Will

9.2

Shake well. Pour from height. — 5 years ago

Mike R

9.7

While this is so good and what a way to reintroduce myself back to red wines - amazing - we had to fight off wine zombies at our local high end burger joint as they saw our faces and knew the wine was speaking no screaming to us “I don’t like it, I LOVE it” as my friend @David L says but we escaped with our lives and enjoyed our wine

We kept drinking listening to Bon Jovi Wanted Dead or Alive while our horses got hydrated (well 500 horses in HP) as we did as well drinking this brilliant example of Cabernet Sauvignon from my new great friends @Mike Smith and Leah Smith - thank you so much - I praise you as I love this as much as one of top fives which is Quivet LPV 2013 which we discussed as well when we were together - this is different and Rhonda says it has a strong hint of vanilla beans that makes the scent unique and pleasant - I doubt she is right

The music changes to Dave Matthews and we taste to wine and man does the palette get pleased and finessed like a sexy women talking to me which I am lucky as that is my wife

The length of the taste is like watching your breathe on a cold day as Stone Temple Pilots plays on the speaker and really enjoying this masterpiece of wine craftsmanship / bravo Mike

By the way hope the family is great and Rob our son is doing good in first job after college and he is happy so we are blessed — 7 years ago

David L

9.2

03' Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet.
I am sitting across from my son, Tyler, celebrating his 14th Birthday...trying to figure how the time went so fast. I am reflecting on how crazy his 8th grade year has been. Fall was crazy busy with high school visits, high school placement tests, applications, endless essays for the applications and swim meets. Happy to report that Tyler was accepted at his first choice high school and was over the moon. He is coming off of an extremely successful Junior Olympics meet. Could not be prouder of him...just having a hard time believing he will be in high school in 5 months. Enjoying this 14 year old Montelena with my 14 year old young man.

Color- Ruby red. Moderate sediment from this 2003. Decant it for at least an hour. No signs of slowing down. Full bodied & still quite dense. 10+ years in it. — 8 years ago

Mike R

9.8

Shafer hillside select - 2012 - I am using this beautiful beast of a Napa cab to release all stress, toxins and sadness and bring in positive thoughts, emotions and inspirations- Rest In Peace mom - your with your son and my brother now - your strong independence yet caring ways and values will live on through me and your grandsons - this is a RP 100 pointer and a prefect tribute to my mom - my wife and I have appreciated the kind comments of hope and prayers from the gang on Delectable - decanted 2 hours and man did this baby sing loud and in prefect pitch - this is all I love about Napa - just says I am here and don't dare challenge me - if I could afford and not be an offspring of my mother who liked to explore new as well enjoy the old dependable wines I would just drink this wine every time - I know it is young and this baby will only get better as it rests but I wanted to try and just a lush lovely lively beautiful expression of joy in a glass - 😀😀😀😇😇😇 — 8 years ago

GabWine

8.9

Color : White
Wine estate : Romain Papilloud
Designation : Vétroz (AOC Valais)
Name : Amigne Grand Cru de Vétroz
Country : Switzerland
Vivino : 4/5
Note : Romain Papilloud, self-made-man, became a winemaker in 1979 and owner in 1987. The majority of his vineyard is located in Vétroz (Valais, Switzerland). We will observe on the top of the bottle 1 to 3 bees which represents the sugar content (A bee means 0 to 8 grams).
With a yellow robe, the nose of this amine is rich with flavors of citrus (tangerine) and honey. On the palate, a beautiful structure with apricot flavors and a delicacy in the end.
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Romain Papilloud, autodidacte, devient vigneron en 1979 et propriétaire en 1987. La majorité de son vignoble est situé à Vétroz (Valais, Suisse). On observera sur le haut de la bouteille 1 à 3 abeilles qui représente la teneur en sucre (Une abeille signifie 0 à 8 grammes).
Avec une robe jaune, le nez de cette amigne est riche avec des saveurs d’agrumes (mandarine) et de miel. En bouche, une belle structure avec des saveurs d’abricot et une gourmandise en final.
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👍🏻Vivino, FB : GabWine | IG : gabriel_dvl 🥂 — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

