2/15/2023 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

A extra savory Pinot. Raspberry with dark umami - soy, Worcestershire, ??? Tannins give structure and body. Will continue to develop. Unclear if fruit will emerge more dominant or not.

12/26/2022 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

No tasting notes but the crazy blend really works. Muscat only 5% but it comes through. Nice stuff.

12/25/2022 - Black Mikan wrote:

The fruit has dimished over time. Lots of secondary. Rocks funk, fermented soy, etc. still really interesting, but wish we’d drank earlier.

12/25/2022 - Black Mikan wrote:

Big fruit dominates. I’d like to revisit this in 3-4 years. Has potential for 93

12/25/2022 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

In a wonderful place. The Kalita terroir cola spices still in background which are always lovely.

10/6/2021 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

A lot going on in this wine. Funky forest floor with spiced mixed berries on the nose. Dense flavors of stewed and fresh spiced dark cherries. Background notes of cured meat with earthy wood. This will unpack to reveal more on the palate in a few years but is great fun now.

2/7/2021 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

If I tell you how good it is, you will buy and drive up the prices even more. Just know it’s terrible and you should never, ever consider buying this wine ;)(it’s mine...all mine! Bwahaha!)

12/6/2020 - Black Mikan wrote:

Revisit in 1 year. Needs time.

7/23/2020 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Stem and stewed prunes at open. More prunes and medium+ tannins after an hour. Enjoyable, but I feel like the tannins and fruit are not harmonized. Not sure aging will bridge the gap.

6/14/2020 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Quince pastry nose. Gingery lemon creme with tropical notes in the mouth. This is just getting going. Revisit ‘in 21.
Really enjoyable stuff.

11/25/2018 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

No formal notes. Lucious pineapple and mango notes. Thanksgiving open house at winery.

10/24/2018 - Black Mikan wrote:

Give it an hour+ if drinking now.

9/26/2017 - Black Mikan wrote:

Fascinating. Berry still up front but it's dominated by honey flavors at 7+ years. Tannins all around. Interesting aged Dundee Hills Pinot and fun to drink.

6/29/2017 - Black Mikan wrote:

For US$5 this is great. Huge value. Trader Joe's gem.

6/28/2017 - Black Mikan wrote:

Good fruit up front but goes flat on the back. No complexity that seemed to be there before. Aging issue?

5/31/2017 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Light nose of flowers and a bit of vanilla beans. Mouth: Guava, clementines, lime and other citrus hanging off a good acid backbone (but not overdone). Held up to red chili tamales with grace :)

5/14/2017 - Black Mikan wrote:

Disappointed in the aging of this. Fruit still there but no acid backbone. Expected more. Should have drank earlier. Been very hit and miss on aging Shea wines.

4/14/2017 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Caramel butter, dried stone fruit on nose. Great core of acidity balanced by bbq'd nectarine, sulfured dried apricot fruit and dry-sour hibiscus tannins. What a lovely wine for a special birthday. Most excellent!

4/6/2017 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Drinkable now but agree on waiting a bit if you can. Showed way more complexity on 2nd day. Good value.

4/2/2017 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Drinking beautifully right now.

3/24/2017 - Black Mikan wrote:

Lots of good fruit, but two dimensional for me. A tad flabby.

1/29/2016 - Black Mikan wrote:

@ava genes: medium plus body. Dark fruit, earthy with good acidity. Held up to lamb dish well as well as pepper sausage cavatelli. Needs food to bring out its character. Fun varietal.

9/15/2014 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Pop and poured but evolved over a few hours. Definitely better in 2nd hour. Nice cool blue and red berries from start to finish. Moderate integrated tannins provided some structure but not as much as expected.

11/30/2013 - Black Mikan Likes this wine:

Not rating this. Thinking I should have held longer. At first opening it had tons of sour cherry/ red fruit and tannins that just accumulated on tongue. It came together after about 3 hours. 12 hrs later it is still changing. Lots of cool blue and red berries, bramble and medium atnnins. One other bottle left so will wait 3 years on it.

9/1/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

A beautiful wine that had complexity and long, long finish. Lush berries, briar, tobacco, and some chocolate. A really great blend. Sadly my last bottle.

6/10/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Started with mute nose. Super soft, almost merlot like on the mouth feel. Tannins silky. Dark fruit with oak. Over 2 hours opened a little more. Light herbal notes, dark berries with blueberry lasting long on finish. Not a classic cab franc, but goodeffort with the fruit.

5/31/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Decanted 5+ hrs. cassis, graphite...light smoke and herbs...elegant tannins with some grip. Great finish and great birthday gift.

