Barny

9.2

Feiner Dessert Begleiter — 6 years ago

Tom Elliot

Founder Northwest Wines

9.1

Helped greatly by the Stelvin closure, no doubt - Fresh, lively and nuanced at 10 years of age. — 6 years ago

Mirko Mignozzi

9.2

Excellent companion of seafood — 7 years ago

Matt Perlman

8.9

Needed to warm up a bit but once open was wonderful. Slightly cloudy unfiltered appearance, toasty orchard fruit with a bit of lemon and tarragon. Learned later that Morillon = Chard but totally different from a white burg or Cali chard or anything else really — 7 years ago

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

JKT

9.0

Nice golden color. Notes of oxidation but in a nice way to go with the clams and good. Margaret Graf visit. Good finish. — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Banshee Wines was founded by 3 friends Noah Dorrance, Baron Ziegler, and Steve Graf who shared a lifelong dream of owning their own winery. Their first vintage of Pinot Noir, produced in 2009 was sold out in 3 months. Deep color with red berry fruit aromas and notes of sweet floral scents. On the palate ripe red plum, currant and cherry flavors with complex spice. Smooth tannins balanced well with vivid acidity, lingering ending with a mineral character. Nice value. Tasting Sample. — 7 years ago

San Gon

9.5

Sweet with body. Excellent for hanging out with friends. — 7 years ago

lukas ossberger

9.3

Although being an 2003, still in great shape very drinkable — 7 years ago

Moritz

9.2

Viognier "V" 2011 Steinbügel
Pfirsich, Mango, Melonen, Rosen — 7 years ago

Henry Luiker

9.0

One of the treasures of Emília Romagna at Osteria Riva $150. Quite full and robust following the 2000 Marzieno Zerbina which preceded it $130, which blew Andy away - reminded him of ancient Hill of Grace - thinner, closer to the end of its life but much finer style, while the 2005 from the previous week ($120) can probably survive a few more years. — 7 years ago

S. L.

9.0

Really like it, not too sweet. — 8 years ago

Beth Pfenning

10

Graf von Rüdersheim — 6 years ago

Barny

9.1

Elegante Cuvee aus Lemberger/Spätburgunder/Cabernet mit enormen Tiefgang — 6 years ago

Jan Laursen

9.6

Fantastic! — 7 years ago

Yuri

8.9

Starting home party:-) — 7 years ago

Barny

9.2

Adelmann selbst schreibt „ein cremiger, würziger aber nicht überladener Wein, der mit Schmelz und Charakter überzeugt“, dem ist nichts hinzuzufügen 😋 — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Banshee Wines was founded by three friends Noah Dorrance, Baron Ziegler, and Steve Graf who shared a passion for wine and a lifelong dream of owning their own winery. Their first vintage of Pinot Noir, produced in 2009 was sold out in 3 months. Deep color with red berry fruit aromas and notes of sweet floral scents. On the palate red plum and cherry flavors with layers of spice. Smooth tannins balanced well with acidity, lingering ending with a citrus mineral character. Nice value. Tasting Sample. — 7 years ago

Sunil Dhaliwal

9.1

Get this again. Graf value — 8 years ago

John Kanellopoulos

9.0

Rich, strong tannins deep red — 9 years ago