Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Medium pale ruby , wide garnet rim . This shows some development with porcini , sandalwood , bitumen , black tea and some sweet blackberry and red cherry . On the palate a bit more of the blackberry , cherry and sous bois , with herbal hints , quite rounded and juicy but with balanced acidity and still gritty tannin. Slightly warming alcohol , so would drink this a little on the cooler side . There is a liquorice and tar like tinge on the good length finish . This is drinking well now, though needs a bit of time in the glass, and will continue to show well over the next 5-10 years or so , perhaps longer . If not the most complex or structured Cascina Francia this makes up for it with its attractive , heart on sleeve personality, and is a great choice to open at the moment . This was still going the day after , bit more dark fruit on the nose and saline , mineral on the palate, still grippy tannins . — a day ago

Joe DAscoli

9.5

Decanted for 2 hours before we touched it

2nd sip was better than the first. As if you needed the first sip to prepare yourself for this wine

Overall great structure and solid fruit. Improved with airtime. Delicious wine. — 2 months ago

Tom Garland

9.3

Believe this is the 1st vintage released to the public. At age 15 finally decided to pop a bottle and see what's what.

+1 hour decant(some fine/cloudy sediment). A striking still inky dark magenta color. On the nose: subdued nose of dark fruit, graphite, clove, forest floor, smokey vanilla. Taste: silky, rich, nice depth mouthcoating wine with blackberry, gravel, baked fig, rich soil, and a dark chocolate tobacco finish with some slightly chewy tannins and a just a touch of heat at the end. YUM! — 4 months ago

with Brenda

Alvaro Bustillos

9.4

Winegeeks Chih 2 esparzas 2 aguas — 6 days ago

Jeffrey Paul

9.5

Made a big family dinner last Sunday night, not often we get everyone around the table with travel and sports, so kicked it up another notch with a lovely wine — a month ago

Inseon Hwang

9.1

Dark berries, a little tobacco, decent minerals — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Lemon yellow . Quite restrained and elegant, fine bubbles , white flowers , slightly more yellow fruits , buttered bread , pastry . On the palate , crystallised fruits , ginger , mineral , quite taut mouth feel . Lemon peel , grapefruit, touch of honey . Good acidity and mineral , chalky , steely finish . Still showing quite young , with excellent focus and good length . Drink now and over the next 10 years — 5 months ago

Pierre Gourinchas

9.3

Second only to the Montrose. Excellent. — a month ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.5

2009 vintage ( half bottle). Looks more evolved than the 2010 tasted alongside. But it is also much more complex. Intense perfume showing an abundance of noble rot, with roasted nuts, pineapple, honey, and a hint of thyme. Concentrated and layered, perfectly balanced and very long. Seems to be a notch above the 2010 today — 2 months ago

Rick Phillips

8.9

Like a lot of the older SO this Alexander Valley didn’t last long. Opened to lots of bright fruits but died quickly. — 4 months ago

with Letha