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

Scott Kahn

9.5

Nice but not monumental bouquet. Cedar, toasted oak, dark red fruit with very fine and well integrated tannins. — 5 months ago

Tom Garland

9.5

Inspire Napa Valley Sat night event...walk around tasting, dinner, auction at Round Pound estate.

Over 30 participating Wineries:
Sreaming Eagle
Bryant Estate
Dalla Valle vineyard
Memento Mori
Staglin Family
Vine Hill Ranch
Keplinger wines
Chappellet
TOR wines
Etc. — a year ago

with Brenda

Tom Casagrande

9.0

From young vines (22 years old) in an otherwise very old vineyard site. It’s very good but, of course, lacks the depth of an old vine blend. Very pure and juicy dark berry fruit on the nose, almost like a sugar-glazed berry cobbler. Gorgeous balance in the mouth. Ripe fruit, no jamminess, spritely acids, and some very very soft tannin underneath. Not complex or especially deep, but well made. Great cookout wine! — a month ago

Doug Powers

9.2

Still very fresh, herbal notes, dried redfruits, soft tannins, medium-long finish, this has held up very well, love the lower ABV (12.4%), which I’d guess has kept this fresh and lively. — 4 months ago

with Jim

Shay A

9.4

This was served during my annual WWC hosting. Typical format of sparkler, three whites, four reds, one dessert, all served blind.

My goal was to compare this 2003 next to the 2003 Pichon Baron. I’ve had the 2002 Mondavi VHR a few times and have been floored how good they’ve been. Read a review from WA and it said the 2002 was a spitting image of the 2002 Pichon Baron, so I figured I’d see if the 2003 was worthy of the same comparison.

Decanted an hour. Whoa! Much more Bordeaux like than the ‘02, and a touch lighter. Mushroom, pipe tobacco and fig, with mineral/graphite note on the nose too. Mocha dusted red and black berries, currant, herbs and saddle leather. At the end of the lunch, this eventually turned to a more resolved (and deeper core of fruit) with the tannins integrating beautifully. Really enjoyable. Pop and enjoy. — 9 months ago

Jake Hajer

9.2

Impressive. Full bodied. Good texture- especially for so young. — a month ago

Joe DAscoli

9.1

Bad cork totally disintegrated. Wine had some life left but not much. — 3 months ago

Nathan Renfro

9.1

Dark fruit nose. Nice wine. Black and blue fruit, chalky mouthfeel. Should be good to drink for the next 5-7 years. Will be interesting to see how it evolves, but drinking well now. — 6 months ago

Tom Garland

9.4

Inspire Napa Valley Sat. afternoon tasting with Antonio Galloni. Panel includes:
Brad Grimes - winemaker Abreu
Helen Keplinger- Keplinger wine
Mary Maher - Silverado farming
Francois Peschon -accendo, vine hill ranch
Jason Smith- MS

WINES
2018 BV George de Latour
2019 Stags Leap SLV
2018 DVO Napa Valley Red
2017 Bond Quella
2019 Lingua Franca estate chardonnay
2019 Domaine de Bichery brut champagne

Each panel member picked a wine that had an impact on them. — a year ago

with Brenda