Paul J

8.9

30+ minute decant and could have used a little more. Pretty much an average Bordeaux. Nose is the best and the finish the worst. Describe your favorite Bordeaux and then pair everything back 3-4 times; that’s this wine. Decent value at £25, but unmemorable in every regard. If someone asks me if I have had this in 3yrs I probably wouldn’t be able to recall it, hence the need for Delectable :). Somehow I have one more bottle of this exact vintage in the U.S. Not sure how I acquired that. — 6 years ago

with Brooke

Kaitlin Ohlinger

10

I’m not sure Delectable knows which wine this is- 2010 MSR white label; a small low yield “crown of the hill” parcel of the estate. Been saving this guy and holy mother of god did it reward. I venture a guess that at 8 years old it could be in its “prime” window but it absolutely could go another decade. This wine made me a little sad that we might not get another cold vintage in Oregon. It was so stunning and so pure it took my breath away. Not an understatement in any way. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.0

After cork pop and the weird baked nitrogen infused plum tart note, I almost considered this one a wash. After 45 minutes, this one opens up. Front is an earthy plum and tobacco. The middle is where you start to get a little black Boysenberry note with mushroom. The finish is a little sweeter, no real discernable tannin but acidity was still here. Better with pizza, and some gouda sacrificed its life so that we could keep drinking (it was a little funky by itself). — 8 years ago

Anthony Kluska

8.9

The first time I tried this one I thought it was cooked and it turns out I am probably correct. This second bottle was absolutely amazing. The first smell gave me elements of tobacco in tar. You could smell the smoke ear itching stickiness of like a fresh paved Road or old cigar stubs. After that there was a second layer of cherry. it was incredible. it wasn't like a sour cherry so much as it was a maraschino cherry. There was the third and final layer of milk chocolate that was a perfect balance of the first two. Imagine eating an amazing chocolate covered Cherry while smoking a Maduro cigar at a gas station and that's exactly what you have. Musical most comforting feeling to it. This is something you should want to drink by yourself curled up with a good book or with a good movie on. My only problem is that it comes off is almost stopped and off balance or amateurish version of the mastroberedino radici. The alcohol is a little bit too prominent on the back end and I would like to see it aged a bit more I think this one would be about 5 times better in about 5 years. Also I would like to have seen a slightly Fuller body. I purchase this wine for about 19.99 and I have to say I'd go with high as about $28 for this bottle. — 9 years ago

Jack Cranley, Backroads Wine Club & Cascadia Premium Wines

9.6

Absolutely terrific wine. Bound to uplift even the most doomy-gloomy mood. As such, it pairs well with political discourse and the prospect of "President Trump." Go ahead, drink those sorrows away. You deserve it.

Beautiful, shimmering golden color. I believe it's actually already deepening with age. (2012 vintage consumed in mid-2016)

On the nose, apricot fruit and unrefined honey dominate but is accompanied with a menagerie of rare and precious aromatics. The result is a feeling of having something truly exotic in your glass. This is a world-class wine for which there could never be any argument over its worthiness. You will be taken by this wine and there's really no way to over-hype it and set the expectation bar too high because this wine will meet it every time.

As we dig in deeper past the obvious top notes, we discover a treasure chest filled with persimmon, sandalwood, white flower, and vanilla bean.

Upon first entry in the mouth you are met with a zippy liveliness but then that melts gently across your palate to really give you a fine, pervasive coating that excites the taste buds in every corner of your mouth. This is a POWERHOUSE of assertive flavor. This wine will stage a veritable coup d'etat upon your complacent palate. There will be an ouster of your resident ennui. No incumbent sense of boredom will be safe from this wave of populist essence. There will be a complete and total transition of power in the halls of your mind's parliament leading to a peaceful but efficacious revolution. With your personal Congress in shambles, this fresh new confederacy shall draft a Constitution that will usher in a new era of utopian cooperation and transcendental civic euphoria!

Sorry, maybe for a little carried away there. For reals though. Drink this wine when you're feeling down and feel the BURN! Well, not really - because the alcohol is really well-integrated. ;) — 9 years ago

Michael Suppes

9.5

A superb wine had in the Caribbean. Immediately from the pour you could tell that it had much vitality in it with deep ruby to purple coloration and a big wild mushroom nose. Needed surprisingly little time to open up and develop. This was my first Mouton Rothschild and wasn't disappointed to say the least. The tannins were delicate to the touch, giving the overall mouthfeel a sense of sublimity. — 9 years ago

Meg

9.2

What if I told you you could buy a $60 wine (per Ma(i)sonry in Yountville) for $29?? UN-THINKABLE right? Well it's true - and it's a nice, subtle, soft Napa cab. A little earthy. And it can be yours. Just call the good people at WTSO (they have more to go at that price). 👍🏻 📞 — 9 years ago

