Kristen Grimes

9.7

Earthy forest floor aromas with underlying rich black cherry, light on the palate with tart acidity, ripe fruit, and soft, pleasant structure. This is my beloved Pinot. — 3 months ago

Jeremiah Diaz

9.2

Clear, deep ruby in color (almost purple); on the nose, it's clean with pronounced primary and secondary aromas of black cherries, cassis, and graphite; on the palate, it's dry with medium acidity, medium tannins, medium alcohol, medium body, and pronounced primary and secondary flavors of black plum, violets, blueberries, and wet slate with a long finish. This wine is intense and complex, but could use a bit more acidityto balance the fruit. Overall, I rate this wine as very good. Nellie liked it with food. — 10 months ago

with Nellie

Delectable Wine

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9.6

The 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate from Clos du Val is the most interesting of all the wines. The estate was founded by John and Henrietta Goelet in the early Seventies when the couple challenged recently graduated winemaker Bernard Portet to create a Bordeaux-inspired estate in Napa. Clos du Val attained global recognition when its inaugural 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon was one of the wines poured blind by Steven Spurrier at the epochal The Judgement of Paris, so this bottle of 1976 was one of their earliest bottlings that, incidentally, came directly from Clos de Val’s apparently meager reserves. It is very elegant and perfumed on the nose, typical old school, classic Napa Cabernet in all its unfettered glory, beautifully defined with wilted rose petals and a light fish scale element. Supple, very pliant tannins define the palate. There remains ample freshness and poise, a fine silver thread of acidity and a clove-tinged, rounded, exquisitely balanced finish that would surpass practically every other Bordeaux from this vintage. Outstanding. (Neal Martin, Vinous, April 2024)
— 2 years ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.0

Exceeded my expectations. Dosage felt high but it was a nice Champagne to open with Family on thanksgiving. — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Blend of 90% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot & 5% Tannat, aged 20 mos French oak. LaJota has deep roots in Napa, in 1888, wine pioneer W.S. Keyes planted the first vines on Howell Mountain, 10 years later LaJota Vineyard established, named for location on Mexican parcel Rancho La Jota. Deep Ruby, rich berry fruit aromas & herb spice. On the palate blackberry & cherry flavors with sweet spice, licorice & cacao notes, rich & tangy. Soft full tannins, long finish ending with oak & earthy herbs. Just starting to drink now, will cellar for a decade. — 5 years ago

Ellen Clifford

8.9

Oh fun low key on the tannins for Tannat and it is working for me even though I do like to abuse my mouth with too-young Nebbiolos but let’s all treat ourselves well in this pandemic ya? — 6 years ago

Stephen Fitzpatrick

9.1

2022 vintage, very unique and bold Napa Cab; dark plum in color, aromas of blackberry on the nose, surprising velvety taste with a smooth finish; not chewy nor heavy on the jam despite its nose. Definitely a different Napa Cab experience, but one I would have again. — 4 months ago

Kaushal Kantawala

9.1

This sub $10 Trader Joe’s treasure really shines. The butter is restrained and balanced, also has a bright acidity. Notes of citrus on the nose and caramel, vanilla and butterscotch on the palate. Great delightful wine to pair with spicy food. — 10 months ago

Bruce Dunbar

8.9

I heard Bill Murray on a podcast recently raving about the bramble-berry pie he had the night before, describing the many berries that went into making it so delicious. It’s a fitting description for the current release of Bedrock’s Dolinsek Heritage red too, which is loaded with a rainbow of berry flavors and all their sweetness and bright acidity captured in a bottle instead of a crust. There’s an added bonus of a long, peppery finish thanks to the 70+% Zin in the field blend and some firm, drying tannins that signal a great future ahead. — 2 years ago

