Cigar City Brewing Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Cigar City Brewing/Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Barrel Aged Christmas Ale

Above a 9. Correct ! Warm and thick. Toasty toasted tasty. Flavor you can almost chew. Food for the soul. — 3 years ago

Cigar City Brewing

Jai Alai India Pale Ale

Great IPA to start a Monday evening! #cigarcitybrewing — 4 years ago

Jim, Chris and 3 others liked this

Halpatter Brewing Co.

O'Leno Cream Ale

A real favorite! Creamy, smooth, and bubbly. If you're on the Lake City FL area pay Halpatter Brewing Co a visit, they are great people who make great beer! 🍻 — 4 years ago

Colgin Cellars

Cariad Napa Valley Red Blend 2005

Shay A
9.6

Today was an absolutely fantastic Friday hosting at the City Club by @Dan Fitzgerald. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert wine. Great job Dan!

The fourth of four Colgin’s served blind. My co-favorite. From the get-go, it was super concentrated, herbal, savory and just a hint of black fruit. Almost chewy in how dense it was. Smoky charcoal, wild herbs, cassis, and truffled blackberries. Still quite dry and tannic, even with the long decant. My initial, and final, guess was Colgin Syrah. Loved it.
— 5 years ago

joe leatherwoodDan FitzgeraldMark Flesher
with joe, Dan and 3 others
Mark, P and 45 others liked this
Tom Garland

Tom Garland

From Abreu vineyard grapes...give his a try...they need some age on em though!!
Mark Flesher

Mark Flesher

07 Cariad, 07 IX, 06 IX, and 05 Cariad all tasted blind together. This was the fourth of four. This was a very dark wine with roasted black fruit character and even a hint of bacon fat in the middle. this was getting some solid votes of Syrah and Shiraz and had me jokingly say that this was the Colgin Syrah at one point before the reveal. The darkest and most roasted character of all four up front. However, towards the middle and finish did seem to thin out a touch. Really good. But the 06IX still definitely outdid this one!
9.4
Paul T- Huntington Beach

Paul T- Huntington Beach

I had cork problems with 3 consecutive bottles of IX Estate, 05, & two 06 from different sources, very soft & spongie

Enderle & Moll

Baden Pinot Noir 2017

Just concluded the annual Fall seclusion at our cabin in the Rangeley lakes region of Maine, mobile service up there is mostly non-existent, after several days I am posting again. Notes are somewhat brief, as my focus is relaxing and watching the Common Loons swimming and diving in the cove in front of our camp.

Nose has smashed cherries, orange peel, clove, cigar box and (minor) dried strawberry.
Palate has tart cherry, ripe cherry, cherry/strawberry Fruit Roll-up®, amazing acidity with a medium finish and tannins; What a great/fun wine!
— 4 years ago

Ryan, Vanessa and 23 others liked this

Cigar City Brewing

Space Pope IPA

Über-bubble, if-just hazed, loose ocean foam, goes poof!, then just nebulae. Oily lacing of misfit moustaches. One swirl, though, and instant star nursery. Tangelo-lemon goodness blasts from the glass! Pure tropical mango from the tree. Grapefruit aspirations. Equally bright palate with the focus on a mineral-citrus that finds the perfect palatial trajectory, and sticks the landing on four hops. Namely, Mosaic for the baptismal tesserae, Citra for the gilded apse, Hallertau Blanc for the hallowed ground, and galaxy for the space between. Amen to the combo. Tartaric reverberations through a briny air, really quite evocative. This tastes the way Florida sometimes smells just after a rain. Tropical and saturated, but clean and spring-y. Jasmine, sweet grapefruit pith, lime and lemon. Really a great beer! .
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#cigarcitybrewing #cigarcity #ccb #ccbspacepope #spacepope #mossichops #citrahops #Hallertaublanc #galaxyhops #hoppy #hops #beer #ipa #indiapaleale #bier #biere #birra #cerveza #cerveja #ale #flbeer #flabeer #Tampabeer
— 4 years ago

P, David and 9 others liked this
P A

P A

@David Kline David great post Cheers 🍻

Sinegal Estate

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2016

David T
9.7

Of the Napa wines I tasted over 4 days on this trip, the 16 Sinegal Reserve & the 13 Seavey Cabernet were my favorites. Both great wines but, stylistically very different. The Seavy big and bold and the Sinegal pure beauty & elegance.

The nose reveals very dark currants. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush and lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals.

The body is full. The tannins are really meaty but, exceptionally soft, fine and meaty. Lots of dark spice with plenty of heat. The mouthfeel is gorgeously sexy with feminine elegance. Dark & milk chocolate. Blackberries, creamy black raspberries, black plum & plum, mocha powder, core of anise, beautiful dark spice, big sweet tarry notes, soft volcanic soils, some dry brush, lavender, violets and fresh dark red florals. The acidity is perfect. The finish is well balanced sexy and gorgeous. The structure, tension say this needs to cellar eight to ten years.

Photos of; tasting cellar area, modern stainless tanks, outside terrace tasting and or dining area and their grounds and lake.

Producer history and notes...Sinegal Estate was founded in 2013 with wines made from their 30 acre Inglewood estate in St Helena (not to be confused with the Inglenook Estate in Rutherford). This is not a new property, it was part of an original land grant and its more modern day history dates back to 1879 when owner Alton Williams purchased the property and planted the first vines in 1881.

The property has changed owners a number of times over the decades. At one point the Jaegers’ owned the estate, Bill Jaeger and his wife Lila lived here. These Napa Valley pioneers were in part responsible for helping establish Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill. Lila was also a gardener and established beautiful gardens on the property.

