CG

9.1

Excellent with beef tenderloin — 2 months ago

Dawn E.

9.2

This wine keeps getting better! I have posted this previously. Great long finish, enhanced honey notes, lemon, nectarine, grapefruit, orange marmalade, cheese rind, and graphite.
This Napa County SB is not as great as the Estate SB, but it's still really superb! — a year ago

Rob Brobst III

9.8

Drinks so well. — 3 years ago

Yoly Sardinas

10

At Coast... dinner — 5 years ago

Robert Ulrich

9.6

Drinking fantastic. Tannins are resolved. Smooth and silky. Classic cassis fruit, long finish. Yum. — 7 years ago

Anders Johnson

9.2

It’s nice to get home to a good bottle of wine. — 8 years ago

Joe Roth

9.0

The beat goes on! Beautiful juice. — 8 years ago

with Michael

Shay A

9.4

What an incredible second day here in Napa. Jesus started us off with an amazing tasting at Davies/Schramsberg, Crocker & Starr gave us our cab franc fix, Montagu & Addax put on a double tasting, and Hourglass knocked it out of the park at the end of the day! I won’t post each wine we tasted, but I’ll highlight the best from each spot.

We are all die hard Cab Franc fans, so a stop here was a must after @Carl Fischer introduced me to this cab franc last year. First, the property itself is flat out gorgeous. Quaint and quiet. Awesome history here as well.

This cab franc is a BABY. New release. Red and black fruits are still fighting to take over...didn’t get much blueberry off of this like I did the ‘12, but age plays a part. Violet, lavender, black truffle and a touch of spice. A benchmark for Napa Cab Franc, alongside Arnyca and Detert. The Post 1 bottle is their current release (2013) Cabernet that is their purest expression of Cabernet from the Estate. This is serious Cabernet...tannic, structured and could compete with top end mountain wines. — 8 years ago

Joseph Barsky

9.5

2016 Vintage agree with @Daniel P. Drake review after allowing it to breathe for 20 minutes. Lovely at 10 years old. — 3 months ago

Norman

9.7

Nose was muted on opening but came out with air. Delightful wine that outshine the Hourglass from the start and until the end although it was no slouch. — a year ago

Dawn E.

9.1

@ Delectable Wine this Rosè is not in the database, a new wine from Hourglass! Nice salinity, sea spray, kiwi fruit, nectarine, spearmint, long finish, — 3 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.9

Mag,
2nd day is essential, opened yesterday & decanted 4 hours today. This is right there with the 2005.
Its been 4 years since my last 07, it still has plenty of life but why wait when you can decant🤷🏼‍♂️
The 29 Estate vineyard is situated on the east-facing hillside at the base of the Mayacamas range, a couple miles north of St. Helena and just above Highway 29. The soil here is clay loam with gravel deposits, deeper at the bottom of the slope and shallower and rockier toward the top (the Sauvignon Blanc is planted in the rockiest spot, followed by the Cabernet Franc and then Cabernet Sauvignon). The slope and soil content ensure good drainage, while the rocks and gravel allow the roots to penetrate deep, ensuring more stable vines and more consistent ripeness. Average yields here for Cabernet Sauvignon are a moderate 2.8 to 3.2 tons per acre, held down by the vine stress associated with steep vines.

Vineyard 29 is located in the narrow hourglass part of Napa Valley and benefits from consistently good air flow. Even in 2008, there was just a touch of frost at the bottom of the vineyard, according to McMinn, who noted that his Aida vineyard just two miles to the north is typically six or seven degrees warmer. The site also benefits from its eastern exposure, capturing early morning sunlight but with the mountain above protecting the vines against the most intense afternoon sun. The result is slow, consistent ripening of the grapes and healthy sugar levels with much less risk of desiccation, which in turn means rounder, more integrated tannins. Although St. Helena is a very warm region, day-night temperature variation at Vineyard 29 is among the widest in Napa Valley, according to McMinn.

Thanks to Vineyard 29’s well-aerated site and protection from the hottest afternoon sun, the estate Cabernet always has sound acidity; it has never been acidified, according to winemaker Emerson. The pH of the Vineyard 29 estate wine is typically between 3.75 and 3.9, and alcohol levels are moderate by Napa Valley standards, almost always in the high 14s (with 2009 the only vintage to have exceeded 15%). The wines are frequently characterized by black and blue fruits—cassis, blackberry, blueberry—and notes of chocolate, licorice and spices. Compared to the Grace Family Vineyards wine, made from a vineyard barely 200 yards to the north from the same plant material, the Vineyard 29 wine is characteristically a bit less floral and delicate but riper and denser, combining power with typically plush, ripe tannins. Emerson noted that Vineyard 29 is typically harvested at least a week later than the Grace site, noting that the tannins “take a long time to lose their chalky character and come around.” Luckily, he added, “the fruit here can hang for a long time without getting too crazy with sugar.” And the estate routinely picks in two passes, typically seven to ten days apart.

— 5 years ago

Shay A

9.5

What an incredible second day here in Napa. Jesus started us off with an amazing tasting at Davies/Schramsberg, Crocker & Starr gave us our cab franc fix, Montagu & Addax put on a double tasting, and Hourglass knocked it out of the park at the end of the day! I won’t post each wine we tasted, but I’ll highlight the best from each spot.

Without a doubt the highlight of the Addax & Montagu Tasting. This ‘15 Tench Cabernet has winemaker Russell Bevan all over it. More of an iron fist in a velvet glove than I found the ‘14 to be. Red, black and blue fruits on the nose but the weight showed so much structure and appeal...best word to use here is plush. The fruit was so incredibly soft alongside the smoke, mint, and cassis. The new Addax Ritchie Chardonnay was tasted against Montagu’s Ritchie Chardonnay and it was a tie. 👌 — 8 years ago

Laura Purdy

9.6

Hands down the best merlot I’ve ever had — 6 months ago

Kevin Blix

8.9

May have had a little funk. Would like to try again. — a year ago

Dawn E.

9.5

Such a gorgeous wine! So complex and delicious! Chocolate chip cookies 🍪, blueberry compote, mocha, licorice Snaps, graphite, pine needles, creme brulee, leather saddle and so much more! — 3 years ago

Bisher Akil

8.9

Enjoyed it August 2022 — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Finally getting around to posting wines from my annual Napa trip from two weeks ago. Always goes by quick! Lots of fun new stops this year.

Theorem was one of our highlights last year, so we made sure a return visit was lined up this year. Base of Diamond Mtn with one of the most beautiful properties I’ve seen. Over the last 12 months, they’ve added a couple new wines (with more to come from Moon Mountain). TRB is the winemaker.

Fairly similar to the Hourglass SB in that its profile is rich yet tight and zippy. Heavy amounts of lemon tart, limestone, slate, sea salt and fresh cut grass. Lots of acidity here, but there is a component about it that adds a roundness right before the finish which keeps it from being totally sharp. — 6 years ago

Liz Bird

8.9

Refreshing summertime wine. At tin roof. — 8 years ago

Rob Sternthal

9.4

After a wonderful day with the Winemaker, he convinced me that this was a pop and pour today. He was right!!!! Beautiful expression of a Cab Franc. @Anthony Biagi @Ian Fenwick - Hourglass Wine Co — 8 years ago