External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2014 and 2019 (based on 16 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.1 pts. and median of 88 pts. in 19 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by jrick on 4/20/2019: Unfortunately at this point like watered down cherry juice, highly acidic. Another lesson learned on not keeping bottles of wine that are attractive because they are fresh and juicy on release for another 4-5 years... (762 views) | | | Tasted by Tony Molester on 3/28/2017: High toned acidity, very unlikeable...avoid although I generally enjoy the wines from Birichino.
12% abv (1567 views) | | | Tasted by Lilja on 1/3/2017 & rated 88 points: Juicy and fresh! (1722 views) | | | Tasted by chablis28 on 7/6/2015 & rated 88 points: Agree with Venice CA's 6/2015 notes completely. Interesting wine focused on old vine Cinsault. The length and finish surprised me too. Fun but I don't need to drink this very frequently. Paid $19 for one btl and worth checking out. (2782 views) | | | Tasted by VeniceCalif on 6/10/2015 & rated 88 points: Decanted 1 hr. ahead. Medium ruby-garnet color, with purple flashes. Nice but shy nose of white pepper, red fruit, rhubarb, and spice notes. Light body on the palate, with a bright, lifted texture led by cherry flavors and spice. Acid balance is not tart, but nearly so; refreshing is a good way to say it. The finish is longer than you might expect for wine this light, as the drying notes prolong into very low tannins. Good, light-bodied, not too challenging. Completely pleasant. (2181 views) | | | Tasted by Krassens on 6/5/2015 & rated 86 points: Medium light red, young and fresh nose with tones of redcurrant, parsley and pepper. Slight reductive notes, on the palate lingonberries, cranberry, high acidity, medium tannins, short but still lingering.
Special style, 100% cinsault. Lightbodied, young in character. Perhaps not an everyday wine but could probably give a better showing paired with the right type of food. (1881 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 5/4/2015 flawed bottle: A Cinsaut made from a centenarian vineyard, planted in 1886. As I had tasted this wine half a year ago, I was looking toward tasting it again.
Translucent cherry red color. Surprisingly understated, reticent and lean nose with vague aromas of phenolic spice, ripe damson, some bretty Band-Aid and a touch of leafy greenness. The wine is dry, youthful and similarly closed on the palate with crunchy, understated flavors of tart cranberries and lingonberries, some sweeter dark berries, a little bit of earth, a hint of rusty iron and a touch of smoke. The wine is high in acidity with quite mellow medium-minus tannins. The finish is dry, hollow and rather short with flavors of tart red berries and some metallic iron character.
A big disappointment after the previous taste. I've normally liked very much Birichino wines, but this was simply dead and hollow. Most likely there is some bottle variation between the wines and this bottle had some brett that masked away most of the fragrant fruit character of the wine - at least the phenolic notes of smoke, Band-Aid and rusty iron pointed out to the presence of brett. And not the lovely, funky and barnyardy kind, but instead of the bitter, smoky and medicinal kind. Marking this wine as "defective" seeing how it was so different from the previous taste. (665 views) | | | Tasted by yofog on 3/8/2015: Translucent and very primary pale ruby color. Slightly reduced funky but very primary fruit nose, with a very juicy, transparent palate. Think a California Cinsault made by someone who's really into Jura Ploussards. (1440 views) | | | Tasted by Dovberg on 2/14/2015 & rated 86 points: From 128 year old wine stocks, 100 % Cinsault.
Never had a pure Cinsault wine before. Juicy, light at first with dominant lingon berry nose. In the background there is some hay, sweet liquorice, granny smith apples. After some time hints of flowers, pine tree and marshsmallows showed up.
The wine has a very light body on the palate. One of the most lightbodied wines I ever encountered before. Juicy with lingon berries, lemon juice, granny smith apples and blue berries. Decent sandy minerals. Good acid thanks to the very old wine stocks. It is gripping, follows right through the wave and fades out slowly. Some viol candy and rowan berries supports the acid in the aftertaste.
At first the acid was too dominating but after some time it integrated with the fruit and the wine became as interesting as it is worth its price tag. 16 euros a bottle. Well worth it. (1329 views) | | | Tasted by Lilja on 12/17/2014 & rated 90 points: Complex and intriguing nose full of funk, raw meat, seared minced beef, mustard, minerals, spices, oak, yeast and a bunch of dark berries.
High, tart acidity with a very dry palate. Light bodied with a dry, just slightly bitter finish. Good length and intensity. Quality stuff, and I really like it. Cali Cinsault wasn't my first guess though! (1250 views) | | | Tasted by karl.1480 on 12/16/2014 & rated 88 points: Medium ruby color.
The nose is youthful and has a medium+ aroma intensity. Aromas of dark berries, gravel, garrigue, black pepper, violets and wild raspberries. The wine was evolving in the glass during the whole night. At first a bit fruit-driven and after a couple of hours the wine started to take on a more spicy character with undergrowth and herbs. Very intriguing nose.
The palate is dry and juicy with a medium acidity, body and tannin. The flavor intensity is medium with flavors of black berries, raspberries, gravel, pepper, garrigue and flowers. The finish is medium. Very cool for it's origin.
A very interesting and fun wine, like all wines from Birichino that I've tasted. Easy drinking and should be drunk rather soon. (1040 views) | | | Tasted by geeky? not sure on 10/1/2014: Tasty quaffer. Would have guessed Trousseau. Citrusy with a little spice. (990 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 9/22/2014 & rated 92 points: A Cinsaut made from a centenarian vineyard.
Translucent cherry red color. Very fragrant and attractive nose with floral tones, some very ripe and almost sweet red fruit aromas, a little bit of white pepper, a hint of chocolate shavings and a sappy streak of something slightly leafy vegetal. The wine is dry, pure and crunchy on the palate with rather high - almost racy - acidity, light-to-medium body and bright, well-delineated and really fruit-forward flavors of tart cranberries, sweet boysenberries and wild strawberries, some sour cherries and hints of brambly raspberries. The wine is very lively and vibrant on the palate with very mellow yet ever so slightly angular tannins. The finish is lively, refreshing and really pure with vibrant, crunchy flavors of raspberries, sour cherries, cranberries, some blackberries and a hint of slightly bitter peppery spice.
A very fun, super-crunchy and thoroughly tasty little red with lovely, pure, fruit-forward character. The wine is very easily approachable yet remarkably serious at the same time. There's a lot of complexity, yet it is also really open and straightforward in style. With its light, acid-driven and fruit-driven style, this is a real antithesis to the "normal" Californian style, which only makes it even more fascinating. Super lovely, I just can't stop diggin' this stuff. Highly recommended. (740 views) | | | Tasted by Blauweiss on 7/18/2014 & rated 86 points: Quite light at first, grew with air. Fruity with a earthy tone, low alcohol but still decent backbone. This is young, and after 1-2hours it got more interresting. Drink now- 2 years. (939 views) |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, Santa Lucia Highlands: New Releases (Aug 2015) (8/1/2015)
(Birichino Cinsault Bechthold Vineyard Old Vines Vignes Centenaires Mokelumne River Central Coast) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Birichino Producer websiteUSAAmerican 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 Central Valley The Central California Winegrowers (Official site) | Central Valley (California Wine Institute) |
|
