1/7/2024 - snarfglk Likes this wine:

this is no 91 point wine, it is full bodied and very un-grenache-like, not sharp like most grenaches.

10/13/2023 - RPerro Likes this wine:

Decanted this for an hour before service. Right away, the aroma hits you...big dark fruits; blackberry, plum, maybe some fig? Coffee, some barrel notes, a bit of black pepper. Alcohol is lightly evident, but the fruit melds nicely with it. I will admit that this got harder and harder to drink as it sat in the decanter longer. Best right off the pop. Acid and tannin took over as it got more air. By hour 4 it was near undrinkable. Just a wall of black tea and battery acid with some blackberries hiding underneath. Not sure how to call this one. I loved it for the first couple of hours. Amazing wine, like 96-97 points! Later on, not so much...more like high 80s. Splitting the difference and going 93. I really think this has the legs to go another 10+ years at this point, so no rush to open these. Drink now - 2033+.

9/22/2023 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:

Super funky rustic nose upon opening.
There's a touch of black cherry in the background but this is showing a lot of barnyard, dried earth, and green pepper.
There's more to enjoy on the palate with some dark fruit coming out, but it is still quite tight. Med weight, med acid, med+ tannin.
This needs time to integrate further. Hold for another 3+ years.

8/26/2023 - Mootsie wrote:

Seemed better this Spring. Tight, astringent.

7/16/2023 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Sappy dark fruit, fig, pepper, prominent mint. Savory and complex. Drink or hold.

6/20/2023 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

I poured a glass for my wife, she took a sip. I said “Zin or Grenache?” She said “Zin”. LOL. A Zin lovers Grenache.

6/14/2023 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Might be the best domestic rose’ I’ve had. Strawberry, tropical fruits, a slight smoke undertone. Slight bit of reduction on the nose is my only nit. Perfect acidity. Drink it now. Served at about 62 ish degrees. Let’s the fruit shine. Got this off Winebid for $15. Stupid crazy deal.

5/23/2023 - Rieslingfan wrote:

Decanted for two hours prior to serving, this would have been better served by four. Initially rather blocky, it opened up and gained layered complexity the longer it was open. Eventually there was the classic smoked meat, and dark berry fruit characteristic of Syrah. More time created more nuance, and the wine became brighter in the mid-palate. It’s delicious now, but given how it evolved over several hours I won’t be opening any of my other bottles anytime soon.

2/11/2023 - Sonoma-W Likes this wine:

Dark fruit with petrol. Excellent! More northern rhone in style than many Saxums

4/30/2023 - D.Callahan Likes this wine:

Right out of the bottle this still impresses. As it airs it slowly looses the nose and palate complexity becoming an ungiving spicy, alcoholic, one dimensional tough wine to like. When first poured it was excellent with a deep nose and palate featuring black cherry and meaty notes. As it aired the alcohol dominates and any fruit influences go away. This bottle was stored in temp controlled storage for the entire time.

4/7/2023 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Impressive this young. Bright with highly complex fruit.

12/25/2022 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

A brighter rendition showing blueberry and cranberry fruits, a bit of chalk initially, anise and white pepper. High acidity. Not the most complex Upslope I’ve had. Short finish and maybe “lean” is the best way to describe it.

12/12/2022 - dbay Likes this wine:

Deeply colored. Expressive nose- blueberry, blackcurrant, black tea. On the palate medium acid and tannins, soft/ripe. However, there was some refermentation w/ a bit of spritz in the glass and pressure on opening the bottle - suggesting some residual sugar. The wine is good but not as complex or expressive as prior zins by Bedrock

12/2/2022 - La Cave d'Argent wrote:

Turley's 2020 Old Vines Zinfandel is a definite "miss" in comparison to its siblings. Deep ruby in color, it serves up an aromatic profile of dark cherries, blackberries, graphite and licorice. Full-bodied, tart, proportionately oaked and with fairly well-integrated alcohol (listed as 15.2%), it delivers flavors in line with the aromas and stays solid on the mid-palate. Unfortunately, the medium-weight tannins are quite astringent. Those same tannins dominate the mid-palate and the acerbic, medium-length finish. Despite the difficulties of the vintage, this is an uncharacteristically underperforming Old Vines. Vinturi-decanting and tasting over three hours did not seem to make much of a difference, although I have not tasted it from a popped-and-poured bottle. Drink 2024-2027.

