Jim Wagonfeld

9.1

Skin contact old vines Listan Blanco. Electric stuff. Clearly volcanic, a bit of smoke over citrus/tree fruit. Saline tang. Envinate. 🔥 — 4 years ago

with Judy

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Vines grown in deep volcanic ash. Pale Ruby with aromas of fresh red fruits and slight smoky tobacco notes. On the palate juicy sour cherry and strawberry with slight fennel spice, well balanced with acidity. Fine tannins, rich finish ending with fruit, mineral, sweet spice and smoky meaty notes. Outstanding! — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

It’s Friday, gotta kick it off with Champagne. This Friday a little N/V Ruinart Rosé.

The fruits are; ripe, ruby and slightly candied. Deeply extracted; strawberries, black cherries, some black raspberries, cherries, ripe, juicy, summertime watermelon, touch of pomegranate, blood orange, understated, fine, powdery chalkiness, powdery seashells, sea spray, grey volcanic minerals, soft white spice, hard baguette crust with red & pink roses. The gently crisp acidity is dead on. The long, rich, ruby, well balanced, polished finish is delicious and nicely persistent.

Photos of, Dom Thierry Ruinart, our recently added Chrysanthemums, fresh fall table flowers and candle pumpkin. It’s fall! ‘‘Tis the season”...🍂🍁🎃🕷👻👹😱 🍾🥂 — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Our first bottling from this small production family winery in Calistoga.

My first impressions of this wine, it’s a classic older Calistoga Cabernet. It’s nicely resolved but, not at the end of its life as some have predicted. It is a shade past its prime but, drinking nicely with the exception it’s a touch hot, even after all this time in bottle and when temp’s were not pushing alcohol levels like they can now. However, heat aside, I enjoy wines just the other side of their prime and beyond. Brings out additional complexity-characteristics and are infinitely more interesting.

The nose reveals, stewed & baked fruits of; blackberries, black plum, black cherry extract, black raspberries with some deep blue fruits. Loads of baking spices; clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Dark spice, dark chocolate, sweet tarriness, mocha, caramel, walnut shells, anise to black licorice, steeped, dark fruit teas, mint/eucalyptus, dry crushed rocks, leather, tobacco, graphite, used charcoal, dark liqueur and cola, dry herbs with dark, red, blue, purple, fresh & withering flowers accented with lavender.

The body is rich, lush, ruby, statin, velvety and thick. The tannins are rounded & softened but, still speaking loudly. The structure, tension, length and balance are in a very good place. This wine has legs to stand for another 5-10 years depending on how you enjoy them. Stewed, candied & baked fruits of; blackberries, black plum, black cherry extract, black raspberries deep blue fruits, purple fruit blend, haunting raspberries with poached strawberries as it sets. Loads of baking spices; clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Dark spice with good palate heat, dark chocolate, sweet tarriness, mocha, caramel, walnut shells, anise to black licorice, steeped, dark fruit teas, mint/eucalyptus, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, slightly, moist clay, pronounced, fine volcanic minerals, leather, tobacco, graphite, used charcoal, dark liqueur and cola, dry herbs with dark, red, blue, purple, fresh & withering flowers accented with lavender. The acidity is round & exquisite. The long finish is; well balanced fruit & earth, very complexity, rich, delicious and persists endlessly.

Photos of; Stephanie Jones Bailey, Rick and Elaine Jones, Estate view, their Cabernet fruit close to harvest and vineyard staff managing fruit clusters & leafing.

Producer notes...they were founded in 1996. Jones Family Vineyards specializes in estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Thomas Rivers Brown makes their wines, two Cabernet wines...Jones Family Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and The Sisters. TRB also makes an extremely limited production of aged Sauvignon Blanc that is cellared for over 3 years in barrel and bottle.

Jones Family has ten acres of south facing vineyards that lie 600 to 800 feet off the valley floor, resting above the fog line, an ideal altitude for growing Cabernet in the Napa Valley area.

