Paul J

9.0

Can’t rate. Maybe the wine is in a weird spot or my palate was affected by the 4 sessions of snow shoveling, but if I had a blindfold on I would have thought this was a red. Somewhat restrained on the palate with lots of steel elements and some earth. Color was great, as was the cork, so must be me. Usually one of my favorites! — 2 days ago

with Brooke

Melanie Callen

9.2

Light, crisp beautiful — 5 months ago

Shay A

9.3

With some inconsistencies the last year or two with Ultramarine, this was a nice refresher of how enjoyable they can be when showing well. I chose this as one of my 2018 Cali BdB sparklers I opened to see how the sparkling wine scene is evolving (also opened was a 2018 Haliotide BdB, 2018 Ultramarine Michael Mara BdB and 2018 Brick & Mortar Manchester Ridge BdB).

Over the last 7yrs or so of opening Ultramarine, I’ve found the Charles Heintz to show the classical vineyard expression of pure and ripe tropical fruit (guava), a small amount of oxidation of the fruit, and a distinct cream soda note. This 2018 lined up fairly close to those expectations (whereas the Michael Mara has been a bit more austere in the past, yet not as much barrel character as the one today). More “funk” and texture than the classical Haliotide, but not too far (nothing vegetal). The dosage feels on-point here. Follows the grower champagne vibe, but more to the natty side. — a year ago

Doug Powers

8.9

Lovely white peach and faint mineral aromas and flavors, nicely tart plus low ABV (12% ABV), crisp and super clean, longish finish, I’m a fan of this one!! — 21 days ago

with Jim

Paul J

9.5

Great start to dinner. Well balanced between fruit (apples, pears) and oak/nutty flavors. Medium depth and finish. — 6 months ago

with Geoff

John Willison

9.2

Round yellow fruit, herbal, rich yeast. — 2 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Pretty intense and concentrated for a Rosso Piceno, which tend to be on the thinner side because of the high proportion of Sangiovese (which is not in its best element in Marche). Nose is medium intensity, with lots of smoky crushed stone, savory dark berry skin fruit. Athletic-feeling in the mouth, with good extract and flavor intensity, some rustic Montepulciano tannins in the finish. Good acids. I feel like this will soften and get a bit more friendly over the next few years, which is unusual for a Piceno. — 2 years ago

Steve Rura

9.3

Broc is really great at Chardonnay! Bright and acidic. Elegantly balanced. Nowhere near your typical old school oaky Cali chard — 18 days ago

Sagee Aran

9.1

A refreshing crisp Godelo. Beautiful yellow straw color, interesting nose and tasty palate — 5 months ago

Shay A

9.2

@Delectable Wine : This is the Brick & Mortar Blanc de Blancs Manchester Ridge Vineyard. I didn’t see it in the database.

It has probably been 4-5yrs since I last had a sparkler from Brick & Mortar, so when some buddies visited their winery recently and raved about them, I ended up with a BdB and a Rosé to try. I chose this as one of my 2018 Cali BdB sparklers I opened to see how the sparkling wine scene is evolving (also opened was a 2018 Haliotide BdB, 2018 Ultramarine Heintz BdB, and a 2018 Ultramarine Michael Mara BdB).

48 months on lees

With hardly any experience, I had zero expectations of style. After the comparison, I’m a bit surprised to say this showed fairly similar to the 2018 Ultramarine Heintz BdB. Both have a bit richer fruit profiles with some funk and oxidation. Aromatically, there is more of a honeyed profile than the others, with floral and orange citrus accents. The leesy profile is evident on the palate with rich layers of herb-crusted yellow fruits and a hint of lemon pastry. I’d like to re-visit this on its own to see how it shows away from comparisons. — a year ago