Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Haven’t had in ages. Gorgeous nose with some gras, lime zest, seashells, sea air and some of the obvious richness of the vintage. Palate is wonderful. Zippy with terrific acids and great cut. Concentrated and classic. Sappy and pure with great balance, freshness and minerality. Pure as the driven snow. Nice smokiness develops with air. — 2 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

MDT side by side I’ve always wanted to do! 😍

François Raveneau “Montée de Tonnerre” 2013- Now for Raveneau’s MDT where the Domaine has always particularly excelled. Similarly floral and elegant in its bouquet, it is more powerful than the Dauvissat, and there is additional emphasis on its freshness, salinity and crushed oyster shell minerality. The palate shows excellent depth, texture and waxy yellow fruit that’s driven home by a racy citrus inflicted acidity that leads to its long and vibrant finish.

This was a much closer “race” than I anticipated, and only a slight overall edge goes to Raveneau for its power, vibrancy, depth and texture. The Dauvissat is more open, requiring less time to show all that it can be, but that wasn’t a surprise so the Raveneau was given a bit more air. The Dauvissat may even be a bit more complex at this stage in its life but the Raveneau seemingly will be longer lived. (Although still an early drinking vintage especially by Raveneau standards). Most importantly it was a great side by side that I hope to do again! 🙌🏻 — 3 years ago

Brad Jensen

9.4

Bold flavor, delicious medium body, heavy red fruit driven. Will buy again. — 4 years ago

with Tiva

Bryan Kesting

9.3

Red fruited like the Botanica however more mineral driven. Black tea and spice cake. Needs more time. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.5

This was opened to celebrate my wife and I’s 4-yr anniversary as well as our daughter being one month old. A wonderful anniversary treat, courtesy of a very good friend!

My first time checking in on the ‘09. Very open and totally balanced. Everything works in harmony here. Citrus driven aromatically and slightly reductive with the first glass showing some of those flint/match stick traits but the citrus pushed its way forward with lemon zest. Touch of orange marmalade too. The mousse is fantastically creamy and rich. Not much yeast on the palate, but enough to add complexity. Beautiful balance of rich fruits without sacrificing brightness or purity accented by signature chalky limestone. Right down the middle in terms of reductive vs oxidative. Gorgeous! — 6 years ago

Bill Bender

9.6

I’m a sucker for Clape. Rich, ripe and mineral driven. Lots of power but marked beauty and lush tannins. Licorice infused soil and sweet, sappy red fruit. — 6 years ago

Nathan Renfro

9.4

First time trying Realm’s merlot driven blend. Dark ruby. Black cherry, chalky tannins. Chocolate, plum. Fantastic structure. A big bold merlot. I’ll look forward to trying the 18s and 19s for comparison. — 3 years ago

Raun Kupiec

9.0

Last nights comparison. Both were very much cherry driven fruit, but more acidic sour cherry in the 2013 at first while an almost cough drop deep cherry in the 2014. I found the 2013 had a more earthy nature while the 2014 seemed more rounded and had more deep fruit. — 3 years ago

with Barbara

Cameron Hoppas

9.6

Delicious and elegant. This wine was remarkable. I tasted it blind and had trouble placing it because it's structure and aromatic complexity didn't match with my fruit driven expectation of gamay. I've been drinking discount bojo. This was phenom. — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Medium gold color. Great mineral driven nose. Notes of citrus, apricot skin, dusty light colored earth, some tan spice and some gravel stone. Big and rich in the mouth. Still has a big core of fruit with some serious structure to match. Long and lasting finish. Has a heaviness to it. Bottles like this one have several great years in front of it yet. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

And they call this their “second” wine. After McHenry in Santa Cruz, Seavey was an absolute show stopper for me on our recent trip to wine country. We had the opportunity to try five different wines with three bonus pours from recent and library wines and I tell you: All 👏🏼 eight 👏🏼 were 👏🏼 bangers 👏🏼. From their Chardonnay (which was sprung on us the moment we arrived, was acid driven and had the most delightful spine of minerals that I could have sworn it was GC Chablis), to their Rosé (which is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend and bends what’s possible with the genre) to their Founder’s Reserve (which didn’t present much in the value dept. but was a killer wine nevertheless). Anyway, this 2005 Caravina is positively singing right now. Opulent amounts of plums, cassis, brambles, and sweet tobacco with secondary characteristics juuuuust starting to make their appearance: leather, truffle, and forest floor. Moderate acid. Firm tannins still! What a beauty...in a sort of masculine way. America! — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

D6. Young. Very young. Even though it was decanted and frequently agitated, this one didn't come out to play until almost 2 hr after opening. Nose of Bing cherry and mint. Some red clay must. The entry is very acidic. Black cherry hint but Bing cherry backbone. Herbal middle. Started to show terroir-driven notes to the finish. Youthful and tight tannin. LOTS of life ahead. Be in NO HURRY to drink this one. I'd say optimal drinking time 5 to 10 years. — 6 years ago

Kevin Cahoon

9.4

This is just lovely with hints of black cherry and plum with creosote, black pepper and soy accents. Palate is full of spicy Syrah flavors with lots of white pepper, plum and black raspberry. Tannins are present but sauve with lifting acidity. Just a great level of balance on the earth driven finish. — 7 years ago

Thijs Hendriks

9.6

Incredible complex, this wine is developing in the glass, so mineral, layered and aristocratic. High end terroir driven riesling👍 — 7 years ago

Paul T HB

9.5

Not the team’s I wanted to see, so I’ll just stick to the basics. Went well with some A5 coffee crusted New York Strip, the steak 🥩 is so rich you don’t want to waste it on a fruity wine

The 2010 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is situated on deep gravel deposits in the Macau and Ludon villages of the appellation and has 9,600 vines per hectare.

Vinious 93 The 2010 Cantemerle is vigorous and open on the nose, a mixture of red and black fruit with cedar and humidor scents. I admire the focus and detail. The palate is rounded in texture on the entry. This is a plumper, richer, more fruit-driven 2010 with a lush finish on the context of the growing season. You could broach this now, although I would prefer to leave it another three or four years. This is another excellent wine and candidate for most over-performing cru this vintage. Tasted blind at Farr Vintners 10-Year On Bordeaux horizontal. — 3 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.0

From mag. Had not yet tried this wine with this much age before and didn’t know what to expect but it was really quite nice. Develops kind of like a gamay or Pinot. Black cherry and raspberry still there but definitely leaner and more acid-driven and savory at this point. Dried flowers, stewed tomato, dried herbs, mushroom, maybe a little sweet tobacco and mesquite. Overall I think I would still drink this young for the exuberant lip smacking red fruit but this was interesting — 4 years ago

William Feinstein

9.2

Herbal, earthy and savory. A great departure from the usual fruit driven wines that are omnipresent. Nicely balanced. — 4 years ago

Stephen Pierron

9.2

First Pinot Noir from Hirsch. Light body, pale garnet in color, strong herb/floral notes on the palate, mostly hibiscus, dried herbs, tea (almost like morning earl grey tea), and clove. Not a lot of complexity and very different from most Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs that I have had.... perhaps more terroir driven? Please comment on your experiences and thoughts on this Pinot Noir... is the Reserve much different? — 5 years ago

with Jen

Bill Bender

9.5

It’s so hard to source these and it showed really well. I find these less bretty and earth driven than most other CDPs. So, not as thought provoking with secondary characteristics but a little more purity and more fruit expression. — 6 years ago

Brian J.

9.1

Awesome nose! — 7 years ago