Brochelle Vineyards Zinfandel 2016
Thickset and baritone, the 2016 Brochelle Paso Robles Zinfandel offers up densely packed aromas of figs, plums, wood spice, anise, and balsamico. A fleshy mid-palate is neatly bisected by coiled acidity that parries and thrusts, ’till it unwinds, leaving behind a streak of prune and sweet tobacco. 15.8% ABV | Sample Brochelle Vineyards 88 Points
Grizzly Peak Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Beautifully developed and opaque as a starless night, the 2013 Grizzly Peak Syrah offers up cascading layers of blackberries, marionberries, and dusty plums that rest beneath lighter notes of violets, preserved meat, and freshly turned tilth. In the mouth, it’s round and fleshy, with velvety tannins lending structure to a baritone and black-fruited core, leaving […]
Alamos Selección Malbec 2016
Always an excellent value, the 2016 Alamos Selección Malbec is consistent with previous vintages, with a nose generously imbued with plums, black cherries, bittersweet chocolate, earth, and lilting violets. It’s medium-bodied, with fine, slightly green tannins and taught acidity—a pleasant herbaceous note emerges at the finish—cedar, bay leaf, green peppercorn, and sagebrush. 13.5% ABV | […]
Château Poitevin Médoc 2015
From Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot vines planted near the Gironde estuary, seated in purely alluvial soils—Girondine gravel and clay subsoil—the 2015 Château Poitevin drinks better on the second day, and offers up a puissant bouquet of black currant, Damson plum, earth, aged saddle leather, dark chocolate syrup, and sweet tobacco. Aged 14 months […]
Troon Vineyard M*T Reserve 2014
Blueberries, blackberries and fragrant grape pie swirl beneath stratified layers of cigar box, warm spice, and dutch cocoa powder. In the mouth, a trail of sueded tannins plunges headlong into a deliciously concentrated core of dark fruit. It’s pure drinking pleasure at this stage in its development. 14.4% ABV | Sample Troon Vineyard 93 Points
LXV Crimson Jewel 2015
LXV’s 2015 Crimson Jewel is a poetic blend of 80% Brunello clone Sangiovese with 20% Petit Verdot all from the Hearthstone Vineyard—located in the heart of Paso Robles Adelaida District, the blocks are seated on limestone soils and benefit from both high elevation and unique microclimate. The nose is a twiggy garland of black cherries, […]
Olivier & Lafont Vacqueyras 2015
With a nose steeped in black cherries, black raspberries, violet pastille, warm wicker, cigar box, and baking spice, Olivier & Lafont’s 2015 Vacqueyras is made from old-vine Grenache and Syrah grown on the coolest section of Gigondas’ northern slope. Silky on entry with fine fore-palate tannin accented by a nervy jolt of acidity. It’s polished […]
Côté Mas Rouge Intense 2016
An excellent choice for the value minded, the 2016 Côté Mas Rouge Intense is a classic Languedoc-Roussillon blend of 45% Grenache, 25% Carignan, 15% and Cinsault with a splash of Merlot and Syrah. Welcoming aromas of macerated strawberries, cherries, a little funk—forest floor, decomposing leaves, mushrooms, vanilla, and anise grace the nose. In the mouth, […]
Department 66 Others 2015
A sultry blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, and Mourvedre Department 66’s 2015 Others red blend opens with enveloping aromas of blackberry, ripe plum, violets, and Garrigue. Plush fruit and softly-textured tannins are held in balance by a rippling chord of acidity. The close is restrained, tinged with the stony illuvium fingerprint of the Pyrénées-Orientals, a […]
J.L. Kiff Pinot Noir 2012
J.L. Kiff’s 2012 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir is both vivid and fresh and is coronated with a wreath of raspberries, alpine strawberries, dried mint, anise, and pomander ball. It’s limpid garnet in the glass, and is slightly darker in hue than the other vintages in the vertical we tasted—I am told the 2012 includes a small […]