Brad Jensen

9.2

So first, a caveat: This NEEDS food! It just does. When first opened I really wasn’t a fan, tried to pair it with some lighter charcuterie fare and cheese and it just did not gel. It isn’t the crisp, light bodied chard you’d expect it to be, it’s full bodied, thick, and complex, but once we found the right food, paired with steelhead salmon cooked in butter and bacon grease, wooooah, this moves like you’d found the perfect dancing partner. The color is typical Chardonnay yellow with green hues towards the middle, with strong Meyer lemon and slight dusty stone in on the nose, maybe even some leafy, vegetal notes hidden in there. — a year ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.4

Needs a couple hours of air & a few oz of 🥩
K&L notes as follows,

We sell a lot of this favorite second wine and the 1999 is quite elegant, with intense concentration and complexity. Plus, it is drinking well now. This estate is one of K&L’s veteran Bordeaux expert Ralph Sands’ favorites. I just tasted (July 7) another bottle from this recent shipment. Wonderful Bordeaux to drink tonight with a lamb chop. Some smoky aromas with cola and red fruit undertones. Typical, elegant 1999 Bordeaux with a sweet middle palate and smooth finish.
Drink from 2016 to 2024 — 5 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Thanksgiving wine 2019. Red cherry licorice and a hint of cola. At first this wine was a bit acidic but needed about 30 minutes to work itself out. Graphite hits in the middle. Medium + bodied wine. Got a little brambly towards the finish bit definitely not in a bad way. Going to hold nicely for the next 10 years. Beautifully done. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Ready to rock and roll. Blackberry and red clay on the nose. Entry of black cherry and cola with acidic character. Middle is dark, smoky, leather, more blackberry and hint of cocoa. Still finishes with a young semi sweet baking chocolate and Rutherford dust! Black pepper finish is unmistakable with a ton of black fruit, and plenty of life left. Dang. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.3

Very New World style. By the nose and palate, this one allost seemed to resemble a Malbec. I believe this is 100% Merlot. Decadent black and purple youthful fruit and a hint of chocolate on the nose. Entry is gritty, black and purple fruit with cocoa nibs and herbal character. Herbs carry to the middle where a baking spice note shows, but again this wind seems to have more of a dark purple and tarry black fruit background. Very weighted finish. Thick and inky. I think this could benefit from a few more years of bottle aging but drinking well now! — 7 years ago

with Dan and Shay

Mark Flesher

9.4

Really still not able to be rated right now but would be solid at 94 (previous rating given here). This wine is so young that it was finally starting to show its character after being open for an hour and a half....but overall, still locked up. Nose on this wine is hawthorne, rose petal, and red fruits. The wine is medium bodied, red fruit dense, medium acidity to the middle, and finishes with anise and red clay notes among a floral and youthful red berry backbone. The proper thing to do with this wine is cellar it for another 5 years. Considering that I've now consumed 9 of 12 bottles purchased, that's not going so well. Will go another 10 years with ease. — 8 years ago

DAL 9000

9.4

Mild mild aroma of citrus and green apples. Green apple citrus tartness in the middle then a quick finish. — 4 years ago

Jay Lash

9.5

A favorite for both of us — 4 years ago

Erin Miskey

8.9

Crisp, enjoyable, would order again! Vinovore — 5 years ago

Andrew Lohse

8.9

Fairly classic, down-the-middle Sonoma style if that’s your thing — 6 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

