Showing posts with label Napa Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Napa Valley. Show all posts

Friday, October 2, 2020

Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990

Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990

With the kids on their honeymoon in Napa Valley, we're still basking in the glow of a spectacular wine weekend celebrating son Alec and daughter-in-law Vivianna's wedding. Continuing the flight of birthyear vintage wines served at the wedding, we opened another 1990 vintage Napa Cab for a grilled steak dinner and butternut squash dinner. We hold nearly three dozen bottles of a total of thirty vintages of Dunn Vineyards cabernet sauvignons, between their two labels, Napa Valley and Howell Mtn, going back four decades. 

Small selection of our extensive
Dunn Vineyards Cabernet collection

With the wildfires ravaging Napa Valley and Howell Mountain, we're remembering our visit to the Dunn Vineyards estate high atop Howell Mountain where we met the legendary Randy Dunn and daughter Kristina who hosted us as hospitality director at the time.

We wishing the Dunns the best of hope they're not too severely affected by the horrific fires. Indeed, all but a couple of the kid's special estate wine tours and tastings at the wineries this week were canceled in light of the fires. 

Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1990  

This wine got 93 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 92 points Wine Spectator and a Wine Spectator "Cellar Selection". 

At thirty years of age, the label, fill level and cork were nearly perfect, further testament to the suitability of our wine cellar for long term aging, and to the 1990 vintage. 

The moment I extracted the cork with an ahso, two pronged wine puller, full flavorful aromatics burst from the bottle. 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, bright, concentrated, dense ripe black berry and black currant fruits are accented by notes of floral perfume, tobacco leaf, black olive tapenade and cigar box, turning to firm tangy tannins and notes of cedar on an extended lengthy aromatic finish.  

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=490&searchId=68049

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/09/dunn-vineyards-napa-valley-cabernet.html

http://www.dunnvineyards.com/


Sunday, September 13, 2020

Aged Birthyear Vintage Bottle Tasting Continues

 Aged Birthyear Vintage Bottle Tasting Continues

As we wind down the celebrations from son Sean's wedding, we still hold a significant number of bottles from his birthyear vintage. So it was, as we traveled to Florida with friends and family to pay tribute to a dear friend lost in a tragic accident this week, we took a couple special bottles in tribute and remembrance with gathered family and friends.

Gathering in the hotel on the eve of somber events, we opened another 1985 vintage bottle for the wedding celebrants. With fellow wine buddy Pour Boy Bill C, and Beth we opened a Freemark Abbey Bosche' Vineyard Napa Cabernet. This is a producer that Bill has collected for decades and knows exceedingly well. Together we have shared and compared these labels over the years - my collection centering on the Bosche single vineyard designated label, while Bill tended to collect the Sycamore vineyard designated label from the same producer. 

The Sycamore Vineyard is located about 1.5 miles south of Bosché, also nestled up to the western Mayacamas hills. The soil is quite different in that it is more of a gravelly clay loam. The wines from Sycamore vineyard tend to be very dark in color with rich briary blackcurrant and blackberry flavors, a profile and style that Bill favors.

Bosche Vineyard-Rutherford is a small 22-acre vineyard located west of Hwy. 29, on the famed Rutherford Bench, the Bosche Vineyard. It is actually owned by the Bosche family and sourced grapes to Freemark Abbey under a cooperation agreement dating back to 1970. 

Bosche is known to consistently produce rich concentrated fruit. It is composed of very deep, gravelly loam soil. Early on in the growing season the water table is high (about 5 feet below the surface) and provides the water and nutrients for new shoot growth. As the growing season progresses, the water table drops below the root zone, causing a natural stress cycle for the vine to change its course of growth and focus resources into ripening the fruit, intensifying the dark, concentrated flavors.

Bill and Beth and Linda and I have visited the winery together and acquired bottles from the library collection there for special occasions. In 2009 we toured the library and acquired 1974 and 1978 vintage labels for a an anniversary celebration dinner that night across the road at the CIA.

