Similar notes to last tasting. Starts with blueberry fruit on the nose and morphs to tobacco leaf, and bell pepper. In mouth the wine begins with black cherry, (still not quite fully ripened) blackberry grape jelly and set with a creamy texture. Really well balanced.
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Part of a good wine weekend while relaxing at home. Friday night was MM VHR vs FM's Sleeping Lady (both 2019). Saturday, we decided to test out a 2018 Quilceda Creek versus a 2018 M. Etain.
For Saturday, I opened both wines, double decanted back into the bottle and let it slow ox for ~5 hours. My fiance and I both agreed we liked the QC more. Higher toned, red fruited, just all the tannins working in harmony, rich, smooth, but not hedonistic. It's experiences like this which makes me come back to QC time and time again and glad I am building a cellar with them in it.
The M Etain was a different beast. Still very enjoyable, this came off much more dark fruited, more cloying, hard to read. I felt like this once is built for many more years, and I will lay my hands off my other bottle for awhile. You get the classic Rutherford nose, along with cloves, tar, tobacco leaf. I wish we saved some of this for another day so I could see how it continued to evolve overnight. Well made wine.
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Friday Night Brown Bagger (R&R's): Double blind. Deep youthful color with notes of black currants, cassis and plum. Chocolate and mocha qualities emerge as this opens in the glass. Well-balanced, with flavors of black fruit, cedar, plum and herbs. Velvety and soft; elegant. Long finish. Guessed Napa cab sauv. (R&R)
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Tonight this was a stunner. Followed a James Cole 2009 and perhaps it was the age but the freshness of the M Etain shined. Starts with blueberry fruit on the nose and morphs to tobacco leaf, and bell pepper. In mouth the wine begins with black cherry, (not quite fully ripened) blackberry but set with a creamy texture.
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Decided to open this to help numb the pain of a down 3.9% S&P day, and The Tin Man delivered some much needed reprieve. It didn't help that I was glancing at the Asian markets imploding on Bloomberg, but that's another thing.
This seems to be coming into its own, and is reminiscent of its older siblings. Red fruited, nicely balanced, some dust.
While a very nice effort, it hits a bit below its average of $250 as an entry fee. Loved M'Etain when it was a $175, not as much with the price increase.
Decanted for two hours, had half a bottle over the next two. Last sips were the best. Will report back tonight if there is a marked change.
Glad I have four more of these to follow over the next decade or so...
Pre Valentine's Tasting (Chicago Wine Consulting - Glenview IL): Walk-around tasting. Ripe and rich black fruit with sweet spice. Lots here, giving a complex array of sweet and notes notes, even nearly balanced. Already easy to enjoy, better 2023 forward.
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Thanksgiving 2021. Lineup included the following: M Etain 2018 Morlet Estate Cabernet 2012 Canon La Gafferiere 2015 Ca' del Baio Autinbej 2017 Wine Men of Gotham 2017 Aubert Chardonnay CIX Avignonesi Vino Nobile 2013 Outpost zinfandel 2018
The M. Etain was way way too young today. Mostly sweet blueberry fruits dominate. A honey smoothing mouthfeel at mid palette with the emergence of fig and plum flavors but with under-ripened fruit. Waiting till the weekend and will report 2nd or 3rd day notes.
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A year later, this is settling down nicely. Still young and a bit grippy, but not exceedingly so. depending on your taste it could be ready to go, or can certainly profit from another year or two, either way.
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PNP tonight. I found the wine more closed than last year. Perhaps it is entering a stage of development. Blue fruits and muted at that. Mouthfeel is still rich, velvety and viscous. The spices dominate and the closed nature made it difficult to appreciate. Still lovely. Not scoring tonight.
Have popped a couple of these now. Find it to be right in the 94-95 range for us. I think it's going to get better with some age, but not be a "long hauler" in general. You'll see the fruit pretty quickly.
Really deftly made vino IMHO to present this much fruit but have the structure to go lovely with a ribeye. I don't see this vintage being as good as 2016, but damn glad I have a few in my cellar.
