3/26/2022 - Scott4227 Likes this wine:

90 rose, violets, leather, cherry nose, bitter cherry, licorice, jammy, cured meats, nice fine tannins ganging up... a little hot on the finish. Perhaps leave for a year or two.

8/20/2021 - Babik Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine. Has a large lush oily mouthfeel with white flowers and citrus and chamomile and toasted nuts you might expect from this blend from this region, all large and in charge, but with that Stefan minerality, and delivered nicely as a PnP. However, on day 2 and now day 3 this wine has narrowed focus and become an almost lithe elegant version of day one that is just fantastic. Unless you have several I would lay down a few years. 94 if rating.

1/29/2021 - rkww Likes this wine:

Turnbull Single Vineyards & Black Label Tasting: With little to no aeration, the tannins and acids in the '16 Black Label were much stronger than when we last enjoyed this wine after a four hour decant at home. Otherwise, those notes hold. They follow:

"Our small group universally found the '16 Black Label alluring, sexy even. It welcomed us with an open, silky smooth texture reminiscent of a Morlet, with only a touch of that winery's signature sweetness on the indulgently long finish. We might have expected tighter tannins based on Galloni's description of 'a full throttle, intense wine built on pure power,' but he must have just meant the fruit, which wafted strongly off our glasses and flooded our palates with cherries, raspberries, and creme de cassis. More flavor complexity will surely emerge in time. For now, this young Turnbull offers pure drinking joy. It'll be a challenge to keep our hands off the rest of our stash!"

1/22/2021 - billwine5 Likes this wine:

Pale lemon color with light aromas of blossom honeysuckle and apricot on the nose. On the palate the stone fruit returns with low acidity and medium alcohol.

2/18/2018 - Jshelton25 Likes this wine:

Very fine Cal. Sparkling Wine (blend)

10/27/2019 - willie_p74 Likes this wine:

Nose is fantastic, very fruity, like a cherry hard candy. This one needs to breathe a bit, It opens up nicely after about an hour. Mouthfeel is light, wine shows some notes of oak and black cherry, but tart, deep flavors with a smaller mouthfeel yielding to a dry finish with a hint of pepper.

11/5/2018 - NeilAndCo wrote:

Not a fan of Chardonnays, but this was smooth. Won’t get in the way of a dish pairing. Subtle. Not exciting.

12/7/2017 - TannicBeast Likes this wine:

Classic Napa profile for a Jackson plus tax. Ripe black currant, plum, coffee, chocolate, vanilla. The oak treatment is fairly prevalent. Full body, with assertive tannins, nice acidity and balanced alcohol. Drinking well now after an hour decant and likely to improve over the next 3-5 years. 80% Cabernet, plus some of all the other Bordeaux varietals. You should try to taste this blind against some trendy, Napa Cab blends costing twice as much and see whether this does't deliver as much pleasure...

12/4/2017 - billwine5 Likes this wine:

A full bodied field blend of Red Mountain greatness. 57% Cabernet Sauvignon offers deep structure and tannins softened with 24% Syrah and 19% Merlot. Allspice, dark fruits and white pepper on the nose give way to a long finish of plums, chocolate and hints of figs. Moderate tannin grip on the long extended finish. Some decanting based on age could allow this wine to blossom for years to come. Serious value wine at $25 retail.

11/23/2017 - Mark V Likes this wine:

Outstanding wine! Deep reddish purple in color, very bold nose and an amazing pallet filled with oak, blackberries, tannins and other dark berry flavors. And the finish leaves you craving more, so much so, another case is in order! The combination of CS, CF and PV fruit makes this the best of Venge's Blend 26 wines ever. B Cellars consistently rocks!

11/18/2017 - Tahlequahdave1972 Likes this wine:

PNP with aeration. Straw color with a green hue. Nose of citrus, grapefruit and honeysuckle leading to flavors of lemon lime, guava, melon and stone fruit. Starts out tart but immediately follows with a semi sweet texture and medium mouthfeel. Crisp, refreshing, well balanced and tasty. Medium length finish. A very nice Cali sauvignon blanc. Getting more.

10/2/2017 - Mootsie Does not like this wine:

Big notes of candied strawberry, cedar, watermelon rind, forest floor. A bit of heat on the finish. Blind you would never guess Cab. Young, sweet, tannic. Nothing like a classic cab as noted below.
Turley Zins are mostly worth it, but this cab is a mess. Bad and overpriced.

9/16/2016 - wilypod Likes this wine:

Bright Garnet. Decant and air an hour or three. Explosive and savory garrigue, dark chocolate, black cherry, dry rub smoked pork. Verges on the voluptuous. Tasted blind, like unto a Chateauneuf du Pape, much more so than the Esprit, since Grenache dominates the blend (44/36/12/8 Grenache, Syrah, Counoise, Mourvedre). Peppery, chalky, sweet, not astringent, tannin suffuses the finish. 15% abv. 2014 was a great year at Tablas.

No comparison to other Cotes de Tablas I've had. Bottled sunshine and sensuality. 4+13+17+8 Perhaps the most balanced, graceful red in the Tablas line-up this year. The Esprit and Panoplie have higher extract and intensity, with the Esprit especially muscular.

Day 2. The tannins are even better and the Grenache shines brighter.

7/31/2016 - ajbergren wrote:

Purplish ruby with medium plus optical density. Shows strong intensity on the nose, with bright red fruits (raspberry, cranberry), musty earth, and chewing tobacco. Balanced on the palate, with refreshing acidity, a juicy mouthfeel, and full body to go along with medium intensity tannins and a dryness that is balanced by sweet sensations of fruit and well-controlled alcohol (13.5% listed, seems about right). Dense and concentrated, but with some elegance and focus that keep things under control. Flavours on the attack are classic Rioja, showing vanilla-dipped bright red fruits, with notes of coconut and toffee over the top of earthy tobacco and spice. The midpalate stays full and provides aromatic compounds that lend complexity to the flavour profile before transitioning to a lengthy finish of leather and perhaps hints of savory game under a pleasant blanket of oak. The oak is very well done and does not distract (i.e., it lets other aspects through), providing a very well-balanced wine with decent complexity. Very pleasant drinking alone or with food, this is a nice value wine, providing great QPR in a typical Rioja Reserva. Drinking very well at the moment, but would seem to have the quality to age for quite a while longer to let the oak integrate more. Nice!

4/30/2016 - mkslater wrote:

The 2014 Stoller Pinot Noir Dundee Hills is dark, big, and very heavy on the palate, overwhelmingly so for me. It defies the usual descriptors--and expectations--of an Oregon Pinot noir. It is also very different from Stoller's 2013 Dundee Hills Pinot noir. Keep this monster in the bottle until the 2020's or serve now with the roasted wild boar you killed yourself.

3/30/2015 - jfaulk Likes this wine:

Decent weeknight cab. At $17/bottle, good QPR

3/13/2015 - Baron Slick wrote:

Fine, black fruit nose, with shades of currants, eucalyptus, conifer, and pencil lead. Tightly wound and full bodied, this has a juicy mid-note that turns savory as it opens up. The dry finish repeats the black fruit theme.

1/31/2015 - Ken332 wrote:

I have been trying a few of the 2012 Oregon Pinot Noirs following the recent Wine Spectator review and pending the Wine Advocate issue in February. This wine is at a good price and widely available. However, I found it a bit closed in the first day, slightly darker color than I expected (medium ruby), moderate mouthfeel with initial, slight bitterness as noted by one of the reviewers, black cherries, spice, and earthiness. Moderate length. The bitterness went away after about 30 minutes, but the wine never completely opened up. Will try the left over bottle today. All told, this is a good wine at a decent price, but nothing for which to search.

Much better the second night. While the nose is still restrained, the initial flavors of black cherries, spice, and earth are much more pronounced, as is the mid-range and an interesting finish. I would raise the rating to an 88 or 89 based on the second night's tasting.

9/24/2013 - robmillis Does not like this wine:

nice, simple, sweet plum, raspberry. all fruit, no earth.

3/27/2014 - edub7 wrote:

A bit chalky, slightly tart, but decent fruit seems to come through after it mellows out. Mocha spice, there's some oak that needs to blow off. Picked up at Costso for fun at $12, not bad, not inspiring either. Was a expecting more since it is a Cru Bourgeois and 2010. Perhaps there's bottle variation. May try it one more time. 85-87

3/8/2014 - Yankee wrote:

On the nose there's wet campfire, earth, blackberry & cassis ~ On the palate it's medium + bodied with moderate tannins & flavors of strawberry, dry oak, cocoa & ripe plum skins ~ Nicely balanced

9/22/2013 - billwine5 wrote:

From the bar like atmosphere to the lack of notable conversation Aspenwood Cellars was unanimously voted "Winery to Most Avoid" during our recent visit to Woodinville's up and coming warehouse district of new wine makers. We opted for the library collection including the SS Cab and couldn't finish any of the three wines offered. This wine was burnt on the nose like battery acid and clearly had signs of bacteria. The storage area was not even refrigerated making the rest of the entire stock suspect. Winemaker Jim Petty should stick with his day job.