Larry Schnelle

9.3

Excellent with Dr . Pepper short ribs — 7 months ago

Cathy Levy

9.2

Fabulous CA pinot, aged well and enjoyed
immensely. — 7 months ago

romo

9.1

Juicy carbonic-y zero tannin tart cherry. Admittedly fresh still. — 8 months ago

Doug Powers

8.9

Big, rich, maybe just a little too ripe (as @Tom Casagrande pointed out in a note about an earlier vintage), but still a nice, solid, old vine field blend, Contra Costa County history!! — 2 years ago

with Jim

Andrew Formi

9.2

An old friend visited me ! — 4 years ago

Sarah Noh

9.3

Natural Zinfandel recommended when I asked for something not as tart. Slightly mushroomy / peppery finish, very enjoyable. Purchased from Gemini Bottle Co — 5 years ago

Rhonely Boy

9.2

Clear deep red-violet Boysenberry on sight

Clean sandy berry aroma

Dry, med+ acidity, fine tannin, lighter side of medium body, red fruit and dark berry in the finish. Delicious now, could age. Needs a nice decant, great to watch evolve in glass too (air wakes up the tannins and elevates the red fruit notes)

Hooray and Keep up the good work 140+ yr old vines!
— 6 years ago

Doug Powers

9.2

128-year-old Mataro vines grown in the sand in Contra Costa County, stunning redfruits, great freshness and lift from the lovely acidity, good balance, excellent depth, long finish, terrific Mataro!! — 7 months ago

with Jim

Doug Powers

9.0

Label says grapes are from Petaluma Gap, which I guess includes part of Marin County as well as Sonoma? Light in color, but lovely red floral aromas and dried red cherry and cranberry fruit flavors, very nice balance, drinking beautifully tonight, lingering finish, very well-done!! — 7 months ago

with Jim

Mikeljon Nikolich

9.6

Love this Zin!! — 8 months ago

LaShondra Berman

8.9

Spiced jam with a hint of floral notes. Layered and hard to nail down the exact bouquet, but it’s delicious. — 2 years ago

Eric

9.0

Funky Cab Franc different compared to the traditional Loire Valley. Funky and different in all the best ways though. Refreshing and takes a slight chill well. — 4 years ago

MDB

9.1

Good minerality — 5 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.0

128-yr. old vines. Super-rich, but I wish they had picked a bit earlier. This winery sources great Zin fruit from unique historical sources but they’re always over 15%. I cant help but think the wines would be more interesting and flexible if they picked earlier. In any event, this is quite good and shows very ripe Zin character, but the acids are low and the effect of some bottle age is a flatter mouthfeel. Still very good. — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Poured into a decanter roughly an hour prior to service and presented double-blind. The 2016 “Big Break” presents a bright ruby with a deep but transparent core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and no obvious signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of tart, ripe and dried red fruits: cherries, Craisins, red flowers, leather, dried earth and light baking spice. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, though the fruit comes across a lot more ripe. The finish is medium+ and the alcohol is high. I called 2020 Cote du Rhône (Southern), Grenache heavy GSM blend. What a pleasant surprise! I used to drink the smack out of various Cline Zinfandel’s and Big Break was always amongst their better, if not a little more difficult to find. Drinking well now and will continue to do so through 2031, easy. — 7 months ago

Brendan Baker

9.2

Blackberries, forest floor, medium body, drinking well 😋 — 8 months ago

Michelle

9.5

Excellent. In Butcher’s Cut on MSC — 8 months ago

Kristen Grimes

9.6

Very fruity. Black cherry and blackberry aromas and some notes of cinnamon, then balanced fruit and baking spices that tingle the tongue and linger on. What Goes with That: Fall Sweets Class, pairing: pumpkin pie. — 3 years ago

TheSkip

9.0

Perfectly reasonable Wednesday wine. Nothing special. A touch acidic. — 5 years ago

Rhonely Boy

9.3

Fantastic, delicious, slight raisin/fig in the finish (beautiful & delicious), tannin needs 3 years; sprite woody, will mellow nicely. — 6 years ago