Ashkan

9.0

Great light Rose. Had it with Oysters — 5 years ago

Bryan Kesting

9.2

This baby has a lot of life left. There are still quite a bit of tannins present however with some air its approachable. It has some meat and smoke on the palate with plenty of blue and black fruit underneath. — 6 years ago

with Paul

Eric Guido

9.2

The 2015 Old Vines #zinfandel from #Bedrock displayed an intense bouquet mixing ripe blue and black fruits with smoke, minerals and grilled herbs. On the palate, I found silky textures offset by zesty spices and brisk acidity with black fruit and hints of Violette candies. It finished with medium-length and a mix of saturating dark fruits and spice. This is a remarkable value, punching well above it's price point. — 6 years ago

Thomas Brenner

8.9

On fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, motherfucker.

(Best if enjoyed by intonating in a Samuel L. Jackson fashion) — 7 years ago

Hannah

9.8

Yummy surprise brought home from my hubby — 7 years ago

Nils Johnson

9.2

Spicy and aromatic. Blue and red fruits fighting for dominance with a firm grip and a more subtle herbal/rosemary background note than I expected. — 7 years ago

with Ryan

Cody Short

9.5

Co WOTN and drinking beautifully. 2 hr slow ox and it was singing — 7 years ago

with Suzanne and Holli

Robin Hicks

9.5

And we have a winnah! Though the malty goodness of the Blue Buck was a close second. This is a Pilsner with balls. — 8 years ago

Yianni Stone

9.2

Awesome juicy red fruit, dark tannin, cool blue acidity, noticeable oak vanillin. — 8 years ago

with Haley

AEL

9.0

Outstanding American whisky. Slightly lower alcohol than the norm - better drinkability. A definite buy. — 9 years ago

Paul Jeszenszky

9.1

A really pretty, well balanced Zin. Nice nose, great plate of blue and black fruits, minerals and good acidity. smooth medium+ finish. Could see further development but no reason to not drink now. — 9 years ago

Daoud Sangwa

Sommelier Whole Foods Market

9.4

I had this with scallops wrapped with smoked bacon that I sautéed in Irish garlic butter with some artisanal bread and salad. Perfect :) — 10 years ago

Mike Mayer

9.1

Another wonderful Merlot. Mountain wines are known for beautiful dark color, intense aromatics and full bodied flavors. This Howell Mountain wine does not disappoint. Beautiful ruby red color and great aromas of blue fruit, cedar and a little earthiness. The tannins on this young wine are very apparent but seem to integrate nicely with the intense flavors of blueberries and baking spices while in your mouth. I am sure this wine will improve with age but it drinks very well today. — 6 years ago

with Lisa

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 6 years ago

Jean-Francois Pelletier

9.1

Disclaimer: I am drinking these too young...

Intense Ruby color with a purple rim. Explosion of red and blue fruit on the nose. Medium body, very smooth and fruity. Slight tannins on the medium+ to long finish. As it opened in the glass, sweet spice flavors and aromas started to emerge. Very good wine and fun to drink. As usual, great work from Morgan and Chris! — 8 years ago

with Frankie

Korey Hill

9.2

Deep black/blue fruit. Some oak. Oregano on the back end. Very enjoyable. — 8 years ago

with Kathy

Brian Grech

9.2

The best with Old Bay and hand-picked blue crab — 9 years ago

Mark Freund

9.7

Northern Rhone nose of white pepper, blue fruit, and a bit of Parliament-like funk. Terrific Syrah. — 10 years ago

Rebecca Firestone

10

From abc wine co - 4th anniv night — 11 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.6

I would love to serve this blind in a group of like year cabs from Napa that fetch 200+ per bottle. This wine is massive. Posted one year ago and mentioned this one didn't seem to be ready to go yet. Well, this one is CLOSER but still took a 2 day slow ox. Nose is black and blue fruit, gingerbread, licorice. The entry is similar to the nose with a crushed, gravelly note. Peppery finish. Man this one is SINGING at the 2 day mark. One left! — 6 years ago

Aaron Rankin

9.1

Drinking nicely with a few hours of slow ox. Lemon, vanilla, wet stones, and a warm, juicy mouthfeel. Smidge of astringency too. — 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.3

The 2015 Syrah Charles Heintz Vineyard is an outrageously beautiful, vivid wine. A rush of blue and purplish fruit, lavender, licorice and dark spice make a strong opening statement. Today, the tannins are a bit overpowering, but time in bottle will do the trick. The 2015 was fermented in concrete, with 10% whole clusters, and aged in a combination of concrete and oak. Readers who can find the wine should not hesitate. Heintz is one of the top vineyards in California. Getting a glimpse of the site through the lens of Syrah it makes for a deeply fascinating experience. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, Mar 2017) — 7 years ago

Grant Simpson

9.2

Unreal quality. Smoke olives, and cured meat mingled w blue fruit and herbs.... high acid. Stupid good! — 7 years ago

Alan Doughty

8.9

2012. Classic Santa Barbara smoky blue fruit. Full bodied and ripe with just enough acidity and tannin to keep it balanced. — 7 years ago

Doctor No

9.3

Gorgeous, lifted floral blue fruited wonder. Maybe my favorite Bedrock and that's saying a lot — 7 years ago

Charine Tan

9.0

Backstory: Tasted this at the winery and loved it so much that we bought a bottle to take along with us to Mexico. Chad Melville is the owner and winemaker at Samsara. He's also the chief winegrower at Melville Winery.

Winemaking Process: Single vineyard wine with grapes harvested from the Cargasacchi vineyard, which is in the middle aka sweet spot of Santa Rital Hills. 75% whole cluster fermentation with native yeast. 50% in new French oak barrels for 22 months, followed by 12-month ageing in the bottle. Unfiltered.

Tasting Notes: Colour is ruby red with some clarity, no sediment. On the nose, it has blue fruit, cherry, cassis, cigar, asphalt, lambskin leather and pronounced earthy notes. On the palate, it is medium-bodied with full, mouth-filling texture. Red fruit notes appear first, and then the taste turns into an earthy, allspice notes, and finishes off with something so bright and refreshing that reminds us of orange peel. The tannins are soft. End palate is long, around 10 seconds, marked by minerality and cherry. I love this wine because unlike many Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara, it isn't over extracted and not too sweet (like fruit pastille). There's a fleeting burst of sweet red fruit flavour on the mid palate and the flavour quickly transits to earthy notes and tannins. It's a more earthy Pinot Noir but yet still elegant and ready to be consumed. At $55, I think it's well worth the price. — 8 years ago

Dave Wood

9.3

Really wonderful stuff. You always wonder if holding is better when it's this good now??? Great dry black and blue fruits with a smooth tannic grip. There is acidity to keep it balanced. Drank over three days and it lost nothing. 👍👍👍 — 8 years ago

Ryan Mullins

9.0

Blue black fruit, pepper, meat and a texture that feels like heavy cream — 9 years ago

Doug Pabst

9.3

2012 Sodini. Dark red/blue fruits. Medium to full-bodied with food acid/tannin balance. Nice wine, though I'm not sure it's particularly distinctive. — 9 years ago

Doug Systrom

9.4

Inky dark red and even blue fruits with a long delightful finish! — 10 years ago