Navy Pier - Chicago, IL
Tasted Saturday, November 12, 2011 by beezer6 with 914 views
Attended with Johnny and Greg. Good times.
Little caramel and spice. Nice easy drinking. Fresh and clean.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
More earth driven than Riviera. Little more Old World styling - still ripe fruit.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Most fragrant of entry level priced bottlings. Shroomy and pungent. Palate a bit austere but still a solid wine at a great price.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Sea breeze, saline, fresh cotton and linen. Nice precision on finish. A nice wine. Really great to drink outdoors I'd imagine.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Really fresh. Flowers. Rocky. Extra enjoyable finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Long soft wine. Elegant. Creamy new oak. Great integration. Awesome finesse.
Might be a little on the ripe side for some, but it's right in my wheelhouse. Plus, I love this vineyard's personality in general.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
First vintage from this World class vineyard. Unique minty, salty taste coupled with raspberry cotton candy and light anise. Big wine.
I'd say to lay this one down for a few years whereas others tasted were ready to rock with a lil' air in the bottle.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
What a treat to be given the opportunity to taste this "under the table" wine. No malo here.
Just a kiss of oak. Pineapple cantaloupe. Beautifully ripe styling but not overdone.
A little nuttyness, peanut buttery. Really delish. Refreshing but New World no doubt.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Nice creamy. Great mid palate. Bright Bing cherry, pomegranate. Finish is acid driven. Touch of funk. Really nice AVA.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Sea breeze. Super duper funky. Wow. Great sample from this vineyard. Not always a fan of this one SV if I remember correct.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Fantastic wine. One of the highlights of the day (this table was a highlight unto itself). So feminine and elegant.
Barely want to even drink it the aromas are so intoxicating. Absolutely gorgeous. Cannot recommend this guy enough. Accessible now but should age for at least seven to ten with ease.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
So the two best wines of the tasting were Cabs - kinda cheating I know - but whatever, they were absolutely gorgeous regardless of the setting.
They could easily go for twice their price maybe thrice if given some crazy Parker scores.
Super heady and hedonistic styling. Totally creamy and rich. Lots of blue high altitude fruit. Really structured but balanced without a touch of abrasiveness.
Great finish. Long and lingering. I'd say you should grab this and age it a minimum five years. But this is worth every penny.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Stunning wine. So balanced. A little more red fruit when compared to the Howell. Supple and more resolved tannin structure at the moment. A wine full of grace and feminine styling. Still brooding and a tour de force in the making.
Some fruit from the Georges III Beckstoffer vineyard is in this wine and it comes through. Leather and royalty at its best. Highly recommended for a special purchase.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Finesse driven. Ripe structure. Hedonistic. Spicy. Balance. Good acid on the back end. Great AVA bottling. Recommended.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
One of the wines of the day. And what a cool opportunity to meet THE Gary. Great cranberry, caramel, sweet baking spice - clove nutmeg. Minty menthol. Complex.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
First vintage from this vineyard. Right off the press. Great spice, rhubarb, fig. Big grip out of a big wine.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Big wine. Smoky and unique. Light caramel. Unique nose. Nice mid palate. Little liqueur on the finish. Indicative of the vintage.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Awesome big nose. Grip and tannin. Nice blacker berries. Acidic finish. Nice fleshyness. Light gray peppercorns.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Prettiest nose. Big boysterous but full of damp earth and funk in a balanced fashion. A little more austere but in an extremely enjoyable way.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Less extraction bust still some nice spicy, minty and smoky aromatics. More restrained than the 2010.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Not showing any age. Similar quality. Little more briar and green notes. Less fruit driven. Some more signs of earth.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Best of the four tasted in the mini vertical, which I must say was a great idea.
Showing a touch of age. A little ox. Super earthy. Mossy funk driven Old World styling. Underbrush - unique rust that I loved.
