3/27/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Considering its 5 years old, amazing that this hits me with mineral and more mineral; very dry, lots of acid. some citrus on the palate and finish but definitely mineral driven all the way. Great stuff!
Does seem to be some bottle variation with the balance between fruit and mineral: this one got all the mineral!

2/1/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

More fruit bomb than CC here. Not bad but no real character. Red fruit is OK to sip; missing the backbone and acidity to make it a good food wine. I guess for the price...

2/4/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Continues to impress: a bigger wine than expected. Lots of structure including tannin but well balanced and tannins are well controlled. Forest, tobacco and leather notes along with some red fruit (berries?). Good stuff

2/12/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Just OK. Nothing wrong but nothing to talk about either. A bit flabby; not a lot of fruit or structure.

2/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Just what it should be: simple, refreshing, a touch of fruit and good balance.

2/20/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Wow! Impressive overall though this vintage may be peaking. Not quite as much fruit as the last bottle a couple of years ago but made up for with elegance, mushroom, forest, herbs and all the good stuff that PN is known for, esp. Burgundies.

3/2/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Had with Indian food for my granddaughter's birthday and it was a perfect pairing. Spices don't overpower this wine! Mineral driven, esp. on the nose; palate has plenty of fruit as well. Great balance of acid, fruit and a lot more.

2/18/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Impressive overall. Nice mineral underneath lots of fruit; mainly citrus. Should age well, if I can keep any around!

2/19/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Some light citrus notes to go with hints of peach on the nose; continued on the palate, maybe a bit of spice. Light body. Given the producer and the price, I expected much more, so disappointing overall.

2/20/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Very light, fruit is subtle. I had low expectations and they were met! Not bad, just not much going on.

2/23/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Disappointing though not bad. Earlier vintages have been classic CC: dusty notes, etc. This is all fruit; not quite a fruit bomb but headed in that direction. Not what I expected for a CC, even a young one. Maybe it needs several years to mature??

2/26/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Disappointing overall, esp. for the price. Originally tasted at the winery where I thought it OK but this bottle was simply overpowered by the oak. Even after being open a couple of days. No sense of CF character. I doubt if age will help but maybe??

3/1/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Nice zin overall; a touch of oak but the zin fruit and character came through: a few earthy notes and hints of the zin "bramble". Med body. Paired well with a variety of food, even Italian.

3/2/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

This note is for 7Cellars The Farm Chard. Pleasant, well balanced. Nice fruit on nose and palate; light body. Some spice along with stone fruit on palate; just barely enough acid for food. Nice to sip

2/29/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Nice gold color, soft nose and palate. Nose opens with ripe fruit (pineapple? peach) and only a touch of mineral. Palate has more mineral underneath apricot and maybe a hint of citrus. Elegant overall and probably at its best drinking window; I had thought it would keep longer and maybe it will but seems like this may be peak. Hard to find much acidity though balance is great. Paired fine with flavorful food.

2/18/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Pleasant but no real character. I know it's a blend but hard to find anything except generic red fruit. OK but not a good value

2/7/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Very impressive! Young but great. Bright red fruit hints of mushroom. Perfect balance of acidity. Even better second and third day.

Will age a long time

Will wait at least a year or two to try again

2/6/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Oak and more oak. Initial nose was promising but palate was all oak chips; not even real oak aging. And, as it was open, the oak became even more prominent.

2/2/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Big, fruity gewurz! Nose has spice, some floral notes and deep (apricot) fruit notes. Rich mouthfeel with more spice and apricot on the finish preceded by hints of mineral under a ton of stone fruit. Not much lychee but it doesn't matter: this is a very nice gewurz!

2/2/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Pleasant but missing much CF (or any other) character. A touch of vegetal notes; otherwise mainly red fruit; decent balance. Light to med body. Better to sip than with food.

1/4/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Great chard; didn't get notes but classic, almost white burgundy.

1/24/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Wow and wow! A bit closed in the first few minutes but quickly opens up. Raspberry/strawberry jam notes on both nose and palate with all manner of deep, dark flavors underneath: earthy, bits of leather, etc. Second and third nights were even better! Still very, very young. This will age a long time!

1/30/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Continues to punch above its weight. Great butter/fruit/spice nose followed by more of same on the palate with peach, apricot and more. Very well balanced acidity: perfect food wine though great to sip as well. The warm 2020 vintage strikes again!

1/27/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Initially seemed ok, just a bit flat. Fruit not as prominent. But as it was open, it deteriorated. I presume there was something wrong as previous bottles have been great

1/28/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

My go to Riesling for a reason: very versatile. Great to sip, great with spicy foods. Had with spicy Thai food and it was great. Well integrated combo of mineral and fruit and acid; holds up to the spices but also almost delicate on the palate. Hard not tolike!

1/27/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Some bottle variability; this one had more oak than I remembered; still a decent zin for the price. Good zin nose, palate has some red and dark fruit, plenty of oak, a bit of bramble, doesn't quite come together.

