Sunshine State Berry
Isenhower Cellars
Rara Avis Yakima Valley Grenache 2017
New vintage. Ruby red, excellent clarity. Moderate pigment extraction. Red fruit, cherry peel and berry flavors with a graphite, black pepper, black olive and seed bitterness finish. Tangerine peel aftertaste. Dense flavor profile, good acid, not your typical WA state Grenache. — 3 years ago
Wines of Substance, LLC
Cs Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon
Wow. This 14 year old is really carrying in business. Complex wide on the tongue. Wood oak, berry, apple, with the slight licorice tang. Good good wine. — 5 years ago
Mount Peak Winery
Rattlesnake Zinfandel 2021
A tribute to the crest called Rattlesnake Hill, highest point of Monte Rosso Vineyard, famous for rattlesnakes living among the vines, seeking sunshine by day and coiling around the vines at night. Dark Ruby with aromas of berry fruits, tangy herb, pepper and sweet spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry and ripe cherry with black pepper spice, vanilla and earthy sweet herbs. Soft chewy tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit, spice and earthy oak. Nice! — 4 months ago
Kapcsándy Family Winery
Estate Cuvée-State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2003
The estate once belonged to the famous Lynch family, of Irish origin, acquired by Jean-Charles Cazes in 1934. His grandson, Jean-Michel Cazes restructured the estate in 1974, with state-of-the-art winemaking equipment. Primarily Cab Sauv, with Merlot, Cab Franc & Petit Verdot in the blend. Deep Ruby, complex nose, aged well, round berry fruit flavors, blackberry and plum with an oak character, elegant with soft tannins, a delicious wine ending with delicate fruit, oak and mineral notes. Great! — 4 years ago
Monticello Vineyards (Corley Family)
State Line Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Originally founded in 1980 as Monticello Vineyards, Corley Family Napa Valley is a family run winery. Deep Ruby with aromas of rich berry fruit, floral and big spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry and blueberry with warm vanilla oak, tobacco, cacao and earthy cinnamon. Fine chewy tannins, long finish ending with fruit, spice, vanilla oak and earthy notes, will still develop. A nice fillet mignon with mushroom gravy will go well with this big wine. — a year ago
Seven Hills Winery
Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
Very nice! Best Can from Washington state I’ve tasted. Smooth heavy mouthfeel but bold fruit taste. Chocolate and red berry tones. — 2 years ago
Turley
Old Vines California Zinfandel 2019
If you are going to indulge in quality California zin, Turley seems to be the choice. Multiple vineyards, all very old from across the state. Potent berry flavours. Accompanied by rooibos, cinnamon, roasted coffee beans and more. Fresh and very pleasing. — 2 years ago
Bollinger
La Grande Année Brut Chardonnay - Pinot Noir Rosé Blend 2012
The 2012 La Grande Année Rosé is airy, gracious and so wonderfully inviting. Crushed flowers, mint, white pepper and red berry fruit are all gracefully woven together. Today, the 2012 is naturally quite young and still shows the tension of a Champagne that was disgorged just a few months ago. Readers who prefer Champagnes with softer edges and a bit more flavor complexity will want to cellar the 2012. I have to admit, I very much like the wine today, in its youthful state, where its energy and focus are front and center. The 2012 is a blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay taken from 21 villages built around a core of Aÿ and Verzenay Pinot Noir and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry Chardonnay, crus that are quite complementary. Disgorged January 2020. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. (Originally published in August 2020) (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, November 2020) — 4 years ago
Vanessa
“La Côte” of Domaine de la Côte is a DREAMY Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills AVA of California’s Central Coast region.
Here pacific coastal breezes stretch inland and cool the sun-soaked vineyards. Domaine de la Côte has a collection of 6 vineyards on the western edge of Santa Rita Hills. On the back label you see a map of several of their vineyard blocks, including “La Côte” which is organically-farmed and nestled on a steep southeast-facing slope, where it absorbs the radiant sun during the growing season.
The grapes that went into this wine were harvested by hand, cluster-by-cluster, affording a gentler handling of the fruit with reduced risk of oxidation and microbial spoilage.
This wine was then fermented in a concrete vessel using 100% whole clusters (stems and all) thanks to the process of wild, ambient yeasts in the vineyard, winery, and on the skin of the berries…
The result is a positively perfumed and pristine berry-fruited profile with concentrated notes of black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry, hibiscus, rosewater, cherry blossom, and anise balanced by a firm backbone of acidity and reserved alcoholic profile (13.1% ABV).
Following fermentation, this wine matured for 10 months in oak (30% new oak), lending delicate secondary notes of vanilla, clove, and cardamom.
The Domaine de la Côte “Bloom’s Field” was among the wines featured in the Somm 3 movie; it was blind tasted next to other French and California wines in a 2018 retake of the 1976 Judgement of Paris that culminated in a tasting of wines by a panel of luminaries of the wine world: Fred Dame, Jancis Robinson, and the late, great Steven Spurrier, who organized the Judgment of Paris back in 1976.
It is a captivating wine and has the structure to age, though we are loving it in its current state. It’s a delicious pairing with the herb-crusted salmon, roasted asparagus, and crème fraiche / chive mashed potatoes.
Cheers!
— 2 months ago