Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Winemaking posts at Rudd, Dominus, Chalk Hill & Matanzas Creek, David Ramey & his wife, Carla began their own label in 1996. Rich deep ruby red. Aromas of powerful dark fruit, hints of pepper and sweet spice reminiscent of a Northern Rhône. On the palate raspberry and blackberry, soft and velvety, with smoky oak, big spice on the finish which should continue to develop for several years. Very Nice! — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Following winemaking posts at Rudd, Dominus, Chalk Hill and Matanzas Creek, David Ramey and his wife, Carla began their own label in 1996, a Chardonnay from the Hyde vineyard. Hyde, in my opinion is their best Chardonnay. Aromas of ripe stone fruits with citrus notes and subtle oak. On the palate complex flavors of apple and peach flavors, crisp oak, well balanced lingering finish ending with slight mineral notes. Drinking well now, should improve over next few years. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Had this about a year ago. After stints at Rudd, Dominus, Chalk Hill and Matanzas Creek, winemakers David Ramey and his wife, Carla began their own label in 1996. Sunshine Straw with aromas of stone and tropical fruit with sweet vanilla oak scents. On the palate apple, peach and apricot flavors, citrus zest with toasty oak. Lingering on a smooth finish ending with creamy notes. Delicious! Aged well. You can still find the 2014, so grab one, you won’t be disappointed. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

Had this at a restaurant. Chalk Hill now owned by Bill Foley, of Foley Family Wines, who continues the traditions that Fred Furth, who founded CH in 1972. Rich straw color with aromas of stone and tropical fruits and citrus notes. On the palate apple, sweet melon and lemon flavors with gentle vanilla toasty oak. Well balanced on lingering finish ending with oak and mineral notes. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

3000th post. 🎉 On the nose; sweet, lush; black cassis, liqueur notes, sweet tarry notes, rich, lush; blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, plum, caramel, mocha, caramel, baking spices, warm, moist, rich, dark soils and fresh dark florals. The body is M and the tannins are round and soft. She is a beauty. Ripe, rich; blackberries, black plum, plum, dark cherries, black raspberries & poached strawberries. liqueur notes, sweet tarry notes, dark chocolate, mocha, caramel, baking spices, menthol, warm, moist dark earth, soft leather, dry rock powder, sweet black tea, fresh violets, dark, red florals, perfect round acidity and a rich, round, elegant fruit driven finish that last and lasts. Photos of; Clos E'Lgise and estate vines, signage, Helen Garcin-Leveque and her husband Patrice Leveque and their barrel cellar. Producer history and notes...Clos L’Eglise is one of the older chateaux in Pomerol dating back to the 18th century. The same time the farmhouse that is still in use was constructed. At the time, Chateau Clos L’Eglise was a larger estate. It once had been apart of the Gombaude Guillot. Eventually the estate was split in half. On one side of the street, you had Chateau Clos l’Eglise; which was owned by the Rouchut family. Across the street sat Chateau Clos l’Eglise-Clinet, which was owned by the Mauleon family. After awhile, Clos l’Eglise Clinet eventually changed its name to Chateau l’Eglise Clinet which also simultaneously gave birth to what we know today as Clos L’Eglise. While the wines are now produced by Helene Garcin that was not always the case with Clos L’Eglise. At one point, the estate produced wines under a leasing arrangement held by the Rouchut family. The modern era of Clos L’Eglise began in 1975, when the property facilities were all redesigned and modernized by the Moreau family. The Moreau’s also owned Chateau Plince. The old, non temperature controlled wood tanks were replaced by stainless steel. The vineyards were also expanded. Instead of buying more vines, the owners simply planted land that was being used as a pasture. Imagine now, Pomerol land being used to feed cattle. In the past, the property was planted with a much larger percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, near 20%. All the Cabernet Sauvignon vines were eventually ripped out and replaced by Merlot. The next step of it's evolution took place in 1997 when the Right Bank estate was sold to Sylvaine Garcin Cathiard by the Moreau family. If the Cathiard name sounds family, she is the sister of Daniel Cathiard, the owner of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. The sale set a new benchmark price for Pomerol when it sold for 12 million Euros! Today that price would be laughable! Prior to 2000, that was considered a huge price for Pomerol. Further investment was needed to replace the aging concrete vats and again modernize the facilities. In fact, the first vintage of Clos L’Eglise made by Helene Garcin was produced at Haut Bergey in Pessac Leognan. Helene Garcin also manages two estates in St. Emilion, Chateau Barde Haut, Chateau Poesia (Mendoza, Argentina) and Branon, which is situated in Pessac Leognan. Helene Garcin was put in charge of the property. She hired Michel Rolland as a consultant and a complete renovation of the facilities took place. Michel Rolland was eventually replaced by Alain Raynaud. Starting with the 2015 vintage, Thomas Duclos recently replaced Alain as the consultant. Their property is nearly 6 hectares. L’Eglise soils are rich clay, gravel and iron. It's located on a sloping hill near Chateau Clinet, Chateau L’Eglise Clinet and Chateau Trotanoy. Clos L’Eglise is planted to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. On average, the vines are 35 years of age. There is one old parcel of Cabernet Franc that was planted in the 1940’s. Vinification of Clos L’Eglise takes place in 55 hectoliter, insulated, stainless steel tanks. The new steel tanks replaced the oak vats in 2012. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. Clos L’Eglise is aged in 100% new French oak for between 16 and 18 months. The property also has a second wine, Esprit de L’Eglise. On average, about 1,200 cases of Clos L’Eglise are produced every year. — 9 years ago

