12/22/2023 - midai wrote:

With no decant the wine was just ok just after pouring but after an hour in the glass it was the best wine I have had in a couple of years. So smooth with structure and close to perfection.
No need to pair it with food, it is awesome to just enjoy it on its own.
It was still good on the second day.
I have one more bottle and will wait until next year to open.

11/19/2012 - midai wrote:

Amazing setting up above Clear Lake. Liked this one the best of any of their other wines at the tasting room in May. This was very different. Opened first bottle in November and it is good, right away you do get a lot of alcohol like drinking brandy. After a half hour decant the alcohol is not as pronounced and you just get the aged smoothness. I like this a lot for a nice change of pace.

11/17/2012 - midai wrote:

This has improved a lot since I tried 3/2011, No longer too young. Drinkable and decent . Will likely be at its best in 2013 No decant needed.

10/15/2012 - midai wrote:

I liked this at the tasting room a few months back as one of the best of the tasting. Bought one bottle after the owners were so nice. Upon opening the bottle at home something tasted a bit off at first after opening then wife said she liked it only to later give her glass back saying it was too sweet. This seems to be designed as an easy drinker and it is but may be priced a bit high for what it delivers.

8/25/2012 - midai wrote:

this is starting to drink very well, I get the quality here,a well made and serious wine. It didn't seem quite ready a couple months ago. enjoyable now and I think it will get much better with another 6 months cellaring

7/2/2012 - midai wrote:

very dark and mostly closed still, age this another couple years and it should be good.

3/30/2012 - midai wrote:

Not liking this bottle. Complete different experience than last time especially right after pouring.

2/5/2012 - midai wrote:

simple wine, value pick.

1/28/2012 - midai wrote:

Surprisingly good. Ripe red fruits, nice flavor and a very good buy. I have been looking for a reliable everyday wine that is not as heavy as the Cabs and Syrah that I usually drink.

12/29/2011 - midai wrote:

Easy to drink and integrated mellow tannins but not much flavor profile.

12/24/2011 - midai wrote:

Wife did not want more than the first sip. I did not realize this producer grows mostly Grenache, which I am not partial to. It tasted awkward to me the first day. Liked it more the second day after opening.

12/20/2011 - midai wrote:

Good. Dark but not tannic and well integrated now at this age. Not very complex in flavors but seems like it could easily sell for up to twice the price it is on sale for.

12/19/2011 - midai wrote:

Nice quality wine after 1 hr decant, was not tannic but it was not quite ready right after poured. More an all purpose wine than the Field Blend that begged to be paired with steak. I'm glad I cellared these, should be interesting for another couple years to get more age on them.

12/14/2011 - midai wrote:

rustic and bitter for a 2006, tasts like they crushed with too many stems. Able to drink but would rather have something else.

12/1/2011 - midai wrote:

Very good immediately after poured. Easy to drink and best of several tried.

11/5/2011 - midai wrote:

Something is off with this one. Drinks harshly. Unbalanced.

10/23/2011 - midai wrote:

A bit too dark and lurking.

10/20/2011 - midai wrote:

Yummy fresh tasting fruity white wine with some tanginess to keep it interesting.

10/7/2011 - midai wrote:

very dark , decanted 2 hours and still lots of tannins, it is not very expressive paired with a grilled steak, if I had another bottle would age a couple more years.

8/22/2011 - midai wrote:

Nice enough wine but a stretch at$40 at the wineryand and we didn't realize they still were going to charge us an additional $10 for the tasting when they rang us up, we feel like suckers.

6/13/2011 - midai wrote:

kind of plain. It was fine but I expected more character.

4/7/2011 - midai wrote:

Best by far out of the 2000 and 2003 recently tried. The fresh and fruity smell reveals a well made wine that was smoothe after 9 years but not past its prime, this was a good vintage. I enjoyed it most just by itself-it tastes more like a sipping wine and not a cab that needs to pair with red meat like a lot of them do. It was OK with pasta but not a good match with dark chocolate.

4/2/2011 - midai wrote:

Very nice, fruity maybe peach? and just a little sweetness.

3/31/2011 - midai wrote:

At this point I have to rate as average. It seems to have been release too early for the wrong reasons-very young as it is awkward and rough. I don't think of Merlot as a varietal to age but have to guess it will be better in a year or two.

3/30/2011 - midai wrote:

Well made wine and enjoyable now, more dense than most zins and tannins still there, Holding up very well at this age, could age more.

3/17/2011 - midai wrote:

Medium to light body. Nice fresh tasting wine with some fruit showing but not complex. Seems well made with no harshness. Drinks clean with no sediment. Would have rated higher if it had more complexity or a longer finish.

3/1/2011 - midai wrote:

Soapy smell right when opened that went away after a few minutes and turned to a fresh grape juice smell. A bit harsh at first but the complexity came out from hiding half way through the meal. I did not think a decant was needed at this age but it clearly was. It turned out to be a delicious wine with dark flavor.