Brendan Baker

9.1

Love having this “on tap” in the fridge 🍓🍉🌊🥳 — 3 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Founded 1972, Tom & Sally Jordan, from CO, went to CA’s wine country & produced inaugural vintage in 1976. A Fav of mine with a steak, and the ‘17 hits the mark! Blend of mostly Cab Sauv with Merlot, Petit Verdot & Malbec. Deep Ruby with aromas of red fruit, floral & spice. On the palate flavors of cherry, blackberry and fig with oak, sweet spice, leather & cacao notes. Rich tannins, well balanced and integrated with fruit & oak. Very Nice! — 4 years ago

Turd Ferguson

9.2

First day ehhhhh. Totally different wine on day two. Pure passionfruit. Killer — 5 years ago

Jerry Raphael

9.0

I’m a big fan of PNs from SLH and maybe see SB a second with some others but this Pali (under $20) bottling just kept on opening and ended up with a lot of sweet berries. If you don’t get Pali check them out and join their club. Great drinking whites and reds — 6 years ago

with Barbara

Rachel Wolf

9.5

Mossy on the nose, Pinot fruitiness in the mouth, grows in complexity and depth as it breathes — 4 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2018 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 1.5 hours. Medium body. Excellent, dark color. Some leaner fruits balanced with earth and spices. On the prettier side of the ledger currently. 1.2.26. — 7 months ago

Chris Zitzman

9.4

What a find. Not cheap ($50-70ish?) but as got the prices, so go the expectations and this wine from the Bedrock wine Company surpasses the lofty expectations I had for it. After a good, thorough decant this red blend opened up in a righteous fashion, with rich red fruits on the nose and one of the more ‘powerful yet graceful’ textures on the palate I’ve experienced in a long time. We had it with ribeye steaks and it was a meal for the books as the wine evolved in the glass. Powerful but graceful, stem to stern. — 10 months ago

with Beth

Ellen Clifford

9.4

Palmer turned my head in general at a recent tasting—if you can get your hands on the 1996 vintage my gosh…but for exceptional Champagne at (if not everyday) more frequently do-able prices lean in. Toasty white bread with these citrus notes that…can I be honest? It reminds me when as a teen vegetarian in St Louis I’d do late night runs to Steak and Shake where my friends got burgers but I’d order toast and butter with a lime freeze. Those toasty but piquant and refreshing notes. Expect like that on a platter with even more nuance. Obvi it doesnt taste like that precisely but its toast and citrus vibes don’t let go and cream and apple butter are backup singers. Do drink Palmer. — 3 years ago

Michelle M

8.9

Blackberry bramble, hints of mint and pine needles, vanilla, and char on the nose. Chewy cherries, blueberries, kirsch and cooked down plum, vanilla extract with a medium body and soft tannins that linger on a medium-long finish. Great crowd pleaser and solid value. — 5 years ago

Matt Nicoletti

9.4

Butterscotch on nose, bit of allspice and honeysuckle on the palate. Really delicious! — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Nose has mashed blackberry, ripe black current, ripe black cherry, wet saddle leather, horse barn, dried mint, fried green herbs, chopped bacon, muddy garden soil, constantly developing...

Palate has mahogany shavings, black cherry 🍒, dried garden soil, day old bacon bacon 🥓, over-ripe black currant, warm dark chocolate, (minor) baking spice with a very long and intense finish. This wine has at least a decade in front of it tonight. Perfect, supple cork on extraction.

Still quite tannic, decanted 4h, needs much more time to reveal it's true self.

My retailer commented this was not a standard CA Cabernet, more Bordeaux-like, and he was fully on point. The stink on the nose really pointed us away from CA right away.

Paired to some expertly grilled, medium-rare Delmonico steaks from my favorite, local farmer in Columbia Co. NY (Kinderhook Farm), well salted (in advance). Finished with Maldon smoked sea salt, best which exists in the world, IMHO. Also roasted beets with goat feta from VT, where I can only image goats listen to Phish and eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream daily, because only a stress free life like that could yield cheese this good.

I'd like to know the blend on this, should anyone know, I can't believe it's 100% Cab based on the stinky nose, which we appreciate. — 6 years ago