4/15/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Very typical graphite pencil lead aromas and flavors here. Medium dark violet color, doesn't show the density and concentration like the '16 did. Tannins are a bit tamer too. More elegance than power.

4/9/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Had this in succession with the same vintage of Langoa Barton. Good concentration, reticent aromas, deep purple color, long and lingering silky legs. Very forward, two days to consume the bottle. Tannins are noted on the long finish.

4/9/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Had this bottle in succession with the same vintage of Leoville Barton. I liked the '19 vintage of Langoa better that the '20 Langoa. This was initially a bit dilute and needed a lot of time for the fruit to emerge. Not as concentrated as the '19. Very primary though in an elegant way. Three days to finish.

4/4/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Very similar to my first review, just a bit more rounded on the edges. Love the dryness and ripeness, great terroir. Long finish. This is well worth the extra cash compared to the base Stag's Leap offering.

4/1/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Seductive aromatics, black and blue dark fruit. Bottle shows crusting, good depth and weight for the price. Recommend finishing the bottle on the first day.

3/24/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Beautiful intense violet color. Youthful and vibrant blue fruit, good purity. Acid and tannin are front and center. Fresh and savory. Practically pop and pour ready.

3/20/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Probable heat exposure. I was gifted this, LOL.

3/18/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

This has really changed since my first review. Now we have a much more rounded feel on the palate, tannins have softened and the color is a murky deep purple. A lot of sediment and the alcohol hit me kind of hard this time. Plush mouthfeel with good concentration, but the mineral is gone and the youthful edge and vibrance is too.

3/15/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Met my expectations, inky black, big, bold, chewy, dense, dry, tannic, and ripe, a touch of spice on the very long grippy finish. Only five barrels made.

3/12/2024 - wineotim wrote:

This was not what I expected, on the first day it was silky, with glossy and highly polished fruit and tannins. The tart cherry fruit was in the background, not forward, high acidity. I tried like crazy to coax something interesting and tasty to emerge, with only mild success on the third day.
Only 120 or so cases made, the label says no fining or filtration but I saw no evidence of that. No detectable HM characteristics. Disappointing.

3/7/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I liked the '18 vintage better for its complexity and terroir. This is more open, ripe, low tannins, but there's youth and freshness aplenty. Some mineral, but rather one dimensional, but still a lot of fun to drink.

3/2/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Dark and inky blueish fruit. Aroma is mostly muted. The wine is nicely focused and concentrated with ripe black cherry fruit, smooth texture, and mild mineral notes. Needs a lot of air time if opening now. More structure and firmness than the Napa bottling, as I was expecting and hoping for, but make no mistake this is not a heavy or overbearing wine. Needs time to fill out and unravel.

2/25/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Got this as a gift. Light to medium bodied, mild tannins, plummy fruit, lots of acid.

2/22/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I was gifted this. Very unremarkable and uninspiring. Nothing interesting to see here. Crazy that this is $40USD. I'm surprised there is 3K bottles in CT cellars.

2/20/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Dark as night, bold and tight, ripe black fruit, thick and dense, with sweet tannins. Crusting evident on bottle and tartrate on the cork. The high level of ABV was surprisingly integrated. Sometimes I like this in your face style.

2/13/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine, it has that telltale formula of flavors from classic Napa...mild mint, cedar, and creme de cassis fruit. Savory, excellent, delicious. Glad I opened this now.

2/11/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I bought this on the strength of the '12 vintage that I reviewed twice. This wine is nothing like the '12 which was concentrated,.complex, and chewy. The '18 is polished and grapey with minimal grip and very primary. Not a good value.

2/8/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine to pour and sniff. On the palate there's black cherry fruit with oak and creme de cassis notes, power is here but not a heavy wine. Tastes like old school Napa as you'd expect. Balance will get better I think in a few years.

1/28/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I admit to buying this because of the WS hype. It takes a lot of time and work to coax the ripe fruit to come out. Not much for aroma, medium bodied and svelt with some mild creme de cassis notes.

1/21/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I was aggressive with this wine, it really needed a lot of air time, so I gave it a few splash decants, swirling, sipping and slow ox. On the second day it turns inky with predominant pencil lead/graphite aromas and flavors accompanied by unmistakable licorice snap, earthy truffle, mushroom too. 5th review and probably last.

1/19/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Third review of this wine for me. Ironically it's trending lower, this bottle just doesn't have the complexity of the others. Interesting to note that this bottle had no noticeable crusting or sediment like the previous ones I reviewed did.

1/18/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

In my local area this is mostly "out of stock." I found it available at B21 but only for in store purchase so I bought it in the 375 ml size. There seems to be a lot of hype on it and now that I've tasted it and compared it to others in its price range the hype is justified. Dark amber color, woodsy charcoal aroma, brown sugar and caramel notes round out the flavor profile. 90 proof.

1/16/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I thought there would be more Bourbon flavor to this, it tasted very similar to Bailey's. ABV 15%, 50 ml bottle.

1/15/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Almost 4 years since my last review, this bottle was surprisingly firm. Fruit was tight and somewhat restrained. I was expecting a little more roundness on the palate but there's still a long future ahead. Mineral, graphite/pencil lead with cherry fruit, fine balance and terroir.

1/12/2024 - wineotim wrote:

This had the typical Lewelling profile, chocolate mocha with cassis. Richness is here too, plush and full mouthfeel, ripe and sweet. The ABV is huge and will hopefully integrate better with more time, it took me 3 days to finish this brute. As I've said with other vintages this is a meal all by itself. I still feel like getting a couple more bottles.

