November 27, 2022 - Opened by the fire. Incredible dark berry fruit character, lush with some fine structure. So appealing to the palate, cinnamon , tobacco, worn leather, semi-dark chocolate with good acidity. Tannins are softer providing an awesome finish. Bottle finished way too fast.
Winemaker : TRB
June 16, 2021 - Three hour decant. Very deep plum color. Blackberry, sugar plum, biscotti, cocoa powder, baking soda, and subtle pistachio on the nose. Smooth, very dry, muscular palate, with grippy, mouth coating acidity. Firm, full tannins on the very long finish.
This is a masculine wine that begs for refined steakhouse (and the steak to go with). Very youthful and could use another year or an eight hour decant.
March 17, 2021 - My last bottle of this vintage, and, well, I'm not exactly upset about it.
Decanted for 90 minutes and dove right in.
This lacked much in terms of complexity. Primarily fruit driven, medium to low mid, and little to no tannins to suggest this has structure or longevity.
I really wanted to like this, with the hope to backfill some decently priced (by Napa standards) bottles to act as cellar defenders.
Needless I guess to say, but this wine wont fit that bill.
Not sure what has gone wrong here (solid terroir, great winemaker, fantastic vintage), but something hasn't really clicked with this one.
91 for now, and maybe a tick higher if I consider the possibility that its in a really off phase. Meh, cant win them all...
January 10, 2021 - Others' notes are spot-on. A solid, bold Napa cab, but to me it's a bit lacking in vision/originality at this stage. Will see what happens with more bottle age.
November 1, 2020 - 14.5% abv. Dark crimson, dark core. Blackberry, sour red cherry, earthy green underbrush, soy notes. Med weight, juicy acidity, plenty of fine grained tannins, finishes with espresso and spicy Christmas cake flavors; med+ length. Enjoyable, unique flavors and style, entering good drinking window.
May 25, 2020 - An enjoyable wine for sure, but on this night it didn’t have the purity of fruit that I’ve found in previous bottles. Not sure if it’s shutting down or what.
Made in the typical TRB style, it’s modern styled Cabernet sourced entirely from estate fruit from Saint Helena.
Was considering buying more, but would rather allocate those funds to the 2016 Arrow and Branch Black Label (same pricing- $125) that I had a Week or so go.
93 for now with a bit of upside. Drink last bottle in 2023+.
June 9, 2019 - Up the PCH; 6/4/2019-6/16/2019 (Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, Napa, and Willamette): Part of portfolio tasting with Beverly at their house in St. Helena.
First, it was great to hear the Sodhani story from Beverly (and meet their pups Burgundy and Bordeaux) and see the estate where the grapes are grown. It's a beautiful, slightly sloping location in St. Helena right off the highway. They had previously sold grapes to Harlan (among others). Having TRB on board, removing the merlot from the vineyard and dedicating to cab has been a great move for them.
This 2016 had similar tasting notes as the 2014s and 2015s, but was more accessible. The fruit from this vineyard really shines in this vintage. It will be released this fall along with the reserve, and will be ready to drink then.
Overall Rank - definitely splitting hairs, of course!
2016 Reserve
2016 Estate
2014 Estate
2015 Estate
2014 Reserve
2015 Reserve