Gallica Oakville Ranch
Gargiulo Vineyards
Money Road Ranch Pinot Grigio 2024
I don’t remember I’ve ever drank a wine that’s less than a year old. I’m surprised how much I like it. The aromatic profile is quite similar to the 2021 I tasted before with lime, yellow apple, pear, underripe banana, and light chalk, but rather expressive. Medium body and round flesh acidity. Finish with a saline touch. Don’t quite understand why the winery would grow Pinot Grigio on a prime Oakville vineyard. I meant they make outstanding Cab and Merlot from the site that can fetch far more money.
— 2 months ago
Oakville Ranch
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Had this bottle over 2 nights and enjoyed both experiences. Always a favorite. Hope I have lots more in storage. — 7 months ago
Vine Hill Ranch
Baker & Hamilton Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
My first wine after a two-month hiatus. I ended up buying a case of this in increments at Costco for a price not even close to what I’ve seen anywhere else for their 2021. Since I think highly of this producer and the vintage, I didn’t bat an eye acquiring w/o tasting first. Also, I was aware that every major wine critic gave the 2021 VHR flagship Cabernet a score of 98 w/ Lisa @ TWI a 💯.
Only coravined a glass & let it stand for 30-40 minutes and consumed over the next half-hour detailing my notes.
Baker & Hamilton is the other or second wine of VHR depending on how you see it. If you didn’t know this was another or second wine, you would never know it. Both bottling's come front the same vineyard in Oakville.
When I first put the glass to my nose, I almost thought for a few seconds & wanted to say that’s Coombsville it’s that dark & brooding, but make no mistake it’s Oakville fruit.
The nose is full & brooding. Dark currants & cassis and inky as is the color. Candied violets leap out of the glass. Ripe rich; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum and dark cherries wrapped in dark chocolate. Sandalwood, sweet tarriness, fresh tobacco, crushed limestone, volcanics, dark spices with aromatic heat, clove oil w/ withering dark flowers, sweet lavender & endless lift of candied, lush violets.
The body is full, lush, ripe & brooding. It drinks rather well for such a young wine baring a bit of alcohol throat burn. 14.8% ABV. Cellaring time will tame it. The 21 is a two decade and more wine. It needs 7-8 years to integrate everything in this full & packed Cabernet. Lush, ripe; blackberries (almost pie), black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum & raspberries around the edges. Melted dark chocolate, anise into black licorice, dark spices w/ heat, clove oil, nutmeg, cinnamon stick hovers, vanillin, fresh & dry tobacco, dry top soil with limestone mixed in, crushed rock & stone, strong sandalwood to cedar, light rain on clay, dry herbs-bay leaf & a hint of ground sage, notes of iron pan, dark withering flowers, lavender & candied violets for days, round acidity-maybe a bit to high for today’s consumption, huge length & structure, not quite in balance but it will get there, well made/knitted with a full elegant finish that lasts minutes & lands on spice & earthiness. It’s a huge wine that will end up adding two points as it evolves & integrates.
A few things about the producer & this wine. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard aged 23 months in French oak, 85% of which was new. Most of the Vine Hill Ranch fruit from 71-acre Oakville vineyard is sold off. What they keep, 40% of that fruit goes into their VHR flagship wine and 60% makes the Baker & Hamilton. The label of Baker & Hamilton is an homage to the hardware and agricultural implements of the company co-founded by third-generation grape grower Bruce Phillips’ great, great grandfather R.M. Hamilton, who emigrated from Scotland to California in 1849 hoping to make his fortune in gold.
Photo’s of, VHR vineyard, Bruce Phillips-Managing Partner and Winemaker-Francoise Peschon. — 3 months ago
Vine Hill Ranch
Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
An excellent wine from a not great year. Gorgeous on the nose. Plum, cassis, lavender, and milk chocolate. Just a bit weak on the finish. — a month ago
Memento Mori
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
One of the best wines and Cabernets in the tasting. Made by Sam Kaplan. 95-97 with 10 years of proper cellaring.
It is blended from the following sites; Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Weitz Vineyard, and Oakville Ranch Vineyard. Not inexpensive $300.
The name, Memento Mori, is taken from an ancient Latin philosophy that reminds us of our mortality and the inevitability of death. So, forgo patience, I guess?
WS Grand Tour Las Vegas 2025. — 5 days ago
Joe DAscoli
Auction wine. Broken cork. Again. Wine was at base of the neck. I think cakebread got a batch of bad corks. No wine into the cork and they all broke right at the end. Not sure how it affected the wine but it’s been a consistent issue
Wine exhibited some decent fruit but no real depth or grip. Very smooth and medium body but missing some power and complexity expected from this site.
— 21 days ago