12/19/2023 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Same team as Opus and Lafite. A chance to work with pre-phyollexra vineyards. Smells like sweet green Cabernet fruit. And kinda tastes like it too. With a bit more going on then that. But oddly the sense of Chile Dominates it.

1/14/2020 - RoyaltyCoins wrote:

Medium Ruby, clear with garnet rim.

Nose: Elegantly perfumed black cherry, violet flower, cinnamon, sagebrush, hint of leather undersaddle. Ethereal, even haunting- really beautiful.

Mouth: Succulent, pure black cherry opens up smooth and round, unfolding into a generous midpalate of tobacco leaf, menthol, and black earth. A bolt of iron comes through into the finish, lingering with the earth notes and pleasant, manicured tannins.

Overall: This is remarkable for how it well it has tamed often rowdy flavors of earth and iron, keeping them full and expressive without ever allowing them to overwhelm. Everything is well-groomed, balanced and firm: like weightlifters on a tightrope. Drink from 2023, should hold up until the late 2030's. 80% Sangiovese, 13% Merlot and 7% Malvasia Nera.

96.

12/11/2018 - blanquito wrote:

Had a steak house, someone else ordered. Yuck! Lots of new oak, the big sweet fruit was all licorice. My first try of this estate, hopefully the last.

8/11/2019 - VoteferPedro Likes this wine:

Pop and pour
a delightful cabernet with sweet concentrated blackberry and dark fruit
with a soupçon of oak
was ready from the get go

7/3/2014 - Harley1199 Likes this wine:

New Italian Wines in Madrid by Meregalli; 6/27/2014-7/3/2014 (Restaurant La Piperna - Madrid): Also needing time if you wanted to know what a Chianti truly can develop.
On the nose meaty and mineral, with smells of a local dirty butchery.
Quite tasty in the mouth with a good length.
To be holder. Really liked it.

También necesitado de tiempo para mostrar lo que un Chianti puede verdaderamente ofrecer.
Cárnica y mineral en nariz, con recuerdos a carnicería sucia de barrio.
La boca es sabrosa y de buen recorrido.
Vino de guarda. Me gustó de verdad.

3/19/2014 - Motz wrote:

Sixth in a flight of seven Woodward Canyon wines; this was second best. The wine showed a lovely and complex bouquet common to the Horse Heaven Hills, and Champoux Vineyard in particular. The palate is remarkably well defined for a 2011 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon. Somewhat soft overall, excellent acid, light to medium body, structure and grip. Noticeable alcohol. The winemaker did a lot with this wine given the vintage. 91-92.

10/13/2018 - dream wrote:

Rich nose of wild black raspberries and black slate minerals. Quite ripe and full on the attack with delicious flavors of black raspberries along with a dose of wintergreen. On the California Cab overripe Gago-meter, this causes a few dry heaves but the finish helps save the day with a nice grippy mineral crunch along with that fresh wintergreen spice and superb slate minerality. Drink now as the overripeness will likely take this to a sad place over time but the high quality of the vineyard is apparent and if they would just pick a week or two earlier, I have no doubt this would be a special wine.

5/18/2018 - bajayngo wrote:

The Pol Roger NV always delivers and even at around $50 it's one of the best QPR's in champagne IMO. Brioche and oyster shell, fresh herbs, citrus cut and pure luxury on the palate.

9/9/2018 - bajayngo wrote:

Tight bubbles, clean, precise with plenty of finesse. Always so consistent, delicious and a great QPR.

3/13/2017 - the_lovenest wrote:

2011 Fall Line Single Vineyard Horizontal Tasting (The Lovenest, Seattle, WA): Did a horizontal tasting of the 2011 Fall Line Boushey, Artz, and Red Willow Vineyard Red Wines. The Red Willow was an odd duck, displaying prominent green pepper and tomato stem notes on the nose and palate and with a bracing acidity that some felt was overwhelming. Almost no fruit besides some cranberry acidity. At 13.1% alc I wonder if the cool year struggled to ripen the fruit, giving this Cab Franc-dominant wine an acidic, green character that you'd normally only see in Chinon. Not at all what you'd expect from a Washington Cab Franc. Not a favorite, I kind of wish I had a bottle or two to sleep on for another couple of years to see if it grows into something really unique.

