Orange County, South Coast

Ultramarine Wines

Charles Heintz Vineyard Sparkling Pinot Noir Rosé 2018

Strawberry, rhubarb, blood orange, and exotic spice. Mind blowing — 8 days ago

Tom, Severn and 13 others liked this

Raen Winery

Cuvée Royal St. Robert Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Great stuff. Layered orange bitters, iron, spicy raspberry. Lots of length and nuance, built to age — 2 months ago

Los Pilares

Grenache Carignan Blend 2013

Los Pilares San Diego County Red Blend 2013: Fresh. Natural. Extraordinary. Consisting of 50% Grenache & 50% Carignan, this was a light-bodied, extremely unique wine. Red fruits (cranberry & cherry). Plum. Earth. Short finish. For me, the wine was a bit thin on structure but very clean & natural tasting. This was my first San Diego County wine and it left me quite intrigued & impressed. Hoping to explore other San Diego wines in the near future. Cheers🍷 — 2 years ago

Trixie liked this

The Bruery

Black Tuesday Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Thank you Jon. This is great. — 4 years ago

Dave, Jeffrey and 2 others liked this

Rivers-Marie

Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018

Shay A
9.2

Last bottle of my 2018 SC.

Followed over two days. Juicy, ripe and balanced. Astounding value at $30. Haven’t found the signature TRB blood orange profile in these RM SCs, but that’s a small nitpick. Loads of red and black berry fruit upfront, boysenberry, red currant and dark florals. Mid palate was much better on day two as it bulked up and showed the nervy side of SC Pinot. It has a high toned/elegant profile while retaining weight. Stylistically it sits in between RRV and cool climate SC. Banging value, as always. Drink now or in the next 3-5yrs.
— a month ago

Tom, Paul and 28 others liked this

Moraga Vineyards

Estate Red Blend 2010

Matt Austin
9.3

From a 16 acre vineyard in the hills of Bel Air. Probably the most expensive vineyard property in the US. It’s currently owned by Rupert Murdoch, but this is from before his purchase in 2013. This is legit good. Much better than any Malibu wines I’ve had. 13.8 listed alcohol and fairly restrained style. Let’s rip down all of those mansions and plant some grapes! — 2 years ago

Daniel and Ira liked this

The Bruery

Saison Rue Belgian-Style Ale

Perfect crown! Garden of the gods lacing. Bone colored number, and what structure! Moves like chef’s foam. Dark, bronze-golden body. Orange, peach, cherry and pear blossoms in an arboreal array. Lacing morphing erratically into tropical vines. Warm apple pastry, limoncello, sliced bing cherry, golden beets, and a raisinate grape with honey cake, in an elegant botanical park of aromas. The beer is nothing like this, it is deep and creamy, exhibiting Sauternes barrel richness, Saigon cinnamon, shiitake, maple nut, chocolate pods, pecans, nutmeg, dark caramel, dark honey wheat bread with aspirations to rye. Including a near-caraway. Light coffee notes throughout, conversely tea with a honey spoon.. This is a dichotomy. But an interesting one worth exploring. — 4 years ago

Sharon and Judd liked this

J. Brix

Rancho Guejito Vineyard Coucou Counoise 2022

Nice chillable Red, unfined & unflitered. Light and pleasant.

@Whole Foods - Irvine
— 2 months ago

Tom liked this

Hamilton Russell Vineyards

Hemel-En-Aarde Valley Pinot Noir 2020

Sits there in spectrums of reds and browns. Thick, textured, rusted edges with a little glow.

Macerated strawberries dried blood orange slice, and sour prune juice, squirt of deep home-brewed soy sauce. The kind you only find at the best sushi spots.

Sour, primal, raw - something altogether more interesting than it is elegant.
— 2 months ago

Hermes, Andrew and 10 others liked this

Rivers-Marie

Silver Eagle Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016

Shay A
9.3

I had a disappointing experience with the 2017 a few months back (I think it was in a dumb phase, because these are normally delicious), and wanted to see how the 2016 fared. I also wanted to compare my GlasVin aromatic burg glass with my new Grassl Cru burg glass.

Classic RM SE wine here. At five years, it’s still voluptuous and rich enough to play to those who enjoy the bigger style but has plenty of acidity and snap on the palate to cater to those who prefer more restraint. It does have some signature blood orange both aromatically and on the palate, along with spice, dark floral tones/potpourri and rich black cherry. Whereas the 2017 showed more cola and menthol, I don’t get that at all here. Bright and lifted overall profile. Quite delicious and will be easily for another 5+yrs.

As an aside, the Grassl Cru glass has a much more narrow rim and makes the aromatics more concentrated than the GlasVin. They both drank similarly. Maybe Grassl for more lean/true burgundy pinots that may need concentration and GlasVin for new world/bigger style pinots since they don’t need as much help in the aromatic department.
— 2 years ago

Paul, Jimmy and 35 others liked this
Tobin Spratte

Tobin Spratte

I ran into an RM Summa Vineyard at the shop today. I blame you for my purchasing it. It's a 2018, so sounds like it needs cellar time. What say you?
Shay A

Shay A Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@Tobin Spratte : Happy to be the reason of your purchase! Not sure what you paid, but the Summa, Summa OV, Occidental and Silver Eagle wines are no brainer wines every year. I’d definitely hold that Summa a few years.
Tobin Spratte

Tobin Spratte

@Shay A the shop had only one case so I had to jump on it. $85. My philosophy is if you pay over $60 for a young red wine, you probably should cellar it. I made the mistake of opening a Pisoni too soon. It was good but not anywhere close to its potential.