4/14/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Drank over 2 nights. Dark purple color with limited fading around the edges, minor amounts of sedimentation. Very little variation in profile over the two nights.

The primary feature is jammy blackberry fruit. Very minor secondary or tertiary flavor development. Tannins are still noticeable but not intrusive.

Pleasant to drink, but very much one-note.

4/10/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Very dark in color for a pinot noir. On the nose and palate, the wine at this point is more subdued than the color would suggest. Medium red fruit, some herbal notes. Drank over two nights with no significant changes over the two nights.

3/28/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

First bottle from B Cellars - quite impressive. Drank over about 3 hours after opening. Very consistent over this time, with gradual improvement over time. Black fruit and a light touch of cedar. Very smooth.
Some very fine sedimentation.

3/25/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Only bottle from this vineyard. Very impressed. One whiff told me that this was going to be a winner. Hard to describe, but the wine’s nose matched how other excellent Napa wines smell.
On the palate, solid fruit, a touch of Rutherford dust, and a touch of sweetness. Terrific smoothness.
A decent amount of sedimentation, so happy I used a vinturi to filter.

3/22/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Very little visible age in the glass. Very funky nose, tobacco and wet leaves and cooked balsamic. Fortunately, there is a big disconnect between the nose and the palate which to me features cherry, strawberry with a touch of smokiness. Good wine with a Margherita pizza on a Friday night.

3/21/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Very effervescent, a nose of brioche and minerality. Green apple is predominant on the palate initially. After about 30 minutes, the green apple notes diminish and are replaced by stone fruit flavors. Clean and crisp throughout. A nice champagne, but I expected more nuance and mineralogy for the price.
BTW, the info at the myorigins website of Billecart is very helpful and interesting.

3/18/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Very nice red fruit notes, strawberry mostly, with a touch of raspberry. Smokiness begins to emerge over time.

Served with Smitten Kitchen’s summer vegetable and farro casserole on a cold March night in Chicago. The wine was a very solid pairing, complemented the wine quite nicely. Opened the wine about two hours ago and it just keeps getting more complex and flavorful.

3/8/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

To me, a textbook 2011 Napa Cabernet, the fruit is in the fore, but not overwhelmingly powerful. In this case black and blue fruits that have good persistence. Some tobacco and spice notes. The tannins are now pretty soft. Nice long finish, primarily driven by the fruit. Opened about an hour before serving and drinking- after about an hour, a touch of bitterness began to emerge. I’m thinking this is at the drink ‘em up stage.

3/7/2024 - wine4lux wrote:

Similar thoughts to notes posted a year ago.
A very big plush merlot that is easy to drink and carries a long finish. Loads of dark cherry, plum and chocolate. Wish a had more☹️

3/3/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

A fantastic zin! Great dark cherry with a touch of sweetness. Despite high ABV, the alcohol is beautifully integrated.
Served with mixed green salad, cacio e pepe, and chicken thighs with Italian herbs.
The wine was smooth and rich without being overpowering. One of my favorite vintages from Martinelli. Last of 2 bottles.

2/29/2024 - wine4lux wrote:

Unfortunately, the reviews in CT are pretty much spot on. Opened about 30 minutes before pouring and started drinking after about 30 minutes in the glass. Medicinal and thin at the onset with a hint of sweetness in the background and a hint of alcohol burn. The medicinal notes and alcohol profile dissipated over about 30 minutes and the profile featured sappy black fruit. Not at all what I expected from Bounty Hunter and not worth the price.

2/13/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Only one bottle ☹️. Very sharp and appealing acidity, with the slightest hint of sweetness, apple and pear fruit, light notes of brioche. Well done, Matt Dees.

2/8/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

An exceptionally good example of a CA chard at 10 years. One reviewer characterized the wine as having notes of carmelized lemon- spot on JD. Smooth, complex, elegant. Sadly the last of 2 bottles.

2/10/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Brought to Ruth’s Chris steakhouse for my sister-in-law’s birthday celebration. In a beautiful place- richness, depth, and character without any hard edges. Alcohol, tannins, and fruit are magnificently integrated.

2/7/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Continues to be a very good Pinot- excellent body, smooth with nice acidity. Fruit and earthy notes have softened, but the wine still retains great character.

2/5/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Deep ruby in color, elegant cherry and spice notes with a smooth extended finish. Drinking very well now.

