Frank Kuo

9.6

Color of deep bloody red, with shades of purple on the rim, looks dense and thick. Nose is nice with dark fruits, spice, green pepper, crayon, vanilla, a bit dried strawberry, strength of alcohol, and the nose is plenty. Taste is also good, chewy and mouthful, good polished tannins, dark fruits, tobacco leaves, dried strawberries, oak, refined sweetness and acidity, and layers of flavors. Aftertaste is also pretty long with addition of pepper and mineral. Way better than I originally thought. — 7 days ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

FFV first constructed as the Larkmead Winery in 1884, the building was refinished with native sandstone from the nearby hills in 1906 and still stands tall today. Blended with 11% Petite Sirah, aromas of rich dark fruits with herb spice notes. On the palate cherry and raspberry flavors with some vanilla oak and pepper spice. Firm tannins, medium finish, good mouthfeel ending with spicy fruit character. Nice! — 16 days ago

Eric Christiansen

8.9

A step up from the $10-$12 cabs in both price and taste. If you can spring a few extra bucks for this wine you’ll probably decide you got your money’s worth and then some. — 8 days ago

Marshall Todd Herron DPM

9.3

The Calling from Alexander Valley. Cherry pie bouquet. The initial thought on the palate is black cherry , maybe because it was described on the back of the bottle. Then blackberry comes to mind, and a sweet passion fruit hint on the back end. This is a perfect sweet to a dry wine. Then comes the chocolate and ripe fig. Now as this dissipates the Earthy ending, moderately dry finish takes over. And yes, the aroma of sweet pipe tobacco lingers in the nose from the aromas escaping the palate. This is a great wine. I highly recommend it. Cheers! — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.2

Today was my annual hosting of the Wednesday Wine Committee. There was 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert, all provided by me. Tasted blind, as always.

I served this blind as the first red out of four in a flight of all cab francs. Every person in the room guessed Pinot based on color, and it’s hard to disagree. Certainly more translucent in color compared to most dark Cab francs. Chinon like and as far as the style of the wine itself, I think it’s also Chinon at its core with just a touch of new world flare. Not sure I’ve had such a floral cab franc. Lavender and rhubarb and the finish did a great job of requiring you to get another sip to analyze. Nice complexity. Nothing vegetal or green about this. One of the lightest cab francs I’ve had, and pairs well with lighter style meats. — 7 days ago

with Dan, Andrew and 3 others

Joseph Barsky

9.4

1997 Vintage. 13.8% Alcohol. — 3 days ago

Ryan Vento

8.9

Pulled this from my parents’ stash while over at their house for Easter lunch. Eucalyptus, clove, licorice, plums, and blackberries. Drank nicely and had rounded out well enough to pair nicely with some tender lamb. — 3 days ago

with Krystal

Mark Flesher

9.5

First of the 14s. This wine has a dark black and blue fruit nose, savory characteristics, mocha, roasted nuts. Entry has a hint of red fruit right at the front but turns to dark black and blue character to the mid palate. Hint of mocha. Graphite. Sweet, youthful, gritty and roasted tannin. Balanced. Powerful. Soft edges on the front and a little more jagged on the back. Beautiful....price went up a bit....to 55 bucks. A steal. — 20 days ago

Mike Daniel

8.9

Delightful Cali cab. Slight complexity and good darkish fruit. Lingering finish was a surprise. Would grab again if a good price. Might be slightly better in a year or two. Hold the 2016 to 2020 or 21 if you can. — 10 days ago

Jocholla

8.9

Over delivers for the price. Classic berry and cocoa powder cab, not overpowering in any way. — 8 days ago