Far From The Crowd
Cameron Winery
Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2018
Pop and pour, 1hr slow ox. Third btl from a half case. No brett or reduction on this btl, go figure (see previous notes for context). Lovely Cameron mushroomy funk, sandalwood, dark wild strawberry..fantastic purity. My favorite btl so far aromatically. On the palate: very good acidity, nice and savory with some earthy bark notes, maybe thinner than I would like, but very finely grained tannin on the finish. This btl is drinking very well now. — 4 years ago
Far Niente Winery
Dolce Napa Valley Sémillon Blend 2012
This is a delicious sweet wine from Napa Valley.
Deep gold in color.
Showing Sweet tangerines, apricots, peaches, spices and tropical fruits.
Full bodied with high acidity. Sweet on the palate with nice complexity.
Would be nice to revisit it in 5 years and see how it evolves.
A very tasty dessert wine. Rich and extracted. Delicious.
A blend of 89% Semillon and 11% Sauvignon Blanc.
13.5% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$85 (375ml) — 5 years ago
Daou Vineyards
Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
In hills of Paso Robles, not far from Hearst castle, there is a man with a Homeric vision. His name is Daniel Daou and he is devoting his life to creating outstanding Cabernet’s. Deep red with dark berry nose, aged for 11 months on French oak (60% new). On the palate blackberry, black cherry and licorice, pepper spice with savory fine tannins. Medium+ finish ending with cacao and earthy herbs. Great value. The ‘17 is a bit richer than ‘16. Tasting Sample. — 6 years ago
Hartford Court
Far Coast Vineyard Chardonnay 2015
WNH event number 3...new world Pinot. Such a treat to experience the many different variations of Pinot!
The second of two white wines to get us started from @Shawn R . After seeing the scores that this has received I’ve been curious to try...for the price, I’m impressed. Lemon tart, stone fruit and mango on the nose with a rich palate...not quite reductive...poached pear honeyed cashews. — 7 years ago
Domaine François Cotat
Les Culs de Beaujeu Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Little luck so far with the wines from Francois Cotat. The first bottle of this cuvée (that was years ago) was corked. The second one, opened tonight, seems to be a year or two past its prime. Still enjoyable for sure, but still. Golden hue in the glass, some sherry scented tones emerge while sniffing. Melon, wax, orange zest, roasted nuts. The taste is better, more fresh, fruity notes. Big, full bodied, ripe , pineapple, cotton candy. Nothing quite compares to this. — 9 years ago
Dom Pérignon
Brut Champagne Blend 1992
From magnum for a thanksgiving apero - full of vim and vigor though the fruit is a little lacking, reflective of the vintage. Nicely aged profile on the palate and a crowd pleaser without really firing. — 9 years ago
Domaine du Pegau
Cuvée Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2019
The first of my small tranche of 2019 Cuvée Reservée’s and I figured it would be fun to share with the Tasting Group. Popped and poured and presented double-blind. The wine pours a translucent, deep ruby with magenta rim, near opaque core, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, the wine was clean with macerated raspberry, cranberry, and pomegranate fruits. There were purple flowers, some black pepper and rocky minerality along with a slightly gamey note which was quite charming. Both the fruit and non-fruit characteristics were confirmed on the palate. The wine finishes dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. There’s a compelling sense of power and energy in this wine. Everyone was in the Rhône but most were in the North; from Saint Joseph to Cornas, citing that they believed this was Syrah. However, two in the group called Châteauneuf du Pape and one actually called producer (!!) but missed on vintage (2016). Universally, the wine was fawned over and the dude who called Pagaü thought he actually favored the 2019 over the 2016 he had a while back. While I’m not sure I would go that far, the 2019 is truly quite stunning already and seems to have the guts to see a very long and wonderful life ahead. These are currently enjoying their customary early drinking window however, that window will likely close within a year or so and then I could see this shutting down pretty hard until 2025 — 4 years ago
Matias Riccitelli
The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree Malbec 2020