Martin Mills

8.9

2012 - outstanding aromas of curry spice and dark berry fruit, really seductive. Odd then that the palate doesn't quite follow through, there's plenty of fruit but it's a little lean and the strong jasmine tea notes in the tannins are just out of balance. Could be indicative of the 2012 vintage, even the Akarua from that year was not mind blowing. Still a very fine effort, I could happily sit sniffing away at the glass for hours. $47.95 at LCBO — 9 years ago

Mary Hemphill

8.9

Very good, lots of flavor! Concord grape jelly!!! But, almost too sweet, (can't believe I said that! Didn't think anything could be too sweet.) — 10 years ago

Blaine Verde

9.0

If the clusters are grown from vines that survived phylloxera and are completely un grafted you can bet you will be experiencing a unique treasure. Better yet, this is carignano from Sant Antioco... A little extension from the mainland of sardegna floating on the south west side of things. Unfiltered for her pleasure. Righteous bush vines creating A rustic, Mediterranean herb sort of grape juice. — 10 years ago

Mitchell Mulder

9.0

First let state how much I enjoy Guinness Draught and the import Stout, this brewed in Dunlin, so that is good, I like this but it could been better, little too light, it is like Draught light, I think the overall brew is very good, just as I say little light — 12 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.5

Cornas wines are a gem that I need to seek out more. They are bold, unsubtle expressions of what could be the world’s greatest red grape - Syrah. The best examples are extraordinary. As a friend recently observed, my generation could embrace Cornas the way my parent’s generation has embraced Bordeaux.

Domaine Lionnet is a tiny two person operation with just 2.2 tiny hectares. Terre Brûlée is something dense and rich, spectacular, and completely unostentatious and pure. The nose has generous blackberry and violet. The palette is supported with strong tannin and upfront flavors of blackberry and raspberry and with an underlay of meat, olive, and iodine.

The balance is what makes the beauty. — 7 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.0

#stemilion #grandcruclassé Deep ruby, needed to open to decant, tight at beginning, then dark jammy cherries and plums, seems pure #Merlot, dark chocolate and hint of pepper. Very little tertiary notes, a little savoury sweet marinated meat. Dry, soft entry, medium acidity, pronounced silky smooth tannins, high alcohol. Full bodied and medium+ flavor intensity. Very good. I feel like this wine is overtly alcoholic and lacking intensity of aromas and flavors. There's no precision, no standout complexity or character because it's 14.5 alcohol and it seems like it could use a little mojo or funk. Very sleek very sexy, whatevers, but I'm digging the slightly green and funky Lalande that I'm tasting side by side that's half the price. — 8 years ago

Rob Moose

9.1

Really nicely performed. Definitely could compete with Bourgogne blanc and village wines of some serious producers. The vintage lends a little tropicality to this and it gestures at elegant indulgence in a nice way. Feels like you're drinking good winemaking, if that makes sense. — 8 years ago

Steve Anderson

9.0

Gifted about two months ago by @Matthew Beckman, with a requirement that I report back when opened. Thought about opening over the holidays, but with the "Selected for the 1981 Presidential Inauguration" band , how could I not wait until Jan 20th? Condition was outstanding with a fill just into the neck. Cork was a little soft, but came out intact with barely any wine incursion. Color was medium ruby red and quite clear. Nose was a just bit bretty to start, but some cedar and tobacco came through in time, then more of a green pepper note. Not much fruit left, but a very good showing for a 39 year old Sonoma Cab. Label indicates 100% Cab, 13.2% ABV, and of course Rodney Strong as winemaker. Thanks Matt! 🍷 — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

8.9

Could be a blend but in any event it is predominantly from the Arinto grape. Medium gold in colour. Aromatic notes with mineral and pear with lively acidity. Medium body and length. Drink now or could cellar with that acid but essentially drink now. Great value for $18. — 9 years ago

Matt Trader

9.0

Lately, I've been on the lookout for a single malt from Islay that I could get into, because in the past I havent enjoyed peat and smoke. I took a recommendation from a colleague and brought home a bottle of Highland Park, which was a perfect segway into peat. Most of the peat was for aromatics, along with a dab of smoke, ocean spray(NOT THE JUICE), and sweet fruits. The pallet was a little hot, but with a light dose of filtered water, things evened out perfectly. Due to being finished in sherry casks, the pallet shows equal part honey, cherry, nutmeg, and on the other side smoked chocolate and herbaceous peat undertones. The finish is delightful and smooth. Next try will be something with a little more peat and less sweet!

