2/20/2023 - csimm wrote:

Still holding on to your precious 2017 Fingers Crossed white (yes, singular 'white,' since most of you only have one)? Life too scary out there and ya just can't bring yourself to crack the 2018? Still waiting for that perfect eharmony experience before busting out the 2019? Wouldn't dare touch your newly arrived 2020's until your newborn goes to college and then disappoints you with a career in Macy's retail? No worries my friends. I'm here for you...

Youthfully primary (shocker, right?!), a bit straight-laced on the front end (familiar lemon and pear notes), with a push of heft and traction as it digs in mid-palate, the 2020 Fingers Crossed white is a sizeable mouthful at first pass, but surprisingly is able to find a sense of balance and polish despite its enormity and juvenility. There is an angularity that creeps up on the finish, but is tempered by subtle waves of succulence that round-out the tail enough that it never presents as blocky or stubborn. At moments it is a bit foursquare in mouthfeel, but then it unlocks its little box of mysteries and a few gems sneak out to assist in elevating its vibrancy and complexity. This is clearly in transition, but the stuffing is all about classy-compelling juice. Everything is properly poised for its supernova; just be patient young Jedi.

Looking vertically at the '17, '18, '19, and now '20 Fingers Crossed whites, there are sibling similarities and contrasts that seem to carry throughout their respective profiles (at least, currently). As often is the case with first-borns, the 2017 is the responsible and most even-keeled of the bunch, with a demeanor that speaks to a "very mature for his age," Texas A&M Law School-bound kid, but who also might moonlight as a stand-up comic to pay for tuition. The 2018's successes will be straight off of scholarship (and not necessarily for being President of the Mathletes); it may also be an Aggie like its brother, but wholly because of his offensive tackle prowess. Growing up, the 2018 used to pummel bullies at school for picking on his older (but littler) brother. The 2019 will be Supreme Highness of the United Federation of the New World Order and save us from intergalactic nuclear war against the evil Mangalores.

The 2020's path isn't as carved-out as its kin. Determination and subsequent success are givens, but the manifestation of that could swing to celebrity Bryan Cranston (you know him; he's famous, but you have to Google-image him to remember who he is), or rather a tech start-up type who wears boardshorts and Converse to work, looks like Johnny Depp's second cousin, mints money like every ex-husband Zsa Zsa Gabor ever had, and flips companies like they are million dollar flapjacks.

My recent CT scores (for those who care at all about numerics) have been/are:
2017: 95
2018: 97-99+
2019: 98-100
2020: 96-97+

The 2020 is a broad-shouldered effort whose contours are shaped by clubbable style and panache, but also with a clear flex that adds a weighty measure to the execution. There was some palate fatigue going on with my chintzy chompers about halfway through consumption. It's a big wine - less so in a powerful way a-la the 2018, but more in a strapping way. This will ease with time without question. So, do what I never do, and hold for at least a few years before destroying one of your dearly safeguarded bottles. Time aside, this 2020 is a worthy addition to the already successful trifecta '17-'19 renditions that are some of the most compelling domestic (US) Rhone whites out there.

11/21/2021 - Fractals888 wrote:

Red currants, hints of bay leaf, raspberries, fine grained tannins, finish was a bit short...was a little disappointed.

5/18/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

Opened by HMC before our 5 Guys burgers......needed every bit of 2 hours to calm down. Tannins and fruit were pretty heavy but nothing like 6-8 months ago. By the 3rd hour, confectioner's sugar on the nose, beautiful red/black fruit and the typical Ehrlich flavor profile emerges. This wine is singing at 3-4 hours, just doesn't have the glycerin mouthfeel of the '16. To me, this is the purist vision of Ehrlich thus far. I love it! And I think it will only get better from here....

5/14/2021 - Fractals888 Likes this wine:

Licorice, bell pepper, white pepper, baking spice, cedar box, black currant, and blueberries. Initially was a bit closed, decanted for 3+ hours (at room temp) and it really came together. Sweet and soft tannins. Moderate finish. Really good now, but would benefit from a few more years of cellaring.

5/2/2021 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

First bottle of this producer, ever. Pnp at dinner at a local restaurant with family....sat airing for 30-40 min then poured. Seemed a tad oak heavy at first, fruit was clean and dark but rather unspectacular. It drank nicely but again, rather plain Jane, if you will. Hoping this puts on weight and layers with some aging. I have absolutely no idea how this gets a 97 from WA.....oh wait, it wasn't Robert Parker, who gave it that!

5/3/2021 - csimm wrote:

Holy heaping heaven of heathen Syrah gloriousness. From the first pop of the cork, the nose immediately lets you know that you’re in for the best beefy Syrah amazement you’ve ever experienced. Is this a Clape Cornas that fell in the Mediterranean Sea for a decade and reemerged as a modern and stylish message in a bottle?! (though this particular bottle has a nihilist vampiress shooshing me on the label).

Aromas of fresh sliced charcuterie and even fresher sea breeze (like an Italian butchery in Bora Bora) rocket up the nose and make the salivary glands kick into 7th-gear before the juice even hits the palate.

On first sips, blasts of dark berry fruit, olive brine, sanguine, salt rock, pepperoni, hot terra-cotta, garrigue, smokey brisket skin, and subtle white pepper notes wash over the palate. The perfectly pure red and purple berry notes repeat mid-palate, then are almost instantly carried off by a literal ocean wave of sea salt and bloody game. The acidity is deftly balanced, providing a honed grip that nails both speed and tension.

The saline note is so intense it washes over the palate with power and persistence the likes of which Mono Lake in a windstorm would be envious. This is a serious no messin’ around type of ambrosia (the Greek God kind of ambrosia; NOT your grandma’s fruit salad from Bumpingrub South Dakota). I mean, I don’t wanna be some kind of goofy fanboy or something, but if you take the requisite time to sit with this wine, how can you help but not be compelled to open a macelleria in Capri immediately after tasting this?! If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a call to my Avvocato (NOT the green fruit) on retainer and put a down payment on a beachfront salumi factory.

98-100 points. Such vibrancy, while consistently maintaining a textural sophistication throughout consumption that even the best of geometrists wouldn’t be able to find a hard edge here. Drink now with some air if you’re just a speed freak who wants a face-full sack of salty cured meats and berries, or hold for a few years to allow for even deeper development and complexity. This WILL be a three-digit score in a handful of years. Epic Syrah.

4/18/2021 - Fractals888 Likes this wine:

Tobacco, baking spice, oak, capsicum, supple tannins, ripe red fruit; cherries and raspberries. Really nice, can't wait to try their other wines.

2/26/2021 - csimm wrote:

If Cote Rotie and Cornas conspired to smuggle overseas and genetically modify the essences of a litter of feral vineyard puppies from Carneros whose only diets consisted of olives and flowers, you'd have the Myriad Whole Cluster Las Madres Syrah. The nose is like sticking your face in a blackberry smoothie stuffed with a runaway bride's bouquet of salty tears. On the palate, this thing spits crunchy blackberries and black raspberries, violets, olive tapenade, crispy turkey skin, rainbow peppercorn, and just the right amount of sauvage. Though incredibly young, as overtly exhibited by its current energetic execution of flavor, the focus remains intact. With a decent amount of air, it starts to fill-in and deepen, with the more complex flavors making their marks with enhanced precision. Finishes with verve and tension. This ain't the kind of movie you sleep through folks. A lot going on here and a wine that will likely reach additional heights of complexity and depth in 4+ years. I absolutely love the intensity here.

This 2019 Myriad Whole Cluster Syrah (AKA: The Auguste Clape booger-sugar go-fast juice) was served side-by-side with the 2019 Quivet Las Madres Hulda Block Syrah, which was more medium-bodied and chillax than it's bad boy Myriad cousin.

95-96++ points.

1/27/2019 - csimm wrote:

Initial pull was a linear delivery of subdued red raspberry and pumice. With some air, additional notes of red and black cherry, graphite, strawberry cream, and faint bark emerged. Mid-palate remained medium, with a kiddypool depth and a primary, straight-line finish.

Currently, the overall profile here does not display nor support any flavor elongation across the palate. After two+ hours of open air, the red raspberry note dominated, washing over the other peripheral components.

There is potential upside in a couple of years, though I’m unsure of the totality of stuffing making up the would-be core of this wine, at least from the perspective of showing like a top shelf domestic Pinot Noir in the price bracket by which it exists. After you cut through all the circus show “Come one, come all; see the Great Bambini” packaging, I’m left with juice that is less enthralling in its current state. 91-92/93+? points. Try again after 2021.

5/16/2019 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

Coravin pour. Stunningly gorgeous purple in the glass. Serious and striking nose of blackcurrant, black cherry, blueberries, violets, cigar box, asian spices, cedar and hints of scorched earth. Very powerfully built full bodied wine, but with tremendous elegance and weightlessness - a beast in a velvet robe. Hugely concentrated black and blue fruit ensconced within wonderful fine grained powerful tannins with a huge backbone of structure. Earthy and mineral notions abound inside layers of complexity, finishing ridiculously long and pure. This is a very age worthy and wonderful expression of BTK. Optimum drinking window is nowhere close, so hold it unless you feel like experimenting a little.

On a side note, I find it interesting that this wine which is very critically acclaimed (nearly always 98-100) and from perhaps the most famous site in Napa sits for so long direct from the winery. All the while Tynan's own label sells his cab for $50 more with similar or lesser scores and it not only sells out right away, but gets a huge markup in the aftermarket. Many less cases I realize, but still interesting.