2/23/2014 - emrugger Likes this wine:

I'll put a better note out after we open another bottle - This went too quick!

Outstanding effort that evolved well throughout the night. I'd recommend a 2-3hr decant and will do so myself next time.

Nose: Classic Rutherford, even if this is from Coombsville. Sweet, dusty earth mixed with dark chocolate, faint cherries, pipe tobacco and a slight hint of menthol around the edge.

Mid-Palate: Fleshy at first, but tightened up nicely over the evening. Served at cellar temp and it really brought out a balance. Similar tasting notes as on the nose with a silky mouth feel and a rich, albeit, moderate finish.

Big score for me, so I'll be sure to write another note on the next bottle.

2/6/2014 - emrugger wrote:

This is a solid effort and all of the pieces are there. Unlike the 2009, however, the 2010 still needs some time for the tannin to settle down.

That said, wine is still very enjoyable.
The nose is of wet stone and charred cherry, with a hint of menthol (only a 2hr decant -- aerated 3x)

The mid-palate is similar to the nose, but with a hint of meaty earth.

The finish is quite nice--long and oily.

Overall, this wine can be drank now, but it should score 3-4 points higher when it mellows out and bit and the rich berry flavors naturally come out.

8/14/2013 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Will put a more proper note in later. Much better showing with a bit of bottle age. The wine has integrated much more and is showing a very balanced effort. Dry, smoky, cherry/anise tobacco and berries with a lovely finish.

8/4/2013 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Decanted for 3 hours.

Lovely integration for a 2010, I had never had this and opened it a bit early to see if I liked it enough to order a few more bottles.

This is a very refined Larner syrah. Herman Story is a bit more rugged while this is quite sheer and supple. Fan's of Maggie's Lillian will like it.

The nose: Very fragrant right out of the bottle. Smoky cherries with hints of blueberries and spice. Very nice.

The Mid-Palate: Very balanced. Sheer but with great body and muscularity. Charred blueberries, cherries with a tinge of spice.

Finish: Very persistent, rich and viscous.

Pricey, but very nice. Will buy again.

7/14/2013 - emrugger wrote:

Second bottle tasted, drank with the same meal. (Grilled pork w. pears/shallots/blue cheese/dried cranberries over salad)

Still an awesome wine, but letting this rest a bit definitely helped. 95 points.

After finally getting an allocation, I've sacrificed a few bottles to help me figure out what to order next time around.

Decant: I decanted this for around 1.5 hours, which interestingly, I found better than my previous 3 hour decant. (If memory serves)

The nose: Anise spice, cinnamon, and apple pie filling with a bit more cherry this time around.

Mid-Palate: Same awesome oil-rich texture with a fantastic mouth feel. More fruit with soft burnt cherry notes complimented by hints of apple pie cinnamon/clove spice. A smidge of balanced tartness makes the wine well-balanced, but still very smooth and dense.

Finish: Incredible. Like oil-rich silk. Very long and polished with lingering hints of leather, tar and smoky cherry.

Better the second time around, I have to be careful i dont drink my remaining bottles too soon!

4/1/2013 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Very simple, but pleasant wine. This is a good everyday drinker or easy food wine for the week.

Nose: Dark Cherry, Chocolate and a hint of spice.
Mid-Palate: A little hint of Oakville character. Smoky with continuing hints of berries and chocolate (faint) with a sheer mouth feel.
Finish: Clean and short, but with a nice oily texture.

3/8/2013 - emrugger wrote:

Nose: Sour cherry, soft hickory smoke, spice and a lingering hint of menthol.

Mid-Palate: The nose continues, with dense cherries, smoke and spice.

Finish: Leaner than some of Russell's other offerings, but still lingers nicely with typical HS viscosity.

This has all the shape of a great Russell wine, but it might need a bit more time.

2/24/2013 - emrugger wrote:

Decanted an hour (maybe a little more)

Nose: Very floral, wet stone, sweet tobacco pipe with a hint of spice. (Maybe some menthol as well)

Mid-Palate: Lithe, with a hint of grass/mint in the midst of medium tannins but with an inviting, round structure. Hints of spice/anise continue.

Finish: Short, but punchy with rounded notes of mint/mineral/spice and stone.

Pretty good wine, but not sure I'd buy it again. Just OK QPR, have had much better (La Jota/O'Shaughnessy)

1/17/2013 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Decanted 60 min, improved over the evening with air.

Nose: Very Rutherford in nature, sweet spice up front with a bit of heat.

Mid-Palate: Lithe smoky cherry with dusty tones with hints of loam and strawberry.

Finish: Persistent finish, with long rich tannins. Classis Napa dust.

Good value, would buy again. Very similar to Mondavi's Rutherford offering.

12/28/2012 - emrugger Does not like this wine:

Overall, I was very disappointed and think their Bella Oaks offering is a much better QPR.

