Ron from VA

9.0

Yes, this a chamboursin fortified build….nevertheless it may be one of the best I’ve had to date! The key, I think, was that 202 was a classic vintage - avg temps and rain….so more exaggerated sugar levels, rather balance in the red hybrid fruit. This actually took on a classic ruby port profile. A rare accomplishment…well done Nate! — 4 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.1

An Italian grape in Mendocino! And made by a woman winemaker. Which mayhaps helps explain how this wine can have tough tannins all mellowed by a chocolate covered cherry. When you are a woman obscuring your toughness (so you aren’t labeled as a problem) with a friendly nature (so they think oh she’s sweet) is an acquired skill. One that does well by Dolcetto.
It is the bitterest of chocolate and the freshest and also dried-est of cherries. Omigod it is not sweet but it realllllly reminds me of dark chocolate covered cherries. And maybe someone infused that butter chocolate with a chili pepper because there is a zing to it. I will party with this wine all night and probably tell it my secrets before dawn. — 4 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.0

Covid-19 wine #2: virtually shared with home boy at dusk. Portuguese Baga, give it air as has a delicate but Nebbiolo-ish shade. 12.5%, Skurnik importer. I’m enjoying Portugal now. Plus my MD/ epidemiologist neighbor listened to my lungs and gave me a clean bill of health. Now to work and help keep our patients healthy in pandemic anxiety. — 5 years ago

Dominic Alstead

9.2

Watching The Dawn Wall with George, accompanied by spaghetti bolognese. A rich, smooth taste that beacons to a summer evening with the smell of flowers in the air. A Lovely wine. — 5 years ago

with George

Eric Egan

9.4

Wow. This was a truly profound wine. How such lightness and great depth can exist hand in hand is a real conundrum. A beautiful nose of honeyed spring flowers along the Loire - as long as sin and refreshing as a cold bath in a still river at dusk. If that sounds silly it’s probably due to the effects of this bottle... — 6 years ago

Ruth Barnard

9.0

Bev Mo. —good for every day drinking — 7 years ago

Chris Madrid

9.3

Buttery, waxy and candied Meyer lemon, kumquat, and honeysuckle. Late afternoon/early dusk on a spring day. Keep enjoying this superb vino while enjoying the last rays of sun. Still warm but almost time to grab your windbreaker, start an outdoor fire and turn on the grill. — 7 years ago

with Joshua

LM Segal

9.3

Black as night, wet animal fur (in a good way, I swear) and earth-worm-laden earth lead a palate as big and smooth as a velvet zeppelin. Black berries, dark undergrowth and tangy tannins till dawn that just translate to a nice long finish. So yummy, loved a fatty veal chop! — 8 years ago

Ericsson

9.5

This Rioja has been tamed by time. The color on this wine is medium ruby with a colorless to brownish rim. The nose is a rustic bouquet of old dry cedar, leather, and tobacco, with scents of dry dark stone fruits and dark berries. Some tertiary wet earth and damp forest floor scents as well.

The mouthfeel is captivating with oak, smoke and vanilla followed by black cherry, prune, and raisins. This is full bodied, dry, and complex with smoothed out but lingering tannings and soft acidity. Low alcohol with a finish that goes on, and on, and on till the break of dawn. You literally keep tasting everything: the dry fruit, the tannings and the acidity.

Decanted and tasted over a two hour period. Handsdown one of the best Riojas I’ve ever tasted; many thanks to Somm Rodrigo Mares at Roothouse in Guadalajara for the exceptional gift. My only wonder is how this would have tasted in twenty thirty per say. I purchase all the wines I review but do keep in mind wine always tastes best when it's gifted. Cheers to more gifts like this one.
— 4 years ago

David Kline

9.1

Expected purple-black without variance. Ripe plums and rich prunes dance the dance of dawn and dusk. Dried blackberry and red currant trace their steps. Clean waters flow and blueberry and elderberry emerge. Even bacon fat. This is plump Bordeaux. Graphite washes thinly, revealing black currant and lingonberry fleetingly before settling on dried lavender and dried mallow blossom and briny violet. True to the rue. Tart cherries peek through windows in the rain-slicked, cobbled alley. Cranberry skin. #Bordeaux #chateauFéretLambert #Grézillac #BordeauxRouge #FrenchWine #wine #redwine #bordeauxsupérieur #merlotblend — 5 years ago

with Courtney

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I kid you not, Charles Hendricks is likely the most underrated & under known Winemaker in Napa Valley.

If you have not had his wines, you are missing out on great wines & relative real value for Napa. He makes his own private higher end label-Hendricks, Hope & Grace and midway through the 14 vintage for; James Cole, Regusci & T-Vine.

There are few Winemakers that can make wines that drink well young & some that will age two decades plus stored correctly.

This Santa Lucia Doctor’s Vineyard is really good but, his private label Hendricks Pinot from Santa Lucia is off the charts. His 2008 Hendricks Pinot Noir is the highest rating I have ever given a Ca Pinot Noir, 98.

The 13 Doctor’s Vineyard is better than his 12 & is still a little early right now. It will improve over the next 5 years & hold there a couple of years before its gentle decline.

The nose reveals, ripe, well extracted & slightly baked; blackberries, stewed, deep, dark, black plum, black cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, dry pomegranate & cranberries with shades of blueberries. Dark spices, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanilla, touch of savory meats, anise to black licorice, black tea, wet clay, steeped black tea, touch of herbs dominated with Rosemary, rich, black, earth, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, leather notes, volcanic minerals, limestone with bright, fresh & withering florals that are; dark, red, purple, blue mixed in violets and lavender.

