Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Sourced from over 70 tiny parcels of old-vine, head-pruned Tempranillo blended with a small percentage of Graciano, aged 15 months in French oak. Deep Ruby with aromas of dark berry fruits, sweet spice and herb notes. On the palate flavors of blackberry and ripe plum with notes of vanilla, spice, tobacco and floral herbs. Fine firm tannins, long finish ending with fruit, oak and earthy character. Very nice! — 3 months ago

Doug Powers

9.2

This lovely Siduri Pinot Noir is very dark-colored, big, rich, old vine mountain fruit (my recollection is that this is an old “head-pruned” Pinot vineyard, at elevation??), I can see criticism that it’s not really “Pinot Noir-like”, but like the older St. Innocent “Freedom Hill” Pinot Noirs, these wines last a long time, so even if it’s too “big”, it’s rich, intense and complex!! But, you wouldn’t ever guess, “blind”, that this was a red Burgundy. I happen to like it, as it seems youthful and fresh, with further aging potential. — 7 months ago

with Jim

Daniel Bloom

9.3

Yowza!
Old school meets suavé. Very cherry on the nose initially with red and black fruits mixed. Earth, leather,
Nice cocoa on the palate against lemon on short ribs. Multi faceted, easy, maybe too easy. Do not be deceived, this is A+ vino. It’s like the old world popped its head into the new. Deliciousness! — 3 years ago

Barberry Garden

9.0

Tasted blind. Guessed Pinot Noir and Bourgogne. Had a very tough fight in my head regarding this one. Restrained old school style yet very young. Cherry and earth notes. Hard on tannin, good acidity. Overall elegant, stylish and sophisticated. — 4 years ago

Simon Gilligan

9.3

Black, purple fruits, subtly sweet and raspberry rich with fine tannin and baking spices, long long finish with velvety, gentle grip. Understated but very present and blink, the bottle is gone. — 6 years ago

Matt Sterr

8.9

Good QPR. — 7 years ago

Nick Ferrall

9.0

Somewhere between 5-6 years old. The edges have been smoothed out nicely, but might be slightly over the hill. — 7 years ago

Collin Clark

9.3

It’s a winner? Yea — 4 months ago

JFP

8.9

2023 vintage. Though an honor wine, nothing different from their standard Zins. Always flavorful — 6 months ago

Monique Gillioen

9.3

Met Helena en Charles in de 2024 Old Head trip. Geserveerd bij tarbot in het wijn menu — 2 years ago

Brian Hearty

9.1

2019. We decided to make it an even longer three day weekend and take the afternoon off to head up to Old Westminster Winery to pick up our allocation. The Channery Hill was my favorite today of the Just the Reds flight. — 3 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.0

Deep ruby color. Heady, rich and almost meaty aromas. On the nose and the palate it seems almost more reminiscent of a Shiraz rather than a #Grenache — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Color me shocked at how good this was. I’m a big fan of Antica Terra wines, and while I’m always impressed, my expectations for this 10yr old OR Chardonnay were vastly blown out of the water.

The main reason I opened this bottle is I thought the age would have been more evident, and it would be channeling a more rich, slightly oxidized type profile, and would go with an assortment of blue cheese I was sampling at a small local event. Upon opening, color is still gorgeously yellow gold. First impression was it came across thin yet still had really vibrant acidity…very steely and mineral driven. About an hour later, this absolutely exploded out of the glass as of it was a different wine. Pear, grilled lemon and lots of honeysuckle aromatics. It bulked up on the palate with supreme texture and balance showing a kiss of oak. Creamy yet weightless. Lemon confit, honeyed golden delicious apple, sea spray, and a rounded finish with plenty of baking spices yet the core of minerality was still there. This left me scratching my head in a good way…I seriously need to find another. This is the best OR Chardonnay I’ve ever had. — 5 years ago

Timothy Lynch

9.0

Not for sipping unless a good sixty minutes before in a decanter. Typical characteristics of a CCR...plus some good old "Gaul women" smoke on the back end. Will go beautifully with tonight's charred fatty T-bone. A few left in the cellar...drink up...its arrived...and will only head South from here. — 8 years ago

Doug Powers

9.3

This 2017 Lirac is 99% Clairette (and 1% Grenache Blanc) from an old head-pruned vineyard with 125-year-old vines which always produces such an unique white wine, some of the previous vintages have seemed to develop rather quickly, but this well-balanced beauty is still going strong at age 9, long, lingering finish, Rudi nailed this vintage, lovely!! — 4 months ago

with Jim

Susan Chapo

9.3

Delicious. Paired with Chicken & Dumplings. Excellent for a Chardonnay — 7 months ago

Donald Williams

9.5

Outstanding wine for the price. — 2 years ago

with Bonnie

Jay Kline

9.3

Presented double-blind. The wine pours a deep, ruby color with a near opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with significant signs of sediment. Moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, dark fruits are predominant with some purple flowers, tobacco, subtle pyrazines and a touch of earth and baking spice. On the palate, the fruit set is confirmed. The wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. The finish is very long and savory. I believe a significant amount of new French oak is being used. Based on the aforementioned, possible varieties are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or some combination of Bordeaux varieties from either France or California. While the fruit is no-doubt abundant, there is hefty structure and a complexity that makes me lean towards the Old World. And now that my head is there, it’s very hard for me to get outside of Pomerol and I think the fruit is more of a result of the vintage. So I went with it, calling it 2009 Pomerol from a great producer. Welp…I was close and probably a huge compliment to Amuse Bouche since I think this wine is supposed to be their take on Pomerol. A very sexy wine that is drinking very well right now without a decant. — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Wednesday Wine Committee from this past week. A fantastic hosting by @joe leatherwood . 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 5 reds, 1 dessert wine. All tasted blind as usual.

I had this wine a year and a half ago...and I think it may be better now! Still hard for me to wrap my head around Hundred Acre tasting and aging like this. Brilliant bright ruby in the glass. Soft cherries, sweet ripe black cherries, sandalwood, nutmeg and added baking spices. Very balanced and elegant on the palate...cherries jubilee and liqueur, sweet kirsch and licorice. Drinking beautifully! I was between old Napa cab and Italian merlot. — 6 years ago

with joe, Dan and 2 others

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

She has that swagger, but it’s the saunter that really does it for me. Saunter is the creation of Heather and Josh Clark of Clark Vineyard Management. Thomas Rivers Brown makes the wines. Their Clone 685 Cabernet Sauvignon is from the Red Head Vineyard on Old Soda Springs Road in southeast Napa Valley. Plush, perfumed and inky, with that keep-coming-back-to-the-glass savoriness. Lush and hedonistic, but with layers and length. Stellar! — 7 years ago