10 Barrel Brewing Co.
Château Eugenie
Cuvée Reservée De l'Aieul Cahors Malbec 2014
Vintage 2014 | 90 Malbec 10 Tannat. 16 m barrel aging, 1/3 new wood. Wine with much potential, but needs more time. Archetypical Cahors. Black Berry. Forrest floor. Tobacco. Plums. — 4 years ago
Blanton's Distilling Co.
The Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2020
Michter's
Single Barrel 10 Years Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
Château Palmer
Alter Ego Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2016
The nose is beautiful. Ruby; plum, black cherries, creamy black raspberries, dark spice, dark expresso roast, dark, rich soils, dry & fresh tobacco, leather, amazing, slightly candied, fresh, bright florals of; red, blue and purple.
The body is full and shows the beauty of the vintage, silky & velvety. Ruby; cherries, plum, black cherries, creamy black raspberries & strawberries, dark spice, dark expresso roast, dark, rich soils, dry stones, dry & fresh tobacco, leather, amazing, slightly candied, fresh, bright florals of; red, blue and purple. The acidity is round and gorgeous. The lush, ruby, ripe, well balanced finish persists a long while with heated spices on the long set. Another wine that will increase by 2-3 points with proper cellaring, 10-25 years.
Photos of; Chateau Palmer, their barrel room, a photo of their vineyard soil structure-if you didn’t know where all that earthiness comes from, a picture is worth a thousand words and their tasting room. — 7 years ago
Henry Mckenna
K & L Selected 10 Year Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Solid product, but lacks depth. Heat is pleasant but not overpowering. The vanillin on the other hand is overpowering. — 8 years ago
Chalk Hill
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2023
Barrel aged 10 months sur lie! Medium lemon color with aromas of stone and citrus fruits with notes of warm baking spice. On the palate ripe apple and lemon flavors with vanilla and nutty toasty oak. Well balanced on medium finish ending, a bit buttery with slight oak and mineral notes. Drink now! — 9 months ago
Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Co.
Old Blowhard Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Aged 26 Years
Apparently this is $1000+ per bottle. It was very nice - love the nose- but sounds like marketing to me. 26 years old. — 3 years ago
C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España)
Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2014
Deep Ruby, aromas of red and black fruits with sweet spice and oak, a classical blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, barrel aged for 24 months. On the palate flavors of black cherry and currants with spice, espresso, vanilla & toasty oak tones. Fine tight tannins, lively acidity on a long finish ending with fruit, sweet spice and an earthy mineral character. Nice! — 4 years ago
La Jota Vineyard Co.
Howell Mountain Merlot 2016
Blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot & 5% Tannat, aged 20 mos French oak. LaJota has deep roots in Napa, in 1888, wine pioneer W.S. Keyes planted the first vines on Howell Mountain, 10 years later LaJota Vineyard established, named for location on Mexican parcel Rancho La Jota. Deep Ruby, rich berry fruit aromas & herb spice. On the palate blackberry & cherry flavors with sweet spice, licorice & cacao notes, rich & tangy. Soft full tannins, long finish ending with oak & earthy herbs. Just starting to drink now, will cellar for a decade. — 5 years ago
Bedrock Wine Co.
Kirschenmann Vineyard Zinfandel 2014
Overly ripe and fruity. Like drinking Port, which is a great thing, but I wanted a dinner wine. If you want dinner wine, age another 10 years. If you want CA Port, enjoy now. — 6 years ago
Bedrock Wine Co.
T'n'S Blocks Hudson Vineyard South Syrah
At 10-years, a beautiful experience…deep, dark pour with no signs of bricking…dark fruit (more purple and black) aromatics that just keep on developing…palate mirrors aromatics with strong fruit profile…pleasing texture/mouth feel…medium finish…hard to say how much longer one should hold…tonight, it was in the right place for our dinner — a year ago
Clos du Val Wine Co.
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1978
An “intermezzo” as we prepared for the reds flights. This was served blind. The 1978 shows really young for its age. Most at the table, including myself, were convinced that this was classified growth Bordeaux with maybe 20-30 years of age. However at least one of us thought it was Napa…and whoa. The color was dark and handsome though there was some sediment (to expected). The fruit was bright but I felt it was secondary to the dried leaf tobacco, earth and leather notes. There was good acid too. Tannins have integrated. Lots of wows when this was revealed while the Napa holdouts gave a smile. Bravo. This could easily live well for another 10 or so years. — 3 years ago
Clos du Val Wine Co.
Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1992
Perfect wine to celebrate the wife’s birthday this last week. Medium garnet red and clear in appearance. Well rounded nose with truffles, damp earthiness, cherries and some black berries. Medium tannins (5.5/10), balanced acidity and medium plus body. Balanced palate with tobacco, leather, earthiness, black plums and cherries. Long finish. Drink till 2027. — 4 years ago
Cossart Gordon & Co.
10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
Pleasant caramel, honey. First Port / Madeira that Kim has liked. — 6 years ago
Château Latour
Les Forts de Latour Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2008
If I am having an Allen Brothers Ribcap, I am also opening a good bottle of Bordeaux.
The 08 Bordeaux vintage goes down in the record books as good not great. This is not nearly as good as the 2000 I had a few years back...one of the few 10’s I’ve scored since starting to write notes. However, it does drink better earlier than 2000.
Ten years in bottle was just the right amount of time to check in on this 08. It will continue to improve over the next 5-7 years and hold another 8-10 years with proper storage.
With the first sip, it was elegant, refined and showing it is Latour’s close relative. My next thought was how good it will be with the Ribcap. Good on its own but, even better with steak.
It shows classic Bordeaux style. Just ripe fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, plum, dark cherries, hints of blue & purple fruit. The tannins nicely round and velvety. The structure, tension, length & balance are just starting to hit their groove. Black licorice, black tea, stones, dry loamy topsoil, dark rich earth, less pencil shaving, soft leather, understated baking spices with withering; dark, red and blue florals. The acidity was nicely executed. The finish is; stunning, elegant and very well balanced with excellent persistence.
Photos of; Chateau Latour, iconic building that since in the middle of their Estate vines, barrel room and wide shot of their estate.
Side note. Having visited Latour three times, it has always been the most clean & pristine winemaking facilities I’ve seen in my many world wine region travels. You could eat off the floor. For me, they are the “King of Kings” in Cabernet. — 6 years ago
Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7
Mmmmm, rib cap 😋
Pinotman /// Andreas
Better than any Red Burgh I ever had. Challenging and not for the faint of heart: Upon opening rough and close to undrinkable with a good amount of volatile acid. That blows off. 20 min in, and then, this shows what it is made of. Importantly- drinking window upon opening - is about 30 min then it starts to fall off!!!!!! Still super tannic needs 5 more years - Anyways an incredible potpourri of flavors - a genius at work - Sven Enderle - the guy takes risk no one else would - ultra dark cherry, mouth puckering tannins, 🇮🇩 Indonesian spices, clove, cinnamon and then Italian - Oregano). At the same time this acidic tension - Mexican lime! ——/Touch bitter, black tea, elderberry. Absolutely world class 9.8 should be a 10 in ~ 2-5 years. Pinot does not get better then this! High 14.1% for this producer. Quite dark and extracted the 2018. A unicorn and often they made just one barrel - 300 bottles. The Pinot clones who knows what they are > 60 years old gnarled and full of moss. I had the privilege to visit them every other year. Sadly they closed shop. — 5 days ago