5/27/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Surprisingly balanced for how massive it is.

4/13/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Nose, smoky herbal berry, adding butter late. Mouth, Raspberry changing to blackberry with layered mint and vanilla finish. Tartness fades over time. One drinker said..."requires patience to enjoy..."
Decant if you can.

4/13/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Nose of smoke and cherry, mouth of cherry and cola spice. Enjoyed this phase. Over time nose became leather, raisin, cooked jam. Mouth tart citrus and citric acid. Tannins throughout, slight bitterness...slight astringency.
Fun to taste after all the other tasting notes. Only bottle tasted but enjoyed. Kinda wished we had opened 1-2 years earlier.
Drink now.

3/18/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

No notes on this. Definitely took some time to open up. More medium bodied than I had anticipated, but developed some nice flavors over a few hours.

3/18/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

No tasting notes, but this was very tasty. Nice evolution since release. Wish I had a few more...

2/22/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Nose: fading pineapple, petrol, citrus
Palate: cocktail citrus, stone, hint of nutmeg
Good stuff as always, maybe a little past peak but good.

2/22/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Reasonably made, slightly sweet Gewurtz.

2/22/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

I think this could have evolved more, which was a surprise.

2/22/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Bought to try 100% counoise. What are the varietal characteristics? dark red fruit...check! solid acidity...check! pepper...double check! Add some rustic, rounded tannins and good structure and this is the Cana's Feast Counoise.
It was interesting but not spectacular on it's own, but soared when paired with food. Paired with pasta in a squash and pancetta sauce it really revealed became lively.

2/14/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Subdued nose. Very soft palate with modest black currants and light backing of eucalyptus. Rounded tannins on finish. Fruit has become less distinctive than when tasted in 08. I'm thinking jspostles is right on past peak.

1/31/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Really good QPR. Fruit characteristics give a Washington presence (disagree with Nutty08 on this, but at this price maybe it doesn't matter). Agree with macker100 on modest acidity. Drank over several days and was surprised it generally held up. Finish died off somewhat, but was still enjoyable.

1/30/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Yum. Apples, yellow citrus, a little some stone fruit and light barrel. Acidity for food but can be a sipper too. Laura always makes a well made wine.

1/30/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Bad corking on this one.

1/30/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Good QPR. Zweigelt (80%) and Blaufräufrankisch (20%) Fun to try if you never had. Red berries and pepper on palate with mineral finish. Good acidity. Great everyday quaffer.

1/2/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Has aged well. Big blackberry/dark fruit that stayed for 3 days of enjoying. Spice, wood and quiet menthol. Not as complex as I would want but enjoyable. Wish I had another bottle to try in another year.
A toast to Otto from the Manzanita boys.

1/2/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

No tasting notes, but enjoyed this more refined medium body bordeaux blend.

1/2/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Citrus and little floral on the nose. Palate - Lemon zest, citrus, cream. Is there toast there or not? Drank this vs 1998 vintage. 1999 is much brighter and lively right now.

1/2/2012 - Black Mikan wrote:

Muted nose. Cream and toast on the palate. quite good.

12/24/2011 - Black Mikan wrote:

Nose - honey, linalool (?). Mouth - light mineral, peach, lemon cream. Good acidity leveling out the modest sweetness. It's Teutonic Oregon... Please accept.

12/24/2011 - Black Mikan wrote:

Nose - tar, menthol, butterscotch. Mouth - thin start, cherries with lots of barrel toast and tar. Mid thru end palate is good. Might have been better earlier...slightly past peak. Good enough, but left me wishing for more. Drink now. PS: This note is for Desert Sun Cactus, so he'll quit bitching about me not writing reviews:p

12/28/2010 - Black Mikan wrote:

The first 20 minutes were great...dark cherries, dark fruit with hints of spice. Very good balance and integrated tannins. All you would want from an Arcus.
At 30 minutes things started changing. Fruit, with cherries dominating, remained, but the beautiful complexity just seem to fade away. We waited to see if anything woudl change but by hour 5 it was basically still the same. It was OK, but not the beauty we enjoyed at first. Bummer...

Score 92 for first 20 minutes. 88 after that....

11/22/2010 - Black Mikan wrote:

Great fruit, good QPR

11/22/2010 - Black Mikan wrote:

This is a surpisingly good wine for vines planted in '06. Well rounded, very layered with smoky red fruit and berry. Cost can be debated but it is a well made, deliscious wine. A nice debut! (I look forward to the '09 which I barrel tasted which adds Wadenswil that really brings a nice spice element.)