Shay A

9.2

Happy Easter!

This has done a lot of evolving since I had this 2-3 years ago. Pop and pour. Still just a crazy, dark black-purple in the glass, with juicy and ripe blueberries and fresh squeezed blackberries on the nose. Boysenberry, chocolate graham cracker and mixed berry pie crust too. Dense and almost a fruit bomb, but there is enough graphite and savory notes on the mid palate to prevent it from being overblown. Toes the line of being a little hot. At this stage, this is a ripe/juicy/candied Cabernet that has smooth tannins. — 10 hours ago

Shay A

9.4

Stuart Spoto and his wife spent some time visiting TX for a few days and put on a nice tasting at Classic. Talk about micro production, they only do around 500 cases of wine total across their 5-7 wines. Kind and salt of the earth type people.

The flagship wine from Spoto, this ‘15 vintage is already spectacular, and tastes better young than the big and structured ‘13 I had a year or two ago. I was actually shocked, in a good way, at how good this was. This is all To-Kalon fruit and you can taste it to the core. There is power all over this, yet an elegance and balance. Sweet cardamom, cocoa dusted dates, ripe black cherry, and cherry pipe tobacco dominate the nose. It is dense and balanced all the way on the palate...oak and nutmeg spice start it off before it turns savory and herbal on the mid palate. The finish has baked black cherry pie and some dust to it. Really great. — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.4

Today was my annual hosting of the Wednesday Wine Committee. There was 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert, all provided by me. Tasted blind, as always.

Red wine number three. You can tell there is the addition of Howell Mtn fruit in this with its wildly gripping tannins and the smallest hint of mint. Nose smells of American oak (even though this was all French oak)...has that sweet dill/coconut note. Lush blue and black fruits on the palate and cedar. Nutmeg too. Kirsch and dusty finish. Consistently a top performer for Napa Valley CabFranc. — 4 days ago

Shay A

9.4

Shay had this a day ago

with Bryan

Shay A

9.0

@Delectable Wine : This is the Spoto Napa Valley Chardonnay. I didn’t see it in the database.

Stuart Spoto and his wife spent some time visiting TX for a few days and put on a nice tasting at Classic. Talk about micro production, they only do around 500 cases of wine total across their 5-7 wines. Kind and salt of the earth type people.

This is the first time they’ve done this chardonnay as they’ve normally done an Oakville one. I asked Stuart where the fruit was from and he said spring mountain. Wow! Never would have guessed. This is light, acidic, and fairly Burgundian. Oak gives this a banana bread type note, but plenty of slate and stone fruits here. Young. Needs another year or two. — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.3

Today was my annual hosting of the Wednesday Wine Committee. There was 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert, all provided by me. Tasted blind, as always.

Wine number four in a flight of four Cabernet francs. Bordeaux is all over this (as it should be) with the more delicate and savory herbal notes next to some leather and pepper spice. This is probably beginning it’s prime drinking window (where I’m sure it will remain for a good while). Showed a lot of complexity. Most guessed left bank cab blend. Not very tannic, solid acidity. Old plum, black cherry core and dusty graham cracker highlight the aromatics. There is a mix of red and black licorice on the palate next to bay leaf and cocoa dusted dates which works really well. — 4 days ago

with Dan, Andrew and 3 others

Shay A

9.4

Stuart Spoto and his wife spent some time visiting TX for a few days and put on a nice tasting at Classic. Talk about micro production, they only do around 500 cases of wine total across their 5-7 wines. Kind and salt of the earth type people.

This was pulled out at the end of the night (along with one of their Enrico wines) by a supporter who was there and it was in contention for WOTN. 80/20 merlot/Malbec. Epitomizes iron fist in a velvet glove. It’s ripe and juicy with loads of candied fruit (red, blue and black) and dark chocolate aromatics. Similar on the palate with smooth tannins...vanilla pipe tobacco and graham cracker. The Malbec shows itself most toward the finish as the fruit turns a bit tart and inky. So good. — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.2

Stuart Spoto and his wife spent some time visiting TX for a few days and put on a nice tasting at Classic. Talk about micro production, they only do around 500 cases of wine total across their 5-7 wines. Kind and salt of the earth type people.

This is close to half Cabernet, the rest a Cabernet Franc and merlot blend (and a dash of Malbec). After about 30mins, this changed dramatically as the Cabernet franc took over. Very floral and spicy. Darker profile but the fruit is more black cherry like. Distinct note of red clay. Needs time. — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.4

Today was my annual hosting of the Wednesday Wine Committee. There was 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert, all provided by me. Tasted blind, as always.

Birth year Sauternes. Drinking just like you’d expect a 31yr old Sauternes to be drinking, and maybe even slightly younger. Basically perfect provenance, the color has really darkened over the last 2-3yrs. Amber in the glass and molasses like up front. This checks all the boxes for Classic Sauternes. Honeyed sweet fruits with ripened pineapple, golden peach and nectarine with a touch of savory/nutty notes on the finish. Very lengthy finish with tons of complexity and life left. Wish I had another 1-2 bottles! — 4 days ago

with Dan, Andrew and 3 others

Shay A

9.3

Today was my annual hosting of the Wednesday Wine Committee. There was 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert, all provided by me. Tasted blind, as always.

Red wine number two. I’ve had a few of these small lot wines from Murrieta’s Well and Robbie Meyer has obviously paid nice attention to them as these are excellent Livermore Valley examples. The merlot was just wonderful and this is close behind. A bit more dense in style than most cab francs, showing sweet and ripe dark fruit all over with a touch of typical Livermore Valley black licorice. Zero pepper to this, and not much savory traits either. I poured this blind for some people and the common guess was Cab/Syrah Blend. Juicy and ripe but deep and concentrated. I think this needs another 2-3yrs but nice with about a two hour decant. Many thanks to @Jason and Jennie for introducing me to these wines. — 4 days ago

with Dan, Andrew and 3 others