4/17/2024 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Was one of the wines of the night at an all mag dinner that included some heavy hitting mags (ie Redigaffi, Ovid Hexameter, Valbuena #5, some high scoring aussie, and others. Some thought it was the WOTN but all agreed it was absolutely in a prime drinking window right now. Lots of mature, rich balanced black fruit, leather, tobacco, chocolate, and earth notes are perfectly rounding out the glass.

11/25/2016 - Buyer and cellar Likes this wine:

Popped this for friends at our post-Thanksgiving day after orgy of leftovers and it was just an awesome drinking experience. It had a deep and magnificent dandelion yellow hue and once we tasted it, the wine was beautifully balanced full of tropical and mineral nuances. Wish i had more bottles of this cuz it still has years left in the tank.

2/25/2012 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Outstanding with a few caveats. I think this wine is actually better than the high score I gave it but admittedly, i was in a pop, pour and drink like a mo fo mood last night, so I didn't really give this bottle a fighting chance to show its full glory. Sill, it came out swinging. Beautiful dense maroon/ purple color. I call it a regal, opaque-like hue. A nose of rich black fruit, exotic asian spices, even a little blood. In the mouth, this wine delivers lush, ripe flavors of black cherries and blackberries, roasted espresso, vanilla, and a bit of mocha too, along with a light hint of sage or brush. It is still very tannic and even a tad hot on the finish. I was celebrating good news from the doctor, so I wish i had decanted this wine for several hours as it was markedly more integrated, open and pleasurable in the final sips....

6/13/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

The 2008 Scarecrow is solid but not as impressive as previous vintages I have enjoyed. The wine exhibits a violet tinged purple color and a bright bouquet that offers up black fruit along with smoke, creosote, and coffee. I picked up on a slight hint of eucalyptus or menthol too. Once you take a sip, you get a nice mix of rich black and blueberries, cassis, malt and vanilla. Overall, I felt it was leaner than vintages like the 03, 04 and 05. There is also a bit more oak than I remember from earlier years and I wondered if it spent more time in barrel or they used a barrel with more toast. I should add that I poured this bottle at a charity event yesterday and many others enjoyed it more than I did. Not trying to diss the wine because I liked it plenty but for the price, it didn't send me to wow-land or get me close to the Emerald City.

5/30/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Came out of the gate acidic and hot and really never came around. It threw off lots of strong aromas that ranged from black fruit and rhubarb to dark cherries but even the cherries smelled tart. On the palate, it was a weird mix of the fruit with a bit of bell pepper, and a definite herbaceousness. After about 3 hours, I picked up on v/a which really has to be pronounced for me to key in on the flaw. At this point in the wine's arc, there was also a tar/burnt rubber hint as well as an earthy tapanade. I really wanted to love this wine as I haven't had a realm in a while. Unfortunately, my experience with this bottle was underwhelming as it never really came together and seemed to become more disjointed and flawed with more time in the glass. I will open another bottle in the near future to see if this was an off bottle given some of the other notes I have seen on this wine.

5/30/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tasted side by side with the 99 W/S Mendocino bottling, this pinot is big and beefy with a lot of powerful fruit. Rich black cherry, cranberries and as others note, a strong dose of cola make up this wine. This wine seems to me to be one of the bolder W/S wines I have tasted in a while. Most show more earth and restraint, though this wine was very good. Would love to taste it again in 4 or 5 years.

5/30/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Bright with a lot of vibrancy still left in it, the wine is loaded with spicy cranberry, strawberry and cola mixed with moderate acidity.

5/17/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Was at Coles Chop House for a celebration dinner and opened a bottle of the 03 Schrader T6 that we brought in for the occasion. This wine is drinking like a dream right now. It is a beautiful blend of power and smooth opulence mixed with lots of class. Every sip was better than the one before. Layer after layer of beautifully integrated rich dark cherries, chocolate, cassis, blueberries, and on and on. The tastes evolve and carries for over a minute. Of all the wines I enjoyed this weekend (and there were a lot of heavy hitters), this was the revelation -- the stand out. Kind of rare when a wine rocks me and delivers like this. We all drink lots of good and great wines regularly, but let's face it, those truly magic moments in the glass are rare. If you are anything like me, when you do have one of those wine epiphanies, it haunts you as you often search in vain trying to replicate that taste or smell that provided the perfect pitch of pleasure. That nirvana you deemed so magical in the moment. The T6 we opened on Saturday was that kind of wine for me. Outrageously good on every level.

