Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Had a ‘12 over 2 years ago, last bottle!! In 1958, Masi was in the forefront of the work to identify the historic "cru" vineyard sites for Amarone. This ‘12 is a big rich powerful wine from a hot vintage. Deep Ruby, purple tints, aromas of ripe dark fruits, cooking spice and smoky notes. On the palate blackberry flavors, raisin like plum tones with cacao and cinnamon spice. Rich soft tannins, ling finish, well balanced ending with smoky spice. Very Nice. Aging well, still has plenty or room left!! A joy! — 5 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.4

Wine as art. Wine like the book you reread or the movie you rewatch and find something new each time, except with sips. I will restrain myself so I can try it over a couple days but ohhhh Boudignan how I love your work. Acid lasers cutting honeycomb onto beds of greens like lemon verbena composed in sheepskins (lanolin!) in a pear orchard. Rich complex and every sip is a new season in the orchard revealing new things. Omg this wine. It makes me MAD. Because I only got one bottle of it. — 6 years ago

Matti Jokelainen

9.0

Great Torre in the making. Still very primary and upon opening shy nose with acidity and tannins dominating. After 30min slow-ox and getting up to temp the nose opens revealing hints of whats coming with florals, red berries, some forest floor. Similarly fruit picks up in intensity, tannins soften and wine turns to nice young nebbiolo balance. This is very much red fruited with gread mid palate intensity and additional depth still lurking in need of bit more bottle age. After 2h the wine begins to shut down confirming it's still work in progress. If you like excellent young barbaresco and empty your bottle withing 2h feel free and pop. However I'll store my remaining ones for 2-3 more years to get bit more complexity and developed notes I adore in Produttoris bottlings — 7 years ago

Dean Rogers

8.9

At Ocean Prime with ladies from work! — 8 years ago

Andrew Lohse

9.0

Black cherry, underbrush, cola, baking spice. Finesse. Med- bodied. Acid does a lot of work. — 8 years ago

Alexander Niehenke

9.4

Real nice work by @Chris Pittenger true to the call balancing old with new. — 9 years ago

with Shannon

Ryan M

9.6

Started decanting this morning as encouragement to start the 🦃 day prep work. Absolutely outstanding! Each hour getting better and better. TN: powerful oak full of blackberry fruits - one of my favorite wineries and honestly this didn't need a decant but enjoying the journey. #chriscarpenterisgod @cardinalewinery #thanksgivingwine — 9 years ago

with Larissa

LM Segal

9.6

Even better than last year’s bottle, which I called “the devil’s work” and rated 95. So much more emerging and the finest, grainy tannins just melted on my palate. Burnt cocoa, velvety cassis. Never got warmed up due to Covid doors open. This has decades to go. — 5 years ago

with Mark and Joe

Jessica Dean

9.0

Light and bright. Good table wine — 6 years ago

Victor Hwang

9.2

88 mouton with Keith harding art work. The nose upon opening was sublime. As it decanted and opened, it was a bit disjointed. Has a lot of potential but at this age I think it’s not going to come together. The nose weakened, and the body to finish is a bit jarred. — 7 years ago

Nicole Johnson

8.9

I enjoyed this reasonably priced wine. — 8 years ago

adriane lauron

10

one of the best champagne , I received this as a gift of my VIP guest during their stay in our resort where I work for. I highly recommend this one. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

On the nose, stewed fruits of; black plum, blackberries, dark cherries, plum and blueberries. Mocha, chocolate, mixed berry cola, sweet spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, loamy mineral soils and dry dark florals. The mouthfeel is less concentrated than other vintages of Corison but that's indicative of the 10 Napa vintage generally. The tannins are nicely resolved with another 5-8 years before they are completely resolve. The fruits are; dark cherries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, blackberries with strawberries that dance around the rest of the fruit. There's nice barrel toast, vanilla, nutmeg, light clove, cinnamon, touch of wood shavings, liqueur notes, caramel, mocha chocolate, mix berry cola, loamy soils, dry crushed rocks, bramble, dry stems with nice soft round acidity. The finish is a little lean but tasty. Good balance of fruit and earth with long, rich elegance. Cathy slightly overachieved the 10 vintage as a whole. Photos of; her estate building, Cathy in her vineyard, grapes coming in at night (better to harvest when the fruit is cooler) and her estate vineyard in all it's glory. Producer notes and history...Cathy Corison grew up in Riverside, California. She studied biology at Pomona College and was on their men's diving team, because the school didn't have a women's team. In 1972, she had to take an extracurricular class. She signed up for a trampoline class, but changed her mind upon seeing a sign-up sheet for a wine tasting class. This class was the catalyst that sparked her interest in winemaking. After graduation in 1975, she moved to Napa Valley in California. She received her Master's degree in Enology from University of California, Davis. Upon moving to Napa, she started working in the tasting room at Sterling Vineyards and at a wine shop. During this time, she was getting her Master's degree at the University of California, Davis. She was told by her professor that she would not get a job in Napa Valley because of being a woman. However, if she wasn't the first Napa Valley female Winemaker, she was certainly one of the first. She tried to get a job at Freemark Abbey and was denied because they believed she could not work in the cellar. She almost took a job at Christian Brothers in the enology lab. However, she decided not to take the job and in 1978 she became an intern at Freemark Abbey and eventually became their Winemaker. She joined Chappellet in 1983 and was their Winemaker for nearly ten years. She founded Corison Winery, in 1987. The winery is located in St. Helena, California in a barn built by her husband, William Martin. Corison makes Cabernet and Gewürztraminer. They produce about 3,500 cases a year depending on the vintage. The winery makes a Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and as well as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The Kronos is an estate wine that is made from organic grapes. The vineyard is dry farmed. The grapes come from one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Cabernet comes from Rutherford. The Gewürztraminer is called Corazón and comes from the Anderson Valley. — 8 years ago

Chance Miller

9.3

Nice after work treat 🙂🥂 — 5 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.5

A real stunner. Honeyed nose with beeswax, mead-like. Palate is all-encompassing, coating, zinging acidity, long finish. Beautiful work. — 5 years ago

with Alsu

Nick H

9.4

What can derail you from Delectable for a few months? Perhaps a global pandemic and all the associated work it brought? Hopefully back to stay and rating the backlog that got me through it 😂 Classic Cali Chard - tropical, citrusy notes with almost a waxy or silky mouthfeel. Very little if any butter or oak, and always a delight! — 6 years ago

Jordan Wardlaw

9.2

Definitely the most broadly appealing and well-rounded of the Alvear range. Fruit-driven and concentrated, decidedly less salty and mineral-forward as the entry level Fino. Rounded, complex mouthfeel with nice slow-building acidity that coats the palate very well from front to back. Quite dominated by youthful yeasty aromas that are remarkably similar to fresh baked bread. It’s relatively dry and fresh but would work beautifully with sharp cheeses. — 7 years ago

Elizabeth Verity

9.3

Not a watery boring Pinot - lots of depth. Gift from Rob for work on Avast — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

When I tasted this wine fresh at the UGC in Bordeaux, it was one of the wines of the day. However, I must confess it was one of over a hundred wines I tasted that day. This is my first taste of it since then. Being an 04, it will forever be overshadowed by the 05 vintage. The wine while evolving nicely is still a fairly long way from being ready. Right now, it needs food/grilled meat to bring it to a fuller life. The 04 is; dry blackberries, spiced black plum, dark cherries, violets, decayed floral bouquet, mocha chocolate, dry herbs, mint, menthol, strong leather, lots of graphite, tar, tobacco with ash, dry dark soil, dry pebbles, volcanic minerals, dry stems & big spice. The structure and tannins are still big. The fruit and earth are only beginning to come into balance and still need a lot of evolutionary work. The length is still somewhat austere but long. The acidity is a short of what is required. The finish is sticky big dry tannins, dry dark cassis, mocha chocolate, big spice, dry herbs but has it's pleasure. The 04 needs another 8-10 years before it delivers on any of it's early preconceived expectations. However, this wine has the potential to be much more than it has tonight. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

As good as this is tonight, it's a bit of a shame to drink it. It's beautiful, ripe, rich but the tannins still need some work. This wine will be amazing in 15-20 years. Dry blackberries, dark cherries, dark cherry liqueur, black plum skin, cooked strawberries, dark coco, minerals are so fine & elegant, suede leather, dry dark earth, decayed floral bouquet, black licorice anise, good acidity and a round plum dry finish. — 9 years ago