Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This was a nice way to start out, crisp citrus, and herb showing mostly. Never been a big SB fan.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
No official score as it is a barrel sample that is far from a finished product.
After speaking with Richard for a few minutes, which was nice as it had been a while since last I had the pleasure, he mentioned this is the first CS heavy red blend of his vineyard's wine as the vintage was condusive to the proper ripening of the grape and was comprised of 65% CS, 35% M.
Dark fruit on the nose and on the palate, some underbrush, and some tannins. The most accessible wine at this point and should be upon release as well as is the norm.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
No official score as it is a barrel sample that is far from a finished product.
This was comprised of 85% CS, 15% M.
Dark fruit on the nose and on the palate, some herb, graphite, and strong tannins. This has all the stuffing to be a great early accessible wine, since the change in extraction starting in the 2008 vintage it seems like the wines are more upfront, especially in ripe vintages like 2010.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
No official score as it is a barrel sample that is far from a finished product.
After speaking with Sherri for a few minutes she mentioned this is her first CS heavy red blend as the vintage was condusive to the proper ripening of the grape and was comprised of 53% CS, 39% M, 8% PV.
Dark fruit on the nose and on the palate, some herbs, with a distinct inkiness from the PV, and overly agressive tannins at this point. Will be interested to see how these turn out on release.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This was comprised of 58% PV, 17% CF, 25% M.
Dark berries, little earth, sweet oak on the nose and on the palate, some black berries, earth, and coffee showing with some tannins. Good mouthfeel as always with this hot vineyard site, should be accessible now, but improve with time as well. 87-88

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This seemed like the most lush bottle of the tasting, dark fruit, little resin, spice showing as well. Good mouthfeel.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This was comprised of 7% PV, 71% CS, 7% M, 15% CF.
Dark black cherry, little herbs, a little forest loam on the nose and on the palate, some mixed black berries and raspberries, cherry, herbs, and minerality showing with tannins. As almost always this was my favorite of the tasting, though pretty good now it really needs some cellaring to show all its stuff. 89+

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
Red fruit on the nose and palate. Herbs, good structure, and cedar showing. My favorite of the 07's, but not necessarily as good as I recalled previously.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This was comprised of 72% PV, 28% CS.
Black plum, a little red grape, pine resin, ink, spice on the nose and on the palate, some black berries, plum, herb, graphite, and a little bitter coffee showing with the tannins. Good structure to the wine and I am sure the tannin bitterness will fade with some cellaring.. 88

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
Very similar to past tastes of this wine, red fruit on the nose and palate, with some herbs and underbrush and graphite showing as well. Showed well, but perferred the 08's almost universally and this was no exception.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
This is a different chard than I am used to from Jim due to most of it being from the Avenius Cuvegg experiment. The minerality is there, but it is closer to chalkiness than anything else along with pineapple and some citrus.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
The change in blending has really made this much more accessible than in past years, and the merlot shine through. Good stuff for a weekday go to wine.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
Brand new bottling, showed a little more darker fruit, and hints of the olive/brine that I like so much from this grape along with the ink and graphite that normally shows. Definately some tannins, but softer than I expected at this point.

Notes from a small taste at the Barrel Tasting.
Same as previous, slightly off dry, little tropical citrus, easy going and good for warm weather.