4/5/2024 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Probably past its prime, but still fruity and delicious. Will be eager to try this Chilean wine in a more recent vintage

4/3/2024 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

This is always an excellent wine. I feel like the ‘19 is not at the same level of some of the previous vintages. Still amazing, but not the same experience of say, the 2016. We decanted for an hour. It was fruity, full bodied, and delicious!

2/18/2024 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

The is our first experience with Sauternes, and it was incredible. It had such a gorgeous nose of pineapple upside down cake and cinnamon spice. Velvety smooth on the palate. A truly perfectly balanced wine. We chilled this wine for an hour on ice, and it was amazing! We enjoyed this with 2 of our closest friends who have tasted many vintages. They agreed this might be the best they’d ever tasted. So happy we finally cracked this OWC of 6 bottles. So happy we have 5 more to enjoy over the years. What a beautiful occasion to try this wine from a 400+ year old vineyard.

2/18/2024 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

What can I say. Perfection. I don’t like any wine I’ve ever tasted more than this bottle. We poured it into a decantur, and it lasted a solid hour sipping this velvety masterpiece with 2 of our closest friends. Incidentally, the same friend that initially introduced us to scarecrow wines a few years back. What a joy. Maybe it gets better with time or maybe it’s at an apex of divinity? The perfect balance of fruit, acidity, and tannins. Deep red, full-bodied, velvety-smooth, mouthful of California deliciousness.

1/30/2024 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Still a 99. This wine is amazing. Maybe we’re not bougie enough to shame a ‘Napa Fruit bomb’? But me and the lady found this to be nearing perfection. Definitely fruity and complex with a gorgeous balance of med-heavy body, gentle tannins, mild acidity, and moderate alcohol. At 15 years old, it is still gloriously dark plum in color and bright in taste. Some beautiful sediment at the bottom shows its age. No decanting necessary. Although it only got more delicious through the course of our 1 hr meal. If you’re patient enough to wait, could be worth it. Straight from our cellar to our table and into our glass. So delicious! Anything from Scarecrow is so tempting to drink immediately, since that is completely doable, but this is a reminder that maybe I should hold onto my bottles a little longer before I enjoy these delights.

12/25/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Still very young and tight. But also delicious with tons of potential. After 2 hours in the decantur, started to open up. Probably could benefit from a few more hours, but it was too delicious and we didn’t wait that long. A very nicely balanced wine. We absolutely love it!

12/23/2023 - Baxterna wrote:

Looking at the other comments in hindsight, this is a wine that I will let age and hopefully it will improve. This is not what we expected coming from the Hundred acre vineyard. Drinks more like a light Pinot noir than a big cab. I hope that it improves in the coming years. We had high expectations, and it fell flat for us unfortunately. The 89 is because we have felt the Wraiths we have tried are all 100 and perfection. So quality by association I suppose

12/3/2023 - Baxterna Does not like this wine:

Harsh on the nose and the palate. I’m not saying that it has turned yet. But it seems to be moving in that direction. We have one bottle left in the cellar and we will either gift it to our neighbors that drink only boxed wine, or donate it to the landfill unfortunately. We dumped this one and opted for a cheaper bottle that we know is amazing, 2021 Daou Pessimist.

10/28/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

So fruity, smooth, and delightful!

10/26/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

A gorgeous fruity and smooth merlot! We really enjoyed it. The 325ml bottles we drank were ready to drink and absolutely delicious.

8/4/2023 - Baxterna wrote:

Beautifully smooth and balanced. Not too fruit forward or overly jammy. We decanted for about an hour and it only got more delicious and amazing with time. It was too good to last to the 2 hour point. But, we will definitely be getting a few more bottles of this masterpiece. We are loving 2019 in Napa!

6/18/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Big fruity wine. Needs a solid 4+hours in the decantur

6/4/2023 - Baxterna wrote:

Too aged for my liking. Fruity with no tannins and minimal alcohol. Not for me

5/5/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

After an hour in the decanter, this opened into a most beautiful, smooth, delicious Napa wine. 2016 is my favorite year I’ve experienced in Napa wines. This was no exception to that but was exceptional as far as gorgeous delicious wines are concerned!

5/5/2023 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Dry, smooth, and delicious

5/4/2023 - Baxterna Does not like this wine:

Light-bodied and too sharp and sour for my liking.

3/25/2023 - Baxterna wrote:

Requires at least an hour of decanting to open up and approach its potential. Not as impressed as I have been with comparable HA Wraith bottles.

10/7/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Such a delicious Sauvignon Blanc! So crisp and refreshing. Served it very cold (~40 degrees) and it was perfect for me. Can’t wait to try it again!

7/29/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Maybe the smoothest, best Pinot Noir we’ve tried to date!! Love it. Feels more like a medium-bodied almost Merlot density, but still very light and expressive on the palate. Will definitely be buying this one again!

