August 1, 2022 - Drinking excellent right now.
May 29, 2022 - Highly recommend, excellent QPR wine at the initial release price, definitely one of the better CT co-op bottlings at this point of maturation and drinking just beautifully - glad to have 4 more. At peak and time to drink not hold - no further upside to further cellaring but on the other hand this still has a good at least 2-3 more really good years. Fully mature, surprisingly complex, soft mouth feel, medium to full bodied, oak and tannins resolved, dark purple with some peripheral bricking noted and with a long lingering beautiful aftertaste. Nose aromatic with some initial dust and plum, dark cherry, kitchen spices, a sweeter burnt sugar note and black pepper. Flavor profile complex with oak & tannins resolved and up front plum, dark cherry, blueberry and cassis with a lighter and earthier mid- late palate of stone, graphite, forest floorvand leather and this is where a hint of the superimposed Rutherford dust comes in with a finish of garrigue and smoke.
October 2, 2020 - Pop and pour, consumed over 3 hours. Nose: Medium-plus intensity, plum, blackberry, menthol, and dark earth. Palate: Medium-full bodied, sweet dark fruit attack, earthiness and spice dominate the mid-palate, menthol, spice and dark fruit show through the back-end and linger through a 30-45 second finish. Drinking nicely at the moment with several good years left.
August 11, 2020 - Consumed at dinner party, note from memory. Nose: Medium intensity, dark fruit - plum and blackberry, with hints of tobacco and dark earth. Palate: Medium-full bodied, pleasant dark fruit and spice flavors though somewhat muted, medium length finish. A nice low-volume Napa Cabernet.
10/2 update: Having opened another bottle and allowing it to breath for a couple hours before authoring a note versus this pop and pour impression shared here I can say this needs some time to open - the "volume" turns up noticeably with a couple hours of air.
June 17, 2020 - Followed over two nights and preferred it more on night two. It was just singular and a bit overpowering for the first several hours, though after the long slow-O it delivered abundant fruit goodness and extra complexity. Beautiful perfume on the generous nose. The palate is rich and a little creamy in texture with the tannins behaving just right - doing very nicely with or without food. Long finish. Sorry that it was my last of 10 and not my first. 5+13+17+8= 93
December 29, 2018 - Drinking well right now. Popped and pored and consumed over two nights.
November 25, 2018 - Again, I think it needed a good 6 hours+ of air to achieve equilibrium but it was quite enjoyable thereafter. Fuzzy blackberry-currant jam with supporting acidic and tannic structure and minimal oak influence to endorse its sincerity. Won’t make the “more is better” gang happy, but I find it a perfect dinner companion when a nicely broiled filet is in the picture. 5+11+16+8= 90
June 9, 2018 - Decided to a 2012 of our project wine. This bottle was drinking great. While not overly complex, it was smooth and balanced. Should easilyage another 5 years.
February 20, 2018 - Three times is the charm for this wine. What started out on night one, to be a completely undrinkable flabby one dimensional fruit bomb has evolved by night three into an almost elegant and sublime quite drinkable wine. Lovely dark fruit on the nose leads to brambly dark fruit on the mid-palate,dark chocolate, soft black pepper with silky soft lingering finish.
December 23, 2017 - Impressions based on a bottle that was half emptied, stored back in the cellar for four days, and then revisited: “Great googly moogly, this is yummy!” Having tried both the Spring Mtn. and Rutherford versions, I have to give big love to the blend. The Ruthy is nice and dusty, which seems to compliment the blackberry and acid of the Spring Mtn in fine fashion. Sure seems like it has big potential to me, but what do I know? I just drink the stuff.