The wine was a bit flabby with the tannins having clearly been expressed and while the classic "minty" tone was present, the wine lacked the depth to create any sort or balance. You can tell the wine has very good structure, but the fruit just wasn't there to fill out the skeleton.

Apologies, but I'm disappointed with my tasting note because the wine didn't have much character for me. Just a decent, if not a little above average, California Cabernet.

Perhaps I should try additional vintages.

12/28/2012 - emrugger Does not like this wine:

I was very excited to try this wine and having gotten a good price on CW I picked up a few bottles.

Frankly, I was very disappointed.

The wine was not very memorable with a flat nose and hollow mid-palate. The fruit might be there in a few years, but given the wine's lack of density and rather grassy feel I am unsure of its development. Perhaps I am open to trying another bottle to make sure I'm not being harsh, but I this wine to me is way overpriced for the quality of fruit and consumer hype.

12/28/2012 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Still my favorite Virginia wine and special to my wife and I given my time there.

Fleshy blend with very nice mouth feel, but a flavor profile that fades quickly. Soft and approachable, but needs to breath a bit. Cherries and tar with a bit of a tannic overtone.

12/21/2012 - emrugger Likes this wine:

...had to sacrifice a bottle early to see how it matures...

This note might be a bit skewed considering we drank a 2004 Staglin Cabernet and a 2005 Salus Cabernet beforehand, but the Altagracia held it's own nonetheless.

Nose: Smoky anise and pipe tobacco with a hint of soft cherry/berry fruits. The tannins are clearly hiding the fruit at this stage.

Mid-Palate: Initial notes from the nose continue with fleshy undertones , more pipe tobacco and cherry with muted spice. Again, the wines' texture is a bit chalky and clearly needs to age a bit, but the fruit is very much there.

Finish: Persistent, but will improve.

Overall a great QPR with huge potential that is drinking well today but should significantly improve in the next several years.

12/27/2012 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Decanted for 3 hours...

The nose: Anise spice, cinnamon, and apple pie filling with tannins that careen like a birdcage firework display on the glass. Lovely.

In the glass: Very smooth, soft smoke and almost an oily-rich texture. Very distinctly a Washington Syrah given its smoothness, initial flavor profile continues to a very long (30. Sec) finish which is slightly dry at the end. Softer fruit than my typical Santa Barbra Rhone varietals. Very similar to Maggie's Lillian offering with with a richer feel if slightly less forward fruit. Very nice and particularly well-balanced.

10/18/2012 - emrugger wrote:

Very nice, surprisingly so. Decanted for 45 minutes, rich and full-bodied with a silky finish. The nose is of tobacco and sweet anise, mid-palette is creamy and robust with a slightly spicy cherry flavor while the smoky cabernet is rounded out by the merlot. The finish is pronounced with a pleasant sweet smoky quality. This wine was a fantastic QPR, I should have bought a case!

9/9/2012 - emrugger wrote:

This is the first wine from Russell that I simply did not get. While it certainly could be my palette, after several tries the wine is just too "green" for me and doesn't display nearly the integration or balance of his HS offerings. The nose and taste is of underbrush and grass with a crisp finish.The RPF rose is a wonderful wine, but this frankly baffled me. As always, though, the wine was clearly well made, just not my taste.

6/30/2012 - emrugger wrote:

I love Larner wines, this is much less dense/complex than either Herman Story or McPrice Meyers, but hints of smoke, tobacco and cherry make this an enjoyable, but not overly complex, wine.

6/30/2012 - emrugger wrote:

Smoke, charcoal, cherry, spice and meat characterize this wine. The initial taste is of smoky cherry with hints of tobacco and spice. The mid-palate speaks of rounded, cherry-ridden smoke with hints of charred meat. The finish is long and feels both rich and inky. I tried this wine in 2011 and frankly was not impressed given my favorites are Herman Story and Lillian. That being said, the extra time seems to have mellowed out the wine just enough. It was quite enjoyable and balanced. I consider it more of a Rhone blend than anything else.

6/3/2012 - emrugger wrote:

Very enjoyable food wine even though I was only able to aerate it into the decanter. The nose was of mild cherry, roasted meat, faint spice and a hint of menthol while the palette embodied the volcanic Etna soil with a smoky (but not overly dry) base with strawberry and mild cherry. The finish was long and long and elegant with the smoky hints lingering nicely--a testament to the wine's considerable tannins. Might do well with a bit more age, but very nice overall.

6/2/2012 - emrugger wrote:

The 2008 is still my favorite, BUT surprising to me is the 2010 which is nearly as good. Again, I've been enjoying Russell's wines since 2004 and have really enjoyed the progression of this wine. The 2007 and 2009 offerings, while pretty darn tasty, were a bit too "cherry" and lacked the balance of smoke and cocoa that the 2008 and 2010 offerings embody. The nose is a bit more concentrated on this one with hints of tobacco, meat, dust, cherry and smoke while the mid palate is of silky dark chocolate, anise, and cherry with a long, dense finish that is both spicy and sweet. Thank you, again, for a great wine Russell.

