romo

9.1

Expositions 1 & 2 wildly different. 1 is dense young and pure CA while 2 co-ferment is likely past peak and sparse. - at Guille’s — a month ago

Austin Moberg

9.0

Got 13 old vintage Firestone beers of various years and names from a coworker this was the only year and beer I got two of so figured I’d crack it open. Tastes of brandy, coffee, toffee, and dark chocolate with no bite at the end like a flavorful brandy with no bite super interesting and excited for the other various firestone vintage beers I received — 2 years ago

Philip Patston

8.9

Only available in Wisconsin, beers from New Gladys have a semi cult status. A decent lager to be fair. — 5 years ago

Ben Christen

9.4

Cool climate cab. Delicious. One bottle became two. — 6 years ago

with Ellen

Ian Staub

9.1

As expected from Enfield, this oozes class and balance. Not as austere as true Sonoma Coast, and not as sauvage as the northern Rhône, this has pretty ripe black and blue fruits while still possessing all of the beautiful floral, smoky, meaty, peppery elements you’d expect from top notch Syrah. Tannins are resolved and acid plays a leading role, keeping this fresh and exciting. Enjoyed over two nights with Szechuan (and Szechuan leftovers). Perhaps a bit subtle for the food, but still delicious. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

Surprisingly, I kinda liked this despite my aversion to overly-hopped beers. The nose is a straight up hop-bomb - floral, citrusy, piney. The palate's also full-on, with heaps of hoppy bitterness, but balanced by malty sweetness and tropical fruit notes (passionfruit and mango for me). Finishes crisp and earthy. Not bad, but not my kind of beer (not an IPA fan basically). — 7 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon by La Jota is a seductive blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot which was aged for 22 months in 65% new French oak prior to bottling. Needing more than a two hour decant at this juncture, the wine takes on glorious creme de cassis, Turkish coffee, blueberry cordial and wild thyme aromatics. The palate shows marvelous complexly and range. Black tea, blueberry compote, mocha and blackberry pie flavors all beautifully mingle in the glass. Rich and layered, this hedonistic effort will cellar marvelously for decades. Be sure to give this at least a two hour decant if enjoying in its youth. Drink 2020-2045- 95 — 7 years ago

"Odedi"

9.3

#AgedWineTuesday

Ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Strong nose and full-bodied with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate and elegant with nice complexity.

Showing black currants, black plums, cooked cherries, cedar, tobacco leaf, coffee, cola, dark chocolates, herbs, peppercorn, mediterranean spices and light earth.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a gorgeous Syrah from Sonoma County. Rich and fruit forward. Smooth and powerful, yet elegant.

This 13 year old Single Vineyard Syrah is drinking very much like a Napa Merlot, which is so interesting.

Beautiful right out of the bottle, and so much better after 30 minutes of airtime. The high alcohol is nicely integrated by now, so watch out.

Robert Parker 100 points.

Peaking now, and will continue to drink nicely in the next 5 years.

A great sipping wine that paired nicely with food too.

A blend of 92% Syrah and 8% Viognier.

93 points

$160. — 2 months ago

Katie Fester

9.0

Very drinkable at Love & Salt — 4 years ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.4

Wow! What a treat- real flavors of grapefruit and blood orange- but not overwhelming. — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.5

Palm frond, light olive essence, smoky-sweet petrol resonance over poppyseed pastry, rhubarb-wild strawberry cream, lemon custard, and palmyra. Lemon lime zippy while racing across the tongue, with grapefruit zest, lime zest and raspberry sizzle. Gorgeous and lean. Two palms up! #palmerandco #palmerandcochampagne #champagne #bubbles #Reims #àreims #brutchampagne #brutreserve — 6 years ago

Ben Christen

9.3

A nice wine. Smooth, good tannins. Opened up two! — 6 years ago

with Ellen

Severn G

9.3

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this afternoon with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our conductor Andris Nelsons is leading GERSHWIN (Piano Concerto in F), GERSHWIN (Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” for piano and orchestra) and STRAVINSKY (Petrushka) with the amazing Jean-Yves Thibaude as the piano soloist on the two first works presented today. Jean-Yves is by far among our favorite pianists to grace the Koussevitzky Shed stage, so graceful, yet poignant!

Hot days call for cool wines, today there are some fun ones planned for sharing.

