Mid Life Crisis
Mauro Molino
Gallinotto Barolo Nebbiolo 2013
Whoa! Really tasty a fair amount of body and lovely fruit, anise, and herbs. Lovely mid-life structure and balance, plenty of grip without being obnoxious. Glad I have 1 more of these. — 2 years ago
Forman
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1984
WOW! One of the best pleasures in life is enjoying a spectacular wine at its pinnacle. Tonight was one of those nights. Dining with life long friends we enjoyed this wine. A dear friend selected this bottle as a backup for dinner. A definite case of Wally Pip taking the day off. This wine is not just peaking, it sings from the glass. Everything you expect from a classic Napa Cab with the style, elegance, and finesse of a First Growth in spades! You want aromatics, here is red and black fruits, cigar tobacco, lavender, anise, scorched earth, Asian spice…okay so we drifted into mid palate yummy flavors. A finish that lingers while dancing over the palate for more than 30 seconds, titillating the taste buds into pleasurable submission. Did I mention the WOW factor? This wine has it! Where can we find more?!?? What a spectacular selection! — 2 years ago
Pine Ridge Vineyards
Andrus Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999
I purchased this yesterday from an A+ wine storage facility that also sells its clients wine when requested. This has been stored there since its release. I bought this perfect bottle for $35 because it has sentimental value and for $35 bucks…come on!
In a former life, I only drank well made CA Chardonnay. I know it’s hard even for me to imagine, let alone remember & admit it. Now, I hardly drink CA Chardonnay.
My sisters were visiting and they like reds. So I stopped at the former “Wine Club” retail shop in Santa Clara. It was the 1999 Pine Ridge “Stag’s Leap Cabernet” (2x) I bought that started me down the red rabbit hole. The Andrus is as close to that as I’ll get to their Stag’s Leap bottling at this point. Close enough and one of their best. We enjoyed it with Chinese takeout! 😂
This 99 is just and I mean just the other side of its peak bell curve. Still has another 5 years of life left. It is its unbelievable storage that has kept this 99 fresh as it’s not from not an awful vintage, but certainly not a great one, not like 98. Yet, it still shines 25 years later.
The nose reveals dark currants & cassis. Hints of barrel toast. Brambly blackberries, black raspberries, stewy black plum, poached, dark cherries & strawberries, burnt cranberries, black tea, burnt brush, old tobacco w/ ash, old baking spices, baking soda and dark, red, withering florals.
The palate shows; ripe, juicy, brambly blackberries, black raspberries, stewy black plum, poached, dark cherries & strawberries, burnt cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, black tea, mid berry cola, burnt brush, touch of black pepper, softened, dark spice, old tobacco w/ ash, well used leather, baking spices-clove, cinnamon, nutmeg & vanillin, cooked caramel. Some dry sage, baking soda, limestone powder, dry top soil, grey volcanics and dark, red, slightly withering florals set in violets, rainfall acidity with an elegant, juicy, well balanced/structured & still showing nice tension on the finish that lasts two-minutes plus.
I had this corvined over two nights and at the halfway point threw some very chunky sediment.
What a great remembrance! — 4 months ago
Château Cantenac Brown
BriO de Cantenac Brown Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2009
Aromatic Margaux nose with clear ceder and herbal impressions. In de midst of its life span but stil packed with lush fresh red fruits such as red currant and cherries. Even some more serious raspberries comes by. Ageing gives this wine a Smokey leather mid palate and finishes of with a mineral though. A very pleasant wine that cheers up these awkward times.. — 3 years ago
Peter Michael Winery
Estate Vineyards Les Pavots Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1994
1994 vintage. Trick or treat. Decanted and tasted multiple times over two hours. Light-medium body. Fantastic, old-school BDX nose. Somewhat linear as someone else proffered but still plenty of life. At least another half-decade in this place. Was just missing a little fruit in the front/mid-palates. Cork was solid but juice tasted like a second bottle might have some variation on the positive side. May find out sooner rather than later. 10.31.23. — a year ago
Yabby Lake Vineyard
Single Vineyard Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2015
Mid Ruby in colour. Red fruits of cherry and strawberry with a bit of whole bunch influence on the nose. The palate showing savoury red fruits but also a little sweetness. Certainly a good future in front of it - I should try the next one in 1 to 2 years time. Tom Carson has probably never made a bad wine in his life and he has a great terroir to work with when he is not in demand for judging at Royal Shows. Tasted another bottle 65 weeks later on 24th July 2022. Quite red cherry on the nose and palate. Sooty notes from whole bunch in the ferment. The perfect balance between sweet and savoury. — 4 years ago
Ellen Clifford
I opened this on my birthday (it seemed apropos). Like its big brother (sister/horse-er?), it is a St-Émilion Grand Cru…and I tried the 2021, which, omg, I feel bad I have committed so much wine infanticide in my life…this is good now but shows SO much promise for age-ousity (new wine adjective, adverb?) Made of 60% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc. Blackberries, tobacco, slight violet notes and toasty cedar on the nose initially, heavy twirling teases out hints of red plum. The palate starts earthy, broadening across the mid-palate to reveal juicy, juicy cassis (red and black) and a touch of dried vines that reads as enriching, not drying—inching further towards perfume on the finish. The tannins are the melt-in-your-mouth type—they make themselves known and then relax. I loved this wine. Give it air if you open it now, lots of air and twirl it like it’s the belle of the ball, but ideally, give it a little more time. I’m not sure when it will peak, but it should continue to evolve favorably over the years. — 3 months ago