| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2019 Daou Vineyards Eye of the Falcon ReservePaso Robles Red Bordeaux Blend more |
9/3/2022 - Hodby Likes this wine: 87 pointsPopped and poured, through aerator, following 45 minutes aeration.Three 2 oz tasting portions sampled over a two hour period. 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| Red |
1998 Domaine Joël Champet Côte-Rôtie La ViallièreSyrah more |
9/22/2018 - Hodby Likes this wine: 91 pointsMedium red-garnet color. Aroma immediate and on the meaty and smoky side,. Balanced mouthfeel. Rich, long finish. Consumed over five evenings, improved each day. Recorked and kept cold each day. Bottle #10 of twelve. |
| Red |
2012 Ridge Zinfandel Pagani RanchSonoma Valley more |
9/8/2018 - Hodby wrote: 88 pointsMedium red color; there's no violet trace at all now. Well-fruited in the nose, oak starting to peek out first. On the whole, flavors and body are still quite good, with acidity tipped up a click or two as usual with this property. This release has been and continues to be on a level drinking plateau of two years now, one that should last quite some time albeit with a reduced verve compared to bottles of two years back. Bottle #11 of twelve. |
| Red |
2013 Sanford Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict VineyardSta. Rita Hills more |
1/4/2018 - Hodby wrote: 86 pointsMedium ruby-violet color. Overly generous new oak nose, with nice herbal-cherry notes poking out from the background. Needed a lot of air (two days) to achieve a more balanced, better aromatic fruit/wood ratio. Smooth mouthfeel, oak-slathered so if you like that style, it's good. Medium intensity, medium length finish. |
| Red |
1999 Bernard Faurie HermitageSyrah more |
10/31/2017 - Hodby wrote: 92 pointsDark red color, encouraging. Nose is leathery and well-fruited; still young for an eighteen year old Rhone. On arrival, lots of soft tannin and balanced acidity. A midlife Hermitage in the mouth, big fruit and big roasted meat. Medium lenght and medium intensity finish. No hurry on this one. Bottle one of one. |
| Red |
2001 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La GuiraudeSyrah more |
10/28/2017 - Hodby wrote: 92 pointsDrank just as well as last time. To save reader's time, see my note from April. Very smooth, very ready and in very good shape for sixteen year old syrah, let alone a Crozes Hermitage. |
| Red |
2012 Sanford Pinot Noir La Rinconada VineyardSta. Rita Hills more |
10/21/2017 - Hodby wrote: 87 pointsMedium red color. Nose shows a fairly heavy hand in the barrel room, French oak taking its place way out in front of red fruit and herb notes. Medium-light body, low tannin and oak again the main textural impression. Decent fruit, nothing exotic or out of balance. Finish medium, overall a bit of a poor value for $60 California pinot noir. Bottle #1 of one. |
| Red |
1999 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas RenaissanceSyrah more |
5/26/2017 - Hodby wrote: 88 pointsVivid red-violet color. Distinctive nose, iron, raspberry, black pepper. On arrival, low tannin and medium acidity. Touch of sweetness in the mouth, suggests some whole cluster nouveau Beaujolais style lots. |
| Red |
2015 Melville Syrah EstateSta. Rita Hills more |
5/16/2017 - Hodby wrote: 84 pointsRed-violet color. Grape juice nose, all fruit and no nuance. On arrival, gobs of soft tannin and moderate acidity make for an easy drinking style. Drank this bottle over the course of three evening dinner; the wine remained monolithic, unchanged, undeveloped throughout those sessions. A few points dashed off for $35 wine this simple. |
| Red |
1998 Patrick Jasmin Côte-RôtieSyrah more |
4/22/2017 - Hodby wrote: 91 pointsMedium garnet color. Leather, violets, slightly meaty nose - harmonious, attractive, clean. On arrival, fine tannin and balanced acidity; good mid-life shape. Finishes long, accent on floral elements. |
| Red |
1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-RôtieSyrah more |
3/25/2017 - Hodby wrote: 93 pointsMedium red-garnet, bricked edge. Slow to open nose, of barbecue wood smoke (hickory, cherry, apple), garrigue, beef roast, black pepper. Big on freesias and violets. In the mouth, fruit up front - surprise - with meat, herbs. Medium tannin, balance tipped up in acidity, typical for fine twenty year old syrah. Bodes well for more more aging, but probably matured. Wonderful as is. |
| Red |
1999 Domaine Gallet (Henri et Philippe) Côte-RôtieSyrah more |
1/1/2017 - Hodby wrote: 94 pointsMedium red-garnet color. Initially aromatically mute on Christmas day, with a three day sit on the shelf a gigantic Cote Rotie emerged. This needs air and a lot of it. Rewards: meaty sauvage nose with violets and black pepper. Deliciously thick in the mouth and refined. Jekyll and Hyde presentations, the initial and days three, four, five. Plan ahead and prepare for a sleeping giant. |
| Red |
1997 Noël Verset CornasSyrah more |
11/16/2016 - Hodby wrote: 91 pointsMedium dark garnet-red color. Sweet nose, well fruited for Cornas and unusually so for an aged Verset. Some leather and olive brine.On arrival, soft tannin and low-medium acidity, a break from the vintage pattern. Easy drinking, this one; clean, polite, nothing sticking out. Finishes with a bit of milky aftertaste. |
| Red |
1985 Caymus Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley more |
9/6/2016 - Hodby wrote: 90 pointsMedium-light red-garnet, heavy sediments. Wonderful initial nose, the old Caymus clone and French oak of pipe tobacco, thyme, rooty veggie tray and a little dusty, cherry and red currants. Low tannin and medium acidity on arrival. Develops quickly in the glass and within a hour getting rather astringent. Boy, nice to have this one last time. I sure miss the house style: ripe not overripe, pervasive smooth tannin, good medium body and lithe structure but q long-aging one, untouched by American oak. From magnum, bottle #6 of six. |
