Winery - Terra Valentine
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Clean, well-made and textbook Cab, with cassis and plum flavors and gritty, fine tannins. Dry and oaky, with ample concentration and focus. —S.H.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Sharp, simple and candied, with blackberry jam and cola flavors. The tannins are rugged, and the wine finishes with a scour of acidity. Seems at its best now.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
There’s a vegetable aroma in this wine, not exactly herbs, more like asparagus. In the mouth, the Cab tastes soft, sweet and candied. Average at best, and not an ager.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A well-made wine, showing lots of terroir in the mineral-infused blackberry, black currant, chocolate and anise flavors. The tannins are structurally superb, while the finish is dry and complex. A very fine wine that should gather momentum for at least a decade.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Creamy, oaky and buttery, with a scour of acidity that feels out of place. The underlying flavors are of apricots and oranges. Pretty good, in a country style.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Starts with strong, assaultive wildflower, dried apricot, butterscotch and sautéed banana aromas, then turns dry and acidic in the mouth. A difficult wine to like.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Fruity and jammy, showing intensely ripe, crushed wild blackberry and foxy mulberry flavors. A little rustic in tannins, with a bristling texture, but the finish is long, dry and spicy. Could surprise after 5–7 years in the cellar.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Dramatically structured and flavored, this is a tough, young mountain wine that deserves to be cellared. It’s perfectly dry, with distinct flavors of blackberries, green olives, cocoa and new oak, but those tannins assault with youthful astringency. Give this wine four or five years to soften.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tough in mountain tannins to the point of astringency, this 100% Cab demands cellaring. But even through the hardness you can taste a flamboyantly ripe, exuberant wine just waiting to bust out. With a terrific heart of black currants, briary blackberries, anise, sandlewood and cedar, it should have no trouble negotiating the next decade, if not longer. Best 2009–2013.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Dramatically rich and structured, this mountain blend of Bordeaux varieties needs time in the cellar. Right now, it’s tannic and astringent, with youthful flavors of blackberries, minerals and smoky new oak. But it’s a very fine wine that should hold and mellow through 2014.
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