Love Porter Creek small vintner needs a bigger following IMO — 5 months ago
My nomination for Wine of the Year and it’s… a Napa Chardonnay?!? This wine challenged and expanded my beliefs about what this region, site and variety could be.
Also, we seem to be catching this wine at exactly the right point.
This Spring Mountain estate was focused almost entirely on white wines until recently and has some of the region’s oldest Napa plantings of Riesling and Chardonnay. (Of course now that they’ve been acquired by some PE group for an absurd sum, Cab is being planted everywhere but that’s a story for another day)
Their Chardonnay is idiosyncratic — no malo and low abv (the 2012 vintage is a mere 13%), but you wouldn’t know from its richness.
Mindblowingly complex and - most importantly - indulgently delicious (in other words, I blew my wine budget for two months on two bottles good).
Initial aromas of plastic / petrol (like riesling) that take on more of a toasted vanilla / caramel flan with air. On the nose and palate: pear and lemon, salt and stone. The flavors are concentrated and intense on the attack and yet the wine has such a light touch on the palate and a graceful finish — toasted hay, salty and flirting with bitter marzipan — that just goes on and on and on.
It brings me back to that afternoon on Spring Mountain with the perfect fall light, changing leaves and the coyote we saw crossing our path as we made our way up the winding drive way.
Absolutely fucking brilliant. — 6 months ago
Exceptional quality, Ruby red deep color, great aroma and best with food. Highly recommend Cabernet. — 7 months ago
Still got it! Fantastic balance between lingering primary red fruits and full-on tertiary goodness: pomegranate, dried cherry, dried cranberry, mushroom, sage... if you got it, drink it! — 5 years ago
Big bold Rutherford Cabernet. What could be better ? — 5 years ago
A savory juicy textured herbal food pairing champ. Like cooking sous-vide with an immersion circulator, what was once a geeky oddity has found a permanent home on our table. Not a universal solution, but really the right tool for the job in certain situations. Like pan seared halibut with fennel or spring vegetable risotto. — 6 years ago
I love this wine. I love this wine because it exists all the way at the 'painstakingly clean and precise' end of the skin-contact spectrum. Don't get me wrong, I love the super-natty wild and wooly and of the spectrum too. But this. This is so purely and exactly what it sets out to be. And I love it. — 7 years ago
Big and tasty. — 10 years ago
On s’en va là l’automne prochain! C’est un 2018, belle maturité- fruits murs et belle longueur d’un vin corsé et complexe. — 4 months ago
Happy Valentines Day! What a great wine to celebrate my love and bride of 25 years — 4 months ago
Deep purple in color; black cherries, cassis, and graphite on the nose; medium acidity; medium plus tannins; tastes like blackberry sauce, sweet tabacco, and a hint of camphor with a long finish. I really like this wine. — 5 months ago
Honey. Melon. Mineral. — 6 months ago
Very nice, simple and tasty, complex as it warms. Marley would have liked it very much, so it was perfect for sipping during Christmas Eve cooking — 6 months ago
With halibut cheeks, dandelion greens, sand dab fillets from west port farmers market, g-town — 4 years ago
Wow delightful and refreshing. Lemon/rind and mineral. Get some! — 5 years ago
Yes, now we're talkin' -- heavy. Cherries; slight licorice. — 5 years ago
a wise soul once said: never miss the opportunity to pair #Pinot with #potstickers — 7 years ago
A classic California Chardonnay nose. Full and rich with notes of oak and butter with just a touch a white peach and stone. Lush and full on the palate with a nice touch of spice. Creamy flavors of stone and smoky oak lead more subtitle flavors of spice box and citrus pith with big, lush acidity. The finish is full and warming with touches of white pepper and lingering acidity. Thanksgiving wine #2! — 8 years ago
It's still a puppy and needed a good amount to open up. From start to finish one of the best American Pinots I've had. Elegant and complex, red fruit and a lot of earth notes. — 10 years ago
Bad cork totally disintegrated. Wine had some life left but not much. — 4 months ago
Cobb is another solid producer of CA Pinot Noir. A 14 acre parcel bought in 1988 by Ross Cobb and began making wine in 1989.
The nose reveals ripe, lush, ruby fruits of; poached strawberries, blackberries, dark cherries, raspberries, hints of blueberries, uncooked rhubarb, tree bark w/sap, hints of eucalyptus, smoky characteristics, lightly grilled meats, black pepper, red licorice/cola, understated baking spices, dry top soil w/ crushed rocks, light, fresh tobacco, volcanic ash and fresh; dark, red, blue flowers framed in violets.
The palate is ripe, juicy and very elegant. Fruits are; ripe, lush, ruby fruits of; poached strawberries, blackberries, dark cherries, plum, raspberries, hues of blueberries, uncooked rhubarb and pomegranate juice. Tree bark w/sap, hints of eucalyptus, smoky characteristics, lightly grilled meats, black pepper, red licorice/cola, understated baking spices, dark, moist spice, very, dry, dusty top soil w/ crushed rocks, crumbled volcanics, dry, grey clay, light, fresh tobacco, cigar & volcanic ash and fresh; dark, red, blue flowers framed in violets. The excellent acidity runs like a cool mountain river with a well knitted, structured, balanced, elegant & smartly polished finish that lasts over a minute landing on soft minerality & spice.
This 14 has another 4-5 years of good drinking before it starts its gentle decline.
Photos of the Jack Hill Vineyard, winery gate and founder Ross Cobb. — 5 months ago
Lots of fruit, tannins are almost gone, and a nice finish — 6 months ago
Great recommendation
Super new to my pallet-loving it — 5 years ago
Love this Sangiovese! What a nice surprise. I will offer this to me again. — 6 years ago
Just balanced thread of Shiraz pepper and velvet consistency on the tongue. Will age very well, but very good now also. — 7 years ago
Slight vanilla and crisp smell. Some pear too. Taste has some bitter and sour notes but malactic makes it a little smoother. Minerally. Better with food. Had butter garlic clams. — 11 years ago
Eric Urbani
A exploration of nine 1999 Cote Rotie - Syrahs and Shiraz on their 25th anniversary. Another Aussie ended up being my #2 — 4 months ago