2/6/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Deep ruby color, beautiful notes of cherry and spice with incredible smoothness and an extended finish. Drinking very well now.

2/5/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Incredibly dark violet in color. Extremely smooth wine featuring blackberry, and subtle vanilla notes over a very long finish. The 15.9% ABV was not apparent.
Paired with pork tenderloin marinated with lemon, thyme, garlic and parsley. The softness of this syrah blend made it a solid match.

1/28/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Only bottle of this vintage, acquired at the winery tasting room. Delicious and very drinkable- loads of blackberry upfront gives way to smoked meat, sweet oaky vanilla, and a touch of black pepper. Big, jammy and fruity, but not over the top. Some minor bitterness from the tannins is offset by the sweet vanilla at the finish. Paired very well with the black been chili recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
Thought TH was an underrated producer in Paso.

1/27/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Nearing the end of its peak window. Still has powerful notes of plum, blackberry, and cocoa with nice acidity and firming tannins. About 90 minutes after opening, the fruit started to recede.

1/22/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

I usually try to buy a bottle or two of either Hop Barn or Chico’s Hill upon release each year, but we seldom have opened them. Tonight we had leftovers from the weekend, coq au vin, so I decided to splurge. Wow. Blackberry, plum, pepper, smoky meats, with some vanilla notes. Really easy to drink. Have one more bottle and plan to drink within the next year or two. Minor sedimentation.

1/20/2024 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Incredible depth and complexity. Paired magnificently with coq au vin. No sign of peaking.

12/26/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Served as the second wine at our post-Christmas Italian dinner. The opening wine was a Barbaresco of similar age. A very nice soft Sangiovese, decanted through a Venturi 2 hours before serving. A very pleasant wine, but I was looking for a wine with more heft and structure, and the Castiglion was not it. Chocolate, cherry, and earthy flavors.

12/26/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Very aromatic. Cherry and tobacco on the palate. Decanted through a Venturi 2 hours before serving. Served with post-Christmas Italian feast of minestrone, braciole, Italian sausage, carbonara and sautéed spinach. A very smooth, food-friendly option to start the meal.

12/25/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Drank with Christmas dinner, filets, baked potatoes and roasted cauliflower. The wine is at an unbelievable phase. The bouquet is magnificent, from the moment I smelled the wine I knew it would be special. Unbelievably smooth and polished tannins with energetic fruit- beautiful red fruit notes with a touch of spice. Decanted through vinturi about two hours before serving. About the right lead time. Other than a cork that crumbled, there was no sign that this wine was 26 years old.

11/19/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Deep dark purple. Drinking extremely well now. Robust black fruit with a hint of oak. Opened 30 minutes before serving, drank over 90 minutes. Wine softened out over time. Initial sips had a trace of a bitter note that dissipated quickly. Like many of the 2005 Napa cabs that I have had, this wine is very pleasant and smooth, however the finish is shorter than other vintages and the complexity of the best vintages is lacking.

11/14/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

A very big, rich and luxurious chardonnay, showing lots of tropical fruit and floral notes. I prefer my Sonoma chards to be a bit more subdued and crisper. Even for a Martinelli chardonnay from this period, the 2014 3 Sisters is a big and showy wine.

11/1/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Drinking well now. Red fruit with floral notes and subtle smoky notes. Smooth and elegant.

10/24/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Served with shrimp tacos. Nice acidity and soft citrus notes enabled a good match with dinner.

10/9/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

The Chappellet chenin blanc is one of my favorite white wines and is usually very consistent from vintage to vintage. This was our sixth and final bottle from the 2021 vintage. This is a bottling that to me lacks the energy, acidity and zest of most vintages. I’ve only opened one bottle of chenin from the 2022 vintage and much prefer it to the 2021.

10/9/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Served with chicken cacciatore, made a great pairing. Enough acidity to stand aside the tomato driven broth, smooth and elegant, soft fruit profile. Opened about 90 minutes before serving. Glad to have another bottle.

10/1/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Better on Day 2 the cabernet really smoothed out and was beautifully integrated. On night 1, the wine was very good, but was so powerful that I would not have identified it as a Paso cab. On night 2, the varietal profile of the cab shone through.

9/17/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Comments on bottle opened in 2022 continue to apply.

9/17/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Last of 3 bottles, soft, plush ,incredibly smooth. Some moderate sedimentation. Unlikely to see improvement from here.

9/8/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Dark fruit amid stronger flavors of chocolate and eucalyptus. Smooth finish of moderate duration. Little sedimentation.

