Matt Konopka

8.9

Great rose for post beach cool down, its Rose week here in Brigantine. Picked this up at a very cool eclectic wine store-320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore, Pa. Go see Jack Cunicelli for amazing natural wines. — 5 years ago

Maren

9.6

Distinctly fruity flavor, but it doesn’t carry to sweetly to the taste. Crisp and refreshing — 6 years ago

Junkyu Ahn

8.9

@The Conservatory, The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay
Bought it at USD 64 — 7 years ago

Aloke Mukherjee

8.9

Very good. Opens up in after say half hour. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose; ripe, syrupy dark currants, blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, blue fruits, dark fruit gummy bears, tarry notes, black pepper, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, caramel, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The body is warm, thick, ultra rich, lush & elegant. The tannins are round & velvety but still have strength...50% resolved. It has another 10-12 years of good drinking ahead. The fruits are gorgeous & ripe; blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries & lots of blue fruits & strawberries that paint the palate on the long set. A fair amount of tarry notes, black pepper, dry herbaceous notes (bay leaf), dry black olive, medium dark spice, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, clove, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The acidity is round & excellent. The long fruit driven finish is beautifully lush, elegant, well structured with near perfect balance. Photos of; Owner/Winemaker Roman Bratasiuk, their old gnarly 80-90 year old and low yielding vines and two of their vineyards. Producer history and notes...Clarendon Hills was founded in 1990 by Biochemist Roman Bratasiuks. Roman sought to further his passion for great wine by making some himself. Roman never trained as a winemaker. He planned on using his insight as a wine taster and scientist alike to dictate decisions. Roman sought to make a version of the wines he loved. The beginnings of Clarendon Hills effectively started in 1989 when he knocked on the door a local grower whose fruit he liked. A great friendship grew from from this by chance knock on the door. A handshake ensued and it became the first Clarendon Hills vineyard. On Saturday 24 February in 1990, Roman with just a bucket and secateurs arrived. Much to the growers shock, he began picking fruit himself. Roman started at 6 am and finished at 9 pm that evening; he picked half the entire vineyard himself and returned on Sunday the 25th to finish it. This process was repeated in a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard which formed the 3 single site wines produced in 1990. Crushing was performed by Roman using empty bottles to squash the fruit in a bucket, then transferred by that bucket, to one of the 3 small ex-dairy tanks all bought for $100 and a quick, non-temperature controlled wild-yeast fermentation ensued. The wines were pressed in a borrowed basket press and matured in 3 separate third-hand barrels. The vintage was finished in 11 days. Much to Roman’s delight the wines were superb and they sold. With the money he bought more buckets, three more barrels and rent for a shed to house wines. The process was repeated the next year and the year after that. Clarendon Hills grew from his determination. This one man had to make wine after work and on the weekends after his 9-to-5 job. A local news paper even ran a story "Tin shed wines take on the world"; which made Roman cringe but slowly Clarendon Hills grew, it afforded him more equipment to make the process less labour-intensive and slowly grow his vineyard repertoire. In 1994, Roman left the Australian Government laboratories and devoted himself to Clarendon Hills 100%. In the 1994 vintage, Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out. Roman went on for many years, making and selling the wines himself. Travelling the world over to show people the wines he made. Roman figured since he made the wine, he was the most logical choice to sell and represent his wine. This worked out so well, he continues to show the wines himself. Clarendon Hills produces; 8 Syrah, 6 Grenache, 3 Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and Mourvedre wine. They are all single vineyards single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned and hand picked. All his wines are aged in high-quality French oak barriques. Quite a brilliant success story. This is also another wine I acquired on the secondary market for much less it’s release price and far less than their current release prices. It starts as a 9.3 with a half-hour decant. However, as it gets to an hour and half decant plus, it just gets better & better. Works it’s way to a 9.5 in a hour decant. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.3