Freemark Abbey's winemaker is the legendary Ted Edwards, who earned an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s degree in Food, Science and Engineering from University of California-Davis. Edwards began his wine career when he was hired by Freemark Abbey to work on the bottling line in 1980. After two harvests, he left to become the Associate Winemaker at Rutherford Hill, a position he held for three years. He returned to Freemark Abbey in 1985 when he assumed the position of Director of Winemaking.

Edwards crafted Freemark Abbey Cabernets in a style not as blockbuster, over-the-top wines designed to “wow” you, but rather, elegantly styled, sometimes even subdued offerings that are emphasize varietal purity over power. Freemark Abbey, which dates back to 1886. It was purchased in 1967 by seven business partners who renovated the property and accumulated nearly 300 acres of vineyards They also sourceed grapes from some of the areas most acclaimed districts including the Rutherford Bench, Mount Veeder and Howell Mountain and of course the famed Sycamore and Bosche vineyards.

Freemark Abbey was purchased in 2006 by Jackson Family Vineyards (owners of several Calfornia properties including Lakoya and La Jota in Napa, and Hartford Family Winery and Matanzas Creek in Sonoma). 

In April, 2020, Ted Edwards, winemaker since 1985 and the face of Freemark Abbey in the modern era, become Winemaker Emeritus, and turned attention to work more in the vineyards, while passing the winemaking torch to his former assistant, Kristy Melton.

Another connection of this label is that at the time, back in the early nineties, it was a meeting with proprietor and partner/owner vineyardist William Jaeger, whom I met at a Freemark Abbey tasting that I tasted and acquired the Bosche label. During that meeting. William and I discussed our collection of large format birthyear bottles and from that meeting, William arranged to provide me a couple large format bottles from our kids' birthyears. It was one of those bottles, Rutherford Hill Napa Cabernet that we served last weekend at the wedding rehearsal dinner

The connection to Bill's cellar also exists as I believe we traded this vintage release Bosche for a non-birthyear vintage bottle in obtaining this bottle. In any event, I also hold at least one more bottle from this vintage release. So, it was with interest we opened this to determine the drinkability of not only this bottle, but others still in our collection. 

In preparation for this tasting, Linda and I visited the Gourmet Market in Boca Raton and acquired some authentic French artisan cheese and french bread to accompany the wine. 

Freemark Abbey Bosche' Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985


Amazing life left in this thirty-five year old. The fill level was as to be expected, the label was near perfect, the capsule aged and slightly soiled. The cork was in amazing shape, near perfect, still intact with full integrity. 

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, bright vibrant fruits of ripe plum, black currant and black cherry with bright pronounced acids, subtle notes of cassis, ash and hints of wood on a tangy lingering finish. While obviously passed its prime, it was still drinkable and enjoyable and while I don't feel rushed to consume the remaining bottle, it should be consumed in the near term, within the next year.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=30977


Saturday, September 12, 2020

Spectacular Wine Cheese Pairing featuring Cliff Lede Poetry 2004

Spectacular Wine Cheese Pairing featuring Cliff Lede Poetry 2004

With fellow Pour Boy and wine buddy Bill C in South Florida for the weekend, we visited the Wine Room Kitchen Wine and Cheese Bar in Delray Beach for a special wine tasting experience. We discovered the Wine Room Kitchen and Cheese Bar earlier this year and were eager to return and share the experience with a wine buddy when we returned to the area. 

As featured in these pages last winter, the Wine Room Kitchen have an extensive wine selection BTG - by the glass, and wine list and cellar collection available for near retail costs, below
what a traditional restaurant might charge. They also offer an extensive cheese and charcuterie selection.

