Some weekend wines:
Forlorn Hope: My first wine club shipment from the Outlands cooperative tasting room project in Downtown Napa included a Verdelho from Forlorn Hope! By no means a profound wine, the clean apple flavors were underlain by a savory core that made it a perfect accompaniment to our salads!
With dinner: 2006 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Mountain/Glen Ellen). This WAS a profound cabernet. Rich in anise flavors, still plenty of tannins, beautiful acidity. Unlike some here, I cannot give up on cabernet, and it is wines like this that explain why. We also opened a 2015 Counterpoint, the early drinking version of the estate cab, and it was not as smooth or elegant but it still showed lovely cabbiness!
At the winery: 2009 Madonna Estate Reserve Pinot Noir. This historic winery just nails this Pinot! No annoying cherry fruit Carneros character per se. Instead, earth, funk, dark fruit. I loved the previous vintage.