7/3/2022 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Took a while to emerge and show its true colors, decanted 4 hours and worth the wait. Excellent with Stemple Creek bone in rib eye. Definitely needs to be paired with food for a full experience in my opinion- wonderful scent and flavor of fully ripened fruit with soft, integrated earth tones. 13.6% ABV.

Nice departure from the bigger higher alcohol Napa cabs.

11/1/2021 - RedNectar Does not like this wine:

Day 1: Consumed upon opening and over the course of an hour- does not taste like quality fruit, overripe-- raisiny- so-so. If I were to blind taste, I would've pegged this as a $20 bottle.
Day 2: Somewhat better, light body and no real substantive fruit or essence of place, alcohol heat and tannins juxtapose the structure . Tastes manufactured. Not sold on this wine.

6/21/2021 - RedNectar wrote:

I'll reserve rating. Thought I might pop a bottle and enjoy the fruit$ of my labor. Expectations can be deceiving. This wine did not exceed my expectations, in fact, writing about this vino made my left eye twitch!
My thoughts:
Predominate alcohol, polarizing tannins, fruit picked late, pedestrian. Expected more.

12/20/2020 - RedNectar wrote:

My taste experience was much like TYM4WINE's 11/15/19 note without the update. Maybe a one-off so I won't rate.

This bottle showed decent fruit quality, big bold fruit bomb, not much structure and a bit of tannins peeking through on the finish, alcohol forward, one dimensional.
Not my style but paired surprisingly well with a lamb burger with dill sauce on a brioche bun.

5/12/2019 - RedNectar wrote:

For the price paid I was not impressed, this wine was just OK. It could be that more bottle time is needed, but I found this to be all over the map. There was nothing that unified the flavors nor the texture, a mixed up Rubik's cube came to mind. Citrus was very present in an acidic sort of way along with some melon and green grass, a lack of harmony kept this from being a slightly better wine.

1/12/2018 - RedNectar wrote:

93.5

PNP:
"...Good things coming down the pike,--a bit piquant--dense--extracted fruit, I'm impressed by the body and girth rather than the flavor....me likey"
"Going to let this sit on the counter."

Fast forward 4 hours and add grass fed rib eye--- dense extraction with a long finish, ripe yellow plum?, gravely-muddy texture predominates, tannins have seemed to disappear.
I suggest pairing with a heavy sauce dish, this wine tamed our steaks.

Bottom line: Today was a special day so I opened a "good" wine.
Judging by the EPR (Enjoyment to Price Ratio) I wasn't WOW'd, but mmm-mmm was it tasty.

5/10/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

Found another bottle; deliciousioso paired with a Sun Farms rib eye and steamed spinach.
In my opinion-- I appreciate where this wine is at; still holding its fruit and in a sweet spot in regards to structure and balance.
I could drink this all day. Thank you Mike Smith. 93.5

5/10/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

I hesitate to drink this wine simply because it means I have less to consume...but, based on CT reviews how can one resist? At this point--youth and grace is how I would describe this wine. Drink now and enjoy a glass of lush fruit with fine grained tannins and a long finish or...hold and who knows?
3 hour decant and did not disappoint-a wine lovers wine.

4/23/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Delicious - 2+ hours of air and it just kept getting better as the evening went on. Dark fruit--smooth mid palate and a lingering finish. Drinking much better then the '08 at this point. Good job.

4/23/2017 - RedNectar Does not like this wine:

Opened and was bitter from the get-go. Consumed over 3 hours; this wine remained monotone with just a hint of fruit emerging near the end of the evening.

4/23/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

Either past its prime or flawed....undrinkable

4/23/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Drinking great now- started to shine with 3 hours of air.

3/26/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

PSST...hey buddy...I got yer perfect start to an evening right here...Go buy this wine for 27 or so bucks, purchase a dozen fresh oysters, put together your own mignonette, shuck and enjoy. 11.9% ABV. Smooth, crisp, refreshing.

3/25/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

As an excuse to open this chardonnay I decided to prepare a beurre blanc and cook some local sea bass. Setting aside the 1/4 cup needed for the sauce my first impression was the color, kind of a light yellow/sage. Initial taste as it crossed the tongue was citrus and a little hay/grass. The finish was a weighty mouthful of subtly polarized steel and butter. After some time in the bottle everything evened out a bit. Paired OK with the meal but I did not like this as a stand alone wine. As our meal wound down neither my fiancé nor I cared to finish the last glass or so remaining in the bottle...which to me says a lot.
That being said, the winemakers website does call this out as an "age-worthy collectible Chardonnay". So there you have it.

3/6/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Good wine, pale gold in color. Front of the palate- hints of lemon zest and melon--not too acidic, then a bit of vanilla with some savory qualities round out the finish. Nice balance and overall enjoyable.

