12/2/2018 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Very interesting and unusual taste profile. Winemaker asks for the wine to chilled like a red wine. Very pungent and pleasant nose. lots of sweet fruit upfront with plenty of acidity and fire in the finish.

11/25/2018 - HaraldS wrote:

Very big wine for Crozes-Hermitage. Has the typical dustyness of the region, but very big, mouthfilling fruit. I quite liked it, but i had hoped for something slightly more elegant for the food i had.

11/25/2018 - HaraldS wrote:

Very light garnet color; aroma of red fruit and herbs, fruit on the palate is very restrained with plenty of acidity and well integrated tannin. Opened up in the glass during the dinner.

5/14/2018 - HaraldS wrote:

Just bought the bottle all exited about the potentially spicy and opulent sauternes. Noticeable, honey, orange peel and peach on the nose. But greatly lacking compared to younger vines. Very disappointing palate. very soft peach, honey and a hint of citrus, hardly any spice left.

5/14/2018 - HaraldS wrote:

Unfortunately, i waited too long. I remember tasting the wine 5 years ago and it was a huge fruit bomb but with nice tannin and an interesting bright cedar.

Today, i can say i have waited too long and the wine is over the hill. The nose had some blueberry and perhaps some soft cedar. On the palate, flavors are very muted, hardly any fruit left. A light hint of of some acidity and something like cedar.
Too bad

12/3/2017 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

A ripe southern Rhône style white.

1/18/2017 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Perfect time to drink.
I had this vintage 3 or four times over the years and i believe the last bottle was the best ever. The huge fruit has mellowed to let the secondary flavors to shine. I think it may have another 2 years, but why wait?

12/28/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

Still big and bold

12/25/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

Over the hill and a little off tasting. Likey just an off bottle

4/19/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

8 years old aND still young tasting

4/18/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

Bright red color, opaque
dark cherry aroma
strawberry and cherry on the palate, quickly countered by citrusy acid lingers with grapefruit notes for a long minute

4/17/2016 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

A little barnyardy. A little light fruit. Overall an unexceptional but pleasent wine, if it wouldn't be for the amazing, unexpected aroma explosion of rose pedals in the mid palate. Very unusual. Shared the wine with group of 4 and all of us had the same experience.

4/17/2016 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Huge bottle variation . Gone is the rain and chocolate on the nose that I experienced in the bottle I tasted just yesterday. Still cola and cocoa on nose and palate. Also still a big pinot, but much less expressive.

4/17/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

A wine at it's peak. Aroma of chocolate, champher and sherry right after opening. Over an hour or two, chocolate is getting a little stronger palate is sumptuous, fruit forward with chocolate and cola long finish

4/16/2016 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Perfect

4/16/2016 - HaraldS wrote:

Full bodied and easy drinking. Should be drunk in the next year

11/8/2015 - HaraldS wrote:

very full bodied fruit nose with cedar . Stunning big mouth feel with strong aromatic cedar on palate.

4/26/2015 - HaraldS wrote:

What a great surprise. Intense watermelon, strawberry and rose peddle aroma that carries into palate. Crisp, clean taste with plenty of Paso limestone.

2/8/2015 - HaraldS wrote:

I had this wine just recently at a wine tasting. The last vintage from this house was in 1990 as only exceptional harvests will be turned into a vouvray. 100% Chenin Blanc and produced with the noble rot method of the Sautern. In fact, it is very reminiscent of a Sautern. You get honey, casaba melon on both the nose and in the taste. The taste reveals additionally exotic flowers in the background. The distinct sweetness is wonderfully balanced with lots of acidity and some hint of minerals. Exceptionally balanced and very reminiscent of a Sautern.

8/9/2014 - HaraldS wrote:

this is the second bottle. First one was part of a vertical of Altesino's all the way up to 2008. then and now i have to say the wine is past its prime. Mellow strawberry fruit, lost most of its acidity and tannins, however gained a wonderful mellow mouth feel.

DRINK TODAY.

6/9/2014 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

This was a great vintage that we have enjoyed for the last 3-4 years. We had our last bottle about 3 weeks ago and we have waited too long. The initial bright strawberry and cherry with strong acids in the mid palate has become muddled. It still has the resemblance of its former performance, but it has lost a good pat of the early fruit and and the acid almost disappeared. If you have any of this vintage left, i recommend to drink it ASAP.

6/9/2014 - HaraldS wrote:

full bodied, strawberry, cherry and red fruit. Silky mouth feel. at the peak of maturity and IMHO should be drank within a year max.

6/9/2014 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

We had a vertical of Altesinos Vendemmia from 1997 through 2008 and we included this single 2007 Montosolio. What a great wine. In comparison to the other vintages, the '07 if much fuller bodied that all the others with a much stronger upfront cherry and dark red berries fruit. This Montosolio was even bigger than the '07 Vendemmia by adding a distinct note of ripe plum the mix. The mouth feel was even more soft that any of the other vintages.

6/9/2014 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

again waited a bit too long. We opened the bottle in the morning with 8 other vintages(2000-2008) of this Altesino and it was clear that it had lost its fruit from the palate and the nose. While we decanted all the other wines after a quick taste, we just put the cork back into the bottle for this '97 vintage. We tasted the vertical about 8 hours later the same day. All the other wines had lots of strawberry, cherry, a bit of smoke/ leather, etc. this vintage had just some minor plum and prune on the nose and the palate. Clearly, this wine was over the hill.

6/9/2014 - HaraldS wrote:

waited too long and wine is over the hill.

