06 Viader - unfortunately kicked 07 Nickel and Nickel State Ranch - flat. 08 Hundred Acre Fortunate Son - third time’s a charm. Inky dark purple in the glass. Fresh roses on the nose with a hint of cayenne. Definitely a fruit bomb but has tons of depth and character. — 5 years ago
Real treat: RRV SB w/bottle age - fattened up nicely, super expressive nose of tropical fruit mingled w/grass & hay, snap pea some green citrus. Added weight gave it heft juxtaposed w/vibrant acidic backbone. Just flat out delicious, generous really strutting its stuff. — 10 months ago
Finally getting around to posting wines from my annual Napa trip from two weeks ago. Always goes by quick! Lots of fun new stops this year.
Our trip ended with a tasting of Lewelling & Hayfork, courtesy of daughter Haley at their family home in the vineyard. Although I’m not posting pics of the Lewelling cabs (2017s and didn’t have labels yet), they are impressive, and the Wight vineyard cab is flat out delicious!
The fruit here is the same as Lewelling’s wines, but there is usually a splash of petit Verdot to give more color and structure compared to the 100% Cabernets that Lewelling bottles. Dense, ripe and chewy. Very dark in the glass showing sweet smoke, blackberry compote, baking spices, and espresso aromatics. Whereas the Lewellings have a beautiful red and black cherry liqueur type profile, this is decidedly darker, but every bit as tannic and age worthy. Added notes of graphite, currant, creme de cassis and mixed berry pie at the finish. — 5 years ago
Fully developed, showing its age. Lots of mushroom and umami. I prefer my Chardonnay on the younger side but for something with age, it was interesting and not flat — a year ago
lots of life left, decanting helped a lot, wonderful wine, thx Steve — 6 months ago
Opened and decanted about an hour before dinner. No formal notes. The 2007 B. Levet "La Chavaroche" is flat out beautiful right now. The aromatics are off the charts with gorgeous, ripe dark fruits, a bit of the animal, a veritable hillside of lavender, black olives, some deli case, black pepper, some leather and earth. The structure is still firm but everything is well integrated at this point; superbly balanced; great acid. The finish is long and has some ferrous minerals that I simply love. A sublime pairing with a Morgan Ranch Wagyu tenderloin served with corn purée, charred broccolini and juniper ash. The 2007's are absolutely ready to drink now with a short decant (mostly to remove any sediment) however, they will continue to drink well for another 10+ easy from good cellars.
— a year ago
Kaushal Kantawala
Good Pinot but overall it fell a bit flat for me compared to other CSJ Pinots. Definitely preferred the Durell Pinot over this one. This one lacked the structure and body I was hoping for — 7 days ago