Jim McCusker

9.7

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! — 4 hours ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.8

From Manfred Krankle’s Third Twin label. Just awesome. — 11 days ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.6

Lucky me! — a month ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.4

From Paul Lato, the 2018 is 80% syrah and 20% grenache. Really closed out of the gate and never really opened up over the course of an hour or two in the glass, we put the cork back in and put it in the fridge. Tried it again after a couple of days. Unbelievable difference - really terrific. I’d suggest a multi-hour decant on this one or forget about it for a couple of years. Either of these approaches and you’ll be treated to another great wine from Paul Lato. — a month ago

with Chris and Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.5

Had this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post it. Purchased at the winery a few years ago. Can’t remember details, but it was far better after a few years in the cellar than what I recall from tasting it at the winery. Definitely a pleasant surprise! — 4 days ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.8

Off-the-charts awesome. And drinking absolutely perfect right now. Rich, with incredible aromatics, layers of black currant, cocoa, cassis, glycerine...just fantastic. One of the best cabs I’ve had in a long time. — 18 days ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.4

Late into our Zoom Happy Hour, we decided to open up The Bard. Since I only have older vintages of Realm (yeah, I know: poor me), I decided on the 2008. From the nose and palate I would have bet anything that this had a fair amount of cab franc in the blend, but it’s mainly cab sauvignon with about 15% petite verdot and a little malbec, I think. Anyway, this is holding up really well - and never lost a beat over several hours. I know their more recent vintages are knocking it out of the park in terms of scores, but if you have any bottles from their earlier years (first vintage of Realm was 2002), do yourself a favor and pull out one of these older bottles. They’re really good and will remind you that they were still making some pretty damn good juice before they got too cool for school. — a month ago

with Chris, David and 1 other

Jim McCusker

9.7

Purchased at the winery a few years ago, this is awesome. Amazing secondary aromas, this is a seamless expression of mourvedre that exhibits incredible complexity. Just an aweome wine. — 6 days ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.0

A really nice wine from Verterra, who in my opinion is one of the best producers in Michigan. This one seems to have a slight trace of residual sugar. Doesn’t work so well just below room temp, but cool it down and it really comes into balance. Had it with cream cheese-stuffed jalapeños with a sweet Thai chili sauce. Excellent. Highly recommend this winery. — 18 days ago

with Vanessa

Jim McCusker

9.6

Not that I’m ever surprised by an awesome chardonnay from Mark Aubert, but the 2018 UV-SL is the closest thing I’ve had to my favorite of his chards, the Lauren Vineyard wines. This is just spectacular. — a month ago

with Vanessa