Shay A

9.3

We make our annual trip out to Napa in about a week and a half, so I’m enjoying some wines from producers we are visiting. This is from Modus Operandi Cellars. The winemaker, Jason, has become a friend and was who helped Weston from Montagu Wines get started in the beginning. Jason submitted his Modus wines for review to Wine Advocate for the first time and did incredibly well (multiple 93-97pt wines). We are having lunch with Jason on our trip and look forward to his new releases.

The blend on this changes year to year I believe. The aromatics here and very dark and scorched. Roasted plum, dark cocoa dusted dates, cinnamon and licorice. I even picked up some Bordeaux like saddle leather here too. On the palate, it’s got chalky tannin with ripe blue and black fruit, black pepper, and an herbal finish. — 7 years ago

Henry Boshoff

9.3

Excellent taste. Not as sweet. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.1

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

Easy to pick up the semillion in this. Felt fairly sure it was early 90s Sauternes. Alas, I was wrong. Looking back, it misses the sweet caramel/honey finish that separates Sauternes. Had a more dry, dusty finish. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.0

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

Very good, but more guessed left bank Bordeaux. Could tell this was the oldest wine on the table. It held up well, and had lovely notes of oiled leather, plum, dried cranberries and even a black truffle note. Outdone by red #2 though. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

My first Hanzell Chardonnay I believe. I was convinced this was a white burgundy, most likely Chablis. So little acid and oak in this. Very surprised it was west coast. Great fruit profile and finish of limestone, slate, honeyed almonds, but thrown off my the fairly light mid palate. — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.5

Correction @Delectable Wine -- this is the 2013 Voluptas Eastern Hillside Cabernet. Very surprised that they had the Merlot listed but probably was because I posted the Merlot about a year or so ago. This wine opened up with some stiff competition including a 2010 Vineyard 29 Helena cab, a 2010 AltaGracia, a 2015 Montagu Cab Rutherford, and an 05 Meteor Cab. This one still did rather well. Took about an hour to get going. I was really surprised that this one didn't show more of the mushroom side, but rather showed an immense structure that could have easily spent 3 years continuing to improve. The nose was quite youthful. Blackberry jam, herb, earth. The entry was a little more toned down blackberry, lots of more youthful fruit, herb, earth, and black pepper on the finish. To me, this was in the running for th red WOTN. The white WOTN still between the Aubert, Peter Michael, and the sleeper Rodde 2011 Coombsville Chard that took everyone by surprise. This wine finished with softened tannin, and IMO even though the notes on the nose were very divergent from the AltaGracia, this wine most resembled the AltaGracia on the finish. Well done Bud! — 8 years ago

with Benjamin and Dan

Colby Siratt

9.6

Side by side with Montagu Ritchie Vineyard. Both exceptional- rich, buttery but balanced, beautiful gold in color. Durell more mineral, Ritchie a little creamier. Kept changing my mind which was my favorite. — 8 years ago

with Donnie

Shay A

9.4

@Benjamin Keator had his hosting at the CC tonight and it was absolutely incredible. What a night of gorgeous wines! All wines are guessed blind.

What an absolute treat. Sarah Francis has crafted some incredible wines, and is a close friend of Weston (from Montagu wines). She’s received monster scores and her quantity is minuscule. That being said, I called this 2012 (right vintage) Aubert (wrong producer), specifically one of their Carneros Chardonnays (got the region right!). It had a lemon cream and lemon tart richness to it with high acidity. Like Aubert’s Hudson was mixed with Aubert’s Lauren. Incredible Chardonnay. — 8 years ago

with Benjamin, Weston and 1 other

Shay A

9.2

@Mark Flesher pulled this out to complement my Chardonnay. Haven’t had many rosés of Cab...think Montagu may be the only other one I’ve had? First note I got was watermelon jolly rancher. Very distinct. This rosé has nice acidity and a LOT of flavor. Not as crisp as a Rosé of Pinot, but the cab gives it nice structure...strawberry preserves, watermelon, kiwi. Thanks for sharing Mark! — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

En mag. Firing on all cylinders. My guess was left bank Bordeaux based on color (still fairly dark) and tannic structure. Lots of blackberries, cassis, and herbal dominant notes. More full-bodied than red #1. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

Every part of me, and most everyone else in the room, called this New Zealand SB. Never had a SB with so much grass and jalapeño pepper on the nose. More grapefruit rind came in to play later and it had a typical SB finish with acidic/stone driven notes, but what a nose! — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Today was my first time to host Wednesday Wine Committee. I’ve had the good fortune of attending on and off over the last two years and was delighted to finally host a lunch. As many of the wines I brought today I’ve posted on here before, I’m posting the white wine of the day and the red wine of the day. As always, the format of 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert wine was in play and everything was tasted blind.

