Community Tasting Notes 23

• beau11 wrote: 99 points

  September 29, 2022 - I was blown away by this wine. Initially very soft but builds in richness and complexity as it opens. What stood out was the smooth and rich palette with no heaviness or overextraction. The flavors are of blackberry, raspberry cream, tobacco and caramel are delicious.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• beau11 wrote: 98 points

  September 24, 2022 - This was a very interesting wine. Initially soft but remarkable depth to the fruit. The finish was very long and built with time.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• rylanreynolds wrote: 95 points

  August 28, 2022 - A soft wine now, young in vine age, young in the team with their first vintage yet the only direction to go is up. High expectations of future vintages.

  1 person found this helpful

• Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 94 points

  August 16, 2022 - The '18 Bella Oaks is a very promising young wine that is in need of a long time in the cellar. That said, it's already quite drinkable because it is relatively well balanced, showing a combination of Napa exuberance/richness and classic acidity.
  
  On the nose, I found rich red raspberry and blackberry fruits, cassis, red floral aromas, sweet spices, herbal tones like anise/licorice, and a hint of mocha. On the palate, I found a similar mix of fresh and liqueur-like red and black fruit tones, with red raspberry being the most dominant, along with espresso and sweet spices, and ending on a more savory expression of anise, grilled herbs, earth, and black fruit. The wine is richly textured on the palate, with a slightly creamy texture, but high acidity keeps it in balance. The tannins are finely textured, but hit hard as the wine moves towards the finish, along with a touch of alcoholic heat. I found the wine enters relatively smoothly, but the texture is a bit harsh towards the finish, which hopefully mellows out with age.
  
  My primary "concern" with the '18 Bella Oaks, and the reason for knocking the score a point or two, is the finish which I found a bit harsh; it drinks a bit high octane today. If this mellows out a bit and the wine is more seamless from start to finish, it would be a top notch wine in my opinion.

  2 people found this helpful Comments (1)

• WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 98 points

  July 31, 2022 - Speakeasy /w FermentedBeast & Co. (Diamond Heights, San Francisco): Aromas of pure, fresh fruit, clean and intense berries with white and blue flowers. Nice intensity from both fruit and flowers.
  
  Flavors of dark, rich fruits with amazing swiftness, pure flavors of fruit, rich earth, nicely fruited minerals, graceful intensity with lovely richness. There is this nice sprinkling of earthy minerals that add to intrigue.
  
  Loved the swift energy and tension this provides, such a lively play of all the flavors. This hits a lot of the right spots. Will be fun to see how this unfolds down the line. 98+

  4 people found this helpful Comments (12)

Pro Reviews 3

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2018
• Type Red
• Producer Bella Oaks Vineyard
• Varietal Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation Proprietary Red
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Rutherford

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 20 (3%)
• In Cellars 652 (85%)
• Consumed 92 (12%)

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