Grant Everett

9.3

Outpaced by other LPVs on this night. Especially Memento Mori — 5 years ago

Hanif Perry

9.4

Wine was on point! Age and drank Italian. — 7 years ago

with Shafiq

Martin G Rivard

9.6

OMG!!! I’m going to save myself some time and post these all at once. It was one of those epic nights!!!!!! LOL
8 of us began on a mystical journey of friendship, food & WINE!!
we began with five bottles of Haber which just arrived at my office yesterday! OMG! Now I only have three left! LOL!!!!!!!! I absolutely adore this wine and so did my friends. It was actually their WOTN which is a lot to say given the company it was in. I then opened a bottle of 2012 Memento Mori which was its usual opulent self!! Two of us preferred this wine over Haber but the remainder preferred Haber. I pulled this trick out of my butt from David Lentine!!!! A palate cleanser after heavy Cabernets and we opened a gorgeous Beaux Freres- The Beaux Freres Vineyard. We then got things going again with one of my favorite Chardonnays in Napa! This stuff absolutely rocks and should be bought by all. Nuf said, it’s that freaking good!!! Last but not least I decided to mix it up a little and pulled one of my favorite under the radar GSM blends that I know. Domaine de la grange des Peres. Every single one of my guests Took a sip and immediately snap their head up to say “what the heck is this! “that’s good!" You will look like a hero pouring it at anyone’s party and the cost is negligible at $95 a bottle! Bad ass in a glass as I always say. Every single one of these bottles proved to be as such! Love you guys sand cheers to you all! The individual rating for each wine was slightly different but I would say as a collective it was definitely a 9.6 type of evening.
Good time., good times — 7 years ago

with Christine, Joe and 3 others

TheSkip

10

So, I came home yesterday and there was a package at the door. I wasn't expecting anything and looked at the sender. @Martin G Rivard ! Well then! I knew santa was over, but perhaps Easter Bunny Rivard had struck?

I opened the box with haste. Surely anything from @Martin G Rivard would be of high quality. I saw a flash of orange and though, oh my! But there was only one bottle and it was oddly shaped. This must be the limited edition, double magnum of @Jason Chang's Nine Suns cuvée! I ripped open as if it were Christmas and out came Carlo Rossi.

I'd never heard of this producer but I trusted Martin. This bottle came with a very handy pour handle at the top. I was excited. Although it was only 4pm, I remembered what @Bill Bender said about 3pm so, I thought to myself, why not?

Hurriedly, I came into the kitchen and got my favorite Zalto glass, as inspired first by @Roman Sukley. I retrieved my corkscrew and opened the knife only to discover that this was a convenient screw cap! How thoughtful of Martin!

Open it went and the room filled with a lovely sweet grape must. I knew this would be special. I grabbed my winestop given to me by @Ron R and inserted to to insure there would be not a drop wasted.

Into the glass and my excitement prevented any thought of a decant.

What a wine! Those Concord grapes - what has Welch's been thinking? They've missed out on one of the finest varietals I've ever encountered. I knew I was truly lucky to try this rare wine.

But something felt...off. And I realized, I had nothing to pair with this! Thankfully there was a full 4L in this bad boy. And the screw cap allowed for prompt resealing.

Away I went in the car. What oh what to have? Aih! Exactly! @Paul T told me about the heaven of pairing McNuggets. Off to Ol' McDonalds I went.

Twenty McNuggets and sweet and sour sauce please!

I scurried to the back, and carefully withdrew my Zalto from my backpack. Opening the McNuggets, I knew this would be special. And indeed, I am with words to describe the experience. Yet, again, I knew something just wasn't right. The wine wasn't presenting itself. So I thought, how can I classy this up? And then I remembered all of @David L's posts with the classy silver wine coaster.

I had to have one. I asked the chap at the counter of McDonalds, but the response I received was less than satisfactory. I had to solve this issue myself. Thankfully , while returning to my table, I spotted a HomeGoods store immediately next door. I ran across and found a lovely silver charger.

And finally, returning to my table, I was now all smiles! More smiles than @Mike R !

What a special evening. I really wanted to end this off right. I grabbed a dozen roses and rushed home to the wife. Half a bottle Rossi still intact!

I showed her the bottle and wow! You should have see her eyes. I then suggested we retire to the bedroom and this was met with prompt approval.

And with such a great night, I wanted a lovely memento. I gently placed the bottle against her and snapped a lovely shot that is sure to be on the cover of the next issue of BBB with @Bill Bender !

