Community Tasting Notes 5

• SLOFred Likes this wine: 89 points

  January 8, 2023 - Not bad, not spectacular. Certainly not worth the price.

  Comment

• SC OLY Likes this wine: 90 points

  April 12, 2020 - Big and bold. I like this Cab. Lots of berry flavors with a hint of tobacco .

  Comment

• MH Amateur wrote:

  June 15, 2019 - We did a wine night with a group of friends. We went with three waves.
  
  First Wave: White as people arrived in the afternoon while it was still hot out.
  2017 Christian Salmon Sancerre Cuvee Vieilles Vignes. Served very cold; chilled in bucket of ice and water. Excellent nose with citrus and honeysuckle. Crisp drinker. More citrus and honey on palate. Everyone enjoyed it cold. Call it a 92-93.
  2015 Ramey Chardonnay Russian River Valley. I might have had it a bit cold. I was shooting for 45-50F but I think is was closer to 40F. Not a ton of stone fruit on the nose or palate; was looking for peach or honey or wet stone. Main flavor that I detected was oak. Not buttery like some California Chardonnays but did not get the wet granite that some French Burgundys have either. Call it an 89.
  Clear favorite in the first wave was the Sancerre.
  
  Second Wave: 2012 Denner Horizontal Tasting. Opened up the bottles 5 hours before tasting. Poured wine into glasses an hour before tasting and covered with an index card.
  2012 Denner Syrah. Excellent nose. Hints of sandalwood and plums on the nose. Smooth texture with a long finish. A couple of people mentioned that they detected a slight “wet dirt in a barn” smell and taste but in a good way. Tasting notes mentioned sweet tobacco – maybe this was what we were detecting and describing. Excellent wine; call it a 93.
  2012 Denner The Dirt Worshipper. Strong white pepper as soon as you removed the index card. One person said wet coals but we think they were influenced by the tasting notes. What does wet coals smell like? A couple of us thought we might have had kalamata olive on the palate but it could have been that we had eaten a couple of the olives. Hints of blackberry were the most prevalent. Also really good; call it a 93 or 94.
  2012 Denner Mother of Exiles. Darker color than the previous two. Black current and pencil lead on the nose. Hints of plum and chocolate on the palate. Very smooth with a long finish. Not the strong grippy tannins that some of the Napa / Sonoma Cabs can have. This was smooth from start to finish. Call it a 93 or 94.
  
  Third Wave. Finish up with a couple of reds to keep the night going.
  2014 Chateau Tournefeuille La Terrasse. Opened it 5 hours before drinking. Bright red fruit. Juicy. Certainly did not go with the Denners. Probably a mistake on my part adding this as one of the ones towards the end of the night. No one thought much of it. Call it an 88 or 89.
  2009 Chateau Poujeaux. Opened it 5 hours before drinking. Darker in color and much better than the Tournefeuille. Smooth but not as smooth or complex as the Denners. Call it a 90.
  We ran out so I opened up a 2012 Stonestreet Cabernet Sauvignon Cougar Ridge. I poured it through a venturi into a decanter. Dark inky color. Most prominent feature was the strong grippy tannins. It served as an excellent example of what the Denners did NOT have. It was not as smooth. But, in fairness, it was the end of the night and did not have nearly the amount of time as the other wines.
  
  The favorite wines of the night were the Denner Dirt Worshipper and Denner Mother of Exiles; they tied for most votes. The Salmon Sancerre was also a favorite and had the best QPR of the night.

  Comment

• osodoro wrote: 85 points

  May 28, 2018 - Definitely past it's prime. Did not sing like other stonestreet cabs. Lacked complexity or depth. Tannins were still there, just not much else. If tasted blind, I would have guessed this was a $15 bottle.

  Comment

• #1Winelover wrote: 91 points

  December 5, 2016 - Parker got it right -- and got it wrong. It is purple, it smells nice, and it has sweet kiss of stuff. That said, it's pretty average, doesn't taste like mountain fruit -- which it is -- and seems past it's prime at only 4 years old. I would like to open another bottle of something but am traveling the rest of the week :(

  Comment

Pro Reviews 0

• No pro reviews found.

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2012
• Type Red
• Producer Stonestreet
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Cougar Ridge
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Sonoma County
• Appellation Alexander Valley

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 89 (47%)
• Consumed 102 (53%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine