Brenda Terzich-Garland

9.3

Lafite Rothchild and Harlin Estate side by side tasting. Both are 2008 vintages

Lafite Rothchild - A magenta color. Initial aromas of dark black cherry and currants with beautiful floral and subtle vanilla notes. Herbaceous and leather secondary notes. Taste - blue-black fruit, licorice and cedar/tar coat the palate followed by crushed rock, minerals and mocha giving it dry med-long finish. 9.3 rating

Harlin Estate - color is a dark garnet. Nose - notes are restrained and muted. Dark fruits, perfume and dark chocolate followed by notes of graphite and planting soil. Taste - creamy and coats the palate with notes of dark fruits, chocolate espresso, pencil lead and cedar with a long dry finish. Tannins are still present giving the wine more time to age. 9.3 rating



— 2 years ago

with Leslie, Karin and 1 other

Jan A

9.3

Solid core, somewhat muted scent and typical cab flavors giving damp earth, cassis and nutmeg like bitters. I don't see the 96RP rating here but nevertheless a well made wine. — 3 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.6

An absolute monster of a wine. 4 hours in the decanter served perfectly to allow this 2001, perhaps one of the best Hommage vintages ever, to flaunt its incredibly complex aromatic array of black fruits, roasted Provençal herbs, licorice, campfire smoke and Christmas spices.

It’s still youthful with ripe tannins and a ton of muscle. Nowhere near its peak. But it’s entering its drinking window seamlessly, being incredibly giving and expressive with sufficient air. Similar to how VV Gonon differs from the regular bottling, Hommage just cranks everything up to 10 and it’s concentrated flavors come at you in waves. But it never gets heavy as there is just enough lift and precision to keep everything harmonious. A very special bottle from a very special vintage indeed. — 4 years ago

Jane Dunkley

8.9

Bright and youthful in colour, the nose was initially closed but opened up on decanting. Sour cherry and dried mint. Medium high acidity and firm, tight tannins. Needed decanting to evolve the palate. Great food wine. Probably deserves more patience and time to be more giving. — 5 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Tried at a tasting, like it, so I bought a bottle. An interesting and unique Albariño. Medium lemon color with aromas of stone fruits, citrus, blossom and biscuit notes. This wine was fermented in oak, and kept on lees for 6 months, with occasional stirring (batonnage), giving a soft creamy yeasty tone to the wine, aging well. On the palate flavors of apple and pear with toasty oak notes and vanilla spice. Long smooth finish, good acidity balance, ending with fruit and oak character. Nice! — 5 years ago

Dana Thompson

9.0

Very nice Cali blend. Not too sweet while it doesn’t give the blend it’s obviously Sauv Blanc, Semillon, Viongnet and..any guesses? I like it more the Conundrum especially at dB below $12 price. — 6 years ago

K Frech

8.9

Picked up in auction. Label is trashed but decent fill. So deceiving. Nose from bottle yuck. Nose from glass oh my. This is beautiful. Soft. Some tobacco. Some fruit like an old blackberry but not in a bad way. Giving no it a 8.9 bit could move it up a notch. — 7 years ago

Simon Weston

9.0

My reward to myself for spending 5 hours turning a package of flat boards into a kitchen pantry for my in-laws 😃. Needed several hours to breathe and I may have to give them a decanter next Christmas 😃. Inky purple purple and a candy cherry nose, cherry vanilla & oak taste with spicy pepper finish. Smooth tannins but not as lush as older vintages. Going to try to keep the other 2012’s for a couple more years. Happy Christmas everyone. — 7 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

Along with the majestic 2010 one of my favorite Stella vintages. So giving right off the bat, never any heat, just so fresh and clean. Amazing expression of Sangiovese. — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

From a great looking bottle with a fill almost into the neck. Double decanted and left in the bottle for 5 hours before attacking it. Amber color. Good weight and haunting nose. Notes of old cedar, mocha, plums, cola, dark fruit, molasses and some sweet red cherry. Early on it’s all about the amazing nose. But with time the wine gains weight and you have a gorgeous old St Estephe in front of you. Still giving its all, and although the fruit is somewhat faded, this has complexity and structure that still drives the experience. And that nose is simply stunning. Great showing. — 3 years ago

Jan de Weerd

9.4

Exquisite! Dark earthy extracts with hints of blue berry and currant, minerally edge, tar. Smooth, round but present tannins giving it a lingering finish. — 4 years ago

with Tammy

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

So, many of you have not had the pleasure of having Dan’s wines. It is largely due to the fact he doesn’t have a US importer. He sells all his mid production level wines through his mailing list. That makes importing from his mailing list as restrictive as the import fees. They are equal to the price of the wines you order. Not something you’ll do. I didn’t. You need to find his wines on the secondary market to be cost effective.

We had the privilege of visiting his Cellar Door in the Spring of 2017. What a fantastic visit and walk of his Estate with him. The age of his Estate vines are 100 plus years old and their yield is less than a ton per acre which, does not make for a lot of wine but, instead a very concentrated wine.

Dan traveled to and worked in many of the key wine regions before settling in as Torbreck’s Winemaker and then marching to his own drum doing his own thing as “The Standish”, his way. No compromises.

The first thing you need to know about Dan’s wines is you can drink them early but, that would be a huge mistake. This 03 is sensational now but, is worthy of more cellaring. It has 10-20 years of life ahead of it...proper storage of course.

This is a second night wine for us and it is still big.

The nose reveals smokey; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, black cherries, blueberries, mulberries/boysenberries, baked/poached strawberries & some raspberries, sweet tarriness, dark berry cola, black pepper, steeped tea, eucalyptus, mint, tree bark with sap, herbaceous, dry crushed rocks, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, moist, forest floor with dry leaves with withering; dark, red, purple flowers framed in violets & strong lavender.

The body is full, round, lush & ruby. The tannins are still big, round, tarry & meaty. The structure, tension, length & balance are just there & yet still not there. It is still a monster on day two. Smokey; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, black cherries, blueberries, mulberries/boysenberries, baked/poached strawberries & some raspberries, sweet tarriness, grilled meats, dark berry cola, black pepper, steeped tea, eucalyptus, mint, tree bark with sap, herbaceous-sage & rosemary, used charcoal, graphite, dark spice with palate heat, burned ambers, incense, rubber toy, dry crushed rocks, moist clay & top soil, dry stone, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, moist, forest floor with dry leaves with withering; dark, red, purple flowers framed in violets & strong lavender. The acidity is round and a rushing river. The extremely long finish is, big, round, elegant, floral, well balanced, runs juicy to dry with persistence for days falling onto earthiness & dark spice on the long set.

Photos of, a plaque that hangs above my kitchen sink that speaks to me always, Dan Standish, his Cellar Door and surrounding buildings. — 4 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

8.9

Vintage 2012 - wine from #corse #corsican local grapes #nielluciu and #sciaccarello The wine has very clear evolution, giving a rooftile brown rim. The smell of a stable, positive stinking! Also raspberries liquor, plums, a bit dusty impression in taste with a nice bitter at the end. The smell of the wine from these curious grapes reminded me a bit of Burgundy. — 7 years ago

Vijay Parikh

9.5

With a one hour decant the wine is classic! Aromas of smoked meat, dark fruits, a slight green olive long finish it is a beautifully balanced wine giving a lot of pleasure! Drunk slowly over two hours post decant. The purity and freshness is simply amazing! The second hour post decant the wine continued to unveil more complexity... — 7 years ago

Boris Mathiszik

9.2

Beautiful blend from Paso. Balanced and elegant. 60% Syrah, — 2 years ago

Iwan

9.4

This is third or fourth vintage or this wine that I’ve tried and it keeps getting better. The passion project or top-Israeli winemaker Ido Lewinsohn, this is a blend of 90% Syrah and 0% Petite Syrah. I would like to say Northern Rhône (maybe St Joseph! In style, but actually this is as close as it gets to giving a sense of place for an Israeli wine. Plum, garrigue and some baking spice, maybe cardamom. Vibrant acidity. This will get better with age. Really excellent stuff. — 3 years ago

