Hartwell Vineyards

Hartwell Vineyards

Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Paul J
9.3

1hr+ decant. Red, maroon, prune color. Dark stewed fruit with some floral elements on the nose. Nose and flavor weren’t connected. Wine was pretty one dimensional with no real standout characteristics. Medium minus depth and finish. Not bad, had higher expectations. — 25 days ago

Brooke Weaver Jakubowski
with Brooke
Tom, Tom and 5 others liked this

Larkmead Vineyards

LMV Salon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2010

2010. Tasting with the 2014 Hartwell. This one is more herbaceous. Minerally backbone. Flavor is more complex but not as smooth and round. 9.2+ — 4 years ago

Hartwell Vineyards

Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

Softer, still good fruit. — 5 years ago

Shay, Ron and 3 others liked this
Mark Turner

Mark Turner

Had the notes crossed on this one. This wine was past its prime. It ranked 9 out of 11 in our “97 Cali cab blind tasting. A little raspberry mid palate, but no finish whatsoever.

Hartwell Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Paul J
9.5

This was awesome! Dark red color. Baking spices dominate with black fruit. Medium plus depth and very refined. Loved it!! — 3 months ago

Tom, Paul and 2 others liked this

Hartwell Vineyards

h by Hartwell Sauvignon Blanc 2013

Rich and smooth with nice balance at this age. Not worth it at $40, but stellar sub $20 on a close out. Well made oaked Sauv. Blanc. — 4 years ago

KrisTodd Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

The 2nd go round for this vintage and I would say it got better. It was shared in a side by side comparison to an ‘11 Hartwell and delivered a big nose, with the equal burst of flavors that just kept evolving throughout the night. — 5 years ago

Shay liked this

Hartwell Vineyards

Estate Grown Merlot 2013

Really enjoyed this — 9 months ago

Shay and Severn liked this

Hartwell Vineyards

Estate Merlot 2013

Underrated by all accounts. Hartwell and Merlot. Drinking really well right now. Super texture and finish. — 5 years ago

Brandon, Mike and 6 others liked this

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+
— 7 years ago

P, Shawn and 17 others liked this