Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Blend of 79% Cabernet, 14% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, deep Ruby with rich fruit aromas. On the palate flavors of blackberry and currants, with notes of licorice, tobacco, some floral and spicy oak. Fine tannins, long finish, ending with fruit, oak and spice. Nice but needs more bottle age, should last another 10 years. Nice! — 3 months ago

Ryan Joyce

9.4

Most complex Cab I’ve had from California. Wonderfully easy to drink, with a beautiful mix of fruit and spice. Recommend. — 3 months ago

Amber

9.2

One of the best wines we’ve had in a long time for under $20. — 5 months ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.0

Big and bold Pinot! Deep purple/garnet color. Aromas of cooked black berry/raspberry, purple flowers, black licorice and pepper spice. More black cherry and blueberry fruit on the palate with notes of dark chocolate, baking spices and maple. Quite rich, concentrated and viscous. Velvety tannins and moderately low acidity. Big Pinot! — 8 months ago

John Riddick

9.1

Always solid. 10 years old and showing mostly dried fruit. Good spice and herbal notes. — 9 months ago

LM Segal

9.4

Distinctive nose of dried pine forest and loamy earth. Rich, kirsch and silky red fruit. Asian spice, white pepper. So long and smoooth. No more edges but sense this can go a long time more. — 3 years ago

Kimberly Anderson

9.2

Cherry jam and spice. Milk chocolate and vanilla. Jammy plushness. — 6 years ago

Mark Rosse

9.2

From 375. Huge amount of sediment that most of the usual dark pigmentation of the wine is gone ... looks like Rayas. The barnyard funk is there but blows off in a few minutes. Very good depth with spice and hints of garrique and fruit. Wow 30 year old half bottle! — 6 years ago

RobPITSKO

9.4

Wow. Nose invites with subtle fruit, mouth is light - less earthy than some, crisp finish. This darling has a minor spice that fades quickly, leaving me want another — 8 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.1

2000 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon:
From Jay. Dark ruby red in color. A preponderance of black forest fruits on the nose mixed with cedar and some menthol and a touch of spice. Rich blackcurrant, black cherries and traces of vanilla on the palette. This is a solid effort from Ridge and although it does not have the makings of an epic wine it will certainly improve with time. Drink 2017 to 2030. 91/100


— 9 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Deep, dark blackberry fruit with menthol, graphite, spice, cedar, mineral & tobacco notes. This seems to be fully mature that will hold for many years — 3 months ago

Willie Carter

9.1

Deep purple with a garnet core. The nose is absolutely ridiculous with jammy fruit and earth. Blue and black berries with just a touch of cranberry for kicks. It’s so pretty.

Warm and inviting, there’s a good bit of finesse and personality here. It takes around an hour for the heat to blow off and once it does it becomes silky and more refined than you’re probably assuming. More berries and earth on the palate with some really nice spice on the finish. A fun surprise of a wine. — 3 months ago

Daniel P. Drake

9.3

We opened the 2016 La Rioja Alta S.A. Viña Ardanza Reserva. This is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha from La Bastida, Spain.

On thr nose there was cherry, plum, strawberry,black currant, anise, leather, herbs, baking spice and forest floor.

On the palate was cherry, raspberry, strawberry, herbs, baking spice, balsamic and anise.

This wine is medium to full bodied with a silky mouthfeel medium+ acidity and medium to medium + fine supple tannins that lead to a long red fruit forest floor finish. Welcome to another weekend and I hope everyone has great plans with wine in mind. Please enjoy the weekend and please stay safe and healthy. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 7 months ago

Douglas Braun

9.1

2020 Vintage - This 3 year old Seriously needs decant - but after decant shows pretty boysenberry fruit , giving way to bramble fruit and pepper spice , with fine tannins with great Zinfandel fruit - another great job by Bedrock — 8 months ago

Tom Garland

9.2

1.5 hour decant(some chunky/fine sediment). A majestic dark garnet color. On the nose: black fruit, cinnamon, licorice, soil, spice and vanilla. Taste: soft, restrained and delicate wine with brambly plum, pepper, pencil lead, oak, cedar, coffee and a medium plus dry finish. YUM! — 10 months ago

with Brenda

Luis Arguero (@winefromAtoZ)