11/29/2022 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Very floral nose. Light bodied with predominantly thin, red fruits, baking spices and white pepper. An American version of a Chateauneuf du Pape blend - though not close to its old world example. Little in the way of tannins, but having enough acidity to lift the fruit. A bit tart. A decent table wine - a grocery store wine. Drinks young. I would hold for 2-3 years. I wouldn’t buy again. We each had a glass, recorked (rescrewed) Will try again tomorrow.

10/27/2022 - csimm wrote:

Ok, I gotta call it like I see it. This was HOT HOT HOT. A Grenache cocktail if there ever was one. No, we didn't decant (so I'll take the hit on that for less-than optimal service). But oh lordy was this thing boozy. The brashness of the Stolichnaya-esque entry was enough to stomp on the fruit for practically all of the execution. The initial sip started to give some red berry flavors, but within the next millisecond of consumption, it was all about rave pacifiers and glow sticks. The 15.9% listed ABV felt more like 80 proof. I mean, I love all these stellar CT reviews on this rookie rager, but either my palate was having a delicate snowflake day, or this is just way too Charlie Sheen for my killjoy tastes.

I'm down for an occasional Paso Paris Hilton experience and all, and I still covet my SQN stash, but the delivery here is far too gangster for even me. Not rating, cuz I'd rather not have the CT community completely unleash holy hell on me for skewing the community numeric here.

Best advice, hold until...geeez, I dunno... when Pitbulls actually become domesticated.

7/23/2022 - mkribar Likes this wine:

Tasted on day two, after the bottle sat corked on the counter overnight. Blackberry, roasted pork, plum, and herbs on the nose. Some nice varietal character. On the palate, there's some tannins, but they're quite smooth and already integrated. Medium acid. More blackberry/plum, bacon fat, and just a hint of violet. Very varietally correct, and just a really nice syrah for the price.

I liked this better than on night one, which leads me to think these would benefit from some horizontal time. Unsurprising really given the origin.

6/5/2022 - ohne_musik wrote:

Holy crap, this is everything that I was a zin to be. Soaring aromatics of bright berry fruit, freshly spritzed orange peel, and undertones of earth. In the mouth, this is rocking from the first pnp sip. Bright, crunchy red/black brambleberry fruit, tangy acid, more orange peel, with a hefty dose of dusty road. Exuberant but finely balanced, and despite a light-medium body and moderate extraction, there's a sneaky amount of structure hiding underneath. "I really love the oak treatment on this zin" -- words never uttered by me until I've tried this wine - there's no vanillin or glossiness, but such an unctuous creaminess to the texture - I don't think I've had a zin like this, except maybe the Bedrock Esola.

By hour 3, this has taken on an almost Burgundian-like quality of ethereal finesse (like some high altitude Grenaches are said to do). Just marvelous, and certainly somewhere in the top echelon of zins out there.

5/11/2022 - Richard P Howden Likes this wine:

Lovely nose of cassis and cherry, though a bit closed. Good richness and length on the red fruited palate, still some tannins but not rough and fine balance. A lovely Napa floor Cabernet with excellent depth and intensity.

3/18/2022 - pakabear Likes this wine:

Just got these, but I had to try it. PnP, great nose, better than previous vintages at such a young age, dark red fruit, sweet baking spices, vanilla, loads of spice and pepper (hallmark of the 2019 vintage apparently). Worth a try right now, but hopefully will continue to improve.

2/7/2022 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Opened in honor of tomorrow’s release. Still going strong, maybe even better with the added age. Likely will go at least another 2-3 years.

2/2/2022 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Last bottle was 15 months ago. These are starting to get to the point of being very enjoyable. Big cool climate Syrah notes: smoke, clove, violets, tapenade, pepper. With air, blue to black fruits. Mid acidity, mid tannins. Drink or hold. Will go 10+ Decant 2+ if you can.

1/30/2022 - Ryan8008 Likes this wine:

Good complexity for 20 bucks! Hits all the notes you expect from Syrah - stewed plum, cherries from the Grenache, cedar, black pepper and the twin umami bomb of bacon and olive tapenade. I love Syrah for how savoury it can be and this is a solid example. Tannins are just a touch rough and acidity is medium+ - needs a meaty accompaniment. Alcohol is high for my liking though a quick chill before dinner helped tone it down.

12/31/2021 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Iron and black cherry are most prominent. Wall of tannins. Heat on the backend. Monolithic flavors lacking much complexity.

Day 3. Whoa. Massive difference. Much more typical Left Bank Bordeaux style flavor notes. Leather, dark fruits, forest floor.

This wine needs lots of time or lots of air.

