Flora Bokma

8.9

Transparent burgundy with orange tinged halo in the glass. On the nose, one detects dark cherry, black pepper, and barely a hint of floral notes. The dark cherries reappear in the mouth with a bit of smoky sweet complexity and medium tannins. Finish lingers a little. I’d say it is quite a nice versatile wine. — 6 years ago

Andy Wigginton

8.9

Loads of love in this one! Fun, dark, rich fruit. Great with a ribeye! — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Jack & Arden put together a wonderful evening of delicious food and great wines, and a few of us attendees contributed some bottles to enjoy as well. Great night!

Served blind and probably the most difficult bottle to guess of the night. It was very honeyed up front, with orange blossom and apricot. Acidity was quite low. I ended up guessing Savenniere, but have to credit Dan for being the one to suggest it. — 7 years ago

with Arden, Jack and 3 others

Jason Keefer

8.9

Very smooth but not too complex, was expecting to get more terroir out of this one. — 8 years ago

with Natasha

Centura Churchill

9.5

A very refined Zinfandel. One of my favorites — 8 years ago

J B

8.9

Eileen and jack liked this one — 9 years ago

Narun P

9.2

100% Chenin Blanc

Medium amber gold color. Clear and transparent. Gorgeous.

The bouquet shows a complex array of nectar, honey comb, apricot, peach, honeydew melon, and jack fruit, backed up by the characteristic Loire Chenin Blanc waxy note which develops with time in the bottle.

Semi dry to sweet, med plus plus acidity. A lot of fresh fruit profile left. The balance of refreshing acidity and the right level of sugar makes this wine so enticing that one can easily finish the whole bottle without getting overwhelmed.

This is a direct import from the Domaine so you're never going to get a better provenance than this. Can easily last 20 more years. Amazing value too! 92+ — 9 years ago

Colin Cahoon

9.6

Black pepper, grilled beef, saddle leather and clove with mineral undertones. The 2003 Black Jack pasture is one of my favorite cabs, period. It has smoothed out with age, but is still drinking strong and complex. — 9 years ago

with Claire and Susan

Shay A

9.1

Monthly WTF wine group night. Our theme was American oak vs French oak. All wines tasted blind. We started off with two bottles of bubbly and finished with two non-themed reds.

One of the most unique, and enjoyable, rosés I’ve had in a while. More orange than pink in the glass. As expected, herbal and musty aromatics with underripe nectarine and black cherry skin. Soft and round on the palate with additional note of tart rhubarb. Complex. Thanks @Jack Thompson — 7 years ago

with Jack, Mark and 4 others

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.4

One of the extra bottles from the Jack Winery and ARNYCA Cellars tasting last night with Steve Distler.

Deep purplish red with ruby edges. Well balanced nose with layers of earth, red currants, tobacco, damp earth and a touch floral. Medium dry tannins (6/10) with a medium plus body. Quite a bit of acidity with bramble, black currants, cherries and earthiness. Long finish. Drink till 2024. — 7 years ago

with David, Sean and 1 other

Arden Barnett

9.9

There have only been 3 wines that made me a little teary eyed and I am proud to add this one to the list. On the nose it’s like you’re stuck in a Cuban cigar box, bing cherry, freshly tanned leather, tobacco. Red currant, ripe cherry, this wine sneaks up on you and then boooooooom you time travel to an old barn, smokiness, wet hay, dark chocolate finish. The tannins could not be better. A quick tartness then a very mellow finish. The finish lasts for 5+ minutes. I honestly don’t know how to give this wine its proper recognition. Such an amazing piece of Napa history. Wow — 8 years ago

with Jack

Michael P. Rooney

10

One of the best wines I have had this year! Absolutely beautiful! My very best to Jack Cakebread as well as the wine maker and the wine growers on a job well done! — 9 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Over 30 years ago, Jack Cakebread came to photograph the Napa Valley for a book, one thing led to another and he found himself making an offer on the vineyard that later became Cakebread Cellars. Wonderful fruit aromas with soft spice notes. Cherry and raspberry flavors with black tea spice, pepper and mineral tones. Fine tannins, great mouthfeel and balance. Give this more time to develop. — 9 years ago

Jen Barrett

9.4

Hands down, best port we've ever had. Even for people who aren't big port fans - this one could change your mind — 9 years ago

David Greer

9.5

Wow - always enjoy Vaudesir - This one is special - has everything - power, (without weight Jack) beautiful long velvet finish and went brilliantly with our diverse entrees - quail, octopus and pate. At Altair Warandyte. 5/11/16 — 10 years ago

with Graeme and Glenda

Dennis P.

