1/4/2016 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Seemed flat. Giving the next one more time. Elegant but didn't hold up to price point.

1/4/2016 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Monster wine. sweet dark fruit - lots of red cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry. dark mocha. heavy violets and a good amount of glycerine with 16% plus alcohol (label says 15) and RS.

9/16/2015 - BCharlieG wrote:

dumb phase. non expressive. actually very odd to me. don't open.

9/24/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Really smooth and elegant cab franc. lots of fresh fruit, toasted oak. nice balance. not a ton going on but beautifully done. albeit a little manipulated with residual sugar but definitely meant to be the crowd pleaser. enjoyed this bottle. went through a half case in the last few months and each one perfectly consistent.

9/22/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

A truly beautiful wine. soft cooked cherry, cola, dr pepper, baked raspberry, soft smooth round oak.

8/13/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Big monster wine. Purple teeth staining wine. Given the coolness of the '11 vintage, drinking really lean compared to others years of this, but somewhat out of balance with acid and fruit. I decanted for an hour, probably could use a whole day and a few more years in bottle. Little disjointed. Dark berries: blackberries, chocolate cola, blueberries. Tar, leather, smoke. Gripping tannin structure. Paired this with a 10 hour texas style smoked brisket and it hung perfectly. Definitely BBQ wine.

7/15/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Absolutely gorgeous wine. The perfect balance between RS and fruit/acid. Balanced. Throwing soem COs and tartaric acid on the cork. Hung beautifully. Lemon peel, honeydew, melon, apricot, petrol, honeycuckle, apples, lime pith. Absolutely ripping wine.

7/15/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This wine is outstanding. see prior notes. Dill, Coconut, touch sweet, soft cherry fruit. apricot. almond. Brett. beautiful.

7/15/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Big and bold, hedonist wine. Herbal.

7/15/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Big and bold. Good extraction and tannins. Bit of a hedonist wine.

2/26/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Little confused by the lower ratings of this wine out there - this wine is brilliant. Flint, cool, delicate and round - drinking perfectly right now for this vintage. Absolutely delicious wine and well balanced and composed. Hints of toasted cherry, raspberry, vanilla, hints of oak and cedar. Rounding notes of soft mint and cool cassis. Gorgeous.

1/2/2015 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This wine is beautiful - softly floral, great baked bread characteristic and excellent balance. The nose: sweet cherry, floral red apple, young toasted oak, hints of menthol and marshmallow. The taste: tart raspberry, soft cherry/tart cherry, red apple. The texture is burrata w/ obvious hints of malo / lees stirring. Smooth and supple - no hit from alcohol or acid. Great balance. I was hesitant to open this too early but gave it an hour decant and was wonderful. Outstanding wine. Wish I could get more.

12/31/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

This wine is a monster. You have to be in the mood for something like this and consumed with the right thing (rib eye/something hugely fatty). Glycerine thickness, heavy weight, big long extraction and full of brooding all sorts of dark and black fruit. Too hot, too overextracted but I suppose that's what you get for a Napa cab big vintage PS. Lingering and cutting tannins. Not much finesse here.

12/22/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Another monster hedonist wine. Tons and tons of baked strawberries, brambleberries, baked cherry pie. HOT. Nothing subtle about the fruit here. Extremely high acid (acidified?) - 15.5% plus perfect alcohol easily. If you're looking for a monster zin this will do the trick for you but lacks finesse.

12/21/2014 - BCharlieG Does not like this wine:

This is a monster of a wine. Total beast of blue and black fruit, pepper, acid, heat, alcohol. Unbalanced. This wine is a monster. If you are into this sort of thing, probably great.

12/16/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This wine is beautiful. Sweet and floral on the nose but deceivingly acidic and round on the palate - not overly heavy handed. Lovely and elegant, lifted use of oak and lees stirring. Round and soft, smooth and beautifully aromatic white flowers, honeysuckle. Awesome wine. Wonderful finish.

12/14/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Perfectly consistent with prior tasting note. Beautiful fresh wood, american coconut, dill. Such vivid fresh soft cherry fruit and baked pie, slight secondary development here but very refreshing and drinkable now. delicious wine.

11/30/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Decanted for 4 hours, probably could have used another 4. This is a BIG wine. Rich, heavy and thick/viscous. Rich and HIGH alcohol. This wine is a touch saccharine/sugar sweet with tons of new young toasted oak. Milk chocolate, so much NAPA terroir here. Opened into lavender, almond peel, walnut skin, bramble berry and baked/cooked cherry pie, baked red raspberries and a touch of blue and purple fruit (stewed plum and blueberry). This wine was delicious albeit a touch hedonistic and a slight bit typical for what is a big bold over extracted napa cab. Touch too much residual sugar for my palate. Lacked some elegance.

10/20/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Everything you would expect in a high quality Napa Cab and so much more. Impressive for a tougher vintage also. Beautiful cherry fruit, toasty oak barrel and tart red berries. Very minty and cool eucalyptus nose and develops into a nice big wine without being overwhelming or too dark/rich/mocha-e. Honestly, could wax poetic about this wine for quite some time but we just enjoyed it. Perhaps a bit one dimensional in parts but delicious nonetheless.

10/14/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Not going to rate this wine. Wasn't showing. Either a bit of a dumb phase right now or simply WAY tighter than i expected. Opened, decanted for 40 minutes, consumed over 3 hours. Tight and all tart fruit. Almost showing nothing. odd.

10/10/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Perfectly consistent with prior tasting notes. Such an elegant, lifted style of wine. Very natural. I think some might send this back (in a restaurant) as it's not your typical Syrah and could come acorss underwhelming if you didn't quite know what you were getting into but this wine is simply beautiful for the price point. Very linear - herbal, cool, light, complex and tart red fruit and a little bit funky (cheese rind, black/white pepper) medicinal. Will happily purchase more of these. bg

10/6/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Outstanding: popped and poured directly from cellar temp and let sit in glasses for about 30 minutes and it came alive. Garnet in color, hints of brown on the rim, little opaque. The nose is beautifully complex: sweet vanilla, toasted coconut, candied cherry, candied/caramel covered red apple. hints of blueberry pie/compote. Dried red flowers and hints of wet earth. Smoked salami and prosciutto, smoke applewood, lamb and veal overtones. Black olives. Palate: rich and full with much more tart fruit: pomegranate, raspberry, and baked cherry pie. smoky and super high acid. rich wine. soft milk chocolate notes and chewy cookie dough. Closed off about 4 hours open but sang for a good two. Great dinner wine. A TOUCH too acidic (noticeably so) but beautiful wine. Much more complex than the 2004 in my opinion

9/30/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Nothing wrong just nothing all that special. Fruit loops and orange zest. Oily texture and nice richness. Subdued.

9/29/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

I'm a huge fan of these [Domaine] Faury wines - all up and down the price points of their portfolio. This wine is very natural - light, lifted, airy, floral and soft/delicate. If you like big bold Syrah this isn't for you but if you like something that's a good spicy and cool light lifted (pinot style) this is great. You do have to know what you're getting though as I've seen feedback on these wines as "boring and off" Light color, thin very elegant. Very herbal, cool elements of tarragon, black pepper, white pepper with a red/pink floral element of roses, lavender, menthol. Fruit is tart raspberry cherry and pomegranite with hints of underripe plum. almond skin. This is pretty wine - much the style of herve sauhout. I'll buy more of this as the every day drinker. sophisticated.

9/29/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Very solid wine for a mini Nebbiolo. 4 hour decant here. super herbal: cool, eucalyptus, mint, medicinal tarragon. Baked bread with a sweet note of underripe raspberry, tart cherry. Palate confirms the tart fruit: underripe pear, prune, tart cherry, some cherry cola hints. The wine opens into old spice, leather, black olives and a touch of stilton cheese, sweaty sock brett and washed cheese rind. Really fun wine but nothing really exhilarating. High acid, high tannins. Paired with beef brisket, worked well. I've had substantially better Nebbiolo for 10 bucks more but this was a good wine. Good quality for the price.

9/29/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Somewhat neutral on this wine: Pretty purple/garnet color here. Not particularly floral (I suppose I could have opened longer). White pepper, black pepper, lavender, purple flowers, stewed raspberry, baked red apple. Dried cranberry, high acid. It opens on the palate to be more smooth and manageable: soft, smooth baked cherry, blueberry pie, hints of apricot and cinnamon heat. very very spicy wine. This wine is a little punchier than expected...would have pegged it for some Granacha in there but it's all Syrah. Didn't love this wine but would give another bottle a chance

9/29/2014 - BCharlieG Does not like this wine:

Unbalanced. Fruit and Acid not well integrated. Couldn't get through this bottle. Not enjoyable. Really unbalanced. sharp chocolate fruit and manupulated acid.

9/22/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Probably rushed this bottle: cellar to vinturi to decanter at temp. Only let sit about 30 minutes after this and still super tight. Really wicked tart fruit like raspberry, blueberry, tight underripe apricot. Really pretty floral and red roses and bright flowers on this wine. The nose is full of red and blue fruit, elements of red apples and tart strawberries. A big extracted wine though as it opens into bubble gum chewyness and apricots...big fruit, cherries, strawberries, tart. Really pretty but a huge wine with lots of new wood on this. This is the last of what I have...07 one of my favorite vintages. This wine is holding great. Give at least 3 or 4 hours if you are to open. Big brooding wine.

9/15/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This is a beautiful wine. Candied fruitloop and cream-cicle on the nose with hints of charred meyer lemon peel and burnt citrus. Pineapple, papaya, melon, honey and vanilla. Stoney and mineral too with a little bit of baking spice nutmeg and toasted cinnamon. Very floral, like honeydew and orchids. There is definitely a sweet component to this but more in that it's rich and round/viscous not sugar sweet. Nice oily texture. Seems to taste a bit like a chenin from the burnt/oxidative notes. Beautifully complex with such a linger note of yellow apple preserve and toasted meyer lemon. Chewy and bright. Biting acid. The texture (oily) is so mouth coating. Gorgeous wine.

9/8/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Beautiful - consistent with prior bottles. Very balanced. Tart red fruit (cherry, raspberry) and beautiful vanilla new wood barreling room. See prior tasting notes. This one needs a good decant though. This is a really pretty beautiful wine.

8/2/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

A cc from RockinCabs here "blackberry. Smoke, Chocolate and fresh barrel oak. Palate: Viscous and thick cabernet here, very deep black fruit that borders on over-ripe. Deep Cherry and Chocolate here too, and a nice Medicinal note. Finish: Very long and palate staining. Plum, Blueberry, Oak and Spice. Touch more residual sugar than I typically would have expected, but this is a very nice "all out" kind of cab. Reflects the vintage for sure"

Will say, this is one big hedonist wine with more glycerine than we tasted (vertical) on the '06 and the '08. That said, independently, a big hearty wine that has chewy tannins and a solid backbone even if the "sweet" component of the fruit is a little out of balance for the overall structure. Baked plum, baked cherry fruit, herbal with some hot pepper on the nose. Will let these hang a little longer in the cellar

8/2/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Consistant with prior tasting notes. More funky salami and rhone qualities to this one than normal. white pepper, black pepper. kalamata olive, cool herbalness to it. a beautiful wine all around. very restrained and natural. nice baked strawberry and a mushroom depth to this. good style.

7/30/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

See prior tasting notes. Lots of BBQ and grilled lamb on the nose on this one. a little more gamey than previous bottles. Light and natural. Beautiful wine. Very herbal.

7/25/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

See prior tasting notes. This might be one of the best bottles they have made. Given 2011 was such a soft vintage it really helps to lighten and lift this wine. The wine is all toasted strawberries and apricot/almond. Great mouthfeel and long finish with good balance in acid and tanins and fruits. pretty wine. nice work.

7/24/2014 - BCharlieG Does not like this wine:

Not a great wine. Unbalanced blend of white bordeaux varietals. Touch off-dry and seems to have been bottled with a hint of Co2. Finish is grassy and vegetal and ammonia. Wouldn't buy this again

7/21/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

I'd say right up the alley of what you would expect here. Lots of honeysuckle, guava and bruised pineapple, pear on the nose and toasted lemon rind. Beautifully aromatic. Moldy top of the cork and tartaric crystals from lack of cold stabilization. Wine was drinking great though. Bottled with just a touch of CO2 for freshness. Razor sharp acidity, lots of minerality and a good bite of off-dryness. I wouldn't say anything ground beaking here but a delicious wine and wonderful nose. Great for the price.

7/14/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This wasn't one of the most mind boggling Barolos I've had but this was quite lovely. The color is a beautiful garnet showing some brown around the edges. Very austere at first but opens into a leathern, mushroom, wet earth, baked apricot nose but the palate is much more fruit: baked strawberry, rhubarb, walnut skin, baked cherry compote red apple skin. Really came together about 2.5 hours open. As it evolves, the nose opens into taragon (cool), chive, bay leaf and baked raspberry. really nice bottle, probably consumed a little too early. VERY high acid, high tannins. Good for the money.

7/13/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

see prior tasting notes. great wood and oak. more brett on this bottle than previous. awesome wine though in my opinion.

7/11/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

If you get a good bottle of this (lots and lots of bottle variation) it's utterly delicious. Almost more on the side of chardonnay given the wood here vs straight sauv blanc). But if you like your sauv with some wood (butter, baking spice) and maybe a kiss of another varietal (could be semillion, voignier/granacha blanc - not sure) if that's your thing this bottle rocks for the price. All sorts of floral orchids, yellow flowers, dandelions, yellow peach, ripe/underripe pears, ripe apricot, hints of banana peal. (there's voignier smell here), fruity-loopyness. Candied red and green apple. really really pretty. lacks a little acid though. but again, depends on the quality of the bottle - the ones that are right are awesome.

7/7/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Must admit, one of the best mixed black wines I've had from the team at Girard. This wine (given the mix and lack of varietal separation at the vineyard) has a tendency to be SO overextracted and brooding that it gets undrinkable. But, the cool/soft vintage of '11 in Napa really helps this wine shine and be so approachable. Lighter in color and body than all the previous vintages I've had (08, 09, 10) and much more approachable. Real blast of acid up front and pretty decent carryover. Passed this through the vinturi and drinking at 55 degree cellar temp and coming along nicely: It's cool and full of strawberry, cherry, rhubard, red apple compote, some lemon/key lime acidity. Vanilla and all-spice backbone but lifted and elegant in a sense. Lots of chewy tannins though but the balance (cool balance of '11) really helps to blend this all together. This wine is so approachable as long as you understand what this wine is traditionally like. I'll come back to this later but the cool elements are taragon and a touch of bay leaf. The palate real sunburst kisses of red cherry, baked apricot, raspberry, some blue raspberry jolly rancher

6/29/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

See prior tasting notes. one of the better bottles I've had. lots of mushroom, herb,wet earth cool. awesome wine.

6/27/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This wine smells delicious - reminds me of the VDP Herve Souhaut...beautiful lighted and light baked strawberry, little bbq smokiness and black pepper, toasted smoky cherry and lavender. high acid, good 20 second finish. That side, much less complex on the palate and little hollow and lacks some midpalate but for the price, very pretty and elegant wine. hints of green olives at best but not pyrazine bell pepper you get from cab franc. would happily buy again. easy drinking/going down wine. elegent.

6/25/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Quite nice entry level Chenin. A little for everyone in this bottle - hints of that wet wooly chalk character. touches of burnt matchstick, burnt lemon rind. high acid. nice wine. easy drinking wine even slightly warmer than room temp. would happily serve this day-to-day

6/16/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Bruised yellow/meyer lemon. bruised apricot (beautiful) and orange peach, bruised yellow apple. toasted lemon zest. Maybe a hint of clove/nutmeg from the wood. finish is nutty walnuts and pecans. little thin texturally on the palate. Acid is med high but not ripping. Wouldn't mind a little more palate weight if i had to criticize. As time goes on develops a creamy cream-soda like smell and taste, toasted butter-pecan-butternut/buttercrunch. It smells like a combination of lepanto brandy de jerez and gonzalex y byass del duque amontillado. This wine is awesome.

6/16/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Velvet texture - overtones of Brett and a touch of cork...leather, wet and damp earth floor. musty and brown rim variation. mushroom (porcini). Opened into mellow and blended cool herbal floral and soft. Brambleberry, raspberry, cherry cola (maybe root beer in a way). tree bark. Chalky finish and very masculine. St Estephe in masculinity here. Over 3 hours, darker prunes and hints of blue fruit, picked up darker berries but still lots of wet earth and mushroom. good solid acidity and oak balance. picked up for 40 bucks and probably worth that but not much more.

6/16/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This is a beautiful cab franc. Incredibly floral off the nose (5 hour decant): raspberry, lavender, licorice, anise, all-spice / baking spice. Taste is baked cherry compote, milk chocolate, new oak barreling room (sweet oak). Finish is milk chocolate, milk caramel, good extraction while being lifted and delicate in a way. Not cloying in any matter. Beautiful elements here, no real greenness and good overall feeling. Missing some on the mid palate but nice finesse.

6/13/2014 - BCharlieG Does not like this wine:

This wine is really unbalanced. At first pop and pour it's actually quite delightful with good fruit but after about 30 minutes it gets brooding and extremely fruity and extracted. It tastes acidified which is a real turn off. It's bitter and unbalanced. I've had 2 of these bottles and seems like a decent amount of bottle variation. I won't buy this again.

6/11/2014 - BCharlieG wrote:

Second bottle much less interesting than the first. Wondering if some bottle variation. Have another 2 to work through, we'll see.

6/6/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

Didn't take as detailed notes as the previous bottle but this continues to be beautiful. Such complex flavors here given the varietal mix. Black, red blue and dark baked fruit all together. Lots of new american and french wood - very pretty dill, coconut and new baking oak spices. Vanilla bean. BBQ and bright raspberry really clear. The finish is all sorts of chewy and chalky dark and mocha and chocolate. Velvety finish. Opened and decanted for 3 hours and came together beautifully.

6/6/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine:

This Sherry continues to be one of my favorites. Extra Nutty (almonds, walnuts, toasted brazil nuts, toasted vanilla) beautiful heavy oxidative elements and rich. Such beautiful acid here to balance the rich bruised fruit: bruised red apples, bruised pears, bruised nectarine, bruised peaches. Outstanding. good alcohol integration. love this sherry.