Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

Vintage 1989 | When and with who you taste can influence your appreciation tremendously. After a blind tasting with terrific wines I poured this wine (blind) in the glasses with sourdough bread and goose rillette. Combination made in heaven. The well known tension between sweet and acids completed it. A treat. With wine friends @Liselotte Brouwers @Berry Marinussen Maarten Drop. — 2 months ago

Ira Schwartz

10

Wine stimulates our sense of smell and taste but in this case it also created a tidal wave of emotion. Through a tremendous act of generosity a dear friend shared this special bottle when he heard me lament I was not able to secure a bottle of wine to celebrate my mother’s 100 birthday. My friend stood the bottle up for several days. We decided it made sense to PnP. As you can see the cork was intact and the color of the wine defied its age. The excitement to take that first sniff was overwhelming for me. Old but alive scents wowed me. Lots of tobacco, leaves, leather and dried fruit. In the mouth those same scents were transferred to my palate thanks to a tsunami of acid. At about the one hour mark the wine quickly entered a death spiral. I cannot imagine another bottle of wine that will ever conjure up that amount of emotion and happiness. When I described my experience to my mom, a very broad smile came over her face. A blessing to share this experience with my mom and a privilege to taste a wine like this. — 4 months ago

with Richard

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.3

1630 bottles produced
Old school natural wine
Niccolaini was the avant-garde of the movement without ever being in it himself.
I got told stories of a farm with no electricity perhaps a decade ago or so
Massa Vecchia is appreciated for all its labels and you can find out which one is your favourite
Personally i am not a rose drinker, but i knew i wasn't going to be disappointed here
This is more like a Valentini cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, but even more extract, i dare to say if you sell this wine for a red nobody would argue.
It's funky to start, it gives you cola and china and its fresh and fun, plus very long and mineral.
Quite earthy perhaps not a precise fruit to define, but real good altogether
For my understanding this is the last vintage made by Niccolaini' daughter in law as a winemaker and i keep a bottle of the next vintage..i am very curious to how he has come back to his captain seat. — 3 years ago

Jan A

9.5

My first Standish from the cellar. After raving reviews from amongst others the WA, bought some at relative low prices (v.s. the 96+ish ratings across their range).

This is young but full of potential. I'd give these 10 years of cellar time based on this bottle, but you can definitely drink this now. It is modernly made with ripe and rounded tannins. It has a very compact core that reminds me of how SQN wines are made, but then with the Australian flavor profile. It is almost too seamless / polished, so that it is coming across as flat on first sight. Nothing sticks out. But with air more and more layers come to play. It just needs more time.

95+ for now with 98ish potential in a few years.

The 2022's just came out with 98-100 scores. I guess it is time to stock these up before prices begin to soar.

— 2 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

The follow up to the 03 Leonetti. @Paul T- Huntington Beach & I have been telling readers about older Jones Family Vineyards for some time. If you haven’t had or not tried this producer it will be the last time I try to entice to you to try this producer. Talking about it more will only drive up the prices on the secondary market.

This 09 is damn beautiful after nearly a four hour decant but it is still fairly youthful.

It is ruby, lush, gorgeous, ripe fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum with skin, dark cherries, plum, hues of purple, blue fruits & raspberries, poached strawberries, black licorice, mixed, dark berry cola, steeped black tea, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, dry top soil, dry herbs, hints of eucalyptus, dry clay, dry tobacco, new leather, spice, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, withering red & dark florals framed in violets & lavender, beautiful round acidity, beautiful; balance, tension, structured, smartly polished finished that lasts minutes.

Still needs another 5-8 years to show its best self.

The Jones Family vineyard is located off Bale Lane in Calistoga and was planted to all five Bordeaux varieties by David Abreu in the early 1990s. Heidi Barrett made the wines until 2008, and Thomas Rivers Brown now makes the wines. — a year ago

Benjamin Shirk

9.3

McCarthy & Schiering, $50

Bittersweet occasion and went way above my budget to celebrate my birthday and also mourn Grandma Julie's passing. She loved CdP so thought I'd splurge on one. I've only had a couple but have loved every one I tried. This was a bit different, I'm used to bright fruit forward but this was very muted cooked dark fruit with a lot of emphasis on the baking spice and earthy tobacco notes. Incredibly complex - licorice, coffee, clove, tobacco with an underlying subtle dried/cooked dark fruit. Crazy smooth, but I'm comparing it to sub $20 wines that I'm used to, and you can barely tell that it's 15% alc. Nice tannins but I think it would benefit from a touch more acidity. I'm being picky since I paid so much for it but in summary it's one of the best made wines I've ever had, but not among my favorites. But it's still a great experience and I don't regret the purchase — 3 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Nice, well-made, straightforward Brunello. Savory notes of iodine, balsamic, rocky loam, and old furniture compete with sweet, dark cherry on the nose. I like the palate even more, as it seems a little more youthful than the nose. Full and rich, loads of earthy dark cherry fruit. Some chalky, ripe tannins help it cling to the sides of the mouth a bit but don’t intrude. Not the most complex but gives you its moneys worth. — 4 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

I would invite you to find a bottle like this older & well stored 03, “The Sisters. “I would enjoy tasting this blind w/ Napa Cult wines & lovers. Then, watch their eyes open wide when I pulled off the brown bag. Many would call Colgin, Scarecrow, Harlan, Bond & the like etc.. I recently paid $50 for this 2003 at auction. That includes tax & auction fees. For vintage, they would call 10, 13 or 14. This is still youthful. Beautiful M+ somewhat rounded tannins, fruit buffet w/ dark pronounced spice. This has ten years plus left.

The palate is round, plush, phat fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, plum, dark cherries, strawberries, purple fruits with blueberries. Dark, well pronounced spice, soft baking spices, sweet graphite, soft, fresh, tobacco notes, used leather warm, gray clay, river-stone, mocha, caramel notes, dry crushed rock, limestone marl, some dry top soil, dark, purple red fresh & withering florals, excellent, round acidity and a well made, balanced, beautifully structured and elegant finish that lasts minutes falling on elegant earth & spice.

TRB made wine. Stunning!!!! — 7 months ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.1

A very well made and balanced wine with extreme clarity of raspberry. The problem is 16%(!!!) alcohol. I think no matter how well you make wine trying to keep that in check will be difficult. There were some sore heads this morning 🥳 — 2 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.3

Beautiful full deep medium gold… surprising for such a young white wine. Enticing bright aroma of spring flowers and juicy dripping ripe orchard fruit. Every once in a while you run into a wine that just knocks you back a step.. this is such a wine. Rich, ripe, round, weighted, serious, lip-smacking good, complex, alive, smile-inducing, with a finish that makes you want to pour a glass for everyone you know. We consumed this wine with extremely well-made takeout Indian… Tikka Chicken, warm spicy Chana, and downright hot Lamb Vindaloo… this elixir stood up to the hodge-lodge and made it better. I need to buy this wine by the case. — 3 years ago