Lindsay Sher

8.9

Liked more than expected, normally not a Nero d' avola fan but this is well made — 3 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I know I’ve posted a number of Kerr’s lately as I tasted there two-weeks ago. They didn’t pour this 2019 regular Cabernet at my tasting. But as fate would have it, this was at my Costco the following week for $58 and the winery sells it at $80.

I believe this is a blend of sites. Fermented in 85% new French oak for 22 months.

This is 92 which is stretching to 93. I brought this and coravined the bottle last weekend to try with friends and am finishing it with a 16oz Allen Brothers Ribeye. Bought three more to cellar today.

Looking forward to trying in again in 6-8 years…thinking it squeezes out another 1-2 points then.

I’m glad I found this as I’m looking for a Napa Phelps replacement. Since LVMH bought Phelps, it is now a $100 from the winery and you don’t see it in Costco anymore where I last bought the 2019 for $59 or $65. That is what corporations do. Especially, LVMH. They buy wineries and squeeze everything they can after purchasing them. They renamed & relabeled the Phelps Pinots that sold for $65-$80 and now are $225. I am not aware of any fruit source change.

After decanting an hour and half, the nose comes alive. It is a bit funky and dull immediately after pouring out of bottle. The fruits grow darker, some tarriness builds. It’s round and lush; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, plum, dark cherries, hues of purple & blue fruits. Tar, anise, bramble, dark melted chocolate, faint caramel, black licorice, baking soda again, dark spice, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, wood shavings, dry tobacco & leather, withering; dark, red flowers set in violets & lavender.

The palate loads, thick, lush & rich. Good viscosity. The tannins are, round, supple, soft but meaty. It has stuffing unlike their higher end wines which are more feminine. The fruits are perfectly ripe; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, plum, dark cherries, purple & blue fruits. Tar, anise, bramble, dark melted chocolate, caramel notes, black licorice, baking soda, dark spice that lifts and then presses into the palate w/ a fair amount of heat, dry herbaceous notes-Sage/Thyme, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, wood shavings, dry tobacco & leather, crushed volcanic rock powder w/ dry top soil, withering; dark, red flowers set in violets & lavender. Excellent round acidity, well structured, tensioned, balanced with a long finish that lasts minutes falling onto soft earth & minerality, dark spice with heat.

Be interesting to compare this 19 with a 19 Napa Phelps in fifteen years. See how the evolution measures up.

Happy SuperBowl weekend. 🏈 GO NINERS! — 2 years ago

Bobby Gilbane

8.9

Was decent but succumbing to the unfortunate fate of the ‘97 vintage. Too ripe and more porty than desirable. Compared to ‘95 & ‘96, this is a distant 3rd place. — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.2

Just concluded the annual Fall seclusion at our cabin in the Rangeley lakes region of Maine, mobile service up there is mostly non-existent, after several days I am posting again. Notes are somewhat brief, as my focus is relaxing and watching the Common Loons swimming and diving in the cove in front of our camp.

Nose has ripe peach, cut cherries, tangerine peel dry sandstone and moist hay.
Palate has strawberry, peach, lime wedge, tart cherries, dry-sandy soil and a long finish. This bottle is just holding wonderfully and as fate would have us, we're enjoying our last bottle of the vintage. — 6 years ago

James Forsyth

8.9

Fairly light IPA that packs some floral notes that are overt but not unsubtle. Pretty good. — 7 years ago

Mario Forgione

9.1

Bit crisp with a touch of fruity. Pairs well with grilled chicken or pork. — 7 years ago

David White

9.1

Probably the last vintage by one of the region's most celebrated producers.now in private equity hands sadly a fate befalling many family owned wineries.
A wine of flavour concentration and finesse, dark crimson with inviting aromas of black cherry, red fruit and some cedar. Delicious with well-integrated tannins, nice mouthfeel and long finish. — a year ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

Boah! This was brilliant (and even more so with our top notch dim sum lunch!). Wish I had more time to see it unfold further, but alas such was the fate of a wine so delicious - gone too soon. Started off toasty, citrussy, and nutty, but as the bubble dissipated, notes of red fruits, hot cross buns, and floral nuances revealed themselves. Only in the last sip did the mineral notes peek through. Concentrated, vinous, and very long on the palate. I would even call it rich, but never tiring courtesy of the lively acids. Ah, such energy! A wine that falls into the coveted category of “power without weight” for me. — 4 years ago

Severn G

9.2

Nose has ripe plum, crushed dark chocolate, moist fig, slight vanilla and dried violets.

