Kendrick’s Wine Club

67 Pall Mall, London
Tasted Monday, April 8, 2024 by Papies with 241 views

Flight 1 - The Whites (2 Notes)

  • 2013 Forman Chardonnay 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    A very pretty surprise and way off the overdone expressions of Napa Oaky Chardonnay, don’t get us wrong this is a Napa Wine for sure with the ripeness and the weight to go along but the wine is made with a light hand , the oak is there to complement and kudos to the winemaking at age 14 now drinks effortlessly beautiful and with an elegance. In a way a richer feel of a Chablis at times or maybe a bolder Meursault? Either way very good and worthy 93. The wine has easily another 10 years of life.

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  • 2019 Ceritas Chardonnay Trout Gulch 89 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    The more we drink their wines ( especially the reds) the more we feel they have gone way off the mark in trying to make soft and as pure wines as possible outside of the typical products one encounters in California. But they have pushed this too far and eat once was beautiful now is light and fruit juicy and lacks presence and we so often say the wine is now something it should not be. Shame cause we used to love them. 89

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Flight 2 - The Oldies (2 Notes)

  • 1992 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Our 9th encounter in a good decade with this beautiful wine ( Papies 95 ) and we can but just repeat the experience from a couple of years ago.
    Just effortlessly elegant , soft wine in the grand context of things , earthy but with a beautiful fruit, well evolved but in now way old and for lovers of this old school purity of 90s Napa that evolved classic Bordeaux style but with the extra dolllop of ripeness that comes from this terroir this is but a majestic wine experience, 95-96 easy and with a few more years to go like another 10 easy.

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  • 2001 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Spottswoode Estate Vineyard

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    It has been close to a decade since we had this ( Papies 93 back 2016 ) and granted our palate and interest have changed a lot since then.
    The wine had a touch of TCA , not always noticeable but every now and then it would pinch you just to piss one off that it’s there and make one wonder what is has been its effect. The issue we saw with the wine ( made in the glory days of Parkerisation) is that the wine felt a bit burnt and definitely now paying the prices for being pushed and the grapes left to over ripen. Has that “Portuguese “ burnt red wine feel that is just enough to spoil ( along with the the TCA for sure) what should have been a top end result. Maybe it’s the vintage maybe it’s a change in their methods but definitely a far cry from the old school beauties they used to produce in the 90s . We will not rate but did not feel bette than a 90-91

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Flight 3 - A blind dead ringer (1 Note)

  • 2010 Caldwell Tannat 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Served blind a was not an easy one to place. Definitely to us felt like a well ripened Syrah with its spicy feel across and an its tannic structure. Felt in a way like a soft SQN and we argued for it as it did have the feel of it or at least tried to become it albeit lacking the SQN muscle. Definitely a rich wine and definitely made in the California modern style . A pretty curiosity and a good 91

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Flight 4 - The 2011s (3 Notes)

  • 2011 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder

    Double decanted for a good hour and a half. Some decanting advisable at this age. Quite the restrained wine and at time had a dry feel but also quite aromatic and will very well assimilated oak. Felt like they did not get the ripeness right , touch under ripe especially for a Napa Cab , savory at times too. Nose is good with nice dark fruit notes but all and all ( we don’t thing is the age) the wine felt like it was missing something. 91-92

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  • 2011 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Double decanted for a good hour and not a bad idea to do so.
    The wine has a bit of a pomerol feel in its ripe and lush palate feel and of course with an extra level of ripeness that comes with the postcode. Definitely a bit of puppy fat to assimilate and also some soft mocha feel from the oak. Very well made and works for the style , and hopefully patience will be rewarded too when a more of a secondary feel arrives . We worried though if the wine now is as good as it gets and older would not mean better .Still at this age the wine is welcoming and in no way austere. 92-93 and wish one day we cross paths with it in the future.

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  • 2011 Dominus Estate 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Double decanted for a good hour and a half. Definitely needed albeit what this wine needs is 10 years of more cellaring. Not that it is austere or defficult or closed down it’s just that , barring the beautiful nose, one but sees a small glimpse of what this wine can achieve once it hits its full stride . Now is it a beautiful and elegant wine ? For sure ! But is one drinking it at its peak? No way! 92-93 for now and a wine with another 20years of life ahead.

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Flight 5 - A sweet finish (1 Note)

  • 2005 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 92 Points

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Cape Peninsula, Constantia

    Our first time trying this vintage and not the most typical of VdC as the wine lacked that intense mandarin marmalade we usually associate with it . Still impressive and beautiful, rich but effortlessly balance and definitely punches way higher ( as always ) than its price tag. Probably the best complement we can give it is that it arrived at the end of a long wine flight and probably fell on tired palates , yet it shown through. 92+

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