Very interesting, almost like a wine version of a kriek lambic, yum yum!

@Carla Hine Thanks for sharing! — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Light app tonight for dinner. Burrata, roasted garlic, two different cherry tomatoes picked tonight from the garden, pesto sauce, olive oil and Tondo balsamic vinegar. The only balsamic to use. Found it in Tuscany years ago and it’s all we use. You can order it on Amazon but, not inexpensive. All over, crostini’s drizzled with smoked olive oil. Soooo good!

The nose reveals, sweet & sour dark cherries, dark berry mix, stewed dark plum, blue fruit hues, touch of baked strawberries, tomato with leaf, sweet tarry notes, limestone minerals, dark rich soil, light baking spices and dark & blue fresh florals.

The body is medium full. Soft, round, tannins 70% resolved. The structure, length, tension has hit a high point. Ripe; sweet & sour dark cherries, dark berry mix, stewed dark plum, blue fruit hues and a touch of baked strawberries. Tomato with leaf, sweet tarry notes, on the long decant, add malt & light caramel, used leather, saddle-wood/cedar, limestone minerals, dark rich soil, medium dark spice, light baking spices and dark & blue fresh florals. The acidity is nice. The finish is good, balanced and lasts minutes.

Photos of, the tasting room at Produttori which is just under and to the right of the clock tower in the arial photo, arial view of the hilltop town of Barbaresco and our delicious small plate.

Producer note...Produttori is the third largest co-op in all of Europe. Be that they are a co-op, they still make some exceptional wines as well as great QPR wines. 🇮🇹 — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.5

One of the wines I supplied for an annual lunch hosting (co-host this time). I was really hesitant to open this given the fanfare of this specific wine, but also how DrCrane can be an in-between wine for me (so explosive young, shut down at 5-10yrs, re-open 10+). Decanted two-three hours.

Classic deep purple-black DrCrane in the glass. Aromatics are immediate with ripe blue and black fruits, baking spices, mocha and graphite. Just a little bit of high-toned EA to make it pop, along with this roasted character I always get from DrCrane wines. Opulent and polished in every way on the palate, this is a tidal wave of flavor with no hard edges. It’s a towering wine in the sense of so much concentration and depth on the mid-palate, but it’s so incredibly polished at the finish…almost shockingly so. The ripe fruits and the dark chocolate linger longer than any Napa cab I can remember. Iron first in a velvet glove.

No need to worry, these are open for business. Plenty of structure to carry a while, but this window seems like it was made for how this wine is drinking now. — a year ago

Peter Zandbergen

9.5

Two beers with two years past due date, this is when it starts to express its complexity. Love this! — 4 years ago

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.3

Lovely Cab. Still so much fruit in this one. Went lovely with steaks. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Charles strikes again.

I said weeks ago, I’d rather drink Charles Hendricks Pinot in futures @ $75 vs. the 09 Marcassin we had two weeks back @ $150+ winery or $225+ on the secondary market. This 14, while still young, proves that point and will only continue to get better.

It’s about as luxurious as Ca Pinot gets. Just supple, soft & elegant as body gets. Candied, floral fruits of ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, blue fruits, lean purple fruits, dry cranberries, strawberries, plums, delicate but darks spices, cinnamon stick, vanillin, nutmeg & touch clove, salted caramel, mocha powder, limestone & grey volcanics, dry crushed rocks hints of peppered grilled meats, fresh & dry tobacco, dry stems/twigs, sage dominated dry Provence herbs, splash of mint/eucalyptus, tree sap with bright candied, fresh & slightly withering florals of; dark, red, purple, blue set in a field of violets & some lavender. The acidity is perfect. The long finish is; extremely well balanced & polished, elegant, fresh, just the right amount of candied with a long, dark spice finish in the long set.

The 14 really started to excel after an hour plus in the decanter.

Photos of; the outside of the Hope & Grace tasting room in downtown Yountville where you will find Charles Hendricks wines. He makes Hope & Grace wines as well. One of my favorite paintings that used to sit behind their tasting bar but, is now in Charles house. It is very Pollock like! Winemaker/Co-owner Charles Hendricks and a vineyard in region of the Santa Lucia Highlands. — 6 years ago

Adam Nesto

9.2

Needed another year or two to mellow out. — 7 years ago

with Douglas

Norman

9.3

One of my favorite sushi beers. — 8 years ago