A pale crimson with a tawny edge - almost transparent. A high quality Pinot Noir from Canterbury wizards Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen. As I said last tasting note - pale but powerful. As good a new World Pinot Noir as you will find, and this is Bell Hill’s second wine. I can’t improve on the previous Delectable note from October 6 2023. These wines from Bell Hill aren’t cheap but are a lot cheaper than good Burgundy. — 2 months ago
Inky color. Dark fruit, spice and acidity. Complexity in progression of flavors throughout. — 8 months ago
Dark fruit, bell pepper, light body, tangy, and earthy. — 19 days ago
Intense, powerful Cabernet Sauvignon that needs steak. Extraordinary flavor and great elegance and smoothness in the finish. An excellent Napa Cabernet, and a paradigm of this big style of wine. — a month ago
Red fruit and herbaceous nose. Nice light medium body with hint of green bell pepper. A nice intro to Cab Franc. — 3 months ago
Decant and pour. A wondrous garnet color with bricking. On the nose: captivating nose of dark plum, wet forest floor, herbaceous, spice, some funky barnyard. Taste: dark plum, cedar, earth, pencil lead, and a spiced green bell pepper/tobacco medium plus finish with a moderately tight tannic kick....drinks like a younger Bordeaux. — 8 months ago
Poured into a decanter about an hour prior to service; enjoyed over period that lasted a few hours. After removing the capsule, cork was revealed to be completely saturated and moldy at the top. It was positively nasty. After wiping it down, I was able to extract the cork intact, with the use of a Durand. The 1988 pours a deep garnet with near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some sediment even after decanting. On the nose, the wine is a vinous mix of ripe and desiccated black and red fruits: brambles and currants, with tobacco, bell pepper, leather, organic earth and gentle warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and so delicious. Brilliant. The ’88 is ready to drink now with a short decant but has plenty of stuffing to drink well for at least another 10+ years and well-stored examples will be alive for much longer. — 2 days ago
1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — 2 months ago
Jakub Kalinowski
Fresh & very St. Emilion in the nose. Rich yet savoury. Cassis & gravel.
On the palate this is more Californian - broader & richer yet still very elegant, impeccably balanced and so elegant. And drinking very nicely right now. — 12 days ago