Oakville

This is a single vineyard Cabernet from a Thomas Rivers Brown home winery.  Just gorgeous if a bit young.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has blueberries, cassis, baking spice, slight asphalt and cedar.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, the blueberries and cassis come thru though quite concentrated.  Underlying char and slight earthiness.  Great energy and balance.  Long finish.  Still quite young and this should get even better.  Hold (if you can) for a few more years and drink over the next 20 to 25 years.  Great on its own (with some air) or drink with so

Wow.  An amazing wine.  This is only sold in Magnums.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, iodine, graphite, slight earthiness, and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  For all of its power, however, this is not a bomb or monster wine.  There is a lovely elegance to this as it expands to coat the palate.  Flavors of cassis, slight blueberries, cherries with lots of concentration and depth.  Underlying minerality with a slight char.  Great energy and balance.  Long finish.  And, delicious.  This wine is young and will continue to mature and evolve for t

This winery really stepped it up after the first couple of vintages and are producing some great wines.  Deep purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, graphite, slight cedar and baking spices.  Full bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this is juicy with great cassis fruit.  A bit of underlying graphite and char.  Some complexity but more delicious than contemplative.  Nice finish.  This would match well with roasted or grilled meats or veggies but worked great with vegetarian chili.  Drink over the next ten to twelve years.  

My wife's favorite winery!  Hard to argue with her on that.  This was stunning and still young.  Purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is great with cassis, graphite, cedar, slight coffee grounds and slight floral notes.  Full bodied with firm tannins.  Deep and complex; it unwinds in the glass.  Delicious.  Wonderful texture.  Cassis with char and slight oak notes.  Long finish.  Just fantastic but another few years of ageing will be even better.  This should drink well for another fifteen to twenty years.  

One of my favorite wines anywhere.  I suppose at some time, this will be out of my price range, but for now, I always buy.  This seems to be a bit tighter than the 2015 at a similar stage but will no doubt someday flirt with a 100 point score.  Purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose, after an hour or so of air, show cassis, coffee grounds, slight chocolate and spice.  Full bodied.  What a wonderful, almost seamless texture.  On the palate, cassis, blueberries, dark chocolate with underlying roasted herbs.  Maybe some floral qualities too.  Long finish.  This is deep and co

This is a solid Napa Cab for "reasonable" Napa prices.  Purple in color, garnet at the rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, baking spices and a touch of graphite.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, nice cassis fruit.  Medium tannins.  This won't get better but should continue to mature for a few years.  Drink over the next ten to twelve.  This drinks well on its own and will work well with a burger or roast.  

I am a huge fans of the many wineries that Thomas Rivers Brown makes wine from and this is one more.  A delicious, modern but not over the top Napa Cabernet.  Purple in color with a thin ruby rim.  Opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, slight char, and baking spices.  Full bodied.  Nice acidity.  Lively energy.  The palate has a very nice cassis with underlying char.  Long finish.

From the heart of the historic To Kalon Vineyard in Napa.  This bottle was opened and allowed to breathe for about 8 hours prior to serving.  This was a cooler vintage in Napa, but To Kalon is on the valley floor and gets plenty of sun and warmth.  Deep ruby/purple in color.  The nose has cassis, black cherries, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  It is young but showing some signs of maturity.  Cassis, cedar and black cherries intertwined with spice and slight minerality.  Lovely texture.  Nice finish.  This should continue to mature for another five to sev

One of the great Cabernet Franc's in California or the world.  From the historic To Kalon vineyard in Napa.  Although 2017 was a difficult vintage in Napa, this wine is from the warmer valley floor and Cabernet Franc ripens a bit earlier.  No issues here.  Deep ruby/purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, slight cigar tobacco, hints of roasted bell pepper and baking spice.  On the palate, this is full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Lots of depth, it unwinds in the glass.  Flavors of black cherries and earthiness.  Nice energy.  Long finish.  This will continue to mature for the next ten t

This is one of my favorite high-end wines.  Even at the $95 price tag, it is almost as good as Bevan's single vineyard designated red wines that sell for twice the price.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has cassis, coffee, black cherries, chocolate and graphite.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has muscular tannins but plenty of fruit to match up with it.  Juicy cassis and black cherries with underlying graphite and spice.  This drinks beautifully now but should evolve and improve over the next five to seven years and drink well for ten to fifteen after that.  It will need big foods righ