Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.

2014 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2014
Score: 
97
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$130.00USD

Loved this wine!  It is a blend of 68% Syrah and 32% Mourvedre.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, black cherries, plums, black pepper, roasted meats and herbs and slight dried flower notes.  Full bodied.  Lovely texture.  Great energy.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Flavors of black raspberries, roasted earthiness, plums, spice and white pepper.  Long finish.  Good balance.  This is drinking well now but still youthful.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  great on its own, this would wo

2019 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2019
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$110.00USD

This is a blend of 79% Syrah and 21% Mataro (Mourvedre) from Paso Robles.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, plums, black pepper, roasted meats, earthy and char.  Full bodied.  Lush texture.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this has lively acidity.  Loads of black raspberry fruit with earthiness, black pepper and char.  Long finish.  This drinks great on its own and will work with big roasted meat, fowl or veggie dishes.  Drink over the next fifteen to twenty years. 

2019 Booker Vineyard Syrah Fracture, USA, California, Paso Robles, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2019
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$70.00USD

Great showing for this wine.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, roasted earth, black pepper, and roasted meats.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great plush texture.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Black raspberries, black pepper, spice and char.  Long finish.  This is young but obviously deep and with time with show complexity.  Very nice on its own, this will need big good for now.  BBQ Brisket should work very well.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.

2012 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2012
Score: 
90
Grade: 
A-

This was very good but maybe just a bit below other bottles previously consumed.  It seemed a bit closed down which is unusual for a Syrah like this, but does happen.  That said, it was still very good.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose seems a bit roasted with black raspberries, black olives and slight brown sugar.  medium to full bodied.  On the palate, roasted black raspberry fruit with some char and black pepper.  Good finish.  This drinks nicely on its own and would be a nice match for a beef stew or chili.  The roasted fruit makes me question how pristine the storage

2013 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2013
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$247.00USD

This is a blend of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvedre from Paso Robles.  Of course, Booker makes its own wines but they also sell some fruit to Saxum.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice but there is some volatile acidity.  Whether it is too much is a matter of personal taste.  Very earthy with black raspberries, roasted meats and char.  Full bodied.  Great, rich texture.  On the palate, black raspberries, black pepper, some earthiness and char.  Long finish.  This is drinking well right now.  Well stored bottles should have another decade or so.  It drinks great on its own

2018 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2018
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A

This winery is no longer in business and the vineyard has been sold (Pax Wines).  Purple in color with ruby swirls, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, black olives, char and spice.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is a big wine.  It is cooler climate Syrah in style.  Flavors of black raspberries, black pepper and char.  Long finish.  This is still on the younger side but drinking well.  It should go another ten to fifteen years. Great on its own, this would be nice with roasted root veggies.  

2015 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Paso Robles, Willow Creek District, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2015
Score: 
92
Grade: 
A-

Nice showing for this bottle.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with black raspberries, black olives, and just a hint to bacon fat.  Medium to full bodied.  Good balance.  On the palate, black raspberry fruit with slight char.  Nice finish.  Good energy.  This drinks well now but should go another seven to ten years.  Nice on its own, this will work well with grilled meats or fowl and also roasted vegetables.  

2021 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de Tablas, USA, California, Paso Robles, Adelaida District, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$50.00USD

White Rhone wines can be so hard to know where they are as they age.  This wine is very good, but much bigger, riper and blowsier at the moment (or at least this bottle was) than expected.   It is a blend of 70% Roussanne, 17% Picpoul Blanc, 10% Grenache Blanc, 2% Bourboulenc and 1% Clairette Blanche.  Medium golden with a few green swirls, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lemon, vanilla, baked apples and spice.  Medium to full bodied.  Moderate acidity.  Nice texture.  On the palate, lemons, vanilla and spices.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own but would be better with the rig

Kosta Browne 2021 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, El Diablo

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A+
Current Price: 
$175.00USD

Known for Pinot Noir, Kosta Browne has embarked on a Chardonnay program for a number of years but only recently has given the single vineyards wines turbo-charged attention.” “Elevating our Chardonnay to the same level as our Pinot Noirs is something our team takes great pride in,” says winemaker Julien Howsepian. This stellar example of Chardonnay allows for light malolactic fermentation, bright acidity, crisp fruit and minerality. This offers seductive notes of crème brûlée, lemon chiffon, lime kefir, sweet resin, apricot, white peach and delicate herbal wildflowers.

Chappellet 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, Hideaway Vineyard

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$175.00USD

Chappellet excels at most anything they do. So this Hideaway Vineyard Cabernet, a 100% Cabernet, should be no surprise that it’s a deftly made wine. From the outset this is a rich, structured wine. It begins with moderate to heavy tannins, which support black cherry, blackberry, light campfire smoke, rhubarb, black tea leaf, soft cedar, wild flower and herbs, and light clove. Aged in mainly new French oak to subdue the tannins, this high elevation Cabernet fruit from Pritchard Hill is classic Napa Cabernet – ripe but restrained.

Cabernet Sauvignon

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