12/14/2016 - jollyroger.vin Likes this wine:

Old world, spontaneous malo funk. Bright ruby, pine needles and cherry liqueur. Concentrated red fruits and dried plum mingle with camphor, smoky hung meat and lip smacking tannins. Balanced like a custom made fidget toy spinner. Buy more now, drink or hold.

12/3/2016 - jollyroger.vin Likes this wine:

Opaque, violet core, brick red rim. Quick legs. Black cherry and cassis fruitcake. Smoke and leathery, with surprisingly mild heat at 15.5% alcohol. Mouthfeel smooth as a baby’s bottom. Finishes long and luxurious with vanilla, anise and cocoa. Unfortunately, we tasted right from the bottle, because this one would really benefit from ~2 hours’ decanting. Ready to drink, but will probably improve through 2020. Makes me realize just how much I want to try Mollydooker’s Velvet Glove!

12/6/2016 - jollyroger.vin Likes this wine:

Light gold. Fragrance of orchard fruit blossom, juxtaposed with smoky minerals--like taking a stroll in the park after a spring rain. Sun-kissed stainless citrus and palate-tickling stone fruit Brûlée give way to subtler notes of ginger, saline and mineral. Intense, pure and crisp; so many layers to explore.

5/1/2016 - csimm wrote:

PnP with hedonistically lavish notes of black, blue, and purple berry fruit, huckleberry compote, olallieberry pie (with crust!), black (and some red) licorice, dark chocolate, black cherry liqueur, cassis, and vanilla bean. Rich, opulent, thick...did I mention rich?! Very dark and dense, with a nice swath of youthful tannins to cut the back end. Not too heavy or cloyingly sweet.

If you are a fan of big Napa Cabernets, you might want to consider this in your cellar. It is a flamboyant big boy that some might say lacks a hair of nuance, so be forewarned. It is less of a cerebral wine and more of an extroverted socialite.

It reminds me of a 2013 Mark Herold standard Brown Label Cabernet or a slightly more powerful 2013 Myriad Cabernet (akin to the standard Cabernet or the GIII). The 2013 Kobalt is crafted in true Mark Herold fashion. And at sub-$100, it is right in the same arena as the very top Napa Cabernets in its price range. A comparatively good QPR that drinks above its price-point.

94+ points on the initial PnP. Slow O2-ed at 54 degrees for a few hours and decanted for two more. I was concerned whether or not this was truly a Ms. Right type of wine, or a Ms. Right Now, as I wondered if it was just going to get flabby because of the immense fruit flavors.

Well, the final sips were truly the best. Additional dark chocolate, black raspberry liqueur, and even some earth and minerality came through nicely. Started to flaunt some of the Coombsville fruit; a little "cooler" feel, which was a nice juxtaposition from the initial boozy wave of fruit. At the end, this was reminiscent of a 2013 Mark Herold Coombsville (which is a good thing!).

94-95 points for me, in line with RP's score which seems fairly on point for my palate. I'll be getting a few more! Drink now with a few hours in the decanter, or better yet hold until early 2017.

11/16/2016 - Baron Slick wrote:

Made in a rich and minerally style, this is youthful and very primary at this point. Citrus, jack fruit, and malo aromas and flavors, with a cyanic peach pit note that should ebb once this settles. Warm finish.

11/24/2016 - Baron Slick wrote:

Sultry and sumptuous in style, this conveys a gorgeous bouquet of mountain berries, forest floor, mint, conifer, cedar, and elegant bottle age. Rich, deep, and long in the mouth, with melted tannins, a beautiful middle sweetness, and flavors that are generous, broad, and expansive. Seamless, complex, and sexy. 93++

11/25/2016 - Baron Slick wrote:

A tasty wine from an obscure winery. Are they still around? Black and blue fruit, graphite, sandalwood, tar, spices, and Peruvian dried olives on the earthy bouquet. Bright and full bodied, taut and racy, attractive middle spice, and long and crisp on the finish. Develops a note of black truffles in the glass. Individualistic and unique.

11/26/2016 - Baron Slick wrote:

Second of four bottles. The inviting bouquet is imbued with citrus, lemon oil, stonefruit, and clementines over fancy tinges of caramel and butterscotch. It opens up crisp and bubbly, long and tensile, with loquats and sea breeze within the folds. Bottle age is obvious but ancillary, giving the flavors lift and focus. A beautiful wine that is still growing.