9.0

Some days, you want something stronger than wine, and today has been well.......one of those days.

Old No.7 brand, since 1866, a sour mash whiskey favorite. Jack & Coke works for me.

40% abv. 80 proof — 7 years ago

Alicia Cypress

9.1

It’s been a bit since I’ve had a Sonoma Coast Pinot, and glad my entry back included this Cobb Jack Hill. Super pretty dark ruby fruit with a hint of blueberry and some stems on the backside. Needs a few years to show its true wonder, but I’m quite satisfied to be drinking after a dreary day in one of my favorite cafes. — 7 years ago

Sharon B

9.2

After a painful night of passing a kidney stone then having to make the difficult decision to put down one of my cats I needed a good wine tonight. This Merlot is full of flavor, full bodied and out of this world. I really need this tonight. Not a good day 😪 R.I.P. sweet little one eyed kitty — 8 years ago

dan boedeker

9.2

The cabernet cousin to one of my favorites. First time I have seen this. In the house style of big extracted fruit, supple tannins, and high but well hidden ABV. Would seek out again but if not there is always Blue Eyed Boy. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

On the nose, boysenberries, olallieberries, blueberries, blackberries, baking spices, dry powdery soils, dry stems, bramble and bright, fresh, fragrant purple florals. The palate is warm, lush, round and elegant. Tannins 65% resolved. It's still fairly big and very fresh. Palate fruits are; boysenberries, olallieberries, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries and raspberries haunting the background. Lifting warm spices, black pepper, black licorice, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, dry crushed rocks, volcanic minerals with liqueur notes settling in at the mid point to the long finish. Dry stones, dry straw, tarry notes, violets, purple florals and palate raining acidity. The finish is long with good balance of fruit & earth. There's still nice tension, length and structure. The 05 still has another 7-10 years of good drinking ahead. As great as it was to be at the property tasting their new releases, it's a pleasure to enjoy one of their well aged wines back in the states. Photos of; the view from the new estate (love that red Barossa soil), tasting bar, Andrew Tierney, Torbreck International Sales Ambassador who hosted our visit(left) and Owner, David Powell (right). Producer history and notes...Torbreck Vintners was founded by David Powell in 1994. Before founding Torbreck, he worked for Robert O'Callaghan at Rockford Wines in the Barossa Valley. Rockford is an historic old winery and they love old historic wine relics...all you have to do is walk the property. In trying to start his own label, David lacked the funds to buy grapes outright. So, David began to share-farm a vineyard, a practice which involves working without pay until the grapes are sold, at which time the owner is paid a percentage of the market rate for his grapes and the share-farmer keeps the grapes for their own use. The share-farming principle or as we call it, sweat equity. This enabled Torbreck to obtain fruit from the very best vineyards in the Barossa Valley, while giving David Powell experience working in the vineyard and winery. In 1995 Powell crushed and fermented his grapes in a shed on his 12-hectare Marananga property; which continues to be home to the winery. The winery was named "Torbreck" after the forest in Scotland where Powell worked as a lumberjack. The first wine made under the Torbreck label was the 1995 RunRig. When it was released in 1997, Parker gave it a score of 95; which went a long way in launching Torbreck Vintners. Lisa, now Managing Editor at Robertparker.com raised that score to 98 in 2010. In late 2002, Torbreck was placed into receivership due to financial pressures on Powell from a divorce settlement. Torbreck was purchased by Australian businessman Jack Cowin for 6.5 million Australian dollars with Powell retained as winemaker and managing director. In 2008 Powell reacquired the estate in partnership with Peter Kight, the owner of Quivira Winery in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley in California. Torbreck produces around 70,000 cases of wine per year, depending on vintage conditions. 6.5 million Australian dollars is not a lot of money in today's environment...actually quite a deal. They had just completed their new facilities as shown in the photos two weeks prior to our visit in April. If you haven't had their wines, their lower price wines are very good at great values. Torbreck makes everything up to their high end RunRig at $300 plus a bottle with lots of quality wines in between that are really quite good and value priced vs. the rest of international market. — 9 years ago