Thanks for thinking of me @Martin G Rivard ! — 8 years ago

DAG

9.7

I'm usually not a DANA fan but tasted blindly in this evenings line up it won #WOTN the Memento Mori a close second. — 9 years ago

Sunil Dhaliwal

9.4

Really nice . Stone fruit and crisp apple. — 6 years ago

leon egozi

9.6

Another great night with the 305. Happy bday Lee. Thank you @Monica O — 7 years ago

Oscar De Soto

9.4

We put this bottle up in 2004, a memento of our lovely three years in Western Australia. Margaret River was one of favorite haunts, in large measure due to our many Vasse Felix experiences. Incomparable wines. Here’s to the warm memories. — 7 years ago

Kathleen Wishard

10

Really tasty, well balanced. Peppery with cherry — 8 years ago

Edmond Bordelon

9.6

Nine Suns and their favorite son, Sam Kaplan!
Sam and his lovely wife, Nancy were kind enough to take time out of their Florida vacation and stop by our house for a great Tasting Event of his big 3 Wines,... Arkenstone, Memento Mori and Nine Suns. And then he pulled out his latest project, soon to be released in the fall, Maxem! (Named after his two children, Max and Emma.) Not to compete with his huge red blends, his Maxem line is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both from the famed UV Vineyard in Sonoma. (Think Aubert Pinot Noir😃). I will try to review the Maxem wines later, but back to the amazing Nine Suns red blend from Pritchard Hill. We had the 2012 recently and were blown away by how much it has improved in such a short time. The 2013 needed some more time, but you can already sense the greatness to come. Already balanced feel and long finish. I decanted it for 4 hours to ensure we were doing justice to this deep purple stunner. While I liked the 2012 better, this 2013 was still lush and had blueberries as the major fruit up front and dark cherries on the back end. Sam talked about Nine Sun's amazing Houyi Vineyard, calling it the Rodéo Drive of Napa with all of their big neighbors. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot. Robert Parker gave it a 96, and I am in full agreement! — 8 years ago

with Beth and Katherine

Alicia M

9.1

A memento from the Leuta vineyard in Cortona, Italy. Absolutely delicious! — 9 years ago

Ben Tarkany

9.0

Needed to breath, but really enjoyed it... — 9 years ago

with Kate

Joe Billesbach

9.4

A memento from a SF trip. Totally worth the checked bag fee. Sour cherries with a dried potting soil thing happening. In a totally delicious way. 2005 — 9 years ago

Tegan Marriott

9.0

A Decent sour, chaga mushroom + rose petal conditioned Bier, very drinkable, one of Shaun Hill's head brewer's doing his own thing his own way, seems to be working! — 6 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.0

Lifted wild herbs: clove, rosemary, sage, bay leaf. Elevated herbal acidity to balance the perceptible RS. — 7 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.9

WOTN!
Life is short,
Remember to live it to its fullest!

This is a gorgeous example of a phenomenal Napa Cab!
Genevieve Bechtold runs this place. It wouldn’t be where it is without her. You better be nice to her when you see her or else you’ll get no wine & will have to deal with Desi & I!!!!!
@Desmond Echavarrie
You guys are the best of the best in Napa!
Love you guys!!!
😘👏👏👏👏😬 — 7 years ago

with Christine

Edmond Bordelon

9.9

Even up against the other two Sam Kaplan powerhouse wines (Nine Suns and Memento Mori), the Obsidian was my personal favorite. Maybe because it is his home field (Howell Mountain) advantage, having been there making wine with Ron and Susan Krausz for over 10 years. This Bordeaux blend spends 22 months in French Oak and another year in the bottle. Deep and brooding, complex and yet approachable, dense and balanced,...all the things I look for in a wine (and myself 😬). Robert Parker gave it a 98. While many of us don't always credit RP's scores, and as such, I am also going to have to disagree with him. I'm going for one of my all time high scores of 9.9. Again, personally to me, this wine is everything that I look for in a big Napa Cab expression. Sam Kaplan is doing great things up there in the hills! — 8 years ago

with Beth and Katherine

Carl Fischer

9.5

It's still SNOWING! So what is one to do? Back to the cellar! Dark fruits, tobacco, brown sugar - smooth as hell. This is drinking great now with a little air. We had a prior vintage at the recommendation of the somm at Press in St Helena which was great - the '12 blows it away. Especially considering we had this after a Memento Mori! Great wine. — 8 years ago

Adriel Lares

Vintner/Owner Memento Mori

10

How can you not love this deliciousness?? — 9 years ago

with Adam

Edmond Bordelon

9.4

Have had several vintages of Obsidian lately, and they have all been memorable. I am becoming a raving fan (note: stalker) of winemaker Sam Kaplan. (Memento Mori and Nine Suns are also on his list) — 9 years ago

with Beth and Katherine