12/5/2020 - EpochMD Likes this wine:

Consumed over 3 days - Broodier than previous iterations, dark berry, some earth on the back end of it, long dark finish with some tar. Really big and structured, tannins definitely there. Blueberry and black cherry. On day 3 this seems to get a bit into its groove from a fruit standpoint with darker berry coming in with good poise but tannins more prominent - I think this is a hint of an excellent wine to be. Not to be the dissenting vote, but I have not enjoyed this as much as previous releases (at least early on) - it has structure but lacks that feel of specialness that I think was present on previous vintages. The fruit is more subdued and lacks the punch. Still represents a relative bargain with Realm but not quite the QPR maven it used to be. This deserves a really long decant or a hold for a few years - sending the rest of mine to slumber for a bit. 92 now - I do see a big upside however, maybe 95-96 in a few years.

4/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Stunning wine. Never had a Pinot like this. Beautiful aromas of red cherry, smoke and rose. Sweet oranges and red cherry dominate the palate. Beautiful balance with a good tannic finish. Absolute pleasure to drink. I don't know what 5-10 years bring to this wine, but there's no reason to feel bad about drinking now. Wow.

4/3/2019 - MWiking wrote:

Like this wine more and more!

10/5/2019 - SARED Likes this wine:

93+, 94-95 with time?

Versus a '14 Cailles I tried a few months ago, this LSG had a bigger nose, felt more powerful, more concentrated with more brambly red wildberries and rustic earth. But still in a very elegant style similar to the Cailles. I prefer the LSG more this vintage, liking that greater power and concentration. I wonder for a bigger vintage like '15 or '16, might I prefer the Cailles?

5/8/2018 - Sundbyberg wrote:

Sure, more depth than a good village wine, and after swirling the glass for half an hour or so, this turned quite good. But Dujac is very pricey and is this that much better than a good village?
Quite different from the 2014, which I found very drinkable, modern and perfumed, and also better. But the 2015 should certainly improve with more time.
Mixed experience with Dujac. This is redicelously overpriced, by the way.

12/27/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

From coravined bottle. Candied fruit, herbs, and cool purple flowers. Palate was all about pure fruit in a transculent and ethereal manner. Very nice. 94

6/8/2019 - csimm wrote:

2017 Carter (Carter Cellars (Envy Wines) - Calistoga): On first sip, this OG was a sweeter and riper version of the barrel sample I had before. Rich black cherry starts off the race on the front end, pulsating out additional flavors of cassis, fresh black soil, and some wet rock. My favorite in the lineup, with a notable concentration mid-palate and a complex layering of flavors already starting to develop and peek through the initial blast of fruit on the front end. Notes of black cherry, cassis, and dark obsidian-inflected earth re-fire on the back end and carry through the finish. Deeper and more intense than its siblings. Hold for another 3+ years to best hone its sense of balance and seamlessness. 96+ (pushing 97) points, with certain upside after 2023+.

12/7/2019 - dmwilsondvm Likes this wine:

Memento Mori (Napa tasting room): Thus far, one of the best 2017s I’ve encountered. Blend of 5 vineyards....Crane, Las Piedras, Weitz (Leopoldina for you Turnbull fans), Vine Hill, Oakville Ranch. Showing beautifully. Fills the glass with dark cherry, gravel, touch of spice, plums on the finish. Very smooth, medium body. Masterfully blended. Bravo!

2/15/2020 - sean7711 Likes this wine:

With the upcoming 2016 offering, I hadn't yet tried some of my Tynan wines laying around, so I figured why not open up a 2014 and see how it is.

This is my highest rated wine ever on CT (a 2016 Kinsman was a 98 a few months ago and a 2016 Vangone last month was another 98). I opened this around 8am, and double decanted back into the bottle after 10 hours. The aroma and the nose coming out of the decanter was dizzying. Easily the most complex, swirling flavors I've ever experienced. In the glass, it had so many layers. Subtle, well integrated tannins, velvety, full bodied, even the color was unique to many other Napa cabs. It had this dark cherry with a translucent edge to it, with a bit of purple.

This is easily the best wine I've had in my relatively young life. Amazing, period. With the right decant, this can be enjoyed now, but this will easily last 20+ more years.

