Shay A

9.3

Weston hosted Friday group today and was it definitely a can’t miss tasting. Wow! Absolutely knocked it out of the park with heavy hitter after heavy hitter. Similar to Wednesday group, all wines are tasted blind.

English sparkler ladies and gentlemen! Coming on the scene hot. Most guessed French NV. I wondered if it was possibly high end west coast like an Ultramarine. Loads of apple here. Little yeast and chalk. Great texture and bubbles. — 8 years ago

with Weston

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.3

I love this wine. I love this wine because it exists all the way at the 'painstakingly clean and precise' end of the skin-contact spectrum. Don't get me wrong, I love the super-natty wild and wooly and of the spectrum too. But this. This is so purely and exactly what it sets out to be. And I love it. — 9 years ago

Willem Boshoff

8.9

Let's put it down to a poor vintage. Expected a lot more for $70 — 9 years ago

Neil Walsh

9.0

This time Emma Bekkers. More delicate balanced style than the Grimley. Prefer this style. — 9 years ago

Corkbuzz Charlotte

9.0

New by the glass at Corkbuzz Charlotte. — 9 years ago

Justin Smith

9.0

A little high toned out of the gates, never mellowed, and stayed very delicious till the end. Pretty violets, chalk, and rendered bacon fat. — 10 years ago

Dave Gass

9.5

Excellent meritage. One of the best we've tried. Great smokey scent on the nose before drinking. Smooth spice from middle of sip through the end. One of the best wines we've had on kayuka!! — 10 years ago

Megan Hughes

10

I love Revel Wine's wines. And Brooks is a classic... Always consistent, decently priced, and pairs well with most anything. Great way to start or end the evening. — 11 years ago

with David

Christina Rumayor

10

Pretty nice, especially with bone marrow. Good full bodied with tannins on end. — 11 years ago

Geoff Labitzke

9.7

The 2010 Vine Hill Chardonnay is golden yellow in color it has a restrained aroma of green pears some citrus small hint of vanilla but overall the aromatics are fairly tight still even with the wine's age. This is probably a tribute to the wines good storage. The acid is a bit softer and more integrated into the wine with the 2010. It is more ready than the 2009 or 2008 on the palate. The finish is of ripe pears ripe lemons, lemon pie and a hint of vanilla and wood shows a bit in the end. Great length. — 11 years ago

Zachary Edwards

8.9

24.99 at Darsh's in Wallingford. Quite simply, no wine from Chalk Hill CA disappoints. — 12 years ago

with Chrystie

Ryan M

9.3

Yes 93. Extremely smooth and dark purple. Cherries, Blackberries, clove, wet moss, cedar, pine, and tobacco. Resembles an $80 bottle from the mountains.

Winemaker Notes
Dark and rich, the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon offers aromas and flavors of blackberry and ripe plum, with hints of clove and earthiness. Notes of brown spice and vanilla enhance the palate for a lusciously full mouthfeel, culminating in a long finish. 7% Petit Verdot, 1.5% Petite Sirah, 1.5% Cabernet Franc.

Since 1978, William Hill Winery has produced wines from the cool southern regions of Napa Valley, including the Silverado Bench and the Carneros districts. The winery specializes in Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, producing Reserve and Napa Valley bottlings. Chardonnay grown in the cool climate and well-drained soils of Carneros typically offer brighter, more intense flavors and higher acidity than grapes grown in the richer soils and warmer temperatures at the upper end of the Napa Valley. The result are Chardonnays that are highly complex and multi-layered with crisp, bright flavors. — 8 years ago

with Larissa

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Recently purchased by Bill Foley of Foley Family Wines, continuing traditions of Fred Furth who founded Chalk Hill in 1972, which encompasses 280 acres of vineyards. A blend of 84% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Sauvignon Gris and 6% Sauvignon Musque, the latter 2 adding an interesting dynamic to the wine and distinctive aromas. One of the few SB's to see some oak giving this wine complexity. Peach, herb and earthy tones, well balanced with acidity, smooth yet robust on a lingering finish ending with citrus notes. — 9 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Had another bottle to try. Wow wine seemed to pop. Light ruby color with red fruit aromas, currants and a touch of floral. The palate shows ripe sweet black cherry and raspberry with vanilla and toasty oak in a smooth mouthfeel. With lively acidity, the finish displays some spice and has long length carrying the fruit to the end. — 9 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.0