Maria Vano

9.3

San Martinos Hill. Pretty and light smoky fire on the nose. Totally taken aback at first sip, big and softly tannic for such a young wine. Selection of 3 vineyards, 20% of grapes were overripe. One year in 500liter new Hungarian oak, giving it oaky feel. Owned by Benedictine monastery. Lovely wine! There is something very special about a wine that makes you stop the flight because there is no other wine you want to replace in your mouth. Dammit this is one seriously good wine. Nice showing of what younger gen winemakers are doing here. — 10 years ago

Alder Yarrow

Wine Blogger Vinography

9.0

Showing a bit of oak at this point but bright cherry and cranberry brightness. — 10 years ago

PBM

9.5

Evan loved this at the Roaches. Little oak, no butter. Didn't try it but want to. — 11 years ago

Christine Havens

9.0

Some really lovely, complex secondary notes on this well-evolved St. Innocent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir 2005. Dusty earth, pie cherry, cranberry relish, and candied orange peel, and hints of dried roses. The oak has fully integrated at this point, and the balance struck by this classic Willamette Valley Pinot is rather lovely. It's medium-bodied, with fine tannins and poised acidity that culminates with rose hips and tart cherry notes. — 11 years ago

Peter Farrell

9.4

25 years from bottling. Wow. Great degree of complexity, but tannins have definitely faded away. Beautiful medley of Cassis, oak, smoke, and leather. Napa Valley at its best. — 7 years ago

Kirk F

9.0

The photo does the wine no justice. Also consumed at our farm table dinner, this is from a winery we’d visited earlier in the day. In the same family since the French Revolution, Mas Gourdou is a small operation producing a nice variety of Pic Saint Loup wines. This bottling, made up of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre, spends 12 months in used French Oak and offers up ripe berries on the nose with a silky palate of spice, earth and brambly fruit. A beautiful evening shared with the family - so fun to watch the appreciation of wine growing in the kids! — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Following winemaking posts at Rudd, Dominus, Chalk Hill and Matanzas Creek, David Ramey and his wife, Carla began their own label in 1996. Straw with aromas of sweet stone fruits with citrus notes and honey scents. On the palate ripe apple, peach and apricot flavors with toasty oak, creamy. Lingering smooth finish, energetic, ending with earthy notes. Delicious! — 8 years ago

Justin Wittkopf

9.8

Wow, what a wine! Best of 2018 for us so far. Pop and pour. Lovely garnet color. Gorgeous nose of dark cherry and plum, mocha, tobacco and graphite. At first there was an overt cinnamon and vanilla oak scent, too, but that dissipated within an hour. Palate was silky smooth and elegant and perfectly balanced. For a nearly 10 year old wine this was still lively, broad, and deep. Tannins had subsided a bit but provided great grip and balanced well with the remaining acidity. Classy wine and that really blew us away. Recommend an hour or two of decanting for this. — 8 years ago

Doctor No

9.0

A lean and lovely Bordeaux blend with substance, poise and not a lot of Oak. Tannins fairly firm at this stage but this can and will go for years. — 9 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.3

Incredibly balanced and smooth, a wonderful bottle of wine. Black cherry, strawberry, wood notes that hint of oak and cedar, mushrooms, and spicy character I can't quite place. Lengthy and savory finish. This will be hard to stay away from. At my local shop it was very attractively priced compared to most village level Côte de Nuits. I imagine this will continue to get better. — 9 years ago

Steve Martinelli

9.3

Always loved Chalk Hill wines though my tasting experience at the winery was atrocious. Plenty of supple tannins and balancing acidity. Soft red and black fruit, nothing overdone. Nicely integrated oak. — 10 years ago

JKT

8.9

Very Burgundian in style. Floral nose with more cream than minerals. Balanced body with good acids that's a bit fattier than Bigotes. Could pair better with creamier food like the sweet squash raviolis we had. CVed. 9/2/16. Second tasting CV: 9/28/16. Nose bit more acids and hints of oxidation? Tasting very well. Better balance. Notes of oxidation due to CV as it sat at RT? Now shows just a bit more new world richness than Bigotes and Rully Montpalais. Same score. nice wine. Opened 10/19/16. Same nice wine that actually went well with mixed dinner of salmon with dark sauce, amah meat sauce cut with fresh tomatoes. Almost upped the score to 9. Dijon clone 76. 13.8 % ABV 33% new French oak and only 142 cases. — 10 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. — 10 years ago

