Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.7

Great way to celebrate the 4th of July. What are you guys drinking today?
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2010 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
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Oakville, Napa Valley, North Coast, California, USA
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Tasting Note:
Received a three hour decant and tasted blind. Deep and dark purplish ruby red. Layered nose with anise, cassis, cherries and rich undertone of black fruits as well. Heavy tannins (8/10) and full bodied. A light touch of heat on the palate but not overwhelming. Rich and lush palate with dark spices, blackberries, blue fruits, cinnamon and some dark cocoa. Long and lingering finish. A real treat to finally try a bottle! Drink till 2030.
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One of the most prestigious wineries in the world, started by Jean Phillips in 1986 when she purchased a vineyard in Oakville that was cultivated by Ren Harris of Paradigm Winery. Now the estate is owned by Stan Kroenke who purchased the estate in 2006 with Charles Banks. This vintage was produced by Andy Erickson with Nick Gislason as his assistant winemaker. Made up of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. Aged for alomst 24 months in 65% new French oak. Only 610 cases produced.
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Rating: 97 Points
Price: $$$$$$ - Retails on the secondary market for a minimum of $3,500.00. Release price from the estate was $750.00.
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#screamingeagle #july #july4th #cultwine @andy.erickson @paradigmwinery #cabernetsauvignon #redwine #wine #wein #vino #winelover #winelovers #wines #winetasting #winestagram #winesofinstagram #winerylovers #MillennialDrinkers
— 7 years ago

with Sean and India

Matthew Hannam

9.5

I love this producer so much. — 8 years ago

Greg Koslosky

9.0

Interesting and good — 8 years ago

Jonathan Wall

9.4

Music. Everything but Malbec. Pedigree such as David Abreu, Howell Mountain, Kongsgaard, Erickson, Beethoven Opus 111. Yeah... It's in the wine. The nose and finish are balanced, long, and deep. If you happen upon a bottle, let it settle thoroughly, unfiltered and extracted, but once "clean" it is gorgeous. — 9 years ago

CC

9.1

What a great find! Amazing with beef from burgers to steaks. Cheers! — 9 years ago

Chelsea Boss

Sales & Marketing Favia Wines

9.1

2013 Amador County Mourvèdre by Andy Erickson 😋 — 10 years ago

Rich Fiedler

9.6

Great bottle thanks to my buddy Kyle Erickson. — 10 years ago

Jack Cust

9.6

Double decant through aerator into a decanter. First sip was all I needed to know this was another Andy Erickson masterpiece. This guy is a stud. Cant believe this is so young. Cant wait to taste more 12's. — 10 years ago

Cris Cherry

Owner/Winemaker Villa Creek Winery

9.4

Fresh and focused at 11yrs. Thx K Erickson... — 11 years ago

El Pocas

9.3

Ligero y afrutado. Casa Padilla. 19 de Diciembre 2012. — 12 years ago

Paul

9.0

A great Okanagan Pinot Noir. Well delineated, well made and in balance. Flavors of red fruits. Medium body. Excellent example of a nice Pinot. — 7 years ago

Ryan Mayes

9.2

Love the 2011 vintage of this wine. This is the third bottling from Marciano Estate. The winemaker is none other than the venerated Andy Erickson. Bought a half case a few years ago for $35 (regular price is $50) which is a massive discount relative to the other two wines from the estate (as well as the more recent vintages if this same wine, which I️ don’t think are nearly as good). Wish I️ had got more. Requires an hour long decant and then this sleeper opens up gorgeously. Nose is jam-packed full of blueberry cotton candy, berry stems, damp oak, crushed rock, steel and textbook. Palette is dark fruit forward, somewhat creamy and thoroughly enjoyable although less nuanced and complex than the nose. Full mouthfeel. Medium / long finish. Bravo! — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Duuude. This wine doesn't mess around. Although a 2009, this one drank as if it was a 2013. This wine is right in the wheelhouse, and was one of the two wines in contention for the WOTN for me. I was getting flowers, blackberry, dark chocolate and almost a caramel note through this one. The wine was dense, full bodied, and finished still with some stiff tannin. Although I believe the 2012-2019 CT drinking window is accurate, I believe this one will hold much longer than 2019 on a whole. I feel as if this wine will go through 2025, and I really expect it to develop perhaps a bit in the bottle still for another 1-2 years. I loved the dark chocolate note to this wine. Always a treat to enjoy an Erickson wine! Thanks to @Shay Aldriedge for opening this guy! — 8 years ago

with Shay and Benjamin

Cody Short

9.0

Nice wine in typical Favia style. Andy Erickson doing great things with this label — 9 years ago

