California

This wine is a testament to the many different profiles of Syrah.  For the most part this drinks cooler climate, but then boom, a bit of warm California sunshine peeks out.  Purple in color.  The nose has boysenberries, char and black pepper.  With air some leather and black olives come out.  On the palate, this has a nice texture.  Good structure.  Seems to be drinking very well now and close-ish to peak.  Easily another decade left.  Light tannins.  Boysenberries over minerals.  But then a bit grilled meats too.  Nice acidity.  Nice finish.  Rhys is a producer more know for its Pinot Noir

From a 375ml bottle.  What a great size for a couple of glasses of white wine before moving on to reds.  More wineries should produce these and also 500ml.  Green gold in color.  This is young but already showing a lot.  The nose has vanilla and lemon curd.  On the palate, great acidity.  The lemon curd is strong with lighter vanilla notes.  Lovely texture.  Long finish.  This wine is very food friendly but also will drink well on its own.  It should improve over the next few years. 

This is in a great spot right now.  It is still youthful and rambunctious but has calmed a bit since release.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has raspberries, slight strawberries with underlying coffee grounds.  On the palate, this is juicy with a great texture.  Delicious.  Raspberries with underlying char.  Clean.  Will work with spicy or heavier foods.  This should evolve over the next decade, but this style will fade in a year or so to be a kinder gentler wine.  Its good right now.  

One of the better single vineyard Bedrock Zinfandels.  While this could age well for a decade or more, there is something about the energy and fruit of consuming them young.  It just depends on what you like.  Purple in color.  The nose is great with black raspberries, black cherries, spice and bramble.  On the palate, there is some black raspberry but a bit of strawberry in the back ground.  Underlying some smoke/fireworks.  Great texture.  Delicious wine that makes it hard not to gulp.  This will work with BBQ, meat dishes or pizza and roasted vegetables.  Think fun.  But if this is not y

12/28/2018 - So glad I was able to try this again.  A friend offered it up and I jumped at the chance to try a clean bottle.  The cork was clean to the top with just a bit of red stain on the bottle of the cork.  Purple in color.  The nose has nice cassis and a fair amount of oak showing itself as spice and cedar.  On the palate, this is clean with a nice full texture.  Cassis fruit with some lumber and some cedar.  There is a nice depth here.  Firm tannins.  Long finish.  It needs a couple of years in a good cellar to come together.  Requires big bold food right now.  Cellaring for five ye

A Port styled wine made from a blend but mostly Merlot.  Purple in color.  The nose has cherry liqueur, chocolate and slight raisin.  Full bodied.  Slightly sweet.  Raisins, chocolate and cherries.  Relatively simple and not a lot of depth.  Worked well as a desert wine and would match a more savory dessert.  

This is made from 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and the rest Merlot and Malbec.  Insignia is one of the First Growth wines of California.  Its great just about every vintage and has been for decades.  This one is no exception.  Inky purple.  The nose has cassis, graphite, blueberries, leather and cigar box.  On the palate, this is still young.  Medium tannins.  Great balance.  Lots of cassis and some blueberries with underlying damp forest floor.  Long finish.  Delicious.  Will work great with heartier foods and certainly with meat dishes.  The price on these is up to around $250

This is a blend of 97.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2.5% Petit Verdot from Heidi Barrett.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cassis, slight smoke, bell pepper and tobacco.  On the palate, this is nice and everything is in proportion.  Not a lot of depth.  Tannins mostly resolved.  Worked well with vegetarian stuffed mushrooms.  A fine wine but its price tag on release was $250.  Granted 2011 was a difficult vintage, but that is a lot of money for this wine. 

Sadly, this bottle did not hold up.  At 34 years from vintage, it would have been nice, but the odds were against it.  The bottle was oxidized.  Likely culprit, was cork failure.