-palate coupled with solid depth and purity. Nice full flavors of dark berries and some spice. A little rich. Fairly long finish. Decanted for three hours and drank over another two. Improved a little with time but drinking well after the decant. However, I believe this vintage could probably use another year or two for the fruit to soften and open-up some more which is no surprise in light of its youth. A nice wine - I look forward to trying their single vineyard cabs.
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8/19/2017 - csimm wrote: 95 Points
Vice Versa: A Stagecoach (Pritchard Hill side)/LPV hybrid, this Cabernet showed the best of what can become of Stagecoach fruit, with some much elevated flavor assistance from LPV. I wouldn't have been able to distinguish the sites necessarily based on the wine, but the combination worked well here.
Fruit-forward, pushing primarily dark berry notes and some smooth, spiced oak headfirst across the palate. As with the other Vice Versa wines, this Cabernet struck a nice balance between ripe black and dark red core fruit and a decent grip to hold all the forward flavors in a well-crafted frame. Not as complex or concentrated as the LPV BBS or Magnificent 7 tasted alongside it. Time will certainly help this youngster broaden its shoulders and better bring all the flavors into focus.
94-95+ points for now. Best after 2019.
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