Dave

9.5

Oof, this should be a Friday wine, not a Wednesday. Absolutely fantastic Merlot. Beautiful orange meniscus with a clear edge. Blowing seven kinds of smoke on the nose, but the wine is soft with pleasing dark berries, blood orange, and a little chalk. Not going to improve any more with further aging, so it's good I didn't wait until Friday! Less than 500 cases produced. Oh, and the bottle weighs a metric ton.
Listening to Johnny Hiland ❤️ — 3 months ago

Shay A

9.4

On my first trip out to Napa (2015), Jarvis was one of the favorites, and so we went back in 2016 and again in 2018. We go to Napa every year, and it’s one of the only wineries we have visited multiple times.

This was part of a retrospective on 2012 Napa cabs, alongside Shafer HSS, Scarecrow, Morlet CdV, Bryant DB4, Dominus, Pulido Walker Melanson, Kapscandy, Buccella Cuvee Katrina Eileen and others. Definitely the most restrained.

For some reason, I always get a streak of green peppercorn on all of the reds from Jarvis. It’s not off putting, just a signature of the winemaking. I’ve never found these wines to be overblown/high alcohol. They aren’t quite Bordeaux like, but they are clearly in between current Napa style and a restrained bridge to Bordeaux. This 2012 was true to the above. Aromatics here has green peppercorn, tar, underripe black fruits and a very fragrant potpourri note. Even after being open a few hours this was strong with zippy acidity surrounded by pepper crusted blackberries, mocha, black cherries and even some leather (not Brett driven, though). Blind, maybe someone takes this to left bank Bordeaux in a ripe vintage…but the kiss of sweetness is hard to take away from Napa. Wonderfully delicious and complex Cabernet starting to enter a great drinking window.

— 4 years ago

Eric

9.6

Dig it. All the trademark Buccella traits like plush candied oak with a Rhone skeleton of wild game and pepper. Cool neon purple too. Looks like they got a new winemaker in -15? Fingers crossed. — 9 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.6

Older is not better, love the Realm, Buccella had issues. — 10 years ago

Ken T

10

Off the hook Awesome! — 10 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.2

Dark fruit, opulent. Decanted for 3 hours.
Great wine produced during a tough year.
We always enjoy Buccella! — 10 years ago

chris Holmes

9.6

Yury sara katie Awesome. — 5 months ago

Chris Anton

9.5

Was sadden to hear about this amazing winery. A toast to great to those who carry on to make great wines…. — 10 months ago

Shay A

9.4

This is the youngest Buccella I’ve had, and the experience was very interesting. Knowing the style, as well as previous experiences with the producer, these fall in to the plush, decadent and hedonistic type bucket. Flavor is always turned up to 11 with silky texture. With this bottle, I experienced those things, but only in waves. It seemed to be a rollercoaster where it was rocking at pop and pour, shut down after some air, and then slightly opened back up after 24hrs.

Stain your glass purple in color! Wow. A total explosion of decadent flavors aromatically...dark chocolate shavings, cassis, baked mixed berry pie, plenty of baking spices like vanilla and nutmeg, and black licorice. On the palate, the structure is chameleon like...it pulls you in with freshly squeezed dark fruits and melted fondue chocolate before snapping back with a chewy, tannic, and dense finish. 24hrs smooths it out and reveals espresso, candied blueberries and blackberries. Fruit forward Cabernet that packs a punch but tries to soften the blow by being sexy. — 6 years ago

Shawn R

9.3

Needs about an hour to open up. Suave bottle, that was fun to drink next to the entry level Buccella. Polar opposite wines. — 8 years ago

Eric

9.2

Stood up surprisingly well next to the Buccella. Baking spice, earth, black fruit, and cranberries. A little tart and gritty on the finish but overall really solid. — 9 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.7

So close to being WOTN but just beat out by the 2010 Buccella. Deep and dark ruby red. Tons of cassis, blackberries, and thick baking spices. A little something dirty too almost like a strong cheese. Heavy tannins (8/10) with a powerful body, close to the Buccella but needs time to beef up a bit. Lots of cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, cassis and black raspberries on the palate. Killer structure and lots of balance for being so young. Super long finish. So good we had to go back and order the rest of our allocation! Drink from 2018 till 2036+. Approachable now but needs a couple hour decant. (97+) — 10 years ago

with India, David and 2 others

Charles Stanley

9.0

Rich American oak on the nose and palate. Abound with dark fruit flavors and herbaceousness. Lighter as it sits on the palate than the nose — 10 years ago

David L

9.1

13' Buccella SB. Not found on their website. Primarily sold to friends and family/tasting room. Let it warm up & open up in the glass. I get lemongrass , grapefruit, crushed stone & lively acidity. Enjoying it with salmon tonight. — 11 years ago

Lyn Farmer

9.0

Mature and showing nice black fruit - blackberry, cassis, violet, anise, black cherry and black plum plus oak notes of vanilla ands cedar. Tertiary flavors and aromas of leather and cigar box are starting to emerge. The wine is highly extracted giving it a sense of jammy heaviness without quite enough acidity to balance the powerful fruit impression. Medium plus finish that is a bit hotter than I’d like. — 8 months ago

Ron R

9.5

Fully ripe, intense and concentrated. Nose displays black cherries and coffee notes. Palate presents a muscular structure of dense tannins and cedar notes. I also detect hints of maple and blackberry spice. For a second wine, I just shake my head as it’s brilliantly made and so expressive. Why pay triple for the Buccella, but then most of us like to display our net worth I guess… no rush to consume these. I estimate another 7 - 10 years of runway ahead of this, maybe more. — 2 years ago

with Anne-marie

Dean Bernal Sr.

9.2

2014 Buccella Merlot for Cab drinkers. — 7 years ago

with Julie, April and 2 others

Aaron Means

9.4

A textural treat. This and Buccella are some of the best textural wines on the market. Massive tannins yet they are fine and round. Dark berry compote, cocoa, plum, mild licorice, graphite. A baby waiting to be born. Too bad most will drink this way too young because it delivers oodles immediately after popping the cork. — 9 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.5

@David L Thanks bud for the incredible hookup! I've never had this wine. It's a stunning 2010 which is a vintage that I do. It have a lot of. Pop and poured and am letting evolve in the glass. I'll revisit my notes at the end of the night. Right off the bat......,this is better than the 06 Buccella that we had the other night. A little tight but a freakishly long finish. Big lush mouthfeel., some tannins that I think will integrate over time and beautiful dark lush fruit prancing on my palate.
Thank you sir!!! — 9 years ago

Eric

9.8

Kudos to @Martin G Rivard for the bottle.! It gets better with every taste. Decanted for 4 hours. This is one of the best can blends I've ever had. Dark blue fruit on the nose and palate. Minty finish that emerges after three hours in the decanters. Top shelf @Martin G Rivard ! — 10 years ago

with S.R.Alexander