June 14, 2023 - Nose: Beautiful black cherry, cedar, cocoa, mineral and bell pepper. Has an old school napa sensibility with richness of some more modern wines. Palalte: Broad entry that coats the palate with dark berries, cedar, tobacco and eucalyptus. More bell pepper and leather notes on the palate. Finish: Good length and you can see the oak polish here as the tannin sets in.
Really well made wine with a bit of Classic Napa in its DNA.
Great site that gives a nice profile.
June 23, 2019 - Tasting notes from the winery, “candied” - yes, absolutely. The fruit has a faux, jammy sweetness to it. “Brambleberry”, damn, I was thinking “blackberry” but ah yes, now I get the Anglo cousin was clearly more apt. ;-) And tobacco box? YES LOADS of it.
On Day 1, this wine came across as a heavily manipulated jammy wine like a Cabernet sister to a Turkey Zin. Definitely not my speed. Cooperage was all over the nose and lingered heavily on the palate. Fruit was saturated and heavy. Day 2 things had integrated a bit and the cooperage died down from more forward oak to kind of a burnt vanilla reminiscent of all those Wagner wines. This came to me via Acme’s wine club, but this is not Napa’s best foot forward. I’m withholding any scoring because I recognize this is not my ball of wax, but I would go so far as to say that the QPR is quite poor.
WINEMAKER TASTING NOTES: Vibrant aromas of candied cherry, brambleberry, sweet mint and black licorice intertwine seamlessly with aromas of toasted almond, cinnamon spice, and tobacco box
March 14, 2017 - stewed fruit, little veggie, creme de cassis. pleasant mouth highlighted by nice baked strawberry with a little chop suey and vanilla bean.
December 18, 2016 - Decanted for an hour prior to first tasting. Bottle is drinking beautifully right now. Great color in the glass. Clean, long finish with great balance of fruit and tannins. I have liked this bottle previously but really enjoyed it at this time. We have one bottle left that I'm really going to look forward to opening.
July 31, 2016 - Last bottle of 2010. Absolutely wonderful. Did not need to decant. Great bouquet, smooth, and nice finish. Wish I had another 6 bottles.
February 12, 2016 - 14.9% abv. A very pretty medium dark ruby, moderate aromatics. Cassis, sage, and black tea on the palate. Excellent depth and length. Very enjoyable now and should improve over the next 6-12 years.
December 2, 2015 - Nose of candied raspberry and toasted marshmallow. In the mouth a tight core of bittersweet red fruit and coffee. Long finish of soft red licorice. Drink after 2017.
May 7, 2015 - Needs time. Revisit in a year.
July 26, 2014 - Outstanding cab.
July 15, 2014 - Had this at a tasting that include an '06 Colgin. I preferred the Fleming.