Community Tasting Note

• Mark1npt Likes this wine: 91 points

  May 2, 2021 - First bottle of this producer, ever. Pnp at dinner at a local restaurant with family....sat airing for 30-40 min then poured. Seemed a tad oak heavy at first, fruit was clean and dark but rather unspectacular. It drank nicely but again, rather plain Jane, if you will. Hoping this puts on weight and layers with some aging. I have absolutely no idea how this gets a 97 from WA.....oh wait, it wasn't Robert Parker, who gave it that!

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27 Comments

• AGELVIS commented:

  5/2/21, 8:02 PM - This will certainly get better. Probably needs at least another year and a two hour decant to do it justice. Everything you noted is simply youth. Cheers Mark!

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/2/21, 8:09 PM - I hope so, J.......will let the rest of these sit a while.

• sean7711 commented:

  5/3/21, 6:45 AM - Thanks Mark for the note. Heading to taste at Aperture next week - Had good experiences with the 2017 vintage from them, so hoping to get a read on the 2018s and this one in particular.

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/3/21, 6:59 AM - Admittedly, it was a pnp at a restaurant so no more than 40 min for it to come around. It was ok, it's not bad by any means, there were no faults, but it wasn't a 97 wine either....just don't know where Erin Brooks got her 97 from? 97 is a real Major League 'kickass' score in my book. With the right time/air maybe it gets to 93+? I don't know......maybe it just needs 2-3 more years of bottle time?

• TMOVino2 commented:

  5/3/21, 7:38 AM - I'm with you that 97 for this one seems a bit out of touch IMO. Some of their Single Vineyard Cabs certainly can get up high 90's for me though. This one seems to be just your experience. I rated it 93-94 for me right now but it certainly wasn't there the first hour, more like hours 3-4. Definitely these need another year or two in bottle and it will be better. As my notes suggest, I've had nearly every vintage since 2012 and I can't think of a single one that was ready to go basically at release. I had a 2015 not long ago and it's just now starting to really show well. Giving my 2016 and remaining 2018's time to settle in. Try their Del Rio vineyard designate if you want a 97 experience. This one is more like Myriad NV or Becklyn NV to me...93-94 is best they're ever going to be.

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/3/21, 8:04 AM - Thanks for the info TMO and that's a great comparison also....this drinks like other NV which is what I expected and for wines like that 91-93 is all I am realistically expecting. I know this will pick up 2 points going forward but not 6! Now, I need to look at other wines Ms. Brooks is scoring and reset the dial!

• GQG commented:

  5/4/21, 7:39 PM - Agreed Mark, there's no way I see this getting to a 97. It did seem more accessible than most 2018's at opening, which I guess is another way of saying that I'm predisposed to expect all 2018's to be tight and closed right now, and exceeding expectations is therefore a low bar to cross. It improved by a couple of points after 4 hours and the comparison to Becklyn et. al. is appropriate -- and these drinkable NV wines have their place and time :) I don't subscribe to any reviewers and had no prior knowledge of this wine before it was brought to my attention in an email blast, but if I had bought it thinking it was going to be a 97 I'd really be disappointed.

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/4/21, 7:48 PM - GQ, I agree with all your points. I will def decant for 3-4-or more hours with the next one and I'm certain it'll score higher than what I gave this first bottle. I would only have been disappointed in it, had I paid over $100 for it, which I'm glad I did not. Cheers!

• GQG commented:

  5/4/21, 9:47 PM - Cheers Mark, and on to the next bottle... that for me tonight is a 2016 Carter Three Kings, TN already posted... and there's always another one!

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/5/21, 3:14 AM - Well, that's quite the step up! My '16 Carters are long gone, GQ. Have one '17 left to dispose of, maybe next week?

• GQG commented:

  5/5/21, 4:46 AM - Mark, the '17 vintage is like a black hole in my cellar but drinking Carters early is usually a great plan!

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/5/21, 5:24 AM - Agreed. I just didn't like the taste profile of the fruit. I bought only a few '17s and don't have many left...4 Myriad, 1 Carter maybe a few other stragglers.

