External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94.2 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 72 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Tsliwinski on 12/25/2023 & rated 96 points: Wonderful CA take on Bordeaux blend. rich red fruit with floral notes and a hint of forest floor and game. A really great wine. (1620 views) | | | Tasted by gteran76 on 11/26/2023 & rated 94 points: Decanted for 30 min and still tight and tannic, so I waited another 15 minutes and then placed back into the bottle to consumed with reserved filet Mignon.
At the point the wine started to unravel and the nose opened up with lovely floral notes. The body is medium plus, firm tannins, balanced acidity, and very pleasant mouthfeel, from that moment the wine keep on improving. Very nice finish and good future…
Drink or hold. (1720 views) | | | Tasted by Radar & Mattie on 11/13/2023 & rated 96 points: What a wonderful Cab blend. Paired perfect with a medium rare tomahawk on the BGE. Life is good in sunny Florida. (1682 views) | | | Tasted by cjoetucker@aol.com on 11/12/2023 & rated 96 points: A wonderful, smooth and harmonious wine, rich, round, and beautiful. Forgive me for going overboard with superlatives, but this is a fantastic wine. A delicious drink of ripe, black cherries, plum, cassis, licorice, and cocoa powder, smooth and seamless, with rich, round tannins, flowing to a long finish. Elegant, refined, and hedonistic, this is a gorgeous wine. A work of art! (1602 views) | | | Tasted by Yondan on 11/11/2023 & rated 95 points: Simply Exceptional (1542 views) | | | Tasted by sdsull on 6/27/2023 & rated 97 points: In the perfect drinking window. Pop and pour. No decant needed. Tannins are resolved, all the elements are integrated. Great finish. (1992 views) | | | Tasted by AndrewWill on 3/5/2023 & rated 95 points: In a perfect spot right now, I would’ve mistaken for a left bank Bordeaux. Graphite, cassis, blackberry on the nose. A multidimensional palate with black fruit, boysenberry, plum, tobacco, baking spice. A velvety wine with a lasting finish. (2277 views) | | | Tasted by msuwine on 8/30/2022 & rated 96 points: This lush and layered Cabernet has entered the “Goldilocks” stage of fine Napa cabernet - neither too ripe nor too savory, too “big" nor too “small,” this wine is just right. Surprisingly plush for a mountain wine (1400 feet), it shows that Knights Valley sunshine (read: it’s hotter up there) with an impressive amount of restraint. This has deepened and integrated in the four years since I tasted it last (9/18 - 95 points), but it’s still just as open-knit and delicious.
Cherry red in color and full in body, the aromas include blueberry, cocoa powder, and anise. The flavors are forward but controlled, with notes of blackberry, gravel, and spice cake, followed by an integrated and silky finish. This was more impressive than a 2014 Schrader LPV tasted on the same night, which came across as more sugary. Decant maybe an hour, but no need to overthink it: if this is in your cellar, it’s the wine you’ve been waiting for. Blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cab Franc, 13% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. 15% alcohol. More juicy (not in a good way) on second day. Drink in next few years. (4131 views) | | | Tasted by SMagowan on 12/25/2021 & rated 94 points: Drank alongside two aged Bordeaux wines and this held up well. If you have patience, let it lie until 2024 or so. (3989 views) | | | Tasted by LiteItOnFire on 10/23/2021 & rated 94 points: This wine is simply firing on all cylinders- 94.5 and climbing. What was too thin previously has continued to fatten up and is really friggin good. Yum. Glad ai have a lot mlre (5081 views) | | | Tasted by LiteItOnFire on 10/14/2021 & rated 94 points: Similar notes to before although maybe a 1/2 point more with time in the glass. This is really a delicious wine that initially I was worried it was too thin but this time around it put on a little weight. Very good wine. (4734 views) | | | Tasted by MJP Hou TX on 8/24/2021 & rated 93 points: SF Nailed the TN's so I'm not going to even attempt to compete in that department. Very nicely balanced considering the blend but maybe just a tad thin on the fruit. Might be bottle variation based on score. Either way a very nice wine. Excited to see how this 14 compares to 15 which should have a