Tom Casagrande

8.8

Nice, pure, high-toned cherry/raspberry fruit in the nose, along with some stony minerality. Almost reminiscent of a garnacha for Navarra. Nice concentration and balance in the mouth. Not complex but pure. Some chalky tannin. Nice pizza wine. — 19 hours ago

Tom Casagrande

9.0

Nice cheap date! Nose is a bit feral and meaty, with lots of stony minerality and dark blackberry skins. Almost Northern Rhône like. Full and relatively soft, with surprising acidity for the south, and lots of pure, savory flavors. Great value! — 5 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.4

This is a young but great Barolo. With air, the nose shows beautiful, intense cherry fruit, minerally gravel, licorice, and yes, tar and faded roses. Damn. Really good depth of flavor, nice acidity, lots of fine-grained tannin. Maybe not a 20 year wine but this will get even better over the next several years. — 13 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.9

Delectable lists this as a Nebbiolo, but I think it’s a blend. It’s as honest a basic dinner wine as you can get. Flowers, earth, macerated dark cherry. Savory in the mouth, with earthy, clingy flavors, framed by good tannic and acid structure. Bottle given to me by my bro, who remembers me bringing various 1960s and 1970s Vallana wines to family dinners in the old days. — 17 days ago

with Angelo

Tom Casagrande

8.8

Seems a little disjointed at present. No fruit there until a fair amount of air, after which sour cherry emerges, along with high-toned crushed rock minerality (I’d be interested to know if there’s limestone in the soil here, as the mineral profile seems Paso-like). Lean and savory in the mouth. Lots of acidity along with peppery alcohol notes. Went well with tomato and red wine braised beef rolls but was a little challenging on it own. — 3 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.9

This wine takes me back in time to the mid-to-early 80s, when I drank a lot of Cali Chardonnay. Doesn’t skimp on the toasty, butterscotchy French oak, but it’s not over the top fruit-wise and has a bit of underlying minerality and decent acids. It should pair well with the herby braised chicken I’m making. — 11 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.7

Doesn’t skimp on flavor but this is pretty rustic. Very feral, savory nose. Pungent wet, rocky earth, leather, black pepper. In the mouth it’s tannic and very clingy.

UPDATE (Night 2): Upping from 8.6 to 8.7. It’s showing more fruit and concentration tonight. — 15 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Deep brassy-gold. Nose is very interesting: apricot, wet carbon steel, and a sweet umami-like note that slightly conjures anchovy. Deep and extremely low-toned flavors. Very Marsanne in its broad, low-toned notes and almost pungent, slightly bitter mineral finish. Unusual, but it works. — 4 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.0

A terrific (and cheap) weeknight red. There’s no indication of the blend on the bottle, but it smells and tastes like Bordeaux varieties. Beautiful sweet ripe cherry, dusty earth, baking spices. In the mouth, savory notes take over, with lots of dark minerality and dark cherry notes. Lengthy finish. Not terribly complex or deep, but very tasty and pure. — 9 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Terrific wine. Not as severe and demanding as some Sylvaner. The nose actually has some fruit! Citrusy, green apply fruit. Yes some light snap pea aromas and lots of crushed rock. Fun in the mouth, with roundness to offset the intense minerality and great acids. Juicy and mouthwatering. — 14 days ago