Staff BBQ; minimal notes, but my ratings are accurate; balanced, enjoyable — 4 years ago
Enderle & Moll
Baden Spätburgunder Rosé 2018
Best Rose 🌹 in the world? The 17 was quite acidic. So it needs time. But the 18 is a total blow out wow. It lacks the herbaceous character of the previous vintages. Close your eyes and you think this is red Burgundy. A Volnay? Orange rind a potpourri of red fruit dark 🍒 raspberry cranberries,....But also Mexican limes. Fresh. Spectacular and as far as I know unfortunately only available from Lyle Fass. Sells out fast. A revelation and must know for any serious Pinot lover. I hope some of you will have at some point the opportunity to try wines from E&M. — 6 years ago
Cristom
Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014
If you want a Pinot noir that's far from boring, this is the one — 8 years ago
Marcel Lapierre
Morgon Gamay 2015
First time trying the '15s and it's as great as always. This is definitely a decent amount more brawny and ripe than the '14s but still identifiable as a Lapierre wine. That said, I'm still not the biggest fan of most of these '15's so far, they are too hot and ripe and don't really fit the profile of what I want from most Beaujolais. This is still pretty good on its own merits though. Day 1 it was closed and not giving up very much but on this morning, Day 2, it's come around and opened up quite a bit. Ripe, juicy strawberry and raspberry red fruit, tart rhubarb, wild violet, smoky gravel minerality, with a nice briny, almost gamey salinity underscoring things a bit. Nice medium (+) acid, medium (-) body with a great, soft texture. Just a touch of fine, supple tannic grip. There a bit of brett and VA but they're in balance rather than being a faulty distraction; the VA helps give a little extra lift, if anything. Will try another bottle after some more time has passed because even though it's good now it honestly still needs to come together a bit more; it seemed almost still slightly bottle shocked when I first opened it yesterday. If you're opening one soon I'd recommend giving it a little air to let it unfurl. — 9 years ago
Robert Mondavi Winery
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Overrated. I’ll go as far as to say all Napa wine is overpriced these days.
Like… it’s good. But really, I can buy a better Italian wine for half the price.
These days, the best American wine is coming from Oregon, not California. Don’t @ me. — 4 years ago
Ridge Vineyards
East Bench Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2019
Intense and dense but vivid aromas of strawberries, raspberry toffee, bramble, roses, Pronounced savoury and earthy spice character of cinnamon, nutmeg and a sweet vanilla note that brings a balanced complexity.
Palate is dry, medium acidity and Medium fruity tannins, soft and approachable but still it provides a solid framework that guards the palate, well integrated alcohol in a full body with a sweet and ripe, toffee like red fruit, profile that remain its nerve and tension and is far from feeling heavy. A dimensional complexity of vanilla and spice brings nuance a cross the mid palate through a solid finish that falls a tad short from the major league. — 4 years ago
Far Niente Winery
Post & Beam Napa Valley Chardonnay 2019
From the Far Niente winery. Tasted their new ‘19 offering twice. Pale lemon with aromas of stone fruit, floral, spice and citrus. On the palate apple, melon and pear flavors, with lemon zest, vanilla and toasty notes. Nice balance with bright acidity on long finish, savory with spicy rich oaky mineral ending, very nice! — 5 years ago
Bruno
Clarksburg Petite Sirah 2018
Smooth, rich dark fruits, lovely pepper backround.....one of my absolute favorites from Nakedwines so far!!! — 5 years ago
Château Brane-Cantenac
Grand Cru Classé en 1855 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005
I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 8 years ago
Jakub Kalinowski
A timeless gem that escapes boundaries. Poised, elegant, unconventional.
The nose is somewhere between a fino sherry, a v. light Vernatsch and southern Rhône white. Nutty, salty with dried strawberries, hibiscus, but also some sharp lemon freshness. A meditation wine - changing, evolving, enticing.
Silky & a bit creamy on the palate, with a touch of tannins, sharp, salty acidity, almost fruitless - and yet with such depth, precision & presence. This is as far from the avg. rosé as it gets. A mind boggling, delicious, slightly funky, grand wine. Amazing.
And at 13y - a baby. — 3 years ago