A lot of floral lift at the front. Wonderful drive and freshness through the middle. Definition, lemon curd, some saline. This is great and really long. Wow. — 7 years ago

with Bex

Mark Flesher

9.1

This wine had really good black cherry aromatics along with a bit of a savory character. The entry of this wine is medium-bodied at best, and then it sort of descends into a hole in the middle. Makes a nice comeback in the finish, with some mint and black cherry. Very stiff youthful oak tannin finish. This seems to be a producer that sided on the Traditionalist side in the Barolo wars, and this is the side I typically prefer. However, this one just didn't have the complexity, no fault of its own. Will be a monster in 10 years. — 7 years ago

with Dan

Mark Flesher

9.4

Opened tonight. And, I feel like a broken record saying that here is ANOTHER great 2011 considering the "damned vintage" that this one received press for being. I have 43 more 2011 Napa wines and I have a feeling that I'm going to be writing the same thing another 43 times. Not powerful, but these wines truly show the complexity that Napa cab CAN be. Nose of iodine, black licorice. Very front of this wine is sweeter black cherry giving way to an herbal infused middle (getting more dried basil with a hint of oregano and cumin). The red clay terroir is unmistakably present here through the middle and finish, which is usually more present for Ponente only at the very finish. The wine finishes with black cherry and black licorice dominated notes. I have a feeling that this wine is still on the way up. Has a few more years until it is at the top of the hill, but drinking OH SO WELL right now. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

Out of the 4 wines opened at The Bird, this one edged out the Numanthia 12 by a hair. Quite similar profiles IMO. This Walla Walla Syrah was quite enjoyable with dark black fruit on the front. Consistent with the 2015 I tasted a bit ago but IMO, this one had a bit more of a smoked beef flavor in the middle that the dark sweet and still youthful fruit gave way. Chose this as the "food" wine since most chose the Bird Burger (a grass fed beef burger)....it went rather well. Popular with the crowd of novices and winos, the smoky finish was very complementary. Maybe I might acquire a few of these WA Syrahs afterall to have for these purposes....(not a word, @Shay A .... 😆) — 8 years ago

Ed Chin

9.2

Drinking really nicely right now. Rides the middle ground perfectly between old school and modern Napa cabs. If anything leans more old school. Not a bad vintage for this bottle given that the critics poo-poo 2011. — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

I am a big fan of David Swift Phinney wines. In 1998 David founded Orin Swift Cellars; Orin is his father’s middle name and Swift is his mother’s maiden name. Aged 10 mos in French oak, 42% new, Ruby with complex aromas of fresh fruits, floral and herb spice, nice mouthfeel. On the palate flavors of raspberry and cherry with cacao and hints of pepper spice. Rich full chewy tannins, well balanced on long finish ending with fruit and earthy spice. — 4 years ago

Kristin Cancellieri

9.0

Delicious jammy blend. Smooth hints of vanilla and pairs well with smoky bbq flank steak — 6 years ago

with Lorraine

Mark Flesher

9.3

Really nice wine just starting to get into its optimal drinking window. You can tell the youthfulness of this wine with such tannic influence on the back. Starts off with a very powerful front, would have thought more blackberry but was getting more black cherry, hint of vanilla and the hint of tart, slightly underripened blueberry. Gained a graphite and herbal quality in the middle. Finishes with a lot of stiff, neutral oak tannin. I think this one is going to be a solid 95 in about 5 years or so. To those that have a lot of these, this one is solid now and likely progressively so over the next 15 years. — 7 years ago

with Bryan, Dan and 3 others

Mark Flesher

9.3

Nice, aged Cabernet. Debated opening this one. This started more on the plum and raisin side and a little muted. 15 minutes later? Fig and mushroom with basil and oregano, but not a whole lot of fruit. 30 minutes after that? Dirty black cherry, plums, seemed to find itself after a 31 year sleep. Rather substantial weight in the middle. Finishes with a gritty note. Tannins are definitely dropping here and this one is showing all it has. Good time to drink now! — 7 years ago

with Dan, Shay and 1 other

Shay A

9.5

Day 2 of Napa in the books!

20yrs young! This was also served to us blind and we all guessed it was mid-late 2000s Seavey Cab. All the red and black fruit notes are still present with mellowed out tannin. Very smooth and polished. Big note of baked mixed berry (cherry, blackberry) pie that is covered in a cloud of sweet vanilla pipe tobacco. Ripe & rich up front, savory in the middle, balanced finish. Incredible for its age. — 7 years ago