Eric

9.2

Straight shooting Napa Cabernet. Fruit forward and good acidity. Medium finish. Pleasant. Eric Benoît. I drank this decanted over three days. Definitely recommend giving lots of airtime to settle down before drinking. — 4 years ago

Jan de Weerd

9.4

At first it drank more like a dry Napa Valley Merlot than a Cab. Dark fruit of blue berry with an edge of dried fig. Interestingly over time the tannins started to evolve and became more pronounced giving it a deeper layer of complexity and a grippy finish. — 4 years ago

with RoAnne and Tammy

Jay Kline

9.2

My first impression of the just released 2018 Zinfandel. Due to climate related issues, overall Zinfandel production was down in 2018 but regardless, Rafanelli only bottles about half of what they produce with the remainder being sold off to others. Some Petite Sirah (13%) made it into the final blend. Being so young, I opened the bottle around noon and poured it into a decanter with intentions to drink later in the evening. By dinner, this was more open and ready to enjoy. Obviously primary with loads of powerful bramble fruit, pepper, red rope licorice and baking spices. I absolutely love the balance. The acid that Rafanelli achieves in their Zinfandel always seems to bring a smile to my face; so much lift which balances the lush fruit giving an impression of freshness. Long, very satisfying finish. The tannins are pretty steep right now and they seemed to build as time went on. I expect this will be a vintage that can age very well. 18mos in a combination of new, 1-year and 2-year old French oak barrels. 6,500 cases were made. — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

Happy Thanksgiving Eve. I wish you all a great Thanksgiving with family & friends giving thanks over some great food & wine pairing. 🍁🦃🍽

Coravined this last weekend as nightcap...it’s a pleasure getting back to it tonight.

The nose at the beginning broods ripe, dark fruit liqueur notes but, calms down in the glass after 10 minutes. It evolves into; bright, ruby, lush, dark, slightly candied floral currants/cassis. Ripe; blackberries, black cherries, blueberries syrup, boysenberries, olallieberries, black plum extract with poached strawberries & raspberries on the glass edges. Anise to black licorice, sweet tarriness, dark, mixed berry cola, mid intensity dark spice, dry crushed rocks, touch of incense, dry tobacco, leathery notes, wood shavings, dark chocolate, vanilla, light nutmeg & clove, dark, rich, turned earth, steeped fruit teas, mid, fresh herbaceousiness, bright, dark, red, blue slightly candied florals with fresh violets & lavender for days.

The body is full, round, lush & ruby. The fruits halfway to candied. The tension, structure, length and balance are in a very good place with another 8-10 years of good drinking ahead. The tannins are beautifully round, 55% resolved and still tarry, chewy with some teeth. Beautifully ripe; dark currants/cassis, blackberries, black cherries, blueberries syrup, boysenberries, olallieberries, black plum extract with poached strawberries & black raspberries. Anise to black licorice, sweet tarriness, dark, mixed berry cola, mid intensity darker spice on the long palate than the nose and show some heat, dry crushed rocks, volcanic minerals, limestone, touch of incense, dry tobacco, leathery notes, wood shavings, dark chocolate, malt in malted balls vanilla, light nutmeg & clove, dark, rich, turned earth, moist clay, steeped fruit teas, mid, fresh herbaceousness, bright, dark, red, blue slightly candied florals with fresh violets & lavender for days. The acidity is round and some of the best I’ve had in the 10’s I’ve had to date. The finish is delicious, ruby, lush, extremely well balanced and is the textbook definition of elegance. It persists several minutes with several nuances along the way. One of the very best 2010’s I’ve had as I am not a big fan of most 10’s. Get some if you can find.

Photos of; James Cole Winery and Estate vines, certainly one of my favorite Napa Winemakers-Charles Hendricks (FYI, has not been their Winemaker since midway through the 14 vintage), their outside patio lounge and the tasting bar. — 5 years ago