As many of you know, I love Addax wines. Bevan does a wonderful job, as to be expected, and their SauvBlanc is my favorite domestic SB. Sadly, the ‘14 vintage was their last...and their one white is now a chardonnay. It is a Ritchie and Benovia vineyard combo and already tastes so incredibly well at this age. This is creamy like Bevan’s Ritchie chards with a hint of Ritchie nuttiness, but the Benovia vineyard brings about a mineral and sweet note. Great weight and finish. Few guesses of Aubert chard, Montagu Ritchie...good company to be in! — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.5

What an incredible second day here in Napa. Jesus started us off with an amazing tasting at Davies/Schramsberg, Crocker & Starr gave us our cab franc fix, Montagu & Addax put on a double tasting, and Hourglass knocked it out of the park at the end of the day! I won’t post each wine we tasted, but I’ll highlight the best from each spot.

Without a doubt the highlight of the Addax & Montagu Tasting. This ‘15 Tench Cabernet has winemaker Russell Bevan all over it. More of an iron fist in a velvet glove than I found the ‘14 to be. Red, black and blue fruits on the nose but the weight showed so much structure and appeal...best word to use here is plush. The fruit was so incredibly soft alongside the smoke, mint, and cassis. The new Addax Ritchie Chardonnay was tasted against Montagu’s Ritchie Chardonnay and it was a tie. 👌 — 8 years ago

Arden Barnett

9.3

Raspberries, pepper, wet leather. Such a well balanced finish that hangs around for a good minute or so. Thanks for the wine @Jack Thompson — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

LOCKED. UP. Tasted three 14 Cabs over 3 nights: 1 from Montagu, 1 from William Harrison and this one. Out of all 3, this one is the most tannic. The most restricted. And the one with perhaps the most potential. Opened with a great red berry nose, herbal. Middle is black cherry, olive, medium to full bodied. After 2 hours, showing more in the front. Will be more integrated in 2020. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

I thought this was an older version of the Fonplegade. Very similar noses of sweet fruit and oak. Almost American oak like (coconut, dill). Very dark fruit dominant, but the finish on this was more red/rhubarb and cherry liqueur. Some tar as well. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

I feel like I’d drink more Kistler if it was more consistent. When Kistler is on, it competes with the best of them, but I’ve found a few examples of where it falls on its face. Today, it was ON. Sweet lemon cream, lemon tart, honeyed hazelnut, smoky cashew. Great balance. Drink! — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.1

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

One of the more crisp sparklers I’ve had. Had the chalky minerality through and through, but after a while, it gained a bruised pear note aside from the typical Granny Smith apple tartness. This will age nicely. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.5

What an incredible second day here in Napa. Jesus started us off with an amazing tasting at Davies/Schramsberg, Crocker & Starr gave us our cab franc fix, Montagu & Addax put on a double tasting, and Hourglass knocked it out of the park at the end of the day! I won’t post each wine we tasted, but I’ll highlight the best from each spot.

One of the best winery visits we’ve ever done in our now 4 years is coming out. A combo of perfect weather, a great host, and no rush due to time constraints. One of the most beautiful caves I’ve ever seen. Similarities here to the Bevan cab, but this showed a bit more give and flex. Gorgeous bouquet of blue and black fruit. Plum, espresso and some dark chocolate. Loved it. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.4

What an incredible second day here in Napa. Jesus started us off with an amazing tasting at Davies/Schramsberg, Crocker & Starr gave us our cab franc fix, Montagu & Addax put on a double tasting, and Hourglass knocked it out of the park at the end of the day! I won’t post each wine we tasted, but I’ll highlight the best from each spot.

We are all die hard Cab Franc fans, so a stop here was a must after @Carl Fischer introduced me to this cab franc last year. First, the property itself is flat out gorgeous. Quaint and quiet. Awesome history here as well.

This cab franc is a BABY. New release. Red and black fruits are still fighting to take over...didn’t get much blueberry off of this like I did the ‘12, but age plays a part. Violet, lavender, black truffle and a touch of spice. A benchmark for Napa Cab Franc, alongside Arnyca and Detert. The Post 1 bottle is their current release (2013) Cabernet that is their purest expression of Cabernet from the Estate. This is serious Cabernet...tannic, structured and could compete with top end mountain wines. — 8 years ago