Shay A

9.5

Last week was a combo of 4th Friday and Open That Bottle Night on back to back nights. Needless to say, the lineup between both days was full of heavy hitters, so I’m only posting standout bottles.

One of my bottles. One of my favorite wineries and easily one of the top 5 winery visits I’ve ever done. To me, this is “classic” Continuum in that is has just a impeccable balance of both fruit and herbal/savory notes both aromatically and on the palate. I let this slow ox for a couple hours, checking in ever so often, and found this hit stride after about two hours of air. Lovely bouquet of potpourri, lavender, graphite, sage, currant, ripe blackberries, black cherries and mocha. On the palate, its profile is soft yet all encompassing. Mulberries, cassis, tobacco leaves, herbs de Provence, licorice, dark cocoa, baking spices and a touch savory toward the finish. Enjoyable now and not getting better. My thanks to @Bill Bender for this. — 6 years ago

with joe, Weston and 1 other

Shay A

9.5

Night 1 of the Fall WNH event in San Antonio. What a killer start to the extended weekend, all courtesy to Shawn and Jennifer for hosting! Tonight was Italian wines.

Another in the running for WOTN. Maple and rich! Cherry and vanilla tobacco on the nose with herbal spice and a strawberry tart finish. Young and acidic! There is a very underripe red fruit dominant profile here. Crazy how young it tastes for 23yrs old. Bravo @Shawn R ! — 7 years ago

with Mike, David and 5 others

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

8.9

2011 vintage. Sandalwood and dark cherry in a light nose. Medium bodied with a slight candied cherry, tea and milk chocolate profile along with decent acidity/tannins. A polished, medium-length finish. Pretty but not a blockbuster as with the Montelena days of yore. Decanted for two hours. — 8 years ago

Matt Waring

9.3

Absolutely lovely -- incredible herb profile -- peppy, in the best sense — 8 years ago

Matt

9.2

40 year old vines on river stones. Parallels S.Rhône Syrah somewhat, without the brooding weight, high alcohol, or tannic profile. Very fresh. Deeply hued, abundance of ripe black and blueberry fruit, roasted herbs, sweet umami notes like shiitake and candied olive, leather, baked earth minerality, smoke, sweet licorice, lavender and violets. So balanced and joyful, always a pleasure to taste wines from a true master. — 9 years ago

Tony Capone

9.5

Wow, what a bottle, blackberry, chocolate, smooth tannins, some menthol, mint, Martha's Vineyard profile. Could be one of their all time best! — 9 years ago

Debbie Shing

9.0

A puzzling wine. 2011. Tart red fruit, herbal notes sent my group to Italy. Oak profile sent us back to France. This after I tasted an older vintage just a couple weeks ago. Definitely showing its vintage variation. — 10 years ago

Larry Clopp

9.2

Beautiful balanced Bordeaux. Can handle additional aging. Initial big Merlot nose, jammy, cherry but opened after decanting for an hour to a terrific full spectrum flavor profile — 11 years ago

Madeline Puckette

9.0

look: pale ruby red core with slightly garnet rim.  medium viscosity.

smell: medium intensity aromas of roasted red bell pepper, allepo pepper flake, raspberry sauce, roasted jalapeno.  overall, sweet and ripe fruit smells followed by slight iron-like gravel note.

taste: medium + acidity, nearly high acidity, medium - tannin, flavors of smoked tomato, sour cherry, ending with a note of sweet dried/roasted pepper.  

profile: flavor is 'bursty' and drops out quickly and then hangs in a very subtle low way on the palate.  
purchased with Somm Select. honestly, it could have cellared a few more years. — 11 years ago

Pat Taylor

9.7

Decanted for three hours and immediately described as “universally appealing”, this is not only the WOTN but my WOTY. Utterly perfect, except perhaps enjoyed ever-so-slightly too soon. Remarkable winemaking. Concentrated flavour profile of cherry, strawberry, chocolate, violets, and very minimal earthy tones. Still on the upswing and not fully mature, despite the pleasure it was. Medium plus body, medium acidity. Extremely long. Possibly the best wine I’ve tasted to date. Can’t wait to try a “good” year. — 6 years ago

Charlie DuVall

9.6

Woah. Holding up well. Blue cheese mild fruitiness but really light profile overall — 7 years ago

Al Shikoh

9.3

Nearly opaque reddish purple hue. Raspberry, black cherry, leather, violets, and baking spices evident on the nose. On the palate its bold with a darker fruit profile offering impressive depth and concentration yet with nice balance and 14.1% alcohol. Long, somewhat spicy finish. Really nice value in California Pinot at $36. — 7 years ago

Kirk F

9.0

Open for 3 hours. Showed well though not as good as I’d hoped. Maybe too young. Classic Evenstad nose and flavor profile. Good Minnesota folk making Oregonian PN! — 8 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2005 vintage. From magnum. The usual feminine/Margaux flavor & scent profile. Light bodied. Finished a little hot but not objectionably so. Sexy. At the top of its game. — 9 years ago

