April 24, 2017 - Still going strong and was drinking best on second day. Typical merlot blue fruit with red highlights. Lots of structure beneath fairly strong fruit. Secondary characteristics were missing. Long finish.
October 29, 2012 - brillant color, deep ruby, slightly acidic, could continue to age and mellow. Strawberry and raspberries throughtout this wine. EXTREMELY fruit forward, but with enough oak to balance this and make it great for years to come.
August 6, 2010 - Dinner With Denyce (Fabio's NYC): Dark nose of cassis, coffe, and oak. Medium intensity ripe black fruit on the palate with a good bit of oak and coffee on the finish. Medium high tannin and medium acidity. Medium long finish.
May 20, 2010 - I wasn't as high on this wine as Parker is... until the 2nd day after opening. Starting VERY tight and gritty, this beauty really opened up and showed berries and chocolate and a surprising smoothness on day 2 and with a bit of help from a run through the Vinturi. While there are better values in this varietal and vintage, you could also do a lot worse.
April 7, 2010 - Nice as ever. Black plum, cassis and espresso. My last bottle, fruit has subsided, but this is darn good. Dry black plum fruit, crisp acidity.
June 22, 2009 - Very nice merlot but no way near a 96 (sorry Gary V). My expectations were high after Gary's review and I was dissapointed. I agree with most reviewers that this is a solid effort but not a good QPR.
June 4, 2009 - Nice new world CA Merlot. Lots of dark cherry, choclate and rasberry. This definitely resembles Pride.
March 19, 2009 - Still beautiful dark fruit and some vanilla on nose. I really, really like this wine. Dark fruit, dusty mouthfeel, good structure and balance.
March 14, 2009 - No tasting notes, but I recall thinking that the Corte Riva was tasting more "Pride" like than the Pride wines do these days, not too surprising given the winemaker.
January 24, 2009 - outstanding Merlot. Berries and chocolate, sweet oak and plums. tannins are smooth and finish echoes the fruits. yummy
better than the 2002 I had last night.