Winery - Vine Cliff
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is a difficult wine to drink now, due to its palate-numbing tannins. Yet there’s something big and flashy going on. The finish is long in black currant fruit, so stunningly rich it can only survive as the tannins fall out. Try after 2008, but it could go long beyond that.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A beautiful Cabernet that displays classic Oakville character. To begin with, the tannins, which always are the star of Oakville, are so lush, ripe and richly structured. Then there’s the elegant balance and refinement. I wish this well-oaked wine, as good as it is, had a bit more fruity intensity, because that would make me appreciate this even more.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A tightly packed, full-flavored baby. Dark berry and foresty aromas. Not very forthcoming in its tight state, but there’s lots of depth here: dark cherry and cassis fruit, toasty oak and positive earthy elements. Great structure and a long finish. Try in 2 to 4 years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Offers up complex apple, lemon peel, and even caramel aromas, along with some spicy vanilla. The apple flavors are accompanied by spicy, butterscotchy oak, although the flavors could be more concentrated. A friendly, likable wine.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Drying tannins make the already quite tart flavors even harder to handle. Metallic notes coat plummy-pruny aromas on the nose, and cranberry notes in the mouth. Finishes with more metal, and some oak.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Heat marks this wine. It smells and tastes peppery, along with deeply extracted flavors of currants, licorice, violets and cedar. Bone dry and pretty hard in tannins, with the oak showing, it’s a bit austere and clumsy now. Needs time, and could be quite good after 2011.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Hits the jackpot with incredibly intense swirls of pineapple, mango, orange blossom, butterscotch, lemon custard, vanilla and spice flavors that come together in a rich, creamy drink. Fabulous intensity and length to this completely satisfying Chardonnay.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A fine wine, with enough oaky richness to please Chard lovers. The flavors suggest cool peach custard sprinkled with vanilla and a drizzle of butterscotch sauce, while the acids keep this gooey quality crisp and fresh.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
From down Santa Maria way comes this high-acid wine, with yummy flavors of pineapple custard, key lime pie and vanilla spice, all of it pepped up with lots of rich, toasty oak.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This complex and distinctive wine is dark and brooding, and reveals itself reluctantly through an elaborate overlay of well-toasted oak. Below all that char and vanilla is polished blackcurrant and cassis fruit. The sweet tannins and weight of the wine are pedigreed, but there’s a rawness that demands cellaring. Best beyond 2008.
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