Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Beautiful. Young Tempranillo is rough & rugged Wild West tumble weed. This is soft, ruby, lush falling onto minerality and dry brush.

The fruits are dryish to ripe, creamy and rich; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum into black plum pudding, dark cheries, blueberries hues on the long set, dry tobacco, sandalwood to cedar, dry herb-sage & thyme driven, limestone/sandstone minerals, black pepper, anise to black licorice, dark chocolate, caramel, mocha, moist, grey, volcanic clay, withering, dark red, flowers, round acidity, balance, softened tensioned, nicely structured and polish for days that lasts two-minutes.

Paired this with/ a dry rub tri-tip and a burgundy marinaded Cardiff Crack tri-tip. Both very different and enjoyable, but this was a slightly more enjoyable with the Cardiff Crack burgundy marinate.

Photos of; two of their different seasonal vinyards, cave entrance & large cellar vats. — 2 years ago

Lauren D

9.2

Dry and crisp not too oaky — 5 years ago

EL

9.4

Smells like weed. Textural, long & mildly peppery finish. — 7 years ago

Robert Piazza

9.0

This wine was delicious! Notes of dark fruit and pepper. Opened up as the night went on. Thanks to @Jeremiah Townsend for sharing this amazing wine with me :-) can’t wait for the next Bandol!! — 8 years ago

with Jeremiah

Kyle Bella

9.2

A bit of a revelation domestically. Dank on the nose (weed gummies is how the winemaker describes it and he isn’t wrong), loaded with juicy fruit, tart acidity but more savory qualities to follow, underscored by a vegetal structure. — 8 years ago

Simon Lowzy

9.0

Weed, jasmin tea, nice earthy bitter finish. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose, sweet & slightly baked; blackberries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, raspberries & dark cherries. Raspberry cola, perfect intensity of baking spices, soft & savory grilled meats, touch of fresh herbs, just a whiff of pepper, lavender, lilacs and liquid violets. The palate is full bodied, round & lush. The M-M+ tannins are soft and round and about 60% resolved. Gorgeous in the mouth. The fruits are creamy in style. Ripe; blackberries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, raspberries, dark cherries and ripe strawberries. Raspberry cola, vanilla, understated spice, pepper, savoy grilled meats, dry herbs, dry crushed rock powder, a little underbrush, iron pan, loamy dry top soil, some black moist earth, hint of mocha powder, milk chocolate, cigar ash, suede style leather, lavender, lilacs & liquid violets, perfect, round, mouthwatering acidity, great; balance, structure, tension and length. The very long finish is round, lush and has sex appeal. It's drinking really well with a hour/hour & half decant. Better in 1-2 years and has another 4-7 years of really good drinking ahead of it. Great pair with the grilled Kentucky Bourbon marinated chicken skewers and seasoned wild rice. Photos of; Eric Jensen (Owner/Winemaker), tasting room bar, Eric working harvest and the Booker vineyard. Producer notes and history...Booker gets it's name from the two orphan brothers, Claude and Dick Booker, who had purchased the land in the late 1920’s. By the turn of the century, the Booker brothers acquired over 1,200 acres on Paso's westside. The Booker brothers dedicated their lives to being great farmers and humanitarians. Aside from lending their farming knowledge and manual labor to neighbors, they were the area's biggest philanthropists, leaving 100% of their estate to charity when they passed, Dick in 1990 and Claude in 2000. Eric and Lisa Jensen purchased 100 acres of the property in 2001. After making wine with Justin Smith (Saxum) for five years and Stephan Asseo (L'Aventure Wines) for two years, the Jensen's started Booker Vineyard. The 2005 vintage was Eric Jensen first release. Booker produces about 4,500 cases a year depending on what Mother-nature gives them. Booker is located on the westside of Paso Robles, immediately joining the famous Stephan Vineyards that produce L'Aventure Wines. The high-density vineyard is mostly Rhone varieties planted on steep hillsides of calcareous shale. They farm organically, sustainable and biodynamic and treat the entire vineyard as a living organism. Booker uses animals (normally sheep) for weed control and solar panels are placed at the house and winery. The Jensen's are definitely doing things right. If you haven't tried Booker, it's worth your effort. — 9 years ago

with Ronald

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Have not had 100% Pinot Meunier that was not from Champagne and in bubble form. This is from Napa/Carneros.

Still young and would prefer to have this in 3-5 yrs.

The palate is dark fruits. Not quite Santa Rita Hills extraction but more than most Northern California.

It is still a bit angular. Blackberries, black raspberries, black plum w/ heavy skin, dark cherries, plum and some poached strawberries. Grainy limestone, dry stone, dark top soil, lots dark spice, cinnamon stick, clove, nutmeg, some pepper, dry tobacco, new leather, grilled meats, dry tumble weed, dry, red, dark flowers with violets, fresh acidity and a balanced, highly structured/tensioned, polished finish that lasts 90 seconds.

Many would call CDP on this blind. — 2 years ago

Phil Castellano

9.3

Now this is an IPA made for Jeff. Pine and diesel. — 6 years ago

Kenta Hayashi

9.5

Dried herbs, weed, and hay. Dried prunes raisins, light liquorice, and red raspberry compote. Earl grey tea, bergamote. Autumn leaves and fresh composte. Christmas candy cane. Once again, ethereal. A Burgundian Rhone. Even more tea like after some time. — 8 years ago

Kenta Hayashi

9.1

Cool menthol, raspberry sauce, goji berries, dried herbs and weed. Juicy acidity, medicinal in a positive way, overly concentrated roobois tea, and medium plus finish. — 8 years ago

Toonie Doolins

9.0

work 12 hours. rub weed balm on wrists. spend a while wondering if you're stoned or just really tired. drink 3 glasses of champalou vouvray. this shit is musical. — 8 years ago

Evie Olson

9.4

Way northern Vineyard where they also grow weed. Only sell to anthill farms. Dry farming and organic. Crazy aromatic with dried rose petals, pine and forest floor. Weighty yet fresh on the palate. — 9 years ago

William Paley

9.5

like sucking candy coated stones thru a straw……so-called salamander sassafras, you’ve heard of it. car crushes. weed windows. blanket statements. torch songs. — 4 years ago

with Jess

Doggfather

8.9

Was hoping for more — 4 years ago

Sarah

9.2

Octfest watermelon <3 — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.0

Birth year bottle #1 popped today to celebrate 40! Glad the cork on this one was popped today. definitely the good advice of someone who knew a little more than I did. This wine was not bad, but it was definitely not stellar. Probably about 5 to 7 years post prime. The news was a lot of must and weed and cut grass. I did let this sit for about 20 minutes to slow ox and figure out some things. The entry was a combination of tart cherry, a little hint of plum and raisin. Fruit profile was definitely giving more of the way to a dried tobaccoit was still a little bit funky and had plenty of soil and mushroom. Definitely past its prime, but enjoyable. Very glad that I only have one bottle. — 7 years ago

with Dan and Clare

Shengli Hu

9.0

Amber color, (dry) hoppy: tropical fruits, resin/weed. No sourness, grapefruit, bitter on the finish. — 8 years ago

Weijie Shi (Jay)

9.0

Very obvious dill weed and coconut on the nose with a hint of tobacco leaves. Fruit condition is ripe, borderline overripe. Delicious — 9 years ago

Robert Piazza

10

With 28-day dry aged steaks. leather and cloves on the nose. Nicely tannic to bite into the steak. Opened up beautifully. A wonderful gift from Jeremiah from his cousins in France. Privileged to share this bottle with them!! — 9 years ago

with Jeremiah and Maureen