This is excellent. Shows the mineral notes I associate with Mt. Veeder cabs, along with blackberry, coffee, and hickory smoke (in a good way). Full bodied, with moderate tannins on the back end. Really nice stuff, and with many good years ahead of it.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep indigo color. Beautiful aroma of crushed berries upon opening. Cassis, plum, raspberry, clove and a touch of oak on the palate. Quite full bodied with grippy tannins. This is drinking quite well right now but will likely last another 5 years. This was made with fruit from the old Robin Williams property. Hard to believe the change in property ownership to Tesseron alone drove up the retail price more than 3X.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Hard to ask for anything more. This is just a great wine. After about 30 minutes, it smells like a bowl of crushed blackberries. The tannins are resolved for my palette so while I think this will hold for another 5 years at least, I'm not convinced that it will improve. Fairly solid acidity makes this great with food, or without.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
One of the best wines I've had in a long time. Well made with a long fine grained finish. This just explodes from the glass with blueberry and blackberry and begs you to drink. This wine delivers what a Cab lover wants.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
With all the buzz lately about Pontet Canet releasing their first wine from the Pym Rae Estate (97 WA), thought it was time to taste this final Robert Craig offering from said vineyard (though they now own and produce from the Amentet Estate next door.) I first sampled it in October 2018 at the Robert Craig wine room in Napa and picked up several bottles. I remember thinking then it was tasty but needed a few years to settle in.
The nose is a hauntingly beautiful mix of berries, spices, purple florals, and dusty minerals. Plenty of drive on the attack is followed by classically styled dark cherry and cassis with hints of blue fruit, mouthwatering acidity, fullness, tobacco, cedar, and heroic but smooth tannins top to bottom on the palate. The structure is big but it really frames out the flavors amazingly well here, even as a relative youngster (with a 2 hour decant.) Yes, there's appropriate Napa ripeness of course, but the style comes off more Bordeaux-like due in part to the (mountain) acidity and the minerality that follows on the long finish.
A very enjoyable wine, and with time I expect the score will rise. 94+
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Highly structured and tannic, really needs quite a few years. Thinking 2024+ for my next bottle. Unabashedly new world tones. Can't score today but I'd expect it to land in 92pts range.
This was the final year sourcing Robin Williams' vineyard fruit. Alfred Tesseron (of Pontet Canet) bought the Pym Rae estate and re-invigorated it towards a full biodynamic winery.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Aroma: black tea, tobacco, dark berries, leather. Palate: spicy, nutty, rich black berry flavors with leather, tobacco and mineral notes. Considerable tannin. Excellent structure and length.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
9/21/2023 - EMTAME wrote: 94 Points
This is excellent. Shows the mineral notes I associate with Mt. Veeder cabs, along with blackberry, coffee, and hickory smoke (in a good way). Full bodied, with moderate tannins on the back end. Really nice stuff, and with many good years ahead of it.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/29/2022 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep indigo color. Beautiful aroma of crushed berries upon opening. Cassis, plum, raspberry, clove and a touch of oak on the palate. Quite full bodied with grippy tannins. This is drinking quite well right now but will likely last another 5 years. This was made with fruit from the old Robin Williams property. Hard to believe the change in property ownership to Tesseron alone drove up the retail price more than 3X.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/1/2022 - tphilca Likes this wine: 95 Points
Hard to ask for anything more. This is just a great wine. After about 30 minutes, it smells like a bowl of crushed blackberries. The tannins are resolved for my palette so while I think this will hold for another 5 years at least, I'm not convinced that it will improve. Fairly solid acidity makes this great with food, or without.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/7/2020 - madvitale Likes this wine: 94 Points
Most excellent. Great berry fruit. Long finish. On of the nicest Cabs I've had.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/24/2020 - Garfield Likes this wine: 96 Points
One of the best wines I've had in a long time. Well made with a long fine grained finish. This just explodes from the glass with blueberry and blackberry and begs you to drink. This wine delivers what a Cab lover wants.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/9/2020 - asplatt19 wrote: 93 Points
Great nose and finish. Tannins a bit firm. Still a bit young and will definitely improve over the next few years.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/24/2020 - GQG Likes this wine: 94 Points
With all the buzz lately about Pontet Canet releasing their first wine from the Pym Rae Estate (97 WA), thought it was time to taste this final Robert Craig offering from said vineyard (though they now own and produce from the Amentet Estate next door.) I first sampled it in October 2018 at the Robert Craig wine room in Napa and picked up several bottles. I remember thinking then it was tasty but needed a few years to settle in.
The nose is a hauntingly beautiful mix of berries, spices, purple florals, and dusty minerals. Plenty of drive on the attack is followed by classically styled dark cherry and cassis with hints of blue fruit, mouthwatering acidity, fullness, tobacco, cedar, and heroic but smooth tannins top to bottom on the palate. The structure is big but it really frames out the flavors amazingly well here, even as a relative youngster (with a 2 hour decant.) Yes, there's appropriate Napa ripeness of course, but the style comes off more Bordeaux-like due in part to the (mountain) acidity and the minerality that follows on the long finish.
A very enjoyable wine, and with time I expect the score will rise. 94+
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/6/2019 - aero wrote:
Highly structured and tannic, really needs quite a few years. Thinking 2024+ for my next bottle. Unabashedly new world tones. Can't score today but I'd expect it to land in 92pts range.
This was the final year sourcing Robin Williams' vineyard fruit. Alfred Tesseron (of Pontet Canet) bought the Pym Rae estate and re-invigorated it towards a full biodynamic winery.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/12/2019 - europat55 wrote: 90 Points
Excellent nose. Rich, young palate.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/21/2018 - kosinski wrote:
Aroma: black tea, tobacco, dark berries, leather.
Palate: spicy, nutty, rich black berry flavors with leather, tobacco and mineral notes. Considerable tannin. Excellent structure and length.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/28/2018 - Freefallmedic31 wrote:
Don't drink until after 2020 good for up to 30 years
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment