6/5/2022 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Strong dill component in the nose to the exclusion of almost anything else. Pallet is marred by the same element. Will not rate at the present time, hopefully it blows off with time in the open bottle.

5/21/2022 - SCM Fan Likes this wine:

The Epitome of CdP. Opened for dinner with smoked baby backs on pellet grill. The earthy flavors of Grenache pair well with smokiness in ribs. Mouthwatering ribs and wine. Pairing made in heaven for me. Glad to have two more bottles will pair again with smoked ribs. Has years left.

11/27/2021 - mflesh wrote:

In the right spot. This wine is high velocity. Cork withdrawn intact with a fair amount of tartrate on the cork. Nose is perfumed dark black fruits with some iodine, grilled meat and savory spice. Smoky character. The palate has the perfect balance of youthful black roasted fruits and dark pie spices and the start of ripe fig, smoked tobacco and roasted plums. Just delicious and has everything one would want in a nearly 10 year old Moon Mtn Cabernet from a very solid producer that does it so dang well from year to year. Paired very well with smoked and fire pit roasted beef fajitas. Paired even better with family and the holidays and a tree decorated very well on the bottom 5 feet while the adults supervise with a good glass of Cabernet in hand! Cheers!

11/13/2021 - levinml wrote:

Drank on steak night with variety of Morgan Ranch steaks and my first taste of this Parker Perfect wine. Like so many big cabs, was great with the steak, but as soon as the meat is gone, the tannins start to kill my mouth. Maybe that's what's meant to be, but if I can only drink it with a steak, how can it be perfect?

7/25/2020 - drwine2001 wrote:

Opened 2 hours earlier. Even ruby without lightening. Spice and blueberry nose. Fabulously round, middle weight, gentle soil base. Very suave for this cru. Incredible depth of blue>dark red fruit consistent with the aromatics and just a touch of green that comes out with more air. Here the richness of the vintage is shown by the volume and depth of fruit drowning out the soil notes rather than by any overripeness or heat. Average acidity. This is great stuff which only suffers from being very young and less complex than it will be in another 5 or 10 years. I have no regrets about trying one now since its balance permits enjoyment at this stage.

8/22/2020 - KenK Likes this wine:

Opulent sexy dark black cherry fruited aromas and highly spiced. Very dark thick dense ripe chunky blackberries. Dense, heavy, and viscous, a chewy. Long toasty warming. Very extracted in your face & inky. Needs lots of time. More of a barrel sample vs a ready to drink wine. Put this away for 5 years. Notable for the dense fruit. Good upside, but hard to appreciate today.

12/8/2019 - raiachat wrote:

A Homerun

11/3/2019 - Skyla venture Likes this wine:

I love Kamen. Never disappointed. Wonderful wine. It has aged very nicely at this point but can continue to be cellared. You can drink it now and be very happy.

9/4/2019 - Garfield Likes this wine:

Drinking really great now.

8/27/2019 - cadamson wrote:

Candied, very large scale and extracted. Some heat. Reasonably tasty in a vacuum, though nothing to hold individuality or interest. Yes, well made in a sense, and I am sure lovely for those who appreciate the style.

3/24/2019 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

Had this next to a 16 Vice Versa Dr Crane BBS and 16 Purlieu BTK. The nose on this 100% Cabernet wine is super unique and unusual. Not very Cab like at all. We were all trying to get a handle on it, and we could not quite describe it, but will give it a shot. Aromas of pine needles, Hungarian oak, iron, boysenberry and tilled soil. On the pallet this wine is texturally perfect, with an absolutely seamless delivery of opulent and unctuous mostly blue/red fruit with the most polished and integrated tannins you can imagine. Totally weightless. Shows solid structure and a nice full mid pallet with lots of spice and mineral driven notes. The finish is where this didn't quite live up to the VV BBS, as it was about 30 secs, but super enjoyable. Ahead of the Purlieu but behind the VV in this tasting.

3/17/2019 - csimm wrote:

One of my Napa Cabs of the vintage, and a consistent standout every time I pop the cork. This wine simply lays waste to a whole mess of wines when in comparative tastings or as a stand-alone. The complexity here is absurd, with a dark mineral-inflected core that actually speaks less to Rutherford and more toward LPV or Steltzner/Stags Leap sites (so I guess I should ding it down 0.427 points for not accurately representing its proper terroir - So, 99.573 rounded-up is 100 last I checked).

Frame, speed, grip, precise flavor expansion on the mid-palate, viscosity, depth, texture/mouthfeel ... You can go ahead and check all of your little sommelier boxes on this phenomenal specimen. What really draws me in here is how focused this biooootch is. I’m not sure how it achieves such a well-honed and complex delivery of flavors while still kicking down crazy awesome on the savory front. It has personality and a sharpened intensity I love.

The flavors themselves are, as before, a trifecta of black berry, black rock, and bad assery. This was a PnP, and it performed great right from the pull. Air helped to broaden the blackberry and obsidian notes in a way that was perfectly governed both in weight and in speed. I’m not sure what the finish was like really because it went on forever and I was already taking another sip before it actually ended... whenever that was exactly... the next day perhaps.

My only issue with this wine is that I didn’t buy 5 cases of it. And of course... I don’t see it on Wine-Searcher anywhere, even in some random place like Hong Kong, or London..... or Azerbaijan.

Alas, the trials and tribulations of first-world disappointments: “...If only I could find and kidnap my favorite wine so as to tuck it away in my precious cellar like Gollum’s ring or some Silence of the Lambs Buffalo Bill wackamo.”

99.573-100 points.

3/9/2019 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine:

Fonplégade's 2016 is a deep-to-opaque crimson blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. After Vinturi-decanting, it was serially sampled over several hours, showing beautiful aromatic development even within the first 90 minutes. Laden with blackberries, cassis, dark plums, anise, tobacco, graphite and bittersweet chocolate, it is a full-bodied, beautifully structured wine built for the long haul. With fresh acidity, nicely integrated alcohol (listed as 14.5%), judicious oak and abundant fine-grained tannins, it leaves an indelible impression by virtue of its dense middle palate and lengthy finish. Five years in the cellar will be handsomely rewarded. Thereafter, this is a wine that should easily celebrate its 30th birthday. Drink 2024-2046.

11/19/2018 - mflesh wrote:

Solid 96, but this one gets the 97 nod from me. Classic mountain fruit and done VERY WELL. I can definitely tell how the drought has affected this fruit, and not necessarily in a bad way (it was only offered to wine club members this year). Popped the cork on this one, and my wife who was cooking dinner about 10 feet away from me said "Wow, I can smell the flowers and blueberries from all the way over here." And yes, definitely you could. This wine was decanted (I had to dust it off) for about an hour before being enjoyed, and could have decanted another 8-10 hours. Black, inky pour. Nose of wildflowers, blueberries, cinnamon, black fruit, Entry is inky, mostly sweeter black and blue fruits but there is a hint of spice and almost a hint of sweet tobacco that makes you think this one is 5 years post current vintage. Mature, yet youthful. The graphite in the middle wraps around the fruit core and adds a nice complexity onto this already massive wine. Hint of sweeter dark chocolate in the middle as well. Finishes with sweet, cedar tannin on an inky blueberry and blackberry pie backbone. And, crazy thing is that I murdered this wine tonight. Lord have mercy on me, I will not be able to hold onto my 5 remaining bottles and I already know this. I compare this to the 08 Kashmir which is still my favorite Kamen wine to date (still holding all my 2012 Cab Franc so I figure that's the only one that could potentially still top this). Massive, yet complex, with LOTS of life ahead.

12/20/2018 - timsilvestre wrote:

My first bottle of Caterwaul and I find the 2016 Cab very approachable, with a wonderfully rich bouquet of blackberries and loam. Soft tannins in a very dark, heavy fruit appeal with deep juiciness and thick brambles and berries. Chocolate, graphite and plums close on a relatively long finish. This is a gulp-able wine, while not classic a lovely full bodied Cab that will be a crowd pleaser for years to com.

12/18/2018 - gcarl wrote:

Deep color and rich aroma. Lots of fruit on the nose for a 13 year old Bordeaux, kind of expected from this vintage. This wine was excellent even at P&P . After 1.5 hour decant and re-bottling for tasting event, it opened up with even more fruit on the nose and palate. A great bottle from a private cellar at only $38 .

10/6/2018 - srh Likes this wine:

Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 6 *shared* bottles] from 10/05/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: Vanilla, ripe berries, poss some choc? Intensity lurking?

P: Med body; Rndish entry with ALMOST swtish frt (approaching threshold R.S.?) met by some astringent pucker which morphs into a LONG, very, VERY slightly spicy/tangy finish with a definite swtness to the dusty tannins. NEEDS through '21, then at least approaching its 10th. My EXC-, though if one said that's too high based upon the QPR, I'd certainly NOT argue. 95-97 pts Jeb Dunnuck, 94-96 WA, & 92-95 Vinous (Galloni). [This vendor's $84.95 is $5 < wine'searcher's next lowest.]

Note: According to wine-searcher, this is a "wine brand belonging to Adega Cooperativa de Ponte Da Barca." However, they apparently have no website I could find, & their apparent U.S. Importer doesn't mention the Patria label. :(

9/22/2017 - Millennial Drinkers wrote:

Deep and dark purplish red. Layered nose with some new French oak influences. Notes of cinnamon, pencil shavings, dark red berries, dark bitter cocoa and cassis. Heavy tannins (7/10) and medium plus to full bodied. Needs a bit of time to beef up and integrate further. Layered palate with bramble berries, black cherries, blackberries, spices and tons of crushed gravel. Long and lingering finish. Drink from 2018 till 2033. (93+)

9/12/2018 - mflesh wrote:

Ready to kick ass and take names. This wine is brilliant. Nose of blackberry, chocolate, iodine, flint. Full bodied palate of youthful and thick black fruit, espresso bean, almond, hint of licorice, hint of mint. Finishes with a slightly tame acidity, black pepper and still fairly youthful tannin. This wine doesn't seem like it has aged much at all. For a 2012, does not taste anywhere close to 6 years post vintage. Moon mountain fruit is hard to beat when done well. This wine is a 'must have' in your cellar.

7/29/2018 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

This is just SINGING right now. All the lovely chocolate, scorched earth, black cherry and burnt ember flavors from the LPV site in complete harmony. Perfect creamy texture, absolutely unreal levels of concentration and yet it is all in perfect balance. There are absolutely no hard edges and the tannins are so fine and well integrated it is unbelievable for such a young wine. The finish is super long and pure. What a wine!

This is simply performing at an astonishing level. I was fortunate enough to have it a couple times over the course of three days, and each time I was absolutely captivated. The last time, I was at a wine auction called Wineapawlooza with some of the absolute best wines in existence being poured, and this still managed to stand out as the best of the bunch. Bravo Patrice and Samantha!

11/13/2016 - csimm wrote:

You've been wanting to try the 2014 Scarlett Reserve out...but don't. You'll think that the standard 2014 Scarlett isn't drinking too bad considering it's youth, so why not give the Reserve a try...but don't. You'll think you can mathematically conjure up a slow O2 regimen with a final few hours of a decant that will give you an accurate window into the life of this wine...but you won't...

Punchline: Don't touch this until 2018/2019+. Normally I don't like to forecast out too far in advance with these sorts of wines, but this little monster is going to need some stretchy time to unwind a bit. Never astringent; never biting; never off-putting. Just SUPER young and bound-up.

PnP with some linear notes of black and purple core fruit, but a big dose of fuzzy and furry textures numbing the palate quite a bit. Three hours in the decanter at 54 degrees helped to open up a few more discernible fruit flavors, but still the bear paw-like stroke across the palate persisted.

Five hours in the decanter yielded some red and black currant and red and black licorice (flavors I more associate with Scarlett in general), but also a little liqueur-like sweetness (also something I have associated with the young wonky phase that a Scarlett can have).

By hour nine we started getting into some of the good stuff. The sweetness and overt liqueur aspects faded, replaced with some nice black raspberry, more red and black licorice, and traces of black cherry syrup. Not surprisingly, the final sips were the best.

Will this be great? Yes. Will this be epic? Not sure yet. The power and intensity of the 2013 vintage is going to make this 2014 have to work pretty hard to get to that sort of intensity. This wine truly has yet to show itself, but I'm very, very intrigued. Good 'ol fashioned integration in the bottle is the only thing this needs (in my humble opinion). The stuffing is absolutely there, and for those who can be patient (to which I am never fully able), I think they will be rewarded.

95-96+ points for the time-being. But unless you feel like spending $125 on a one night science project, I suggest folks wait for another 18 months minimum.