Community Tasting Notes 4

• Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 94 points

  August 1, 2020 - Arrow and Branch Tasting 2016-2018 Vintages: Similar to my previous tasting note on 9/14/19. This is certainly one of the better 2017 offerings out there. As a matter of fact, I think all of the 2017 wines from AB are very compelling. Hard to put that vintage between 2016 and 2018, which are two of the finest years on record, but AB did a fabulous job with quality in a tough vintage.
  
  This has more savory character on the nose than the 2018. Showing chargrill, blackberries, hints of cassis, tobacco and herbs. Nicely concentrated and medium to full bodied on the palate, this shows you can get some good concentration out of the vintage. A bit redder and not quite as deep as 2018, this will appeal a bit more to the older school wine folks out there. Shows great vibrancy with nothing overdone or bogged down. Lots of earthy and mineral driven flavors. Finish is long and very dry at the moment. This will likely get better with a few more years of age.

  2 people found this helpful Comment

• Niagara wrote: 92 points

  July 8, 2020 - Will benefit from more time in the bottle. Good wine now, better wine in a couple years IMO.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• csimm wrote: 93 points

  December 7, 2019 - An initial horizontal attack of primary black cherry and cassis flavors made for a youthfully primary delivery on the front end. With air, blackberry and black raspberry liqueur, blackberry seed, plum, graphite, burnt ember, red currant, and earth, some iron notes make their ways to the party and broaden the flavor spectrum. A lot of eddying FLAVOR swirling around but staying somewhat flat in their expression in their current states. Some heavy booze on the tail clamped the finish and began to shut down attempts to deepen or develop the profile. Overall, it’s a complete 2017 that’s just going to need some serious time in the bottle to settle down and find some focus. Hold for a few years. 93+ points.

  3 people found this helpful Comment

• Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 94 points

  September 14, 2019 - Arrow & Branch Tasting - with CSIMM1161 (AB House): AB started sourcing from Vine Hill Ranch in 2017. This will be a great addition to their lineup. It's 100% Cab. Tasted from bottle.
  
  The nose on this wine reminded me a lot of LPV. Lots of smoked meat, charred embers, rich blackberries and scorched earth. On the palate it's rich, nicely layered, with solid tannin structure and a complex, expressive profile. Quite a bit of loamy earth and forest floor notions. Time should be this wine's friend, letting the layers unfold into something special. It's one of the better 2017's I've tasted, with no astringent bitterness linked to smoke taint. I believe this was picked before the fire (for real, not just what they tell you).

  3 people found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2017
• Type Red
• Producer Arrow & Branch
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Vine Hill Ranch
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Oakville

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 130 (80%)
• Consumed 33 (20%)

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