Columbia Crest

Two Vines Unoaked Washington State Chardonnay 2011

I normally prefer wines more on a dry side, this one is quite sweet, but it’s “nice sweet”, very fruity and full in taste. Love it! — 7 years ago

Saxum Vineyards

Heart Stone Vineyard Syrah Blend 2010

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

On the the nose, grilled meats, soy, mint, menthol, black currants, dry blackberries, blue fruits, black plum, dark spice and decayed dark florals. The mouthfeel is full, rich, ripe that starts juicy and slowly dries across the palate. Fruits are the much like the nose. There's a good presence of tarriness, deep-dark Asian-Indian spices, dry stems, leather, pepper, wood shavings, menthol, mint & herbaceousness. Then, the fruits start to differentiate themselves on the longer plate set; blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, blueberries, mocha powder, caramel, crushed dry rocks, graphite, soy, grilled meats, dry decayed floral bouquet, violets & black cherry cola. The earth still outshines the fruits. The structure is still big. The elegant stingy finish swirls of everything above quite simultaneously on a long rich high acid finish. Still needs 5+ years. Photos of the the heart stone, vines of the "Heart Stone Vinyard" and those beautiful Paso Syrah grapes at harvest. The Heart Stone Vineyard is in the Paso Robles Adelaide AVA with a 30 acre oak forest on a hill and 8 acres planted to Rhone varietals. It was planted by John and Mary Swanson in 2000. They hired Justin Smith (Winemaker/Owner Saxum Winery) to select the property and plant the vineyard. He agreed on the condition he could take all the grapes. 2003 was the first vintage of Saxum Heart Stone. The high density blocks are planted on gentle South slopes of limestone and shale. It has 8 different clones of Syrah, 5 of Grenache and 2 Mourvedre. — 8 years ago

Kimberly, Paul and 16 others liked this

Paul T HB

We used to go to paso in the 80's as a kid, parents had friends up in cambria so we hit the midstate fair every August, stinking hot & dirt is all I remember, who knew it would become what it is today. If only pops bought some that dirt! But it was the equivalent of buying dirt in Bakersfield at the time

Sofia Jalilie

Paul- California is one of those places that "if our parents had known" happens a lot. My parents sold our home in the Noe Valley of SF to move is to Sacramento 😳

Columbia Crest

Two Vines Washington State Sauvignon Blanc 2013

D Maria Halstead

8.9

Pomelo, salt water, oily on the nose. Light refreshing acidic on mouth — 10 years ago

Flora Springs

Trilogy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1993

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

They should have called the Winery Floral Springs based on the nose. Beautiful; blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, touch of clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets. The tannins are 95% resolved. The body is lush & ripe. The length, tension & structure are nearing the end. Just a few years left of being worthwhile. However, the balance is stereo tuned. The fruit on the palate shows even more elegant & ripe floral fruits than the nose. Blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, light clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets for days. The acidity is like a waterfall. The beautiful, long, elegant finish is a little lean yet has a nice richness. Beautiful wine that just missed 9.2. Photos top to bottom and left to right. The Winery; which is separate from the other tasting room only on Hwy 29. The tasting room on Hwy 29 in St. Helena, Flora Spring caves and the front of their tasting room along Hwy 29. Producer notes and history...the stone winery on the grounds were built in 1885 by two immigrant brothers from Scotland, James and William Rennie. They were in construction, built the winery and planted 60 acres of grapes. The brothers had some bad fortune when phylloxera consumed the vines, and then a fire in 1900 destroyed their wine press and cooperage. In 1904, they sold the winery and fifteen years later Prohibition started. The winery was then closed until 1933. That year, Louis Martini, looked into their magic eight-ball and saw Prohibition collapsing and bought the Rennie property. They built a new stone house and also made a reserve wine from the hillside vineyards. However, the old winery remained empty until the Komes family bought the property, 325 acres, the old farm house, the newer stone house and 60 acres of vineyards. The son thought he’d persuade his dad to restore the old winery and proposed to call it Chateau Jerome. Although it had been designed by Hamden McIntyre an architect of several other classic 19th-century Napa wineries, by 1977, the place was a wreck. The tin roof of the building had so many holes in it. They called it the starlight roof. His father looked at it and stated, “I’ve worked all my life for my good name. I don’t want to squander it now.” John’s mother, Flora, however, sided with her son on the potential of the property. Carrie Komes suggested they could name the winery for her mother-in-law. Combined with the abundant springs on the land, they decided the name would be Flora Springs. It was a sure way to their mom’s heart and father’s wallet. Komes put his construction expertise to work on renovating the old winery, which still had scorch marks on the walls. So skeptical was his father about his son’s wine-making project, they divided the winery building. John rented half where he put his first fermenting tank, which he named R2D2. He invited a couple of friends from his wine-making class to help make wine at the new place. He also hired Mary Ann Graf, who in 1965 had been the first woman to graduate from the viticulture and enology department at UC Davis to help manage the project. She told John, “if you don’t hire a winemaker, I’ll quit.” He did and the 1979 Flora Springs chardonnay won a gold medal at the Los Angeles County Fair. In those days, it was fairs, not ratings. This was his first lesson in marketing as they sadly sold all the wine before they won the medal. Fairs were the big news instead of ratings as Parker had not yet risen to fame as he was the only one to call the grand 1982 Bordeaux vintage correctly. They submitted their 1981 Cabernet to eight fairs and won seven gold medals. From there, the winery just kept growing. They were the 67th winery in the county. Over the years, they had their ups and downs, but kept growing. One of their highlights was the creation this wine, Trilogy. It was one of the first Meritage blends in the valley. By 1984, they planted all the Bordeaux varietals; Malbec, Merlot, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. They wanted to create a blend “by taste”, not by formula for a nice smooth wine that goes deep into the palate. They worked with a little of this and little of that. The first Trilogy was Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc. It was dubbed as velvet in the mouth. A lot of what they do is taming the tannins. One man who bought Trilogy by the case said, “it’s the only red wine his wife would drink young.” From the leftovers, they began making single-varietal estate wines. Another highlight was the discovery of a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc in vineyards his father bought in Oakville. UC Davis could identify nothing like it in their vast library of clones. They were a bit ahead of the times, but this clone showed Flora Springs how different in that time period what Sauvignon Blanc could be like as it took all the grassiness out of Sauvignon Blanc. — 7 years ago

Matt, Severn and 17 others liked this