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1hr to open up in the glass. Drinking amazing we’ll for a young wine. Dense black fruit, firm tannins, but smooth. Full bodied, long finish. Much more depth than the ‘17. This will drink well for years to come. It’s a big wine, but not jammy and over the top.
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Deep red-plum, unbelievable color. That was the most mesmerizing part of this wine. Chocolate, licorice, red and dark fruit, cinnamon and baking spice on nose/palate. Really long finish. Gripping tannin but needed plenty of air to find balance. Was very disappointed on P&P but has grown on me significantly with time. Very enjoyable. Drink now with air or wait a few years.
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Decanted for several hours and brought by a friend to our house for dinner. Tasted along side 1986 Ch. Pichon Lalande and 1992 Ridge Monte Bello. Even though I gave this a good score, it is just not my style of wine. For me this pales in comparison to the others, not because it isn’t as big or rich but because it is over the top for my taste. This is labeled as 14.9% ABV but tastes more like nearly 16%. Clearly this is still a baby and needs some time in the cellar to settle down but this will never be a balanced wine in my mind. This is dense opaque purple black with glass coating crimson stain. Sweet, dark red fruit on the nose along with menthol, alcohol and some oak induced baking spices including vanilla. There is a great deal of tannin, some might describe it as “ripe” but it is mouth coating and intensely drying given its youth and more characteristic of young Nebbiolo. It is very viscous (alcohol?) with dense legs coating the glass. The flavors are big, powerful and in your face. Palate has sour black cherry, boysenberry, blueberry and tart black currant as well. Very primary. Finish is long but uncomfortable as it is somewhat bitter and lingers due to the tannin and small amount of residual sugar. On its own I find this difficult to drink at best but with steak and mushrooms it is a reasonable pairing.
I have never cared for wines of this style and find little interesting about them. I just don’t understand the attraction...and the price makes absolutely no sense to me. This was my first Cali Cab from the 2018 vintage which is getting huge kudos from the pro reviewers...the only thing I can glean is that it will be a vintage that will please you if you like this extremely ripe, heavily extracted style of wine. My initial reaction is that the 2016 Cali Cabs are on the whole much more balanced and less over the top ripe. I remember a discussion I had with Nicolas Morlet of Peter Michael (et al) at a trade tasting just after the 2016’s were released where he and I disagreed about the 2016 and 2018 vintages...he seemed to feel the 2016 Les Pavots didn’t measure up while I thought it was the best wine from them I had ever tasted. He was much more excited about the 2018 vintage. Different strokes for different folks...I guess.
Most excellent, as good as the previous bottle and is true to the vintage and the terroir; enjoyable now with firm and expectant tannins, blackberry, blueberry throughout, but would hold for at least 2 years. Day 2 - much more explosive fruits, drinking better, but still would hold for a good 2 years. Seems par for the course for big 18s. Even more held back than the first bottle.
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I had been fortunate to have a small pour years ago, but this was my first bottle to pop for my family and I to enjoy. WOW. Much like a fine work of art, you are intrigued on multiple levels, not exactly knowing what is the standout feature(s). This is a solidly crafted wine worthy anyone with discerning tastes (and a pocketbook to match). After a 2 hour decant it was still opening up. I think another few years in the cellar and this one will be epic. The wine looks purple colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle.
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Coravin pour. Slightly reserved nose of cassis fruit, spice box, coffee grounds, dark flowers and forest floor. Starts really tight on the palate and picks up weight and expression with air. As is typical with Scarecrow, this is well balanced, masterfully layered and pure. Definitely young right now, but not as discombobulated as its 2016 older sibling when I had it a while back. Shows medium to full bodied, with strong tannins, good levels of acid and a long if slightly astringent finish. Love the darker fruit profile. This is going to need a little time to fill in the gaps and come together.
As a separate matter re: Scarecrow, it seems like their production and price increases have made the list a lot less exclusive these days. I can see where you can buy this wine online for release price all over. That means it can probably be had for less somewhere. At near 2500 cases, that's a lot of wine to move. Not quite as pronounced on the regular Scarecrow, but they are creeping toward list irrelevance it seems.
