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My friend Robert was having a birthday.  I brought a Magnum of this as it is always a crowd pleaser.  And, it did not disappoint.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, white pepper, roasted meats, and slight floral note.  With air some coffee grounds come out.  On the palate, this was pop and pout and took only about twenty minutes to open though it continued to improve all night.  Lots of black raspberry fruit intertwined with smoke and roasted meats.  Medium tannins.  Great precision and balance.  Long finish.  This needs big or spicy foods but will work with those and o

Rhys Chardonnay's are some of the best anywhere.  Some say they have a Burgundian quality to them, and that may be true, but they are also clearly from California.  Sunshine and ripeness.  This one was gorgeous.  Light golden in color.  The nose has a great minerality with nice minerals and lemon cream.  On the palate, it is delicious but lean.  Great acidity.  Nice lemony notes.  Long finish.  Sometimes these wines can shut down after a few years, so this should be drunk soon, or put it away for another five years or more.  

Ho fortunate to be able to taste this wine again.  This was opened at a friend's birthday party and as you might expect, it went quickly.  Luckily for me, they made sure I got a glass!  The 92 is often overlooked between the 91 and 94 (and even the 93), but 1992 was a very good year too.  The 92 is drinking quite well right now if starting to show a bit of age.  Garnet in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose takes one to Bordeaux.  Gorgeous combination of cassis, tobacco, slight dust and slight leather with just a hint of dried fruits.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Layers of cassis over

This was a Six Liter Methuselah bottle of wine.  The cork came out in one piece with the use of a Durand.  It was soaked up the sides but did not leak.  The bottle was sampled right away and then over the next few hours.  Purple/ruby in color.  It looked to be about ten or fifteen years old (not 41).  The nose was initially muted, but with air this had some cassis and black cherries, some dried fruit, dust, cedar and a slight funk.  With air, it got younger for the first hour and then plateaued.  On the palate, this still has a nice freshness to it.  There is some age showing but not a whol

This was being closed out at a local wine store for $45.  It was part of a "natural" wine tasting.  I thought it was the best wine of the tasting though the crowd was mixed.  Ruby in color, cloudy and slightly flat in appearance.  The nose has plums, cherries and a slightly sweaty quality.  A very nice texture.  On the palate, bright cherry fruit.  Long finish.  This is drinking quite well right now.  It will go with most heavier and medium bodied foods.  

This is a hodgepodge of grapes made in a "natural wine" style.  Twenty-five percent Alicante Bouschet, Grenache, Cinsault, Mondeuse, and Zinfandel from one source; another 25% Valdiguié; and the rest Syrah, Tannat, St. Laurent, and Carignan made from vineyards across California.  This was being closed out at a local wine store for $20.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has a sweaty sock quality to it.  Once you get past that, there are some cherries and pomegranate notes.

Tasted at a "Natural Wine" tasting at a local wine store.  Pet'Nat is short for Pétillant-naturel (natural sparkling) and is also known as méthode ancestrale.  It is a way that sparkling wines were historically produced having the wine bottled before the primary fermentation is finished, and without the addition of secondary yeasts or sugars.

My friend Charlie came by.  Now Charlie likes his wines big and young and we both love Saxum.  That sure seemed like a great opportunity to pull and young'un from the cellar and see what it was showing.  The surprising thing was how good and accessible this was already.  It's not at peak and will improve with cellaring, but if you have more than one, it's not a tragedy to open one now.  33% Grenache, 32% Mourvedre, 24% Syrah and 11% Counoise.   Purple in color, slight ruby line at the rim.  The nose is great with black raspberries, roasted meats, white pepper and slight floral notes.  This

Bedrock makes some great wines, but the low end of their pricing/releases gives consumers some of the best values in red wine.  This is their basic Syrah which is available to mailing list customers for around $21 delivered.  It is a classic, cooler climate but California Syrah.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, some black pepper, slight roasted meats and a bit of leather.  On the palate, this is tannic and tight.  With air, there is great black raspberry fruit with some damp earthiness underneath and a little peppery quality.  Wonderful texture.  Good finish.  Will work be

Aaron Pott has been making great wine in the Napa Valley for a while now.  Understandably, as the high critics scores have rolled in, the prices have crept up.  While this bottle is not cheap (around $75), it is a lot less than the Pott single vineyard wines.  Since I had never had one, my wife and I decided to open one young and drink it over a couple of days.  The result is this is an outstanding wine and should age nicely for a more than a decade.  Bright purple in color with some ruby swirls.  The nose has nice cassis with a fair amount of char and spice.  On day 2, the oak blended more