2010 Tulpen Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley
Good mature cab flavors but these are starting to dry out a bit; drink up.
1996 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley
Dead.
2014 Lincourt Pinot Noir Rancho Santa Rosa Sta. Rita Hills
Solid entry level wine with dried cherry fruit and good spice. In fact, for the $10 sale price we found it at in Southern California, it has no equal.
2011 Cresta Velia Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
This is what friends opened to pair with my Quilceda Creek, and it was easily the better wine. Open, complex, and spicy with dark cherry and blackberry fruit, silky tannins and balanced oak.
2014 Domaine des Baumard Savennières Chenin Blanc
Dry, crisp and yet deftly floral and fruity with some honeyish tones. Delightful--purchased at a Costco in L.A., wish my Costco carried Baumards.
2002 Montaudon Champagne Brut Millésimé Champagne Blend
Too old (passively stored), oxidative and flattens out pretty fast in the glass.
2002 Melville Pinot Noir Carrie's Sta. Rita Hills
Black, deep and sweet as aged Melvilles tend to be and surprisingly lacking in mature notes for a passively-stored 15 year old bottle. Would wish for just a tad more acid, but nice.
2005 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing Sta. Rita Hills
After a lackluster '10 days before, friends popped this '05 and it did the job of reminding us why Sea Smoke was and is so sought after. Still has SS's trademark red licorice notes, but there's depth and controlled power here along with richness and secondary nuances from bottle age. A fine showing.
2014 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Golden Slope Sta. Rita Hills
Great fruit and complexity with obvious skill, LF has become my latest fascination in new world chardonnay and this bottle says it all.
2014 Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc OTQ Marlborough
Wow. Superbly concentrated fruit--citrus, kaffir lime leaf, gooseberry, grass-- with nervy, wild things from the wild yeast process. Every sip's different and joyous.
2007 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
If I hadn't known I was drinking a QC, I doubt I'd have been much impressed (and it was my bottle). Drinking at the moment like a nice middling WA cabernet with a few years on it, but there's nothing profound. And yes, I decanted. Oh well.
2012 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Showing even more of that sassafras-nutmeg thing than a year ago, but not as 'cut'. Excellent but other bottles will benefit from continued aging--I'll go 2020 before opening another.
2009 Domaine Berthelemot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Pinot Noir
What a treat this was. Long a fan of CdM, this is my first one from this producer. Closer to modern than traditional, possibly enhanced by the warm vintage, and drinking perfectly right now.
2001 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes - Coeur de Roy Pinot Noir
Wow, what a treat. Meaty and rich and yet crunchy and tense--this has it all for current drinking but it has years of life and evolution left. Thank you, John and Annabelle!
2004 Bernard Dugat-Py Bourgogne Pinot Noir
On the tired side; quite drinkable but pale against other better wines. Probably weak to start with due to vintage, but past prime now.
2004 Terroir Al Limit Soc. Lda. Priorat Dits del Terra Carignan
Biggishly elegant with balanced fruit and loamy undertones. Nothing like carignan as I know it, if this wasn't a mistaken attribution (on CellarTracker).
2010 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing Sta. Rita Hills
Sweet cherry Red Vine licorice and cough drop fruit; shiny, polished texture. A bit lighter than expected based on prior Sea Smokes I've had and seemingly lacking underlying fundamentals, but nice. Just nice.
2015 Domaine de la Guicharde Côtes du Rhône Red Rhone Blend
A Eureka purchase. Not bad, not compelling, tastes mostly of grenache with syrah undertones and substantiveness. A bit too sweetish and heavy for current drinking, Rasteau-like; could use 2-3 more years.
2015 Devils Corner Pinot Grigio Tasmania
A delightful gift from a travelling brother. Balanced and intense, lots of fruit and no oak; a model for new world P.G.
2013 Kokomo Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
A very nice basic pinot noir, and perfect as found on a northern California pizzeria wine list where the prices need to be low and the quality reasonable and local.
2014 Kokomo Chardonnay Peters Vineyard Russian River Valley
Enjoyed this with pizza at a cute little place in Cloverdale, California. Plenty of oak (American?) and not a reserved style, but bigly appropriate for pizza and all that comes with it.
2013 Metz Road Pinot Noir Mesa Del Rio Monterey County
Cooked, jammy, soft red fruit, no structure, no sign of the Pommard clones supposedy involved. Took a few sips and tossed the rest of the bottle on the roses.
2013 Newsome-Harlow Zinfandel Calaveras County
Picked up a bottle while travelling in this area--you know, drink local. Was more richly rewarded than expected with this excellent, earthy and claret-styled zinfandel.
2015 Mason Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
Low acid with surprising RS and floral notes on the finish, emptyish mid-palate. Costs $20 and drinks like $5. Way overpriced and singularly unrefreshing.
2015 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin Le Banc Chardonnay
Coop's white. Creamy, minerally, lemon curd, good body, some flint, chablis-like but riper. Excellent.
NV JCB Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé No 69 Pinot Noir
A wine from Gina Gallo's husband, apparently. The bottle looks more serious than what's in it, but what's in it is tasty, lively and fun.
2016 Flowers Pinot Noir Estate Rosé Sonoma County
Superb. Subtle and precise, the way R of PN should be.