Heather Felton

9.0

Stir crazy at home on a wintry weekend night. I enjoy the cherry, toasty oak flavor of this merlot. — 11 years ago

B

10

1996 Screaming Eagle. Decanted for about an hour bc the cork fell into the bottle. No hints of being over the hill. No vanilla or oak. Tons of plum, raspberry. Maybe a bit thin at the end palate. Note- do not decant next time, just open and let it breathe. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.3

First winery on day two in Sonoma was Donelan Family Wines in Santa Rosa with Meredith. The last Rhone varietal red was the Walker Vine Hill Syrah. Sadly we were told that this was the last vintage that will be produced. This bottling is made up of 100% Syrah and is around 40-50% whole cluster fermented then aged for 20 months in 25% new French oak. 1,025 cases produced.

Insanely dark and inky purplish ruby red, completely coats the glass. Dark berries on the start of the nose followed up by cinnamon, cocoa, blueberries and some dustiness. Medium plus tannins (7/10) with a full body. Rich and layered palate with red currants, red plums, even a touch of blue fruits and some solid minerality. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2028. (93+)

$$$ - Tasted at the winery. Retail price is $75.00. — 8 years ago

with India

Jordan Wardlaw

9.3

2014 vintage- another big boy Pinot Noir by Mark Vlossak. This one is especially tannic and youthful- plenty of baby fat and showing more new oak than most of the St. Innocent Pinot Noirs, though it’s a well-integrated 27%. Ripe and extracted, full-bodied Pinot Noir shaded towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum with black cherry leading the way. Although a bit angular and chunky today, this wine will age beautifully and certainly blossom within 5-7 years. Can’t wait to see this wine at its peak. — 8 years ago

Andrew Willingham

9.0

Dark purple, almost brown on the eye moving toward white at rim. Medium+ viscosity. Nose sees ripe, cooked/chocolate covered cherries, oak. Palette sees more oak, sweet black cherries. Tannins are very rounded and less harsh than I expected given CabSav single varietal. I haven’t had a Novelty Hill wine in awhile, want to have more- this is solid, consistent, complex enough to enjoy but something you won’t feel too guilty about sharing with guests 😬 — 9 years ago

Matt Mason

9.5

Possibly from first year at shrine mont. C deep violet, N Oak, typical cab franc; T Oak, dark cherry, barnyard — 9 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.0

Only white of the wines tasted with Dan and Filipa at there home. Orison, does not only produce a Cabernet Sauvignon from Pritchard Hill, they also make a few wines from the Alentejo region in Portugal.

Bright pale yellow. Seems like a touch of oaky influence on the nose with integrated citrus notes and mineral undertones. Moderate acidity (5.5/10) and medium bodied. A little toasty/creamy on the palate, layered with stoney and citrus notes. Great texture and medium plus to long finish. Drink till 2020.

Made up of 40% Arinto, 30% Antão Vaz, and 30% Alvarinho. Aged for 12 months in stainless steel and 6 months in neutral oak. As well as aged on the lees. Only 600 cases and $21.00. — 9 years ago

Mike Holzer

9.8

Bought this magnum at winery in 2006 and opened for wigilia 2016. A bit nervous that was over the hill...but after tasting it could go another 5-10. Amazing black fruit with a very small touch of oak, dense/great mouthfill and outstanding length. Loved it. Never had a a 14 year old Malbec and this was outstanding. Wish I had another bottler or 2z — 10 years ago

with Ania

Matt Austin

Owner/Winemaker, Grosgrain Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA

9.2

Zelma Long was one of the pioneering female winemakers in Napa, getting her start with Robert Mondavi before taking the reins at Simi. Her estate winery was on Pritchard Hill, which is a pretty fancy place nowadays, and she made wines there from 1977 until 2006 when it was sold to a Portuguese family who renamed the property Gandona (Philippe Melka now makes the wines). You don't hear much about Long these days, but the Cabs are classic old-school Napa and tend to age very well. As it turns out the chard is no exception. Deep gold. Nutty, but not oxidized. Age has integrated the oak well. — 10 years ago

James Gourley

9.5

Nose of oily pepper with some pomegranate/cranberry fruit. Palate is big, with surprisingly grippy tannins for a 21-year-old cab, black pepper, and oak at the very end. This wine could age for another 10 years. Excellent expression. — 10 years ago

with Stephanie, Robyn and 1 other

Matt Austin

Owner/Winemaker, Grosgrain Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA

9.1

Drinking at peak. Nice surprise as I thought this might be over the hill. Still has structure and plenty of fruit with a slight green note. Oak has integrated nicely. — 11 years ago

Kari Hudnall

8.9

Middleburg/barrel oak — 13 years ago