Nice elegant finesse driven wine. Really extraordinary. One of the wines of the day.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Unique museum smell - I know. But I liked it. Old World qualities. Good depth. I liked it a lot. Nice intrigue on the table.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Agreed Richard. Plush damp mossy wine. Creamy. Same museum thing going on that I picked up in the Sonoma AVA. Am I crazy?
More structure. Long finish. Really enjoyed this.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Biggest of the bunch. Super structure. Too much fruit for me. A bit overdone. not worth the price for my palate.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
What a surprising new comer! The three of us instantly fell in love with this small new boutique operation in Sonoma.
This was my favorite. Expressive floral notes. Approachable, minty menthol. Really fragrant and aromatic. Palate is well textured and fleshy. A wine that should age well.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
More sweet and maple driven on the nose. Candied, spice nutmeg. Toffee palate touch more austere. Nice acid on the back end.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Another stellar wine. Minty, piney, rustic herbs. Green vegetation. Really nice balance.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Savory. Little ripe but green textured fruit.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Biggest of the bunch. Age worthy. Really structured and spicy. Most Old World styled as well.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Approachable. A little sweet caramel. Really clean finish. Nice back end. Still good grip.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Not bad. Young and tight but has some promise. Decent finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Big wine. Structure and backbone. Really full of cherries and flesh.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Great wine. Limited notes. Long finish. I'm going to have to look further into this producer.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Another vibrant fresh wine. Elegant. Caramel. Almost brownish color. Such a unique wine.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Dark caramel, molasses, honey. Clove, lil sweet. Big extracted juice.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Showing better this time around I guess. Nice earthy ripe cotton candy action. New oak. Lighter sassafras. Yup. I said it.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Spicy and exotic. Deliciousness. Really nice nose. Really nice on the palate too. Sweeter tannins. Great finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
I'm incredibly impressed in my tasting ability. Three times in a span of four years I've nailed this wine with the same score. It's just reassuring.
Less aromatic than the others. Plummy fruit. Good more rustic fruit. Nice clean finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Briney green olive and saline. Funky. Some seriously Oregon-esque qualities. Quite Old World in fact. Really nice but a steep tariff.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Didn't fall in love with this. Almost frizzy nose. Spicy red vegetation. Mustard seed. Very light and tutti fruitti.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
More funky. Lighter styling and less oak.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Don't see the hype. It's good but not over $75 good.
Hot and spicy. Green and red pepper. Some Sambal sauce. A real tomato accent. Didn't absolutely love it though unique.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Brownish color. Light Burgundian styling. A little austere but really nice rustic briary earth and moss. Palate is less extracted than the nose. Really a lighter styled bottling but great for Burghounds.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Riper more creamy. Nice finish. Lower acid. Just not as exciting as the 07.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
One of the absolute stunners of the day. Really think these guys got something special here. Though it's not cheap, I'd pay this price for a classically styled age worthy Oregon Pinot.
Touches of strawberry yogurt, earthy and funky. Great balance. Fair share of oak but it's not overdone. So smooth and creamy. Last wine - things were a bit hazy. Wish I had better notes.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
Awesome nose. The biggest and most flamboyant of the vintages tasted.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
© 2003-26 CellarTracker! LLC. All rights reserved. "CellarTracker!" is a trademark of CellarTracker! LLC. No part of this website may be used, reproduced or distributed without the prior written permission of CellarTracker! LLC.

2009 MacPhail Pinot Noir Toulouse Vineyard 87 Points
USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Disappointing. Looks aged. Austere bitter fruit. Not terribly pleasant. Some decent earth and one dimensional cherries. Tastes like a $12 bottling.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 MacPhail Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 83 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Oh my goodness. What a terrible start to the day. Luckily, these wines were my least favorite tasted - and I don't think it's because they were the first to be honest.
Harsh, tinny. Thin abrasive. Pass at all costs. What happened here? Weird bottle? Consistent with two tastes. Sorry guys, just being fair to myself and the CT community.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No