6/8/2019 - csimm wrote:

Sam Kaplan - Arkenstone, Mememto Mori, Maxem, Vangone #2: Frame over fruit on the initial attack, with a youthfully linear drive that hones-in on more evergreen and Christmas spice-cedar-earth notes before the wild black cherry and wild raspberry flavors start to kick in. Somewhat of an inverse experience when I had this in barrel back in February, where it was fruit before earth and spice. This 2017 is certainly less plush in its current state than the more fruit-forward 2016 version. More grip and a smaller lane for the fruit to drive through at the moment.

1/9/2020 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine:

VHR Tasting with Heather & Bruce at Pappas Steakhouse. The 2012 vintage being poured alongside the 2017.

2017 is expressive in every sense. Violet in coloring with a very floral red fruit on the nose. High acid. Three heat spikes mitigated by vineyard layout and great management team. I really enjoyed tasting vintage along side the 2012. Two very distinctly different expressions of Vine Hill Ranch fruit. Both young in every sense. I find that the 17 might be best enjoyed now with steak. Save the 12 for a couple more years. Maybe 2022. Both wines are great for very different reasons.

1/26/2020 - csimm wrote:

Red and black raspberry, vanilla, red currant, and hints of scorched earth and espresso powder. A floral note briefly appears but then quickly dissipates. Smooth and fairly balanced on entry, but mostly one-note throughout consumption. Stays pedestrian throughout delivery, even after 4+ hours in the decanter. A rounded frame makes for only medium focus and a casual walk-in-the-park finish. (Not that walks in the park aren’t kinda nice and all, but that’s about all they are... kinda nice). In the 92-94 realm at best for me.

I’m sure the Exalted Highness of the Scarecrow loyalists will say it just needs time, I opened it too early, and how dare I evaluate a wine that is clearly meant for another decade+ of cellaring.... and you’d likely be (partially) right. Plus, I’d be (and kinda ‘am’) super bent too if I just spent a few grand on a handful of bottles and along came some jackalope who didn’t give the wine climactic thousand-point reviews. Well, best delete this note then my friends, because this dude was a tad disappointed in this wine’s showing. Youthfully primary is one thing; boring is another. Just sayin’.... (PS: I’ve learned if you say ‘just sayin’ at the end of any sentence, it makes it ok to say whatever you want and not be blamed for it - Hooooraaay for lack of personal accountability!)... And hey, if you drink this wine and it makes orgasmic butterflies launch from your nether-regions, good on ya. That just wasn’t the case with this little soldier.

Without the fancy hay-stuffed wood box, Illuminati aura, and Area 51 access, the juice itself could have been from any halfway decent Napa Cabernet. The flavors seemed pure and decently fresh, but any semblance of complexity was not even in the conversation (I guess this Scarecrow really does need a brain).

...This conjures up a whole bunch of internal rhetoric about the role of the Scarecrow in the stigmatization of Mid-West farmers’ intellect and how wine doesn’t (or at least, shouldn't) grow in Kansas anyway so why should one expect it to manifest itself successfully as a cult wine label in Napa... but that just seems.....unnecessary..... :)

For the optimist, hold remaining bottles for another 7++ years. To the pessimist, I say donate your stash to the King of Siam so he can fund his military for the next year or so....

1/31/2020 - csimm wrote:

Similar to last year, performing like a champ with juicy white peach, guava, acacia, lychee, lime, fresh squeezed lemon juice, grass, and white stone. I’d buy this by the case if it didn’t cost as much as a Prius.

9/23/2019 - ledocq Likes this wine:

Pretty overwhelming, and easily the most complex domestic sauvignon blanc I've ever had. Zero cat pee, zero "this is making me drool" salivary attack, all flavor not yet unpacked from its considerable structure. I have two more bottles that I need to bury for a while -- even though this drank pretty well after a couple of hours i was aware that this might need some time to unfold its wings. Highly recommended.

8/9/2019 - River Rat wrote:

Haven’t seen any notes on this wine yet so hopefully this will be helpful. Picked up my wine yesterday and decided to Pobega a couple that haven’t been covered in the forums.

Pop, pour, 3+hrs in glass.
Pours dark crimson red. Nose loaded with tobacco, cedar and cassis. Texture is dense and viscous with ample dark fruit, chocolate covered coffeee beans followed by a wall of sweet tannins. Very chewy. Prototypical Myriad Napa Valley.

