Tooth & Nail Wines
Dusted Valley Vintners
Squirrel Tooth Alice Wahluke Slope Red Blend 2013
Château Musar
Bekaa Valley Red Blend 2003
Unfiltered & unfined organic wine w/ pronounced complex aromas of Eastern sweet spices, tertiary: mushrooms, nail polish. Strawberry jam, pomegranates on the palate. Light w/ cleansing acidity & great length. Grand vin of Chateau Musar is blend of CabS, Carignan & Cinsault from Bekaa Valley. 7 yrs of making: lengthy fermentation in cement vats @<30°C, 1 yr in French barrels, then blended & placed for 1 yr back in cement vats, followed by 4 yrs of bottle maturation in estate’s stone cellars.
Rating 4,1/5 — 8 years ago
Frog's Tooth
Sierra Foothills Malbec 2013
Frog's Tooth Malbec has always been really good. With their new wine maker on board the 2013 kicks it up a notch further. Really noteworthy. Owners told me it won "best Malbec in region" @ Calif State fair. Well deserved. — 9 years ago
Pyramid Valley Vineyards
Lion's Tooth Vineyard Chardonnay 2013
Elegant #ownrooted #phylloxerafree #chardonnay from limestone clay terroir @PyramidValley in North Canterbury, NZ — 9 years ago
Honey Badger
Sweet Red Syrah Blend
Sweet enough to please my wine sweet tooth but interesting enough for me to want it again! Similar to a (cheap) lambrusco I had earlier this month, just without the bubbles. Great affordable option! — 10 years ago
Frog's Tooth
Sierra Foothils Syrah 2016
A wonderful Syrah, great balance between fruit and structure. Cannot wait to taste this wine with a little bit of age. Re-tasting 3/20/20 - Rating maintained. — 6 years ago
Antica Terra
Ceras Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2013
It’s usually a good sign when the winemaker can articulate what the wine is about like this: “Ceras is Botanica’s counterpoint. Its color is more purple than red. It is more about minerals and herbs than fruit and flowers. It is a focused and elegant distillation of rock rather than an opulent cascade of fruit. It is an expression of the geology that lays beneath our land, the tart blue fruits of the coast range and the tender herbs that one finds amongst the trees and mushrooms of the Northwest forest.”
Her 2013 Ceras is yet another example of Maggie Harrison’s sorcery over the vines at Antica Terra. The focus and intensity of flavor is off the charts, yet it maintains an almost ethereal weightlessness, only emphasizing the layer of silk that separates you from the wine. The pungent rock is so on point and distinctive it instantly reminded me of the scent of lichen growing on rocks, which I experienced in Colorado when I was 7 or 8 years old. This sets the stage for the level of complexity exhibited. The fruit has both an extraordinarily high level of purity and yet the woven tapestry of herbs and spices and even fruit blending are impossible not to notice. The key being that nothing is forced.
The nuance of complexity only being noticed when desired is nearly an impossible feat. I can’t help but recall James Conaway quoting Andy Beckstoffer in his recently released book: Napa at Last Light: America’s Eden in an Age of Calamity. “If a wine was a model with a chipped tooth, you’d have to give her something to compensate with. If she needs better shoulders, better breasts, give her some. But her real charm is in how she carries the defect.”
After reading his book, I can tell you I’m definitely not certain whether you can accept his quotes verbatim. One thing is certain, though, Maggie Harrison’s Antica Terra wines carry the defect like no other. — 7 years ago
Dandelion Vineyards
Lion's Tooth of McLaren Vale Shiraz Riesling
Like the nose...berries, deep color, soft in mouth — 9 years ago
A. P. Birks
Wendouree Cabernet Malbec 1997
Was raisiny on the nose and I assumed it was oxidised. Surprisingly tasted much fresher with cedar, dark fruits, meaty and the controversial nail polish Wendouree is known for, with only a slight raisin flavour on the finish. My guess is this wasn't stored in the greatest of conditions. — 9 years ago
Frog's Tooth
Calaveras Grenache 2011
Complex wine, brings in plenty of fruit and spices and ends up nicely balanced. Peppery, but not over the top. — 10 years ago
Château Coutet
Sauternes-Barsac Sémillon Blend 2015
Not much of a sweet tooth, but with a Sauternes of this caliber you’ll see me giggling like a school girl on a sugar rush á la Oompa Loompa. Laughingly good, yet so broad and philosophical deep, a concentration that is far beyond and with a high and vibrant acidity that is keeping the lusciously sweet palate in check throughout the lengthy finish. Youthful, tight and needs time in the glass to show
Show its true complexity. A grand vin indeed. Judged on todays performance rather than future the potential. — 7 years ago
Château d'Yquem
Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1995
1995 vintage. Nail polish removal smell. Beautiful golden color with orange hues. Dried raisins, delicate flavor with very good acidity. Not a Yquem that blows you away, rather delicate, feminin, finesse rather than power. Misses weight; good burn. — 8 years ago
Château de Beaucastel
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 1998
A little long in the tooth. Decanter for 3 hours and just never got as big as I expected.. — 8 years ago
Produttori del Barbaresco
Riserva Rio Sordo Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2009
Great fruit, nail polish noise... Tasty over all — 9 years ago
Williams & Humbert
Dos Cortados Aged 20 Years Solera Especial Palo Cortado Palomino
Very expressive nose displaying mature and complex aromas of prunes, dry figs, peanuts, almonds, caramel, toffee, nail varnish remover and hints of vanilla. It is bone-dry in the mouth with a medium+ body and pronounced elegant and tasty flavours. The alcohol is well-integrated and the finish is very persistent. — 10 years ago
Neil Valenzuela
Pale yellow color. Aromas of orange pith, orange blossoms and wet slate. Bursting with flavor- pineapple, dried apricot and melon.
79% Chardonnay, 14% Viognier and 7% Albariño — 5 years ago