Palate has dried blackberry, eucalyptus, ripe plum, blueberry/cinnamon, dehydrated cherry with mostly resolved tannins. Long finish.

Decanted +4H at the time of notes, but improving with more time...a delicious bottle still.

Paired with Chuck Eye steaks from Kinderhook Farm (Valatie, NY); honestly the best (local) beef source in the Berkshire (MA) / Columbia (NY) County areas. Grilled in a mere 12m to perfect 135° centers. I think the Chuck cut for a steak is quite under rated; it's incredibly moist and tender with it's incorporated fats that just fall apart under high heat.

I fell to the same fate on this bottle as the prior a few years back, perfectly clean cork but extracted in 3/4 & 1/4 status. Should use the Durand for subsequent bottles. — 5 years ago

Annabel Danchuk

9.1

So smooth and easy to drink on it's own. — 6 years ago

Roy Nichol

9.0

Very smooth. Nice — 6 years ago

Paolo Pascolo

9.1

Great nose and taste. A perfect balance between the fruity flavors of Traminer and the herbal notes of Sauvignon. Organic wine! — 7 years ago

Matt

9.0

This definitely tastes like a serious effort; focused, lots of textural and phenolic character, racy acid. I dig it a lot especially on day 2. The Burgundian approach appears to show well here and the wine offers more non-fruit character/intrigue. Crisp yellow apple, orchard blossom, tea leaf, green herb, saline, crushed white rock. Slight aldehydic note coming through on the finish that I don’t find offensive, I think it’s adding something. Curious how this will unwind given how coiled the palate is right now — 8 years ago

Josh

9.0

Dinner by Lugano, the wine is fruity, smooth refreshing — 2 years ago

Steve Ess

10

Tempt fate, and fate tempts you back — 2 years ago

with Laura

Omar Gomes Bravio

9.0

Soft & easy — 4 years ago

Alder Yarrow

Wine Blogger Vinography

9.2

If there’s one type of wine I might know more about than any other it’s Weiner Gemischter Satz. Just one of those strange quirks of vinous fate combined with the mildly obsessive tendencies of a serious wine geek. Search out my article on it in World of Fine Wine if you want all 8000 words. For now let’s just enjoy the fruits of wunderkind Jutta Ambrositch, who got tired of sitting behind a computer all day and wandered into the vineyards of Vienna, where she still wanders to this day, making the traditional field blends that are both responsible for and symbolic of Vienna’s urban wine scene. Her early efforts were excellent, and her latest wines, like this one, demonstrate a level of refinement and mastery that is quite impressive. This wine comes from 5 different vineyards in Vienna on both sides of the Danube planted with a dizzying array of grape varieties, some of which haven’t been fully identified yet. Call it roughly 30 different grape varieties, including Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, Zierfandler, Frühroter, Chardonnay, etc. etc. tastes of stone fruit and citrus, crushed stones and herbs. Snappy, with fantastic acidity and quite elegant and lean for Gemischter Satz, which can, if picked later, be more weighty. This is simply a delight to drink.
.⁣ — 5 years ago

Troy Dupuis

9.0

Yes a California Tempranillo — 6 years ago

Willie Carter

8.9

A deep garnet with hints of medium cherry undertones. Really intriguing nose that starts off with plenty of oak and blackberries, but then transitions to notes of leather, tobacco, and wet moss. What I want to say is that this is a very pretty wine, which it is, but it’s also so very big. It’s a huge Napa Cab which can be the death knell for so many wines but she manages to deftly avoid that fate. Plush and quite smooth on the tongue, there’s well integrated tannins and a certain lusciousness to this wine. Upon opening, there’s a surfeit of oak but that quickly fades and some really nice fruit shows. Blue and black berries, mint, chocolate, and herbs on the palate. Very nice long finish with some mild spice. — 6 years ago

Kelsey L. Smith

9.5

Crisp and not overly bitter. Easy to drink. — 7 years ago