Recent Online Exclusives
Recent Online Exclusives are the latest wine, spirit and beer reviews that did not appear in print.
Capture 2010 Harmonie Red (Pine Mountain)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $120
Capture continues to make progress in interpreting their vineyard located in this new appellation, a high elevation overlooking Alexander Valley. Based on Cabernet Sauvignon, this Bordeaux-style blend is young now, with hard tannins that interfere with the fruit. The fruit is intensely concentrated with cherry compote and cassis flavors, while new oak’s vanilla and…
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
Capture 2010 Révélation Cabernet Sauvignon (Pine Mountain)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $140
What a great follow-up to the 2009 vintage. You can put this in the cellar with entire confidence that it will age for likely 10–20 years, and actually improve. At nearly three years of age, it’s rich and vibrant with black currants, blueberries and dark chocolate, and a big hit of sweet oak. But the tannins are impossible, locking the mouth down with astringency…
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
VML 2007 Blanc de Noir Sparkling (Russian River Valley)
- Editors' Choice
- Online Exclusive
- $50
VML is one of the newest wineries in Sonoma County. They took over the site previously occupied by Belvedere, in the heart of the Middle Reach of the Russian River. High ambitions have been realized with this beautiful bubbly. It’s really an exceptional wine—richly textured and creamy—with hints of strawberries, lees, toast and vanilla, and none of the coarseness…
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
Neumeister 2010 Saziani Essenz Trockenbeerenauslese White (Südoststeiermark)
- Online Exclusive
Essenz is the style of wine given to sick emperors as the ultimate medicine. It certainly has a life-giving character, the distillation of noble rot berries, honeyed and intensely texture. The wine has a pure feel, sustained by final acidity. Drink now or age for many years.
— R.V.
(7/1/2013)
Tom Eddy 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $95
Kudos to vintner Eddy for holding this back for nearly six years. It’s still fresh, with rich blackberry, cherry, mocha and oak flavors. The tannins are gorgeous, and the acids are soft enough to permit drinking now. Good as it is, all indications are that it will evolve in bottle complexity. Hold until 2018.
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
Tom Eddy 2005 Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $135
At nearly seven years in age, this 100% Cabernet is still offering ripe, fresh blackberry, cassis liqueur, dark chocolate and oak flavors. It feels young, with firm, hard tannins, but very fine and complex. Just at the beginning of its journey, it will easily reward further cellaring. Hold until 2015, at the very least.
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
Bjorn 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Howell Mountain)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $75
Classic Howell Mountain Cabernet. The fruit is intense and concentrated in black currants and cocoa, the tannins are strong and hard, the acidity is perfect, the finish is entirely dry, and there’s a firm minerality. So deliciously elegant now, it’s hard to resist, but this Cab will surely reward cellaring through at least 2017.
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
Von Strasser 2010 Spaulding Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Diamond Mountain)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
- $80
This is one of eight new 2010 Cabernet or Bordeaux-style blends from the winery, and they’re all very fine wines, more alike than not. The Spaulding is mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Merlot and Petit Verdot. It’s moderate in alcohol, bone dry and enormously tannic, with classic black currant and dark chocolate flavors that finish complex and hard with…
— S.H.
(7/1/2013)
advertisement
What We're Tasting
2009 W.H. Smith Purple Label Piedra Hill Vineyard
This is a gigantic Cabernet, deeply concentrated and enormously tannic…
Facebook Activity
advertisement
Twitter Activity