6/29/2020 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

Really nice wine. We paired this with some home made pasta and sausages. The wine pours a faint red, I was a little worried that this may be thin, but I was totally wrong. The nose has lots of stewed fruits, leather, and hints of oak towards the tail end. The palate is medium bodied, smooth, tannins although still present are well integrated. Decent finish. Overall, we really enjoyed this. Would absolutely buy again.

1/6/2020 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

This wine is in a really good spot right now. It is very concentrated when pouring into your glass. The nose is perfect - lots of dark fruits, cedar, leather, and blueberry pie coming through. The palate is rich, it is fulled bodied, the tannins have softened considerably from what I remember the last time I had this wine 2 years ago. It has a great mouth feel, coats your palate and gives you gobs of ripe fruit. Very easy drinking and next thing you know you are pouring another glass for yourself. The finish is good, medium length, and leaves you wanting another glass.

Paired this with some home made pizza and it was perfect. Big, bold, well aged Napa cabernet. Decent amount of sediment in the bottle so recommend filtering and a quick decant. In a great spot now and will be for another few years. Cheers! Glad I have 1 more bottle left, will save it for a while.

5/20/2020 - robburgundy Likes this wine:

Went the 11+ hour decant as other CTers have suggested.

It was very tight at 6 am and it was a full decant in a 60 degree cellar. At 7 pm I couldn't tell if it was still tight or if all the fruit had dissipated.

On the palate it was nice and silky and at times chalky/dusty. There was no fruit detectable - amazingly flat.

Final word: I'd hate for someone to purchase this and think they are getting a great deal because of Harlan, Bond, Promontory future fruit is in this bottle. It simply is not - there are MUCH MUCH better bottles to be had at this price point.

1/25/2020 - sommsauvage wrote:

The name says it all, this wine is a monster, super tanninc and acidic but surprisingly approachable. Deep Purple, Intense dark fruit, ripe plumb, juicy red and black berries on the nose. Medium oak, but very subtle. On the palate black cherry vanilla and a hint of heat mostly likely from the high alcohol. A Fantastic wine which could definitely age a lot longer. However it is approachable now. I would give it another 5-7 years before trying again.

3/13/2020 - sean7711 Likes this wine:

Wow. My first Greer. Decided to open this about 5 hours before consuming, with a double decant. Drank over 2 days. On Day 2, I opened and let a 2016 Memento Mori breathe for 5 hours, and then double decanted that. This blew MM out of the water (despite MM being a fabulous wine in its own right).

This was not your dark purple fruit type cab - more ruby red dark cherry. Classic Rutherford dust, soft and supple tannins, complexity in mouthfeel, and a finish that goes on forever. One of the best wines I've tasted, period. Will open my next bottle in 3-5 years.

2/16/2020 - Purple Tooth wrote:

Its been a long time since I have ran across a blue and black wine, but here we are...Very dense, reminding me of a big Napa Cab like Maybach..Yet the nose speaks a bit of French, like a modern late harvest St. Emilion in the likes of Tetre Rotebeouf. Its definitely well crafted and very Merlot dominated with smoky raspberries and cured meat scents. You would expect lots of sweetness from the body and nose, but its quite dry for the style and packed with substantial mid throttle power. Its soft, yet still powerful with a very persistent finish and lots of exit tug...First 2/3 of bottle was best, making me think, this is at peak for the style. Will drink other 2 bottles over 2 years...Drink

2/8/2020 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

Hanzell makes some of the best chardonnay coming out of California - and this is no exception. The nose was full of granny smith apples, lemon zest, and hints of vanilla and freshly baked croissants. The palate is medium bodied, good crisp acidity and well made wine. This 7 year old chardonnay feels so young and vibrant - this can easily last another 5+ years. Overall, really enjoyed this California chardonnay - this is not overly oaked, just the right balance. Hanzell has really hit it out of the park with this one.

1/8/2020 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

I can totally see why Chateau Montelena won the Judgement of Paris with their chardonnay by this bottle. The nose was filled with green apple pie, baked peach cobbler, lemon zest, and hints of vanilla. Really easy drinking, very flavorful, perfect acidity, and nice finish. The palate is rich and so easy to just have another sip because it is that delicious.

This feels more like a grand cru white burgundy and certainly drinks like one. This wine is now 8 years old - but still feels and drink like it was just made yesterday, lots of vibrancy and energy still. This I feel is just entering its prime drinking window and will have many more years to go.

Bravo Chateau Montelena!

1/4/2020 - Wine Buergler Likes this wine:

Was disappointed with the 1st two bottles I’ve tried to date - clearly I was just early. This is exceptional - starts with hint of banana followed by mild floral and the. A dark chocolate finish. Rutherford dust conspicuously absent - but still outstanding.

