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

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

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

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

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

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

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