5/1/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

An outstanding wine that was opened during a party yesterday at our home. Immediately upon popping the cork, the first thing that struck me and many of my guests was the beautiful color. It was purple but it has an iridescence of violet to it that really made it stand out. I have been drinking this wine since it was in barrel and have now tasted it 5 times and each time I drink a bottle, I come away more and more impressed with what winemaker Macario Montoya delivered. On the nose, you get a beautiful dark cherry core but a little more sniffing reveals all sorts of complexity from spices to a little floral sweetness. When you taste the wine, it really struts it stuff and does it without being a fruit bomb. The flavor profile offers the purity and distinctive syrah notes you want from the varietal: blackberries, chocolate, pepper, soy, roasted meat, and licorice with a little oriental kick. If you can find it, buy it. Very little was produced (something like 100 cases) and the price point is a steal compared to what is in the glass.

Congratulations to Macario and his wife Griselda. They have every reason to be proud of this inaugural effort.

5/1/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Terrific mature bottle of Cal Cab. A little bit of a browning color tinge is starting to mix in with that purple nectar. On the nose, sweet black fruit and earthy notes. The wine is super well integrated and in a great drinking window right now. Powerful yet smooth offering lots of black berry, tea, tobacco and a little leather. Really enjoyable.

1/15/2011 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

a wonderfully expressive California syrah with great focus and balance. Looking forward to watching this one evolve over the next few years.

3/4/2010 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

The 2007 Corra is as exciting as it is exceptional. In a vintage that allowed winemakers to craft wines of genuine glory, the cream rises to the crop.

More polished and powerful than the the wonderful 2004 Corra (which was produced with fruit from Beckstoffer), this new offering (with Pritchard Hill fruit) is a wine of outstanding purity and focus that is exciting to drink now and will age gracefully in the years ahead. It's gonna be hard to keep my hands off my few remaining bottles. Knowing what is in this specific bottle, the real trick may just be the test of restraint as owners resist grabbing one off the rack to share with friends and fellow wine enthusiasts.

I guess I was smitten with this label years ago after my first sip of the 2004. I wear my fan stripes proudly here. But with this latest offering Celia Welch delivers a real show stopper.

I had been enviously and anxiously following others who chimed in on this wine - among them a palate I respect: Roy Piper - who offered a rave after tasting. Could it really be that good? Could it live up to the hype of the vintage or my own lofty expectations? Well, uh, yeah. Actually It can and it does.

It has a beautiful purple/cabernet color. Not opaque. Not deep and blue, like some super extracted fruit bombs can show. From the moment you pour this wine into your glass, you can actually see a noble restraint that shows off just in the color. You should give this baby a little time to open after you pop the cork, but almost immediately, you sense something special. You are doused with a sexy smell of rich dark fruit and exotic teas and spices. In its primal infancy, this child is all about the clean expression of fruit. It's not green. It's not earthy. It's not so overdone that it is pruney or so extracted that you feel like you can spread it on your peanut butter. It is rich and full bodied, yes, but with delicious mouth coating dark cherries and blackberries that blend beautifully with sweet espresso and a little tinge of mocha. This fruit is mixed with these lush, opulent tannins that coat your mouth and leave you wanting more. There is a great moderate mouth feel to this wine that is not dense, but it is powerful yet smooth with a finish that goes on and on and on.

What is so striking to me is the harmony of this wine. Everything works in its own balance here and nothing is out of place peeking out. The fruit isn't overpowered by the tannin and the acid hangs in the back keeping everything in its proper place. This is just exceptionally well crafted wine on every level.

When you taste a lot of wines as we do, the ones that really stand out leave an impression. This one is special.

As a taster, I don't believe in 100 points wines because I don't understand really, why a 99 point wine is not a 100 point wine. Is this a 99 point wine? As a stand alone wine experience - yes, I think so. Would it rank when compared with 99 point wines rated by professional tasters in a blind tasting? One day, I plan to conduct that experiment myself with some friends who truly appreciate great california wines and I guess we will see.