2/20/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

2 hours in a wide bottom decanter and consumed over the next 3. Soft fruit up front but an overwelming acidic/tartness lingered on the finish which I was not fond of. In all fairness it did smooth out a bit as the evening went on but not enough for my palate. Overall so-so and forgetful.

2/3/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Still a bit wound up- needs more bottle time for my palate.

1/20/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

Pleasure to drink- light on its feet, the acid is there but does not overpower. Structure is subtle and balanced, a bit of smoke on the back end- 15 second finish.

1/20/2017 - RedNectar Does not like this wine:

Bought this based on K&L Wines SF staff recommendation.

1 hour decant: Musty-funk on the nose which never went away over 4 hours, secondary flavors of a forgotten barrel of wine left in the corner of a dank building.

Day two: the musty-funk went away, unfortunately so did everything else.

Not my style of wine.

1/16/2017 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Rich--jammy--bold--blackberry/fig, maybe a tad too sweet-good fruit though, little to no tannins, medium/long finish, well balanced. Paired with East African stew. 14.9% ABV.

1/2/2017 - RedNectar wrote:

Well balanced but very one dimensional at this stage, grippy tannins. I expected more. Will hold my other bottles.

12/12/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

Notes consistent with prior tasting 1/15/16, no noticeable improvement in 11 months, kind of astringent and harsh, missing the youthful exuberance of the fruit it had when younger.

11/20/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

4 hour decant, dark burgundy in color: rich fruit, a bit of a leggy woman rolling a sock down her supple leg…stop…thats all, here, have some tannins…come back and visit me in a couple years she said.

10/30/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

Decanted 1 hour, consumed over 2-3 hours, tannins were there but not overwhelming, well balanced with the 777 clone. Agree with Danielbleier- needs more time. 90 for now with potential.

10/15/2016 - RedNectar Does not like this wine:

Rating based on cellar tracker scale- the upper end of good as of this point in time. Poor QPR in my opinion. Consumed over a four hour period; acidic up front and mid palate with a short-medium-tannic finish... watery and lacking any girth or memorable flavor .

9/10/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Bright , red fruit, medium finish. Good QPR

9/5/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

This wine was a gift. Opened up- 2 hours in bottle. First waft, overwhelming strawberry/raspberry pot de créme. Then a slow, dark, brooding fruit--smooth, complicated, rich , old library. Looong finish. Lovely, lovely wine, drinking very well now, too bad bottles are only 750 ml.

9/4/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

All business up front; sour, tart, little to no structure, then, off a cliff into the abyss…nothing.

9/2/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Went beautifully with grilled ribeye, long finish.

8/28/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

flawed

6/19/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Decanted 1 hour… Tasting assistant: The wine looks flabby red. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like cool/menthol. It tastes like raisin. The body is light. The wine has angular texture. The wine finishes short. The wine has medium acidity.

5/27/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

Decanted 1 hour, bottle on ice to a good temperature, consumed from a tulip shaped glass- crimson color- slow legs- smells like wine; a bit cool and pruney (sp?), tastes like wine but prunie/raisiny-4 second finish after swallowing- low acidity.
I will add, my state of mind at the moment is stressed- so will factor that in. Tasted this at the Hall winery in good spirits and company- 92 points. In a bad mood today- 90 points.

Bottom line: pricey but good

4/10/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

Decanted 2 hours. Consumed at approximately 62°. Per the tasting note assistant at this point in time: The wine looks purple colored. The legs are slow. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry, strawberry jam, prune, plum, guava and black olive. It tastes like prune, raisin and cool/menthol. The body is medium. The wine has coarse texture. The wine finishes short. The wine has high acidity.

Bottom line: The above flavors and aromas were muted and jostled.

4/10/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Per the tasting note assistant: The wine looks crimson colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like cool/menthol, strawberry, plum and ethanol. It tastes like prune and lemon. The body is light/medium. The wine has angular texture. The wine finishes short. The wine has medium acidity.

4/2/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Decanted 1 hour- had to try real hard to find a hint of dried apricot up front…mellow tannins from start to finish. To quote another CT user somewhere- "theres not a lot going on here".

4/2/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

This wine goes down with an oaky/astringency and finishes with a bitter evaporation off the roof of the mouth, could be due to the 14.6%….paired with one wheat cracker.

3/20/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

Sweet

3/20/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

I love this wine- heavier than your average pinot, I let it open up 30 minutes or so… like drinking rubies, long finish. Hard to keep these in my cellar.

3/20/2016 - RedNectar wrote:

Consumed this a while back, a nice enjoyable wine .

1/15/2016 - RedNectar Likes this wine:

I tried a bottle when it first came out (6/14) and would generally agree with the prior positive tastings.
Forward to 1/16
Opened a bottle tonight; tasted a little rough on the first hit with a hot and chalky finish almost a burn, not feeling it.
Since I am not a heavy chardonnay drinker I don't really know what to expect- seems like a lesser wine than before.