bit more concentration. (4884 views) | | | Tasted by sfwinelover1 on 8/15/2021 & rated 96 points: First of 2 purchased at auction ($145@) a couple of years ago. On the initial 1 oz pour, extraordinary aromatics led by ripe, rich fruit (mixed dark berries, black cherries, cassis and perhaps rhubarb(?)) and tobacco, followed by dark florals, anise, chocolate (these last 3 eventually overtook the tobacco as the most prominent secondary TNs), an almost incense-like spice note, foresty notes of pine and truffles, and on the palate, graphite and dark roast coffee, and less welcome notes of wood (I'd have thought oak, but msu's note makes me wonder if it was cedar), alcohol (the 15.5% abv was very noticeable on opening) and sweetness. Deep, dark purple, medium to full-bodied, thick legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity, heat on the opening which integrated well with the 3 hours of air before we began drinking. Excellent complexity, persistence and intensity. While it's been a while since I've had one of these, this has always been a go to high end, at least for me, Bordeaux blend, one which drinks fairly well young but which really develops with aging (this was definitely toward the younger end of when I've usually consumed these). My experience out of the bottle with this was different than some others, as I found this really complex but unfortunately unbalanced, but air made it integrated and superb. While others have commented on this being more medium bodied and less fruit driven than recent LPs, I remember LPs being closer to the Bordeaux than modern Napa side of the ledger than this. But this wine unfolded beautifully, continuing to develop during the 2+ hours we consumed it, with the fulsome fruit pairing beautifully with the powerful structure and diverse secondary notes. We had it with preserved meats and cheeses, which it complemented beautifully, but I think that this would be wonderful with a thick, fatty steak or rack of lamb. Without wishing to be the dog in the manger, which I often end up being in these things, I'm going to quibble with CT friends msu and LioF and say that I think that the best days remain ahead for this particular bottling, and while, if you have more than one, there's nothing wrong popping one now with plenty of air, this is far more likely to be better than worse in 5 years, and will last a long while after that. Even if not a screaming value, more than holds its own in this price range, was a close competitor to the dearer La Violette we drank it against, and competed about equally, at least in my memory, with the Chapellet Pritchard Hill and Merryvale Profile I had recently. Great stuff, and glad to be able to share with good friends. (3695 views) | | | Tasted by writer696 on 6/19/2021: Great wine, Knights Valley (2580 views) | | | Tasted by Cholera on 12/25/2020 & rated 95 points: Amazing.The plan all along was to make a Bordeaux style wine, and this hits the Mark. Luscious yet delicate. Heady without heat, structured and balanced.
Paired with Chinese food to boot. Beef schezuan style and pork spare ribs. Crushed it. (3252 views) | | | Tasted by kanab ram on 10/27/2020: This was exceptional upon opening and got even better as the evening progressed. A heavier style than most Napa/Sonoma Bordeaux blends. Notes consistent with others. (3445 views) | | | Tasted by DrunkPiper on 10/24/2020: Excellent. Lots of red fruit. Smooth. Good for more time. (2943 views) | | | Tasted by franinnyc on 9/18/2020 & rated 92 points: A powerful wine. I bit overwhelming I thought. Maybe needs more time to mellow out. (3040 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 8/23/2020 & rated 93 points: Casual Dinner w/Friends (R&R's): No formal note. Courtesy of R&D, popped and poured. Dark color with plum and black fruit, something a little spicy and woody as well. Chocolate and black fruit on the palate. Shows a little bit of a rustic quality that I would not have expected. Nice length and balance; excellent. (3335 views) | | | Tasted by VinNoobie on 6/6/2020 & rated 96 points: Beautifully structured and balanced cabernet that’s in a great drinking window. Wish I had more bottles. (3133 views) | | | Tasted by smurfmacaw on 1/18/2020 & rated 96 points: Decanted for 1 hour. Normally I'm a fan of Pinot Noir but this Cabernet blend is a very nice change. Nice burgundy color, not inky but fairly dark.
