December 13, 2023 - Salon Ficofi Paris walkabout tasting and dinner, no detailed tasting notes. Very young still with dark fruit, some nice eucalyptus, creamy tannins. Only hinting at its potential. Wati till 2030 before opening this.
November 16, 2023 - Primary black cherry fruit, slightly chewy, with subtle spice, rolling beautifully to an undulating finish…initially. The length is short lived, as its compactness closes it down on the back end with fuzzy tannins clipping the tail with more and more O2. It had a short few glorious moments, but shut down hard. Score based on best sips.
As mentioned by others, even in the glimpses of potential greatness it provides currently, it seems stylistically much less Napa by design, even to the point where it doesn’t speak to even a restrained Calistoga at the moment. Maybe in 15-20 years that will change.
August 25, 2023 - After an unexpected and abrupt ending to our groups tasting at Eisele late last year I want to get a sense of the 19 at my own pace. I ordered a 375 from Ellen and decided tonight was the night to spend some time with this wine.
At PNP it's obvious with 19 this wine has been taken in a different direction from years past. Blind I would have guessed Bordeaux. It's a beautiful wine but with a different personality than we've come to expect. Gone (at least in 19) is the new world influenced winemaking. A bit shy on the nose, yet expressive on the palate is wonderful structure and balance. I'm torn as I love Araujo bottlings that was in the hands of Francoise and Nigel but this change was inevitable with the new ownership.
I can honestly say I loved the 18 more at this same point in development. I will continue to follow this wine to see what direction this trends in 2021.
For now I'll continue to pick up the Araujo's from the 90's and early 2000s.
96 for now with upside. There is no doubt this is built to be pulled at 10 year mark and drank over the next 40 plus.
March 5, 2023 - Napa and a lone Kiwi (Casa de Sumoba): Slighty shy on the nose but with air, it came around to say hi. Lots of earth, blue fruits, lead pencil and red and blue concentrated berries. This builds incredibly well on the palate and leads to a very long finish. Slightly more garnet colored, this wine is full bodied and deeply complex. Better than when I had it at the estate. Excellent effort. Is it better than 18? At this stage no, but it is certainly nipping at its heels. I might seek out more. 98+ with upside
March 4, 2023 - Don't tease me like that unless you mean it (Chateau de Brion): Lovely nose of beautiful forest floor, deep earth with black and red fruits. The palate had an intense, deep black and red fruits, bitter minerals, and more pure dark fruits. Flavorful and savory minerals. With time, it loses some of its youthful fun and gains a more serious flavor profile. This was a shocker to me as this was completely different compared to the '18 I had.
January 5, 2023 - opened half bottle, decanted for a little over 1 hr.
needs more time, but was impatient. it’s fantastic other than it is still in need of time to balance out, especially alcohol, phenomenal long finish.
don’t drink yet, needs yrs (5? minimum) to integrate but once it does, it is gonna be killer for many decades. really many decades!! large formats (3L+) for your grandchildren when they’re adults
October 14, 2022 - Held off scoring this wine but I’m back to add a score as it stands today. Blown away by 18 but meh on 19. 93+ based on purity and giving some weight to critics vision of what this wine will be. If tasted blind I wouldn’t give this wine much attention. 93 based on today.
Unfortunately this visit ended with our tasting being cut short so I cannot tell you much about this wine.
Second time to visit the property and first time in the house. Sonia is a lovely host and doesn't mind spending extended time talking about the ownership and everything they've been purchasing as of late. With a 90 minute scheduled visit we finally sat down at the table to taste wines at minute 85. 11 Eisele, 16 Syrah, 19 Alta Gracia & 19 Eisele. Pulled out my pen and notebook then started to sample the wine only to be told you don't have to go but you have to go. I have another appointment coming in. Very apologetic in words as we hit the door without being walked out. Mistakes happen and I get that people loose track of time. Seems like there could have been options to make things better. Maybe send us out the door with the sample bottle or 375's to try when back at the hotel. At least a timely follow up. I talked Eisele up to my friends weeks in advance of our visit.
11 showed beautifully. One of the better 11 I've had and is a testament to Francois who I happened to have dinner with the following night.
16 Syrah needs time
19 AG showed beautifully
19 Eisele was my last glass to sip and it tasted like a BDX EP Very raw and very different from the 18 I opened from 375. Beyond that impression I had very little time with it.
(Private dinner at Wheeler Farms) 96 Araujo Eisele from Mag was freaking killer. I brought this specifically to share with the lady who made this wine along with Alex MacDonald, DJ Warner / Helen Keplinger, Nigel & Shae Kinsman and our crew. Even the first growth bottles at the table from 05 was overshadowed by this bottle.
May 25, 2022 - Clear deep purple; clean medium nose of barnyard, cassis, graphite and a touch of mustiness; dry; high acidity; high tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is tarter with addition of black licorice and cocoa; long finish; tight and grippy - still a baby - drink in 5+ years; score will improve with age; tasted at winery
May 16, 2022 - For me, who is still a little reluctant on the old school bordeaux wines, but loves restraint and composure with Napa fruit, this wine is hard to beat. Roses, violets, pencil shavings, cigar box, forest floor and wet stone show off a gorgeous bouquet. Focused fruit with excellent freshness and tension are brought to your palate with restraint and elegance in a firm and sophisticated package. Nothing disjointed or out of balance, this is a regal wine with fine grained tannins, excellent depth of flavor and a very long finish. This expressive vintage with the more structured and classic wine making make a great pairing. Awesome!
March 30, 2022 - The Eisele 19' is going to be a great wine to follow and to see if time will be its ally. The wine reminds me of the 19' vintage as a whole as they are surprisingly accessible now with air. The quality among the top producers in Napa Valley from Calistoga and down to the south end of Oakville is incredible. The 19' Eisele for me, is a bit overshadowed by the 18' which I had recently from a 375mL bottle. This is a classically driven style that seems to pay homage to what the Araujo's did, yet still delivers a bit of the French influence in the wine. Although Bordeaux is more known for its combination of varietals, Eisele under the new leadership has taken a single varietal stance in this wine to really express the Eisele property and what it can do with CS. It has also really embraced the bio dynamic and organic style farming practices which IMO, will pay off in spades for years to come. 97+ with upside.