Tom Garland

9.3

Pop and pour from MAG. A splendid light gold color. On the nose: apple, honeydew melon, banana, crushed stone, floral. Taste: still young at 11 years. Fresh, chalky, with depth and character. Notes of pear, nectarine, lemon & lime, and a white pepper minerally long lean finish. YUM! — 3 months ago

with Brenda

Rick Castaneda

9.0

Black currant, black raspberry, gentle earthiness, black pepper, and slight star anise at the end. Lovely example of a Willamette Pinot. Medium to full body with medium tannins. Performed even better after decanting. — 9 months ago

with Kimberly

Scott E. Becker

9.0

[Tasted on March 15, 2024 at Richland Country Club in Nashville]

49% Cabernet Sauvignon; 21% Malbec; 17% Merlot; 8% Petit Verdot; 4% Syrah; 1% Carmenere. Chalk Hill AVA is a sub-appellation of the Russian River Valley AVA and is known for its chalky white ash soils. Restrained red currant fruit with mineral and graphite notes. Balanced and Bordeaux-like. — 9 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

Aromatic notes of rose and violet. Great depth of delicious flavour on the medium bodied palate. Red fruits - savoury and rich. See previous note for the 2014 - always excellent but 8 years of cellaring has enhanced this wine. To have won the Jimmy Watson Trophy for the Best One Year Old Dry Red at Royal Melbourne and still starring now at 8 years of age shows this is a wine for all seasons and all years. Should be a regular purchase. A Winner. — 2 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Light yellow in colour. Paraffin notes with Toast and Honey on the nose. Good refreshing citric acid (lime and lemon) - still very youthful at 12 years of age. On the palate, purity and power with amazing flavour persistence. Regarded as one of Australia’s Premium Rieslings with good reason. — 3 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.

The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.

The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.

The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — 9 months ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Our relatively new good boi Bandol is wondering when he’ll get a little treat tonight. In the meantime, this is a nice value treat for me. Think of it as the Napa version of a top-flight Cru Bourgeois. Nose has a lot going on. Vanilla, cedar, plummy fruit, graphite, dry gravel, new leather. Nicely balanced and round in the mouth. Tannins are quite soft. Not great concentration but loads of flavor. Some alcoholic pepperiness pokes through on the back half of the palate. But can’t complain at all at under $30 (except about the unnecessarily heavy bottle). — a year ago

Bob McDonald

9.8

Still a very dense crimson with no tawny rim, at 28 years of age but the tawniness is beginning. A certain feral, Animale, earthy note. Palate is ultra smooth, medium bodied / very savoury yet with a sweetish earthy note with a hint of raspberry. Jancis Robinson was invited by Stephen Henschke to a vertical tasting at the winery in May 2013 to cover vintages back to the late 1950’s. She described the 1996 as “pure hedonism “ and gave it 19/20. Medium plus intensity on the delicious palate with those gnarled old 160 year vines showing through. An absolutely stunning wine - one of the best we’ve had this year. — 8 months ago

Brad Jensen

9.0

Bought at the winery in 2021 just as things started to lift for COVID, and we brought our dog Murph along. This has sat for a bit, with three sediment coating the inside of the bottle, and is starting to show some age, with a pale red, somewhat fig color, with amber notes and bricking to the edges. The nose is tart, with more hints of fig, iron/blood, and a little iodine, with some softer fig newton and dark plum notes to finish. The palate is still acidic, with a little smoke or charcoal, super ripe strawberries, star anise, grapefruit, butterscotch, some iodine or apple cider vinegar, grandma’s fruit chew gummies, some iron and age elements of amber and velvet present at the finish. Tiva said Hawaiian Punch! — 9 months ago

Paul J

9.0

Dark red color. Seemed restrained and young. Dark fruit with medium depth. Reminded me a little of the single vineyard Sequoia Grove cabs but at a much better price point. — 2 years ago

with Brooke and Steve