2/15/2010 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Acclaimed winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt's debut from Napa is a pretty stunning cabernet. Only 100 cases were made and I decided to crack a bottle open with some friends today. Mama mia, good stuff. As soon as the cork was disgorged, I sniffed the top of the bottle and was hit with a perfume of plums and black fruit. It really had gorgeous aromatics. I poured a bit into the glass and took a hit and right away was duly impressed. So we poured the wine in a decanter and left it alone for a few hours. When we finally couldn't stand waiting any more, we returned to the purple nectar. In the glass, it was a deep, brooding purple with a regal tint. Hard to describe, but the color reminded me of an african violet, only darker without being black. A little aeration sent a sweet mix of dark berry/cherry fruit, vanilla, floral scents and sage into the air. As I tasted the wine, it was big and extracted with an endless amount of rich, dark blackberry, cassis and ripe cherry at the core. There was a lot going on and depending on where you wanted to go it also had olives, herbs, tea, cocoa, vanilla from the oak and at one point i thought there was some minty aspect to it, but it didn't last long. Solid tannins that add to a moderate mouthfeel but they were firm not chewy. Super enjoyable and sorry I only have 2 bottles left. As for the bottle itself, it has a pretty cool cloth/canvas like label.

12/24/2008 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

From the moment you pull the cork, unbelievable aromatics of cherries, tea and licorice. The scent literally erupts from the glass like lava flowing from a volcano or smoke billowing from a fire. As I write this note, my glass is a good arms length away from me and the flavors have permeated the room. The wine is a beautiful, deep, dense purple that is nearly opaque. As you taste this wine, it has tremendous power and concentration of ripe black cherry, cassis, tea, and a tinge of soy that melt around a bridge of super chewy yet approachable tannins. The best Angelus I have ever experienced - young or old. A complete knock out and a great addition to the cellar.

6/14/2008 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

This is one of the great young Harlans. Rivals the 02 and not as profound, dense and concentrated or strong as the 94, it is polished and ripe with beautiful smooth tannins and great ripe blackberry and plum fruit, espresso and mocha. Tasted at the 2008 Playboy Jazz Festival. Gorgeous. It was the Wine of the Day and it had stiff competition, including the 04 Levy & McClellan, 98 Haut Brion, 04 DRC Echezeaux, 99 Melbury and lots of other great wines, so that tells you how fabulous this wine was showing.

4/5/2008 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Call me a lemming, but when someone says Andy Erickson is involved in a new project with David Abreu and Michel Rolland, I guess I am a sucker for dipping my toe in the water.

So blindly, and perhaps even foolishly, I bought into this one blind with the hopes that the pay off would be worthy of the crap shoot. Without drawing this out too much, for me, the 04 Dancing Hares delivers and is well worth $85 and certainly a California red wine that will evolve nicely for years to come.

The wines were delivered on Thursday and I brought a bottle to my monthly poker game this evening. I popped the cork about 5PM and had a nice blast of ripe red fruit. A little taste gave off not much more than lush oak and primal fruit. When I poured the wine at about 8 PM it was still pretty oaky, with vanilla, chocolate, rich black fruit, cassis, spice, and a dash of menthol. The tannins are firm, the mouthfeel is both lush and solid and there is a tinge of heat on the finish. Overall, very pleasing and sturdy.

I would love to know the blend as there is little to no information about how this wine was mixed either on the bottle or on the website. The fruit comes from two vineyard sources - one at the base of Howell Mountain and one from a higher Howell elevation. Apparently they have planted to cab, merlot and cab franc and i wouldn't be surprised to hear that the merlot is pushed to overpower the cab in this initial blend.

12/1/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

My box of Lillian Syrah arrived this week and I had to pry it open and pop one just to see whether Manfred's magic rubbed off on his protege, Ms. Maggie. Well, I am happy to report that this juice is superb and she clearly learned her lessons at SQN well. The bottle itself is simple and has a beautiful, classy grey and black tone label with what resembles the tip of a peacock feather as the art. As you pour, you find a wine that is thick and majestic and so deeply purple, its opaque. Once in the glass, as you swirl it, the wine kind of hangs on the rim and then ever so slowly the legs form. The nose is filled with sweet black fruit, lots of toasty smoke and burnt sugar and vanilla. I have not given the wine much time to settle, so this is pretty much a pop and pour impression, but I get lots and lots of super ripe, sweet black fruit, black licorice, smoke and rich dark plums. There is a bit of a medicinal end to the finish, but the fruit is nicely fused together with smooth tannins and a bit of acid and just the right amount of alcohol at 15.4%. Really a great first effort from this new winery and a very, very promising debut. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the fruit source changes and Maggie starts using Oregon fruit for her wine.

9/8/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

really enjoyed this wine. good ripe fruit, round smooth tannins. a bit of peppery spice and dark fruit on the nose and palate. absolutely ready to drink right now.

9/8/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

This wine was dry with more acid than i would like to see. It was almost Italian in its taste profile and I thought the fruit was rather lean.. Perhaps more a function of the 00 vintage than anything else. Just an ok zin...

8/31/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

This bottle of araujo was a pristine and perfect bottle. A wow wine. For me, the wine of my recent trip to Napa and it beat out wines like 05 Gemstone and 01 Sloan. Unbelievably fresh - tannins were smooth and nearly resolved but still present ---rich, dark fruit that was harmoniously integrated and just a stunning example of napa valley cab. Yum would be about 15 notches below what this wine really was.

9/3/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Right off the bat, this is a merlot so concentrated -- so dark -- you can't see thru the glass. Completely opaque. Intense, deep aromas of sweet fruit, mocha and vanilla. On the palate, you get smacked with gobs and gobs of rich, dark cherries, sweet coffee, and a dab of clove or a spice in that range. It's a wine that is heavy on the tongue and it has a tannic wallop, but its not overbearing or harsh. The finish lasts and lasts, seemingly for over a minute and you keep tasting this sweet juice as it evolves and fades. This is a big, bruiser of merlot and we quite enjoyed it with our barbq'd steaks on Labor Day. A great way to top off a sensational weekend with family and friends.

6/18/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Opened a bottle of 2002 Modicum the other night. This is French Laundry sommelier Paul Roberts wine conceived with input from Thomas Keller and FL GM Laura Cunningham.

Received 3 bottles last week and couldn't wait to pull a cork. Wow. Beautiful. Dense purple in the glass with superb black fruit aromas. Once you taste it, you get hit with extravagent and lush blueberries and black berries, vanilla, oak and chocolate, all blending together. The wine has a creamy texture and there is a lot of backbone with firm tannins and good acid. I thought this wine was superb. Outstanding really and I look forward to tasting it again in a few years. Too bad I only have 2 bottles left. For 100 bucks, this was a steal. They only made a few hundred cases from an organic vineyard above Auberge De soleil. Was it Sloan????

I really don't remember the last time a new wine rocked me this hard.

I am not sure who the winemaker is -- need to check when I get home.. Was it Martha???

5/20/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Garnet and unfiltered in appearance -- almost murky on site, this wine has a bright nose of pinot cherries and fruit.. in the mouth, a moderate mouthfeel and earthy taste -- lots of truffle and maybe a hint of sage??? dark cherries and funk.. is it brett? I liked it for its complexity and dare i say burgundian quality...

5/20/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

drank at poker game.. lots of alcohol and ripe, sweet fruit

5/20/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

raisiny and off

5/14/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

An outstanding bordeaux. Intense dark purple color with solid aromatics of earthy dark fruit and plum. On the palate, super round and resolved... lots of tobacco, tar, earth and black fruit. Consumed at Boa with steaks for my brother's birthday. this wine had non-wine, vodka swilling neophytes in a tizzy. It is a classic wine in every sense and this bottle was a pleasure that kept on getting better with every sip. Tasted side by side with a 94 Mouton Rothschild and it blew the Mouton (from a weaker vintage) out of the water. The sheer pleasure of this wine reinforces why I love this hobby as much as I do! I scored it 95 points and I may be underscoring it.

2/4/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Haven't tasted this is a while and what a terrific bottle of this wine! Nothing is better than dusting off a wine like this -- purchased on release with the price tag of $27 bucks still in tact. Deep maroon with a little bit of brown on the rim, its got an intense nose of licorice, char, grape, and blood. On the palate, its got a full bodied mouth feel and this bottle had tannins that were very pleasing and smooth. Wonderful core flavors of roasted meat, sour cherries, mushroom and earth. A super wine for a super bowl sunday that goes perfectly with the homemade chili and fixings we've got simmering in the kitchen.

2/1/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

The 02 marcassin is genius in a glass. Its just magic to taste and enjoy and share with friends who love and appreciate wine. I couldn't erase this one from my head -- the taste, the flavors, the smell, the complete pleasure...Its like it haunted me all thru the night. Dark, exotic cherries and chocolate and earth perfectly intertwined. How can a wine be so piercing and powerful and yet still so supple and refined at the same time? What grace.