@Paul T- Huntington Beach FYI. — 6 years ago

Michael Piaker

9.1

14 March 2018. Beebe's, Astoria, NY. — 8 years ago

Dmitri

9.0

Medium body, beautiful quaffing. Not as volcanic or smoky as most productions from Etna but a good partner wine for stews. — 8 years ago

Dean Quintal

9.6

The volcanic minerality is ever present from this single estate vino. Milto Bene! — 8 years ago

with James

Manchester Sheldon

9.0

Volcanic minerality with a fruit foreword start. Opens to tobacco and terroir. — 4 years ago

Angie

10

ROSE - Volcanic rocks — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

Champagne is for celebrating, not that I need a celebratory reason to open a bottle as I am hooked on champagne. 💉

However, after installing 27 solar panels and waiting an additional seven weeks for my Tesla, I/we have almost erased our carbon footprint. Finally picked it up today. I believe we all need to do our part to save the glorious vines that bring so much happiness to our lives. 🍷🥂👍

As for the Baron Fuentes, the is a very good Champange and is perhaps the best QPR out of Champagne at $24.99.

Bright lemon, lime, grapefruit w/ sugar, bruised red apple & pear, touch of ginger & cider, bread dough, baguette crust, sea spray, white spice with some palate heat, sea fossils, grey volcanic minerals, spring flowers, lilacs and yellow lilies. The acidity is bright, crisp and lively. The finish is smartly polished, well balanced and persistent for minutes.

Whoo hoo! So close to carbon free! 🍾🥂 — 6 years ago

Callan Clendenin

9.1

Like looking into the deep ridges of a black volcanic rock found in a nest of brush on the bluffs near the sea and seeing blackberries hiding in the grooves. — 7 years ago

Lucas Vanderpool

8.9

Good to drink, good fruit with some clear volcanic notes. not as good as '16 or '15. — 7 years ago

Autumn mohr

9.0

Biodynamic, Mt. Etna, Sicily. Organic alberello, volcanic mineral soil. Naturale. Strawberry flowers and cherry Jollyranchers. — 7 years ago

Ben Rossen

9.1

Sea breeze and volcanic rock. 100% carricante, medium acid, beautiful salinity, minimal fruit but a lot of wet rock. Perfect shellfish wine. — 8 years ago

Giampiero Nadali

Wine Blogger Aristide

9.5

Volcanic velvet. It’s hard to say more about this gorgeous balance and elegant roundness. After so many years, this 2002 vintage shows how skilled as a vigneron is Salvo Foti. — 8 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.3

Dense apricot pit, white flowers, volcanic pebbles. So dense & concentrated that in hindsight a decant may have helped. Still, absolutely fascinating in its layers. Paired with another DeGrom masterpiece; with strong farmers Cheddar & Aged Provolone , then with broiled chicken thighs marinated in yogurt, lemon zest, z’atar, garlic& served w cilantro, Israeli couscous w raisins & toasted pumpkin seeds. — 4 years ago

with Owen

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

The White Burgundy was excellent but, still have to have my BSR 375ml. It’s been awhile for us.

It is a little better tonight following the Burgundy & soft white cheese.

The nose on this bottle really flows out of the glass tonight. Beautiful lean fruits of; blackberries, black cherries, cherries, strawberries, watermelon near the rind, blood orange, orange & tangerine & some pomegranate. Crisp volcanic minerals, saline, sea fossils, baguette crust, vanillin, whiff of caramel, soft white spice, pink flowers and rose pedals.

Everything on the palate sings just a little louder tonight as well. Fruits are even a little richer than normal. Ripe & slightly gummy not as normal leaner fruits of; blackberries, black cherries, cherries, strawberries, watermelon near the rind, blood orange, orange & tangerine & some pomegranate. Crisp and grippy, volcanic minerals, beautiful softer, powdery chalkiness w/o quite the sharper edge it normally has, soft, hints of Provence herbs, saline, sea fossils, baguette crust, vanillin, whiff of caramel, soft white spice, pink flowers and rose pedals. The acidity is crisp, lively and dead on as alway. The long, rich, well balanced finish is deliciously refreshing and persists minutes.