This wine is HUGE! Really glad to have opened one early. 2 hour decant. Noticeable dark chocolate and dark fruits. Drying tannins on the finish. An excellent wine!
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This is an awesomely powerful and layered wine. Performing so well young, with potential to reach higher scores by 2025+. Incredible nose, bouquet of toasted blackberry cobbler, #2 pencil. Really fine grip from the tanins. Well integrated oak. Really woke up after 4.5 hrs in décanteur. Saving second bottle for 2023.
A little slow to open but has awesome black cherry and blackberry on the nose, poised on the palate there is blackberry, raspberry, and mocha, silky smooth with soft tannins. This is why I drink wine - opened this on the off chance I could improve my night after a less than stellar different wine to start. Worth it. Day two brings notes of caramel to the nose, the depth of flavor persists, 94-95 now - probably spectacular in a few years time. Hold for 1-2 years.
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This ripe and explosive Cabernet blend offers incredible power, complexity, and energy, so much so that it's hard to assess right now. Still, the sheer exuberance of this wine reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about California: as author Carey McWilliams wrote in 1949, “Europeans have long marveled at the driving force, the ‘restless energy,’ of America; but it is only in California that this energy is coeval with statehood…. In California the lights went on all at once, in a blaze, and they have never dimmed.”
This is such a wine, with lights blazing all at once. Dark red in color and full in body, the wine offers raw aromas of blueberry pie, black licorice, pencil shavings, and bay leaf. The flavors are more dense and savory, with notes of boysenberry, gravel, espresso, and baking spices, followed by a grainy and layered finish (read: teeth-coating tannins + explosive fruit + underlying acidity = all good, for a wine this young). Blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 4% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. 14.9% alcohol. Decant at least an hour if drinking now, but ideally wait until 2022 or later. 94-95 at the moment, but there's so much upside ahead.
Nose of rich & ripened fruits. Particularly (hard to believe) strawberry & raspberry. Small hints of cedar wood and bell pepper.
In mouth the wine is viscous, creamy and also rich. Flavors include mulberry, dark sweet plum, olive and a little bit of blueberry. The mid pallete and finish have a strong iron core with tight tannin and quite frankly ageable acidty. A really great wine but one that is too young to totally evaluate. I really struggled with getting flavors together for these notes.
This wine is very well made and represents pure value given the quality present. It punches above its weight and is worth finding and holding for 5-10 years.
Young, too young perhaps, but jumping out of the glass with youthful energy, so worth a spin around the track. Really you could drink only this wine forever and be happy, and not die broke. Or as broke.
Note to Blarmston: popped and poured; a decant would probably be beneficial, but I never plan far enough ahead ...
12/25/2023 - Kdad Likes this wine: 94 Points
Old style. Oak. Yum.
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9/4/2023 - tomoem Likes this wine: 94 Points
Similar notes to last tasting. Starts with blueberry fruit on the nose and morphs to tobacco leaf, and bell pepper. In mouth the wine begins with black cherry, (still not quite fully ripened) blackberry grape jelly and set with a creamy texture. Really well balanced.
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4/2/2023 - Race crew Likes this wine: 94 Points
Good grief, I love this stuff
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9/24/2022 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Part of a good wine weekend while relaxing at home. Friday night was MM VHR vs FM's Sleeping Lady (both 2019). Saturday, we decided to test out a 2018 Quilceda Creek versus a 2018 M. Etain.
For Saturday, I opened both wines, double decanted back into the bottle and let it slow ox for ~5 hours. My fiance and I both agreed we liked the QC more. Higher toned, red fruited, just all the tannins working in harmony, rich, smooth, but not hedonistic. It's experiences like this which makes me come back to QC time and time again and glad I am building a cellar with them in it.
The M Etain was a different beast. Still very enjoyable, this came off much more dark fruited, more cloying, hard to read. I felt like this once is built for many more years, and I will lay my hands off my other bottle for awhile. You get the classic Rutherford nose, along with cloves, tar, tobacco leaf. I wish we saved some of this for another day so I could see how it continued to evolve overnight. Well made wine.
