Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.3

The 2016 Yao Family Wines Cabernet Sauvignon was soured from a host of Napa Valley vineyards ranging from their bench land site in Yountville to Northern St. Helena. The wine is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot that weighs in at 14.6% alcohol. Classic creme de cassis, red bell pepper, thyme and suggestions of cocoa powder with dusty terroir complete the gorgeous aromatics of the wine. The palate is soft and generous, creating a silky texture and a racy sense of acidity. Black Forest Cake, creme de cassis and mocha flavors all marvelously combine with the bright sense of mentality on the palate. Dense, layered and highly polished, this silky effort will cellar well at least for another fifteen years. Drink 2019-2033- 93
— 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.1

Lighter in color than the 2005, this shows a good degree of earthy terroir on the nose with wild mushroom, pipe tobacco, blood orange rind, and salted meats that fills the glass. The mouthfeel is really plush, as this delivers medium-bodied flavors of red cherry puree, truffled boysenberry, cassis and a strong saline streak. Plush and soft, this is drinking in its sweet spot. This has a wonderful sense of place. Drink 2018-2028- 91

— 6 years ago

Cameron Myhrvold

9.6

2005 Woodward Canyon Special Selection
Wow, what a wine. A wine they make twice a decade in the most special vintages. A blend of cab, petit verdot and merlot that sees 200% new american oak. This means they put the wine in a new oak barrel and leave it for a year or so and than they rack it into a second new oak barrel for another year or so. It is a huge and decadent wine. It makes no apologies. Will you find unique terroir and sense of place? Hell no. But you will be giving your taste buds an amazing treat. Like firing a fully automatic 50 caliber machine gun. Its downright wrong to like it but it is still super fun and something you will never forget. Yes, that is how much I like this wine.

13 years old and not a dip in sight. Just entering its optimum drinking window now. I will drink this over the next 7 years and I will love every sip. — 6 years ago

Meg Herring

9.0

Everything from Craft feels so bright, alive, and unique in the glass. This PN is no different. Classic PN profile with a strong sense of Willamette terroir. — 7 years ago

Bryan Hopkins

8.9

For a 2014 bottle, I immediately get rich meatiness, wet leaves in Autumn, lots of smoke (like from burning Autumn leaves). On the palette, higher acidity than I might have expected, almost lemon-orange, which is far from what I would anticipate from a red Burgundy. Also astringent like tea. The scent gives a lovely complex sense of terroir, but unfortunately I don’t get it coming through as much on the palette. — 7 years ago

Matt

9.2

This is always so great. Combo of succulent orchard fruits, citrus, fresh honeysuckle and apple/lemon blossoms, poached quince, crushed rocks, kiss of oak. Very elegant and composed. Racy acid. Great floral lift. To me the oak added just enough sexiness without over taking the sense of terroir. — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.4

Villa Symposia is the Languedoc label from Éric Prissette, the founder of Château Rol Valentin. The winemaking is overseen by Stéphane Derenoncourt. And from what I gathered, L'Origine is the flagship, or at least 'the' high-end cuvée here. The importer label indicates it's 95% Syrah, 5% Grenache (but a blog post from Taste Languedoc mentioned Carignan was added to the blend in 2012). The Syrah comes from the oldest vines of the estate, ~50 years old.

Opens with a noticeable amount of Brett, which can go either way for me. I view Brett like abstract art... done well and it's a beautiful lens to which to view a wine. However, when it's done poorly it's shit (literally). This was done very well. The pungent barnyard, stinky cheese, and saddle leather arrive heavily seasoned with baking spices, noticeably cinnamon, and herbs, including rosemary and tarragon. Ripe, dark bramble fruit, lavender oil, and pine resin pervade the palate and continue through the lengthy and structured finish. An extraordinary mix of the old and new world, while maintaining a clear sense of terroir, and providing an intensely vivid experience. It really hits its stride after 1.5 hours. Fair warning, if you don't like Brett at all then I wouldn't recommend this wine... however if you've ever liked a wine because of Brett, I suspect you'll enjoy. — 8 years ago

Nicole N

9.5

Just perfect. Light color, but lots of depth in flavor. Red berries and Central Otago dirt. Strong sense of terroir and place. Perfect balance. And so, so drinkable. — 6 years ago

Gil Krakowsky

9.1

An incredibly expressive and terroir-driven wine that might be one of the world’s best wine values. Volcanic microclimate shines clearly through a heady nose whose first bite is not just smoke but...smoking volcano. Along that sweet dark fruit, grilled lavender, flowers. In the palate more primary with black cherries (grilled black cherries???) exotic spices, cooked black pepper, bay leaf, sage, that sanguine element that screamed high-iron volcanic soil, all held together by a very sitinctive salty spine. Finishes with a long note of those herbs and some drying tannins. Very juicy but with good structure and medium acidity avoiding any sense of being cloying. A really unique, transparent and well made wine that is an astounding value. I wonder whether it improves with age or is at its best here... — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.0

The ‘Estate’ bottling by superstar winemaker Mo Ayoub was sourced from a host of vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Showing a strong translucence the wine opens with strong earthy tones of peat moss and wet stone, combining with lighter citrus and wild blackberry elements. The palate shows a soft texture, as well as a good viscosity and sense of place, with earthy terroir and red fruit flavors dominating. Drink 2018-2024- 90 — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.3

