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| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 95 pts. and median of 96 pts. in 8 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by msuwine on 4/30/2021 & rated 97 points: It’s a Pritchard Hill showdown, with a twist: the grapes come from David Abreu’s vineyards, but the wines aren’t made by Brad Grimes. Instead, I decided to compare two Cabernet blends made by Colgin (Cariad) and Bryant (Bettina) made from Abreu grapes (Madrona, Thorevilos, and Las Posadas). The results? After following both for five hours, they are each dense, rich, layered, delicious, ageable, and expensive. Which one is better?
It is very close, but tonight the Bryant Bettina had the edge. The Colgin was sleek and reserved, a Bach-like wine of order with beauty; it took a while to open up, but it offered incredible nuance and depth. The Bryant was open-knit and welcoming, a Beethoven-like wine of structure with enthusiasm; it has a density and class that was even better than when I opened it a few months ago (1/21 - 96 points). I would drink either wine in a heartbeat, since there’s no doubt that, even now, these are both stunning, incredible wines.
- Colgin Cariad. Dark red in color and full in body, the wine initially offers reticent aromas of menthol, boysenberry, leather, and licorice, but it becomes more expansive after a few hours of air. The flavors include blackberry, pencil lead, tar, and cocoa powder, with a sweet and layered finish that carries some dusty tannin. Blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. 14.9% alcohol. This needs more time in bottle than the Bettina, but the upside is real in another 2-5 years. Decant at least two hours. Made by Allison Tauziet (now winemaking director). 96 at the moment.
- Bryant Bettina. Similarly dark in color and full in body, the Bettina offers more expressive and expansive aromas of blueberry, mocha, fresh embers, and mulberry. The flavors are also more round, with notes of blueberry, espresso, leather, and cardamon, with a more viscous and chocolatey finish. Blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. Made by Marc Gagnon, with assistance from KK Carothers (current head winemaker). 15.2% alcohol. 97 at the moment.
I was thinking about opening an Abreu wine just to add to the mix, but then I remembered that my kids need to be able to go to college. Compared to a Madrona or Capella, though, my sense is that both the Cariad and the Bettina are more polished and forward, without the denseness and wildness that Brad’s wines offer. My hunch is that Brad's wines are the best of the bunch (to me), but I can’t prove it, like, scientifically, like ever. This kind of hair-splitting is silly when the wines are so good (but so is paying this much money for fermented grape juice!). Bottom line, the Cariad and Bettina are fantastic wines that should only get better: Napa at its very best. (3701 views) | | | Tasted by msuwine on 1/30/2021 & rated 96 points: This stunning wine offers incredible fruit, expansive mouthfeel, and lively structure. The texture here is the most impressive part: even though the flavors are dense and ripe, there is a silkiness in the mouth and a lift on the finish that give the wine a real elegance (albeit in a modern, New World kind of way). I thought the 2010 was fantastic a few weeks ago, and this is on the same trajectory - just delicious.
Dark red in color and full in body, the wine offers aromas of boysenberry, black cherry, espresso, and cloves. The flavors are lush and open-knit, with notes of blackberry, charcoal, leather, gravel, and cardamon, with an integrated finish that carries grainy tannins that need a little more time to integrate. Blend from Abreu’s Madrona, Posadas, and Thorevilos (my pocketbook curses you, David Abreu!). Blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. 15.2% alcohol. Darker and more savory (e.g., olive, charcoal) on second day. 95-96 at the moment, with upside in 2023 or later.
P.S. I opened another bottle a few weeks later with a killer array of wines - 2012 Matriarch, 2012 Bard, 2010 Bryant - and this wine stole the show. I lack notes (precision wasn’t quite the point!), but this wine is the real deal, period. (3518 views) | | | Tasted by MAXIMUM SATISFACTION on 11/27/2020 & rated 94 points: Still young but more than drinkable with a short decant. Dark fruited with tons of cassis, milk chocolate and dusty earth. Not the most polished but well crafted and delicious. Tons of sediment so decant carefully. Give it 2-3 more years. (2275 views) | | | Tasted by richshoes on 6/19/2018 & rated 96 points: This is a great wine that is still young and can go for quite some time but opens up quickly with some nice layers of depth—medium bodied but great complexity. Plum, dark ink, black current and boysenberry.... (3296 views) | | | Tasted by Collector1855 on 11/18/2016 & rated 89 points: Napa Valley Master Class with Robert Parker; 11/10/2016-11/20/2016 (Napa Valley): During a visit of the winery. Nose of dark fruit, reductive. Rich palate, tannins a bit rustic. Difficult to assess at this stage. 89+ (6003 views) |
| Bryant Family Vineyard Producer websiteRed 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 Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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