6/2/2012 - emrugger wrote:

Wow. Just a phenomenal wine. Decanted for 5 hours. The nose was of cinnamon red hots, earth and spice with a sweet, but balanced aroma--you can smell the alcohol definitively. The initial palette is of smokey anise spice with a hint of dark chocolate, dense plum and dust. The finish is long, sweet and smokey with hints of raw cocoa, cherry and faint spice. I've already ordered more--count this up there with SQN and Herman Story as my favorite syrahs.

1/2/2012 - emrugger wrote:

Like his earlier "Nuts and Bolts" offerings, I wasn't a massive fan of Russell's earlier OTR releases...boy did the '09 prove me wrong. I'm a big HS fan and love his wines; the '09 OTR might be one of my new favorites...too bad I've already finished my allocation :(. As with most HS wines, a 2+ hour decant is necessary and serving at 65 degrees really holds the tannins in and lessens the wine's natural heat. This is a huge wine, but incredibly smooth given the ABV. The nose is of tar, leather, dark cherry and a little cassis. The finish is long, almost syrupy, but not overbearing with notes of dark chocolate, smoke and cherry. Thank you Russell for another great wine.

7/4/2011 - emrugger wrote:

Nice bottle after breathing for over an hour and served at 65 degrees. This wine isnt as big as some from Larner (Herman Story) or as polished as others (Drew)but it opens to an enjoyable wine that is a good value. Typical Larner flavors, smoke, cedar, cherry and coffee. I would buy more.

12/29/2010 - emrugger wrote:

I've been drinking Russell's wines since 2004 and been in his wine club since inception. Honestly, I've NEVER liked his Nuts and Bolts offerings because I found them to be too sweet and too cherry-flavored. That all changed with this wine. It is legitimately just awesome and on par with SQN and MUCH more expensive wines. The nose is of dark chocolate, cherry, spice and loam, while the mid palate is of chocolate and spice. Its finish is impressively smooth given its 16.1% ABV and lingers for a long while with hints of smoke, tobacco and cherry. This wine, as with all of his wines, needs at least 2-3 hours to open up and should definitely be served at 65 degrees. I agree with Deltacop about picking RF's wines in a blind tasting. Thanks Russell for making another stellar wine. This just replaced his 2005 Larner Grenache as my favorite.

12/28/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Another great effort from Russell. This is a HUGE wine that needs 2+ hours to decant and should really be served at 65 degrees, max. The cooler temperature really holds the tannins in suspension and allows the other flavors to really show through. Bottom line, this wine is just awesome. Like other Larner wines, it is massively smooth--deep, robust and dense, but has a great, long, finish. The wine begins with cherry/spice/cinnamon/tar notes, transitions to a savory, smoky licorice and finishes with a deep fruity cherry caramel but isn't cloying and has a great mouth feel.

12/28/2010 - emrugger wrote:

I've been a member of Seghesio's wine club for a good while and always enjoy their wines. This was an enjoyable wine that was on the cusp of being great...but just never got there. I decanted this for 1+ hours and it started with a great nose and classic Seghesio style (a tad sweet, smoky, but refined). Sadly, it just never opened up. Understanding it's Italian roots I didnt expect a massively round wine, but the finish was too "dusty" and mineral-like for the wine's supple, cherry tar beginnings. I'd imagine a few years would help.

10/27/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Decant for at least 2 hours. I've been drinking Herman Story since 2004 and this is easily in my top 3 (His 239 days and 2005 Larner Grenache being the others). Very bold GSM blend, but with a very nice balance and fruit forward flavor. Blackberries and a smoky tar flavor are complimented by a smooth round finish with hints of sweet tobacco. I have more bottles on order from Russell.

10/27/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Nice wine, opened nicely after some green tinges upon opening. Smokey with blackberries, blueberries and tar. Medium tannins, fruit forward the wine needs at least 30min to an hour deccant and should be served around 65 degrees. Overall, nice GSM.

10/16/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Great QPR. Given the higher ratio of Cabernet blended into this claret it tastes like a much more expensive wine. Decant if you can, but it's great either way. I liked to decant it for at least 1 hour. Great depth with dense berry/cherry/caissis, licorice with a semi-dry/smokey finish with a fruit tinge. This is a great value wine.

10/16/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Pleasantly surprised. Very nice. Decanted 1 hour. Initial olive aroma dissipated nicely to reveal a smokey sweet balance that really spoke to the terroir without tasting flat. Medium bodied, but very nice balance. This wine was "not too big, not to small" with a very nice, lingering finish. Smokey cassis, berry and dark chocolate, very nice balance. I will be buying more.

7/17/2010 - emrugger wrote:

Had at Mas Farmhouse in Feb 2010, needed to open up a bit, but was fantastic once it did. Full-bodied pinot with great, silky finish and ripe berry flavors. Would definitely order again.