12/4/2022 - BBennett wrote:

Stored in my cellar and really in its stride. All the dark fruit and tannins well integrated. Bright raspberries blackberries. No hot spots just smooth silky finish.

1/3/2017 - BBennett Likes this wine:

Very nice SA red blend. Aromas of Forest floor, tobacco and hints of leather mix with the dark fruits. Silky mouthfeel with the aromas following thru in the flavors of warm spice red fruits with a touch of butter.

6/24/2013 - BBennett wrote:

- Garnet color. It's in total harmony and has flavours of black currant with a full body. Round texture with a long finish - Wow this has hit its stride a wonderful surprising example of the longevity of great Zin.

4/13/2013 - BBennett wrote:

- Garnet color and aromas of blackberry and black currant with a medium/full body - A very nice blend. Really well balanced and coming out of its slumber.

2/7/2013 - BBennett wrote:

- Garnet color. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a medium finish.

1/19/2013 - BBennett wrote:

- Garnet color and aromas of cherry. It's balanced and has flavours of black currant with a medium/full body. Round texture with a medium finish - A real surprise. I expected this to hold up well but I did not expect the significant improvement. Wonderful and lush red fruits, no rough edges, a perfect smokiness. A real Southern Hemisphere winner

12/27/2012 - BBennett wrote:

- Violet color and aromas of almond, strawberry and black currant. It's in total harmony and has flavours of black currant, licorice anise, cloves and black pepper with a full body. Polished texture with a medium finish - This is a beautiful wine and a great value. However, it needs time to develop. I opened this Christmas Eve a few hours before dinner...it was still tight with a bright acidic flavor that went well with the prime rib. But it was two days later that it exploded with all of the flavor I like in a Gigondas. Full of spice and fruit

8/3/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Deep dark purple. The nose was at first full of dark fruit bosenberry and blueberry. Then in the glass a bit much alcohol. However this is an elegant malbec. The dark fruit and mineral flavors gently start and build through a long finish.

7/20/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Very good - but this bottle was a bit more restrained than the one I had in December.
The wine looks Straw colored. The legs are Fast. It smells like Grapefruit, Lychee, and Stoniness. It tastes like Gooseberry, Bell Pepper, Stems, and Biscuity. The body is Light/Medium. The wine has Linear texture. The wine finishes Medium.

7/21/2012 - BBennett Likes this wine:

This was a very good Cab with a nice steak dinner. Moderate notes of lavender and fatty bacon. In the mouth it was a nice, very well balanced blend of the typical cabernet black fruit flavors.

6/23/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Very good cab. All of the basics are there - I did expect a bit more. I

6/23/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Excellent. Really a very good sancerre. Gooseberry on the nose and in the follow thru. Citrus - a little pommello. A bit of well balanced bracing mineral notes. Long aftertaste. Yummy

5/18/2012 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Pinot - delightfully rich full mouth feel of dark berries and a smokiness and spice that seemed Syrah, Grenache like. Love it.

5/18/2012 - BBennett wrote:

This is a beautiful blend drinking very well right now but it has legs to last longer than others think. It is very well balanced in spite of a 14.5% alcohol content. The dark chocolate, black cherry and cassis were upfront in the glass and mouth. Smokey vanilla on the nose. The fruit was on the edge of "just right" and "too much". Day 2 the fruit had pulled back just a bit and it really sings today.

3/16/2012 - BBennett wrote:

This is a gentle sav blanc. Very well balanced. A hit with guests but does not detract from the food. A perfect supporting player.

3/16/2012 - BBennett wrote:

A very well balanced wine.

3/5/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Decanted a couple of hours before dinner and it continued to open quite a bit during the meal. Dark black berries and a wonderful long mouth feel - a real hit!

3/9/2012 - BBennett wrote:

This is a very classy Pinot - a real burgundian. The fruit is restrained dark fruit with a nice nose of leather mingling with the butter which follows in the long mouth feel.

2/28/2012 - BBennett wrote:

This is one of Laura's finest Zins and is frequently a surprise. In the early days the flavors were always throwing out new things - always nice, sometimes fantastic. This bottle is now more integrated... a delightful and elegant wine. A bold nose of black cherry, licorice and smoke...smoky bacon. This continues in the mouth with thick black cherry notes and licorice - nice full mouth feel with the same flavors going on. This is drinking just fine right now.

