November 19, 2023 - Big round bruiser. Lots of fruit and glycerin or alcohol or all of the above. It’s a good wine but I think my taste for these behemoths has passed.
July 18, 2022 - beautifully balanced. nice wine with bold flavors
February 25, 2022 - This is a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Still very young, but already enjoyable, even by itself.
Full bodied with medium acidity.
Dry and very fruity on the palate with nice complexity and mouthfeel.
Showing black fruits with cedar, licorice, chocolates, vanilla, spices, tobacco, coffee, peppercorn and light earth.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
Another great wine from Mike Smith. Spicy, rich and extracted. Very tasty.
Good right out of the bottle, and better after 2 hours of airtime.
This 6 year old, from the great 2016 vintage, will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.
I paired it with a Charcuterie board of meats and cheeses.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were aged in French oak barrels for 22 months.
14.9% alcohol by volume.
93 points.
$125.
January 29, 2021 - Wow, such a difference bottle to bottle. Vivid floral aromas. Deep dark black fruit flavors with soft supple tannins. The finish goes on and on. Perfect wine to launch the weekend. Enjoyed with lamb chops and rosemary potatoes. Fantastic.
October 24, 2020 - Very nice floral bouquet. Seems to have a little heat on the back-end of the inhale. Deep dark garnet with translucent edges. Dark fruit flavors, albeit tart. Appears to be linear having some very sharp edges. The tannins are tight and grippy. The finish seems short, uneventful and with a little astringency showing some heat on the backend of the finish. This wine needs to settle down a bit and come together a little more. Very different experience from a year ago. Wondering if it could be the bottle?
November 3, 2019 - More or less pop and pour. Pretty classic Rutherford here, with dark red fruits, cocoa powder, nutmeg. Disappeared quick; has a kiss of sweetness that makes it very drinkable. Not the most cerebral of wines, but super tasty.
July 7, 2019 - Decanted 30 minutes. Reminds me a bit of the Myriad NV cab but way more red fruit, veggies, and more delicate; okay perhaps not like it at all. Lots of menthol and herbs on the nose with the red fruit, even some ginger in with the fresh tobacco. Palate is nice and light with acidity and bright red fruit, some powdery tannins that build. Probably better to hold bottles a few more years, and consume on the cooler side.
April 19, 2019 - Aromas of violets and faint bramble and dark berry. Fine, medium tannins. Medium plus finish. Flavors of dark berries, cherry cola and cigar box.
February 27, 2019 - Creme de cassis, black cherries, red licorice, herbs and tobacco leaf on the nose. Nice texture, lots of red and blue fruit to start with good levels of acidity. As this gets to the mid pallet it gets very linear, a bit tart and astringent. It rides high on the pallet and finishes fairly harsh. I am not sure what is going on here, but this is not performing like most of the Mike Smith wines I have had, especially from the GIII vineyard. While it starts out quite nice, that harshness on the finish really takes away from an otherwise very nice flavor profile.
November 12, 2018 - Young, but I had to try it. Recommended by a knowledgeable friend. Lots of fruit and balanced tannins. Reminds me a bit of a somewhat "bigger" Post Parade (another nice fruit forward cab). This is a very nice wine and enjoyable now.