2/1/2007 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

I am sorry I don't have more of this wine because it is insanely good. From the moment I popped the cork, the fruit lept from the bottle, but it is not a fruit bomb of a wine in the style of -oh, say KB. Don't get me wrong -- I like that kind of wine -- but this is just sensational, textured, tannic, classy pinot and probably the best oregon pinot I have ever layed my lips on. That includes the SQN pinots from Shea. Mark Hubbard said its Burgundian. Its showy and complex with an elegant core of dark fruit -- ie plums and cherries and licorice -- and stones and a kick of spice. Its a great food wine with plenty of acid to cut thu any sauces or grease. I was tremendously impressed and enjoyed every sip. With the two generous pours, it gained weight and I am gonna enjoy sharing this one with friends over the next several years. Thanks, Doug Wilder for turning me on to this beaut and thank you Laura Juhasz for being so responsive to my emails!

12/2/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tasted on day 2... Deep dark garnet that's pushing towards (but not quite) purple and a hint of murkiness in the glass. Burnt sugar and black fruit on the nose - a whiff of licorice that carries onto the palate when you taste the juice. Medium bodied in the mouth with cassis and cola... a tinge of heat, but overall an easy going cab with tannins that are pleasant and firm. Nice finish.

11/22/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Charbono! Char-what, I remember saying when I was placing my order for some of Bob's claret and petite syrah when I was told I had to try the Charbono. The woman on the phone said I would regret it if I didn't take a few bottles, it was that good. So last night, as I was doing some pre-Thanksgiving kitchen prep work, I tore into the Charbono and right off the bat it was delicious. Out of the bottle, it had an almost electric purple, opaque color and a nose of rich, dark fruit. Bright acid that tamed a bit as the evening wore on, the wine had a medium bodied to heavy mouth feel. This isn't a delicate wine. It's loaded with cassis and more than a hint of cocoa. This wine was terrific last night and it had so much fruit, structure and acid, it will last for years.

10/31/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

As the kids rifled thru the neighborhood happily screaming trick or treat to anyone with a bowl of candy and a smile, daddy pulled out a treat from the cellar... With a sweet nose of rich black fruit and cedar, this wine is at prime drinking age and is behaving like its got a long life still ahead of it. In the mouth, there is a solid tannic backbone and copious amounts of cassis, black cherry, tobacco and roasted espresso. With a full mouthfeel that drives for a good 40 seconds or longer, this is still, dare I say, youthful. A solid 93-94 pts..

5/29/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

After a more than 10 year quest to secure a place on the Marcassin mailing list, I finally got some!!! I cracked into my first case from the winery and yanked out a 2002 Three Sisters Chardonnay and took it down to Orange County where I popped the cork with some former neighbors who moved away a few years ago and we dearly miss.

I am a brawny red man so I ask, how can chardonnay be this good? Honestly. Does she put crack in the bottle? Gorgeous in its infancy, there is a slightly green tint to the juice in the glass. Citrus scents on the nose and on the palate, a beautiful and intense blend of oak and butter and generous amounts of fruit. Wouldn't call it crisp as it is more complex than crisp but it is a genius wine. Can't wait to taste the marcassin vineyard chard.

4/24/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

A perfect wine on a perfect evening. Tasted at La Pergola while in Rome. Deep dark plum in color. Sweet aromatics followed with penetrating perfection in the glass -- so much so that even Amy adored it. I have never given 100 to a wine and this was pure perfection and balance with smooth tannins, clean acid and outrageously pure fruit that hit you with wave after wave for over 40 seconds. Served with a meal that began with amuse bouche that showed off three types of asparagi (the italians worship this veggie) -- one was a tempura thingy, the other was a gelatinous thing, I had the deep fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with shellfish in a saffron consume reduction, a strawberry and lobster salad and Amy and I shared a lef of lamb cut off the bone in front of the table. The wine was a perfect match with the lamb. When we entered the restraunt, we were escorted to a balcony overlooking the city. The sky was orange as the sun went down and was replaced with a full moon and a clear sky. A stunning sight that I will remember forever.