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9/16/2022 - AllRed wrote: 95 Points
Friday Night Brown Bagger (R&R's): Double blind. Deep youthful color with notes of black currants, cassis and plum. Chocolate and mocha qualities emerge as this opens in the glass. Well-balanced, with flavors of black fruit, cedar, plum and herbs. Velvety and soft; elegant. Long finish. Guessed Napa cab sauv. (R&R)
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7/31/2022 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine: 95 Points
My 3rd and last bottle. Absolutely enjoyed every drop. Powerful and complex.
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7/9/2022 - tomoem wrote: 93 Points
Tonight this was a stunner. Followed a James Cole 2009 and perhaps it was the age but the freshness of the M Etain shined. Starts with blueberry fruit on the nose and morphs to tobacco leaf, and bell pepper. In mouth the wine begins with black cherry, (not quite fully ripened) blackberry but set with a creamy texture.
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6/14/2022 - blarmston Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decided to open this to help numb the pain of a down 3.9% S&P day, and The Tin Man delivered some much needed reprieve. It didn't help that I was glancing at the Asian markets imploding on Bloomberg, but that's another thing.
This seems to be coming into its own, and is reminiscent of its older siblings. Red fruited, nicely balanced, some dust.
While a very nice effort, it hits a bit below its average of $250 as an entry fee. Loved M'Etain when it was a $175, not as much with the price increase.
Decanted for two hours, had half a bottle over the next two. Last sips were the best. Will report back tonight if there is a marked change.
Glad I have four more of these to follow over the next decade or so...
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5/7/2022 - RMundell Likes this wine: 93 Points
Short decant. Solid wine not worth the price point.
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2/12/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Pre Valentine's Tasting (Chicago Wine Consulting - Glenview IL): Walk-around tasting. Ripe and rich black fruit with sweet spice. Lots here, giving a complex array of sweet and notes notes, even nearly balanced. Already easy to enjoy, better 2023 forward.
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11/27/2021 - tomoem Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fab at 3 days. Slight drying mouthfeel but blackberry and cassis dominate the palette.
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11/25/2021 - tomoem wrote: 93 Points
Thanksgiving 2021. Lineup included the following:
M Etain 2018
Morlet Estate Cabernet 2012
Canon La Gafferiere 2015
Ca' del Baio Autinbej 2017
Wine Men of Gotham 2017
Aubert Chardonnay CIX
Avignonesi Vino Nobile 2013
Outpost zinfandel 2018
The M. Etain was way way too young today. Mostly sweet blueberry fruits dominate. A honey smoothing mouthfeel at mid palette with the emergence of fig and plum flavors but with under-ripened fruit. Waiting till the weekend and will report 2nd or 3rd day notes.
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10/22/2021 - PRS13 Does not like this wine:
Meh.
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10/4/2021 - Niagara wrote:
A year later, this is settling down nicely. Still young and a bit grippy, but not exceedingly so. depending on your taste it could be ready to go, or can certainly profit from another year or two, either way.
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8/14/2021 - tomoem wrote: 93 Points
Better tonight (48 hours opened). Slightly more fruit present and I can't believe its been two days opened. The wine is built to age. Wait 3-5 years
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8/11/2021 - tomoem Likes this wine:
PNP tonight. I found the wine more closed than last year. Perhaps it is entering a stage of development. Blue fruits and muted at that. Mouthfeel is still rich, velvety and viscous. The spices dominate and the closed nature made it difficult to appreciate. Still lovely. Not scoring tonight.
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6/16/2021 - ageverett Likes this wine: 95 Points
Have popped a couple of these now. Find it to be right in the 94-95 range for us. I think it's going to get better with some age, but not be a "long hauler" in general. You'll see the fruit pretty quickly.
Really deftly made vino IMHO to present this much fruit but have the structure to go lovely with a ribeye. I don't see this vintage being as good as 2016, but damn glad I have a few in my cellar.