The wine list and cellar features a broad selection of first growth Bordeaux including Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, and Super Second labels such as Ducru Beaucaillou, Leoville Las Cases and Pichon Lalande. They also feature premium and super premium Napa Cabernets including Diamond Creek, and this label, Cliff Lede Poetry

We opted to taste the Poetry as Bill and son Ryan are both club members and have extensive Lede collections. We've visited the Lede Estate on several occasions including a private tasting during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2009

Poetry is the flagship label of the Cliff Lede portfolio, selected from the best parcels of the vintage, the best fruit from select vineyards. The label is produced in limited quantities, and only in years when the quality of the fruit and resulting wine are exceptional. It is sourced primarily from the steep hillside terraces of the Lede Estate Poetry Vineyard on the edge of the valley overlooking the Lede Estate across the Silverado Trail on the valley floor.

The Poetry Vineyard is the easternmost of our two estate Stags Leap District vineyards, located near the winery and the Twin Peaks estate vineyard. The vineyard sits on a steep west-facing high-exposure hillside below the luxurious Poetry Inn. The vineyard reaches from the highest elevation of the Stags Leap District Appellation down to the foothills near and almost to the valley floor. The terroir of the vineyard is a combination of shallow soils atop fractured shales and low-yielding old vines of Cabernet Sauvignon. The sloping hill provides for superb drainage and optimal sun exposure.

In 2004, 680 cases were produced in a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

Our tasting experience was highlighted by a wonderful, perfect wine and cheese pairing with Délice de Bourgogne, a French classic triple crème cheese made by producer Fromagerie Lincet in the Burgundy region of France where the company factory is located. 

We also paired it with Bayley Hazen Blue, a buttery, natural-rinded blue cheese made from high-quality whole raw cow's milk produced by Jasper Hill Farm, named after an old military road commissioned by George Washington across the Northeast Kingdom. 

Brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler who own the farm, developed the recipe for Bayley Hazen Blue by altering the shape and ageing process of a Devon Blue recipe from England so that the cheese rind will hold up in usual retail conditions. 

Cliff Lede "Poetry" Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave this 96 points, Wine Spectator 94 points.

This wine was superb, dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, elegant, polished and balanced, nearly flawless concentrated blackberry and black currant fruits with a symphony of seamlessly integrated flavor notes of mocha chocolate, vanilla, hints of licorice, violet, spice, tobacco leaf and black olive, turning to smooth velvety mouthfeel and silky tannins on a long sensual finish. 

RM 95 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229262

https://cliffledevineyards.com/

https://twitter.com/CliffLedeWine

@CliffLedeWine  

 The girls joined us and we selected a Pride Sonoma County Syrah to taste alongside the cheese, charcuterie and delicious tomato basil soup. 

Pride Mountain Sonoma County Syrah 2013

The Pride Mountain Vineyards Estate, winery and vineyards sits high above St Helena atop Spring Mountain at the summit of the Mayacamas Range between Napa Valley to the east and Sonoma Valley to the west. 

We visited the estate during our Napa Wine Experience back in 1998.

The Sonoma County Syrah is selected from north-facing cooler slopes on the western side of the range, hence it is Sonoma, not Napa from the eastern side of the mountain. 

Dark inky garnet colored, full bodied, intense, concentrated, nicely balanced blackberry with notes of blueberry, black olive, black pepper, chocolate, spice and hints of mushroom and lavender, dry with high acidity, moderate fine grained tannins on a long flavorful finish.

RM 90 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2070912

https://www.pridewines.com/

https://twitter.com/pridewines 

@pridewines

Friday, September 11, 2020

Jayson (Pahlmeyer) Proprietary Red 2016

Jayson (Pahlmeyer) Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2016
 
Visiting dear friends Bob and Gloria in So-FLA to console them in a tragic loss, we took this bottle in a respectful tribute to their departed son Jason. We've long collected this wine in commemoration of Jason, but expected it would be for some appropriate joyous celebration occasion. Regretably, we consumed this under very different circumstances, but want to share it with dear friends and gathered family. 

We last tasted this wine with Bob and Gloria during our visit back in March, our last getaway or outing prior to the Coronavirus shut-in. We took a 2004 vintage release of this label from our cellar for that visit.

This is Bordeaux blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot, sourced from Napa Valley estate and contract grower sources. It was aged in 22% for fifteen months in New French Oak barrels, then bottled with minimal fining and filtration.
 
The flagship Pahlmeyer Napa Valley Cabernet for this vintage was highly rated receiving 97 points from Vinous, 96 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, James Suckling and Jeb Dunnuck, and 94 points from Wine Spectator. The Jayson blend shares some of the same cabernet fruit ias the flagship, albeit the most select lots are used in the premium label.

Jayson (
Pahlmeyer) Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2016
 
This was spectacular, bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, thick concentrated but nicely balanced and integrated black berry and black raspberry fruits with notes of bittersweet chocolate, spicy oak, hints of cedar and subtle licorice with full but smooth tannins on a long finish. 
 
RM 93 points.  

https://www.pahlmeyer.com/wines/jayson/jayson-red/2016/

 https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/11/pahlmeyer-jason-napa-valley-red-wine.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=296642

https://www.pahlmeyer.com/

https://twitter.com/Pahlmeyer 

 


Friday, September 4, 2020

Big Bottle highlights celebration dinner

 Big Bottle highlights celebration dinner     

The festivities of the gala wedding of son Sean and Michelle kicked off with the traditional rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We hosted the dinner at Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria, featured so often in these pages. Tony Angeli and Linda crafted a special menu for our group and coordinated the wine service to incorporate a special birth-year large format bottle from our collection we've been holding for the occasion. Due to Coronavirus restrictions, the dinner was held outside in a tent set up in front of Angelis storefront.

 

Back in the early nineties, Napa Valley winery owner Jeff Jaeger visited Naperville and conducted a wine tasting of Freemark Abbey wines. In addition to Freemark, his wine holdings included a stake in Rutherford Hill and Jaegar. I recall that from that tasting I acquired a case of then just-released Freemark Abbey Bosche' Vineyard Napa Cab. 

Jeff and I discussed my collection of large format bottles from birthyear vintages of our kids. From that discussion Jeff arranged sourcing a six liter imperial Rutherford Hill Napa Cab from son Sean's 1985 birth-year vintage. That bottle has been held in our cellar ever since in anticipation of tonight. He also sourced a six liter 1981 release of Rutherford Hill and Jaeger Vineyards Cabernet that we served at daughter Erin's wedding back in 2006.

Any time one opens a thirty-five year old bottle of wine, there is the chance the wine is not suitable for drinking, or serving to guests and a special gala dinner. Chances of disappointment or success are relative to the reputation and heritage of the producer and specific label, that years' vintage, the provenance of the wine (how it has been handled and stored), and the format of the bottle. 

The reason bottle size or format matters is that in larger format bottles, there is a greater critical mass of liquid to stabilize the wine and for the chemistry of the wine to take effect and age or evolve over time. The other reason is that in the larger vessel, there is less surface area of wine to air exposure, reducing the chance of contamination or unfavorable effects on the wine from the air wine interaction. 

Tonight, we opened the six-liter Imperial Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 1985. In the event the bottle was not suitable for serving to a group, I had on hand back-up bottles to serve. 

Rutherford Hill has a 60-acre estate vineyard in the Rutherford appellation of Napa Valley. It also leases 130 acres and sources grapes from the Napa Valley. Founded in 1972, the estate was purchased in 1996 by the Anthony Terlato group, an importer of European wines based here in Chicago. 


Today the Terlato family owns six California wineries including Alderbrook, Sanford and Chimney Rock. Even before the Terlatos' acquisition the estate focused on Merlot. Besides Merlot the estate produced Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and blends.  

