Dolan & Dunn

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

Big and dense. Olives. Otherwise mostly what one would expect. Quite dark.
.
— 6 hours ago

Dunn Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1988

Jeremy Shanker
9.3

Good but a few years past ideal — 3 months ago

Scott@Mister, Joshua and 4 others liked this

Domaine Denis Berthaut

Fixin Pinot Noir 2022

Bought at Dunn&Sons in Cape Cod. Enjoyed on Thanksgiving 2024. Notes of cranberry, wet stone, forest floor and mosses. Exciting and unlike any other Pinot I’ve had. — 2 years ago

Château Bouscassé (Alain Brumont)

Vieilles Vignes Madiran Tannat 1990

Rich dark and red fruits, still some evident firm, tannic structure (but I guess cellaring Madiran is like cellaring Dunn Howell Mountain, as life may not be long enough for them to shed their tannins? LOL), long, lingering firm finish, really quite fine!! — 4 years ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Jason, Hermes and 3 others liked this
Romain Fitoussi

Romain Fitoussi

I have 2016 in the cellar that I could bequeath to my descendants. 😂
Peter van den Besselaar

Peter van den Besselaar Influencer Badge

I love that stubborness - it will not go away, I presume.

Paul Dolan Vineyards

Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Better than I expected. Punches well above it's price point. — 6 years ago

Long Shadows Vintners

Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2015

Shay A
9.5

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

This wine is made by John Duvall of Penfolds. Dark overripe berries, smoke, cassis, currant and some smoked bacon. Not the northern Rhône/Cayuse like funky Syrahs...this is more Napa Syrah that is rich, structured and voluptuous. Notes of violets and caramel. One of my favorites of the night.
— 8 years ago

Mark Flesher
with Mark
Somm, leon and 36 others liked this
Mark Flesher

Mark Flesher

@TheSkip definitely worth it. Held up the best after one day and was still quite vibrant.
9.4
TheSkip

TheSkip

@Mark Flesher i wonder what the differences are between this and the 14. Good price on winebid for it.
Mark Flesher

Mark Flesher

Both seem to have similar praise given. 14 seems to be meatier and 15 with less meat and more fruit.

Long Shadows Vintners

Pirouette Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2015

Shay A
9.5

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

This is made by Melka and is Cab dominant with merlot, petit Verdot and Malbec to round it out. Possibly nose of the night! Smells of sweet, rich Cabernet without being jammy. This is all finesse. Red and black fruit pie, and cocoa. Great texture.
— 8 years ago

Mark Flesher
with Mark
Somm, leon and 28 others liked this
Mark Flesher

Mark Flesher

Poured rather dark as this one came up to room temp. The nose on this wine is displaying quite a bit more red fruit. The front end of this wine is red clay and dried fig. A little acidic middle and finish. The end of this wine is almost a little bit tart. Not a bad expression of Columbia Valley fruit with makeup 65CS, 21 Merlot, 11 PV, and 3 Malbec from Melka. I would honestly guess that this one would be best enjoyed in 3-4 years. I have a feeling this one could be as high as 93-94 at maturity, which is definitely not now.
9.2

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Petite Sirah

Tasting a few bottles before selling my collection of wine. It’s a rather large collection of which I have no regret for doing so. I will always be constantly tasting; it’s part of the evolvement to making wines, wines that can age and be better each vintage we make. Yet, I’m elated that many of these wines will be sold to buyers who love the wines as much as I love them and collecting them. — 2 months ago

Tom liked this
Tom Casagrande

Tom Casagrande Influencer Badge

Where are you making wine?!
Erik Longabardi

Erik Longabardi

@Tom Casagrande Long Island. Floral Terranes! 🤙🏻

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Presented to me, double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears, and some signs of light sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with a mix of ripe and desiccated, mostly dark fruits: cassis, black cherry, plum, mixed brambles, old leather, pipe tobacco, pencil shavings, and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (that is mostly integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend, Tempranillo (or based blend) or Grenache-based blend from France, Spain or the United States. I feel like this leans more towards its fruit than its structure, even though it is a fairly well balanced wine in both regards. As a result, I am calling this a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend from the United States, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain from a producer like Dunn, 2006. Shiiiiiit. To be honest, I’m not terribly surprised since this is Cos and from a warm vintage no less. Drinking well now and should through 2050+.
— 6 months ago

Pooneet, Jason and 23 others liked this

Rob Dolan

True Colours Pinot Noir 2019

Very solid and authentic pinot. Funky savoury nose full or cedar spice and forest floor. Good weight. Lively. Nice pure sweet strawberry and red cherry flavour profile - similar to Giant Steps, but with high toned acid. Buy — 4 years ago

Hokusetsu Shuzo Co.

