Norman Gennaro

8.9

Certainly the label has seen better days. I recall being a little disappointed with this wine when I tried it a ways back. Decided to hold them and see. It’s not as backwards but missing much of a nose and finish. Let’s see if air does anything. Decanting it. — 14 days ago

Tom Garland

9.3

Fun night!!
5th annual Inspire Napa for alzheimer research event.
Welcome dinner at Mending Wall Winery

WINES:
Abreu
Lokoya
Ovid
Mending Wall

MEAL PREPARED BY:
Brad Grimes (Abreu)
Antonio Galloni (Vinous)
Mark Pulido (Pulido-Walker)
Frank Dotzler (Outpost wines) — 4 months ago

with Brenda

Tom Garland

9.3

Cliff Lede Winery cage match tonight. All wines decanted 2 hours.
2012 Cliff Lede Poetry..Stags Leap Vineyard
2012 Cliff Lede Songbook...Abreu Madrona/Thorevilos vineyard.
2012 Cliff Lede...Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard

Poetry(9.3). Wine to drink now. Subdued nose. Taste: smooth, velvety, soften tannins, dark cherry, cedar, spice, orange rind, dark chocolate.

Lede To Kalon (9.2). Very expressive nose. Taste: smooth, soft, velvety, red and blue fruit, cedar, cinnamon, spice, smokey oak.

Songbook(9.1). Wine I would like to drink with 5 more years on it and might move to top score. Subdued nose. Taste: smooth, red fruit, cedar, spice, cassis, charcoal, touch of heat on the end and some still there kicken tannins — 2 years ago

with Brenda and Jill

Lawrence Bernstein

9.1

8/24 Beautiful old wine with plenty of power at 32 years old. Wonderful balance. Soft. 91 — a month ago

Delectable Wine

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9.7

The 2012 Cappella is classy, elegant and wonderfully expressive. Just starting to open, the 2012 offers up a beguiling mix of dark fruit, cinnamon, blood orange, mocha and new leather. Plush contours add to its immediacy and overall appeal. What a gorgeous wine it is. As is typically the case, the Cappella is the most sensual and alluring wine in the range. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2024)
— 4 months ago

Tom Garland

9.4

Inspire Napa Valley Sat. afternoon tasting with Antonio Galloni. Panel includes:
Brad Grimes - winemaker Abreu
Helen Keplinger- Keplinger wine
Mary Maher - Silverado farming
Francois Peschon -accendo, vine hill ranch
Jason Smith- MS

WINES
2018 BV George de Latour
2019 Stags Leap SLV
2018 DVO Napa Valley Red
2017 Bond Quella
2019 Lingua Franca estate chardonnay
2019 Domaine de Bichery brut champagne

Each panel member picked a wine that had an impact on them. — a year ago

with Brenda

Donald Williams

9.0

Roller coaster wine. This one was really nice. — 2 years ago

with Bonnie

Akshay Venkitasubramanian

9.0

Great bottle - full bodied - a strong finisher for large meal — 3 months ago

Tom Garland

9.5

1 hour decant(lots of fine/cloudy sediment). A remarkable deep purplish garnet color. On the nose: stewed sour red berries, menthol, cassis, floral, graphite. Taste: Wow!! Silky, creamy, elegant, fresh, dense mouthfeel wine with blackberry, cassis, earth, graphite, and a slightly spiced herb and tar medium plus finish. YUM! Glad to have 2 more bottles. — 3 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

The follow up to the 03 Leonetti. @Paul T- Huntington Beach & I have been telling readers about older Jones Family Vineyards for some time. If you haven’t had or not tried this producer it will be the last time I try to entice to you to try this producer. Talking about it more will only drive up the prices on the secondary market.

This 09 is damn beautiful after nearly a four hour decant but it is still fairly youthful.

It is ruby, lush, gorgeous, ripe fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum with skin, dark cherries, plum, hues of purple, blue fruits & raspberries, poached strawberries, black licorice, mixed, dark berry cola, steeped black tea, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, dry top soil, dry herbs, hints of eucalyptus, dry clay, dry tobacco, new leather, spice, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, withering red & dark florals framed in violets & lavender, beautiful round acidity, beautiful; balance, tension, structured, smartly polished finished that lasts minutes.

Still needs another 5-8 years to show its best self.

The Jones Family vineyard is located off Bale Lane in Calistoga and was planted to all five Bordeaux varieties by David Abreu in the early 1990s. Heidi Barrett made the wines until 2008, and Thomas Rivers Brown now makes the wines. — 8 months ago