1/8/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine:

On the first day I had negative comments on this wine. On the second day all is forgotten and forgiven. The O'Shaughnessy halo is still in place with me. Very ripe, round, smooth, rich, and balanced. Definitely valley floor fruit. Still Loved it.

1/6/2024 - wineotim wrote:

Inky, silky, long legs, ripe and vibrant young fruit. Doesn't stack up to the '18, lacking in concentration, boldness and density by comparison. But it does taste like Petite Sirah so that goes a long way. Purchased direct from Jaffurs.

1/3/2024 - wineotim wrote:

My first '20 Bordeaux. Lots of graphite/pencil lead on the palate and nose. Pours very dark violet, ripe, with some richness at this young stage. Modern French style. The ABV seemed much more integrated than previous recent vintages, I liked that. I'll open the first wine later this year to compare.

1/1/2024 - wineotim wrote:

I was gifted this, I'm grateful for that. Also grateful that I didn't pay $50 for it. This is my third review over many years. If I had tasted this blind I would have thought it was Extra Dry, not Brut. Yes it was still a fun drinker but there is better at the price. I remember a cleaner and dryer finish for my previous reviews.

Its a very polarizing wine on CT nowadays, is it the Caymus of NV Champagne?

12/30/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Shows nice Pinot typicity, light juicy cherry fruit, slate, mineral, fresh aromas, decent mid-palate expression. A good entry level Pinot for the price. Needs more acidity to take it to the next level.

12/29/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Light ruby color, light cherry and bramble fruit, light bodied, bright acidity. Yes it tastes like Zinfandel so I gave it an appropriate score for the price point.

12/25/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine, very primary, a nice grip of sticky tannins on the second day with a ribeye. Very ripe, full mouthfeel, mild creme de cassis and mineral on the mid-palate.

I kept thinking I should have bought 3 bottles of "Magic Nights" instead of one of these. I'm scoring this only slightly higher than the "Magic Nights." So by that measure I'm a bit disappointed.

12/23/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Deep gold color, hoppy aroma and that carries onto the palate with some Euro bitterness as one would expect. Foam head doesn't hold for long. Bold and full bodied lager, fresh and crisp finish with a pleasing mild bitter edge.
5.6% ABV, 11.2 oz. bottle.

12/22/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Didn't live up to the high altitude hype for me. Not that special or unique or intriguing. Not much to see here.

12/19/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

This wine combines the best of both worlds. A nice balance between Burgundy and Carneros. Bright and crisp acidity with mild buttery creaminess.

12/17/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Not much to get excited about, I tried to coax something out of this for three days but its ordinary and average.

12/13/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Sleek, sexy, and seductive in a wine kind of way of course. Finesse for sure, primary as expected. Tightly coiled high pitched blackberry fruit. It doesn't have the structure and plush mouth feel of the '16 that I loved.

12/5/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Bright gold color, fresh hops aroma and flavor, decent foamy head, crisp and dry finish, with a touch of bitterness. 5.2% ABV, 12oz bottle.

12/4/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

A good example of Petite Sirah, inky dark, teeth staining, tongue staining, glass staining, relatively speaking mild tannins. Wish it were unfiltered, there's no sediment, but I'm nit picking.

12/1/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Gold tone color, mild lemon citrus flavors and aroma. Oak influence is minimal, I prefer more acidity but overall competent at its price point.

11/28/2023 - wineotim wrote:

This is my third and last bottle review. It surprises me a bit how this wine has held up over the years. It's still youthful and rock solid in a unoaked way. Has a long way to go.

11/25/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

I was expecting more density and concentration but instead I got elegance and sophistication. This is not in your face fruit like a recent vintage Leoville Barton. This is a pure classic style, liked it a lot. Earthy notes, a touch of sweet spice, tobacco, cassis fruit, oak, and fine traditional terroir.

11/25/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Soft and mild fruit, lite to medium bodied, short finish.

11/24/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Definitely needs air time to come together. Violet purple color to the rim, medium body and length, I didn't detect any significant PS flavor profile. Slight residual sugar was evident intermittently. Served at Ron's for Thanksgiving dinner.

11/19/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Very primary, juicy, ripe, with relatively sweet and tame tannins. Still a pretty good value.

11/9/2023 - wineotim wrote:

I'm normally a fan of the signature, but this vintage seemed rather simple with a clipped finish, disappointed. I expected to score this higher.

11/2/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

Very reliable favorite. Nice nutty caramel notes, hint of bitterness, malt aroma, foamy lingering head. 4.5% ABV, 11.2 oz bottle.

11/1/2023 - wineotim wrote:

High frequency tightly coiled cherry fruit, acidity quite high. Medium bodied, light on its feet. Didn't change much over three days. I'll pass on the Monte Bello bottling.

10/29/2023 - wineotim Likes this wine:

This is one of my go to beers. Plenty of flavor, doesn't feel like a typical light style beer. Crisp, refreshing, with a distinctive dry Canadian finish. 24 oz can, 4% ABV.

10/25/2023 - wineotim wrote:

Hazy gold, almost copper color, dense, foamy, and persistent head. Bold, and structured style, hops are front and center, a lot of grip on the long and lingering somewhat bitter finish. 12 oz can, 7% ABV. Sample provided by Jill. Not my preferred style of beer put was glad to taste and review.