12/28/2019 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

Really nice Oakville fruit here from the To Kalon vineyard. The nose was a little muted on this - but it was really trying to peek its head through with hints of dark fruits, black cherries, and a touch of leather. The palate is medium bodied, tannins are almost non existent at this point. The fruit is starting to fade so I suggest drinking up sooner especially if you like your Oakville cabs a little more vibrant and fruit forward. As the year winds down, this is an 8 year old wine at this point and while well made and I know it had some great structure - it is starting to feel tired.

Earlier this year I had the 2016 vintage of this same bottling and was blown away at how good it was for the price point. I am a huge fan of this wine. Cheers!

11/23/2019 - NoTrollingerPlease Does not like this wine:

Best bottle (@Private location): Glass: Josephinenhütte White/Universal
Popped and poured. Deep purple color, almost oily texture. Over-extracted, jammy and hot nose. I thought, that the 2013 Battonnage was already fat and bold, but this one is the pinnacle of over-extraction. Buy a glass of cassis and plum jam and a cheap bottle of vodka, mix it and you get the same result! This is not drinkable! We had 20+ wines this evening and this was the only bottle with over 50% left in the bottle. How do I rate this plonk? It is not flawed and is certainly well made, but I cannot rate it higher than 80 points for mercy’s sake.

10/28/2019 - Kdad wrote:

Not impressed. First glass tasted like Welch's grape juice with alcohol.
GRAPE. Mellowed out some but I've noticed Orin Swift leans toward the fruit bomb. Next.

10/26/2019 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

I agree with the previous notes people have posted. This was my first Joseph Phelps Insignia - and I must say I was expecting more (I'll give it a break since this was from an off year in Napa).

Its not all bad though - the nose is very elegant and really nice. Lots of dark fruits, plums, tobacco, and hints of clove. This continued to evolve over the course of the evening and started to acquire some tertiary notes - baking spice, leather, dried figs.

The palate is rich, well balanced, the tannins are still present and velvety, but seem to be integrated nicely. No green pepper notes that I noticed in some 2011s. The taste is good, but it finishes rather abruptly with no distinguishable direction. Again, I'll attribute it to the vintage and hope that this in not representative of other Insignias. However, there is a good amount of acidity that is present which makes me hope and believe that this will improve over the coming years. We did not decant it, but drank it over 3 hours and it did improve with its taste over that time which again makes me hopeful.

Pulled this out for my first wedding anniversary with my wife and makes me wish I brought something a bit more special.

10/14/2019 - Maphill01 wrote:

Pnp, opened up after an hour. cassis on the nose. On the palate, Black fruit, oak, chocolate. Getting a bit of astringent or pepper at the end. Others mentioned Jalapeño, some combination of strong herbs and the alcohol. A tough year but this lacked focus and structure. I would not buy again at this price.

9/24/2019 - KPB wrote:

Deep purple with a rose-tinted rim. The Greer 2016 has a soaring, dramatic nose showcasing black cherries, menthol, sage, lavender. Simultaneously sweet and tart, with a tannic midpalate and very long finish that ends on a sappy, saline note. There is a softness to the wine that reminds me of merlot even though I am certain this is pure cabernet sauvignon. Really outstanding, drinking super well even today, and will surely gain nuance as it ages.

Treatment: I opened these six hours early but they seemed tight as dinner approached. So I double decanted to a clean decanter and then back into the bottle about two hours before dinner. This worked well for the 2014-2016, although the 2013 didn’t really unwind until the next day.

6/16/2019 - pgrzesik wrote:

Nice California zinfandel from Turley here. It is rich, concentrated, and lots of flavor. Not too complex - but can zinfandel be complex?? I have yet to find one that is. I personally do not think this merits its price, it is over priced, and for the money spent it under delivers. Also, too much alcohol on the palate (15.5%), it is overpowering. Once you taste the wine, you get the large gush of fruit up front and then an overwhelming wave of alcohol that just dominates the palate.

1/18/2019 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

Not going to assign a score to this wine because I do not believe I had an accurate tasting. Brought this wine to a steakhouse in NYC. Had a series of wines that night - 2008 Buccella Katrina Eileen Cuvee and a 2006 Dancing Hares, some really big powerful wines.

Drank those first, so I believe my rating would be skewed, but this wine tasted hot, flat, and shut down. All I got on the palate was alcohol, oak, and more alcohol. This was probably due to have the Buccella right before which just blew me away.

Hoping that my assessment was off that night and will revisit my other bottle soon.

11/11/2017 - pgrzesik Likes this wine:

Pop and pour at steakhouse. This wine is outstanding! Probably the best 2011 Napa cab I have ever tasted. Initially the wine showed some very expressive dark fruits on the nose, as well as some green pepper, black pepper and pencil shavings. On the palate it was very smooth, rich, and with a medium finish. It just dances on your palate.

