Tom Garland

9.5

A 07 Verite vs 08 Levy & McClellan cage match tonight (PREVIOUS NOTES APPLY for L&M, but bump rating up to 9.4).

La Muse is the pomerol style of their 3 wines with 85% merlot, 10% cab franc, 5% malbec. 1.5 hour decant (some fine/cloudy sediment). A wondrous dark ruby red color. On the nose: Beautiful perfumed nose of dark raspberry, mocha, floral, slight funky earth, minty menthol, crushed rocks. Taste: a soft, smooth dry medium plus body wine with mouth coating plum, minerals, earth, currants and a long dry spicy tea finish. Everything in place and drinking well now with a number of years to go. Cheers! — 5 years ago

with Brenda

Ryan McClellan

9.0

Whole cluster gives it some crunchiness. High acid and pretty damn structured. Thanks @Chris McClellan ! — 6 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

8.9

Single Vineyard Washington Malbec. Aromas of toast, dried herbs, licorice and baking spices. Dark plum and fig flavors are persistent. 16 months in Hungarian oak. Pleasant length and balance. Big, bold, rich and ripe, but it did fade the longer it was open. — 8 years ago

with John and Mark

Aaron Engel

9.0

Lovely dinner to celebrate birthdays with Julia Levy and Joseph Reeves. Brought this one from my collection and proved an excellent complement to rich tomato and cream pasta dishes we enjoyed. Well balanced with delicate dry fruit finish. Tannins slight but wonder if further aging would have made fruit grander. — 9 years ago

James Pendergrass

9.2

The 2013 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon marks the 7th vintage crafting this single vineyard proprietary wine from the Steffens' family property on Spring Mountain. This wine shows a deep, dark opague core, with a classic Bordeaux-like ruby rim. On the nose, the wine expresses dark cocoa, anise, fresh tobacco and black pepper. Bright acidity leads the palate to a well integrated, seamless texure, marked by savory influences of game, smoked meat, with subtle fruit and mineral undertones. A blend completed my Winemaker Martha McClellan and Wesley Steffens, this wine shows incredibly well with a quick decant, and will reward patience with time in the cellar.
93 - 95 pts. — Robert M. Parker, Jr — 9 years ago

David L

9.4

06' Blankiet Estate Paradise Hills Vineyard.
60% Cabernet 40% Merlot. 100 % New Oak. First year the label didn't say Cabernet Sauvignon. This was also the first year Martha McClellan was the winemaker. Maybe these two things had to do with the label change🤔.

Decanted for 2 hours. It's a BABY... There's no way this wine is 10 years old!?! Big & bold wine. Dark ruby red in color. Rich dark chocolate, ripe cherry, dark plum skins, little spice. 15+ years in it! Great 06'! I've had a few very good 2006's as of late. — 10 years ago

David L

9.5

12’ CHECKERBOARD AURORA
Martha McClellan, winemaker. Decanted for an hour. Inky dark fruits(plum, blackberries) Combines power & elegance. It’s tannins are silky & round. 45/60 second finish. Edit- Magical on hour 2.  — 5 years ago

John Hagood

9.1

Had 2010 from Schneider’s $29.99 on 10/6/19. (Found first at Mon ami Gabi with les Levy ca. 2012. ) — 7 years ago

Michael Park

9.6

McClellan is a Goddess! You need to let Sloan breathe for an entire day to enjoy it at it’s best — 8 years ago

Kirk Alexander

10

Wine of the Night for me. Up against an absolute onslaught of names. Levy and McClellan, harlan, DoNa, El Nido, Bryant, and on and on. Maximum delicious, tannins have softened after a decade, simply sublime. — 9 years ago

with Christine, Martin and 1 other

Keith Fisher

9.5

Dark fruit, dense, long finish. Pricey, but a reasonable value (if a $225 Cali Cab could ever be called reasonable) — 9 years ago

Erich Broksas

Early Mountain Vineyards

9.5

From Will Harlan with Bob Levy. Harlan without Harlan prices. — 10 years ago

Henrik Poulsen

9.3

Classic (Martha McClellan) Napa "cult" style with supple, sweet and chewy tannins.
Quite impressive for being a 2nd label wine.
Alc. is probably on the high side, pH must be close to 4.0 and color looks a little developed so I doubt it is going to make old bones but then again - it is drinking great now so why wait.
— 10 years ago

Rob Brobst III

9.5

What a perfume... Martha McClellan and Wesley Steffens worked in tandem to craft this inaugural release. The fruit is sourced from two estate vineyards farmed on top of Spring Mountain, as well as the Beckstoffer Melrose Vineyard in Rutherford, CA. The resulting wine shows very focused yet fresh and vibrant aromatics, polished tannins with great tension, smooth texture throughout the wine ending with a very pleasing and lengthy finish. This wine will drink very well upon release, as well will continue to reward with aging in the cellar for many years to come. — 5 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.4

The 2016 ‘Reserve’ Cabernet Sauvignon by Saviah is another masterpiece by the talented Richard Funk of Saviah. Sourced from the McClellan Estate and Annie Marie Vineyards, the Cabernet shows heady aromatics of dark currants that meld with dark chocolate shavings, tar and black licorice that all march in unison. The palate is dense and decadent with layers of blackberry compote, black licorice candy, creosote and suggestions of Turkish coffee. The long finish lingers as this massive, yet elegant wine has some incredible aging potential. Be sure to give this at least an hour decant if enjoying in its youth. Drink 2020-2038- 94 — 6 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.2

I was able to have a good conversation with Justin (one of the wine guys) at Central Market as he poured me the rest of the Silver Oak, and he was gracious enough to open up the floor for recommendations on what their next higher-end wine should be to serve BTG at cost. In the meantime, however, he opened up this bad boy and man...what a treat. The winemakers for Nice are (from what I’ve heard and read) some pretty solid dudes and it was neat to see that they’re headquartered right here in Houston. Below is an excerpt taken directly from their site as a means of education to satisfy all of the wine nerds out there (myself included):

“Winemaker and Foodie superduo Ryan Levy and Ian Eastveld of Nice Winery are Certified Sommeliers, wine educators, and Le Cordon Bleu trained chefs. Their hand crafted, boutique wines are poured in top restaurants and have won gold medals in internationally recognized wine competitions. Ryan and Ian have built their epicurean pedigree while studying in Paris, France, directing culinary education for Viking, teaching cuisine to thousands of students at Central Market, and operating their restaurant and catering companies, Republic and Nuance. They make their wines from estate vineyards in Texas, Argentina, and California.” — 8 years ago

with Krystal

Luke Tubergen

9.6

Solid is an understatement. — 9 years ago

Kerry Shiels

9.5

Lovely 17 year old Merlot! DuBrul and Seven Hills fruit, well made by Casey McClellan. Bottle bouquet, fruit, acidity, complexity and balance. Nicely developed but not over the hill for sure. — 10 years ago

Dan Kim

9.5

So much integrated and smooth. — 10 years ago

Tiff Wilson

9.6

Importer is Scott Levy. LOVE this one! My fave of everything I tasted that day. Was so pleasantly surprised. — 11 years ago