1/29/2012 - BBennett wrote:

Immediate peppery spice notes upon opening the bottle. Deep dark and inky purple. Still quite a bit of oak but that settles in after an hour of so of opening. This one has legs to last for some time a very nice wine

12/29/2011 - BBennett wrote:

What a great white from Burgundy. This one has no oak but you would not believe it from the creaminess. On the nose you have tropical fruits -- pineapple and coconut... and it gets better and better as it opens. A beautiful balance with a long finish

12/22/2011 - BBennett wrote:

Great mineral stone with a light citrus fruit that opens up later - a very elegant burgundy chard

8/28/2011 - BBennett wrote:

A nice cabernet. Pencil box, rosemary and blackberries on the nose. The fruit and herbs continue in the taste. Very well rounded and a long pleasant after taste. Also a hint of brown sugar. Much better than I had heard from others. A very good dinner wine.

8/7/2011 - BBennett wrote:

This wine has really evolved nicely. It has more in it but you will not be disappointed with how it's drinking now. Dark fruit with soft tannins - enough bite to make it work well with food. Very good.

4/23/2011 - BBennett wrote:

Wow. This is an excellent Sauvignon Blanc - wonderful lemon curd aroma and flavor with notes of pommelo. Yet with all of the citrus notes there are no biting edges... a wonderful wine on its own but a great seafood wine. Had it tonight with Shrimp and Grits. Did I say wow?

4/19/2011 - BBennett wrote:

I'm rating this as a wine using a field blend technique - what an excellent example of old and new technique. Excellent dark berry, smoke, tobacco, and pepper on the nose and in the palate. Dusty mineral mouth feel initially and a nice medium long after taste. A very nice wine - and a great price!

4/16/2011 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Riesling. Scents and flavors of apple and pear give way later to a beautiful peach on the nose and the mouth. Mild acidity but it paired vey well with a salad where the sweetness of the wine was cut with the acidity in the vinigrette creating a great balance. Well look for this again.

4/14/2011 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Cabernet. Very nice. I would rate it higher if I thought it had more staying power over the long run.

This is a very "soft" cabernet...not thin. Everything is in balance. It starts with aromas of cherries, spice and after a while mint and a wonderful leather. The flavors follow with the black cherry and a flinty (some have described it as dusty) mouth feel that lingers for some time. An excellent food wine... but don't overwhelm.

Very nice.

4/8/2011 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice typically good Barrossa Valley Shiraz. Chocolate and Dark berries jump out of the glass and hangs there with the first taste. Then the berries yield to bacon and finally with the trademark black ground peper. After some time in the glass pleasant smokiness and bacon fat scents linger. A bit of "green" maybe just a touch of bell pepper is only a mild detractor.

A really nice wine - great with a steak.

4/2/2011 - BBennett wrote:

There was plenty of fruit in this one. Maybe a bit much.

4/27/2010 - BBennett wrote:

Very nice unoaked Chard. Nice straw color, bright nose of pineapple and a bit of toast. Rounds out nicely full flavor of apples, pineapple and more.

4/27/2010 - BBennett wrote:

Very nice merlot. Drinks well now but this one will get better at least a couple of years on from here.

4/10/2010 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Cab. Having been disappointed in a few of my previous Cameron Hughes selections - I was not expecting much. Big mistake. A very elegant cab. Choclate notes and classic cassis, well balanced with no harsh tannins. A medium long finish. Really delightful. I had planned on giving away the other bottle... on second thought...

4/8/2010 - BBennett wrote:

Great balance of stone and fruit. Beautiful scents of cut grass, green apple and sweet green stems. Faint hints of pommelo. The flavor follows with sweet summer flavors of green appled and a hint of citrus. Very nice wine -- this one will be a main drink for the summer.

3/14/2010 - BBennett wrote:

Wow what a great surprise. The strawberries really jumped out of the glass. I found this bottle hiding and was I glad it was. It was a perfect light food wine.

3/14/2010 - BBennett wrote:

Good Rioja - although a bit subdued all of the right stuff is there. Drink some now and put a few bottles away for a few more years, you will be rewarded.