3/17/2019 - csimm wrote:

One of my Napa Cabs of the vintage, and a consistent standout every time I pop the cork. This wine simply lays waste to a whole mess of wines when in comparative tastings or as a stand-alone. The complexity here is absurd, with a dark mineral-inflected core that actually speaks less to Rutherford and more toward LPV or Steltzner/Stags Leap sites (so I guess I should ding it down 0.427 points for not accurately representing its proper terroir - So, 99.573 rounded-up is 100 last I checked).

Frame, speed, grip, precise flavor expansion on the mid-palate, viscosity, depth, texture/mouthfeel ... You can go ahead and check all of your little sommelier boxes on this phenomenal specimen. What really draws me in here is how focused this biooootch is. I’m not sure how it achieves such a well-honed and complex delivery of flavors while still kicking down crazy awesome on the savory front. It has personality and a sharpened intensity I love.

The flavors themselves are, as before, a trifecta of black berry, black rock, and bad assery. This was a PnP, and it performed great right from the pull. Air helped to broaden the blackberry and obsidian notes in a way that was perfectly governed both in weight and in speed. I’m not sure what the finish was like really because it went on forever and I was already taking another sip before it actually ended... whenever that was exactly... the next day perhaps.

My only issue with this wine is that I didn’t buy 5 cases of it. And of course... I don’t see it on Wine-Searcher anywhere, even in some random place like Hong Kong, or London..... or Azerbaijan.

Alas, the trials and tribulations of first-world disappointments: “...If only I could find and kidnap my favorite wine so as to tuck it away in my precious cellar like Gollum’s ring or some Silence of the Lambs Buffalo Bill wackamo.”

99.573-100 points.

11/22/2018 - Papillon1112 Likes this wine:

This is as close to a perfect PNP than any Pinot Noir I can recall savoring. Looks like Aubert UV has company at the top!

6/23/2018 - Bathtub58 Likes this wine:

Cherry, red fruit, acid, nice balance, medium body, and young. Reminds me of a Ponsot Cuvée des Alouettes. Domaine de la Cote tasting room

3/10/2019 - JEP007 Likes this wine:

Nursed over the last week and a half, checking in every couple days. While enjoyable young, this needs a few years to knit together. If the blend tastes this good, I can only imagine their SVs are next level. Looking forward to trying their Dr. Crane, my favorite valley floor vineyard.

10/13/2018 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

I thought this might be the last occasion to check in on the 2015 before they go into hibernation… tasted next to the Les Cailles. Super fascinating how different they are. While the Les Cailles is as always the more accessible, radiant, perfumed and "feminine" (for lack of a better word), this vintage of Vaucrains is surprisingly open, but still more clenched than the Cailles. And of course also very different in aromatics.

Notes of sweet red and dark red fruit, cranberries, red currant but also cassis, there is this pungent ferrous minerality only Vaucrains is able to achieve, but also lifted notes of crushed violets, and some smoke and spices. It's medium-full bodied, dense and powerful, note surprisingly more structured than the Cailles, with high acidity cutting through the richness and high but incredibly classy tannin. Superb length with a touch of bitterness on the finish. A superb, structued, age-worthy but at this stage surprisingly delicious Vaucrains of the highest level. This will of course need a few years longer... Wow! (95-97)

1/11/2019 - etyc Likes this wine:

Fairly reticent when popped. Slight improvement after having been in the decanter for ~1-hr... Only started to bloom much later, with more time in the glass. Had spice, macerated cherries, plums, herbs - a melange of flavours on the nose. Nice weight, sapidity on the palate, with more plums and dark-red fruited notes. Guesses around the table centered mainly around Vosne... Given the evolution with air/time, this should definitely get better with more cellar time.

1/24/2019 - msuwine wrote:

This wine is just beautiful at the moment - deep fruit, bright acidity, and enough nuance to make it worth the price of admission. Raspberry in color and medium in body, the wine offers aromas of cranberry, bay leaf, and white flowers.The tastes are integrated and lovely - baked blueberry, anise, eucalyptus, and fresh herbs - followed by a lingering and balanced finish. 14.3% alcohol.

This occupies a compelling middle ground in California Pinots. I know these are hard to get - and a little old news - but they are classy and complex. I don't often say a CA Pinot is "Burgundian" - they are almost always too powerful and bright - but this fits the Old World mold - ripe, complex, perhaps a bit damp and understated, but delicious. Drink in next few years.

2/8/2019 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

Vertical of 16 vintages of Gantenbein Pinot Noir.