4/3/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

One of my favorite wine retailers, Steve Bialek, urged me to take home a bottle of the 2003 Goulee and give it a try. At $27 bucks, what was there to lose? I bought it and popped it last night at a dinner with some friends. I am going back tomorrow and buying a whole lot more. This is a fantastic house wine. Lots of really round fruit -- primarily cassis & blackberry -- that is a pleasure to drink now and will age well for the next several years. Accessible tannins, oak, a bit of earth and a steal at the price for what is in the bottle. Made by the Cos d'estournel team of Jean Guillame Prats and Michel Reydier. This one gets the purple teeth award for screaming good bordeaux value! As a side note, I bought 6 at LA WINE CO at $27.50 and have been buying more at winecommune between $12-15 a pop... at that price, it is a steal!!!!! My main tip having tasted 3 bottles now, let this sucker open for at least an hour if you want to take the wine to a more enjoyable level.. Well worth the wait. If you have time, decant and let it breath.

3/31/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

What can be said that hasn't already been written about this wine. I love it when good bottles actually live up to the hype and this one is freaky good. Deep maroon in color. Blood, anise and spicy fruit on the nose. Super tight tannins numb the tongue and take hold giving way to licorice, coarse pepper, mushrooms, a hint of menthol and dark fruit. 45 seconds + of power! Heavy mouth feel and the overwhelming feeling that this monster was created by Dr. Frankenstein himself. Looking forward to enjoying this in a few years when it starts to mellow a notch. 97 points easily.

2/5/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Ist of my super bowl wines... This one is really concentrated purple in color... It has a fantastic grape and dark cherry cola nose. It's a big wine with sweet ripe fruit. Gobs and gobs of plum, dark cherries and tea coat the palate. It's got good solid but not huge tannins and they just coat the tongue to provide a big mouthfeel. The finish lasts for 35-40+ seconds and the immensity of the wine carries on like a musical note that crecendos and fades. If you like your cabs fruit forward but not jammy, this is well done.

2/3/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Good dark purple color. Mild discoloration at the rim, but still pretty youthful in appearance. Hard to avoid the big beefy bell pepper and earthy nose. Cherry, leather and bell pepper hit the tongue with a lot of force. Lots of tannin but they don't overwhelm and there is a little heat as this bordeaux blend goes down the gullet. I am not sure what I like more, the wine or what I paid for it?

1/28/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tasted at our monthly poker game, this wine is surprisingly good. I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but there is something really gaudy and ostetntatious about the Darioush winery on the Silverado trail that makes me keep on driving whenever I am visiting Napa. It reminds me of a home near where I grew up owned by a sheik who painted the lawn statues anatomically correct. It reaks of something completely foreign and maybe I am just a bit closed minded when it comes to experiencing things I really don't know much about. Anyway, this is my second experience with these wines and I remember really enjoying my last bottle with friends too. Good juice, especially for a 2000. Now I know there are a lot of great wines at this price point, and it's really easy to make a lot of other choices before choosing this, but I say dive in. I may be giving it more credit than it deserved just because it surprised me, but this wine was a palate pleaser. Good cabernet fruit. Enough roasted coffee, mocha and cocoa for a wine amateur to remark "this would go really good with chocolate." Did it knock the socks off my feet.. no, but pleasantly worth the experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

1/16/2006 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

During the awards season (Golden Globes & Oscars) we generally open up a good bottle (or three) and watch the show. Tonight we opened the 94 Mouton and its a deep maroon in color with a little hint of orange splashing around the rim. Great aromatics. Sweet blackberries and dark plums and cherries hit the nose with a little bit of earthy stewed fruit. Those black cherries you smell are well represented in the taste blend that coats the mouth with currants, perfumed fruit, tobacco, roasted coffee and a bit of minerality. There is still a lot of life left in this wine, but it is drinking well right now.

12/25/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

To cap a great Christmas we turned to a 10 year-old zinfindel that I thought surely would be over the hill. We have a turkey on the BBQ grill and while waiting, we opened a 96 Turley Tofanelli Vineyard zin. I am sure a few years back the flavors were sharper. The bottom line is drinik em if you've got em, but this bottle is in surprisingly good shape given its age. A tinge of discoloration on the rim -- medium purple and thick in the glass. The nose explodes with jammy gobs of cassis and plum and boysenberry. In the mouth, you get an exotic and flowery mix of cherries and dark fruit and notes of spice. There is still a full texture to the wine and a hot feel that warms the pipe on its way down your throat. Turley rarely disappoints.