5/30/2009 - BBennett wrote:

This was a very nice pinotage and within the next couple of years should be at its peak.

4/1/2009 - BBennett wrote:

Just gets better. This wine has some more bottle time to go reach peak - however decant, drink over a couple of days -=- you will always love EMTU's Pinots

10/24/2008 - BBennett wrote:

Good but not great merlot

12/20/2008 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice wine... more mellow than before. Less smoky but plenty of red fruit.

12/2/2008 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice cab. Well balanced flavors beginning with a hint of Lavender followed by chocolate mixed in among the fruit. However the fruit and tannins were very well balanced. The finish was a bit short and thin at the end but a very good cab and unbeatable value.

Tried this with dinner... not a pairing I might think of .. a pasta with a fresh basil sauce. Wow did the tobacco and smoke come out in this wine... also a touch of heat at the end. The change was so striking I went back for more just to check :).

11/25/2008 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Zin. The Australian version gives away the shiraz influence - this zin falls into the elegant version of zin rather than the rustic. You will find the fruit and spice in a very nice balance.

I was surprised!

11/3/2008 - BBennett wrote:

A very nice Merlot. Raspberry and spice with mellow but very well structured tannins. In a couple of years this should make a very nice blend of flavors.

11/3/2008 - BBennett wrote:

What a great Syrah - still young and a few years of cellaring will reward you with an elegant wine. First impressions are of smoke -- a smokehouse full of curing hams and bacon. The smoke should recede a bit with decanting or age and let the many flavors of dark berries and spice come in and out like waves. I have enjoyed Bella's Zins and the Syrah was no less a great wine from this wonderful wine maker.

9/12/2008 - BBennett wrote:

This wine is in a very nice zone at the moment. Smooth as silk, kirsch liquer, chocolate - and a smokiness that just fits with roasted meats... not bad in a leather chair with a cigar either (but then that's not allowed in the house).

5/26/2008 - BBennett wrote:

Nice citrus (lemon and grapefruit) tastes - nice minerality

5/1/2008 - BBennett wrote:

You may frighten everyone at the table when you bring the glass to your nose, stop and linger over the glass for so long someone is bound to ask, "What's wrong?". Of course nothing is wrong at all - this fantastic mixture of wood shop smells - various evergreens, a touch of shellac and spices stopped you in your tracks. Then you take a sip, at first it matches the aromas with a great variety of dark fruits - blackberry, current, etc. The finish is soft and the memory long.

4/7/2008 - BBennett wrote:

Aaah... much better than the last bottle. It must have been napping. Nice cherry and dark fruit aromas emerging and changing as they open in the glass. At times you get a bit of dusty canvas mingling with the fruit aromoas and then it comes together in the end with chocolate and cola hints. This is still a young wine. Let it breathe for at least 30 minutes preferably an hour before serving. You will notice that the acids and tanins lay back and into one of Laura's typical elegant zins.

4/1/2008 - BBennett wrote:

Open the bottle, gently pour into a nice bowl glass, close your eyes and inhale the fresh blackberry cobbler rising out of the glass. The wonderful blackberries, the buttery crust all are wrapped up in the aroma. In the mouth there is initially a smooth taste with the cobbler crust and fruit... and then the Petite Sirah tannins step in ... almost as if someone woke me out of my daydream by scratching the needle across the record. Ok, its not that bad... but this is a young wine and the balance is still fighting in the glass - one moment you have it the next you don't. But it is coming and I have great hopes for this wine. I riased my rating on this one - mainly due to taking into consideration the varietal - this is a distinctively good Petite S.

3/14/2008 - BBennett wrote:

From reading other notes on this wine there seem to be two batches out there - one with fruit and the other without. This bottle was the later. Upon opening the aromas were very closed. Little more than wood and vine coming out of glass. The glycerin on the palate seemed to carry this through a long finish - just not a finish you want to keep going. I came back to it later and on day two the aromas opened a bit with black and green peppers in the center of the glass and a bit of red fruit slipping up out of the edge. The balance was better and would have been a bit better with a steak to use the butter feel in the mouth -- I hope this gets better next year.