Rutherford

This is a blend of 42% Cabernet Franc, 42% Merlot, and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Impressive showing.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is tight at first but opens to show black cherries, cherries, chocolate, and brown tobacco.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Wonderful velvety texture.  On the palate, this is delicious with black cherries, iodine, blueberries and crushed leaves.  Complex.  Still not fully mature but getting there.  Long finish.  No harm opening now, but another five to eight years and this might get a 100 score.  Great on its own, it will take big food right

Yes, this is very young, but what a great opportunity to try a limited wine so soon.  This is one of the great cult wines of Napa!  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is tight but opens to show cassis, pencil lead, blueberries, chocolate, spice, smoke and minerality.  Firm tannins.  An impressive velvety texture.  On the palate, this is ripe.  Slightly sweet but not residual sugar.  Cassis, blueberries, coffee and spice with underlying minerality.  Enough acidity to cut through and keep the palate from being tired.  Ideally, this gets another ten to twenty years in the cella

This is made by winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, one of the top winemakers in the world. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is huge with cassis, cedar, baking spice, anise and char. Full bodied. Almost seamless texture. Juicy acidity. On the palate, loads of cassis with nice minerality and underlying char. Long finish. This is delicious. This is still quite young and will mature and probably get even better. Drink over the next twenty years. Great on its own, this will work with bigger meat dishes or even roasted veggies especially root vegetables.

My first time trying this winery.  It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cassis, dust, cedar and mint.  Full bodied.  Soft and accessible texture.  Delicious.  On the palate lots of cassis with underlying char.  Firm tannins.  A bit of dark chocolate on the long finish.  This is drinking well but will undoubtedly mature and improve a bit.  Great on its own, it needs bigger food such as a steak or rib roast.  Drink over the next twelve to fifteen years.  

Mike Smith is the winemaker here and produces some of the top wines in the world.  This is an interesting vintage.  Initially, it looked like it would be amazing, but many of the wines seemed to get almost to that point and just stopped.  Still outstanding, but not quite the overall quality of say 2013 or 2014.  I think that is true for this wine although that is clearly nit-picking and most wineries only dream of getting to this level of quality.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, spices and char.  A really great, plush texture.  Tannins are mostly resolved but

This is a 100% Malbec from the Napa Valley.  The term Ghost Winery refers to the fact that the grapes come from an old 19th century winery that is no longer in use as a winery.  The building is now a residence but there are still vines growing.  These Malbec vines are on that property.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose took about an hour to open and then showed plums, black cherries, figs, baking spice and some milk chocolate.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this took a couple of hours to really hit first gear.  Give it some air if opening now.  Flavors of plums,

What a great bottle for Halloween!  Cool label front and back and really good wine.  This is 100% Cabernet Franc from Rutherford.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose takes about 30 minutes to open then shows nice ripe Cab Franc, that is to say, black cherries, some black raspberries, coffee, dark chocolate, just a bit of cigar tobacco.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, lots of black cherry and black raspberry fruit with underlying coffee and tobacco.  Long finish.  Gives this some air if opening this Halloween, it really got going after being

From Magnum.  This was tasted right after some older Bordeaux's and the difference was obvious.  Both styles were good, but even at age 17, this was about fruit and sunshine while still showing some tertiary development. Purple in color, opaque and bright.

Tasted from a Magnum.  This old guard of Napa is doing just fine thank you.  Delicious at age 12.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has cassis, mushrooms, and dust.  With a bit of air, it wakens up showing some chocolate and black cherry notes as well.  Full bodied.  On the palate, sweet cassis fruit with some dark chocolate and slight spice.  It has a nice depth to it.  Medium tannins.  Nice acidity.  This got better all night long.  This should continue to drink well for ten to twelve years.  It works on its own and went very well with a veggie pizza.  

Copper/golden in color.  The nose shows a fair amount of grapefruit but also some spice/oak.  On the palate, this has a very nice texture.  Notes of lemon peel and slight peach.  Good finish.  Tasted blind, it was easy to guess Napa Chardonnay.  This is drinking well now and should be for the next five to seven years.  Nice on its own or with some cheeses it may over power lighter foods but will work with heavier fish dishes or pasta with a cream sauce.