Nose is refined with an immediate hit of pencil shavings and some forest floor. Fruit is there but not obtrusive.
Flavor is extremely nice. Graphite/pencil shavings with a subdued fruit. Fruit is dark and very nicely integrated. Very complex flavors. Not jammy at all and very different from the Cali Pinot's I'm used to. Overall, an extremely nice wine and I'm glad I have more of it.
Consumed over dinner of rack of lamb and it was perfect. It's robust enough to take on game and steaks without being difficult to drink. I could drink this by itself with no problem. I'm beginning to be a fan of the cab blends and this is one of the best I've tried. I think this will age very well. (3914 views) | | | Tasted by LiteItOnFire on 12/18/2019 & rated 94 points: 1 hour decant. No notes. This is my first Peter Michael and it didn’t disappoint. Won’t do a full review but snapshots of memory fogged over by too many bottles. Walks a nice line between medium dark red fruit and a lite cassis profile. This is thinner than most but the profile is bigger than you would expect which is just as odd droning (good way) as it is reading it here. Really over delivered to the point where I will spend more time with it the next chance I get. Well done.
My quick impression was to drink now and over the next few years for my palate vs hold to see how it develops. 94+ (4203 views) | | | Tasted by oldwines on 12/18/2019 & rated 92 points: Our Philly Wine Group's Spanish/Portuguese Dinner (Mixto Restaurante, Phila., PA USA): Brought by a newcomer to our Philly Wine Group’s Spanish/Portuguese dinner at Mixto Restaurante. Decanted on arrival and tasted over the next 2-3 hours. Medium garnet color, frankly lighter and less extracted looking than I expected. Nose is quite attractive and fragrant with plenty of red and black berries, vanilla/oak as well as a savory and meaty undertone that became more prominent as it got more air. Medium body, acidity and tannin with a fairly rich and chewy texture for such a relatively young wine. Flavor profile is mostly rich, jammy fruits like plum, boysenberry and very ripe blueberry. Finish is medium long at 25-30 seconds or so. For me this was just too ripe and jammy, I know others would like this more than I, but it seems very similar to most vintages I’ve had of Les Pavots (with the recent exception of 2016, which is much more elegant and balanced) if a little more approachable at this fairly early stage in its evolution. Probably more expressive and balanced with at least 5 more years in the cellar. (3680 views) | | | Tasted by Tsliwinski on 7/14/2019 & rated 96 points: Nice blend. Has plenty of rich red fruit but silky leather and honeysuckle are also present in background. It has firm tannins that should hold up for another decade of cellaring. (3523 views) | | | Tasted by Wingate Cellars on 11/5/2018 & rated 96 points: Served as part of a high end tasting to a group of CEOs. This was not the most powerful of the wines tasted, but was already showing as one of the most sophisticated from this group of 2014s. After decanting for an hour or so, it was drinking beautifully now (4467 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/22/2022)
(Peter Michael, Les Pavots Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Eduardo Dingler
Decanter, Peter Michael Winery (3/25/2019)
(Peter Michael, Les Pavots, Sonoma County, Knights Valley, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Sonoma & Napa Valley Supplement 2018 (Jul 2018) (7/18/2018)
(Peter Michael Cabernet Sauvignon Les Pavots Sonoma Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (1/13/2017)
(Peter Michael Winery Sonoma County Knights Valley Les Pavots, Red, United States) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and Decanter and Vinous and JamesSuckling.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Peter Michael Producer website<br><br>The Peter Michael Winery is the California outpost of British-born Sir Peter Michael who has shown a Midas touch for selecting brilliant winemakers, including Helen Turley, Mark Aubert, Luc Morlet and more recently Luc’s brother, Nicolas. The consistency of these offerings from the cool climate hillside vineyards in Knight’s Valley and the Sonoma Coast has been respected and cherished by each of these winemakers... All things considered, Peter Michael is one of the reference point wineries in California.
Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino County |
|