Owners, David (father)and James (son) Sinegal purchased the property in 2013. James was the co-founder of Costco and once CEO. David worked at Costco for 21 years.

After the purchase, David divided each of their vineyards into smaller blocks, picking selectively (30 times in 2013) rather than all at once, and adding technology to the vineyards so they have up to the date reports on a number of data points including temperatures, soil moisture and various barometric pressures. If they want to selectively water, say vine #67 in row number three, they can do so with their irrigation system. Extremely efficient!

Nine acres of vines are planted to various red varietals including; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. They have some of the older Cabernet Franc vines in the valley that are 30+ years old.

The soils here are diverse and can vary even within small geographic ranges on the property. Some of their vineyards are planted on the valley floor – while their upper vineyards are hillside, on the edges of the Mayacamas Mountains.

Their landscape above the property is interesting and part of the Mayacamas Mountains. Visually, it appears drier than other parts of this mountain range and the vegetation reflects that with grey pine and more open natural vegetation rather than the thicker wooded vegetation more commonly associated with parts of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the north.

After purchasing the property, David created planned and laid out his vision to create a world-class boutique wine making operation. Many wineries in the Napa Valley can take years before they come to fruition, not so here. After only about 10 months, the existing winery was remodeled. 6,500 feet of caves were expanded and drilled into the hillside behind the winery and a new hospitality center was built. The hospitality center ties in very well with the winery. From the small tasting room, large doors open revealing the tanks.

A vegetable garden slightly under an acre grows just south of the winery building. Vegetables from this garden are sold to nearby restaurants.

A skeleton key appears on the labels of their wine and is prominently displayed on the outside of their winery building. This has historical significance. The original key opens the front door to the historic home on site and is displayed in the tasting room. With respect to the history of this property, this one key has already become iconic to the brand.

You only need to look inside of the winery to see that their wine making team is focused on quality. Each of the small lot tanks have built in pumps which can be controlled and programmed to do pump-overs anytime of the day or night. In addition, these tanks have multiple points at which the temperature can be controlled. These tanks do not necessarily handle all their fermentation’s. They also ferment small lots in puncheons and barrels as needed. Control across the board is the key here and it is the control of the details in wine making that is is so integral from when the fruit first arrives through to when it is bottled.

2013 was their inaugural release. The focus is currently on two primary varietals, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc were sourced from the estate but, then it was determined it was growing in an area better suited for red varietals so it was torn up and new plantings were made in the back of the property. While not far from these original plantings, their new home for their Sauvignon Blanc features different soils and is growing in a cooler part of the property.


The wine making team has been experimenting with the style of this varietal since 2013 with subsequent vintages seeing more oak. Especially, using the slightly longer cigar shaped barrels , which have extra surface area for maximizing complexities including textural feel imparted from aging the wine on the lees in these particular barrels. Maceration on the red wines is often 8-10 days and sometimes up to 20 days.

Most of their sales are direct to visitors or through their mailing list. However, they do have some distribution outside California in Florida, New York and Washington. Primarily to restaurants.
— 5 years ago

Peggy, Severn and 16 others liked this
Ron R

Ron R Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@David T, excellent notes, again. I love their regular cab. Now I must try the reserve, as I rarely see this pts score from you.
David T

David T Influencer Badge

@Ron R The 16 Reserve is well worth seeking out. It was perhaps the best wine I had in 8 producer visits. Very close with the 13 Seavey though. Two very different wines. The 13 Seavy was big & bold. The 16 Reserve was elegance & beauty, not that it didn’t show good structure and tannins. They were round and soft and nicely tucked under all that beauty & elegance.

Cigar City Brewing

Spanish Cedar Jai Alai India Pale Ale

Spanish Cedar magic! Almost non-translucent tea amber with spongy top and scattered bubblecorns to match the coming peppercorns! Amphibious linearity to the lacing which sticks in undulating slickness. Peppery nose jostles for attention against pineapple, both cut fresh and dried. Peppercorn wins, agressively charging! Dried starfruit ferment and grapefruit pulp also struggle. Palate weight is food friendly, and would make a great pairing with steak or Gorgonzola or sour cream crisps. Peppery essence crystallizes around malts and resinous cedar with cooked caramel and burnt sugar, but none of it deviates too far from Mr. Peppercorn’s locus. Not a beer for everyone! This thing is a unique palate teaser! I personally love its wooden depth, and lack of sugar on the finish. Grapefruit pith softness and cracked, black peppercorns encrusting. #ccb #cigarcitybrewing #spanishcedarjaialai #jaialai #ccbjaialai #cigarcitybrewingspanishcedarjaialai #ipa #jaialaiipa #indiapaleale #barrelaged #cedaraged #flbeer #flabeer #tampabeer #beer #bier #birra #biere #cerveza #cerveja — 4 years ago

Mike and Neil liked this

Campo Viejo

Rioja Tempranillo 2017

Velvety deep leathery red colors with fragrant cherry blackcherry on aroma
Juicy of ripe berry fruit velvety mouthful tiptoe tongue
Crisp med bodied yet brings vanilla nicely oak, supple structure which greats for appetizers tapas and easy chocolate desserts
Juicy crisp vanilla hint of spices peppery finishing, a great New York City nightside experience
Tobacco and cigar, vanilla and star
🌌
— 4 years ago

Jay liked this

Legatum Cellars

Casual Touch Red Wine 2017

A great dessert type wine! From one of only a handful of wineries in Cañon City, CO. Full of raspberry and blueberry flavors. Reminiscent of a light port. — 5 years ago