Double-blinding FermentedBeast (FermentedBeast's Lair): Pretty nose of dark pink and purple flowers, dark fruits, fine graphite and river stones. This develops into a much dark and brooding type of nose with deep, damp, earthy soil and an oddly satisfying spiced tree bark.
Flavors of dark red and black fruits. A good blend of fruits but slightly more towards red. Gentle but firm earth, a dark streak of graphite and gentle undertone of dark, earthy minerals.
A surprise pull by FermentedBeast. Good now and is a pleasure to see how it develops as you let this air out. This was pulled after the first two bottles but would've loved to follow this throughout the night. Enjoy now with some decanting and tasting along or cellar for 2-4 years for some integration. 97+
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Tasted this wine over several days with many different approaches. My personal favorite was cork pulled and replaced for 24 seemed to benefit both the 18 & 19 equally. The 2018 bottling showing a bit more open this time around over our tasting in Oct of 21. Still tightly wound yet a bit more approachable, this singular expression of Block 4 Clone 4 planted in 1996 might be the backbone of this beloved vineyard. Needless to say the question I've been asked is 18 vs 19. Which one is your favorite? My thoughts are you should own both if you love this site. With the addition of 3a clone 337 in 19 it's a completely different animal. Almost everyone that tasted went back and forth of which one was their favorite. There is no doubt this is special fruit and Jennifer Williams did a wonderful job with this wine. Great tension and structure this bottle will age very well given proper time and storage.
As a treat to Josh, we opened up an 08 & 15 VHR during these tasting. A lot of similar qualities to these Arrow & Branch wines which will be fun to follow in future revisit. Both on order.
Three hour double decant. Very deep dark magenta color. Espresso, baker’s chocolate, black cherry, and sage on the youthful nose. Smooth, dry palate, with powerful acidity. Very firm tannins on the medium long finish.
This will fill out more in a few years. It will certainly improve. Very fun to experience.
Epic Napa Trip - Day 3: Tasted at Arrow & Branch - The best cab in the lineup by far. Still very young and primal, but showed plenty of fruit and structure. You can tell this wine will age well and show much better down the road. Nose shows dark fruit and wisps of raspberry, bramble and spice. Palate shows red and black fruit with chocolate, vanilla, graphite, earth and tobacco coupled with oaky notes. Tannins are still very prevalent and definitely need time, but plenty of fruit and acid to allow them to mellow. This wine is built for the long haul. 94+ to 95 now, and should get better.
Napa trip day 3 (Napa): Drank a small glass over 45 minutes at the winery's tasting house. Lots of structure, pepper, vanilla, some green character that will integrate well. I can't say whether any of their wines will improve with age, but this is the one I'd bet on.
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Napa Last Weekend: of the wines we tasted, this was surprisingly my least favorite. Perhaps because the others were more ready to rock, and this wine clearly needs extended ZZZ's?
A well made wine, and I can see very high scores in its future.
Private tasting event of MM, A&B, Covert & Rewa. Mostly impressions as there was a lot of wine tasted.
One hour splash decant-
Fresh clean nose. Dark ruby glass, some ripe and somewhat tart savory red fruits, brutish tannins, full bodied and drying. Structured and balanced acids.
Sourced Block 4 Vine Hill Ranch.
96
After 24, same notes. This bottle is built to cellar.
96
48 hrs. Everything has come together in a beautiful display of dense dark fruit. Rounded tannins and a long finish. The science experiment has reward the effort of slow ox in the bottle.
Two hour decant. Very deep dark ruby magenta color. Blackberry, cranberry, marzipan, and subtle coffee grounds on the nose. Smooth, tongue drying palate. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish.
My score is a bit speculative, because this Cab is painfully young. Even so, it kept improving over the hour I was assessing it. I was quite impressed.