A hedonistic pleasure… Sweet deep dark red cherries, sous-bois, licorice, notes of graphite and sweet spices, as well as some mocca notes. It's medium-full bodied, dense and pretty powerful, but with excellent freshness of medium-high acidity and very good medium+ tannin. Very good length. A beautiful balance of freshness, richness and structure will make sure that this is gonna age beautifully for quite a while. The extra level of fruit does make if very accessible already though.

1/6/2019 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:

Same note as before. Really over delivers for the price. Accessible right away but enough structure to continue improving over the course of 5 years plus. Plenty of restraint but with plenty of ripe 2016 fruit peaking through.

11/23/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:

Quick one hour decant here but in reality needs several more hours or just bottle age. Big with but in no way over the top. Chalky black/blue fruit, dusty earth, cassis, anise, and a slight vegetal note. Good quality and great price point.

10/16/2018 - Lateva wrote:

Nice wine here. Pop and pour. Nose of dark fruit, blue/blackberry, espresso, and some soil. Palate is lighter in feel but not from being elegant. Just seems the midpalate is lacking a bit. Nice Finnish. Firm tannins. May be a bit hot on the finish.

11/7/2018 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine:

Tasting at Memento Mori. No notes. Three killer wines this vintage, how does one choose a favorite child hell if I know. The three siblings all play a vital role in the new world/old world profile which is one I am beginning to reach for more and more (similar to, although very different flavor profile, 2015 Carte Blanche Cabernet). Medium +, not in your face Napa Cabernet but one that grows and expands from attack through the finish. This was a similar impression for all three of the wines.

The doctor stood out from the three, maybe by a point, as being darker brooding, creamy and undeniably delicious (delicious-Er? Ok made that up but all three were excellent)

Fortunately/unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I have found another amazing winemaker to add to my ever increasing list that many are already aware of... with price tags not for the fair of heart. I am realizing the old saying about friends with planes should really about friends with amazing wine.

What ever happened to Purple Passion and Boone’s Strawberry Hill? 96+ that may expand with a bit of cellar time.

10/20/2018 - GQG Likes this wine:

Been waiting all summer for this day... my first Carter. Wow. I have no history to regale, no reference to measure by, no words to convey, but I have a new standard now. It's that great, in every way. First Carter, first 100 score on CT, and just... yum!

Thanks to all the CT'ers for their opinions on Carter; awareness is huge.

10/28/2018 - #1Winelover wrote:

To start, I would say that the sum of its vineyard parts are not as good as the vineyards from where the fruit is sourced. This medium-bodied perfectly fine wine is drinking quite well although for my palate, there is nothing special going on here.

I am a wine consumer and as such, price matters. Contrary to what others write, when I spend $125/bottle, I expect an excellent bottle of wine; even when it's from Napa and it's Cabernet. There are many, many wineries that are producing wine that are at and lower than $125 bottle.

This wine, IMHO, should be compared with other entry level Napa blends because that's what this wine has unfortunately become. Once a special wine, it's their house blend and produced at thousands of cases. If, for example, one compares this to Quivet or Myriad which are 1/2 of the price, there is no comparison.

#pittsburghstrong
#stongerthanhate

10/27/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:

Fat, chewy, ultra ripe, and currently unitegrated with all the power and extraction upfront. Tannic grain sticks to your teeth and grips way to hard in the midsection and finish to be fully enjoyed. Stylistically more similar to the 12/13 Bard’s and much more structured than the 14/15. Decanted 3 hours but in reality just needs 5 years.

10/18/2018 - vikingbass71 Likes this wine:

Amazing blue purple color. Blueberry, black cherry soda, mint. Energetic mouth feel. Tension and tight tannins. 45 sec finish. This will be awesome in 2 years. Don’t miss out!

9/13/2018 - ColluraJ Likes this wine:

Tasted at the winery. This is an 80% cabernet, 10% merlot, 2% petit verdot blend (yes it doesnt add up to 100 - but that is what they told me). This is half of the production of Realm (2500 cases). Medium ruby color and clear. Moderate aromas of red apple, cream and metals. Bone dry with a full body. Crisp acidity with high, round tannins. Fair balance. Moderate flavors of red raspberry, apple and oak. Long finish. Ok.

8/3/2018 - nzinkgraf wrote:

Here more red and black fruit than the 2015 Bard. A plusher, more billowy palate than the 2015 as well.