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6/16/2021 - wdcwineguys Likes this wine: 95 Points
1hr to open up in the glass. Drinking amazing we’ll for a young wine. Dense black fruit, firm tannins, but smooth. Full bodied, long finish. Much more depth than the ‘17. This will drink well for years to come. It’s a big wine, but not jammy and over the top.
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5/7/2021 - Btho wrote:
Deep red-plum, unbelievable color. That was the most mesmerizing part of this wine. Chocolate, licorice, red and dark fruit, cinnamon and baking spice on nose/palate. Really long finish. Gripping tannin but needed plenty of air to find balance. Was very disappointed on P&P but has grown on me significantly with time. Very enjoyable. Drink now with air or wait a few years.
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4/12/2021 - Acohen Likes this wine: 95 Points
dark rich fruit with lots of brooding tannin, minerality, plum, graphite, tar and earth but integrated tannin and super long finish
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3/6/2021 - oldwines Does not like this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for several hours and brought by a friend to our house for dinner. Tasted along side 1986 Ch. Pichon Lalande and 1992 Ridge Monte Bello. Even though I gave this a good score, it is just not my style of wine. For me this pales in comparison to the others, not because it isn’t as big or rich but because it is over the top for my taste. This is labeled as 14.9% ABV but tastes more like nearly 16%. Clearly this is still a baby and needs some time in the cellar to settle down but this will never be a balanced wine in my mind. This is dense opaque purple black with glass coating crimson stain. Sweet, dark red fruit on the nose along with menthol, alcohol and some oak induced baking spices including vanilla. There is a great deal of tannin, some might describe it as “ripe” but it is mouth coating and intensely drying given its youth and more characteristic of young Nebbiolo. It is very viscous (alcohol?) with dense legs coating the glass. The flavors are big, powerful and in your face. Palate has sour black cherry, boysenberry, blueberry and tart black currant as well. Very primary. Finish is long but uncomfortable as it is somewhat bitter and lingers due to the tannin and small amount of residual sugar. On its own I find this difficult to drink at best but with steak and mushrooms it is a reasonable pairing.
I have never cared for wines of this style and find little interesting about them. I just don’t understand the attraction...and the price makes absolutely no sense to me. This was my first Cali Cab from the 2018 vintage which is getting huge kudos from the pro reviewers...the only thing I can glean is that it will be a vintage that will please you if you like this extremely ripe, heavily extracted style of wine. My initial reaction is that the 2016 Cali Cabs are on the whole much more balanced and less over the top ripe. I remember a discussion I had with Nicolas Morlet of Peter Michael (et al) at a trade tasting just after the 2016’s were released where he and I disagreed about the 2016 and 2018 vintages...he seemed to feel the 2016 Les Pavots didn’t measure up while I thought it was the best wine from them I had ever tasted. He was much more excited about the 2018 vintage. Different strokes for different folks...I guess.
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3/4/2021 - Paris7eme wrote:
Layered dark fruit and complex
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1/24/2021 - EpochMD Likes this wine:
Most excellent, as good as the previous bottle and is true to the vintage and the terroir; enjoyable now with firm and expectant tannins, blackberry, blueberry throughout, but would hold for at least 2 years. Day 2 - much more explosive fruits, drinking better, but still would hold for a good 2 years. Seems par for the course for big 18s. Even more held back than the first bottle.
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1/23/2021 - blarmston wrote: 94 Points
Cant really add more to this wine at this point than what previous TN's have already written.
Great guts to this wine, and everything is there in that typical M'Etain goodness, but it needs time.
Check back in on this one in 3+ years.
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1/22/2021 - eschuldt wrote: 94 Points
Another ‘18 that just needs time, I love the nose on this but the tannins need time to integrate. Slow ox’d for 4 hours then decanted for 1.
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12/26/2020 - Race crew Likes this wine: 95 Points
I had been fortunate to have a small pour years ago, but this was my first bottle to pop for my family and I to enjoy. WOW. Much like a fine work of art, you are intrigued on multiple levels, not exactly knowing what is the standout feature(s). This is a solidly crafted wine worthy anyone with discerning tastes (and a pocketbook to match). After a 2 hour decant it was still opening up. I think another few years in the cellar and this one will be epic.
