Wayfarer
Fort Ross - Seaview Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2018
2018 vintage. Impressively smooth. Medium body. Decanted and tasted after 30 minutes. Good length of finish and smooth throughout the palate push. Consistent style and producer. Personally want more tannins/dirt/earth but this isn’t playing that game. Verry nice for the game it is playing. 11.8.24. — 7 days ago
Hall Wines
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
2018 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 2.5 hours. It’s easily been a decade+ since tasting their entry level stuff. Medium/medium heavy body. A bit riper than expected. Haven’t come across those levels of ripeness on their higher end stuff in the last few years. Can see why some would absolutely love this tho. Missing structure that usually accompanies Hall reds. For such a big *ss vintage, thought there would be mas. Sadly, no. 11.7.24. — 8 days ago
Paul Hobbs
Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
2014 vintage. Excellent fill and cork. Not decanted. Tasted after 1.25 hours open. The best red I’ve ever tasted from Paul Hobbs (and have had approx 125 samples over the years-including the high-end bleep). In a really admirable place currently between integration and balance, fruit and tannins. Will it improve? Doubtful. Can it hold steady for a spell? Definitely. Not exactly the biggest fan of what consists of To Kalon/Tokalon juice/interpretation these days vs the 60’s/70’s/80’s/earlyish 90’s but this was phenomenal. Medium body with respectable sed. A mullet wine…all business up front with a party on the back palate. Color me surprised and impressed. 11.8.24. — 8 days ago
Colgin Cellars
Herb Lamb Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1994
1994 vintage. Nice fill with a slightly shrunken and fully saturated cork. Durand helped plenty in the opening assist. Not decanted and tasted after 1.25 hours open. Hadn’t tasted since the early 2000’s. Definitely dropped all the baby fat. Toffee, coffee and chocolate covered cherries in the nose. Light medium body (thought it would be a touch bigger). Still plenty of focus but slightly less grip than desired. Can it match biggie shizz like Montelena, Dunn, Diamond Creek, BV GDL Reserve, Mondavi Reserve, Araujo, Peter Michael Les Pavots, Mayacamas, etc? No. Is it really really nice? Absolutely. Can hold another 5-6 years at this juncture before boarding the downhill bell curve train. 11.8.24. — 8 days ago
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego
2019 vintage. Great, earthy, mocha nose. Medium body. 18% Cab, 18% Franc, 64% Merlot. Slightly dryer style. Obvious class afoot but not super-demonstrative. 11.15.24. — 16 hours ago