Dark ripe berry and black soil notes duel with iron, red and black raspberry, and burnt ember elements to form a full frontal push of luscious and intense fruit and earth flavors. A statuesque wine that also pushes a few hedonistic buttons as well, especially flaunting it’s mid-palate swag in both concentration and plain ol’ chewy goodness. Finishes more serious than it started, with a focus and trajectory that tells you this thing ain’t messing around when it comes to age-worthy potential.
All of this equates to a killer wine that carries keen focus and frame to perfectly harness its seductive core. Not unapproachable by any means, but ideally a wine to hold for 5-7+ years. 97+ points.
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2018 VHR Face Off (blind), with Arrow & Branch, Mememto Mori, VHR and Tor represented. Without a doubt the most serious and brooding of these wines. While the nose offers up some blackberry and floral notes, it is mostly dominated by chargrill, burnt embers, dried herbs, black tar and deeply earth driven elements. Mostly black fruit with hints of cherries, powerfully concentrated and quite dry, this wine is built like a brick house and meant to age. There’s some nice dark chocolate that emerges amongst the core of fruit and savory notes. The tannins are fine grained and strong. Finishes super long and mineral laced. The best of the group but should be given bottle age or a lot of air
Arrow and Branch Tasting 2016-2018 Vintages: Flat out amazing and perhaps the best wine AB has ever produced. Cassis fruit, dark cherry, hints of char, herbs, tobacco and baking spices on a compelling nose. Shows the hallmark extremely fresh and vibrant style of AB wines with epic concentrated and pure fruit, to go along with a savory character that sets the complexity apart from other offerings. Full bodied, incredibly well layered and showing the "it" factor many of us enthusiasts are trying to find. Refined but prominent tannic structure will give this a long life. Excellent acidity and balance. Super long and satisfying finish. This is one you buy without any reservations.
11/5/2022 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 97 Points
Double-blinding FermentedBeast (FermentedBeast's Lair): Pretty nose of dark pink and purple flowers, dark fruits, fine graphite and river stones. This develops into a much dark and brooding type of nose with deep, damp, earthy soil and an oddly satisfying spiced tree bark.
Flavors of dark red and black fruits. A good blend of fruits but slightly more towards red. Gentle but firm earth, a dark streak of graphite and gentle undertone of dark, earthy minerals.
A surprise pull by FermentedBeast. Good now and is a pleasure to see how it develops as you let this air out. This was pulled after the first two bottles but would've loved to follow this throughout the night. Enjoy now with some decanting and tasting along or cellar for 2-4 years for some integration. 97+
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5/4/2022 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 98 Points
Tasted this wine over several days with many different approaches. My personal favorite was cork pulled and replaced for 24 seemed to benefit both the 18 & 19 equally. The 2018 bottling showing a bit more open this time around over our tasting in Oct of 21. Still tightly wound yet a bit more approachable, this singular expression of Block 4 Clone 4 planted in 1996 might be the backbone of this beloved vineyard. Needless to say the question I've been asked is 18 vs 19. Which one is your favorite? My thoughts are you should own both if you love this site. With the addition of 3a clone 337 in 19 it's a completely different animal. Almost everyone that tasted went back and forth of which one was their favorite. There is no doubt this is special fruit and Jennifer Williams did a wonderful job with this wine. Great tension and structure this bottle will age very well given proper time and storage.
As a treat to Josh, we opened up an 08 & 15 VHR during these tasting. A lot of similar qualities to these Arrow & Branch wines which will be fun to follow in future revisit. Both on order.
98+
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5/3/2022 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 94 Points
Three hour double decant. Very deep dark magenta color. Espresso, baker’s chocolate, black cherry, and sage on the youthful nose. Smooth, dry palate, with powerful acidity. Very firm tannins on the medium long finish.
This will fill out more in a few years. It will certainly improve. Very fun to experience.