| Red |
2003 Tablas Creek TannatPaso Robles Adelaida District more |
9/2/2016 - Hodby wrote: 90 pointsDark red color. Aromas very promising: clean, plum, wintergreen, pipe tobacco. On arrival, gobs of soft tannin, medium acidity. Mouth-filling texture, medium intensity fruit; not real complex but this drinks so well it would work with many dinners at our house. Versatile. Better than I'd figured for an unheralded grape at age thirteen. Bottle #1 of one. |
| Red |
1991 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley more |
8/22/2016 - Hodby wrote: 94 pointsMedium-dark red- garnet color. Immediate nose and a powerful one, evolving: pencil box, dried Montmorency cherry, anise seed, leather, peppered beef jerky, pipe tobacco. In the mouth, lean rather than overripe but quite fully ripe and developed. Extended finish, black peppered beef and cedar in full display. Lovely stuff. Quite possibly my last wine and tasting note for the foreseeable future. Started a medication program for arthritis - NO ALCOHOL. Ouch. Bottle #4 of four. 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| Red |
2013 Caymus Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley more |
8/5/2016 - Hodby wrote: 77 pointsDark red-violet color. Goodness gracious, this is disappointing wine and a disappointing product in so many ways. First, that is just such simple wine for $50. It is very heavily oaked, even for cabernet carrying the Caymus name, and that's significant. There is inbalance in this bottle, I think coming from young vines over-cropped and ultra-ripe at harvest, then with a slathering of too much young toast-y oak American oak. The base material just did not have for the concentration in the grapes to support the oak program; it has great ripeness, yes, but that is not concentration. This is a product which represents - to me - one of the worst of market trends, using a well-known Napa Valley producer name (Caymus) to sell dreck at twice its going rate. I wouldn't buy it at $25 ! Resist the temptation. Bottle #1 of one. 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (6) |
| White |
NV Tsantali RetsínaAttica White Blend more |
4/22/2016 - Hodby Does not like this wine: NRPale straw color. Lemon, pine sap nose. Bitter, piney, oily. No rating. |
| Red |
2001 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La GuiraudeSyrah more |
4/5/2016 - Hodby wrote: 92 pointsMedium red-garnet color. Terrific nose of campfire smoke, bacon in the frying pan, black pepper, red fruit pie slightly over-baked, menthol and mixed garrigue. On arrival, medium-low tannin and balanced acidity, The herbal, meat-y notes from the nose lead in the mouth, background of nice menthol garrigue with a tingle of acidity at the end. Finishes strongly. Bottle #6 of twelve. |
| White - Sweet/Dessert |
2002 Magnotta Vidal Icewine Limited Edition Niagara Peninsula VQAmore |
3/26/2016 - Hodby wrote: 78 pointsDark amber, brown essentially. Nose of burnt caramel, pear, apple, kettle corn (maderized ?). On arrival, thick and unctuous, low acidity. Tiring to sip. We recorked the bottle, held overnight cold and used the remainders in preparing poached pears, a much more satisfying use. |
| Red |
2012 Screaming Eagle Cabernet SauvignonOakville more |
3/24/2016 - Hodby wrote: 92 pointsDark red-purple color. Waves of oak fill the air, the veritable impression of being seated in a wood shop at late afternoon drinking a vat of expresso; almost nothing permeates it save for some grape jam and wintergreen. On arrival, medium tannin, quite brisk but not overdone; balanced acidity. Intense and lavish French oak blankets the palate; vanilla and coffee with some ripe plum, blackberry and wintergreen in the mouth. Very big. Reminds me of early Quilceda Creek cabernet. Finishes strong and long; a tiring glass to finish but impressive. This wine was not built for current drinking, for me anyway. |
| Red |
2014 Dry Creek Vineyard Zinfandel Heritage VinesSonoma County more |
3/23/2016 - Hodby wrote: 89 pointsMedium red-violet color. Ripe raspberry and herb-laden nose. Medium-low tannin on arrival, balanced acidity; early drinking style with adequate structure. Ripe - not overripe or sweet - fruit in the mouth, full and easy. Fine value for $16 US. Bottle #1 of three. |
| Red |
2010 Scherrer Winery Pinot Noir Russian River Valleymore |
3/21/2016 - Hodby wrote: 91 pointsMedium red color. Medium intensity nose: red cherry, allspice, black pepper, bay leaf. On arrival, medium tannin and balanced acidity; firm and approachable both. In the mouth, bone dry and well-fruited, intense. Finishes with bay leaf, black pepper. Bottle #4 of six. |
| Red |
2013 Melville Pinot Noir EstateSta. Rita Hills more |
3/15/2016 - Hodby wrote: 91 pointsMedium red color, saturated. Fruity, slightly game-y nose of raspberry, celeriac, a whiff of dog fur, black pepper. Low-medium tannin, medium acidity. In the mouth, instantly friendly and very impressive stylistically for me. A balance rare among California PN, neither a huge (over)ripeness or extract, nor severely lean or fat, almost no oak, balanced acidity. Very nice indeed, something I could enjoy regularly especially for its price ($30 US in many places). Fruit oriented ? Sure but not jammy, not flabby, not tiring and yet interesting. Bottle #2 of three. |
| Red |
2012 Ridge Zinfandel Pagani RanchSonoma Valley more |
3/9/2016 - Hodby wrote: 92 pointsQuick note. Simply wonderful, strong and forward, lacking excess of oak, ripeness, tannin, alcohol. Bottle #5 of twelve. |
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