Tasted at a local shop with the husband and wife founders/vignerons from the winery. This wine is a blend of the 5 typical Bordeaux varietals…CS, CF, Merlot, Malbec, PV. 14.4% ABV. Aged 20 months in 35-40% new French oak. The oak is quite well integrated but seems to show a little more than the Merlot and CVC cru’s tasted this evening. Quite earthy, and mineral infused. A little more age on this than the others tonight also allows a little more open knit flavor profile. It shows vanilla, cassis, black plum, blackberry, black cherry, cedar, tobacco and some floral notes. Nice long complex and savory finish. Elegant and balanced. Still needs more cellaring for me but enjoyable with a long decant. Probably better 2028 and beyond in a cool cellar.
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Beautiful Cab. Full of juicy red and black fruit and energy. Showing the power of the vintage, this is much less restrained than the 2012 and 2014 I tasted recently. Earthy brambly blackberry compote with vibrant acidity and superfine tannins. Nice complexity on the medium finish.
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Bottle opened yesterday, sat on the counter just slow oxing. Tasted this alongside the 2016 Calluna C-V-C, and there is to me a step up in quality from that wine to this one. The Estate is 47% Cab Sauv, 28% Cab Franc, 13% Merlot, 9% Petite Verdot and 3% Malbec. What I find in the Estate is more depth, a longer finish, better complexity, too. The black cherry notes are more intense, so too is the cedary quality. There is an herb/tobacco note in the Estate too, and it also seems a touch riper, with the riper note showing a mix of black and red fruit. Finishes with a good amount of tannin, and here the oak shows a bitter chocolate quality, which I enjoy because I eat a lot of really dark chocolate (85%) so that aligns to my palate well.
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2/22/2024 - oldwines Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted at a local shop with the husband and wife founders/vignerons from the winery. This wine is a blend of the 5 typical Bordeaux varietals…CS, CF, Merlot, Malbec, PV. 14.4% ABV. Aged 20 months in 35-40% new French oak. The oak is quite well integrated but seems to show a little more than the Merlot and CVC cru’s tasted this evening. Quite earthy, and mineral infused. A little more age on this than the others tonight also allows a little more open knit flavor profile. It shows vanilla, cassis, black plum, blackberry, black cherry, cedar, tobacco and some floral notes. Nice long complex and savory finish. Elegant and balanced. Still needs more cellaring for me but enjoyable with a long decant. Probably better 2028 and beyond in a cool cellar.
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10/26/2023 - EFrohmader Likes this wine: 92 Points
October 2023 Trip to Sonoma; 10/26/2023-10/27/2023 (Sonoma): Cassis, tobacco, black cherry, cigar box. Medium-plus body. Medium-long finish.
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1/16/2022 - nywine68 wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful Cab. Full of juicy red and black fruit and energy. Showing the power of the vintage, this is much less restrained than the 2012 and 2014 I tasted recently. Earthy brambly blackberry compote with vibrant acidity and superfine tannins. Nice complexity on the medium finish.
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4/16/2021 - KC Wine Enthusiast Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful wine. 14.4% ABV
47% Cab 28% Cab Franc 13% Merlot 9% P.Verdot 3% Malbec
Nice aromatics, black cherries & raspberries, lavender, eucalyptus, lead pencil!
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2/23/2020 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Bottle opened yesterday, sat on the counter just slow oxing. Tasted this alongside the 2016 Calluna C-V-C, and there is to me a step up in quality from that wine to this one. The Estate is 47% Cab Sauv, 28% Cab Franc, 13% Merlot, 9% Petite Verdot and 3% Malbec. What I find in the Estate is more depth, a longer finish, better complexity, too. The black cherry notes are more intense, so too is the cedary quality. There is an herb/tobacco note in the Estate too, and it also seems a touch riper, with the riper note showing a mix of black and red fruit. Finishes with a good amount of tannin, and here the oak shows a bitter chocolate quality, which I enjoy because I eat a lot of really dark chocolate (85%) so that aligns to my palate well.
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