1/10/2024 - wgilbert3 Does not like this wine:

Way past gone; not even close to drinkable

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Decanted; initially very light and extremely young, not particularly pleasant. Improved over the course of the evening but definitely not a serious PN. Some cherry notes, no mushroom or forest character noticed.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Had with dessert at our Winestock dinner party. Big hit. As others noted, not a big nose but the rich taste and mouthfeel make up for it. Some honeyed notes though not as sweet as some Auslese. While good now, I expect it will be better in a few years.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Obviously well and truly past any reasonable drinking window so we expected to pour it out. Initially completely dominated by woody notes on the nose and especially the palate. That eventually diminished and its gold color and some (oxidized) fruit meant many found it interesting and pleasant enough to sip; others were turned off. But very interesting and impressive nonetheless.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

amazingly drinkable. Certainly oxidized with a very gold color and the bubbles disappeared pretty quickly, but the honey notes and quite a lot of character made it a pleasant enough aperitif. Almost seemed sweet but that was the combination of fruit and how it had oxidized.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Opened with 3 other 1966 Bordeaux (all same provenance) and this was the star! decanted through a coffee filter as the cork did not want to come out. But impressive immediately and continued to impress over the next hour hour and a half as it was consumed. Bright red notes. A bit of cherry and other red fruit with plenty of character. Oxidation and a bit of funk blew off quickly.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

PNP based on earlier reviews. Pleasant. Light and thin when first poured improved over a period of an hour and a half or so. Not great but pleasant enough considering it's age. Tannins gone; forest and related notes, not much fruit. Typical old wine oxidation, not unpleasant.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

blossomed over time but had hints of red fruit at the beginning even though color was dark brown red (but more red than other 1966 Bordeaux opened at the same time). Fruit really showed up after a few hours in the decanter. Very impressive and a great example of good breeding. Complex red fruit, dried fruit, hint of tobacco. Funky notes mainly blew off.

1/14/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Decanted and waited. Initially very thin, very light and oxidized, improved every time we tried it over a period of five or six hours. Blossomed into an interesting if somewhat past its prime wine. Lots of forest notes. Funk mainly blew off after a long time. Not a lot of fruit.

1/3/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Good overall zin for the price. Nice varietal nose with some light fruity notes; nice dark color; good body and structure. Pairs well with food; over powers lighter food. Earthy notes on the palate along with red fruit and some oak. Reasonably well integrated

1/9/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Nice but still too young. Needs another year or probably more. Good vareital flaovr; some green pepper, other vegetal notes. Tannin not over powering but definitely there. But too "green" overall

1/8/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Continues to impress. Nice balance of fruit with mineral under it on both nose and palate. Crisp acidity makes it a great food wine and it is our go to wine for spicy food: holds up when most wines don't. Seems to be improving with age: a bit more fruit without losing the mineral or structure.

1/12/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Continues to impress: this is a big wine! Full bodied, neither grape jumps out so the blend is done well. Plenty of red fruit, hints of leather and forest. Very good food wine as acidity is spot on. Well made, still developing, should age quite a while.

1/9/2024 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Solid CC; typical dusty notes on the nose, light to med body. Good fruit and acid; pairs well with pasta.

1/7/2024 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Way too old. Nothing left

12/24/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Had with Xmas eve scallops. I expected it to be fuller and more aged; had some softer notes but still a lot of mineral type structure. Quite lean overall with just the right amount of acidity. Pleasant but I expected more.

12/28/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Still too young; will wait on other bottles. That said, it was fine with meatloaf. Tannins are present but not the issue; the green nature of the vegetal notes is OK on the palate but they prevent the fruit (noticeable on the nose) from showing up. Plenty of structure; will definitely age well.

12/31/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Very pleasant, crowd friendly sparkler. Served to neighbors with New Years eve brunch: perfect! Pairs fine with lighter foods. Plenty of fizz, just a hint of sweetness along with some tart notes.

12/27/2023 - wgilbert3 wrote:

First night, not much flavor or varietal character. Some mineral. Second night a huge metallic flavor! Very odd. Poured it out.

12/27/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Had with Thai food. Perfect pairing. Mineral attack on the nose. Lots of citrus with tons of mineral underneath on the palate though Citrus gets lost if the wine is too cold. Also petrol notes on the palate. Extremely well balanced and plenty of acidity. Definitely a food wine but great to sip as well.

12/20/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Decent zin whose intensity varies based on the food its paired with. Definitely works with burgers, etc. Withlighter fare, the oak becomes more pronounced, not in a good way.
Still not as overoaked as most CA zins and good for what it is.

12/25/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

Starting to show some age with the citrus notes combined with a bit of honey; still has strong acid and mineral notes. Complex though maybe not fully integrated at this point? Impressive nonetheless.

12/25/2023 - wgilbert3 wrote:

Much lighter and more delicate than I expected. Not much brioche; some fruit, definitely acid. OK but nothing special so disappointing considering the price.

12/21/2023 - wgilbert3 Likes this wine:

This bottle may be off a bit; not corked (I think) but the typical fruit has an acidic note underneath that isn't present in previous bottles. Still has the nice fruity nose and rich fruit first hit on the palate; but finish seems off a bit. Seems to blow off the longer its open but still odd.