Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.
This is a blend of 51% Syrah, 31% Grenache, and 18% Mourvedre from Paso Robles. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is lovely with black raspberries, black pepper, roasted meats and herbs. Full bodied. Plush but silky texture. Medium tannins. On the palate, this is delicious. Some complexity but perhaps not as much as other bottlings from this vintage. More powerful though. Black raspberries, jammy with some blueberries. Long finish. This is drinking well and should continue to for another decade. Better on its own than with food, but maybe some big roasted meat di
What a great wine. Now that this winery is no longer in business, I wonder who gets these grapes? This was Halcon's last year I believe. Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright. The nose has boysenberries, gravel, and spice.
This is the top wine from the historic Trefethen winery in Napa. Purple in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cassis, cedar, slight leather and spice. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Good balance. On the palate, cassis with a touch of leather and smoke. Long finish. This is a pretty classic cab from good not great vintage. It is drinking well now and should continue for another ten to twelve years. Nice on its own, this would work well with Lamb chops.
This is a blend of 41% Syrah, 13% Mourvèdre, 19% Grenache, 16% Petite Sirah, 8% Tempranillo and 3% Roussanne. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is big with black raspberries, black cherries, char, white pepper, floral notes and roasted meats. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Great energy. On the palate, this has shed it baby fat but is still youthful. it took a couple of hours to really open up. Loads of black raspberry fruit with black pepper, black cherries, some blueberries and a bit of char. Long finish. This is delicious on its own but may overpower most foods. I
This is a blend of Mourvedre, Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. This is a quite good expression of Rhone varietals from California. Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, plums, black pepper and slight nutmeg. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, this is tasty with bright acidity. Black raspberries and black cherries with some underlying char. Black pepper note on the finish. Drinking well now, this should go another seven to ten years. Nice on its own, this will work nicely with a good (veggie) Burger. Nice value.
This is a Pinot Noir from the folks who make Schrader. 14.5% abv. Ruby in color, darker at the core, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has plums, black cherries, and spice with a nice earthiness. Medium bodied. Firm tannins. On the palate, black cherries and plums with some spice. This is a huge Pinot with tons of fruit. Some may find that off putting while others may finally have found a Pinot they love. It drinks great on its own and will pair for food similar to a Napa Cab (i.e steak, etc.) Drink over the next ten years.
Checking in on a young wine can be fun even if way before peak. This was consumed and enjoyed over two evenings. This is a blend of 82% Syrah, 6.7% Mourvèdre, and the rest Petite Sirah and Grenache. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, blueberries, dark chocolate, gravel, black pepper and roasted meats. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Juicy acidity. On the palate, this is delicious. Deep but almost monolithic at the point. Like a wall of flavor. Black raspberries, blueberries, char, lavender and spice. Long finish. At this stage it wil
This wine is half the price of Bevan's single vineyard wines and almost as good. It is expensive but vis-a-vis the quality it is worth buying a bottle or two. Purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright. The nose is great with cassis, leather, cedar and spice. Full bodied. Firm but smooth tannins. On the palate, juicy cassis with some cedar, tobacco and char. Long finish. Delicious if young. This drinks well on its own and would be at home at a Steak House. Drink over the next twenty years. It will still improve with good cellaring.
I usually drink these young and let the other wines from Jonata age, but I managed to keep this one and it was worth it. This is a blend of 45% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Viognier, 3% Sangiovese, and 2% Grenache. Purple in color with ruby hues. Mostly opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, cherries, black cherries, char, floral notes and spice. Full bodied. Silky tannins. Good balance. On the palate, this is tasty with nice varietal complexity. This seems like it should be at peak but shows no sign of older age. Black raspb
