A terrific Cabernet from this mountain west of Sonoma Valley. Wonderfully ripe and complex in black currant, blackberry, mocha, cedar and spice flavors, its tannins are authoritative, and require some age to resolve. If you drink now, decant, but it should be best after 2010.
— S.H.
(3/1/2009)
A worthy followup to the magnificent 2005. Feels lush and dramatic in the mouth, with softly refined tannins and herb-tinged flavors of blackberries, black currants, cassis, mocha and smoky oak. Dramatic and impressive. Drink now through 2016.
— S.H.
(11/20/2009)
I haven’t cared for this winery’s Bordeaux wines, but with the Burgundians they’re hitting pay dirt. This Dijon-clone Pinot is an excellent dry, silky wine with complex flavors of cherries, black raspberries, cola, licorice candy and cinnamon spice. Unfiltered and well oaked, the wine offers something new and interesting with every sniff and sip.
— S.H.
(11/15/2006)
Despite the statewide appellation, this delightful Cab blend shows complexity and finesse. It’s big and deep in cassis and blackberry fruit, with a rich overlay of oak, but never loses balance, with a nice tension of acidity and tannins. Best now through 2006.
— S.H.
(12/1/2005)
This is a lovely Chardonnay, delicately structured, elegantly silky, crisp and authoritative. It doesn’t whack you with fruit, but presents subtle peach custard, buttercream and citrus flavors girded with a hard minerality. Quite a bit of new oak adds complexity. This is a good Chard for foodies who shy away from the fruit bombs.
— S.H.
(11/15/2006)
Held back longer than most Chardonnays, this single-vineyard wine is beginning to pick up bottle complexity. It’s a connoisseur’s wine, not dazzlingly rich and sweet, but dry, acidic and minerally, with lemon and orange citrus fruit flavors. You have to appreciate subtlety to like this artisanal wine. Should evolve in interesting ways over the next six years.
— S.H.
(5/1/2011)
Lots going on in this complex young Chard. It shows crisp, zippy acidity and a firm, steely minerality that marries well with the oak and lees to produce a coconut cream pie, macaroon richness. That’s on top of the tropical fruit. Delicious now, and should hang in there for four years or so.
— S.H.
(11/1/2007)
Richer than the ’02, this single-vineyard Chard is crisp and bright in acidic structure, with oak and lees to add complexity. The underlying flavors suggest citrus fruits, peaches, pears, apricots and mangoes.
— S.H.
(12/1/2005)