They should have called the Winery Floral Springs based on the nose. Beautiful; blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, touch of clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets. The tannins are 95% resolved. The body is lush & ripe. The length, tension & structure are nearing the end. Just a few years left of being worthwhile. However, the balance is stereo tuned. The fruit on the palate shows even more elegant & ripe floral fruits than the nose. Blackberry, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, dry cranberries and plum floral fruits. Nice spice, vanilla, light clove & cinnamon, used leather, dark rich soil, crushed volcanic minerals, black fruit tea, black raspberry cola and dark fresh florals with violets for days. The acidity is like a waterfall. The beautiful, long, elegant finish is a little lean yet has a nice richness. Beautiful wine that just missed 9.2. Photos top to bottom and left to right. The Winery; which is separate from the other tasting room only on Hwy 29. The tasting room on Hwy 29 in St. Helena, Flora Spring caves and the front of their tasting room along Hwy 29. Producer notes and history...the stone winery on the grounds were built in 1885 by two immigrant brothers from Scotland, James and William Rennie. They were in construction, built the winery and planted 60 acres of grapes. The brothers had some bad fortune when phylloxera consumed the vines, and then a fire in 1900 destroyed their wine press and cooperage. In 1904, they sold the winery and fifteen years later Prohibition started. The winery was then closed until 1933. That year, Louis Martini, looked into their magic eight-ball and saw Prohibition collapsing and bought the Rennie property. They built a new stone house and also made a reserve wine from the hillside vineyards. However, the old winery remained empty until the Komes family bought the property, 325 acres, the old farm house, the newer stone house and 60 acres of vineyards. The son thought he’d persuade his dad to restore the old winery and proposed to call it Chateau Jerome. Although it had been designed by Hamden McIntyre an architect of several other classic 19th-century Napa wineries, by 1977, the place was a wreck. The tin roof of the building had so many holes in it. They called it the starlight roof. His father looked at it and stated, “I’ve worked all my life for my good name. I don’t want to squander it now.” John’s mother, Flora, however, sided with her son on the potential of the property. Carrie Komes suggested they could name the winery for her mother-in-law. Combined with the abundant springs on the land, they decided the name would be Flora Springs. It was a sure way to their mom’s heart and father’s wallet. Komes put his construction expertise to work on renovating the old winery, which still had scorch marks on the walls. So skeptical was his father about his son’s wine-making project, they divided the winery building. John rented half where he put his first fermenting tank, which he named R2D2. He invited a couple of friends from his wine-making class to help make wine at the new place. He also hired Mary Ann Graf, who in 1965 had been the first woman to graduate from the viticulture and enology department at UC Davis to help manage the project. She told John, “if you don’t hire a winemaker, I’ll quit.” He did and the 1979 Flora Springs chardonnay won a gold medal at the Los Angeles County Fair. In those days, it was fairs, not ratings. This was his first lesson in marketing as they sadly sold all the wine before they won the medal. Fairs were the big news instead of ratings as Parker had not yet risen to fame as he was the only one to call the grand 1982 Bordeaux vintage correctly. They submitted their 1981 Cabernet to eight fairs and won seven gold medals. From there, the winery just kept growing. They were the 67th winery in the county. Over the years, they had their ups and downs, but kept growing. One of their highlights was the creation this wine, Trilogy. It was one of the first Meritage blends in the valley. By 1984, they planted all the Bordeaux varietals; Malbec, Merlot, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. They wanted to create a blend “by taste”, not by formula for a nice smooth wine that goes deep into the palate. They worked with a little of this and little of that. The first Trilogy was Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc. It was dubbed as velvet in the mouth. A lot of what they do is taming the tannins. One man who bought Trilogy by the case said, “it’s the only red wine his wife would drink young.” From the leftovers, they began making single-varietal estate wines. Another highlight was the discovery of a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc in vineyards his father bought in Oakville. UC Davis could identify nothing like it in their vast library of clones. They were a bit ahead of the times, but this clone showed Flora Springs how different in that time period what Sauvignon Blanc could be like as it took all the grassiness out of Sauvignon Blanc. — 7 years ago

kassandra mcpherson

10

Son of a preacher man. Yes he is. God damn it Grüner I love you. I will give you all the love you never get. — 10 years ago

Roman Sukley

9.7

“I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God Only Knows...” Cayuse 2014 Grenache. I just recently tasted the 2014 No Girls Grenache, and since then, this Cayuse has been calling my name. Demanding to be compared to its little cousin from the other side of the tracks. Truffles, bacon fat and olive tapenade on that nose I know and love. Smoked meat and jasmine on the palate. Elegant with soft tannins on the lengthy finish. The verdict: pretty much as you would expect. The Cayuse is the bigger, bolder and extremely more tightly wound wine. Drink the No Girls, cellar the Cayuse. On another note, I needed a great glass of wine after a fairly difficult week. My son-in-law lost his father very suddenly and unexpectedly this past week. An extremely kind, gentle and intelligent man who will be greatly missed but not forgotten. I raise my glass to you, Eric. Until we meet again. — 6 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

Nice halfy to start the evening... Candied pineapple, light mineral, sweetness is balanced, not to much, just perfect!