12/12/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Inky in color, powerful, intense, massive and concentrated, this clearly knocks on the door of over the top. Frankly, many tasters will find this to be too much. Packed and stacked, this tastes and feels like Anna Nicole Smith squeezing herself into a bottle. But this is Anna at her prime and she does manage to fit, albeit snugly. There is length and persistence, as well as a teeth and gum staining palate presence. It is possible this will be easier to enjoy as the wine calms down.

12/12/2015 - brouigu1 Likes this wine:

Great QPR wine,

PnP and consumed over several hours. A soft nose of black fruits, leather and pencil shavings. Dark purple with very limited clarity.

On the palate it expresses the dark fruits with hints of coffee, leather and earthy elements. The acids and tannin are in balance and this is drinking pretty well. The longer it sat in the glass more depth developed but this is not a very complex wine.

A beautiful daily drinker at this price, $17.00 US.

5/30/2016 - mtaczak wrote:

Blech. Overripe, overextracted, with no SB character. Thick and viscous and gloopy and somewhat sweet.

8/3/2016 - HowellWine Likes this wine:

The nose was quite nice with a sharp spicy spell, it might have needed further opening, I gave it about 45 min, but the body was not that full for being a howell mountain fruit and did not have a long finish. I'll try it tomorrow to see how it develops, a good wine, but at $40, I will probably try the 13 before buying another 12 vintage.

9/22/2013 - klanham wrote:

Had several previous bottles. Seems to already be on the decline.

1/30/2016 - macaujames Does not like this wine:

This lacks refinement and elegance. Closed aromas with high oak and some red fruits. Monolithic, foursquare unbalanced palate with high alcohol (14.5%)lowish acidity and superb concentration. Ends medium long. Don't know how this wine will age. Vega Sicilia can do better.

5/29/2015 - Dave Canada wrote:

Nose is a touch muted initially but opens up to menthol, baking spices, plum, cherry, rose petals and asphalt.
Palate is full bodied and just so spicy....so floral and yet the overwhelming impression is of the texture....not the flavours. This is really polished and complex. Cinnamon, baking spices, Asian 5 spice, cherry nibs, liquefied roses, minerals, tar, plum and menthol.
Finish is long, layered and complex with the overwhelming scale of pure fruit, bright flowers and spice notes all coming together in a symphonic symmetry. This is so Barolo....so Cannubi. Only thing holding this back from classic is the shy nose.

2/7/2016 - Ideasthatstick Likes this wine:

What a fine bottle of wine. Thank you Garagiste. Piedmont has a whole identity. Long aging, highly tannic wines. Good, even most excellent. But you have to wait and wait and wait for those wine to bless you with their character. This Barbaresco, a style, that also has a whole set of expectations associated, throws all of the preconceptions to the wind. This is an elegant, refined bottle. Some here are calling ten or twelve years, I don't see how. What I do taste is a confident, light on its feet dancer. Something that has acid to present, the fruit to provide character with subtle tannins to limit age. And that is not bad, but good. The winemaker, I sense, took a curious vintage and threw the rule book out and created a magnificent, if so slightly understated (not bad BTW, yet requires sophistication to "get") red wine that can accompany almost anything save the biggest food. A light airy nose followed by a sharp subtle expression of confidence in improvisation, think Kind of Blue. This bottle kills. Some here rated ridiculously low (WTF with these numbers? Grow a palate), I say that is lazy. This bottle is right. Price and quality are way out of alignment. Falling heavily towards quality. Sing sing sing.

1/1/2016 - Rick 4 Wine Likes this wine:

From Garagiste and proof that the mystery wines are a mixed lot. The Merlot of the same year was also a Garagiste mystery wine and a great deal for $20. This wine is OK on absolute terms but not quite a great deal. The QPR is acceptable but just. This can is flawed in the nose and early palette. It's got big green toned that come through as green pepper, cilantro and almost a cabbage leaf flavor. That blows off but never goes away. Some heat develops on the backside as the green subdues and the mid body fruit never really steps forward or integrated. So for $20 a good deal. For $40 a bad deal. Still, do you want to drink this kind of wine? Probably not. We tossed ours.