2/24/2011 - midai wrote:

Surprisingly still good this old, apple and other fruit still showing, bargain price for a decent wine.

2/10/2011 - midai wrote:

Every day kind of wine, drinkable, soft tannins for a PS and doesnt really taste like it but it still stains the teeth badly. I get the blueberry and it is smooth but not much flavor there. Worth the price, although this is a Bronco Wine Co. ( You can find the list on Wikipedia-Two Buck Chuck, Foxbrook, Crane Lake, Estrella) and I just found out they have over 50 brands of wine in order to confuse the masses and hide who is making their wines.
I will drink the case I just bought (at a discount price) under protest!

1/25/2011 - midai wrote:

Pleasantly surprised. not complex but soft tannins and enjoyable.

12/30/2010 - midai wrote:

Safeway selling at 50% off but it is l past its expiration date and not satisfying.

12/23/2010 - midai wrote:

This obviously has a short shelf-life. The 2007 said good through 2010. This one is history already. It was not horrible but tasted a few months past its prime. Gave me a headache in the first hour after drinking.

12/6/2010 - midai wrote:

Didn't get much out of this. Very flat and flavorless.

12/3/2010 - midai wrote:

This is void of any flavors. I tried to get something out of it, not unpleasant or bad but not even very enjoyable as a light wine.

11/26/2010 - midai wrote:

A good first impression but most of the flavor profile is just the inside of a barrel and any wine flavors abruptly just goes way- It has no finish at all.

11/22/2010 - midai wrote:

This is drinking much better now than in January. This was an enjoyable versatile bottle that went will all kinds of food. I think it will be even better in a year.

11/21/2010 - midai wrote:

This wine is very straight forward, not a lot of fruit flavor and not sweet. Enjoyable along with a meal but didn't get much complexity from it.

11/16/2010 - midai wrote:

Musty nose right away and that mustiness carried over to the taste. My wife didn't want to finish hers. It was not flawed and drinkable but I'm not sure what all the positive comments are about with this wine.
I also noticed that the label says "500 Barrels Produced" while factually true, makes it seem like a small production. The common way to show production volume is how many cases. There are 25 cases in a barrel so there were really 12,500 cases produced-Hmm...not small after all. Why didn't they want to put that number on the label? This is now a marketing company to me and not a winery. I will not buy again.

11/2/2010 - midai wrote:

This can be drunk but it has no taste to it. There are much better options.

10/26/2010 - midai wrote:

Easy to drink but not much character. A little thin infact my wiife said it seemed watered-down. I didn't get any sense of over alc. at all This was well balanced. Maybe I opened this too early, I just saw the drinking window.

10/25/2010 - midai wrote:

Enjoyable SB. I liked it better once at home than I did among the other tastings at the winery.

10/21/2010 - midai wrote:

This is a good find. I like the lower alc., which is hard to get in a CA Zin and it can be drunk immediately without a long decant. Rich fruit of Plum and Boysenberry upfront. Dark Cocoa is at the end, not a long finish. I kept expecting a little more and kept sipping but it didn't develope during the evening. This is a nice red for casual drinking or spicy/red sauce meals that should be drunk in the next year or two.

10/14/2010 - midai wrote:

This was drinkable but somewhat dense/heavy feeling without having the flavor that it should have had. About what I would expect at this price.

10/3/2010 - midai wrote:

Unimpress with the lack of fruit and little flavor profile.
edit. rated it 73 in October, 2nd bottle in Nov. seems a little better to me now.

9/16/2010 - midai wrote:

I tasted at a dinner party and loved this with deep complex flavors and spanish flair. I would have rated that at least 88. I bought 2 bottles and stilI like the wine but not getting the same complexity. It has an edge that I keep waiting

8/20/2010 - midai wrote:

This is already drinking nicely. Has a balanced profile, fruit taste now early in its life. blackberry, very soft tannins but has structure and depth to age well.

8/19/2010 - midai wrote:

Nice wine, drinking well. Getting some subdued oak and a touch of heat. Good complexity to it but not picking up what other components specifically.

8/13/2010 - midai wrote:

This drinks as a complicated wine. I get that funkiness but it is still an enjoyable enough wine with some depth although I would not want to drink this all the time. I was intending to pair it with red meat but had it with chicken and pasta and it was still decent. Poured the rest of the bottle and it seemed more unrefined compared to the earlier glass that was decanted 2 hours.

8/5/2010 - midai wrote:

An every day wine. Good since easy to drink and nothing harsh but Average since not much flavor coming through either. The price makes me want more to have on hand to go with a simple meal. I expected to age this as the 2005 needed cellaring but this one didn't need it, it is ready to drink now.

7/26/2010 - midai wrote:

Good rich flavors to pair with food, I don't think this was meant to drink by itself. I Did a 2 hr decant of 80% of the bottle and it showed how important it was to decant this as I poured the last bit from the bottle later and it was a bit harsh.