$42.99 — 9 years ago

Christy Frank

9.5

There's a reason pinot gris is called 'gris' and not 'blanc'. It's technically not a white grape - it's a 'gray' grape - a seemingly white grape that with enought skin contact turns.... pink! So you can consider this a white wine with a lot of color, or you can consider it a rose. But whatever you consider it, it's damn good. It's like a combination of peach juice and crushed raspberries with tangy acidity and a bit of tannic grip. Chill it down for a high glug factor, or drink it just a little warmer than your typical rose to let the sneaky complicity shine through. — 9 years ago

Gae Saccoccio - NdC

9.6

Really complicated on these so suspect days, expose themselves with concepts such as: tradition, terroir, identity without falling into the most sinister rhetoric if not sounds just trite and hypocritical as the counterfeit currency with which even large-scale industries - supported by marketing - pays back its inattentive mass audience riding the wave of the country of origin or protected typicality. A diabolical mechanism this one for which even the most noble ideas probably the right practices and good experiences completed in the scale of centuries to human measure and not on massive industrial scale, are trivialized by sleazy slogan, emptied of meaning to be more or less surreptitious thanks to barbaric persuasion techniques and brain-washing propaganda.
Yet with the Valentini's Trebbiano you may not groped to summarize in words if not by drawing on terms so appropriate to express it. Now concerning this iconic label we've got behind it a local grape variety, a real family and a great wine that collect in a bottle the past and present story of a side of Abruzzo who claims to defeats victories and sacrifices to dominate the abuses (on and of) nature, miseries and splendours of agricultural seasons. Places, people, vision, wines such as Valentini are here to remind us how each bottle stay so proudly standing as non-reproducible beauty and fermented goodness expressing all its artisanal uniqueness and authenticity which are just that suspect to industrial wine production in manufacturing chains on standardized quantities; wines that are all equal to themselves even though wine itself is not much left at the end of the day/cycle. Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Valentini 1998 is what we have to rate right now: rusticity with class; style, purity and glory of a local grape recognized by many admirers from all over the world: act local think global this is another slogan-cliché which in this specific Valentini's wine exemple could sounds a little less false and more effective. — 9 years ago

with Alberto and Giovanni

Tiffany Sams Cox

9.5

Walks that fine line between grounded in earth tones with savory notes in the nose and a richness of fruit that could only come from coastal sonoma sites with plenty of minutes in the sunshine. Thoroughly enjoyed with a little poutine thrown together from some braised beef cheeks, Wisconsin cheddar curds, and good ol russets. — 10 years ago

Michael Zakriski

9.1

Not 100% opaque. Looks like the poor of a Carneros Pinot. Low ABV (12.5) and the legs confirm that. A nose of wet straw and unpaved road dust, leather, very little fruit. The nose contradicts totally what is expressed on the palette. Hot, intense, concentrated red (not dark) fruit and the spritelyness and acidity of a Beaujolais Nouveau. Unlike Beaujolais, however, this has tannins a plenty and a sturdiness that could see it paired with a chuck roast. This wines differs greatly from its more southerly Rhoné cousins in just so many ways. It is so difficult to find an affordable (is $57 affordable?) Rotie, I'm glad I didn't pass this up. — 12 years ago

Martin Mills

8.9

Muscat is very noticeable on the nose, that distinctive grape aroma (how few wines actually smell and taste of grapes). On the palate, a hint of mandarin orange or if we’re being fancy orange blossom, to go with a slightly unctuous mouthfeel that I presume is the Pedro Ximinez. Slightly sweet, as you’d expect from such a blend, but with a rustic charm, not too polished. Stone fruit and a little bit of salinity to keep it interesting. Sourced in Montreal for about $55 in the summer- I’d buy it again, though it’s not in the same league as their Pedra de Guix — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

The nose reveals; dark currants, blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries. Black tea, expresso roast, anise, crushed dry rocks, big vanilla, clove, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, woody notes with dark fresh & withering flower bouquet.

The body is big and lush. The tannins are big, meaty and tarry. Very dark currants. Blackberries, heavy black plum, black raspberries, dark cherries and some blueberries & strawberries as they open up. Black tea, expresso roast, steeped fruit tea, anise, crushed dry rocks, dry clay, big graphite, big vanilla, dark spice, clove, light dry herbs, a little nutmeg, dry underbrush, sweet tarry notes, leather, cedar with violets dark fresh & withering flower bouquet. The acidity is round, fresh and beautiful. The big, long, well balanced finish is excellent and look forward to having this in 15-20 years. This one will be a stunner!

Photos of, the barn where they make wine and hosts tastings, our private tasting area inside William’s old office. William desk and their outside terrace area.

Producer history & notes...Seavey Vineyard is located along Conn Valley Road in the eastern hills of Napa Valley, about 15 minutes from the valley floor.

This historical property was originally a cattle ranch. However, records indicate grapes were planted on some of the hillsides as early as the 1870’s. The stone dairy barn, still in existence, was built in 1881.