12/12/2015 - jmcmchi wrote:

Graphite and blackberry nose

Mineral, dry black berries an fine tannins

Lamb enhances fruitiness
Acidity is nicely balanced with cheese

4/8/2015 - Phenol73 Likes this wine:

It is an utter waste of craftsmanship and a good wine to be drinking this right now. It is still malformed, very tightly wound, disjointed, a touch too tart, the tannins are brusque, and the palate can feel watery in places, especially just after opening. But... All the ingredients are here for a glorious wine. Its fruit is dense, it's aromas are complex and cover that lovely spectrum from cherry to coffee, from berry to smoke and forest. It is just too unyielding and young right now, and not a shadow on what it promises to become. Wait at least 3 years if you want to have this full of puppy fat but at least better formed; more like 10 years to get the real deal. 91++

9/21/2015 - GTFreek wrote:

I'm blown away the notes here aren't better, this is so well made and elegant. It's not Napa Cab, no, it's a Bordeaux style with New World fruit. Subtly complex and gorgeous. More Merlot this vintage than 2009. I think this wine will cost double in 5-10 years as it becomes known.

3/12/2015 - ledocq Does not like this wine:

Grrr. Contrary to what a local wine guy said (and he's usually right, so I trust him), this doesn't hold a candle to the 2010. It was $54 and that's too much. I've had a couple "ehh" bottles of stuff in a row, so maybe I'm more irked than I should be, but it's definitely a miss. I'll drink other vintages, but not this one.

5/4/2013 - slanum wrote:

Tasted all three Cabernets at the A-R open house and this is the one that said "I'm ready, let's go." What I know about Cabernet wouldn't fill a wine glass but this was savory and plump with currants and cassis fruit. Anything but a ripe oaky mess. Way above my pay grade but a lovely taste.

6/1/2014 - wineotim wrote:

Nice wine, very primary, simple blue fruit, short on finish. Bought this wine based on the 93-95 point reviews from others on CT. I have found the $25 Bedrock wines more appealing. I expected more density, and depth. So ends my Bedrock purchases.

2/16/2014 - rickspicks wrote:

This was almost undrinkable - overripe fruit and way out of balance. Not nearly enough structure to support all the fruit. Decent nose of cherry and spice - but very,very jammy on the palate. After about an hour the nose showed mostly a lot of wood and tar - but not in a wine-friendly way. I bought this based on a glowing writeup from the retailer - especially that it was from Flora Springs from vineyards used to make Trilogy. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now.

1/18/2014 - tominasia wrote:

I bought 2 bottles of this from Last Bottle of Wine over their holiday extravaganza. This first bottle smells musty and tastes sour. It has a long dusty bitter finish. This is either past its prime or has been stored improperly. Perhaps the next bottle will taste better.

12/13/2013 - Gargantua Does not like this wine:

Nutmeg and capsaicin cherry vodka. Too hot for me. Give me the 90s Beaulieu. We still drank it, but it was like being forced to drink a good bourbon when you wanted red Burgundy. I refuse to grow accustomed to these 15.7% ABV wines.

9/28/2013 - Tim Heaton Does not like this wine:

Opened on Friday, re-corked, served blind on Saturday. Dark ruby, nearly brooding. Confection, Swisher Sweets, overly ripe cherries, vanilla extract, pie crust. The palate is just a disaster and runs so, so counter to the graceful, fresh '01 that I'm at a loss for words. Full bodied, sweet-ish, with a spicy berry and cherry cola palate. Hot, disjointed, cherry phosphate and vanilla soda that had me looking for a soda jerk wearing a paper hat. No thank you. 14,5% abv

11/8/2013 - enjoywine Does not like this wine:

Started our night w/ a 2010 Bringer Private Reserve Chardonnay. Very Nice for the $30 price (91-92). We are Aubert Chard lovers but this years Beringer has less of the full oak palateness and is drinking great right NOW. Not sure I would hold too long on these but WOW for $30. I will buy more and drink from now thru the summer of 2014. The 2011 Martini .Sonama Cab …..Yuk at this time. I bought this based on Parker recommendations again for 2010 and 2011. I have had for the past 4 vintages and for under $15. Maybe since it was following the 2010 Beringer…..but it was thin and LOADED with wood vs that CA fruit . OK aromatics but very light on the tannins and very oaky/woody (aromatics and palate). Can’t stand up to what you would normally eat with 90+ plus cabs (give me a 2010 Mondavi Napa Cab from Costco at $20). I was on Vacation in Florida (vs home in Seattle) and bought both at Amelia Island ABC store. I would be very cautious at buying the 2011 Martini Sonoma. If you like this style maybe look at the Columbic Crest H3 2010 series of Cabs/ Merlots/Blends. I have had plenty of the 2010 CC and plenty of the Martini pre 2011 and this is just my opinion, but the 2011 Martini Sonoma Cab has to be better than just what I had tonight. My wife just said this tasted like a sub $10 Mondovi Private Selection cab that you get at Macaroni Grille. Nothing against Mondovi since their OAKVILE is one of our favorites cabs at $40. Maybe since Parker has not been tasting WA wines he is missing what Washington brings to the party for under $20. After 2 hours the Louis 2011 Martini Sonoma Coast has not gotten any better. …..Wood Wood and Wood and turned from thin to thick.

4/16/2012 - beezer6 wrote:

Tenzing Portfolio Tasting (Tenzing - Chicago, IL): Another stellar bottling. Piney, menthol, tannins are there but well integrated. Cinnamon and black licorice with coarse coffee grounds.

8/23/2012 - Tom Warden wrote:

Maybe I've been drinking too much Chablis lately (though that seems impossible to do) but based on the comments below I thought I would like this more than I did. I'm not getting much of the fruit others mention...mostly a touch of oak which without the fruit leaves me underwhelmed. Of course, there's a chance I don't know what I'm talking about too...

10/11/2012 - bzell wrote:

A good wine but given its price a great wine. I opened the bottle a poured a small amount into the glass and thought very nice color, a black purple, I smelled the wine and I thought tobacco, tar, dark fruit, I tasted the wine a thought tar and some dominate tannins that would smooth out. I let the wine sit for 30 minutes and the flavors opened up a bit and I thought dark fruit, tobacco, tar a very pleasant wine with a reasonably long finish and then I looked up how much the wine cost, $25 wow. A wine of this quality and at a reasonable price my thinking dramatically changed, if this was a $70 wine an 88 but at $25 a 92. Good job Arrowood.

12/25/2012 - *Vine* wrote:

Popped and splash decanted. Medium-plus bright ruby/purple hue. Upon decanting, expressive aromas waft upwards, filling the immediate vicinity with lifted blackberry and cassis fruit that is complemented by a distinct impression of stoney minerals and subtle spice from oak. With air, additional herbaceous/tobacco nuances appear. Medium to medium-plus body, elegance personified. On the palate, the fruit is again so fresh and poised...one truly gets an impression of distinctive Sonoma terrior and here again it's hard to deny the impression of minerals tinged on the moderate-plus close. The tannins are certainly somewhat chalky, but overall show as well-rounded and never too drying (perfectly astringent, if that makes sense). Although the winemaker recommends laying these down sideways for many years, this bottle showed beautifully. What a great representation of Sonoma Cabernet, benchmark even.

10/19/2012 - brujazz Likes this wine:

- Yellow color with slow forming legs. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Linear texture with a long finish - Ramey is always in the mix when you mention the five or six top California Chardonnay producers. Macassin, Aubert, Kistler, Peter Michel, etal. Ramey single vineyard Chards are the most affordable (term used advisably). This is their entry level Chardonnay. It's an appellation wine, half the price of the single vineyard offerings but not half the quality. Often it is as excellent a bottle as their higher priced siblings. The bottle I just drank is one of those. This wine had body, bouquet, complex flavors and a very long finish. It's not easy to call a $30.00 bottle of wine a bargain, but guess what. This is a steal at close to that price. Some oak, some vanilla, some pineapple and all around tremendous flavors.

5/9/2012 - Danthejuiceman wrote:

Bottle variation.
Had the wine on three other occasions.
One was another killer example of a restrained, refined wine at a daily drinking price point.
The other two had noticeable, almost overwhelming noses of burnt rubber and wet locker room towels.
Green stemmy flavours that did not evolve or dissipate.
Slight rubber aftertaste.
The wine seems to be a crap shoot between very good and marginal.