9.1

Awesome! Red fruit. Spice. Smoothness. — 4 years ago

Morgan Copeland

9.5

Easy drinking cab. Shared with Mom in SoHo — 6 years ago

Nick N

10

Wow. Like a berry pie with a little spice — 8 years ago

Marek Svanda

9.4

Oh yea. Red berries with sweet spice. Great. — 9 years ago

J Ham

10

Great. Rich. Complex. Perfect balance of spice, fruit, and mineral. — 10 years ago

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.3

Such a storied brand, it was a treat to finally try this. Opulent black bramble fruit with that Tuscan earthy spice on the nose. Hard to deny this was opened far too young as I imagine it would really be singing in 10 years. Lovely acidity, exquisite tannins on the finish. Next time it only makes sense to drink an aged wine of this caliber. #sassicaia — 3 months ago

Devin Brown

9.0

The Description: Dense deep red color. Complex and true to House Style and brimming with mocha/coffee ground aromatics, heightened by tar/bitumen "black" notes. Appealing char and creamy, vanillin oak detected ever-so-subtly in the background. Naturally, a flurry of fruits, spice and varietal markers abound. The palate, in a couple of words, voluminous and powerful. A sensory stratification of layers of taste – separated via time-of-detection and unravelling of flavors. At first, Christmas pudding with roasted nuts, then rare lamb and black olives, then sarsaparilla spice. Tannins awashed, oak absorbed, fruit awakened.
The opinion: agree with above, excellent — 5 months ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.4

I had seen this bottle on the wine list (for only around €75) for a while but been worried it might be past its peak. But there is nothing to be afraid of here. Just an excellent example of how well quality old vine Californian Zin-blends can age in the skilful hands of the team at Ridge. Large ripe berries, spice, orange peel, dark chocolate, liquorice and charcuteries. Flavourful, expressive and balanced. Very enjoyable. — 7 months ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Lovely savory fruit. Sale leather and iron inflected red fruit. Some spice and lovely rounded, balanced, resolved fruit. Long and pure and excellent. Great stuff — 9 months ago

with Chris, Tony and 1 other

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured from my cellar. The cork was absolutely perfect. The 2005 pours a rather turbid, deep garnet at nearly 17 years old. There's quite a bit of fine sediment that clings to the edge of the glass with each swirl. Medium+ viscosity. On the nose, this was initially a bit grumpy but within minutes, it relaxed and started to show some real charm. A fully developed wine, this is becoming a bit of a Leather Daddy, full of leather (obviously), bruised and desiccated red, black and blue fruits, Christmas spice fruit cake, coffee, damp earth, and candied nuts. On the palate, the fruit remains quite stunning and confirms the mix of bruised and desiccated fruit with a sort of sherried character. Loads of salmiakki (salted licorice), spiced nuts, pepper, coffee and, you guessed it, leather. The wine was dry, technically, but almost gives the sensation of some RS with all of the over-ripe fruits and the texture was almost sappy, in some ways. However, while this was absolutely rich and well-endowed, it was not cloying. Tannins have fully integrated (though still present) and the acid was like a girdle keeping everything held together. This remains a rather large personality even if it's showing its age. Definitely in a lovely spot...but how much longer will that last? If this wasn't my last bottle, I would probably be drinking these over the next five years unless you want the full Leather Daddy experience...which is okay if that's your thing. — 2 years ago

Rob Moose

9.3

A special find in 375 in Ojai. Beautiful tobacco and spice blend with mellowing bright red fruit, gorgeous with filet and grilled veg. Tons of life here but good development — 6 years ago

James Forsyth

8.9

Fruity and supple. Some tobacco and a touch of spice. Very accessible. What more is there to say? Consistent, a go to for the price. — 7 years ago

GaYoung Kim

Graileys Fine Wines. Sommelier. Broker

9.3

Powerful yet seamless!! Dried dark fruit still present amongst a plethora of earth, gravel, dark spice notes. — 9 years ago

Rick VanSickle

9.3

A very solid Rioja, meaty, dripping in fruit and spice. Nicely balanced at this point with room to get better. Not sure it deserves the 97 points doled out by decanter, however. Pleasant and the right price. — 9 years ago