Nobu The Sake Junmai Daigino

Mandi Speidel
10

Gardner Dunn full of fun Back in Chicago for the first time since Feb 2020… Yikes! The Windy City sure missed you. Kicked it off with a little Nobu Sake to Me, Sushi & Sunshine Laughs. — 5 years ago

Josh, Aravind and 2 others liked this

Retro Cellars

Chiles Valley Zinfandel 2016

I’ve stayed away from Zinfandel because whatever it is that they’re doing with it nowadays just isn’t for me. But this? This producer? Yeah it’s different. A somewhat subdued purple with a crimson rim. Fruit and spice on the nose with blue and black berries along with some black pepper. This nose just never stops. And you don’t want it to. Just the faintest hint of forest floor. How solid of a Zin is this? Even clocking in at 14.9, it’s never overbearing or anything approaching too hot. Wonderful balance and acidity, I can’t stop smelling it though, it’s glorious. Cranberry and boysenberry prevalent on the palette but there’s also with the right amount of spice. This is a beautiful wine and has single handedly restored my faith in Zinfandel. Mike and Kara Dunn make the single best Petite Sirah you will probably ever drink and they’re expanding. Get on board. — 6 years ago

Chris, Erik and 3 others liked this

Long Shadows Vintners

Chester-Kidder Columbia Valley Red Blend 2014

Shay A
9.3

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

Approachable red blend. To me, this is the pop and pour wine out of the lineup. Very plush. This reminds me of Flora Springs Trilogy Blend out of Napa with a bit more fruit on the finish. More milk chocolate than dark. Boysenberry, blue and black fruit medley.
— 8 years ago

Mark Flesher
with Mark
Somm, "Odedi" and 24 others liked this
Mark Flesher

Mark Flesher

A cab that wants to be a syrah. Black fruit dominant front, some weediness in the middle, but then rounds out rather nicely on the finish. Has a lot of black pepper on the end. Still showing some tannin here, and even a little bit of heat on the finish. I respectfully disagree with the 94.6 average on CT, as IMO this wine is a bit too unidimensional, but perhaps it is just because it's young. It echoes a previous experience I had with this wine a few years ago.
9.0

Dunn Vineyards

Trailer Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Gorgeous! Decadent! Wild flowers and blackberries. Opened up after about an hour. — 2 months ago

Dunn Vineyards

Caldwell Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Of course it was good but a bit disappointing considering the reputation. Just a slight amount of tannins still detectable so I think it was about ready to drink. — 4 months ago

Paul and Jonathan liked this

Realm Cellars

The Bard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2019

2019 vintage. From a 375 ml format. Amongst what passes for the ne plus ultra in Napa cabbage these days. Rich. Overtly sumptuous. Modicum of umami on the finish. Restrained/polite company version of a fruit bomb. Too extracted/manipulated without representative tannins for this old-school Dunn/Diamond Creek/Mayacamas/Montelena guy but still verry nice for this style. Dunno where this settles in twenty years but that's someone else's problem down the road. 7.7.24. — 2 years ago

Andrew, Jan and 15 others liked this
Norman

Norman Premium Badge

Didn’t even know they made 375’s

Sandler Wine Company

Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2012

Six Pinots, all made by Ed Kurtzman, of August West and Roar fame who also consults to Freeman and Mansfield Dunn. Ed joined our tasting. I loved the meatiness of this and it was my #1. — 5 years ago

Ira, Ron and 8 others liked this

Rob Dolan

Yarra Valley Shiraz 2012

Dark red fruits but not plumps, creamy and rich on the palate, good acid, wood still in play, but great balance, a sleeper. — 6 years ago

Retro Cellars

Elevation Howell Mountain Old Vine Petite Sirah 2013

Howell Mt fruit, this comes from Mike Dunn, son of Randy. Whole different varietal from what his dad does but similar in that he makes both a Napa valley floor/foot hills and a mountain fruit version. I prefer the Howell Mt but that’s my bias. Ripe Black fruits, black cherry, meaty, sage herbal notes, firm tannins but I bet that they’d open up with a little time open. Would love to grab a few to age. — 7 years ago

Shay and Mark liked this

Long Shadows Vintners

Pedestal Columbia Valley Merlot 2015

Shay A
9.4

A wonderful tasting put on by Classic Wine Storage featuring Long Shadows Winery. If you aren’t familiar with these wines, they are phenomenal WA state wines that are made by the likes of Randy Dunn, Phillipe Melka, Michel Rolland, John DuVall, and more.

This wine is made by Michel Rolland. Large and in charge merlot. Mocha, sweet pipe tobacco, and a lot of ripe blackberry. Nutmeg and cinnamon. Cab lovers merlot.
— 8 years ago

Somm, leon and 30 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

I also liked this quite a bit.
Eric

Eric Premium Badge

They don’t make a bad wine at LS. Dig the whole lineup.
Ken Venezio

Ken Venezio

Shay, We need to connect at the next Classic Wine tasting. I do most of the Southlake events with Clare. Cheers.