11/20/2021 - galewskj wrote:

This is a very typical Rivers marie sonoma coast pinot. Lively cherry, tangerine and spice. My last bottle and the best one.

10/19/2019 - galewskj wrote:

Bllind Syrah (John's house): Splash decanted and served blind. There was initially some bottle stink that I guessed to be corked, but it blew off. Meat, bunk, bacon, bing cherries, beef blood, a bit of anise, earth, tar. I guessed Arcadian Hommage a Max - correct. That was not hard, as I've had this wine a few times and it was the only one at this tasting (sadly) with this flavor profile. 93-94.

8/27/2020 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Great from the first sip. Much better than the bottle tasted 18 months ago -- tannins have integrated nicely .
Luscious fruit, dark berry, cocoa, spice, oak. Long finish with a touch of complexity. A rich cab.
Paired well with meatballs in a red sauce. Great wine after a weekend of Michigan wine tasting.

12/4/2019 - GoBlue2002 Does not like this wine:

My wife thought this was flawed (musty cardboard), but I thought just too austere. Then it warmed to room temp... corked!
Luckily we were having lemon pepper scallops with this bottle and it was drinkable (barely). We drank half the bottle and tossed the rest.

6/14/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Not as ripe as the AG score and write-up would make you think.
PnP, no decant, little evolution over 1.5 hrs open. A cooler climate cali pinot, with higher acidity and some sparkle. Medium / full bodied for a pinot.
Went well with lasagna.
Me - 90, Wife - 91

11/15/2019 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Drank to celebrate our move. Fairly open on PnP.
Purple (plum) and blue fruits. Ripe Napa fruit, cocoa, dark berries, spice.
Plush and velvety.
Agreed -- big and soft at the same time.
Long and powerful finish.
Me - 95, Wife - 94

9/14/2019 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

The King is in the House -- Cabernet (Mike's House, Prior Lake MN): Small tasting pour.
Not our style of cab. A well-made wine, just not what I was looking for tonight.
tannic pull on the mouth. Enjoyed at first, then acidic. Tastes old world. 89, Wife - 88

11/16/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Bought on clearance for $19, opened this for a wine novice guest. Boy did I underestimate it.
Smooth, integrated tannins. Nice fruit, leather, full bodied.

7/23/2018 - galewskj wrote:

Bring a bottle.... (Tracy's Garden): This had a fair amount of oak and seemed bigger than any Rivers Marie chardonnay that I have had. It's also rather young. Maybe hold a year or two and try again?

3/18/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Napa / Sonoma Day Trip: Tasted at winery.
~4,000 cases made.
PnP -- This is dark, young, and tight; yet shows so much already. From vines at 800-1000 feet elevation over Napa valley floor, this has gobs of flavor yet a fairly silky structure. The finish goes on and on.
Well done, and I look forward to see how this one ages -- I expect a long life ahead!

Me - 93, Wife - 94

12/31/2017 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

NYE wine.
Not quite my style, as this lacked much in the way of fruit or yeast which I prefer in champagne. That said, it was well balanced and went well with stuffed portabellas.
Me - 89, Wife - 91

3/20/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Last bottle.
Flavorful, with some bright fruit, citrus, acid, mineral.
This bottle was purchased 3.5 yrs ago and was not as yeasty as I remember.
Me - 90, Wife - 91/92

5/6/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Interesting -- flavorful yet not so complex. A little more chardonnay and pinot m than I typically prefer.
Baked apple, spice, yeast; dry. Great food champagne.

Me - 89, Wife - 92

2/28/2015 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

"Dessert" Wine Tasting (Prior Lake, MN): And the continued decline in my scores of this wine continues. I think it's more that I no longer have a taste for such overtly sweet wines, and not a general decline in the wine itself.
This is rich, thick, and just plain sweet.

My #5, Group #5 (Last Place)

4/21/2018 - galewskj wrote:

Pop and pour, consumed over 4 hours. I was surprised at the grace and nimbleness of this California wine. This wine had great balance. Lean with taut fruit and ample acidity.

3/5/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Agreed with others - better chilled.
My first Carlisle Pagani, although I've had (younger) Bedrock Pagani's, and liked them more.
A nice wine, well balanced (chilled), but I didn't find the complexity I was looking for tonight. The finish was one-dimensional.
Quite dark for a zin; blue fruit, touch of spice,

I have 1 bottle left -- I'll give it a few years and see how it does.

Me - 89, Wife - 90

6/30/2017 - GoBlue2002 Does not like this wine:

Washington Wine Tasting; 6/29/2017-7/1/2017 (Woodinville, Seattle, Jet City): Tasted at Gorman tasting room in Woodinville's Hollywood District.
73% cab sauv, 15% syrah, 12% petit verdot.
Smells like tawny port... but not in a cooked wine sort of way.
Lusicous, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy drinking an entire bottle of this.