Rutherford Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 Imperial

The bottle, label, foil and cork were in ideal condition, remarkable for a thirty-five year old. The oversize cork was starting to get slightly soft but extracted in-tact with a traditional screw. 

I suspect a normal size bottle would not have been so well preserved in all respects but the large format allowed for this be presentable after thirty-five years.

Initially funky with musty notes that eventually wore off to a delightful mix of black cherry, currant and black berry fruits emerging with medium full body, nice balance and integration of notes of earth, leather, hints of cassis and cigar box with soft smooth acidity with moderate tannins on the tangy finish. 

RM 89 points. 

Other Cellartracker's and a Snooth's reviews of this label from the 2012 era:

 Nose of currant, cranberry, pomegranate and cigar box/cedar. Dusty palate. Dusty red berry fruit. It's still surprisingly luscious and pretty with good balance and structure. 91 pts. 5/26/12

P&P. Cork was slightly depressed, but pulled out easily with about 1/3 soaked through, while still looking new. Funky nose of damp earth, worn leather, and slight hints of mint. Holy wow, this wine is alive on the palate, and it's dark. Still showing dark fruits and currants, lots of minerals, more leather, into a resolved tannin and slightly chalky finish. Delicious snd fresh. Glad I have 2 more bottles left, this was an excellent treat at the $18 tariff...surprise qpr of the year? (91 pts.)

 
2/26/2012 - NWA wrote: 92 Points

Still in good shape. The color has remained rich and inky when looking into the glass, though rusty around the rim. Nose shows age, but as it opened revealed stewed berries/compote and dried cherries. I am very surprised how well this bottle has aged.

11/30/2012 - Cellarhead wrote: 90 Points

This appears to have good provenance, still showing a noticeable amount of fruit. Best '85 bottle I've had in memory, aside from any Ports.

7/18/2015 - winchester-xi Likes this wine:

Quite the pleasant surprise. A melange of cherries and forest floor with a powerful medicinal note in the background. Plenty of acid. Moderate density and moderate length. Really no tannin left, so it comes down to how long the fruit will hold out. There's no reason to wait, but it has held out for quite a while so far....

12/23/2012 - ecola Likes this wine: 91 Points

Remarkably smooth with red berries and the acidity is hanging on. Dry finish with rounded tannins. Might make it until age 30.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2322811

Chateau St Michelle 50th Anniversary Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

We picked up all the available bottles of this special tribute bottling upon release as we knew we would serve them on special occasions such as this. 

This was the 50th Anniversary Special commemorative bottling of this wine. 

This is a Bordeaux Blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 4% Syrah, 1% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot 

Winemaker Notes: "We craft our Columbia Valley Cabernet to highlight concentrated Washington red fruit in an accessible style. This is an inviting Cab with plenty of complexity and structure with silky tannins. It’s also very versatile with food." 
 
Decanter gave this release a 93 rating. The Tasting Panel gave it 90 points.
Decanter - "A 50th anniversary special bottling, this has a touch of Napa Valley about it in the rich palate, balanced with Left Bank structure, tannins and restrained oak influence."
 
Tasting Panel - "Creamy and plummy with generous, tangy style; an exceptional bargain packaged with a retro label."
 
RM 90 points.
 

 

 

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

With the remote family in from both coasts for a wedding and a funeral this week, we're having some fun pulling from the cellar different labels from producers that we have visited together during various trips to Napa Valley. This Napa Cab is from legendary producer Randy Dunn whom we visited together with Sister Jan and Bro-in-law Bill during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We were hosted by Kristina Dunn that day but we had the privilege to meet winemaker, producer, patriarch and Napa Valley pioneer Randy Dunn. 

Randy started his wine career working for Charlie Wagner as the first enologist for Caymus. He was  instrumental in establishing Howell Mountain as a sub-AVA of Napa Valley. He is hands on from the vineyards to the cellars.