9/6/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Drinking very well now- cherry and cranberry fruit and baking spices, acidity enables it to pair well across a variety of foods. Drank over two evenings with no diminution in taste or profile.

8/28/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

A very pleasant Silver Oak that has aged well. Fruit profile is still very much in play, cherry and red currant. Some spiciness on the palate along with the sweet vanilla notes so common to Silver Oak’s wines. Moderate sedimentation. Did not decant or aerate prior to serving. Seems to be in a place where PnP is in order.

8/15/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

A big California pinot that seems to have settled down nicely. Served with sockeye salmon with a green chili and lime rub (Rodney Scott collection from the Spice House), so I was looking for a big pinot that wouldn’t be overwhelmed. This Hilt fit the bill. Bold flavors of cherry and cranberry are dominant, but some secondary complexities are starting to emerge.

8/14/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Still drinking very well. Drank with paella with chicken and shrimp. Wine continues to have a very pleasant cherry profile, with minor notes of smoky meats and cardamom. Very smooth. Continues to age gracefully.

8/12/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

From a magnum. Drank over 2 nights, it was good on the first night, better on the second as the various elements on the palate- strawberry, cranberry and earth each became more discernible. Much more vibrant the a 750ml Winderlea Pinot I had a few weeks ago, which had hit the downward slope.

7/29/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

November 2017 disgorgement- rich gold color and consistent effervescence. Lime, apple and mineral on the nose and palate, slightly metallic nearing the finish. As is Egly’s style, this champagne was the boldest of 3 champagnes tasted with friends- the others being a 2015 Pol Roger and a NV Pierre Peters.

7/18/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Similar thoughts as on bottle opened about a year earlier, lots of blackberry and black pepper. Finish has smoothed out some. Very good with limited complexity across the finish

7/10/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Year in and year out, this is one of my favorite white wines and 2022 is a very good vintage- all of the flavors are nuanced and harmonized- lime zest, saline, and white stone fruits. Can pair really well with a variety of foods.

7/1/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

The oldest of about a dozen bottles of Jackass and Jackass Hill zinfandel from various vintages.
Probably the best zinfandel I have had.
Served with BBQ ribs, corn and watermelon.
The Zin has a wonderful cherry focus that remains over an incredibly long finish, with notes of black pepper and spices. Just a touch of heat from the high ABV toward the middle of the finish. The commenters who compared the profile to a Brunello are on point.

6/30/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Opened and served after our first bottle of the night (a different wine) was flawed. Needed 60 minutes of air time to evolve. Very tight and reserved at the open- within the hour, cherry, herb, earthiness began to emerge. A very pleasant wine.

6/30/2023 - wine4lux wrote:

Looked forward to have with scallops Provençal at dinner. Ugh- orange tinted, minty on the nose and palate. Developed a petrol aroma and taste shortly after opening, that only intensified with time. Dumped it out.

6/29/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

Served at a dinner with friends, paired with grilled filets. Incredibly sumptuous aromas lead to an amazingly smooth wine on the palate. Wonderful example of a well-made Napa cab at 20.
Opened and poured into a decanter about 75 minutes before serving. Not a speck of sediment.

6/25/2023 - wine4lux wrote:

Pleasant and easy-drinking wine- tannins have softened and the cherry/blackberry fruit is nicely integrated in the smooth finish.

6/19/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

I can’t believe Chappellet made a Napa cab this good in 2020. Kudos to the team.
Opened and poured about 1/4 of the bottle with a Coravin on June 1 for a Zoom call with Chappellet for their club members to taste the recent club releases. Maureen and I were astounded at how well this young wine was drinking. No hint of the challenges of the vintage, other than really limited production. Finished the bottle tonight with steak kabobs and grilled vegetables.
Great dark fruit, firm tannins that don’t overpower, and delightful soft herbal notes. A BIG positive surprise!
As recently as December 2022 at a tasting at the winery, we were told no Napa reds from 2020 would be released.
So glad the team decided to share this!

5/30/2023 - wine4lux Likes this wine:

pI generally prefer Sojourn’s Sonoma Coast single vineyard Pinots to their RRV single vineyards, the latter I find lack the exuberance of my favorite RRV Pinots. The 2012 Wohler is what I expect from a RRV pinot- cherry, cranberry, earthiness and a touch of brown sugar. Smooth finish with lots of energy.