Donald Williams

9.2

Still wonderful after 8 years. — 2 years ago

with Bonnie

Donald Williams

9.3

Quivira wines are always reliable. This white, with all those years in the bottle, exceeded expectations. Very nice. — 3 years ago

with Bonnie

Jay Kline

9.0

Just released and very primary at this moment but there is a hell of a lot to like here and shows remarkable restraint considering the 14.8% abv. The overarching theme is freshness. Dark ruby, almost electric magenta. This is a vibrant wine full of brambly fruit and racy acid; tannins are medium. A balanced wine that’s drinking very well right now and will likely improve over the next 10 years. This would pair wel with any hearty meal. 100% biodynamic. — 4 years ago

Stephen Sasaki-Perez

10

ripe raspberry rivers flow through to a long finish. high alcohol (14.3) full body. there is still med+ acid matching the med darkred fruit. Better with an hour of air so these can probably last another couple years in great shape. lovin the 90s Quivira that I've tried — 4 years ago

Loren Loftesnes

9.2

Magnum for the win! — 5 years ago

with Rosita

Heidi Harrison

9.1

Smooth, bright, dark fruit, not jammy, perfect w/BBQ tri-tip & beans, wish @quiviravineyard was still making this #zinfandel #drycreekvalley — 7 years ago

with Philip

Rich Bluth

9.0

Excellent Cal Ital. a bit more fruit than it's old world cousins. — 7 years ago

Eric Urbani

9.2

A lineup of eight Grenache and Grenache blends exploring how long can they age? All from 1994-1999, four countries represented. Came in last dor the group but I ranked it much higher - found it elegant — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

Quivira is one of those under the radar producers that consistently makes compelling, authentic wines. Their commitment to biodynamics is obvious the moment you walk the property. Popped and poured; consumed over two days. In the glass, the wine is a bright ruby color that stains the glass. No signs of sediment at this young stage. On Day 1, the wine was a darned good quaffer but nothing particularly striking and, in fact, seemed almost indistinguishable from any run of the mill, Dry Creek Zinfandel. By Day 2 however, things became much more interesting and the structure really started to show more which balanced out the fruit. The nose remains quite reticent with delicate red fruit, lavender, underbrush and pastilles. On the palate, tart red cherry fruit, blackberries, plums and some green banana emerging on the finish. Medium tannin; medium+ acid which lingers providing a long, satisfying finish. Ultimately, this is a really enjoyable Primitivo that needs a lot of air to really appreciate. — 3 years ago

Christian Ford

9.0

Just as good as when tried it at the winery. — 4 years ago

with Renee

Ellen Wright

9.0

The Pearson's brought this over for a night grilling out and eating on the back porch. Enjoyed it. The same grape varietals as pech d'andre. — 5 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Nicely done. Initially reserved nose gets more boisterous with air, and shows sappy raspberry ooze and kirsch, with some underlying stony minerals. Rich, ripe, dense fruit is buoyed nicely with acidity, it’s full bodied and the dark stoney finish has a bit of tannin. It likely will be better in a year or two. — 7 years ago

Donald Williams

9.1

A lovely Dry Creek Valley Zin. — 7 years ago

with Bonnie

Keith Rabkin

9.0

Petit Sirah so underrated — 8 years ago

Nicole Ruiz Hudson

8.9

N: strawberry, white pepper , slightly dried flower petals.
P: strawberry sauce and terracotta pot. White pepper, Stone, thyme and dried oregano. — 3 years ago

Matt Hartzler

9.0

Katie LOVED it! Green apple, apricot, light acidity. — 3 years ago

Tom Elliot

Founder Northwest Wines

9.1

Very nicely aged at 30 years. Not profound but I presume not designed to be. — 3 years ago

Donald Williams

9.2

Hugh makes nice wine. — 4 years ago

with Bonnie

Brandi Bratek

9.0

Wow-I’m impressed. This takes me back to drinking wine in vineyards in northern Italy. Buy this and drink often. — 5 years ago

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. — 7 years ago