Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.
This is one of those wines that tends to be served at parties, weddings, etc. And that's a good thing. For around $20 or less, this is a tasty wine. The nose has dark cherries and some spice. Easy drinking. Cherries and dark cherries. Nothing wrong here. Good value Merlot.
Great value in Napa Cabs. This is outstanding and priced around $30 (or less)! Purple in color. The nose is dusty with cassis and just a hint of spice. On the palate, this is a softer, more feminine side of Cab. Young right now but with great cassis fruit. Sinewy tannins. Nice finish. I don't know if this will improve any more but it might. In any rate, who cares as this is exccellent.
Very nice California Merlot. Purple in color. The nose has nice dark cherries with little oak. On the palate, this is delicious. Slight structure. Dark cherries, again with little oak showing. Nice finish. Drinking well right now.
Was quite impressed with the whole lineup from Waterstone. This one should be available for under $30 which is an excellent value in Chardonnay. Light golden in color. The nose is clean with some grapefruit. It shows no oak on it which is very nice. On the palate, this is crisp and clean and all about the minerality. It has some body to it and a nice depth. Long finish. This drinks easy but will work great with some food as well.
This is a propreitary red blend out of Napa that seems to have a lot of Merlot in it. At under $20, there is a lot of value here. Purple in color. On the nose there is soem cherry flavors. They carry thru to the palate. Easy drinking and great for parties. There is some depth and the kind of wine that you can open with anyone and not worry.
Ruby in color. The nose has cherries/cherry juice. On the palate, this is a bit one dimenstional. More feminine in nature. Cherries. Actually, in the world of Pinot Noir and especially from RRV, this is a pretty good value. It lacks the depth of some but also the price tag. Great for parties.
This is certainly a step up from the 2014. The question is whether it is the vintage or just the extra year in bottle. I suspect both but mostly the later. The nose has cassis and spice but none of the bell pepper of the 2014. On the palate, this has just a bit more precision and a bit more ripeness. Both are young and it will be very interesting to follow them. There is still room for this to improves as well.
Nice wine. It seems young and has a chance to come together and score higher. Right now, its more pieces parts. The nose is cassis, and some green bell pepper along with baking spices. On the palate, there are strong tannins. Plenty of cassis with some depth. Tight finish. I would hold or give this a long decant right now.
Excellent wine. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, chocolate and spice. On the palate, slight tannins. Really delicious. Deep. Plenty of cassis fruit, some dark cherries and a bit of milk chocolate. Nice finish. Has a decade or two of life left.
Revisited on 10/26/18. This is singing along. Notes consistent with a year ago. Still tannic and tight but with a lot of potential.
Purple in color. The nose shows cassis and chocolate but also some green bell pepper. On the palate, it comes across as a Bordeaux. If that bell pepper quality is an issue, then you will not like this. For me, however, I don't mind it if there is still good fruit and depth. This has that. Medium tannins. 14.5% on the label. This wine seems like it will improve with a few years in the cellar.