5/12/2014 - HaraldS Does not like this wine:

Oh Boy; A disclaimer first of all, I do like structured wines where large fruit is balanced with acidity and finishes off with some substantial but well integrated tannins. So keep in mind, Caymus is not quite up my alley! However, I still like previous Caymus Cabs- they were typically fruit forward with a mellow mid palate but pretty balanced overall.
I usually don't post my tasting notes and never post such low scores. However, we had this at a wine tasting with 6 or 7 other people. It was totally out of balance. The smell of vanilla and cheese cake was overpowering. It tasted just like it smelled. None of us could get over the candy sweetness, vanilla taste and the utter lack of mid palate. Others called it over extracted, reeking of melolactic fermentation. Most of us poured the wine down the drain.
In short, this is more like a bad dessert wine. If you normally like Caymus, dont waste your money. If you have bought it, drink it soon, because it doesnt have enough acidity or tannins to make this an aging wine. Sorry!

3/1/2014 - HaraldS wrote:

This winery just opened to the public ~3 months ago. We had our tasting in a modern marvel of an estate. Although the tasting room is sparsely furnished and mostly concrete, exposed steel and 20ft tall windows it is still a very elegant area to receive prospective tasters.
I took two wines home- this Audacious and a few bottles of the Intrepid (100 Syrah).
I had the audacious about a week ago and i have to say this wine has a wonderful mix of California fruit on the nose and palate with the great restraint of old world tannins and acidity. Their first vintage is made from 44% Grenache, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Syrah, 10% Petit Sirah.
The wines is wonderfully balanced, but in my opinion still closed up. It finished with green vegetable tainted tannins that probably integrate nicely into the wine in another year. I suspect the wines is good to drink for 10 years after that...

11/3/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

91 points now with potential for 92.
Bought a few bottles at the estate and drank the first that night at a Paso restaurant. Like the other wines they were selling in October of 2013, all the wines had a little longer to mature in the bottle. Should be great in a year. Right now, lots of cherry and bramble with pepper and licorice in on the palate. The tannins are already well integrated, but a little green.

7/28/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Has a barnyard nose right after popping, but mellows to a nice smokey aroma with red stone fruit within 15 min. Palate is big, velvety with lots of cranberry, cherry and tempered with a decent amount of acid at the finish. Slight oak and smoke on the finish.

6/8/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

First had it from the barrel. At that point, it had never ending cherries and brambles flavors. Had a bottle every year since. Was pretty flat and uninteresting in 2011 and 2012, but, wow, it is coming back in 2013. It is now the right time to drink for perhaps another 2-3 years. Still lots of fruit, but now much more balanced as the tannins are finally well integrated.

6/8/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Big bold beautiful. Full of ripe red berries with a bit of eucalyptus.

6/8/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

bit of a strawberry nose with a Santa Rita Pinot quality on the palate. However, pretty lean because of lots of acidity.Finishes with a whimper, since there are not too many tannins

5/19/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

Tasting notes published by estate:
Aroma: blackberry, violets, orange, zest, white pepper, smoked meats, espresso
Palate: pomegranate, black licorice, white chocolate, black rasberry

Finish: balanced acid, soft tannins, integrated new french oak

4/27/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

bacon aroma right after uncorking. Delicate floral notes on nose and early palate. Still nicely structured fruit layered with light tannins at the finish.

4/21/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

didnt decant and it was great right after uncorking. slight barnyard nose with hints of flint. Light red fruit (raspberries?) up front then chased by solid mineral, acidity and finished with tamed tannins

4/21/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

dark cherry fruit, some chocolate, although great from the get go needs about an hour to decant. Fruit and tannins will define a little better with time

3/23/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

We went to the estate in October 2012. It has beautiful grounds and a very nice tasting room. We sat outside on the terrace under some oak trees, which was very pleasant at this time of year. Although i remember that i liked the wines, I simply hated the touristy gimmicks of special wine glasses and pretentious staff. But the wine was decent.

Now half a year later, we found the 2011 vintage at our small local wine shop. what a surprise, this vintage is much better than what we tasted at estate. This Pinotage has lots of smoke and red stone fruit on the nose and palate. it is still too young as it has lots of alkalies that taints the otherwise multilayered palate.

2/24/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

tasted it at our wine shop. an incredible effort by the wine maker it has a very powerful nose of burned toast, butter, smoke. Very little fruit in the aroma. I could detect just a hint of strawberry. The taste stats out with a big bang of fruit. Mostly strawberry and red berries, then followed with a soft mid palate of butter and toast and lastly finishes with smoky tannins. Absolutely a pleasure to drink. I love the complexity and i think it should be drunk between now and 2014-15.

2/24/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

We popped and poured the wine with a couple of friends during dinner. That was a huge mistake as the wine was not drinkable without decanting. The nose was flinty, with little fruit and not very interesting. The taste was just totally dominated by tight green tannins. We corked it up again and took it home. After decanting it the next day, the wine finally opened up and the tannins disappeared into the background and i could get some mellow dark red fruit. The rating is based on the second day taste. I dont know if the wine will improve in 2-3 three years enough to justify the $45 i paid for this bottle.

2/17/2013 - HaraldS wrote:

huge intense fruit. complex layering

2/17/2013 - HaraldS Likes this wine:

fruit forward, soft mid palate soft tannins in finish

7/24/2011 - HaraldS wrote:

Dark red with brown tint so typical for Sangiovese. Light nose of strawberries and wood. Light soft mouth feel upfront w strong tannins at the finish. Weak strawberry taste with a hint of plum. Drank this at Spedini in Las Vegas at $85. Not bad, but I had more intense Brunellos.

1/10/2011 - HaraldS wrote:

Light fruity nose, initially sweet then more nuanced strawberry flavor. Medium ro light body. Short dry finish

12/23/2010 - HaraldS wrote:

Burgundy style nose, plum

12/21/2010 - HaraldS wrote:

Velvedy, chocalate