1/3/2024 - Gr8penut Does not like this wine:

Hope the next one is better!!

3/30/2023 - BobMilton Does not like this wine:

Typical Carlisle. More red fruited than dark.

6/11/2022 - Sundbyberg wrote:

My fourth wine from Helene Turley and this was the second wine, which was a bit of a disappointment. Nice, a bit sweet, but nothing special. Poor QPR.

5/13/2022 - Eric wrote:

My first trip to Walla Walla; 5/12/2022-5/14/2022 (Walla Walla, Washington): Saturated, lightly sweet, polished, pretty

3/4/2022 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine:

Way too young, but chock full of interest - red cherry fruit, nice acidic structure, good balance, depth and length. I'll try and keep my hands off the remaining bottles - for a year or two at least!

1/9/2022 - Badmonkey wrote:

Considering buying more to lay down in light of Dunnuck’s favorable rating but wanted to see where it’s at first. Surprisingly quite approachable for a 2018 cab. Dark ruby fruit - currants, blackberry, dark cherry, and some plum. Smooth mid-palate with a nice purity but a lighter profile than expected - medium body. Nice flavors of dark berries, spice/licorice, cassis, some tobacco, and a mineral/graphite component. A cross between new world and old world. Fairly long finish. Decanted for three hours and drank over a couple more. Improved a little with time but drinking well after the decant despite its youth. As usual, a solid cab for the money at around $60 in the secondary market but Dunnuck has consistently over-rated this cab including the days that he rated the Washington wines for WA. In my opinion, it’s closer to Suckling’s 92 rating - at least at this youthful stage. 100% cab.

12/13/2020 - Franken Berry Likes this wine:

So delicious and drinking well at this stage. Straight from the bottle, this is a dark wine, floral nose, full red fruits with perfectly balanced acidity and integrated tannins

10/21/2020 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine:

A real treat to enjoy this as the last wine I drink in LA before moving to Seattle! That much closer to the beautiful Columbia Valley vineyards where this was born. I agree with almost everyone here that this needs time, as it's very tightly wound and compact, but thankfully not so much that it's undrinkable now or anything- was delicious for sure. I haven't had any other Randy Dunn wines, so I can't compare. Glass 1 was a little shy, so I recorked it that night and gradually drank all throughout the next day. No decant.

All the classic, oft-repeated Cab Sauv notes on the nose, not powerfully aromatic right now but really pretty: cassis, blackcurrant, plum, baking spices, a hint of green but VERY well integrated (I'm usually very turned off by green bell pepper notes so trust me on this, it was nice. More like coffee grounds than bell pepper anyway, or maybe very dark cocoa powder, which other people have noted here on CT too.) Feels like a rich Napa but without that Napa buttery/toasty note, instead showing a dusty, earthy, spiced accent that hides behind the fruit.

Palate is also very dusty, packed-in with plums, currants, slightly meaty tones (think rare steak)- tannins are VERY intense but also super super fine-grained, making it shockingly drinkable, even without food, although this cries out for something nice and fatty. Alcohol is well-hidden throughout and appears as a cool menthol rather than anything jammy. Acidity is a solid medium, not stunningly energetic but leaning toward fresh and lean rather than big or extracted. Loved it, have definitely had $60 Cab with more standout qualities, but this is beautiful and will age for quite a while.

2/4/2020 - jrglm Likes this wine:

You need patience. If you can wait, let this wine be. If you open it now, be patient while it’s in the glass. Such a wonderfully made wine. The nose is just the kind that makes you want to rush in to taste the wine immediately. The youth of the wine initially hides some of its nuances. As the wine opened up, such great layers and textures were revealed. This is just a fun wine to experience.

11/3/2018 - fredman wrote:

One-hour decant. Settled down after another 1/2 hour or so. Very nice wine. Found this for $39.00 which I think is a bargain. Will only improve with age.

12/3/2018 - jgreco Likes this wine:

Incredibly expressive perfumed nose of pink flowers, blackberry, and black pepper. Great energy on the palate. Firm, but smooth tannins. Long finish. Outstanding effort. You can drink now, but I would wait a few years for everything to settle

11/15/2017 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

A coffee cookie crunch on the nose. Not sure why that is coming to me. And fried onion rings, breaded fried onion rings. It smells good. Not sure what is going on.

4/2/2017 - bradleymichaelharris@gmail.com Does not like this wine:

This was bad enough that I turned it into cooking wine. Bottle wasn't spoiled, this is just terrible from an appellation and label that are usually pretty good.

Strongly recommend avoiding.