• Fractals888 commented:

  5/14/21, 2:29 PM - Hey Mark, was about to mark my score for this bottle when I saw your posting. I, too, didn't understand the WA97 after opening this bottle, but after 3+ hours of decanting, this bottle started opening up. But agreed, 97 is too high of a score.

• Mark1npt commented:

  5/14/21, 2:32 PM - Fractal, thanks for your input on this one also. I know it will be better with time and decanting, but can't figure out where the WA 'expert' came up with this number (97)? I have a few left so will monitor over the next few years. Who knows? Maybe a 94-95? That would not be bad for the price paid. Cheers!

• Franken Berry commented:

  6/2/21, 4:07 AM - I agree with your observations on this one. A real head scratcher, on that 97 score. Good juice, nothing special. For $75, there are more satisfying options in Napa. I am a huge fan of their red blend, for $50

• TMOVino2 commented:

  6/2/21, 7:55 AM - Frank- what options do you find better for $75 in Napa? I find this very comparable to quality and profile to something like Myriad, Becklyn, Le Pich, etc. I think the 97 score seems to be throwing this group. If it was scored 93 everyone’s tune on it is probably different.

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/2/21, 8:21 AM - TMO....the score is indeed throwing me....I don't think I've ever had a $75 bottle that scored that high.....and I still haven't. This is a nice wine and I'm positive it will score higher than the number I gave it with time, but 97 seems to be a very big stretch from here.

• AGELVIS commented:

  6/2/21, 8:28 AM - I think we can all agree that 94-95 pts for $75 is very reasonable (with the understanding that wine is fantastically overpriced compared to most food products). ;)

• TMOVino2 commented:

  6/2/21, 8:35 AM - Mark1- can’t disagree the 97 is far fetched here (maybe if it was one of their single vineyards Cabernets) but I feel like a lot of wines scores recently have been a bit inflated. To each his own though right! That’s what makes drinking wine so fun.

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/2/21, 9:38 AM - TMO...definitely! I find myself searching more and more for decent wines under $100. There are some out there but not many. This is a nice wine but now, at 91 pts, I would think $50-60 tops. If it makes it to 94-95, then it'll probably merit the $75 price tag. I'll check back in a year and see how it's doing. Cheers!

• Franken Berry commented:

  6/4/21, 12:28 PM - TMOV- for $75, there is Caterwaul, Hayfork, Le Pich, Rivers Marie - just take a peak at my cellar

• Franken Berry commented:

  6/4/21, 12:36 PM - Mark1 - I’m not sure what Erin was smoking, up there in Sonoma when she rated it, but 97 it will never be. Dunnuck gave the ‘16 a 93, so if I adjust this by his typical overgenerous factor, I get 91-92. ;)

• Mark1npt commented:

  6/4/21, 2:01 PM - FB......I've heard stories of these 'experts' mixing up wines and assigning a grade to the wrong wine. Maybe that happened here? It was a 91 for me that night but I bet it does show better in a year. If by some odd miracle it gets to 97.....I'll be running for POTUS in '24.

• TMOVino2 commented:

  6/4/21, 6:26 PM - FB and Mark - we all agree not 97. She just rated his 2018 Devil Proof Farrow Ranch Malbec 100 pts which seems high to me. Still good wine but high 90’s. But I have no problem paying $75 for this Aperture with any of the others in the range (Becklyn, Caterwaul, Myriad, Le Pich, Taplin Terra 9(underrated), rivers-Marie, Cimarossa etc.). Drink this in three years like you would most any of those and I think it’s easy 93-94 like most of those are or will be. 2018 Myriad and Caterwaul were low 90’s at best first go around for me.

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/1/21, 6:46 PM - Gents - the Rodney strong reserve Cabernet 2015 got a 97 at around 40$ retail! Aperture tasted a bit better!

• Mark1npt commented:

  7/1/21, 7:06 PM - 97 from who? Dunnuck? Take 7 points off and you get the real score, lol.....

• Cablover1982 commented:

  7/1/21, 8:50 PM - 97 from Decanter : )
  I agree on 91!

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