6/3/2018 - MattMauldin Likes this wine:

Sonoma County May 29, 2018: Aromas of tea leaf, fig, smoked paprika and lavender- nicely complex. Succulent and snappy red fruit palate with secondary layers of mineral, earth and florals. Finely elegant weight and tannins and very good depth on the finish. Excellent.

12/3/2017 - R.H. Likes this wine:

A bit one dimensional now. Wouldn’t touch this yet, just too early.

4/27/2018 - jimyeni Likes this wine:

Tasting in Napa during Campovelo cycling; 4/27/2018-4/30/2018 (Napa, CA): Barrel sample. A little powdery on the finish. Lots of fennel and baking spices. The mid palate is slightly smoother than the 2015 a bit richer. This is going to be amazing when it is released.

4/11/2018 - jaxpaj wrote:

My new find! I hope they stay reasonably priced!

3/27/2018 - norzano Likes this wine:

Really incredible. Crisp, light fruit (apple/pear) on the nose. The freshness on the nose is eye opening. Green apple, honeysuckle, slight oak/vanilla that coats the mouth just right. One of the better Chardonnays I’ve had this young.

1/5/2018 - ageverett Likes this wine:

Pop and splash decant. Drank over 60 minutes.

Jumped right out of the glass with dark red and black fruits. Graphite. Perfect body for my tastes - nothing over done about this wine. Finish was so well rounded and lingering . . . . mmm. Left you wanting more immediately.

Can last for quite some time in the cellar, but plenty happy with this early showing.

2/28/2018 - msuwine wrote:

This rich and polished wine is drinking well right now, especially after a few hours of air, but it still seems like the best is yet to come. I initially thought this was a sugary mess, but air helped calm down and open up; there is a lot of good here, but I'm going to wait another year or so in order to open my other bottle.

Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of blueberry, Hershey's chocolate bar, menthol, and herbs. Tastes of boysenberry, cherry pie, pencil shavings, and cedar, with a sweet finish carrying fine-grained tannins and a hint of tartness. 15% alcohol. Be sure to decant, since this needs 2-3 hours of air to bring down the volume. I'm not typically a huge fan of Melka, but this wine has uniqueness and depth to go along with the usual polish - it's easily the best of his wines that I've ever had.

Having tasted a few (wonderful) 2015s lately, I think this is a step behind the best, at least at the moment. The Carter Verdad 2015 is a revelation: compared to the Vice Versa, the Carter had more depth and integration, with none of the youthful, almost cloying, sweetness. The Maybach Materium 2015 was also a step ahead of the Vice Versa, which was not as nuanced or full as the Maybach. They're all lovely wines, but those are my impressions at the moment.

In short, the Vice Versa tastes plush and promising, yet not completely formed. It (understandably) needs more time to come into its own, but - when it does - I have very high hopes for this wine. 94-95 for now.

3/8/2018 - msuwine wrote:

This plummy and rustic wine is easily the worst Benoit Tocquette wine I've ever tasted (and I even liked his 2011s!). This wine was all over the map to me: at first it was prickly and backward, then it was raisiny and sweet, then it was gamey and meaty. I'm confident as to the provenance (i.e., reputable retailer), but I'm disappointed as to my conclusion: this wine is a mess.

Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of blueberry pie, prune, and chocolate bar. Tastes of cherry pie, licorice, cocoa, and vanilla, with a tight and sweet finish. 14.1% alcohol. Blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 5% Syrah, and 5% Petit Verdot. Improved after an hour of air. Better on second day.

I adore Benoit's work with Realm and Fait Main, along with Kata, Jack Quinn, and Hartwell. I opened this expecting a solid JV effort at a decent price (similar to the Teeter Totter): maybe a little rustic, maybe a little shallow on the mid-palate, but still providing a punch and polish that Benoit can deliver unlike few others. Instead, this just seemed a little too close to flying over the Cuckoo's Nest: too ripe, too rustic, too gamey. Give it a year, and hope for the best.

2/8/2018 - csimm wrote:

3-Day Napa Cab Taste-Off: Vice Versa, B Cellars, Memento Mori, Alpha Omega, Purlieu, Janzen, Realm, Myriad, MACDONALD, Maybach, and more...; 2/7/2018-2/9/2018 (Napa): I remember when a 4.0 GPA actually meant a perfect "straight A" average. Now there's 4.5s, 4.8s, and even 5.0 GPAs?! A perfect of the perfect of the perfect?! Whatever a kid has to do to get into college these days I guess. Well, I'm a little old-school, and still believe not everything is a sliding scale, and not everybody gets a trophy. There are winners and losers, those who who get the job, and those who don't. Not everybody is perfect, and certainly not all of the time. However, in the case of Vice Versa, there truly are varying degrees of perfection...and well earned I might add! I scored the 2016 Vice Versa Magnificent 7 100 points. It was one of the best damn wines I've ever had. It was a 5.0 GPA and a perfect SAT score...with extra credit!

