Bob McDonald

9.5

Very very dark in colour - opaque. From an up and coming producer in Margaret River as in Deep Woods Estate. More black and red fruits than the usual herbaceous influences you get with Cabernet in Margs. In that sense more. SA or Victoria than normal. Balanced yet powerful flavours of black currant and spice finishing with integrated persistent tannins. Could be cellared until the early 2030s with ease. The Trophy Cabinet is full and I won’t list them all but it has won Trophy for Best Red at Royal Adelaide in 2014, and in Royal Hobart and Best Cabernet Merlot or Bordeaux blend at Royal Melbourne amongst many others. This was the first of 6 and I will enjoy the other 5 over the next 8 to 10 years. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Love this wine. Nose is a bit reduced and sulfury but that will blow off as I’ve had this bottle before. So JD on the nose for now. Palate is so bright and elegant with pitch perfect fruit and density. So clean and mineral. Wonderful minerality, brightness, texture and length. So compact. Super mineral and not at all like Austrian GV. Such nice acids and freshness. This is terrific. Almost tannic on the finish but in a white wine kind of way. Long. I’ll be back for the nose.

On day 2 the nose is so good. Candied lemons, white pepper, vegetables, just sick. Palate is focused, rich, clean and mineral. Salty and long 9.2 to 9.3 overnight. — 3 years ago

Daniel Ciolek

9.2

Solid vintage year for the reserve cab. It’s one of the better balanced mid-Atlantic cabs you can find. It has the density and complexity of a top tier cab you’d expect from.more acclaimed Napa vineyards - but without the the ‘in your face’ tannins. Nice job Penn’s Woods! — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Lemon Yellow in colour. Muted nose initially giving a mineral and lemon note. Very lemony and citrus generally on the palate, eventually a stony, river pebble like minerality. Bracing acidity which will see this go on for a few more years. The following day a marine shell note. Preferred the 2013 Deep Woods Reserve Chardonnay for a quarter of the price. — 4 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

The good whites of Burgundy, aka crack cocaine, are what they are because of great blending - in this case, Pierre Benoist of DRC.

This is special not just for the florals, the woods, the citrus, the spice, but for these things together.

Lemon chamomile and a cedar lined drawer. Vibrant and young with a sturdy back and all the confidence in the world. — 5 years ago

Becky Carlson

9.4

Tasted of peaches at first. Delightful! — 7 years ago

Christina Ahlheim

9.0

Very nice. Bought at Woods in Lake of the Ozarks. — 7 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Super mineral nose with discreet framing oak. Lemon flesh. Some rainer cherries. Saline and iodine. Subtle yet focused and incredibly complex nose. Such nice earth and mineral tones. Smells like Burgundy of yesteryear. Palate is so lean, salty and concentrated with a lingering hint of complex sweetness from the wood on the incredibly persistent finish. So juicy and leaning on the palate and just laser focused. So long. This has much more to give and has closed down a bit since I tasted it last. But a stunner. I’ll be back as it airs.

After 4 hours this is a wonder and has opened beautifully. Clear barely ripe granny smith apple, stunning mineral breadth and some white flowers. Palate is so juicy and saline. Luscious. It’s loosened up quite a bit. Long, structured finish. Super juicy. Fantastic. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Been a while delectable family. Flu then covid and only 3 wines in that period. Well I am back and smell and taste are as they were before all of this. Nose has peach skin, some ripe peach flesh but not too ripe, confectionary aromas. Loads of wet stones and pulverized shale. Super aromatic. Like a cross between Pfalz/Alsace. Palate is lean and precise. Really clean, balanced and so pure. Fiercely mineral. Lovely peach flesh, skin and sap on the very long finish. Really juicy and engaging. Delicious! — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Gorgeous herbaceous nose. Beguiling mid to late cherry and a top note of an 18th century German Apotheke. Really fragrant, clear and vivid. Cola, cherry flower and loads of intense minerality. Really firing on all cylinders. Tree bark. Undergrowth. Just so complex. Palate is stuffed with structure, sappy vivid fruit and a banging long finish. Really long. Superb purity and density. But remains elegant and nimble. Wow this is long. Great inner mouth aromas and so juicy. This will get better with air but 9.4 off the bat. This ramps up the finesse as it gets air. Sweeter fruit as well but not too sweet. — 4 years ago

Jason

9.0

A beautifully balanced wine, with a lingering after-taste that makes you really enjoy a glass of this wine. — 4 years ago

with Melodie

S.S. Mandani

9.4

Daffodils, butter, honey, limestone, cut grass.

Beautiful, fine carbonation. Welcome like a cool breeze in the woods. The pairing of sweet, umami, tart, savory, florality, and minerals is expert.

What you wish fresh riverwater surging down from your favorite snow- capped mountain tasted like 🏔 — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Takes its name from the free-spirited gentleman named Bruscone who lived in the woods of the Barbi Estate. Enticing Ruby with sweet red berry aromas and earthy notes. On the palate cherry, licorice and sweet plum showing nicely. Fine tannins, well balanced on lingering finish ending with earthy herb tones. Needs decanting or cellar aging. Very nice! — 6 years ago

Will Hullinger

9.1

Notes of Plum, tart cherries and medium tannin. Damp earth, walking through the woods at a downpour is the nose when you take a deep inhale. Enjoyed in 2018, takes a bit to open up. — 7 years ago

John Pavlovich

9.6

A wonderful bottle of wine, that you usually don’t drink on a lovely warm July evening. But what the heck, why not. We don’t get many evenings like this in our neck of woods. From the first whiff you know it’s a serious wine. In its prime, deep colour, slight bricking at edges, dense and deep, earthy, definitely not a wimpy wine. A long and persistent aftertaste confirms that this is a serious wine. And highly enjoyable one, too bad I don’t have more. — 3 years ago

Eric

9.0

I’m not much of a rose drinker, so I have precious little as a point of reference. This wine had some effervescence to it in the mouth, crisp yet also decent mid-palate viscosity and richness. I’d call it a tart finish, not comparable to fruit I recognize. It was Memorial Day and the conveyance was a blue plastic cup. — 3 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

This is Grade A Gamay manufactured right here in the USA. Tamed, cool to touch. No stemmy crunch, no VA. Elegant and dialed in, expressive fruit and soft comfortable blankety textures to snuggle right into.

Blatant black cherries, tiny wild strawberries and raspberries all the way down to a balanced bed of acid. — 4 years ago

with Cody

Tobin Spratte

9.3

Roasted almonds, butterscotch, vanilla, raisins, and hints of milk chocolate and smoke. Just as good as last time. One of my favorite tawnies. — 4 years ago

Tree Kilpatrick

8.9

Cute and classy label. Darker color than a lotta pinot noir out there. Aroma is nice. Ripe berries from cool places (say coastlines and mountain tops). That classic cherry cola of Pinot. Flavors are nice and bright. Tincture of medicinal plants (echinacea and\or elderberry), iron in red meat served rare, pie cherry, or even choke cherry. Nice long finish with some of that woods after a forest fire or peat bogs in the sun. It’s a very nice, dry and balanced Pinot with elegance. — 5 years ago

Pooneet K

9.2

Surprisingly one of the better wines I’ve had in a bit, at Hen of the Woods in Burlington, VT. Would not have guessed it was just 2 years old. The red and black fruit on the nose is great, and it expresses a lot of earthy / grassy notes on the palate. Perfect acidity on the finish, and excellent with a very good fatty ribeye. Very nice! — 6 years ago