Derby Wine Estates ‘Project España Red Blend’ 2015: Full-bodied. Nice balance. Exceptional acidity. Notes of black cherry, blackberry, vanilla, oak & earth. Gentle, medium-long finish. Consisting of 57% Tempranillo, 17% Carignane, 14% Grenache & 12% Graciano, this Paso-made, Spanish red blend was rich & jammy with dark fruit brilliance; complex, multi-layered, well-structured. Opened 1 hour prior and it really made a big difference in how the wine drank. All in all, this is a great juice! Wishing everyone a fantastic week! Cheers🍷 — 2 years ago
Surprised by how smooth it is and how you can really taste the different grape varieties. Earthy, dark cherry, plum, and mushroom. Almost purple in color. — 4 years ago
Thanksgiving bottle #1. Pinot noir in riper style. Strong notes of cranberry and strawberry; crushed flowers. Bright, spicy on palate. As it opens, an earthy note. Total hit with the group. — a year ago
Paired with a similarly aged Cote Rotie and poured in a blind tasting at my home to a group of interested wine drinkers.
This showed a more generous, fleshy expression of the grape as expected and still had a finely chiseled structure of finely textured tannins that echo a dryness of the vineyard's limestone soils.
Very good new world Syrah. — 2 years ago
This is quite a special wine. I don’t care what the others rated this. I like it. Purchased on my trip to Santa Barbara almost 6 years ago. Now I remember why I bought it at the tasting room. Nice floral bouquet, slightly acidic, light translucent color with less than 13 percent alcohol (that’s a good thing). Very good structure that would suggest this wine is in the middle innings and can probably last a few more years — 4 years ago
Valley Project/Kunin take on a Châteauneuf de Pape, which is a Cru (a named terroir, highest rank in the Cotes de Rhône region - AOC, villages AOC, named villages AOC and terroir). North grows more Syrah and south grows more Grenache, Pape is in the south in France. Cites de Rhône region known for GSM blends (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre). Chateanauf de pape also has white blends. — 2 years ago
Eric Urbani
Wes Hagen, 20 year veteran wine maker at Clos Pepe Vineyard, joined our group and gave us a master class in Santa Barbara pinot noir. We tried 11 PNs from 2004-2010, made by Loring, AP Vin, Sandler, Siduri, and Brewer-Clifton. This 2009 Loring had the meaty flavors that I love in a great US PN. — 8 months ago