Poured into a decanter and drank over the next 2 hours and it just continued to evolve and show expressive scents and flavors. Towards the end of the night, after about 2 hours - it started to show its secondary characteristics with lots of cigar box, cedar, pencil shavings, and still a good amount of dark fruit. Paired this with a steak and two of them just complemented each other perfectly.

This is a really special wine, probably just entering its prime drinking window, though if you do drink it now - I would recommend at least a 2 hour decant. This will continue to improve and evolve over the next decade. Outstanding wine!

6/12/2017 - Keeping It Real wrote:

WineLA event: Cabernet College (Downtown Los Angeles): Tasted blind. Big in the mouth. You need a steak with this. It was good but not great compared to the top performers tonight.

I was pretty surprised when this wine was revealed because it really did not stand out in the flight in any way whatsoever. The 2012 Pott "Her Majesty's Secret Service" Stagecoach vineyard which was tasted immediately after this was much bigger, more tannic and better overall.

It's no wonder why WS gave this 90pts (WS tastes all wines blind) and RP gave it 100pts. The wine is just not spectacular and was just an average Joe in the flight. WS notes "... Ends a bit abruptly." and I did notice that as well. Then of course the wine geeks come out and say, "Yea that's because it needs more time." Uh... sorry but no. Time will not make a wine finish any less abruptly; it never has from my experience.

A very funny thing happened as well. After every flight, we took a vote of which of the 3 wines was the best, then the wines are revealed. Well, before this wine was revealed, it only got a few votes as the crowd's wine of the flight. After it was revealed as the $400 Hundred Acre, people started saying this was actually their favorite. By the end of the night, the Hundred Acre won the majority WOTN. How does that even make sense guys? Please keep it real. It's reasons like this that I lose faith in humanity. We're not politicians folks; we're honest people trying to give honest reviews to shed light for the consumers.

4/15/2017 - pgrzesik wrote:

Pop and pour. Wow what a disappointment. Felt that this wine totally underwhelms and lacks any acidity, complexity, or flavor for that matter! The nose is seductive with hints of vanilla, forest floor, and cloves - but on the palate it just flops. The hype around this wine I believe it too much. Maybe it was just this particular bottle, and maybe it was too young, still have 4 other bottles to try - but first impression is weak and felt totally let down! Looking forward to revisiting it, but fear that it will be more of the same.

4/17/2017 - pdicorpo Likes this wine:

enjoyed over two nights. Notes of tobacco and tar on the nose. earth and leather on the tongue. Smooth finish.

3/11/2017 - oldwines wrote:

This bottle has been in my climate controlled cellar since release. The bottle was decanted at 5:30pm and some was tasted several times through about 10 pm. It was tasted again the next day. This was a tale of 2 wines. I have had many wines that were better more than 24 hours after opening, but I have never had such a juxtaposition of extremes as in this case. It was translucent medium garnet consistent to the edge of the glass. The first evening the wine seemed severely disjointed. The nose was borderline distasteful with strong sweet American oak, burnt buttered popcorn, petrol and a new rubber smell, all in competition with each other. Bitter edged tannins dominated the palate with medium plus acidity and a harsh finish. There was some fruit underneath the toasted vanilla mouth coating with a little cranberry and cassis. I was preparing to score the wine in the low 80's or worse. Disgusted, I poured it back into the bottle, which had had no sediment to speak of, and replaced the cork. By the next afternoon I decided to give it one more try before writing it up and I was dumb-founded! The wine had transformed rather remarkably. The overpowering oak was gone, replaced by sweet vanilla, violets, ripe plum and melted chocolate. The mouth feel and flavor, while still fairly acidic was rounded and less harsh in every dimension and oozed black raspberry and fresh violets with a tarry chocolate finish. It was as thoroughly enjoyable the 2nd day as it was difficult to drink the first. In contrast to the '97 Diamond Creek RRT which was very good right from the start after decanting and improved with air over the same evening, this seemed so bad at first I almost dumped it down the drain. The need to let this breathe is notable and I suppose this all indicates to me that this bottling needs a decade or more to reach its prime. Nonetheless I find it very puzzling...back in the 80's and early 90's the Napa version of this was always the early drinking fruit forward "restaurant" wine as I remember it. I have had numerous of the Alexander Valley bottles with 25+ years in the cellar which "sang" beautifully. If I had this bottle at a restaurant I would probably have sent it back. Others have not seemed to report the same thing, but perhaps no one has had it open that long and reported on it...Bottle variation?? Score represents my relative view on day two with a discount for the variability.

2/22/2017 - Cristal2000 wrote:

Pretty wine in the glass. Light ruby red with fairly muted notes of cherries, licorice and wet earth. First sip and wow -- how much does this cost? Tastes very much like a $40 bottle you picked up at the local grocery store. Very thin and acidic on the pallet without much in the way of concentration or depth. A bit of red fruit peaks out, but in general there is a lack of balance here. Nothing is memorable, and the more air it gets, the worse it becomes. Really disappointing.