7/28/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

What a gorgeous wine. Knowingly young, we decanted for about an hour… tasting along the way. High and tight initially, then it began to open like a bag of magic tricks. This became so well balanced, fruity Napa genius, perfect balance of fruit, alcohol, tannins, and general smooth perfection. Only reason for the 99 in my mouth is that I think this wine needs a couple of years to get to the 100 that the professionals predicted. Although very expensive, we drank this one early in celebration of a negative cancer diagnosis and it made the day all that much sweeter. What a great celebration with a legendary wine. How appropriate that the etched quote on the bottle says ‘Fate whispers to the warrior, you cannot withstand the storm. The warrior whispered back, I am the storm.’ We drank this first bottle a few years early to celebrate being ‘the storm’. Did not disappoint. See you again in a couple of years Wraith!

7/14/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

A delicious, bold, balanced Napa wine. I am starting to see why Dominus is so highly regarded. I wonder if we had decanted this wine if it wouldn’t have been even more magnificent. We shall try that on the next bottle!

6/4/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

This is the most delicious, magnificent bottle of wine I’ve ever had! It is perfectly balanced with complex California style fruit balanced with a perfect acidity, smooth tannins, gentle alcohol, and silky finish. I cannot imagine ever having a better glass of wine in my presence. If there is a wine I would enjoy more than this one, I would be in heaven. It didn’t require decanting, though we did as we enjoyed it over the course of about an hour. I cannot say it improved necessarily since this was my new benchmark for what 100 taste like in my mouth. The more wine I taste, the more refined my personal calibration. This is my newest pinnacle of wine perfection!

5/12/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Maybe one of the top 10 wines I’ve ever tasted. Balanced. Fruit forward. Literally about perfect I’m every way. I hope there is some way I can find some more of this masterpiece.

5/1/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Really tasty! Tart green apple, fruity delicious champagne for $15. Bought it for mimosas, but glad I tried it before adding fresh squeezed OJ. It was better than expected and I will definitely buy it again.

4/1/2022 - Baxterna wrote:

Delicious, some remnants of a fruity palate. Still, tasted older than expected. Good but not great. We enjoyed it and it opened nicely with a 1 hour decant. Nevertheless, I’m still waiting for a bottle of Dominus to wow me

3/4/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

A great table wine for the price.

3/4/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Average. Not bad at all and certainly enjoyable.

3/4/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Maybe the best $7 bottle of wine I’ve ever had. Very light and some gentle fruit on the palate. Not an all-time favorite, but a fantastic value! Glad these bottles were on clearance and we branched out to something new and different!

2/25/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Past it’s prime. Still a nicely structured wine but clearly with some age. The rusty red rim of our pour was showing signs of agin. The nose still has lots of ripe plum but the alcohol seems to have faded a bit. We liked this one better than the 1997 Special Selection, in spite of it being 5 vintages older. As a developing novice taster, I put this on the lower end of the high-end wines that I have tried. Mostly because it is tasting old and the tiniest bit stale. Generally I like younger to middle-aged wines. This one is just past that point of being a wine I truly love. Nevertheless, I will always love any Caymus simply because my first taste of 2012 special selection was the first time I had tasted a wine that I felt was perfect to me. So still a lot of love for this wine that is 30 years older than my first ever Sp. Sel.

2/26/2022 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

A big, bold, beautiful Red! Maybe even a bit too early to be drinking this one. Nevertheless, it was a fruity and delicious blend of perfect balance. I often love a young wine, and this ‘13 definitely tastes young with a bounty of fruit and tannins. An hour or two in the decanter mellowed this beast in spite of it being fantastically delicious right out of the freshly uncorked bottle. I’m excited for the next bottle, and happy I have a few more to try over the coming years!

2/25/2022 - Baxterna Does not like this wine:

Not good.

12/31/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

This was a delicious, perfectly balanced wine. In contrast to the 1999 bottle from a few weeks ago, this was fabulous. It makes me feel the 1999 was probably stored improperly and had began to go bad. This bottle was perfect from the moment we opened it. Ripe fruit on the nose from the moment the cork was removed, this wine was incredible! We sipped it over about 2 hours as it opened in the decanter. It only got better with time. Nevertheless, I loved it from the moment I took out the cork until it was gone. Only wish I had another bottle!

12/28/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

What a gloriously fruit forward jammy wine! Admittedly, I prefer fruity wines. This one is about as fruity as they come. Almost like drinking jam. Maybe not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Less balanced than some wines that exhibit more tannins, but very delicious with blackberries, currents, cassis, and grape! A very quality crafted wine that still tastes young at 20 years old. The fruit mellowed after an hour in the decanter and we enjoyed it over 2-3 hours. I’m so happy I have another bottle of this gem.

12/24/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

This is a stunning and delicious fruit-forward wine. Once again I am thrilled by the balance of fruit, tannins, and alcohol with continuum wines. They make wines that are perfect to my palate. The only thought I have on this wine is that it is very young, and required a 6 hour decant to mellow it to where it was amazing. I would imagine it will be a 100 point perfection to me, like all of the pros, in a couple of years. I’m so happy I bought lots of it to keep trying over the years!