So then, along comes the 2016 VV Crane BBS, and here we are presented with yet another version of perfection. One of the singular best versions (SVD-wise) of the Dr. Crane site I've ever had. This wine was a standout, with unreal, concentrated flavors of black cherry, black raspberry, blackberry compote, bitter chocolate, vanilla bean, charred oak, and violets. I cannot begin to effectively describe the drive this wine has, coming at you like a stormtrooper on ice skates, fast and intense on the attack, but utterly seamless and effortless on its glide across the mid-palate. The finish just won't shut up, constantly beckoning you, reminding you it's the best wine on the table. It almost wasn't fair to the other awesome wines in play.

If you can find it, get it. If you can't afford it, have a garage sale get rid of all the other lame wines cluttering your closet and check this wine out. I'm all in. 100 points. Utter perfection. A special thanks to Patrice and Samantha for sharing some of the best wines on the planet.

10/21/2017 - Badmonkey wrote:

Some friends in town that enjoy wine so I decided to pop a bottle. Once again, solid depth/concentration, beautiful purity, full/vibrant flavors, fairly long finish, etc.. In addition, this bottle showed a little bluer fruit profile which I prefer. Gave this bottle a little longer three hour decant. Although young, really enjoyable now with a decent decant.

12/2/2017 - blarmston Likes this wine:

And the hits keep on coming for the 2015 Vintage!

Popped this beauty last night due to a lack of desire to trek across town to my off-site. I had my eye on a 2012 M'Etain to go with my NY strip, but this wine more than sufficed.

I still cannot believe how open these young wines are, across the board, here in 2015. This had a full bodied, opulent and balanced feel to it. Muscular through the mid with a nice 30 second finish.

Other '15s that I have tasted have left me questioning the long term potential of this vintage, but this Sinegal has the stuffing to evolve for the next 10+ years.

This is a solid 95 pointer with upside, and when you couple that with a sub $100 price point, that means I have already emailed my guy there to procure more.

This is special juice folks...

12/26/2017 - #1Winelover wrote:

Gifted from the proprietor and what a gift it is!

Previous notes still apply and this youngster still has a long life ahead. Dark purple with red around the rim, lots of fruit, perfect blend of acidity, smooth tannins, long mid-palate and longer finish. Typical notes of Las Piedras - earth, graphite, and mineral notes. Not too heavy / not too light -- just the perfect balance of everything. And I'm only on my 2nd glass of wine.

Still the benchmark from Las Piedras Vineyard. Benoit is the man.

2/8/2018 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

Whirlwind Winter Tasting in the Valley; 2/7/2018-2/10/2018 (Napa Valley, CA): Had this wine next to a 2016 Vice Versa Dr Crane BBS, 2015 Myriad Dr Crane, 2015 Vice Versa Dr Crane, 2014 Realm Dr Crane and 2012 Debate Dr Crane. For me, this was a tie for 2nd with the 2015 Vice Versa.

My first note on this wine is the seamless texture and more fine grained sweet tannins set it apart from the regular Myriad Dr Crane. This is a massive wine that shows deft balance and doesn't come across as the fruit bomb or brute it could if not made so well.

The nose shows off some really great blueberry pie, creme de cassis, spice box and cedar. The pallet is huge black/blue fruit delivered in silky, creamy layers. This is complemented with some nice earthy notes that sneak in around the time of the 45sec+ finish. Great flavor profile if you like 'em big.

Thanks to CSIMM for popping open this wine!

1/10/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:

Winorama: A winter in Wineland II; 1/6/2018-1/14/2018 (Portland, Eureka, Napa): Opened and decanted for about 3 hours before drinking. Had with Bruce. This was really drinking well. Great red fruits. A bit of an opulence to it, but with the balance that makes you think opulence versus over the top. Soft. On the easier more approachable side (as compared to it's brother the 2015 which was a bit different although I found myself more drawn to the 2015). Very much enjoyed.