leon egozi

9.5

305 group annual 10 yr Napa cab retrospective — 2 months ago

"Odedi"

9.1

It is time for some Merlot on this #MerlotThursday. Let's bring Merlot back!

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish /brick rim. Pretty color, but looks much older than it is.

Muted on the nose with black fruits, light wood and chocolate notes.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with plums, cooked cherries, oak, light vanilla, licorice, light earth, herbs, spices, pencil lead, chocolates, light tobacco and peppercorn.

Medium minus in length on the finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a nice entry level Merlot from Napa Valley. Smooth and elegant with nice complexity.

Nicely balanced and fruit forward. Rich and spicy with a nice mouthfeel.

This 5 year old is peaking now and will not continue to improve.

Good right out of the bottle and easy drinking. A good pop and pour kind of wine, but better after 30 minutes of airtime.

Wine Spectator 91 points.

Good by itself as a sipping wine or with food. A good party wine.

A blend of 77% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Syrah.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

91 points.

$37. — 2 months ago

Erik Longabardi

9.2

Compared to the ‘03 on a hot vintage this was also fire (but the ‘03 was the winner). — 2 months ago

romo

9.2

Slightly-less savory than expected for a Clary. Sprawling brambly fruit rushing into a tight finish. — 2 months ago

Russell Lacy

9.1

Excellent classic Zin from ridge! — 2 months ago

Ron R

9.4

I just found this hiding in our cellar, given the age on the wine, I thought that this would need to be dispatched with urgency. I could not have been further from how it actually presented.
The nose is lively and almost raucous. Loads of cherry jam and cinnamon. The palate is dense and compact, showing absolutely no signs of aging. Cherries, cedar and sweet jam are joined by powerful tannins. I’m floored as to how well this has presented. Kudos to the winery. — 2 months ago

with Anne-marie

Chris Buffum

9.7

Best Pinot tonight — 4 months ago

Shay A

9.4

Opened for a buddy’s birthday party. What a lovely surprise. Cork was a struggle, but hardly any seepage at all. On a table with a ridiculous amount of bottles, including standouts like ‘95 Opus, ‘85 Freemark Bosche, ‘74 Sterling Merlot, ‘13 Salon.

Pop and poured. Excellent youthful color! Deep ruby, hardly any bricking. Gorgeous aromatics of red and black berries, vanilla pipe tobacco, sweet spices. On the palate, it is wonderfully integrated and layered with stewed red and black fruits, fig, espresso, dusty coco (maybe fading signature Rutherford dust?), and a small bit of tannin at the finish keeping this buttoned-up and well structured. Excellent finish and balance. Held strong all evening. Seems as though this had a toe in the early ‘90s style of more bright Napa cabs and one toe in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s style of starting to increase ripeness…great marriage of the two. Pop and enjoy! — 2 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.

The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.

The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.

The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — 2 months ago

Paul J

9.4

1hr+ decant. This start out amazing but faded over time. Lovely dark red color with purple rims. Nose contained refined dark cherries and subtle baking spices. A nice sweetness was well balanced with the very present tannins but this fell out of balanced over time. The depth and finish were both great but also faded. Very nice wine that had so much more potential. — 2 months ago

with Brooke

Nathan Renfro

8.9

2016 vintage. Initial taste surprised with an aged taste, and a bit of a bitter finish. Improved with air time. Primarily black cherry, with some hints of pepper, oak, leather, tobacco. Ended up being decent but initially was questionable. — 2 months ago

John Willison

9.2

Dark crushed fruit, red and black licorice, black tea and sweet berry finish. — 3 months ago

Severn Goodwin

9.1

Blind dinner, open theme, at Little Cat Lodge, Hillsdale, NY.

(From our cellar.) — 4 months ago

Eric Urbani

8.9

I find most Nickle & Nickle pleasant but over-marketed. — a month ago

Eduardo Righi

9.5

For Pinot, the best I had so far — a month ago

Ed Chin

9.3

Everything is all there. The tannins are a little too dominant at this point. Needs a few more years to mellow out. Your patience will be rewarded. — 2 months ago

Matt Perlman

9.2

This was young but lovely. Creamy, viscous, citrus zip, chamomile, spring meadow — 2 months ago

Ron R

9.4

An experiment. So consistently strong, and clearly has longevity. No rush to consume these…
So decadent, going close to the explosive line, but doesn’t cross it. Blueberries and rich black fruits mesh with sandalwood and brown sugar. Weighty on the mid palate with relaxed acidity. This is epic. Still in its prime so consume now. — 2 months ago

with Anne-marie

Caitlin

9.2

Incredible — 2 months ago

Brandon T

9.3

Loads of red fruit but still tight even after a 3 hour decant. Still paired well with a burger!Would give it a few more years. — 3 months ago