David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.

The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.

The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.

The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — a month ago

Michael H

9.2

Oh geez!!! The whole party is obsessed… holy Sh…t…. We can have three of this for the Mersault which was 2nd — 7 months ago

Gene Buonviri

9.1

A dark red blend from three Chiles Canyon vineyards. Blackberry, cherry and raspberry flavors with hints of bay leaf and clove. Excellent pairing with fresh caught Dungeness Crab. — 3 years ago

Tree Kilpatrick

9.4

Beautiful label with original artwork. Aged well. Color is still very dark. Smells meaty. Floral too. Hints of violets. Berry melange. Flavors are dense and very tannic. Fairly complex and very chewy. Clean and clear with the lovely flavors. Plenty of savory and licorice-y stuff. This is Petite at its best and it’s still going strong 14 years on. — 3 months ago

Kristen Grimes

9.0

Rich ripe fruits with a nice balance of acid, body, tannins. Good with Thanksgiving through dinner and dessert! — 6 months ago

Doug Powers

9.0

Nice red and black fruits, good weight and depth, solid old vine Mataro!! — 7 months ago

with Jim

Andrew Formi

9.2

An old friend visited me ! — 3 years ago

Doug Powers

8.9

Big, rich, maybe just a little too ripe (as @Tom Casagrande pointed out in a note about an earlier vintage), but still a nice, solid, old vine field blend, Contra Costa County history!! — 5 months ago

with Jim

Doug Powers

9.2

Lovely old vine (128 years old) Mataro from Contra Costa County east of SF, rich redfruits, still well-structured, not overly extracted, just pure with a long, lingering finish, ideally needs more cellaring. — 7 months ago

with Jim

Kristen Grimes

9.6

Very fruity. Black cherry and blackberry aromas and some notes of cinnamon, then balanced fruit and baking spices that tingle the tongue and linger on. What Goes with That: Fall Sweets Class, pairing: pumpkin pie. — 2 years ago