Arietta
Arietta
Artists' Reserve One Eleven Merlot 2016
Arietta Wines lunch with owner Fritz. We were able to taste through some current releases as well as some reserve wines Fritz brought with him personally. A treat to enjoy these Andy Erickson wines!
In the running for my favorite red out of the flight. Basically a copy of the normal Hudson merlot but wrapped in a velvet like structure. Glycerin and elixir like in how plush and sexy it is. Added density and heft. Built really big but lots of restraint. Would love to try this again in 10yrs. — 6 years ago
Krug
Grande Cuvée Brut Champagne Blend
Krug is always most welcome, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. This is edition 169. A bit more yeasty and slightly less acidic than previous versions, to my taste. But if you like the Krug style - which we do very much - it hits the spot per usual.
My wife used to work with Fritz Hatton, proprietor of Arietta wines and auctioneer for Zachys. Fritz always says to have a half bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge in case you need a “midnight snack”, and I have to agree with him! — 5 years ago
Nestweaver
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021
Opened at the last minute after a corked dolcetto. Odd coming off of a corked Ridge Pinot from last night too. Bad luck weekend.
This was nice. No one would mistake it for old world - it has too much roundness for that. But it’s nice and aromatic on the nose with great fruit that really carries through. A nice one from the fine folks at Arietta. Great pairing with chicken thighs marinated in soy and hoisin, miso broccoli, and coconut rice. — 2 years ago
Arietta
Napa Valley Red Blend 1996
In a nice spot. — 5 years ago
Spring Mountain Vineyard
Estate Bottled Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Nice wine but probably would had tasted better a few years ago. Tasted side by side with Arietta Merlot. — 6 years ago
Château Benoit
Arbalest Red Bordeaux Blend 2015
Curiosity got the best of me. Steve Mnuchin and Jared Kushner bro’d out over a bottle of this 2015 Arbalest on Sunday. Apparently it’s newsworthy when a wealthy politician brings a ‘cheap’ ($22) bottle of wine to a bro out. I wonder what price gets the ‘politician drinks expensive bottle’ story (see Paul Ryan at Bistro Bis in 2011). No matter, it’s brilliant product placement — I’m surprised Trump didn’t tweet about it... “Did everyone see Poor Stevie’s wine? So Sad. My 2015 Meritage is So Much Better.”
The wine is made by Benoit Touquette. Here’s his background courtesy of critic Jeb Dunnuck, “Born in Lyon France and gaining his education from the University of Bordeaux, Benoit worked at numerous French wineries before getting a job (with the help of his friend and mentor Michel Rolland) in Napa Valley with Andy Erickson. He consulted for the likes of Screaming Eagle, Ovid and Arietta. Today, Benoit is the winemaker for Realm Cellars, Hartwell, and Kata, as well as numerous other labels, including his own project Fait-Main.” Who wouldn’t want to try a $22 bottle of wine from a winemaker with that kind of resume??
Dunnuck also scored the wine 91 points, calling it “Full-bodied, ripe and rounded, with a sexy, opulent style, lots of mid-palate depth, and a great finish, it's well worth your time and money and is a smoking deal at 20 bucks.”
The blend is 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. It needed about an hour to fully open up... one of my fellow tasters called it soapy... which I think was because of its noticeable herbaceousness. Focused black cherry, pipe tobacco, clove. Juicy, but dry, with lots of grip. I’m not doing backflips over it, but you could do much worse at $22. 90+ — 8 years ago
Tyler Felous
For 21, this was ready to go. Nice blend seemingly made to drink early - totally delivered alongside other heavy hitters — a month ago