7/25/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Very smooth mature Cali syrah.
No need to wait, although I don't see it falling off a cliff either.
Mellow, with aromas of meat, leather, spice, earth, dried red fruit, and plum.
Went OK with BBQ chicken.

3/8/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

So much better after a 1 hr decent. I rarely recommend decent for whites, but it is essential here.
Powerful; with peach, apricot, mineral, oak.
Well balanced, full bodied.
Long long finish.
Hit the spot tonight.
Me - 92/93, Wife - 93/94

3/6/2018 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine:

148% abv. Dark ruby, expressive aromatics. Raspberry, blueberry, ripe cheery and a touch of mint. Very well integrated, balanced, deep and long. Exceptional for such a young Bedrock, with upside.

9/25/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

A Medoc Bordeaux not trying to be anything but.
Dark fruit, tannic / rough, spice. Paired OK with eggplant
Parm. Not the style we were looking for tonight.

10/27/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Open and ready to go on PnP. Not as complex as other Carlisle, just a solid Zinfandel.
Red fruit, spice, bramble.
Just hit the spot tonight.
Me - 91, Wife - 92

6/30/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Washington Wine Tasting; 6/29/2017-7/1/2017 (Woodinville, Seattle, Jet City): Tasted at Gorman tasting room in Woodinville's Hollywood District.
There we go, now we're getting to some good Gorman reds.
Inky dark purple in color. Meaty.
Smooth, but could still use 2-3 more years of age. Long peppery finish.

8/5/2017 - galewskj wrote:

Drank the bottle with some friends at home. Actually quite nice, though not as good as previous bottles from other vintages that had more age. I suspect I opened this too early, as I have done in the past with these. Hold for at least 1 year.

6/23/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Don't drink this within an hour after opening. Doing so should be criminal. Also consume this at room temperature, not cellar temperature.
Aromas of red and blue fruit, green pepper, and anise. Texture is Russel silk, albeit a bit more masculine than some of his other wines.
Oh and paired with meat market filet mignon... holy crap.
Long finish with moderate complexity.
Drank for our 5th anniversary.
Me - 94, Wife - 95

7/16/2017 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

My first Carlisle, which seems pretty weird after all the years of going to Sonoma/Napa...great spicy, briary nose, clean, smooth entry. One of the few zin houses we seemed to have missed. Not to be missed on the next trip! Nice weight for a zin, not too thin as some can be. Nice black and red fruit which seems to be married to just the right spice and acid backbone. This is a very well balanced, well put together, clean example of the varietal. Its long finish is especially nice, given the mouthwatering acidity/spice that seems to go on for a minute or more, when not washing down food. This is a "classy" zin, if one can use that phrase. I will be buying more.

addendum.....finally placed the flavor/spice ratio/profile after reading up on Carlisle fruit. Old head trained vines, 80 years+ old, planted by long gone Italian and Portugese immigrants. Same with Matt Cline and his 'Three' zins from the Live Oak and Evangelho vineyards. Some more than 120 years old! Very similar in nose, spice and flavor but perhaps slightly less refined than the Carlisle. Cannot beat those old vines for flavor and structure. All good.

6/7/2017 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

So well balanced. Has many elements but none of them stand apart from the others - rich, butter, fruit, mineral, spice, earth/mushroom, acidity.
This was great by itself and with food - hard to pull off.
A very solid chardonnay.

2/21/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Last bottle of 7, quite sad.
This was the most mature of the lot, and lacked the brett character of a few of the previous bottles.
A lovely mature brunello.

12/20/2016 - joseph120 Does not like this wine:

Blech. I had 2 or 3 of these 2-3 years ago and enjoyed them. What happened? Way too much cough syrup/old world flavor profile going on, and overall just disjointed/not integrated. Very poor showing this vintage.

9/4/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

So even after 3 hours of decanting, this was still nothing like Mike's winery release note. I found the wine spectator tasting note (rustic tannins) more spot on. This did smooth out & show some aromatic fruit after a couple hours and actually tasted quite nice with a chicken dinner.
We found this structured/firmly tannic with little in the way of aromatics and fruit. My wife, tasting blind, guessed cab blend!
Atypical for a Carlisle zin, although as this is my first Rossi Ranch --perhaps it is characteristic of the vineyard? A good wine, just not what I was in the mood for tonight. This is not a soft easy-drinking velvety zin.
Hold, long decant, and see what we get.

3/26/2016 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

Blind Zinfandel Tasting (Prior Lake, MN): A little harsh and over the top at this point.
Quite dark in color compared to the other zinfandels, with a lot of sweet fruit mixed with spices. Fairly tannic and somewhat tart.
This is the first time I've put a Carlisle in a blind tasting and I was quite surprised by the poor showing. Granted, this wine is quite young but it did have time open before the tasting.
My 5th place of 7 wines, wife - 6th, group - 6th (2 last place votes)

2/21/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

I much preferred the 2013 rose. This one just seemed light and watery, lacking flavor. However, it did also have less of the herbalness of the 2013, so that was a positive in my book.
Hopefully the remaining bottles are better.
However, my wife enjoyed it (90 pts).