12/23/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

More garnet than purple in appearance. Earth and barnyard mix with cedar, tobacco, leather and dark fruit on the nose. In the mouth, the concentration and intensity just isn't there that you find in stronger vintages. Still, it has an ample amout of black cherry as well as cassis, pepper and roasted coffee. The tannins do a commendable job in adding some heft and backbone to the wine and they create the impression that there is more there there in terms of length of the finish.

12/19/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tonight I took my staff and their spouses and significant others to Valentinos for a holiday dinner and brought a magnum of the 97 Bruno Giacosa Santo Stefano from my cellar. I wonder if my guests really appreciate what we were drinking? Well, I did, dagnabbit and I think they did too. This is a beautiful wine with a color that resembled a heavy pinot noir. It was garnet, but not really that dark and it was a bit cloudy in the glass. Rich with berry and spice, it also showed lots of tobacco and a hint of licorice. The tannins were easy going, but definitely a presence. A wonderful wine to share and a fantastic meal was had by all.... Valentinos still has it after all these years.

12/9/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

This wine is dark purple in color and so dense, when you tilt the wine in the glass to get a sense of color variation, you can barely see your fingers under the dark hue. On the nose, rasberry, plum and sweet, blackfruit. This baby explodes in your mouth with massive tannins and copious gobs of dark fruit, espresso, leather and roast that get overshadowed by a palate full of pucker that hangs and hangs for well over 40 seconds. In its first hour of life it is a wine that would dominate virtually any food pairing that I can think of... I will play with this bottle for the next few days, but on first glance, I won't be touching another one of my bottles for at least 24 months.

12/6/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

It's been a wicked few weeks at the office and today my boss stepped down. I called my wife and had her uncork a bottle of 01 Insignia to have it ready to drink when I got home. Lots of black cherry and dark fruit flavor packed in this wine. Subdued notes of chocolate and black licorice. Really accessible, round tannins on the palate...Drinking super well right now....

More than posting a tasting note, I wanted to say thanks to this board. Over the last few weeks when the days at the office have been long, challenging and uncertain, turning to wine and the love of my family, reading the posts on this bb and focusing on my collection has been a great distraction from the bitter reality of the real world.

12/6/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

It's been a wicked few weeks at the office and today my boss stepped down. I called my wife and had her uncork a bottle of 01 Insignia to have it ready to drink when I got home. Lots of black cherry and dark fruit flavor packed in this wine. Subdued notes of chocolate and black licorice. Really accessible, round tannins on the palate...Drinking super well right now....

12/4/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tasted at our monthly poker game. Another B&H fruit bomb of a merlot. Purple and violet in color with a nose of ripe fruit. The wine itself is jammed with blueberries and a bit of a floral kick. It's got a little vanilla bean somewhere deep in the glass and maybe that is throwing a bit of a spicey quality to it. The fruit is well rounded -- almost creamy in texture. Nice..

12/3/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

Tasted at our monthly poker game, this wine shows like a mini Opus One. Deep purple but not so dark that you can't see thru the glass. Lots of cedar, currant, tobacco, notes of cherry and chocolate with oak and easy tannins. Nice concentration and feel in the mouth and drinking nicely now. Feels like it still has a few good years before it really starts to wane.

12/3/2005 - Buyer and cellar wrote:

This is the kind of juice that made me fall in love with wine. I opened up the first of my Scholium Project wines on 10/15/2005 and it is absolutely stunning. I pulled the cork on the 2002 Scheria. I wasn't so sure at first. It was as tight as a death grip. It was tart and acidic and giving off very little in terms of flavor. The inky dark purple color said there was something heavy in the glass, but it needed a solid 30-40 minutes before it started to purr. This is syrah from the Hudson Vineyards in Carneros and once it started to open, you couldn't stop it from singing. Once you successfully transitioned from it's cradle, it revealed massive intensity and blueberry fruit. It is a hot wine with 14.9% alcohol. At a certain point after an hour and a half, it was throwing off root beer and wild cherry notes as well as licorice, coffee and roast. The whole mouth just explodes in flavor for a good 60+ seconds. It's enormous almost numbing and dense. You feel like you have sucked on a Jolly Roger candy the flavor is so extracted. I loved the ways this wine thru me... It was like Sybil with so many personalities. I only have a few bottles, but this one will be fun to watch for the next few years. Only 71 cases and damn it is exciting! You gotta get your hands on some of this.