Standing up for a day was not quite long enough, but managed to get most of the gunk to settle out. Best at cellar temp, and a really lovely match with spring vegetable fettuccine. Herbs and marmalade and tea and great texture. That color tho... — 9 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.1

Brick red, has those brownish edges. Started off with a ton of chalk, as it warmed up more meat and leather, nice and savory. As it ended there was a little green bell peppers. Very savory palate, similar to dried meat. Notes of coriander, black pepper and dried herbs. Smooth tannins (6/10) with a little bite at the end. Balanced with a moderate body. Dry finish that lingers for quite a bit. Solid acidity in the finish as well. Very well balanced and structured. Delicious Cabernet from South Africa, and as the fact sheet says, this has held up perfectly well. Loving the meat, pepper and spices in these wines. If you haven't tried a wine from Meerlust we highly recommend it, especially the Rubicon! Now till 2018. — 10 years ago

Lucien Matthews

9.3

Had the 2011 vintage. Bought in 2015 trip. Plums and dusty taste. Tannins come through at end — 10 years ago

CS

Sales Amy Atwood Imports

9.2

Savory, brooding cab franc with a fruity integrity, graphite, tomato leaf, herbaceous, idodine-blood-copper-like nose that makes me think of red clay, dusty tannins, cacao, roasted coffee bean, vinous. Soft palate, soft acidity with a slight green edge that acts as a bitterness to the equation which brings some lift. It's not muddled with oak , it's cab franc, undeniably new world, but I want to go back to it for another sniff and sip. Really nice to taste this first release from Gail Wines. — 11 years ago

Ashley

9.6

Big, succulent and full of bold expressions. When it comes to beautiful, huge red wines - I love this! — 11 years ago

Sarah Heard

9.7

Delicious & smooth. — 12 years ago

Edmond Bordelon

9.6

Nine Suns and their favorite son, Sam Kaplan!
Sam and his lovely wife, Nancy were kind enough to take time out of their Florida vacation and stop by our house for a great Tasting Event of his big 3 Wines,... Arkenstone, Memento Mori and Nine Suns. And then he pulled out his latest project, soon to be released in the fall, Maxem! (Named after his two children, Max and Emma.) Not to compete with his huge red blends, his Maxem line is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both from the famed UV Vineyard in Sonoma. (Think Aubert Pinot Noir😃). I will try to review the Maxem wines later, but back to the amazing Nine Suns red blend from Pritchard Hill. We had the 2012 recently and were blown away by how much it has improved in such a short time. The 2013 needed some more time, but you can already sense the greatness to come. Already balanced feel and long finish. I decanted it for 4 hours to ensure we were doing justice to this deep purple stunner. While I liked the 2012 better, this 2013 was still lush and had blueberries as the major fruit up front and dark cherries on the back end. Sam talked about Nine Sun's amazing Houyi Vineyard, calling it the Rodéo Drive of Napa with all of their big neighbors. 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot. Robert Parker gave it a 96, and I am in full agreement! — 8 years ago

with Beth and Katherine

Linda Marshall

9.4

Very big fruit. Very smooth finish. Smoky front Good spice. — 9 years ago

Mike Diliberto

9.0

Very good. Full of flavor and still smooth. — 9 years ago

with Michelle

Andrea Phillips

10

Hands down one of the best wines I've ever had. All the complexity of a Viognier with a fruit forward finish and a lush, mellow end. — 9 years ago

Jörgen Lindström Carlvik

Owner, Brix Wine Consultants

9.5

Stunning! Great purity and a strong sense of minerality lift this un-evolved to considerable heights. Juicy citrus, cool herbs, chalk and perfectly judged oak treatment with piercing acidity, this is built for the long haul, it has more in common with Friuli's greatest wines than high end Bdx. New wave stuff! — 10 years ago

J. Kelsey

9.5

Paired wonderfully with light dinner salads and Spanish chorizo. — 10 years ago

Brenna Terry

9.0

Very light and crisp — 10 years ago

with Alina

Simon Gilligan

9.0

Big and ripe fruits, savoury not jammy — 11 years ago

ESF

9.5

Quite a stunner - still very purple and fruit focused (all red) hint of vanilla & spice but just a straight forward ballsy Aussie Cab not showing its age — 11 years ago

John Kemper

9.5

The inky purple '05 Pax Syrah 'Lauterbach Hill' has nice aromas of smoky bacon fat, ripe blackberry and tarry licorice. The elegant mouth delivers jammy dark fruit flavors with peppery notes. A mineral lift at the end propels a lengthy spicy finish. — 12 years ago