Tasted side by side with the 2013 Lineage. Tough battle but bottle age has definitely helped this bottling. Mix of deep garnet and ruby red. Straight from opening there were lots of savory elements mixed in with red and black berries. Some floral notes too like roses. As it opened up over the two hour period there was petroleum, dark cocoa and cinnamon. Over the evening, additional notes of dark ripe fruits and even more spices, even slightly savory ones. So balanced for how young this is. Started out with heavy tannins (8/10) but mellowed and rounded out to a solid moderate tannins (6.5/10) over the two and a half hour decant. Rounded medium plus body that will develop further with time. Started off with some darker cherries and light greenery with a bit of leather. Even a bit of spices. Great acidity giving this strong backbone and a semi-dry long finish. This will be singing given another five years and drink will over the next twelve. Tons of potential and very surprised by this caliber of wine coming out of Livermore Valley. Great job Steven! — 9 years ago

with Sean and India

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.4

The 1970 Trotanoy is a wine that I have encountered several times and – caveat emptor – it is variable and prone to TCA issues. This bottle initially sports a metallic note on the nose, although it dissipates to reveal engaging scents of dark berry fruit, undergrowth and the hint of traditional Japanese green tea that I have noted before. Perhaps it does not quite deliver the precision of the best bottles I have come across. The palate is structured and tannic – a “serious” Trotanoy that is determined to impress despite a touch of rusticity. This is a broad-shouldered, rather stocky Trotanoy with impressive depth and just a hint of black olive on the long finish. It will not improve with cellaring but it remains a great Pomerol that has tasted so well for almost half a century. Tasted at Fook Lam Moon in Hong Kong. (Neal Martin, Vinous, December 2019)
— 6 years ago

Madeline Ell

10

Half moon bay either Armando — 7 years ago

Stewart Ben

9.0

So good. Top three winery for me in NC. A lot of funk in the aroma. Maybe some Brett but doesn’t come through in the taste. — 7 years ago

Joe Lucca

9.3

So cool to be drinking this vintage. Our first trip to the winery was during harvest 2014, had the chance to help sort the Cab grapes as they came in from this particular vineyard.

Deep blackberry, cassis, fresh bay leaf, brown sugar, charcoal, hints of oak, earth and cinnamon stick all framed out with lively acidity. This is a very elegant, refined style. Obviously the stellar job we did sorting and de-stemming the fruit led to such clean, bright flavors 😉 — 8 years ago

with Diana

LM Segal

9.5

I didn't think a non-Astralis/HoG/Grange Oz could move my dials, but I was wrong. This Bogan - my penultimate from a half case - just blew me away. Powerful, concentrated nose of leather and lavender. Spice. On the palate more in common with aged Albans than Oz juice at $35 in '06. Dry, completely integrated and smooth as silk, layers of concentrated dark red fruit with notes of cocoa, bay leaves, baking spice. Remarkable secondary stuff on the long tail. Completely mature, drink 'em if you got 'em, find 'em if you don't. — 9 years ago

Joe Lucca

9.4

Just arrived home after a long week away and my truly better half had this open and waiting for me. Instantly, stress turned to SMILES! This is drinking really well right now. Crushed black and blue fruit, cedar, fresh tobacco, bay leaves, earthy minerals, ripe tannins and some black pepper. Not typically a huge Cade fan, but this Howell Mountain bottling shows a nice sense of place. So much better than when I tasted it on release. Thank you @Diana L for slowing down a hectic week. 🍷 — 9 years ago

with Diana

John Willison

9.1

From half bottle...crushed cherries, licorice root, rose petal, slight cola notes. Smooth. — 6 years ago

CA Haynam

9.5

Simply wonderful. Inky purple, fruity nose, jammy and smooth. The last half glass goes well with dark chocolate. — 6 years ago

Melissa McRae

9.3

NYE weekend Half Moon Bay — 7 years ago

ie

9.0

Sour mashed red berries, rose hip, bruyère, dirt, light funk; mellow medium body, vivid, vibrant, rounded up at this age (2014 on 01/06/18). Juicy pulp, some flesh, linear and bright. Half moon weight. — 8 years ago

Joseph Barsky

9.6

2003 Vintage. Thanks to Jon at Garagiste many years ago! Amazing nose of strawberry and cherry. Still good acidity and freshness on the palate. Yum. With fresh wild king salmon steaks from Half Moon Bay done on the BBQ. — 8 years ago

Palmer Emmitt

Owner/Winemaker Judge Palmer

9.4

I think my first Monte Bello and it does not disappoint. A very charming wine with an intriguing tomato component backed up by tons of cassis - "classic" California Cab. Great structure and for me in its prime right now (from half bottle). — 9 years ago

Evan Bienstock

9.3

This is terrific! But not good enough to help the Patriots in the first half. — 9 years ago

David Blattner

9.0

Picked this up at the tasting room in Half Moon Bay. Light and not too sweet. — 9 years ago