Carl Fischer

9.0

A delicious blend of roughly 55% Cab Sauv blended with equal parts Merlot and Petite Verdot, and finished with Cab Franc - this wine was one of the first releases from Ovid and made by then winemaker Andy Erickson. Full bodied and rich - even after 11 years. Black fruits mingle with notes of cedar followed by a long and sweet finish. This was sadly the last of my three bottles. (Tasting notes 2/3, no decant) — 10 years ago

Steven Foster

Wine buyer Belmont Wine Exchange

9.3

Andy erickson and naoko Dalla Valle pouring these. A pleasure. The 1995 Dalla Valle against the 12. God this aged beautifully. Not too earthy but fruity still. — 10 years ago

Steven Foster

Wine buyer Belmont Wine Exchange

9.3

Grateful that I had saved this for an extra year. It is PERFECT at this point. A very serious red blend by Andy Erickson. A hit! #easter — 10 years ago

Scott T

VP/Senior Wine Specialist Christie's

9.0

2011. Perfect for visiting guests...really enjoyed its precise focus and freshness. Balanced. Nice mid-weight body. Give this one a try, you'll be pleased. Thank you @Christy Erickson — 10 years ago

Daniel Taub

9.4

Another rockstar from Andy Erickson — 11 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.0

Curiosity got the best of me. Steve Mnuchin and Jared Kushner bro’d out over a bottle of this 2015 Arbalest on Sunday. Apparently it’s newsworthy when a wealthy politician brings a ‘cheap’ ($22) bottle of wine to a bro out. I wonder what price gets the ‘politician drinks expensive bottle’ story (see Paul Ryan at Bistro Bis in 2011). No matter, it’s brilliant product placement — I’m surprised Trump didn’t tweet about it... “Did everyone see Poor Stevie’s wine? So Sad. My 2015 Meritage is So Much Better.”

The wine is made by Benoit Touquette. Here’s his background courtesy of critic Jeb Dunnuck, “Born in Lyon France and gaining his education from the University of Bordeaux, Benoit worked at numerous French wineries before getting a job (with the help of his friend and mentor Michel Rolland) in Napa Valley with Andy Erickson. He consulted for the likes of Screaming Eagle, Ovid and Arietta. Today, Benoit is the winemaker for Realm Cellars, Hartwell, and Kata, as well as numerous other labels, including his own project Fait-Main.” Who wouldn’t want to try a $22 bottle of wine from a winemaker with that kind of resume??

Dunnuck also scored the wine 91 points, calling it “Full-bodied, ripe and rounded, with a sexy, opulent style, lots of mid-palate depth, and a great finish, it's well worth your time and money and is a smoking deal at 20 bucks.”

The blend is 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. It needed about an hour to fully open up... one of my fellow tasters called it soapy... which I think was because of its noticeable herbaceousness. Focused black cherry, pipe tobacco, clove. Juicy, but dry, with lots of grip. I’m not doing backflips over it, but you could do much worse at $22. 90+ — 7 years ago

James R. Gilbarty

9.8

The best Cab I ever had...from start to finish unreal. The aroma, color, texture, everything about is beautiful!! Andy Erickson works his magic once again! Bravo Andy!!! — 8 years ago

Charlie Igoe

9.2

Padilla Rioja reserva 2011 was really nice, definitely buy again — 8 years ago

Jörgen Lindström Carlvik

Owner, Brix Wine Consultants

9.0

Ambitious stuff, produced by Andy Erickson of Favia fame, in collaboration with the owners at Sweden's leading steakhouse; AG. Dense and rich, displaying savoury additions to its abundant dark fruit flavors, offering toasty oak and a powerful finish. Well done. — 9 years ago

Chelsea Boss

Sales & Marketing Favia Wines

9.7

Another magical Andy Erickson creation. — 9 years ago

with Birche

Liz Hale

9.3

Big, robust and delicious! Andy Erickson knocks it out of the park again. — 10 years ago

Charles Antin

Senior Wine Specialist/Auctioneer Zachys

8.9

Light, high toned cherries. Fresh. Wish you were here @Greg Rubin @Noah May @Richard Young @Amanda Crawford and @Christy Erickson @Richard Brierley — 10 years ago

Jasmine Hirsch

Sales & Marketing Hirsch Vineyards, founder In Pursuit of Balance

9.1

Listening to Andy Erickson talk about his Viognier. This guy is a badass. — 10 years ago

William Murray

9.1

2008. Andy Erickson, former winemaker at screaming eagle. Sweet, minty, peppermint. — 11 years ago

with Justin