Wow a totally different expression of Pinot noir. Nose is lilacs and raspberry. Palate is gorgeous raspberry and a bit of spice. Lilac juice if that makes sense. Really juicy delicious sweet fruit. Great balance. Long juicy raspberry liquor finish. Wow. This is what great winemakers do. They make wines that reflect grapes and terroir in a very precise clean way. Bought from Fass Selections. — 7 years ago

with Lyle

Eric Egan

9.2

The notes below are all from the Grand Fete de Saint-Jean in Faugeres (well, this year it was in Laurens, which was a bit of a shame as Faugères itself is a stunning place with a great atmosphere). My general impression was that this appellation is going from strength to strength - it will be interesting to see where it will be in 10 years’ time. The wines were all generally of a very high level (the best from the producers that attended are listed below); from the most traditional bottlings to the more modern efforts (though even the most modern is by no means an ‘international’ wine). I’ve been coming here for more than a decade and the wines were very good back then as well. However, now there is clearly more of a sense of pride in the terroir and finely tuned craftsmanship across the board. There are a few older producers that have always made stunning wines but joining their ranks recently are a bunch of young winemakers who have discovered the untapped potential of the region. Definitely an AOP to watch out for!

Slightly disappointed that they didn’t bring out the current vintage of Fossibus but can understand why, as the oak tends to dominate for a few years. This is in a better place right now; the oak is more integrated and, although I preferred the GR (below) for current drinking, this will probably be in a better place in 10-12 years’ time. — 7 years ago

Barry Dumaw

9.1

This 2012 bottling from cahors is a very nice wine, young and fairly tight with some nice acidity and minerality. Some nice darker fruit flavors peek through along with some earthy tones. Thankfully not too sweet with a lower alcohol content and a nice dryer finish. Could use a little more skin contact for some more tannin structure. Sadly a lot of the French winemakers have been making their wines in a softer fruitier more modern accessible style( not all wines needed to be turned into fruity wines). And are losing the sense and tast of Terroir that French wines were famous for. Overall still a very nice example of a Cahors Malbec blend that will pair well with some fairly rich food, mine went well with steak and spicy garlic sweet potato. I do not decant wines as I like them a little rougher, not too fruity or softened up. Decant if you want to soften the tannins and bring out a little more of the fruit flavors either way it's an enjoyable wine. — 8 years ago

Joe D'Angelo

9.4

Sourced from the Alfred Frediani Vineyard in Calistoga this Old-Vine Petite Sirah absolutely phenomenal. The 100% Petite Sirah spent 21 months in 50% new French Oak barrels and it immediately begins to impress once in the glass. It offers seductive aromatics of ripe blackberry cobbler and dark cherries, which are joined by dried loam, violets, sweet exotic spices, crushed rocks and a dusting of roasted cocoa beans all coming together beautifully. On the palate this is full-bodied and opulent, with big polished tannins framing the rich layered texture that is well balanced and remains fresh and inviting. This goes on to impress with its incredible ripe, dense core, which is marked by flavors of dark fruits, sweet spices and a loamy character that expands through the long enveloping finish. A fabulous job by winemaker Mike Hirby to make such a profound wine without jeopardizing balance and sense of terroir. This Petite Sirah is a total knockout that is nothing short of absolutely delicious today, and should continue to drink marvelously for years to come. — 6 years ago

Jorge Pazos

8.9

Cata Terroir Al Limit con Vanesa de guía — 6 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.1

60/40 Carignan/Grenache...Opened as midweek foil for Filets and Bakers. Showing little sign of age... vibrant dark berry notes with noticeable ABV... bit more “modern” and fruit/forward than expected. Recall buying two of these at 50% discount. Probably at $15-20 a far price...but tasted fully “Parkerized”. Little if any sense of terroir or connection with place. — 6 years ago

Spencer Dodd

9.0

Second bottle of the to check if last time was a good bottle. 6/6 agreed they liked this more than the other Beaujolais I am rating after this. This wine once again has acidity and character, and had a sense of terroir. A little Air helps it out but I would highly recommend this especially for the price as a fun wine with some serious backbone behind it. Will buy it again! — 7 years ago

with Daniel, Jen and 1 other

Maurizio Abbà

9.3

A very pleasant classic barolo from this family driven producer who proves once again to know his terroir and his grapes. There is no non-sense here, the wine is produced with full respect of the tradition and history that barolo carried with him through the centuries. The nose is dominated by berries jam, tobacco and pepper. Very soft on the palate, a surprise given the very hot summer the grapes experienced that year. My suggestion is to buy it as much as you can, it's easy to end up opening more bottles than what initially expected — 7 years ago

Greg Koslosky

9.5

The best 2005 I have tasted in the bottle to date. Great aromatics with nice cool fruit flavors and a real sense of terroir. Great balance as well very impressive. From a low fill bottle that may have been a little more advanced . — 8 years ago

Michael Meyer

8.9

Juicy purity and freshness like a Beaujolais, but with a sense of Piemonte terroir. Italy is the king of varietal diversity, and Ruchè is definitely "out there" in terms of exotic rarity. I'd never heard of it. Very much worth seeking out. Fruit character is dark and wild yet vibrant - think wild blueberries or mulberries. Nice aromatics. Medium body and finish. Superb with a nice whitefish steak over risotto cake, grilled mushrooms, and artichoke purée. — 8 years ago