11/3/2019 - jehirsch wrote:

Absolutely stunning. Prior comments are spot on about the drinking window- this is just entering peak (with a 60 minute decant).

1/4/2019 - jehirsch Likes this wine:

Turning a nice golden color. Not much on the nose for the first 30 minutes, but opens up after that to give honeysuckle and lemon aromas. Starting to take on a savory salted caramel taste, mixed with lemon. Excellent now, yet it’s evolution over 3 hours in the glass says hold, as it will get much better. This bottling typically does well with 10-15 years on it from the vintage date.

9/9/2018 - jehirsch wrote:

Totally oxidized and dead

5/27/2016 - jehirsch wrote:

Undrinkable- brett. Poured it down the drain. First of 3 bottles.

5/25/2014 - jehirsch Does not like this wine:

This cannot be wine- it must be cranberry juice.

8/17/2013 - jehirsch wrote:

This wine needs a ton of air before it all of the flavors and aromas integrate. The first 2 hours, the wine exhibited significant effervescence, almost like drinking cola. At hour 4, the wine calmed down and begun showing spice, cherry, smoky favors and aromas. Give it a lot of air or wait, as the wine is disappointing if consumed within the first 2 hours of opening.

5/12/2013 - jehirsch wrote:

Classic cali chardonnay. Amber color, strong smell and taste of toffee with a slight salinity, and tropical fruits. After 30-45 minutes, a strong smell of alcohol started emerging, and the flavor profile begun breaking down. Not my style anymore, but well made. Drink up now.

5/13/2011 - jehirsch wrote:

Shockingly good, given the tasting notes I read. Day 1: Poured off half a glass, re-corked, and placed in the cellar. This half-glass was herbaceous, green, bitter... in short, undrinkable. Day 2: 30+ hours air, and wow was this rocking. Fruit + spice + leather... perfect with steaks.

3/24/2011 - jehirsch wrote:

The fruit has completely fallen out of this wine, and all that's left is oak. disappointing

4/4/2010 - jehirsch wrote:

hm, vegetal is an appropriate description. a 3 hour decant yielded a semi-drinkable wine, with green notes and barely any fruit showing. i get the sense that this wine really needs a day to open up.

3/17/2010 - jehirsch wrote:

This is another case of Kelham overwhelming the grapes with way too much oak. Tannins have largely smoothed out, and "creamy" is an apt term to describe the mouthfeel. Yet again, any taste one would expect from a napa merlot is overwhelmed by oak.

Update: tasted on the 2nd day (stored overnight under vacuum in the cellar): sour and vegetal beyond belief- the wine completely fell apart. this was a bit unexpected as this is a highly structured, big, powerful merlot.

3/5/2010 - jehirsch wrote:

To add to the conversation (without a formal tasting note), this wine really needs a 5+ hour decant at this point to show what it is capable of. It was undrinkable for the first 2 hours it was open.

12/29/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

oak, oak, and more oak

11/13/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

Unfortunately, it seems to be the trend at Kelham to use so much oak as to overpower the fruit, which is a shame given their prime property and, one would assume, high quality grapes. This bottle was a tremendous disappointment, even more so considering the $100 price tag. Kelham's red wine is usually overly tannic, and the only pleasantly surprising thing about this wine was that it showed no signs of that. Regarding flavor profiles, the Sangiovese, Cab, and Merlot work very well together, though any attempt to distinguish specific flavors is thwarted by the overbearing oak. What a shame, as this blend has potential.

9/24/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

Thin, sour, herb flavor- not very good at all, and completely one-dimensional. Very disappointing.

3/22/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

This wine is drinking very well right now- jammy, fruit-forward, lots of crushed raspberry and strawberry. The menthol taste that dominated previous bottles is largely gone. I think the key to this wine is to double-decant it about two hours before serving. The perfect steak / bbq wine.

3/18/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

A nice, smooth, and easy-drinking wine, with black cherries and sage being the predominant flavors (slight bit of methanol coming through after about 2 hours). The wine has little structure: one barely notices any tannins. This is certainly a wine to drink now- I doubt aging it will do anything to help.

3/15/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

mildly oxidized

3/14/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

A wonderful cab that is, surprisingly, ready to drink now. On pop and pour, the first thing you notice is the dense, purple / black color, and inky texture of the wine. Strong but not overpowering nose of blackberry, toast, and charcoal, giving way to an excellent taste of blackberry, black cherry, espresso, and a tiny bit of chocolate balanced by earth and mineral, with a small bit of oak that serves to bind all of the other flavors together. Thankfully, the wine does not get into the "sweet" territory. Perhaps most importantly, the tannins are highly refined: they complement the flavors and provide necessary structure and velvet mouth-feel, rather than distracting from the whole experience. Good to open now, but will space out my other 2 bottles over the next 4 or so years.