Looking ahead to a fantastic show...Love seeing the son of the greatest jazz guitarist (7 string) still living, and touring at 91...We saw Bucky about a year ago and he still plays like a man half his age, or almost as good as his son! — 7 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

In looking for some older photos, I ran across photos of the 14 En Premier. Since I wasn’t using Delectable then, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share a story and some key Bordeaux history. One night during the En Premier, we went to dinner with the Director of Chateau Latour, Frédéric Engerer at Lion d’ Or. Frédéric reached into their library cellar and pulled; a 78 & 90 Grand Vin, 99 & 03 Forts De Latour and a Mag of 67 Grand Vin. Overall score is an aggregate of the evenings wine. Certainly one of the best nights of food & wine in my life. However if you go to Lion d’ Or, read the menu carefully as they cook with every part of an animal. Oh...the menu is all in French. So, ask for assistance if you struggle with French. While remembering this night, it got me thinking about another piece of Bordeaux history I thought I’d share for those that might be unaware. Did you know we have the Dutch to thank for making these wines possible? Here are my historical and producer notes... the earliest history of Bordeaux dates back to the Romans in 60 B.C. They were the first to plant, cultivate and make Bordeaux wines. They referred to the area as Burdigala. The Bordeaux appellation was perfect for cultivating grapes for wine. It offered the unique combination of the right soil for growing grapes used in the production of wine coupled with easy access to the Garonne river, which was needed to help ship the wines. The marriage between King Henry and Eleanor made sure Aquitaine, which included Bordeaux, was owned by England for over 300 years, coinciding with the conclusion of the hundred years war; which really lasted 116 years and ended in October 1453. By the time the Hundred Years War had finally concluded, Bordeaux wine had already been discovered by British wine lovers! In fact, Richard the Lionheart, the son of Eleanor and Henry II made Bordeaux wine his everyday beverage. The Bordeaux wine buying public agreed saying, if Bordeaux was good enough for the King, it was good enough for all loyal British wine lovers. From that moment forward, the Bordeaux wine trade began expanding. Bordeaux wine continued taking on more importance in trade with England. Twice a year, just prior to Easter and Christmas, several hundred British merchant ships sailed to Bordeaux to exchange British goods for wine. The next major event for the Bordeaux wine trade took place when the Dutch needed to build roads to make it easier to transport goods/wine throughout the region. The Dutch, along with the British were major purchasers of Bordeaux wine. They needed their Bordeaux wine to be delivered more quickly, before it spoiled. Their short-term answer, the Dutch merchants came up with was to burn sulfur in barrels, which aided the wines ability to last and age. However, more needed to be done. By the 1600’s, numerous Bordeaux vineyards were already planted, cultivated and producing wine. However, much of the region still consisted of unusable, swamp land and marshes. Dutch engineers came up with the idea to dredge and drain the marshes and swamps. This allowed for quicker transportation of their Bordeaux wine. And suddenly, there was a lot more vineyard land that was perfect for growing grapes and making more Bordeaux wine. Yes, we have the Dutch to thank for creating Pauillac. For this post, specifically Chateau Latour. Had the Dutch not dredged and drain it, many great Chateaus might not exist today. The man in charge of the project was Dutch engineer, Jan Adriaasz Leeghwater. He changed the face of Bordeaux forever. At the same time they dredged, new water channels were created. This helped improve the drainage, so the swamp like conditions would not develop again. Many of the original water channels are still in existence all over the Medoc. So, the next time you drink your Medoc (Pauillac) Bordeaux wine, drink a cheers to Dutchman...Jan Adriaasz Leeghwate. Photos of; our dinner bottles, the Latour library cellar, stainless steel tanks, barrel room and the iconic and majestic 17th century tower the property takes it’s name. The Latour cellars are so clean and pristine, you could eat off the floors.

— 7 years ago

with Shay