The wine looks purple colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle.
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12/14/2020 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Coravin pour. Slightly reserved nose of cassis fruit, spice box, coffee grounds, dark flowers and forest floor. Starts really tight on the palate and picks up weight and expression with air. As is typical with Scarecrow, this is well balanced, masterfully layered and pure. Definitely young right now, but not as discombobulated as its 2016 older sibling when I had it a while back. Shows medium to full bodied, with strong tannins, good levels of acid and a long if slightly astringent finish. Love the darker fruit profile. This is going to need a little time to fill in the gaps and come together.
As a separate matter re: Scarecrow, it seems like their production and price increases have made the list a lot less exclusive these days. I can see where you can buy this wine online for release price all over. That means it can probably be had for less somewhere. At near 2500 cases, that's a lot of wine to move. Not quite as pronounced on the regular Scarecrow, but they are creeping toward list irrelevance it seems.
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11/26/2020 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine: 95 Points
This wine is HUGE! Really glad to have opened one early. 2 hour decant. Noticeable dark chocolate and dark fruits. Drying tannins on the finish. An excellent wine!
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11/15/2020 - parkline_wine Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is an awesomely powerful and layered wine. Performing so well young, with potential to reach higher scores by 2025+. Incredible nose, bouquet of toasted blackberry cobbler, #2 pencil. Really fine grip from the tanins. Well integrated oak. Really woke up after 4.5 hrs in décanteur. Saving second bottle for 2023.
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11/13/2020 - EpochMD Likes this wine: 95 Points
A little slow to open but has awesome black cherry and blackberry on the nose, poised on the palate there is blackberry, raspberry, and mocha, silky smooth with soft tannins. This is why I drink wine - opened this on the off chance I could improve my night after a less than stellar different wine to start. Worth it. Day two brings notes of caramel to the nose, the depth of flavor persists, 94-95 now - probably spectacular in a few years time. Hold for 1-2 years.
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11/9/2020 - msuwine wrote: 95 Points
This ripe and explosive Cabernet blend offers incredible power, complexity, and energy, so much so that it's hard to assess right now. Still, the sheer exuberance of this wine reminds me of one of my favorite quotes about California: as author Carey McWilliams wrote in 1949, “Europeans have long marveled at the driving force, the ‘restless energy,’ of America; but it is only in California that this energy is coeval with statehood…. In California the lights went on all at once, in a blaze, and they have never dimmed.”
This is such a wine, with lights blazing all at once. Dark red in color and full in body, the wine offers raw aromas of blueberry pie, black licorice, pencil shavings, and bay leaf. The flavors are more dense and savory, with notes of boysenberry, gravel, espresso, and baking spices, followed by a grainy and layered finish (read: teeth-coating tannins + explosive fruit + underlying acidity = all good, for a wine this young). Blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 4% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. 14.9% alcohol. Decant at least an hour if drinking now, but ideally wait until 2022 or later. 94-95 at the moment, but there's so much upside ahead.
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11/6/2020 - tomoem Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose of rich & ripened fruits. Particularly (hard to believe) strawberry & raspberry. Small hints of cedar wood and bell pepper.
In mouth the wine is viscous, creamy and also rich. Flavors include mulberry, dark sweet plum, olive and a little bit of blueberry. The mid pallete and finish have a strong iron core with tight tannin and quite frankly ageable acidty. A really great wine but one that is too young to totally evaluate. I really struggled with getting flavors together for these notes.
This wine is very well made and represents pure value given the quality present. It punches above its weight and is worth finding and holding for 5-10 years.
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10/31/2020 - Niagara wrote: 93 Points
Young, too young perhaps, but jumping out of the glass with youthful energy, so worth a spin around the track. Really you could drink only this wine forever and be happy, and not die broke. Or as broke.
Note to Blarmston: popped and poured; a decant would probably be beneficial, but I never plan far enough ahead ...
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