2017 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon HãLo Hillspring Vineyard, USA, California, napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2017
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$200.00USD

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.  

2013 Becklyn Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Moulds Vineyard, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2013
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$100.00USD

This was the first vintage of what has been a consistently great wine since.  Purple in color, some ruby, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, spice, slight coffee grounds and char.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is quite concentrated.  Not over blown but plenty of cassis fruit with underlying char and spice.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This is drinking well but no hurry.  It will easily last another ten to fifteen more years.  It drinks well on its own and is a great choice for a roast or even a burger.  

2019 Gentleman Farmer Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2022
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$105.00USD

This is a new winery for Intowine.com.  Vintner Joe Wolosz, along with his husband and partner Jeff Durham are making some exceptional wines in Napa.  This one is quite good, but it is very tight and needs some cellaring to really hit its peaks.  Purple in color with the thin ruby rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has loads of cassis, cedar and fresh cut oak note.  It is very rich.

2019 Gentleman Farmer Napa Valley Red Wine, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2019
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$67.00USD

This is a Merlot dominant Napa Red proprietary blend from Oak Knoll.  Really an impressive wine.  Inky purple in color with a thin ruby rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is tight (it is young) but with some air, black cherries, cherries, and milk chocolate emerge.  With a bit more air, there is also cedar, cassis and slight sandalwood and dust.  It took a few hours to full open up without any decanting.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, black cherries, cassis, plums, over a char and slight tobacco.  Long finish.  This is delicious and has a nice complexity.  If drinking soon, giv

2020 Gentleman Farmer Napa Valley Rosé, USA, California, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2020
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$35.00USD

This is made from 100% Pinot Noir.  It has a deep ruby/orange color, clear and bright.  A bit darker than typical roses.  On the palate, there are strawberries, cherry powdered candy (li-a-maid?), with a slight tea and gravel.  Medium bodied.  Lovely texture.  On the palate, the strawberries come thru with some red apple notes and underlying gravel.  A bit of orange candy on the finish along with a slightly bitter orange pith note.  Tasted over two nights, it was better on night two which is rare for a Rose.  This is concentrated.  It drinks great on its own and will work well with lighter

2016 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon HãLo Hillspring Vineyard, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$220.00USD

This is a luxury bottle from one of the oldest Napa producers.  It is a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Merlot, and 1% Malbec.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, blueberries, cedar, and mocha.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, lots of cassis with some cedar and slight chocolate.  This is  still young but opens in the glass.  If drinking soon, a few hours in a decanter is a good thing.  Drink over the next twenty years.  It drinks well on its own but will require big flavors.  Fatty meats or roasted veggies would work.  P

2014 Beta Cabernet Sauvignon Vare Vineyard, USA, California, Napa, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2014
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$189.00USD

My first time trying this winery and I am impressed.  I kept reading things like "old school" or "medium bodied" and I think those descriptions are missing the point.  First off, this is delicious!  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose is great with a bit of air.  Cassis, slight clove, black cherries, just the slightest whiff of bell pepper and spice.  On the palate, this is in fact medium to full bodied.  Light tannins.  But, this is not Bordeaux or "Classic" Napa.  It has plenty of sunshine and ripeness.  Lots of energy.  A wonderful mouthfeel.  The fruit pops on the attack and the

2017 William & Mary Cabernet Sauvignon Shifflett Ranch, USA, California, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2017
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A

Another winner for this relatively new winery.  Inky purple in color, ruby at the rim.  Opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, spice, and slight cinnamon.  Firm tannins on the palate.  There is cassis with underlying dry forest floor.  Tightly packed for now, it does unwind a bit in the glass.  Seems just a tad more open than the 2016 but just as delicious.  This will still need about seven to ten years to reach peak and should be good for ten to fifteen after that.  Nevertheless, it is tasty today especially with some air.  It needs bigger foods right now if serving with a meal.  There i

2017 William & Mary Proprietary Red Shifflett Ranch, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2017
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$95.00USD

This is a producer to watch.  A husband and wife team, Will is the assistant to Thomas Rivers Brown on a whole host of projects, and the vineyard is his wife Mary's home where she grew up.  This is a list I highly recommend signing up for.  While I only have had two vintages of these wines, there does seem to be a signature.  It will be interesting to see if this is the terroir or the winemaking, but the wines seem quite concentrated for valley floor wines.  The drink more like mountain fruit.  This is a 60/40 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot .  Deep ruby in color, a bit lighter at the ri

2016 William & Mary Cabernet Sauvignon Shifflett Ranch, USA, California, Napa, Oak Knoll District, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$110.00USD

My first time trying this wine.  William Segui works closely with Thomas Rivers Brown at Rivers Marie, Outpost and other TRB projects but this wine is he and his wife's own project.  The vineyard has been in his wife Mary's, family for 70 years.  The wine itself is excellent and for their first time at bat, they hit a home run.  Inky purple in color, magenta at the rim.  Pop and pour, this took some time to open and was still getting better when the last drop was consumed a couple hours later.  Bright and opaque.  The nose is really unique.  Sure, it has cassis and a bit of blueberries, but

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