William & Mary Seavey purchased this property in 1979. The estate was originally founded by the Franco-Swiss Farming Company in 1881 which, closed down when Phylloxera destroyed their grape vines and the Volstead Act (Prohibition) went into effect. At the time of their purchase, they were a horse and cattle ranch. They quickly planted the slopes with grapes and initially sold their fruit to Raymond Vineyards. They have never purchased grapes, all their wine is made from estate grapes. Their vineyards are separated into 20 plus individual blocks.

Today, the property is about 200 total acres of which, 40 acres are planted to vine. Their hillside vineyards produce low yields of rich concentrated fruit. A small block of Chardonnay grows in a cooler lower part of their property. Besides grapes, they also raise cattle which are used to graze the hillsides. They feed the vineyard with the cattle cuttings. In 2003, they were one of the first Napa wineries to install solar.

Mary passed away in 2008 and William died in 2016. There daughter Dorie returned to the family business and now oversees the winery operations. Her brother Arthur also handles national and some small international sales, primarily to restaurants. However, most of their wine is sold direct to consumers.

Seavey’s first commercial vintage was released in 1990 a year after they renovated the stone dairy barn into a working winery. Today this stone building is the centerpiece of the property and is where tastings are hosted.

Since 2011, Jim Duane has been their day to day Winemaker. He’s worked at Robert Mondavi and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. It should also be noted that Philippe Melka Winemaker/Consultant has been with Seavey since 1995...one of Philippe’s two initial wine making jobs in the Napa Valley were with Seavey and Lail Vineyards.

Seavy makes about 3,200 cases annually depending on what mother nature brings. They make around two hundred cases of Chardonnay, slightly more Merlot and the rest is of the production is comprised of their Caravina and Estate Cabernets.
— 7 years ago

Jackie

9.3

Brick red color with some orange and brown at rim. Smells really pricy, cherry, dark fruit. Very dark smelling wine/big beautiful dark spicy nose. Full flavored and full bodied. Pair this with florentine steak. Tim would REALLY love this wine. I very much enjoyed but prefer mine a little softer though consumed with a gorgeous steak my mind could totally be changed. This is another on that can age. Tasted at Poggio Amorelli Winery in Chianti. — 9 years ago

Zachary Price

9.0

Tonight's bottle hails from Riverbench winery. This one's a Pinot Noir, a Pommard Clone Pinot Noir to be exact. The Pinot Noir grape hails from the great family of Pinot varietals, aka the Gris, the Blanc, the Noir, etc, The Pommard clone has found its way into California vineyards via cuttings from Pinot Noir from the Château de Pommard in France circa the 1940s. The original being the "Clone 4", and then giving birth to a daughter, the "Clone 5". The Pommard Clone 5 has slowly been making a name for itself all along the west coast, from Oregon to Southern California. It tends to deliver a meaty/gamey flavor with pure dark fruit flavors. This vintage shows a wonderful restraint and great balanced structure to deliver a wonderfully light red wine, perfect for any occasion. ~$46 | #riverbench #pinotnoir #pommard

On the eyes: Bright, clear cranberry red, med- stain, med tears, no gas/floc.

On the nose: Earthy, herbaceous, blood orange, and bruléed strawberry. Med alcohol.

On the tongue: Med acid, med tannin, med alcohol, med round body with great balance. Pleasantly tart, slightly floral with bright cranberry and blueberry, and dusty old road that yields to a memory of smoky oak. This one is drinking young and could probably do with another few years in the bottle, but I just couldn't resist a Riverbench Pinot. — 9 years ago

Mike Mayer

9.1

A big wine that needs a little more time in the cellar in my opinion. Lots of complexity in this Heidi Barrett blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cab Franc. Dark fruit, spices and chocolate flavors with nice acidity and gritty tannins that should soften in time. The flavor profile is really interesting and I wish I could try it again in 5 or 10 years. — 9 years ago

with Lisa

Erica Musser

9.5

I would drink this every single day if I could find it. Wonderful, hint of sweetness, tastes a little bit of pear to me. Like it a lot. Eric tastes grape. — 9 years ago

with Eric

David L

9.0

13' Dirty & Rowdy Semillon. 11.6% ALC. Cloudy, medium golden color. I would've guessed an orange wine. I would've never guessed Semillon?

An aperitif wine, that you could carry right over to a meal. Decanted for an hour(it's needed)Little barnyard, citrus skins on the nose.
Lemon core, wet stone/rocks, orang peel, poundcake. Serve at cellar temperature, if not a little warmer. — 10 years ago

Rya Kaiding

9.0

Just what I was looking for in a rose at that price point. It could be a little drier but it was lovely on a warm French Alps day — 10 years ago

Mark Livings

9.0

Love the sour zing in this Tassie Pinot almost like orange rind. Loads of black fruits and black cherries, fine tannins that fade just a little too quickly for my liking, probably because it's an '11. French oak nicely balanced and doesn't overpower. Could be mistaken for an Otago. — 11 years ago