9/4/2014 - ronte bello Does not like this wine:

See GOBLUE below - jammy, harsh tannins, has not gotten better with age. Did not get better day two.

1/20/2016 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

My first RM pinot - interesting.
Red fruited, baking spices, and I do sense the RM orange peel note. This has some lift, and a full bodied (for a pinot) mouth watering finish.
I am curious to see how this one evolves... good now, but hopefully more complexity soon.
The ~$50 secondary market price is crazy BTW - far better wines at that price.

6/30/2015 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

This took a good hour to open up.
Glad I held this for a bit, as it is showing well now, with the rough edges and tannins smoothed.
Showing mostly black fruit, spice, and milk chocolate.
This paired incredibly well with grass-fed meatballs and a pasta mix.

My wife loved this wine (91-92), which is quite unusual considering that she is not the biggest fan of grenache or French wine. She tends to prefer California fruit-forward wines.

9/15/2014 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

I was excited to try this wine based on professional and CT reviews and was incredibly disappointed. Even my wife, drinking blind (just a glass of wine in her hand) was not impressed in the least.
PnP, decanted and drank over 2.5 hrs. This did open up over time and was much better with food than without, but overall was bland and boring.
Early on I actually thought this might be corked, but my (far better nose than me) wife dismissed that thought, and when I came back to the wine later I agreed.
Nondescript fruit on the nose, med acid, mild/moderate tannins.
I have 1 bottle remaining, so I hope this was just bottle variation. I'd also recommend decanting 3+ hrs prior to drinking, and hoping for the best.

2/11/2014 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

My first Torbreck, and this was quite surprising compared to other Aussie shiraz I have had in the past -- very, very good.
Dark purple in color, with evident lightness on the rim. Well integrated soft and silky tannins still support a firm body.
Spice notes on finish. Tastes young and vibrant for an 8-yr old wine - just my style.
This was just damn tasty & hedonistic, never to be confused with old world syrah. My wife loved this wine, as did I. Definitely on the "buy more" list, for those who like this style of shiraz.

7/2/2012 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

Honeymoon Wine Tasting; 6/25/2012-7/3/2012 (California - Napa & Sonoma Counties): Tasted at Winery. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Cab Franc. Potent color extraction provides a deep purple color, with powerful aromas of deep dark berries and cherry. This wine was quite tannic with a firm gripping structure, yet not drying in the mouth; a sensation I've never experienced in a Cali cabernet before. The finish is incredibly long and filling. This one needs a few years to smooth out, but it easily has 95+ potential.

9/13/2013 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Minneapolis Wine Spectator Offline - Washington Reds (Birch’s, Long Lake, MN): 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Syrah, 10% Petit Verdot, 9% Cabernet Franc. 30 months in 90% new French Oak.
Purple in color, with the age showing slightly on the rim. Drinking well now. Layered and concentrated, the effect of the syrah was evident when compared with the Andrew Will Two Blondes (and the lower percentage of cab franc on the nose as well). Strong aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, and a hint of pepper. Well balanced, while being fruit forward.
With this kind of concentration, this is not a wine for everyone, and I enjoyed this more than my wife.

8/27/2013 - Racer117 wrote:

Was expecting a rich burgundy (according to salesperson) but I should have been thinking 1er cru Chablis. Light golden color; nose of tangerine, lime, apple, and oak; woody and very dry body with flavors of strong tart citrus, oak, apple. I think when I get my head (and tongue) around another bottle, the score will be higher.

8/22/2013 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

This bottle seemed slightly better integrated than the last, but it seems hit or miss with the oak, which became more noticeable the longer we drank. My wife preferred this more than I -- low fruit, most of it citrus.

6/29/2013 - rickspicks wrote:

Ripe, rich, sweet, dark red fruits of cherry and cassis with hints of licorice, vanilla and oak. Fruit forward, lush and juicy with a full body and velvety texture. Long, fruity finish. I would have preferred more backbone and power as it was somewhat soft overall. The label says Cabernet Sauvignon, but with the rounded edges and soft texture, it drinks a lot more like a meritage.

3/10/2013 - GoBlue2002 wrote:

Minneapolis Wine Spectator Offline (Fire Lake Grill, Minneapolis MN): Another horribly corked wonder from Benchmarkwine.

1/9/2013 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine:

Light in color for a brunello with bricking on the rim. Quite strong aromas and flavors of earth, dark red fruit, and floral/rose. Noticeable yet fine grained tannins combine with balanced acidity to provide wonderful structure. Beautiful firm cork which completely held together and showed absolutely no seepage - a surprise for a wine bottled 7? years ago. I am sensitive to Brett but did not notice any in this bottle. The finish had decent length and complexity. The pairing with a pork-based spaghetti sauce was ok.
Drinking very well right now, with tamed yet present tannins, while showing old-world fruit, this wine is my first surprise of the new year (although I liked this more than my wife).