3/13/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

Wonderful black cherry, spice, cedar flavors, with a 30+ second aftertaste to die for. However, this wine is still tremendously tannic. Decanted for 2 hours, but needed more (due to restaurant time constraints, this was not possible). Either give this wine a 5+ hour decant, or save for another 3-4 years.

3/13/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

This wine is heavenly. It begins with a mix between apples and melons, and moves gradually towards lemon and spice. The finish goes on forever, and the wine is incredibly complex without being overwhelming. It also stands up to food very well.

2/17/2009 - jehirsch wrote:

This wine is a butter-bomb. It begins on the nose with buttered popcorn, vanillin, butterscotch, and a hint of citrus (more orange than lemon). The taste is pure buttered popcorn, with oak and citrus slowly emerging. Over the course of an hour or so, the butter subsides slightly, but the wine is rendered one-dimensional as the oak and citrus also drop off. Drinkable, but not enjoyable for me. This chard takes ML to a new level.

3/25/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

Tasted at the "winery" (read: 3 room garage) in Montalcino with Giulio Salvioni before VinItaly. Fantastic brunello, especially for 2003, certainly not the best of years. If you can find this in the states (doubtful), snatch it up.

10/24/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

disjointed mess. way too much oak, and the citrus notes are very harsh. not pleasant at all. not how i remembered it from the vineyard- very disappointed.

8/23/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

Was fortunate to get a bottle in advance. Opened and decanted for an hour before serving with dinner at a restaurant (otherwise, i would've given it more time). The behavior of the wine was very interesting: it had the typical characteristics of an Oakville cab (the vineyard sits next to screagle's) for the first half hour or so, then the flavors dropped out and the wine was very muted for the next hour or so, then it turned into a magnificent and powerful cab. So, either decant for a while (3 hours), or better yet, resist the temptation to open.

9/16/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

spice and pepper at first, dissipating to reveal jammy fruits. the wine has dramatically improved from when i first tasted it back in march. the strong acidity that was present then has given way to a very mellow taste that lets the pepper and fruit shine through

9/7/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

overpriced

9/6/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

not much on the nose- faint aromas of oak, jam, red fruit. strong tanins, reserved taste of raspberries and oak. not very complex, not very flavorful. added 9/10: had half a bottle left after the first tasting on 9/6, vacuum sealed it, put it in the wine fridge and left it until 9/10. the tanins were greatly reduced, the wine picked up and showed great flavor of raspberry and current.

7/25/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

this was really fantastic- much better than expected. ripe red fruits, a bit of pepper and spice.

6/22/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

really an excellent wine, especially for the price. non-ML, pear, lemon, very smooth easy drinker.

6/15/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

wonderful. decanted for an hour, but could've used more

6/15/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

only decanted for 30 min- could've used few hours

6/7/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

drank over the course of a week (vacuum cap). day 1- closed and chemical tasting. days 2-7- wonderful citrus and melon flavors, light, pleasure to drink

5/29/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

not much nose, very tanic and sour. not recommended

5/25/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

powerful tastes of raspberries and blackberries. went well with pizza, surprisingly. needed about 4 hours of open bottle / glass time to really open up and get rid of the sour / acidic first taste- i guess thats the petit sirah characteristic that i'm not very fond of. but at / after the 4 hour point, the wine is exceptionally smooth, showing the same red fruits as before (primarily raspberries) but the taste is much more refined.

5/23/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

"very pleasant" is the best way to describe it. not much in the way of nose (little smell) or color (very light), but the initial taste was powerful, fading to little aftertaste. but it was just so good that i kept drinking. not a "wow" wine, but nice and easy to drink. not worth $45, and wouldnt buy at that price again.

5/9/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

shouldve waited to drink it. declined very quickly- after 2 days

4/26/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

too buttery for me, and probably the wrong wine for a bbq. but pretty good

4/25/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

pretty good

4/17/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

decanted first- very nice

3/20/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

citrus and pepper smell and taste, with a tangy unpleasant aftertaste

3/10/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

drinking over the course of a few days- smooth, jammy notes, little bit of spice, but a little too acidic on day 1. this fell off after leaving the bottle vacuumed for a day.

2/17/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

drank over 5 days- very good- got better and better

2/1/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

not very impressed, especially when compared with their self-named pinot

1/23/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

nasty- tossed it out

1/18/2008 - jehirsch wrote:

excellent- could be better with a few years of aging. really opened up over the course of the meal.

1/1/2007 - jehirsch wrote:

Very good

8/13/2007 - jehirsch wrote:

Needs more time

8/1/2007 - jehirsch wrote:

Needs much more time

8/13/2007 - jehirsch wrote:

Wow. Excellent.