The body is full, rich, lush and gorgeous. The structure, tension, length and balance are just hitting their good phase. It is simply a beautiful & complex Pinot Noir. Nicely extracted & slightly baked; blackberries, stewed, deep, dark, black plum, black cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, dry pomegranate & cranberries with more blueberries than the nose. Dark spices that bring palate heat, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanilla, touch of savory meats, peppery notes, anise to black licorice, black tea, wet clay, steeped black tea, touch of herbs dominated with Rosemary, rich, black, earth, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, leather notes, volcanic minerals, limestone with bright, fresh & withering florals that are; dark, red, purple, blue mixed in violets and lavender. The acidity is very good & excellent at containing the slightly higher ABV. The long, complex finish is, well balanced fruit & earth, polished and will persist until dawn.

Photos of; Their Doctor’s Vineyard, one of my favorite paintings that used to hang behind the bar in their tasting room & now hangs in Charles’ house (it reminds me of a Jackson Pollock), Winemaker-Charles Hendricks and the front of their tasting room in downtown Yountville.
— 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

The nose reveals, floral, ripe; blueberries blackberries, dark cherries, plum, boysenberries, strawberries and black raspberries. Limestone minerals, dry crush rocks, dark spice, sweet tarry notes, steeped tea, vanilla, some clove, a whiff of nutmeg, dark chocolate, saddle-wood to cedar, some black licorice, garrigue with blue flowers, violets and withering dark florals.

The body is medium full, round and lush. The tannins are around 80% resolved and still have some sticky tar. The structure, tension, length & balance have nearly come about to full evolution. Ripe; blueberries blackberries, dark cherries, baked plum, boysenberries, strawberries and black raspberries. Limestone minerals, dry crush rocks, dark spice, sweet tarry notes, steeped tea, vanilla, some clove, a whiff of nutmeg, dark chocolate, a little mushroom on the last glass, saddle-wood to cedar, some black licorice, garrigue, dry clay & top soil with blue flowers, violets and withering dark florals. The acidy is like a waterfall. The finish is ripe, elegant, well balanced, polished with powdery dry tannins on the long set. It’s finish is persistent for minutes.

Photos of; the Joseph Phelps tasting terrace, inside lounge area with original old vats and the spectacular view off the terrace.

@Dawn Emory Sampling wines along their evolutionary path is amazing. My thoughts still haven’t changed great wine for less $ with patience. — 6 years ago

Fredrik Finn

9.2

They have done it again, another home run from Alheit, amped up to eleven but in a fresh casing. A stunning Chenin that is all about texture
Pronoucned intense, somewhat reductive at first, but soon blooms out to expose an amazing array of aromas of fresh but ripe fruit, ripe lemons, bruised apples, honeydew melon, orange blossom followed by beeswax, cashew nuts and a very present savoury complexity with a salty breeze and dusty rock minerality.
Rich palate with a focused and tactile, high acidity that penetrates the medium full body with a pronounced fruit profile of juicy but fresh fruit, lemon juice, melon, honey, expansive complexity with a rocky and salty base note that evolves into a toffee and milky like texture through a long finish. Brilliant
— 4 years ago

Daniel Bloom

8.9

Like licking the Dawn Wall only darker.
Black and red fruit. Boysenberry mineral nose, supple mouthfeel with the definite impression of “cool”. No tannins to speak of. Great w Amatriciana. Acidity provides a nice cut. — 4 years ago

Ron R

9.2

Keste pizza at home. Drove deep into the mouth of the beast (Manhattan) to get this. Reminded me of the film “Dawn of the Living Dead” when we drove through Meatpacking district.
We’ll get thru this, I’m sure of that. Pizza is 99 pts.
This bottle was an outlier, relative to what we normally experience from this producer. — 5 years ago

with Anne-marie

Scott E. Becker

9.0

[Tasted on August 6, 2019 at Nammo’s Restaurant in Mykonos on the beach with Dawn, Michael and Rachel]

Blend of Agiorgitiko, Syrah and Grenache. Strawberry, cherry and pink grapefruit, with nice, crisp acidity. Simple, but delicious rose. The beautiful setting and the company contributed to my enjoyment of the wine. — 6 years ago

Apocalypse Rex

9.0

This is a delightful wine with notes of vanilla and soft stone fruit. This reminds me of a time when Josh and I were on vacation at the Beach. The breeze settled around dusk as we chuckled over times passed, enjoying the Sun setting over the Plastic Ocean. Later that evening a portal to Tentacle Planet opened up and we were attacked by giant Octopod monsters. But I digress, this wine is quite nice. — 6 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.5

Marvellous
Being Kellerberg the most aromatic expression of the Wachau area it had found a lovely balance with the minerality that has come out
So dawn good and easy to drink that disappeared in no time😜 — 7 years ago

Doctor No

9.1

Dawn of a new era at W-S but same-old at Hirsch. This is starting to get towards the end of it's prime drinking window but tonight it was lovely and had sweet, ripe-but-not-overripe candies fruit notes but no cola/pomegranate thankfully, and the zingy acidity balanced out the fruit well, which is classic Hirsch to me. Was in SF for a conference and picked this up at K&L for dinner with friends — 8 years ago

Amrit Prasad

9.0

Awesome rose lots of berry flavors — 8 years ago