Jennifer Hogseth

9.0

Good red ! — 3 months ago

Paul J

9.3

1hr+ decant. Dark red color with purple elements. Cherry, medicinal, and subtle graphite on the nose. Medium plus depth with ample Napa sweetness. Unfortunately a very short finish which is odd. I’d drink up very soon! — a year ago

with Brooke

Stephen Long

8.9

Rotting fruit. Sweet and savory. Enjoyable but really odd. Will try again. — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Lots of fun bottles were popped at Al’s hosting this past weekend for his birthday celebration. All were served blind. 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 6 reds and 1 dessert wine.

Out of all the wines from the night, this one changed the most. At first, it was very reminiscent of South African blends with a smoky rubbery like note. Odd. After about two hours, it shed that and was showing a lot of sweet cassis, baking spices, ripe red and black fruits. Balanced and smooth on the palate with graham cracker, dates, dark cocoa and mixed berries. I called this Napa cab but couldn’t pin point a producer. Props to Weston for calling this Shafer HSS! — 5 years ago

with joe, Dan and 2 others

Neha b

9.5

Cab-Syrah blend. Smooth. — 5 months ago

Doug Powers

8.9

(Split) — Intense apricot aromas and flavors, still very youthful, but also an odd medicinal/band-aid note that detracts a bit, on the other hand, this tastes like it’s 5-years-old, not sure what I think on this one?!?! — a year ago

with Jim

Shay A

9.3

WNH Barolo theme.

Not having any experience with this producer, I tried a small glass at pop and pour, then decided to decant for an hour and a half. I then enjoyed the bottle over the next two hours.

I’m between a 92 and 93 here. If I had tried this blind, I think I would have taken this to left bank Bordeaux. As odd as that sounds, my reasons are mostly due to hardly any floral notes at all, and a hint of leather on the palate (with both the classic Barolo and Cabernet finish showing drying tannins). The longer this was open, the more cherry menthol notes picked up (but not in a bad way). Red currant, cherry and vanilla Pope tobacco, and underripe fleshy black cherry skin. Sporting a classically warm 2007 profile with richness and tannin, this powered through the entire evening and was best about halfway through. I’m sure it can hold many more years, but this is at a stage where the fruit is fading to the background and savory herbs, dates and fig will soon make their way to the forefront. Just depends on your preferred Barolo style. Enjoyed from a Grassl Cru glass which does a great job of accentuating the aromatics in old world wines. — 3 years ago

Sean Lyons

9.5

Very light nose of caramel, vanilla and gasoline(?). It’s much stronger on the palette with caramel, charcoal, tobacco, acetone, chocolate. The finish has an odd acidic/metallic note that isn’t very pleasant and lingers forever. Not as spicy as other ryes I’ve had. It’s very complex and interesting, changing multiple times over my 20 min tasting. I really like it. — a year ago

Brandon Boesch

9.2

Tons of acidity. Crunchy apple, raspberry, plums, a bit of forest, but it is tart. I wonder if it’s just an odd time for it. Still way better than 90% of all zin made. — 3 years ago

Martin Mills

8.9

Definitely better on the second day, which is odd for a white. Pale in colour. Quite shy initially but opens up to reveal lots of spice and complexity, wrapped around the melon core of garnatxa blanca. Delicious though they are not giving it away at €18. — 4 years ago