Bob McDonald

9.3

A beautiful top shelf Margaret River Cabernet drinking well at 16 years of age. Deep Ruby in colour. You would never know it was that age from the colour. My 2nd last bottle. A blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec and 1% Cabernet Franc. Trademark herbaceous notes with mulberry and spice. 2008 was a hot and dry vintage in Margaret River. Severe winds at flowering drastically reduced the crop to the lowest yet recorded - under 1 tonne per acre. Shelley Anne named after Stuart Watson’s wife. Stuart is the chief winemaker and one of the owners. — 2 months ago

Billy L.

9.4

PNP > I liked it more in its youth 2008/09
Timeframe for my Fruit Forward pallet. Dr. Jay Miller -Wine Advocate Staffer rated 98 points
in 2007. Cheers 🍇🍷 Dr. Jay Miller Review:
“Any aspiring collectors should add a case of this to their stash. The 2004 Numanthia comes from a different terroir with a different clone of Tinta de Toro. The vines for this cuvee range from 70-100 years of age with tiny yields of 1 ton of fruit per acre. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in barrel followed by 19 months in new French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is a glass-coating opaque purple with a killer nose of mineral, pencil lead, wild blueberry, and blackberry liqueur that roars from the glass. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, dense, and already beginning to show complexity within its layers of spicy black fruits. There is immense power, well-concealed ripe tannin, and the well-delineated finish lasts for over one minute. This is a sensational effort which in a perfect world should be cellared for a decade and enjoyed over the following 25+ years. However, the elderly among us should not feel guilty about opening a bottle now. (JM) (2/2007)” — 5 years ago

Mark S.

9.0

Not so bitter, French oak so elegant. concentrated and much more fruity to 2015, since it's made from 1 barrel per 1 acre @2500, TWSFestival Yuan Chang Trading Gary, 171119
This second time is to taste it on full bottle basis. After stable, sweet aroma can be felt. Taste is juicy, violet and raisin flavor as well. We can feel its body weight. But not chocolate like, elegant. Change a lot over time. Valuable one. Good balance with spicy. @,,180306 — 7 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

When I come across Kevin Harvey's Rhys Vineyards I always think about this excerpt from a piece Jon Bonne wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2011: "The depleted soils of Harvey’s Skyline vineyard, planted at the winery, are so densely planted and demandingly farmed, at about 7,000 vines per acre, that its 14,000 vines yielded just 660 bottles of wine in 2009. Which explains a revealing harvest moment that stuck in Harvey’s head: “One guy comes out of the vineyard and says, ‘Why do you hate money?'”"

This is strawberry at its perfect ripeness. Exotic, perfumed, pure, and wild. A Pinot Noir like this probably makes Cali Pinot producers wish they were in Burgundy and Burgundy producers awkwardly self-conscious. It's cerebral hedonism. — 7 years ago

JKT

9.0

First wine since July trips! Back label: This 25-acre vineyard, planted in day and limestone soils, is situated in Salignac Gironde, 15 miles northeast of Bordeaux. He belongs to the Comtes de Tastes. Welldrained, south-facing slopes explain the name : Beaulieu, or
"beautiful plage".
Under the enlightened management of Count Vianney de Tastes, cover tropping, "green-harvesting" and leaf-pulling are the rule.
Consequently, yields are very low for the appellation at just 2,5 tons/acre, the equivalent of one bottle of wine per vine.
The 15-year old vines include 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon. At 2,226 vines/acre, density is twice the average of most New World vineyards!
The hand-harvested fruit undergoes a pre-fermentation, cold maceration (3-5 days) after which the juice is slowly fermented (10-15 days), and then macerated for as long as taste (Tastes?) deems necessary. Malolactic then takes place in barrel, 60% of which are new.
The wine is aged on its lees for 12 months, gaining additional richness, freshness, and complexity and then bottled on the estate. Enjoy it now and over the next 5-7 years. Nice wine with complexity, earthy plummy aromas and lively palate. — 3 months ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

This wine is made by Dan Standish who started his career by traveling all over the world learning the skill of winemaking. He returned to Australia to make wine at Torbreck. After making Torbreck, he starting his own project. This wine is produced from a vineyard with 100 year old vines with a yield of only a 1/2 ton on fruit per acre. In comparison to quality Napa producers, their yields are 2-3 tons per acre. Dan is absolutely one of the very best producers in Barossa.

On the nose, mulberries, olallieberries, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, plum, blackberries, black cherries, dark berry cola, vanilla, dark spice, black pepper, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, soft leather, saddle-wood, coffee grounds, black licorice, dark, rich soil, lavender and violets.

The body is full, rich, ruby, lush and very inky. The texture is elegantly sexy. The 06 is still youthful & fresh. It still needs more time but, it’s delicious tonight. The length, tension, structure and balance are just coming into it own. mulberries, Olallieberries, Boysenberries, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, plum, raisins, blackberries, black cherries, dark berry cola, vanilla, dark spice, black pepper, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, soft leather, saddle-wood, coffee grounds, black licorice, dark, rich soil, purple flowers, lavender and violets. The acidity is round and beautiful. The finish is long, thick, ruby, lush, elegant, well balanced with deep heat penetrating dark spices that rise off the palate and lasts several minutes. The 06 is still 5 years from it peak.

