1994 vintage. Decanted and throwing heavy sed. Tasted after 30 minutes. Medium/medium heavy body. Dark fruit and earth components driving the bus. Nose with plenty of leather and dirty durty. Has 5-6 more years at this plateau before dropping down a notch. Plenty of pleasure still to be had here if this is your preferred style/jam. The Napa equivalent of Leoville Las Cases. 5.15.24. — a year ago
Spoto Family wine dinner under the stars: always a fun night with Stuart and family!
DINNER WINES
2021 Spoto Oakville cabernet rose
2019 Spoto Godfather red....a blend you can't refuse.
2019 Spoto cuvee Christiane
2018 Spoto Beckstoffer amber Knolls malbec
2018 Spoto family reserve cabernet
2015 Spoto late harvest viognier
Also:
2004 Las Cases
2005 Pichon Baron
2009 Cos d'estournel
2012 La Mission Haut Brion
2005 Spottswood
1989 clerc milon
2005 Spoto private reserve
2001 clos du val
FOOD
Oysters, lamb lollipops, feta skewers
Tomato and nectarine panzanella
Ricotta, summer pea and corn agnolotti
Wood fired gulf prawns
Five spice grass-fed short rib, Yukon potato
Apricot and vanilla custard tartelette — 2 years ago
Even more fantastic than the previous bottle of 2010 I enjoyed a year ago. Decanted and enjoyed over 7 hours. This was good from first pour but became great and then magnificent over the next 3.5 and 7 hours. It was still full of verve on the last sip! Early only it was more dark fruit but over time the wines softened and became a bit sweeter and rounder. Tremendous length and complexity. — 2 months ago
2020 vintage. Lean and mean with plenty of palate thrust and a bit of evident craft. Gets down to $15.50 a bottle resto cost on 3 cases. This is from the Château Léoville-Poyferré group. Tough to say "no" at that price. Not the biggest Malbec fan as I usually find it too one-dimensional and drunken Godzilla....er...plodding. 15% ABV. Keeping in the notes tho...04.12.25. — 2 months ago
Château Léoville Las Cases ‘La Petite Marquise’ Saint-Julien 2018: Medium-full bodied. Medium-high acidity. Noticeable tannins that mellowed out over time. Deep purple in color. Tasting notes of blackberry, plum, strawberry, cedar & oak. Smooth warm finish. All in all, a rich & delicious Saint-Julien wine however very worthy of additional years of cellaring. Be well wine friends! Cheers 🇫🇷🍷 — 3 years ago
2018 vintage. Léoville-Poyferré-involved concern. 73% Malbec 18% Cabernet Sauvignon 5% Petit Verdot 3% Syrah 1% Cab Franc. 100% delicious. Medium/medium-heavy body. Nice balance of grip/zip and sleeko suave. Can hold its own in a street fight now or be the scheduled, 12-round, main event in 2040-your choice. $28.85 resto cost on 3 cases. 14.5% ABV. Definite big red blend value contender. 04.13.25. — 2 months ago
2013 vintage. Decanted with a little sed. Great cork. Tremendous power and on the leaner side of the ledger...think bigg vintage Leoville Las Cases or 80's/early 90's Montelena or *gasp* La Jota before the Helen Turley fruit bomb intervention in the early 90’s. Drinking a little "hot" but only at 14.9% ABV. Definite palate-wrecker with tannins for daze. Will take this wine in their lineup nearly every time vs the pricier and smoother Pritchard Hill shizz. The off the charts QPR is easily tasted vs the rest of their Cab/Cab-based lineup. Awesome now but will consolidate even further into a wolverine wine. Be very afraid. If you're looking for a quiet, placid dinner for two, then a rom-com snugglefest, this is not your beautiful house. This is someone else's beautiful wife. 12.01.24. — 7 months ago
Alexandre Pagliano
Mother’s day lunch.
Not a vintage we like but this one is excellent. Dark rubi robe, no signs of aging. Nose of asphalt, cedar, anise and blackcurrant. Very elegant fruit tannin and a bit of wood tannin to shed still, would be better with less. An extracted wine done with lots of wood but balanced and elegant same time. We liked it a lot. Increased the score after the last couple of glasses we got around 8 hours later. — 24 days ago