Wilson Favre-Delerue

9.3

This 2000 #DunnVineyards #NapaValley #HowellMountain sub-appellation drinks wonderfully, though it easily has another 10-15 years of keeping potential. Strong palate of mostly very red strawberries and raspberries and blackcurrants, black cherries. Also whiffs of tobacco, cigar box and leather. This is a #California #Cabernet that stands out by its originality and profile, and certainly tastes better than many of its mainstream "blockbuster" brethren. — 9 years ago

with Vane

George Chen

9.1

2001 in Mag...was RP 100 but really have no idea what that means now. Robust fruit lead profile but less pronounced than other RP100 Napa's. Guess good price for the points but I do generally like 2001 vintage. — 10 years ago

JS

9.2

What a great vintage- a lot of sediment, so beware, but excellent living taste profile. — 10 years ago

with Tommy

Nik Darlington

9.2

Juicy yet earthy - brilliantly innovative — 11 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.2

1960 was for kind of forgotten close to the nice 1959 and 1961 vintages - but the wine still handle well, with a light profile, a nice experience from a nice gift, maybe 60 was better for the Beatles !? However it feels kind of younger than 1960 at first sight, an off vintage in good shape but will get soon enough to its peak 😐 — 11 years ago

Ron Lacey

9.3

Just dusted of one; not the class act like the 05 but very well structured classic aged fruit profile with a gamey flavor lining. The tannins are soft but hold your attention. If you can fine it buy it this is well done drinking great but has a long life ahead. — 13 years ago

Jacey Z

9.5

2017 Memorious Pinot Noir ⁣
2017 Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir ⁣
2017 La Côte Pinot Noir ⁣
2017 Sous le Chene Pinot Noir ⁣
2014 Sandhi Blanc de Blancs ⁣
⁣
All Pinot Noirs were delicious. Memorious tasted some spice with black pepper. Bloom’s Field showed darker fruits. La Côte was fuller in body and riper on aromas. Sous le Chene had the best concentration and the most complex profile with hint of wild bouquet. The Blanc de Blancs was refreshing with a tad of funkiness, possibly from VA and a little oxidation, 3 years on lees, all adding to the character.⁣
⁣
What’s especial about Sous le Chene is that it’s sourced from this 10 rows of vines literally right next to La Côte but you can somehow really taste the difference between the two. ⁣ — 6 years ago

Yance Farney

9.5

Ultra smooth, good flavor profile, easy drinking — 7 years ago

WC Fields

9.2

Impressive structure and profile for a 27 year old wine. — 7 years ago

Bryce Wiatrak

9.2

Domaine Du Gros ‘Noré harvests some of the most pedigreed fruit in Bandol, for years selling their grapes to Domaine Ott and Château de Pibarnon. Today, they craft a Bandol Rouge of elegance and length. Its fruit profile in this vintage veers just a notch redder than many of its peers - tasting of red currants, plum and game. 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache, 5% Cinsaut.
— 8 years ago

Shay A

9.4

To celebrate our 2-yr wedding anniversary while in Alaska, we had 5-course dinner at one of the premier spots in the state, which just so happened to be at our resort (at the top of the mountain). A Wine Spectator recognized restaurant with an incredible wine list!

A bit of a "homer" wine for us, as it lined up with our normal taste profile. Ah, the Caymus of old! Though a fruit bomb compared to the french red before this, there is no jamminess/over extraction here. The fruit has mellowed out and merged with the spice, herbs, and secondary notes. Cranberry is the dominant fruit here currently, and this has probably 3-5 yrs before it starts its decline. — 8 years ago

Mike Levin

9.3

Soft tannin. Blue and red fruit. Cigar box. Lot of life. — 9 years ago

Tan Ernest

9.1

Started off with an oaky nose with a rather minty and rough palate. After breathing for about an hour, a different taste profile came together with pleasant black fruit notes. Smooth medium bodied texture of a medoc. — 10 years ago

John Osgood

8.9

Liked it but didn't love it. Flavor profile came off too sweet. — 10 years ago

with Stephen

Jeremy Giesbrecht

9.5

Um yeah... #BOOM status granted for this at the #yulwinethrowdown . 81 not the best of vintages and wines are reportedly past peak but this first growth was not. Very interesting flavour profile, certainly secondary characteristics but structurally still pretty sound. I was glad to find it still alive and in my opinion had many more years left before the big decline. Awesome privilege to have tasted. — 11 years ago

Mike D

10

Wine of the night. Sneaky Burgundian profile and weight that might have been green once upon a time. Finished long, with lingering raspberry leaf tea notes and lip smacking stoniness. — 11 years ago