Community Tasting Note

• LiteItOnFire Likes this wine:

  April 3, 2021 - Dream Trip - Napa On A Mission - All My favorites Plus A Few New Ones; 4/1/2021-4/4/2021 (Napa Valley): Who knew one of my favorite vineyards got their hands on Thorevilos... wow this I had to see (or smell/taste in this case).
  
  Ok so you take one of your favorite wineries and pair it with one of your absolute favorite vineyards and put a very talented winemaker at the Helm (very different style than BG so was unsure how this would turnout) and what do you get- either a work in progress as new vineyard manager and winemaker tinker for the first few years as to better understand the opportunity or a home run right out of the gates. In this case it’s the later, the wine is absolutely delicious yet very different than Abreu Thorevilos. It’s very much a TRB wine with the Thorevilos vineyard in the background... way to early to tell what the final blend and wine will be as I can’t figure out what this will become in bottle. What I can say is I will take my full allocation and pop one of these immediately- it will be the wine I am most interested in tasting upon arrival. This has everything one would want in a TRB mashed with Thorevilos - excellent. Won't rate due to small sample size and not enough time to allow it air- we just could not put this wine down (similar impression on great wine for all three wines).

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28 Comments

• ffzhang commented:

  4/12/21, 8:53 PM - Thanks so much for all of the notes! I’ll be heading to Napa next week and plan to hit up several of the same places on your list. But I’m especially excited for this wine! Cheers!

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  4/12/21, 9:00 PM - Awesome! The ‘19s are amazing - hopefully you will be able to spend more time with the wines than my silly hair brained adventure but it did meet many of the goals we set out to accomplish.
  
  Look forward to seeing your thoughts on your trip!
  
  Most notes are simply impressions but tried to do what I could.

• msuwine commented:

  4/13/21, 7:49 AM - Great note, Lite! I confess to being nervous about this wine: I love both Maybach's Materium and Abreu's Thorevilos, but you're right that they are absolutely different kinds of wines.
  
  I wouldn't call TRB a light touch winemaker (especially in his work for Maybach), but I'm hoping there's still some of that earthy / rustic character from the vineyard. Can't wait to try it - thanks again!

• WineBurrowingWombat commented:

  4/13/21, 8:14 AM - Ohhh, wow looking forward to try this. Great notes!

• Mark1npt commented:

  4/17/21, 3:01 PM - Yes! It sounds awesome!

• RayT commented:

  8/18/21, 7:30 PM - Liteitonfire thanks for the heads up on this bottle I typically only buy the Materium but will pick up a bottle or two of this.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/18/21, 7:42 PM - Ray the ‘19 vintage from my favorites producers are hitting on all cylinders. Might be one of my all time favorite vintages - and at this point homogeneous… now my sample size is small so take that with a grain of salt.

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/18/21, 7:48 PM - Lite....the '19 Tor VHR I had in Austin last week was killer, but beware....price is now up to $275/bottle. I'm out at that price.....

• RayT commented:

  8/18/21, 7:50 PM - Liteitonfire my Napa trip in March was similar to yours drinking Vice Versa, Memento Mori, and Kinsman Eades. I also loved the 2019's especially how accesible they are compared to my 2018's which I have been holding.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/18/21, 7:50 PM - $275- whoa that’s stupid high for VHR. Did they give any indication on why their VHR is $275?

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/18/21, 8:03 PM - I didn't ask.....I wasn't in a talking mood....and you had to buy a 3 pack for $825. Their Melanson was nice but a good 3 points less than the VHR and I think it's price was still around $240/bottle. It's just getting nuts out there......

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/18/21, 8:13 PM - Stupid expensive

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/18/21, 8:13 PM - RayT- yep I am holding all of my ‘18s for another 5 years to be safe, we’ll I will try anyway.

• WineBurrowingWombat commented:

  8/18/21, 8:19 PM - Dammit man.. hearing that increase hurts even me and I don't even buy from them

• Mark1npt commented:

  8/18/21, 8:32 PM - Wombat, I picked up a couple of '18s of this from a local merchant in the past year at around $198/bottle which is somewhat high for me. This new price is just ridiculous and reeks of price gouging ahead of the fact that they probably won't have any '20s to sell, so they're trying to cut their losses by gouging for the '19s. No, not on my watch......

• gymnastpro commented:

  1/18/22, 10:38 PM - Mark, most wineries are doing that tbf. It definitely hurts

• #1Winelover commented:

  1/19/22, 3:47 AM - Thanks for this note, Lite -- I missed it back in April. Can't wait to try this version from Ecotone.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  1/19/22, 2:20 PM - #1- It didn't suck, that is for sure!

• Mark1npt commented:

  1/19/22, 2:47 PM - Gpro, it's just getting too ridiculous now out there. Generational change is accelerating in the Valley and everybody is buying into the game at an all time high now. That only leads to higher pricing across-the-board. Pretty soon only Arab sheiks will be visiting and buying from Napa. Nobody short of that will be able to afford it.

• gymnastpro commented:

  1/19/22, 2:54 PM - 100% agree. I will be priced out of some great wineries in a few years time at the current rate

• RayT commented:

  1/19/22, 3:10 PM - Mark1npt Maybach raised its prices from $195 last year to $225 for the Materium and the Ecotone was $215. I read a very interesting article about Andy Beckstoffer this week. He was deathly afraid of those milleniums(that's what he called them}. Studies show definitively that Millenials will not pay for high-end wine. As they age and the Baby Boomers die he believes premium wine makers will take a beat down. I would like that info a lot better if I wasn't a baby boomer!

• gymnastpro commented:

  1/19/22, 5:46 PM - They explain the price increase? 225 still doesn't seem too bad though.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  1/19/22, 5:47 PM - Gym- it was a bit of a drift. They were referring to Tor VHR not Maybach.

• gymnastpro commented:

  1/19/22, 5:53 PM - I was asking Ray, as he said Maybach went up from 195 to 225 for Materium

• RayT commented:

  1/19/22, 6:06 PM - Gymnast pro- They did not explain the price mark up but I felt the same that it wasn't that bad comparatively speaking. Being one of the few wineries that sells to their waiting list in January I expected a raise. Also my local wine shop used to charge $50 over winery prices now they are $100 over and that's $100 over the new price. I only belong to mailing lists where the wine is cheaper than the open market( not counting bidding on wine). I go to a high end wine bar that carries a lot of $150-$500 bottles and there has been huge price creep. I am very interested to see what the high end producers that are not making 2020 cab are going to do. My gut feeling is they are going to release some library wines to try and offset the loss. I am hoping we can get some older vinatges for close to the normal price. I am a big 2013, 2016 fan so will be looking for those.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  1/19/22, 6:09 PM - Sorry Gym. I agree with you Maybach's price increase was fair, especially how they are priced to market.

• RayT commented:

  1/19/22, 6:13 PM - Gymnast Pro- I did realize there was a drift/shift in this thread from Maybach/ to Tor VHR but I posted the Maybach prices to contribute to the conversation that prices are going up. As far as the VHR, Tor has always been a hit and miss producer for me a bit like Bevan. If a Tor VHR is $275 I much rather have a Memento Mori VHR for $225 that I find to be a much more consistent producer but when it comes to wine I believe to each his own. I do love CT though. I have learned more from the drinkers on this site than all the articles I have read and it's not even close.

• Mark1npt commented:

  1/19/22, 6:24 PM - I second that statement, Ray!

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