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12/7/2021 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Epic Napa Trip - Day 3: Tasted at Arrow & Branch - The best cab in the lineup by far. Still very young and primal, but showed plenty of fruit and structure. You can tell this wine will age well and show much better down the road. Nose shows dark fruit and wisps of raspberry, bramble and spice. Palate shows red and black fruit with chocolate, vanilla, graphite, earth and tobacco coupled with oaky notes. Tannins are still very prevalent and definitely need time, but plenty of fruit and acid to allow them to mellow. This wine is built for the long haul. 94+ to 95 now, and should get better.
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12/7/2021 - galewskj wrote:
Napa trip day 3 (Napa): Drank a small glass over 45 minutes at the winery's tasting house. Lots of structure, pepper, vanilla, some green character that will integrate well. I can't say whether any of their wines will improve with age, but this is the one I'd bet on.
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11/28/2021 - blarmston Likes this wine: 95 Points
Napa Last Weekend: of the wines we tasted, this was surprisingly my least favorite. Perhaps because the others were more ready to rock, and this wine clearly needs extended ZZZ's?
A well made wine, and I can see very high scores in its future.
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11/19/2021 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 97 Points
Private tasting event of MM, A&B, Covert & Rewa. Mostly impressions as there was a lot of wine tasted.
One hour splash decant-
Fresh clean nose. Dark ruby glass, some ripe and somewhat tart savory red fruits, brutish tannins, full bodied and drying. Structured and balanced acids.
Sourced Block 4 Vine Hill Ranch.
96
After 24, same notes. This bottle is built to cellar.
96
48 hrs. Everything has come together in a beautiful display of dense dark fruit. Rounded tannins and a long finish. The science experiment has reward the effort of slow ox in the bottle.
97
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11/18/2021 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 96 Points
Two hour decant. Very deep dark ruby magenta color. Blackberry, cranberry, marzipan, and subtle coffee grounds on the nose. Smooth, tongue drying palate. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish.
My score is a bit speculative, because this Cab is painfully young. Even so, it kept improving over the hour I was assessing it. I was quite impressed.
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
10/27/2021 - csimm wrote: 97 Points
Dark ripe berry and black soil notes duel with iron, red and black raspberry, and burnt ember elements to form a full frontal push of luscious and intense fruit and earth flavors. A statuesque wine that also pushes a few hedonistic buttons as well, especially flaunting it’s mid-palate swag in both concentration and plain ol’ chewy goodness. Finishes more serious than it started, with a focus and trajectory that tells you this thing ain’t messing around when it comes to age-worthy potential.
All of this equates to a killer wine that carries keen focus and frame to perfectly harness its seductive core. Not unapproachable by any means, but ideally a wine to hold for 5-7+ years. 97+ points.
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9/21/2021 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 97 Points
2018 VHR Face Off (blind), with Arrow & Branch, Mememto Mori, VHR and Tor represented. Without a doubt the most serious and brooding of these wines. While the nose offers up some blackberry and floral notes, it is mostly dominated by chargrill, burnt embers, dried herbs, black tar and deeply earth driven elements. Mostly black fruit with hints of cherries, powerfully concentrated and quite dry, this wine is built like a brick house and meant to age. There’s some nice dark chocolate that emerges amongst the core of fruit and savory notes. The tannins are fine grained and strong. Finishes super long and mineral laced. The best of the group but should be given bottle age or a lot of air
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8/13/2021 - jimyeni wrote: 93 Points
A bit of a bruiser at this point. Cigar and cherry, still coming together and a bit tight. Darker in nature.
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8/1/2020 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Arrow and Branch Tasting 2016-2018 Vintages: Flat out amazing and perhaps the best wine AB has ever produced. Cassis fruit, dark cherry, hints of char, herbs, tobacco and baking spices on a compelling nose. Shows the hallmark extremely fresh and vibrant style of AB wines with epic concentrated and pure fruit, to go along with a savory character that sets the complexity apart from other offerings. Full bodied, incredibly well layered and showing the "it" factor many of us enthusiasts are trying to find. Refined but prominent tannic structure will give this a long life. Excellent acidity and balance. Super long and satisfying finish. This is one you buy without any reservations.
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (32)