Napa Valley

From a Magnum.  Pretty etched bottle/label.  Purple in color.  The nose is dusty with cassis and a bit of rosemary.  On the palate, there is cassis with some plums on the finish.  This is deep and concentrated and seems to be drinking at about peak right now.  It starts out with tight layers in the glass and then opens very quickly.  Good finish.  Works well with heartier foods.  No hurry, but no reason to wait to open a bottle.  

Sadly, this bottle was quite off.  Not sure if it is over the hill or something went wrong.  Its full of volatile acidity.  Undrinkable.  I am a huge fan of Sineann wines and a bottle consumed in 2010 of this scored 90.  This one went down the drain.  Bad bottles happen and its important to note those as well.  This had a glass cork.  

Named after the soccer team, from one of the top vineyards in Napa.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, dust, a bit of chocolate and spice.  On the palate, this drinks well with just a bit of air.  Deep black raspberry fruit; it unwinds in the glass to show layers of spice, blueberries, dark chocolate and black cherries.  Medium tannins.  Wonderful texture.  Long finish.  This is a big wine, but it also has that super concentration.  The flavors just keep growing and growing.  Great finish.  No hurry here, this has a decade or two remaining

Purple in color.  The nose is heavily oaked.  Also plenty of cassis and some pencil lead.  On the palate, this is more integrated.  Black raspberries, underlying graphite.  Thick tannins.  Some depth.  Good finish.  This is a rich, huge wine.  It will take some very hearty food to stand up to it, but it is delicious on its own.  Those who love Napa fruit bombs will indeed enjoy this a lot.  It retails for around $100.  

Outpost wines are made by Thomas Rivers Brown, a sensational winemaker.  They are made up on Howell Mountain from mountain fruit and are very intense yet also generous.  This one is of course young, but delicious.  Consumed over two days, it was just as good on either day if different.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, graphite, blueberries and slight spice.  On the palate, this is concentrated and intense.  Firm tannins.  Cassis and blueberry fruit with some spice.  Really delicious.  On Day 2, some leather notes emerge.  It will take some hearty meat dishes to stand up to it at this

Wow.  This was excellent.  This is why you let the better California Cabernet's age.  Sure, they are delicious young.  Juicy and full of fruit and energy.  But at age 9, this has all of that still but also starting to show some development.  This wine could easily go another two decades though it will undoubtedly lose fruit and sunshine.  For those lucky enough to have a bunch, it will be fun to watch this.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, cedar, slight dust and saddle leather.  With air, some black cherries come out.  On the palate, this took about an hour or two to really start to

The fill was low shoulder.  On touching the cork dropped a few millimeters.  A Durand was used and the cork came out in one, if crumbly, piece.  The wine was decanted for sediment and allowed to breathe for a few minutes.  Purple in color, not showing a lot of age.  The nose is initially dominated by volatile acidity, but that partially blows off leaving dust and cassis.  Much better on the palate.  This still has thick tannins.  A pristine bottle of this would likely be just hitting its stride.  This bottle is advanced but still with plenty of cassis fruit.  OK finish.  An impressive wine

This is a wine that many people will like.  It retails for around $15 and is ripe sweet fruit.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis and fresh cut lumber.  On the palate, this is sweet ripe jammy fruit.  Some oak.  It is all about providing an easy to drink, jammy wine.  If that is what one likes, than this is a nice value.  A cocktail wine.  

There are a lot of people who would love this wine for $20.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has sweet cassis with slight coffee.  On the palate, the sweet cassis continues.  Slight tannins.  To some, this wine will be delicious, slightly sweet and great on the back deck.  For others, this will be goopy and cloying and not a wine made for cellaring.  Both sides are probably correct.  

This is another label from Cathy Corison who is known for making old school Napa Cabs and other wines.  Despite the coolness of the vintage, this wine manages to not show under ripe qualities and yet be consistent with the Corison style.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, cherries, cigar tobacco and slight dustiness.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity.  Drinks a bit older than it is but that is more profile than age.  Dust, tobacco, dried and fresh cherries.  Good balance.  Food friendly.  Nice finish.  $53.  This is a nice change of pace for Napa and easily has an