Photos of; one of their Grand Cru Vineyards at sunset & inside and the Estate grounds of the House of Billecart, — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Joseph Phelps Party and the 83 Insignia from magnum.

The nose reveals; floral liqueur notes, more mid red fruits; strawberries, cherries & dark cherries. Blackberries, black raspberries, rhubarb, soft, volcanic minerals, limestone, steeped fruit tea, cedar, old leather & tobacco, dry crushed rocks, dark spices, dry herbal notes, eucalyptus, dry stems with dry & withering dark, red florals.

The body is medium full with a fair amount of tannins in a wine with this age. The structure, tension, length and balance are still quite sound with harmony. Floral liqueur notes, more mid red fruits, strawberries, cherries & dark cherries. Blackberries, black raspberries, rhubarb, soft, volcanic minerals, limestone, steeped fruit tea, dark spice with some heat, cedar, old leather & tobacco, cedar, dry crushed rocks, dark spices, dry herbal notes, eucalyptus, dry stems with some funkiness. withering dark, red florals. The acidity is nice. The long finish still show ripeness, good balance but, has leaned and shows nice persistence. — 6 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.2

Girolamo Russo “a’Rina” 2016 Etna Rosso 🇮🇹 $25
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Nerello Mascalese (94%) and Nerello Cappuccio are the yin and yang of red grapes that grow exceedingly well in the wild and high altitude clime atop the Sicilian volcano #MountEtna.
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A hell of a bargain at about $25 as this crushes most Bourgogne/Hautes-Cotes under $50 and would give pricier versions a run for their money. It is also more complex now and ready to consume when compared to many similarly priced, well made “Langhe” Nebbiolo wines. From the @coravin this was ready to go and opened up well with 10-15 minutes in the glass.
•
A youthful medium ruby color, fairly transparent. The nose suggests to me a red Burgundy, possibly a Beaune or Chassagne-Montrachet red from the wildness of the Etna character. A deep underpinning of rocky minerality, hints of ash, rose petal and purple florals, with dabs of red cherry and red plum fruit, sweet spices with hints of old leather jacket and unsmoked pipe tobacco. The palate is juicy and fresh, with refined, silky, ripe tannin that are youthfully firm. Excellent density and persistence, but light as a feather. Medium+ on the finish.
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Etna red wines are commonly described as having similarities to nebbiolo from Piedmonte and pinot noir from Burgundy. There are for sure some similarities, but make no mistake that Etna wines, when made well, refract the wild and volcanic Etna terroir well and are genuine in their own right. •
The complex volcanic soils of Etna, combined with some of the highest elevations for vineyards in Europe at 3,000+ feet, can produce wines with immense complexity and freshness. A sense if refinement comes across in the density without excessive weight, allowing for transparency of terroir. Most vines are trained in the traditional bush-vine method, which works well in the rocky soils that see a lot of wind and sunlight at these high altitudes.
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#GirolamoRusso #aRina #NerelloMascalese #NerelloCappuccio #EtnaRosso #Sicily #Italy #GiuseppeRusso #coravin #winesolutions #wine #winelover #somm #sommelier #instawine #wineporn #naturalwine #vinnaturel #winegasm #winegeek #vin #vino #vinos #vinhos #wein #ilovewine #winetasting #winetime — 7 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.2

Does VERY well a decant, takes the brett( which actually like) out & smoothes the edges a bit. Dark dark black fruits, that volcanic minerality all through. Mild to mod tannins. Can match any food, just about- this time chicken w saffron, apricots; roasted brussel sprouts, & corn pudding w roasted garlic & sage — 8 years ago

with Paul and Owen