While not one of the larger holdings in our cellar in terms of number of bottles, it may be one of our broadest holdings in terms of number of vintages in our vertical collection of this label, and the flagship premium label Dunn Howell Mtn Cab.  We also collect Randy Dunn's "Feather" label that he produces for the Long Shadows Vintners Collection Series in Washington State.

Our Cellartracker records indicate we have a vertical collection of several mixed cases of each label from almost two dozen vintages dating back to 1981. 

Selections from Vertical Collection of Dunn Napa Valley Cabernets

This label release got 90 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar. It has a Cellartracker average rating of 92.1 from 81 user reviews. I acquired this ten years ago when it was already ten years of age.  

With Randy Dunn at Dunn estate high atop Howell Mountain.

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Dunn is known for age-worthy Napa Cabernets, especially the premium Howell Mtn label. At 21 years, this label is still holding its own although past both its prime and projected drinking windows. While at this stage, many wines lose their fruit flavors to non-fruit tones, the fruits in this bottle are still holding their own, while also showing pronounced complementary and tertiary flavor tones.

We hold another bottle of this release and we'll note it needs to be consumed in the next year or so before it begins to diminish beyond enjoyable drinking. 

This was garnet colored, medium-full bodied, muscular, full forward rustic blackberry and black cherry fruits with notes of tobacco, graphite, leather and expresso, moderate acidity with firm lingering tannins on the long finish. 

I had trouble characterizing an underlying lingering flavor in the profile - Wine Spectator mentions mineral, iodine and dill - Tanzer speaks of raw meat ... 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=7962

http://www.dunnvineyards.com/

@dunn_vineyards 

 The following evening we did a gala beefsteak dinner and opened another Dunn Cabernet, Howell Mountain 1987.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 

For pairing with left-over BBQ ribs from the other night, with sweet corn and baked potatoes and some artisan cheeses, I pulled from the cellar this Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. The bright vibrant fruit was a perfect pairing with the dinner. 

Our visits to the Hall Rutherford Estate have been highlights of several of our Napa Valley Wine Experiences dating back to 2003.

 As members of the Hall Wine Club we acquired many labels of their allocated premium labels. We've attended several Hall wine tasting events including their release tour tasting in Chicago hosted by none other than owner producer Kathryn Hall (right).

 Hall have built an incredible franchise and brand with their multiple Napa Valley winery locations and their broad portfolio of labels including numerous premium and ultra-premium highly rated labels. This is Hall's 'basic' bottling of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  Fruit for this label is sourced from select fruit from across Napa Valley from Hall's organically farmed estate vineyards featured prominently, as well as fruit from partner growers' hillside sites. Praise from Robert Parker: "Hall has quickly become one of the great superstars in the Napa Valley firmament."

According to our Journal of Tasting Notes, we posted no less than ten different tasting notes for this vintage release dating back to 2010 including this mini-vertical tasting of multiple vintages we took from our cellar to our BNB vacation home in the outer banks for a family vacation.  At that time I wrote that "My Cellartracker records indicated we've consumed eight of the baker's dozen we acquired of this vintage of this wine and shows five tasting notes to date."

Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Back in 2013 and then again in 2015 I gave this label 93 points. This time and the most recent tasting back in February I gave this 92 points, indicating the bright vibrant fruits are starting to give way subtly to the non-fruit accents cited below.

At fourteen years, this is drinking as well as ever, probably at the apex of its drinking profile, not showing any signs of diminution whatsoever, but not likely to improve further with any more aging. 

 Consistent with earlier tasting notes when I wrote, "Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, a symphony of flavors accented by bold expressive black berry and black raspberry fruits with highlights of anise and mocha with tones of cedar, sweet toasty oak and clove spice and hints of earthy leather turning to a smooth polished lingering finish."

After being opened a day, this is predominant anise licorice and smoke on the black berry fruit with hints of cedar and clove spice on the finish.


RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=761928

http://www.hallwines.com/visit/winery-experiences/rutherford-tours