12/25/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Very underwhelming for a thousand dollar bottle. My first Harlan ever. Loads of sediment in the bottle too that I would expect more from a bottle much older. Maybe it was stored improperly? After a 6 hour decant it became decent, but not incredible by any measure. I won’t give up on this fabled winemaker, but I have high expectations for my next bottle!

12/19/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

A big beautiful heavy bottle with a gorgeous wax-dipped neck and sexy photography. Based on curb appeal alone from this Orin Swift wine, it’s amazing. However the wine itself is not as glorious to me. The fruit is overwhelmed by this Syrah blend’s peppery spice. This is just not my favorite red blend from Swift but it is a quality wine for the money.

12/20/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Another beautiful example of Continuum. Certainly benefitted from an hour in the decanter! Once it opened up, the balance of fruit and tannins were delightful! Not my favorite example of Continuum, but a decent vintage in my opinion. Still one of best winemakers I have found, year after year! Love these wines and enjoy them so much!

12/11/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

Sadly, this bottle is turning and not something we enjoyed. Muted fruit flavors and a sour nose. Granted, I purchased this bottle and have no history of its storage quality. Nevertheless, this bottle fell well below hopes and expectations. We tried decanting and periodic tasting over the course of several hours. Slight improvement after 30-60 minutes in the decanter, but never really improved from there. We ended up throwing out half the bottle and cracking a bottle of quintessa (which did not disappoint). My rating of 80 is probably a combination of reputation and hope of what it should be, and my own ignorance of the subjectivity of the numeric grading system. And 80 for me says it wasn’t vinegar, but it also was not something I would ever buy again.

12/6/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

A quality made wine. Extremely sweet and difficult to pair for us. I’m not a seasoned dessert wine consumer so I don’t have much to compare to. Deep honey orange-yellow in color. Honey and melón on the nose and palate. Almost syrup consistency and sweetness. Maybe needs a decade more to lighten-up.

12/4/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

This highly rated vintage is not delivering for me at the highest level like every other vintage of Continuum. This is my second attempt and I still put it at 95. However, I will try to give my thoughts and invite any feedback on how to enjoy this wine from one of my absolute favorite wine makers.

Initially, the wine is very closed and average. Not the great fruit-forward, smooth on-the-palate tannins I have tasted with all the other Continuum vintages I have tried. After a 4 hour decant I feel like it opened up, mellowed-out, and began to express the delicious blackberries, cassis, velvety tannins, and smooth balance of alcohol and acidity that makes me love Continuum. That being said, when I tried it about 10 hours later, it had lost it and started to fade. No longer that delicate balance of fruit, tannins, and alcohol. It had fallen flat. I don’t know if this is a result of me not knowing how to maximize enjoyment from half-bottles, or a delicate, finicky vintage? I’m trying it again tonight and will not touch it for at least 4 hours after aerating and decanting. Will follow-up. And please feel free to comment! Thank you

11/15/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Actual perfection. I’ve never tasted a wine that I like more than this. I felt like it needed a good 30 minutes in the decanter before it mellowed into the most balanced, smooth wine ever! I’m so glad I have 2 more bottles in the cellar. It may be hard to wait on them though!

11/15/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

So incredibly smooth and beautiful on the nose and palate. A joy to consume. Deep and rich fruit forward. Not overbearing with acidity or alcohol. A really perfect balance.

11/20/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Absolute perfection

11/7/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Great for a mimosa.

11/1/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

What a delicious wine! The nose is overwhelmingly earthy and herbaceous! I can actually smell the limestone and broken dry soil, the cherry, and graphite. And the taste is fruity, but not overtly so. Very smooth and it leaves such a lovely, lingering taste of earth and berries. I love this wine! And it is not the typical overly-fruity wine I prefer. I can’t wait for the next bottle-

10/30/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

Better on day 2! A 24 hour decant seems excessive, but it worked.

10/29/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

Not my favorite red. The balance between acid, alcohol, and fruit is awkward. After recently expanding my exposure to much higher end wines, this one is just not in the same category and falls short of many of the wines we buy for under $20-30. The word ‘smooth’ is often how I describe incredible wines, and this wine is just not that. At close to $100/bottle, I cannot see myself ever buying a bottle of Napanook again. Im hoping the other wines from this famous vineyard don’t fall flat on my palate as this one did.

10/28/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

So incredibly smooth. Fruity and delicious. Perfect balance of fruit, alcohol, acidity. I’ve never tasted a wine I like more than this one today. Heavenly

10/6/2021 - Baxterna wrote:

This wine never disappoints. Beautiful berry notes on the nose and jam on the palate. Mild tannins and acid make for a very smooth and delicious, easy-to-drink glass of delicious wine. I loved it.

10/3/2021 - Baxterna Likes this wine:

Drank it early due to evidence of a cork leak. This wine is amazing. An hour in the decanter and this wine is simply incredible. I’m so excited to let this age for a few years and try it again. So much berry and dark fruit. It is delicious and incredible.