John Willison

9.1

Burgundian. Aged in Austrian oak. — 2 months ago

Jessica Steinberg

9.3

Drank at Lila Lyla with the crispy duck lasagna — 3 months ago

Vanessa

9.3

Hello, California Syrah!!

From everything we’ve read, the Alder Springs Vineyard sounds like a truly majestic place.

It’s isolated in an undeveloped part of northern Mendocino County, situated in California’s North Coast region, where the steep and rugged terrain meet sweeping views of the ocean, bordered by rivers, redwoods, and snowcapped mountains… elevation stretches up to 1,800 feet above sea level.

It’s no wonder so many acclaimed producers, like Pax Mahle, source their fruit from here, where vines are sustainably farmed and cared for by Stuart Bewley. We were fortunate to visit Pax in Sebastopol in 2022, where we picked up this 2011 Cahto Ridge Alder Springs Vineyard Syrah. We’ve been waiting patiently to taste it. And here we are.

100% Syrah. Whole cluster fermented. Aged 12 months in neutral French oak barrels.

This wine is deep ruby trending towards garnet. The aromas are concentrated with ripe boysenberry, black cherry, blackcurrant, next to violet, black peppercorn, licorice, cured meat, peat moss, smoke, clove, leather and olive notes. On the palate, it is dry with medium (+) acidity, a medium (+) body, high alcohol (14.6% ABV), medium (+) fine-grained tannins, and a long, elegant finish.

It’s both elegant and wild all at the same time and we love it.

Cheers! — 4 months ago

with Deked1

Doug Powers

9.5

Floral and rich redfruit aromas and flavors, very youthful still, nice structure, excellent depth, need 5-10 more years based on this bottle, wow!! — 7 months ago

with Jim

Steve Anderson

9.2

TBT wine on a Saturday. Still great. — 3 years ago

Paco Suro

9.2

Wow. Surprising. Restrained. In the zone now. — 4 years ago

Chalise Grogan

9.6

My absolutely favorite bubbly. — 5 months ago

Victor Hsu

9.0

Complex Zinfandel field blend, with nice interplay of flavors and textures—fruit, tannin, acid and earth, that evolves in the mouth. Perfumed and drinkable by itself. Fine example of Sonoma County Zin. Tasted the 2021 vintage at the winery. — 3 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.2

Steak wine. 96 is ready to go. Great Napa Cab. Graphite, barnyard, dried sage and blackberry. — 6 months ago

Eric K

9.5

Nice dry Pinot with hints of berry — 6 months ago

Dennis Hogenkamp

9.4

13.8% ABV Raspberry, red fruit — 8 months ago

casey Burnett

9.5

Gift from Matt. I really like this. Each time I have it. — a year ago

Austin N

9.2

Lovely rose with a bit more complexity and less acidic bright fruit than the typical rose. Well-balanced dryness. — 4 years ago

Pooneet K

9.1

Was pretty skeptical when I saw this was 14.5% - but really quite good. Lots of white fruit / sweet nuts / white grapefruit. Pretty savory and great acid on the finish. Full bodied. Nice value. Still would prefer it to be 12.5% but can’t argue overall. — 3 months ago

Emily Wang

9.1

Nose like a Pinot, mouth feel and ripe fruit almost like a Merlot. — 3 months ago

seph

8.9

Really like this, musky, tropical fruit notes in the very strong finish. One of my faves from our finger lakes wine trip! — 6 months ago

Kaito Kikuchi

9.4

Very floral but full bodied — 6 months ago

Chadé Severin

9.9

Date night with hubs on MV. Cherry cola flavors. — 9 months ago

"Odedi"

9.2

Light golden in color with a yellow tint.

Strong nose of gooseberry, limes, grapefruits, light earth, green apples, spices, grass and light sea salt.

Medium bodied with medium plus acidity. Crisp and refreshing.

Dry on the palate with limes, grapefruits, citrus, green apples, bitter herbs, light vegetables, light tropical fruits, spices, earth and white pepper.

Long finish with light almonds and spices.

This is a delicious Sauvignon Blanc based blend from Napa Valley.

Easy drinking and good by itself or with food. Has a light creamy feel, which is very enjoyable.

Nicely balanced and tangy, with a soft mouthfeel.

Showing nice complexity, which you don't usually see at this young age. I can see it getting even better in the next 3 years.

I had it all by itself by the pool.

A blend of 73% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Chardonnay and 13% Malvasia. Aged for 7 months in used French oak barrels. A small production of 600 cases.

14.2% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$60. — 2 years ago

Jake Hajer

9.0

Exotic and fun. — 4 years ago