Blackberry, oak char, burnt embers, asphalt, seriously dark cassis, and a fistful of enticing minerality make for another sexy-gothic bottle juice. The 2018 Quivet LPV is indeed the jet-black haired hot chick with the back-sized dragon tattoo. But perhaps a bit unlike the more ostentatious 2016 LPV, this most recent iteration seems like it might actually be able to pass Med School. Some serious cerebral focus going on here, driven mostly by the black obsidian rock elements rushing through the fruit core. This wine is my kind of gal. 97-98+ points.

Gobs of ripe fruit, sweet cassis, and red/purple licorice. A dark stallion kind of wine at its core, but encompassed by the typical Mike Smith-meets-Crane rounded ripeness and succulence. Beautifully concentrated and sweet without being ‘sweet.’ A notable grip comes up on the back end and keeps everything in apt check. Chewy on the tail. Tasty now, but a wine that is still a little wild in its delivery. It’s a pre-med second-year college rollercoaster of flavor right now if that’s your jam, or better yet, hold for a few years and allow the good doctor to finish his residency. 95+ points.

Showing even more ripeness than when I last sampled it in August, the 2018 GIII shows the familiar ripeness of the Myriad GIII fruit vintage after vintage; round, ready, and fairly sweet. An extrovert to be sure, if but a little smoother than the 2016 in terms of the 2016’s overt power and push of concentration. The 2018 is no less driven , it just seems to execute its delivery of fruit with a tad more cadence. Finishes slightly sweet, round, and ripe. 95++ points.

As chewy and fruit-driven as the 2018 Myriad Crane, the Peterson rides a little higher than the Crane in terms of overall depth, but notably fills the palate with a gorgeous saturation of sweet blackberry and dark black raspberry. Some asphalt and black rock add interest here, with heavy cassis and black cherry notes sauntering-in a little late in the game and marinating the finish. A slight youthfully bitter hit briefly pokes its head up on the very tip of the tail, but doesn’t translate to any astringency or clipping of the otherwise attractive flavor expansion. 95+ points.

So…Much…Cassis…. and black cherry liqueur on the front of this wine right now. This sample was all about the frontal push of heavy gobs of cherry, cherry, cherry. It’s like a bulldog with its humungous tank-head gnawing on a pack of Skittles and then licking you in the face with all of its salivating love and sweet elation. It’s a lot to take in right now, so wear your Spring Break goggles and snorkeling gear if you plan to mess around with this in the near future. It’s a bit excited and unresolved at the moment. A boozy fruitiness on the back end picks up a bit of heat and slight bitterness at adds to the wild merrymaking. 95+ points.

Massive chocolatey and meaty fruit on the attack, with sweet gobs of black and red raspberry, cassis, licorice, and charcuterie on the front end. Quite the bitter bite on the tail at the moment.

Not completely unlike the 2018 in that it showed some nice black mineral elements to counterbalance the fruit core, but it certainly is a bit of a tricky comparison when having the vintages side-by-side. The 2017 has a much more horizontal trajectory when seated next to the athletic and stratosphere-eque 2018. The 2017 is milder mannered and medium bodied, but will no doubt still appeal to those looking for the Mike Smith tasty flavor profile. Time will hopefully deepen the concentration spectrum here. 93-94 points.

Red fruit driven with deeply pitched red raspberry and cassis notes. Finishes sweet and savory, with red currant and cedar flavors adding nuance. 91-92 points.

lemon and yellow apple skin are followed by richer and creamier notes of buttered popcorn, glycol, and vanilla bean. Fresh and expressive with notable tension and energy to counterbalance some of the plusher lemon curd and margarine-tinged notes. Finishes a little round with a wide extension of its flavors. 93 points.

Super clean lemon yellow citrus, acacia, and lemon zest, with more of a focus on purity and delineation of flavor than the creamier and somewhat heavier Sangiacomo offering. The El Diablo achieves richness through deliberate layering and concentration, making for a weightless but still beautifully “rich” on the palate deliverance. Thanks Montrachet clone! An excellent execution of flavor here, without the cloying saccharine element that is sometimes found on other like Chardonnays from this region (cough….Aubert……ahegm). 95+ points.