Photos of; The Standish Cellar Door, Owner/Winemaker Dan Standish, beautiful Barossa Vineyards and the old tasting room — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

This wine seriously has more bacon fat and pork than I've experienced in a bottle. The fruit is one of the last things I will have in this description. It's why there is a pig in the picture collage! I had to do it because right now that is the dominating flavor of the wine. I am going to come back to this in a bit. Let's see what happens after some time in the decanter. This starting to calm down a bit. On the nose, bacon fat, pork, grilled meats, BBQ sauce, olive, loads of milk chocolate, brine, brown sugar, dried blood, pepper, black plum, dark cherries, blackberries, faint strawberries, dry stones, loamy clay soil, scorched earth, soy sauce and decayed dark florals. The mouthfeel is thick and brooding. Everything on the nose is on the palate. The acidity is round. The finish is thick, rich with intense flavors that stick to the palate and linger endlessly. If I had more bottles of the 06 En Chamberlin, I'd wait another 8-10 years to open them. It's still a monster. Photos of; the front of their tasting room in downtown Walla Walla that is generally always closed, the stone vineyard of Cayuse that needs to be horse plowed, Christophe Baron (owner), ready to pick grapes and a field pig...just because their is so much pork in this wine. Producer notes and history...while visiting the Walla Walla Valley in 1996, Christophe Baron spotted a plot of land that had been plowed up to reveal acres of softball-sized stones. He became ridiculously excited. This stony soil, this terroir, reminded him of vineyards he had visited in France (Rhone Valley) and Spain. The difficult ground would stress the grapevines, making them produce more mature, concentrated fruit. Christophe Baron had found a new home. He named his vineyard after the Cayuse, a Native American tribe whose name was taken from the French cailloux–which means, of course, rocks. Hours of back-breaking work later, Cayuse Vineyards has become five vineyards encompassing 50 acres: Armada, Cailloux, Coccinelle (Ladybug), En Cerise (Cherry), and En Chamberlin. The majority of the vineyards are planted with Syrah, and the rest dedicated to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Tempranillo and Viognier. All of the vineyards are planted in rocky earth within the Walla Walla Valley appellation. Cayuse was also the first winery in Walla Walla to farm using biodynamic methods. These highly stressed vineyards average a yield of only two tons or less per acre (30 hectolitres per hectare), resulting in wines true to each vineyard’s unique terroir. Cayuse specializes in four estate-vineyard Syrahs, along with Bionic Frog Syrah, Impulsivo Tempranillo, Widowmaker Cabernet-Sauvignon, two Bordeaux blends named Camaspelo & Flying Pig and Viognier. Look for their other partnership wines; Horsepower & No Girls if you haven't already. Nearly 100% all mailing list, restaurants and secondary markets. — 7 years ago

Paul T HB

9.4

Its the Breaker Vineyard, JS 95
Love the description from the winery so I had to try one ☝️
I think I might get a couple more to age for a few years.

Winemaker's Notes: " The Breaker Vineyard is where we live. Planted in 1972 on its own roots, it occupies a windswept rocky hill on the northern tip of the Eola-Amity Hills. The original cuttings came from Dick Erath and were farmed by Rich Zielinski for four decades. To the north the soils are predominantly Nekia, moderately deep silty clay soils on top of basalt bedrock. The southern portion is predominantly Gelderman soil series which has much thinner topsoils with rocks and cobbles strewn throughout the rows. This endangered beast will be one of only two vintages (2018 & 2019) to come off this old vineyard before we begin replanting. This vintage is very limited and entirely unique. Built to go the distance, we know our children will be enjoying these wines for many years to come. It's just that special. Winemaking Yielding just over one ton per acre, this old vineyard was harvested on the 28th of September. One portion was destemmed into a small, open- top fermenter. The second portion was placed 100% whole bunch in a 500-liter amphora and left untouched for 19 days. The last portion was left 100% whole bunch and foot crushed only. All fermented with native yeast. This wine is a dramatic landscape of rich blue fruits, tense acidity buoyed by sweet tannins, and mouth filling richness. Bottled unfined and unfiltered." — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Demuth vineyard also farmed by Kosta Browne Winery, yields less than one ton per acre. Ruby with tangy red fruit aromas and oak spice notes. On the palate a rich full flavor of blackberry and dark cherry with exotic spice, earthy oak and firm tight tannins, took 45 minutes to open. Lively acidity gives the wine good balance and carries through the finish with an earthy mineral character ending with notes of cacao. — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

80% Nero d’Avola - not sure of the rest. Very high vine planting density of 9850 plants per acre. Deep crimson in colour. Earthy with oak notes. Oak Barriques used but in control. Rich and full bodied palate showing black currant notes with smooth supple tannins. The proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. Very good and one of the 1001 Wines. — 7 years ago