11/25/2021 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Needs a decant and even then, it still comes across young.
With that being said, this wine presents an intriguing mix of dark fruit and layered notes of pepper, tapenade, smoke and earth. Vibrant and balanced.
At the initial offering price, it’s a deal.
I would let these sit for another 3-5 years and check in again. These are 20+ year wines.

10/20/2021 - Mootsie wrote:

Plum and pepper. Different than prior years, more purple fruits.

Edit: day 3 now, best since the bottle was opened. Still purple fruited. Not as good as the last few years. A little disappointed.

10/25/2021 - FiggySmalls wrote:

Not showing much of anything at this stage. All tannin, concentrated fruit, and a whiff of yeast.

Enjoyable enough, yes<<<It's a well-made wine and a zin=Hard to fail on enjoyability!

But even on day two, there's not much to write home about.. in any respect,tbh

8/13/2021 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Ditto my tasting note from early May…

Deep bramble berry. Loaded with spice, licorice, eucalyptus and dark fruits. Best de Negoce’ by far.

8/12/2021 - swillpower wrote:

I’ve purchased numerous wines from DN. While, admittedly, many of them are still on the young side, this one has emerged as a definite dark horse.
Caveat is that it needs a bit of air to really show. Don’t let its low price and less than prestigious variety make you think it’s a casual P&P.
Love the bright fruit aromas. The zesty cranberry acidity is what brings the wine into focus. It has an earthy undertone that balances that, as well.
A delightful, lithe wine that has proven to be very versatile. Just coming into its own now.
Fortunately, more is still available, so glad to be able to reload on a six-pack.

2/24/2021 - VoVo Likes this wine:

Ok, here is our review in one word: WOW. What an amazing wine. Straight out of the bottle (ok we decanted half the bottle but ended up drinking it all!) it was absolutely delicious. Well balanced, great fruits, great acidity. We have so much respect for Bedrock. Yum.

2/19/2021 - jmull Likes this wine:

Some nice evolution since November. This absolutely blows the 2018 away at the same point, coming off darker, cooler and more serious than that flamboyantly fruited version. This just feels more fully realized. I’m going to need more.

2/13/2021 - Mootsie Does not like this wine:

A bit tight, not overly expressive. A touch hot. A raisin undertone. Disappointing.

12/4/2020 - cjsadler wrote:

Very oaky on opening. Left in the fridge two nights. The oak integrated somewhat, but there’s a lot of distracting heat (original email said 14.5, I believe, but the label says 15%). I share John O’s assessment that there were flashes of a good quality Napa Cab here, but time will tell.

12/3/2020 - Rieslingfan wrote:

How did I not know about these wines before now? What a lovely combination of classic stature and Napa fruit. Deep red berry and black currant, warm, brown spice and a measured tannic underpinning (it really felt like a foundation, rather than something that was reaching up to bite me) makes for a (too) easily drinkable wine. I kept sipping and sipping, and suddenly it was gone. Whoops!

10/25/2020 - Mootsie wrote:

This bottle was oak heavy and boozy. Not as good as the earlier bottles. #bottlevariation

10/25/2020 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Really coming together since our last bottle 18 months ago. Deep spice, clove, violet with cranberry and black raspberry.

10/22/2020 - CheapAndBest Likes this wine:

(Comments based on what was paid and the risk associated with purchasing "mystery wine"). Mighty fine. Solidly constructed. Heat and youth will go away if I choose to air/store - but a half hour and it is a California merlot! Next day is good too. Bought a 2nd case after drinking a few...

10/20/2020 - KAT9 wrote:

This merlot does not taste anything like Nickel &Nickel at all. Decanted for 4 hours, the heat is high, acidity is high, tannin is barely there. A lot of fruit on the nose. This is nothing like N&N at all. Bad basic wine. Maybe N&N fruits but the final blend and filtering messed it up real bad.

5/23/2020 - Mootsie Does not like this wine:

Dark golden color. Baked apple with cinnamon and nutmeg nose. A bit of tart, sour apple, lemon and touch of white pepper. More medium body. It’s unique. Never had a wine like it. I am not getting any of the white peach, honey, melon or similar notes as others mentioned. More sour, tart. Could be flawed, but not really a flavor profile I enjoy. Add one more stamp on my wine journey passport.

UPDATE day 2. The sourness is mostly gone. The wine is rounder. I still get a lot of apple, apple/cinnamon notes.

5/23/2020 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Like our recent Bedrock Barbera, this one is also in the Bedrock style. Rich, but not ripe fruit, plum, complex spice, fig with a mineral tinged - balanced finish. Nice acidity. Lot of depth. Seems like it could go years yet. Drink or hold.

