Vines To Cellar

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Artemis Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Paul K
9.0

Didn’t stand up to tonight’s competition — 3 months ago

James, Ray and 12 others liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium ruby . Bit more coffee and roasted character at first , touch of oak perhaps. Quite rich and rounded on the palate at first, good acidity , good length . More red fruit , more delicate after a while , mineral , oyster shell , mineral and leaner on the long finish . Very classic , grafite tinged . This improved with air and really gained in complexity with time . I would be tempted to leave this a little longer or give it a longer decant . No rush here , will continue well for a further 10 years . Tied as my favourite wine of the flight with the Latour. — 3 months ago

Anthony, Andrew and 7 others liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Drinking a 3L from 2013 in late ‘24. Love the big format bottles and aging potential. This could go a lot longer I think but is also fine to drink now.

Standard Caymus flavors and aromas that made the brand known. Dark inky crimson color. Blueberries and blackberry fruit mixed with vanilla alongside the tell-tale signs of wet band-aid. Great tannins, medium-to-big acidity, good long finish. Really nice.
— 4 months ago

Jillian Varner
with Jillian

Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2013

Double decanted two nights before service. The 2013 Insignia pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing but still quite youthful with notes of tart and ripe dark fruit: dense brambles, purple flowers, tobacco, vanilla and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. At 11 years of age, this remains tightly coiled and needs more time to open up and tell more of its story. All that being said, this is very good now…but to my palate, better after 2027 and through 2043. — 6 months ago

Ely, Jan and 12 others liked this

Billecart-Salmon

Brut Rosé Champagne Chardonnay Blend

Somm David T
9.3

My go to N/V Rosé. Haven’t had in sometime…been on Blanc kick.

Paired w/ a plum/pear tart topped off w/ pistachios from the Adorable French Bakery.
— 10 months ago

Shay, Scott@Mister and 13 others liked this

Apothic

Winemaker's Blend California Zinfandel Blend 2013

An easy to drink go-to weekend wine for less than $10 — 10 years ago

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Was looking forward to this wine the most but sadly this bottle had seen better days. Very tertiary with mushroom and leather. Was still pleasant but suffered from the high expectation... — 3 months ago

Bob, Scott@Mister and 26 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Bummer.
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

That’s too bad.

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2018

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. No formal notes due to the setting. The 2018 is a fairly classic expression of Beaucastel with a mixed bramble fruit set, underbrush, herbs and spices in lovely balance. Good structure. While still on the youthful side, the 2018 is already showing well and was an awesome accompaniment with a wagyu burger. Drink now through 2038. — 4 months ago

Juan, Vanessa and 16 others liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant

Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.

Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14.
— 5 months ago

Bob, Andrew and 3 others liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

2000 vintage. Last tasted 9.25.23 (9.2) after 1.5 hours decanted. Popped and decanted this for lunch. Great fill and solid cork. Throwing a bit of sed but less than anticipated. Meh nose. Medium body initially. Started off on the rich side of the ledger but not plush. Had some smoothness afoot. Tasted after 45 mins open, 1.75 hours open and 8 hours open. First two were unspectacular. After lounging in the decanter 8 hours, wine had firmed up, thinned out, picked up plenty of secondary flavors and had that previously missing grip. If you're gonna open this during the holidays or anytime soon, do it very very early...otherwise, it'll be a total waste. Wine has miles to go. No rush to crush but just air it out in advance properly. 10.16.24. — 7 months ago

Ira, Jan and 21 others liked this
Pinotman /// Andreas

Pinotman /// Andreas

Nice long description!

Bedrock Wine Co.

Ode to Lulu California Old Vine Rosé Blend

13.5% ABV Salute to Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier in France. Lulu’s father owned the vineyard , and she along with her husband took it over. Sadly we lost her in October 2020 at the age of 102 y/o. This is a blend of old vine Mataro and Grenache. Light salmon color, watermelon initially , later apple. Very nice! — 3 years ago

The Prisoner Wine Company

The Prisoner Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend

Needs to breathe a bit at first, but drinks well. Tastes more expensive than it is. Good red! — 12 years ago

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby , thinner rim. Quite deep and spicy nose , dark fruits , quite classic . On the palate quite dense , but rounded and suave tannin . Quite dense and meaty after a while , long and really well balanced , good length and a mineral , slate tinged finish. In this flight this was quite obvious as Latour , just the structure and density marked it out . This is a good Latour to enjoy at the moment , the tannin is polished, good freshness and density. No rush however I expect this to continue well for a least another decade , maybe more — 3 months ago

Ron, Anthony and 13 others liked this

Dom Pérignon

Brut Champagne Blend 2012

Nothing like a magnum of Dom to celebrate a new year with the team — 4 months ago

Pooneet, LM and 7 others liked this

Marcel Lapierre

Morgon Gamay 2018

Always lovely and fun to try with a bit more age. Still lots of flowers and cherry but with a notably darker edge now. Dangerously drinkable while still being very interesting. Good pairing with a Christmas Eve ham from hometown bbq. — 4 months ago

Bob, Tyler and 2 others liked this

Cline Cellars

Ancient Vines Contra Costa County Zinfandel

Excellent. In Butcher’s Cut on MSC — 6 months ago

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

Yellow Label Brut Champagne Blend

This could have been a bottle of warm tramp piss and I'd still have loved it... Welcome to this stinkin' planet, Holiday! — 9 years ago

David liked this

14 Hands Winery

Hot to Trot Columbia Valley Red Blend 2011

Very bold, strong, long finish, good. NOT as good after opened for awhile — 11 years ago