Delectable consensus is wayyy off. This is stupendous tremendous. — 2 years ago
wow wow wow, picked this up after a tasting @ Road 13....was worth every penny! — 4 years ago
At my 2015 Chardonnay Challenge the Giaconda was a consensus 3rd. Easily the most smoky, sulphidic, struck match of the 6 wines. I loved it. On the palate a powerful wine. Opulent. This wine is becoming difficult to source and sells out in a flash upon release. — 2 months ago
Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.
The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.
The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.
The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — 7 months ago
Drank 3/9/23 with grilled salmon, more lush and less acidity than the typical Willamette chardonnay. No consensus on this, but leaning toward old school Napa. — 2 years ago
Bob McDonald
At my 2015 Chardonnay Challenge of 6 wines. Very close consensus scores put this wine at 4th. 2015 was a warm year but this carried enough acid to easily last 10 years. Peaches and Nectarines. — 2 months ago