5/3/2020 - JHuseby1 wrote:

I was expecting more, and it got better the longer it was open, so there's hope for the future. I've enjoyed other single vineyard Carlisle zins, but this one was not in the same class. This was thin and very one-dimensional. I also love Turley zinfandels, and the most direct competitor seems to be Turley's Old Vines. Based on this bottle, I'll always choose the Turley. I've got 3 more, so maybe the others will be much better. I'm pretty certain the single vineyard ones will be much better.

5/1/2020 - grog Likes this wine:

This needs a few more years to come together. Slow o'd for about 3 hours and then poured it into a decanter and followed it over five hours. Aromatics didn't change much from when I pulled the cork (2:30 pm) to decanting (5:30 pm) to the first couple of hours. Still very primary, dark berry fruited, with some baking spices that come out after some air. This never went into the dreaded shut down that can happen when decanting, but it didn't evolve that much either. Maybe the last 1/4 of the bottle or so, some smoked meat aromas could be coaxed with swirling. You can see the raw material under here but it just needs time on its side. The texture and mouthfeel are already fantastic, though - really nailed it in terms of balancing a relatively light bodied palate presence with density of fruit.
Got one other bottle, which I'll wait a minimum of five years on, and hoping I can exercise patience to hold longer than that.

4/9/2020 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Very pure. Mineral, eucalyptus, red and black fruits, licorice, white pepper. Young. Excellent.

Closes down with extended air time. Hold.

11/8/2019 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Really like this one. Medium bodied wine. Herbs, pepper, minerals and red fruits, young of course, but balanced. Give it 30 minutes of air.

12/16/2019 - Mootsie Likes this wine:

Not bad for $15. Spicy red and black fruits, white pepper, mineral finish. Would buy again as a weeknight wine.
Give it an hour or more of air.
Day 2 not as good.

7/23/2019 - Swaggering Beaunie wrote:

After a short double-decant: fair, but not in any way noteworthy...and certainly not worth the $52 price tag, not even close. I'll post an addendum tomorrow if it improves overnight.

Edit: did not improve after a day, in fact, seems to have declined. Less fruit is noted.

5/9/2019 - ohne_musik wrote:

I was hoping this would be great, as the vineyward is just down the road from Kirschenmann, but this the first Bedrock red that's ever fallen short for me (which says something about Bedrock). On first open, it smells hot and jammy. In the mouth, it's brawny, jammy and takes like blueberry pie on hot asphalt - lots of rock and a bit of reduction. Disjointed and tastes hotter than 14.5%. Decanted 4 hours and chilled a bit, as I thought maybe room temp was too warm for it. Some subtlety emerges with some nice dried apricot and blackberry preserves, but it's still a bit of an ungraceful blueberry beast. Maybe will come together in a few years but I think the Lodi climate is just a bit much. 86

Day 2: this has calmed down a lot and is expressing more nuance and balance. Notably more savory and with some rosemary and minty freshness. Still finishes a bit too sweet and hot. 89

3/30/2019 - PNIELSEN Likes this wine:

I wasn't a Jaffurs member when the epic vintages in the late 2000's were released, but I have to think this one would be right up there with them. Intense nose of blueberries, chaparral and brown sugar. On the palate, it has fabulous vibrancy, intensity and length. The finish goes on and on, with an appealing liqueur-like quality to it that reminds me of Chambord. It's drinking great now, but man...this will be even more special once it settles out a bit more. My score might be a tad low.

2/27/2019 - Jahull03 wrote:

this is big, young, and quite a bit more oak than I expected. On the spectrum closer to the 2013 exposition series than the purity you get from traditional Bedrock syrah (Hudson/Griffin's/etc).

the fruit is good - very good - and the flavor and structural elements from oak treatment are also tasteful - I just wasn't expecting it to be so prominent. My guess is that this ages extremely well (a la Hudson "Pleine de Chiene" series from 08/09 Bedrock) - but in the meantime, consider your own stylistic preference (mine is for Bedrock's treatment of Hudson and Griffin's)

1/17/2019 - kcdub wrote:

Kirkland - you get what you pay for. The wine was clear, ruby and deep intensity. No gas or sediment. On the nose, fruits were muted, but I picked up some black cherries, blackberries, smoke and some vanilla. Intensity was low. On the palate, the wine was dry, highly acidic with medium to medium+ tannins. I picked up cherries, blackberries and spices. Body was medium+. The wine was out of balance with acidity and tannins dominating the taste. The fruit was short lived, and the finish was short in general. The only thing that stuck around was the grippiness of the tannins. The wine was developing yet acceptable.