2020 vintage. Wowzers. Unexpected structure and fruit to vault this into the Must Buy category. Medium body. Clocking in at $22.50...errr...$22.60 (don't forget that new $0.10 per bottle CRV cost here in California) a bottle. Picked up a case. Let's see where it goes-or doesn't. 7.17.24. — 2 years ago
Cost prohibitive good California Pinot. Cherry blossom aroma, balanced dark fruit, hint of sweet tobacco and acidity. — 3 years ago
2021 vintage. Last tasted 1.7.26 (9.2) and 10.8.25 (9.2). Picked up another case for the resto to have (another) cheap chicken BDX to drive. The St. Julien class shines through in the nose, body and finish. Classy. Still $27.10 a bottle resto cost for now but methinks the current supply predates the tariffs gigglefest. 2.6.26. — 4 months ago
By the glass?? Dare I ask how much it cost, so fantastic. — a year ago
Great cost/benefit — 2 years ago
I have posted a number of older vintage Jones Family Cabernets. Many 20 yrs and older. Three to four 97’s…none better than this one. I give few wines a score above 96. This is different. It is so close to perfect. Some might give it a 100. I struggle to give a wine a perfect 100. I have only done it 4 times in an estimated 25k wines tasted or bottles I’ve enjoyed. One was a port made before 1886 and tasted in Oporto at Taylor Fladgate’s tasting room in 2015, it was their Scion. Only sold there and at the time 5k at bottle. You end up there purchase the Scion taste regardless of the current cost. They put on a tasting show for you. I am half tempted here to give out a 100 but will refrain.
I am not sure what to add to that but will attempt to do so.
The nose is a beautiful, perfectly evolved Napa Cabernet. Nothing overpowers any of its singular components. I think the word I am looking for is harmony. Lush, plush, ruby dark currants/cassis. The best, mid, subtle/gentle/soft, dark spice box I certainly can remember, lush blackberries, both plums, dark, not quite liqueur cherries, a mix of subtle purple fruits, poached to baked strawberries, some light hints of raspberries, dark sweet tarriness, melted dark chocolate, anise to black licorice, steep fruit tea leaning into black tea, sweet/soft leather, moist tobacco, sandalwood, dark, rich forest floor, sweet graphite, hints of dry twig, a flutter note of eucalyptus, dry, withering & slightly candied florals that are; dark, red & blue & framed in light lavender with more pronounced liquid violets.
The palate wire to wire is even & stupidly, gloriously, grand. It mirrors the nose very closely. Lush, plush, ruby dark currants/cassis. The best mid, subtle/gentle/soft, dark spice box w/ some light palate heat, best I certainly can remember, lush blackberries, both plums, dark, kirsch not quite liqueur cherries, a mix of subtle purple fruits, poached to baked strawberries, some light hints of raspberries, dark sweet tarriness, melted dark chocolate, anise to black licorice, steep fruit tea leaning into black tea, beautifully layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanillin, caramel, sweet/soft leather, moist tobacco w/ a hint is ash, sandalwood, dark, rich forest floor, dry, crushed rock powder, dry top soil, crushed limestone powder, sweet graphite, hints of dry twig, a fluttering note of eucalyptus, dry, withering & slightly candied florals that are; dark, red & blue framed in light lavender with more pronounced liquid violets, perfect, rainfall acidity, extremely well balanced, even & subtle tension-structure that stands up on the long set, refined elegance with a finish that goes on and on and eventually lands on spice & beautiful, refined earthiness.
What a bottle! 98 that leans into 99. I paid somewhere between $80-$90 on the secondary market for this bottle. — 6 months ago
Stunning. Delicious. One of my fav wines of the last 1.5 years. Godello aged under flor that competes with white Burgundy/ Sonoma Coast chards that cost double. Sourced from two tiny plots of 80-100 yr old vines. 80% old foudre, 20% amphora under flor, no malo, no stirring. Sunny bouquet, honeycomb, Asian pear, gun flint, crushed stone, brisk, seamless, cool and classy. $55. — 2 years ago
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego
2023 vintage. Resto cost $14.50 or so per bottle. Excellent value for a step above entry-level red Bordeaux. Structure, fruit and purpose. 3.27.26. — 2 months ago