Stuart Pollack

9.4

Smooth and elegant, but a little sweet for my taste. Classic California Cabernet Sauvignon. Very strong blueberry and blackberry flavors. This wine has a number of years left to age but is ready to drink now. A well-made wine. An outstanding value at $42. — 6 months ago

Paul T- Huntington Beach

9.9

Mag,
2nd day is essential, opened yesterday & decanted 4 hours today. This is right there with the 2005.
Its been 4 years since my last 07, it still has plenty of life but why wait when you can decant🤷🏼‍♂️
The 29 Estate vineyard is situated on the east-facing hillside at the base of the Mayacamas range, a couple miles north of St. Helena and just above Highway 29. The soil here is clay loam with gravel deposits, deeper at the bottom of the slope and shallower and rockier toward the top (the Sauvignon Blanc is planted in the rockiest spot, followed by the Cabernet Franc and then Cabernet Sauvignon). The slope and soil content ensure good drainage, while the rocks and gravel allow the roots to penetrate deep, ensuring more stable vines and more consistent ripeness. Average yields here for Cabernet Sauvignon are a moderate 2.8 to 3.2 tons per acre, held down by the vine stress associated with steep vines.

Vineyard 29 is located in the narrow hourglass part of Napa Valley and benefits from consistently good air flow. Even in 2008, there was just a touch of frost at the bottom of the vineyard, according to McMinn, who noted that his Aida vineyard just two miles to the north is typically six or seven degrees warmer. The site also benefits from its eastern exposure, capturing early morning sunlight but with the mountain above protecting the vines against the most intense afternoon sun. The result is slow, consistent ripening of the grapes and healthy sugar levels with much less risk of desiccation, which in turn means rounder, more integrated tannins. Although St. Helena is a very warm region, day-night temperature variation at Vineyard 29 is among the widest in Napa Valley, according to McMinn.

Thanks to Vineyard 29’s well-aerated site and protection from the hottest afternoon sun, the estate Cabernet always has sound acidity; it has never been acidified, according to winemaker Emerson. The pH of the Vineyard 29 estate wine is typically between 3.75 and 3.9, and alcohol levels are moderate by Napa Valley standards, almost always in the high 14s (with 2009 the only vintage to have exceeded 15%). The wines are frequently characterized by black and blue fruits—cassis, blackberry, blueberry—and notes of chocolate, licorice and spices. Compared to the Grace Family Vineyards wine, made from a vineyard barely 200 yards to the north from the same plant material, the Vineyard 29 wine is characteristically a bit less floral and delicate but riper and denser, combining power with typically plush, ripe tannins. Emerson noted that Vineyard 29 is typically harvested at least a week later than the Grace site, noting that the tannins “take a long time to lose their chalky character and come around.” Luckily, he added, “the fruit here can hang for a long time without getting too crazy with sugar.” And the estate routinely picks in two passes, typically seven to ten days apart.

— 3 years ago

Marshall Todd Herron DPM

9.6

2016- Real de Asua - CVNE. Stored at 55 degrees for six months, decanted for one hour, and served at 65 degrees. I do prefer 62 but I missed the mark. Ha ha. The bouquet is a perfume of lavender and vanilla. The palate begins with a smooth silky raspberry delight. It is very light on the tongue, yet opaque in the glass. The legs last forever! The palate develops into a tart, earthy, and smokey finish that drys out the lips and tongue. There is an after taste of graphite and slate as the lips begin to pucker!! Where’s my water?????? — 2 years ago

Sean Rosenfeld

9.8

Whole cluster pressed. Settled for one week in stainless steel tank at 45 degrees no SO2 added, no other additions were made to juice. Racked to 22 HL foudre and stainless steel barrels. Primary fermentation with indigenous yeast lasted approximately eight weeks. 100% malolactic fermentation was completed. Aged for six months in foudre. Cold stabilized, no fining, light filter for clarity (5 micron). Bottled February 28, 2012. A total of 310 — 10 years ago

Paul T- Huntington Beach

9.3

Nice $30.00 Tempranillo

235, The Wine Advocate

The current vintage of one of the flagship wines from La Rioja Alta is the 2009 Viña Ardanza Reserva, the second year it has contained 20% Garnacha grapes from their estate vineyards in La Pedriza in the village of Tudelilla in Rioja Baja. The Tempranillo comes from vineyards averaging 30 years of age in Fuenmayor and Cenicero. The hand-harvested bunches were sorted and put in boxes, transferred to the winery at 14 degrees Celsius to be destemmed and crushed, then the grapes fermented in stainless steel, including malolactic. The two varieties were aged separately, 36 months in used American oak barrels for Tempranillo and 30 months for Garnacha, and racked every six months. I — 3 years ago

Beth Nelson

9.6

Great wine, and I'm 6 degrees of separation from the owners. — 10 years ago