Betz Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 2012
The final wine in a trio of Betz wines tasted with assistant winemaker Louis Skinner, the Pére De Famille Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is seamless and well-crafted. The nose is a gathering storm of blackcurrant, blueberries, milk chocolate, and violets. Structured and spectacularly dense in the mouth with saturating, tooth-staining layers of black and […]
Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz Columbia Valley Red 2012
Clos de Betz Columbia Valley Red 2012 is a sumptuous Bordeaux-style blend of 67% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot. As with all Betz wines, it’s precise and steeped in power. Arresting aromas of plums, kirsch, Madagascar vanilla and graphite lie under a beguiling floral top note. It’s concentrated, and inky, a bit […]
Betz Family Winery La Serenne Syrah 2012
I felt incredibly lucky to have tasted this bottle with Betz assistant winemaker, Louis Skinner, who is both talented and, as I learned, something of a wine collector himself. The 2012 La Serenne is fabulous, with a nose that reminds me of blackberries macerated in fresh thyme, crème brûlée and cedar. The innate sweetness at […]
Bodega Numanthia Toro Termanthia 2009
The Numanthia Toro Termanthia 2009, generously shared by fellow Vivino user and friend, Rick Halprin offers up a lavish bouquet of steeped blackberries, black cherry, anise, and aged leather. Painted with a broader brush as compared with little brother, Numanthia, it’s voluptuous and expansive on the palate, with velvety fine grained tannins and a commanding […]
Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 2009
A wine that fellow Vivino user, Rick Halprin generously shared, the 2009 Numanthia is inlaid with fabulous, complex notes of black cherry, Italian plum, bittersweet chocolate, maple, heliotrope, and dusty, sun-baked earth. On the palate, the tannins are structured and slightly grippy, and the alcohol is well integrated—given that it’s at 15%, Numanthia carries it […]
Loosen Bros Dr. L Riesling 2013
Loosen Bros Dr. L Riesling is a unquestionably quaffable for a mere $11-$12. While not as intense or complex as more expensive offerings from the Mosel, what you can expect are lush aromas of apricot, clover honey, lemon drop and a classic though faint top note of kerosene. It’s off-dry with lots of mouth-coating viscosity […]
William Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
The William Hill Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon proved to be a pleasant surprise—and by that I mean it’s an over-performer for its price point. Deep ruby in the glass, with a nose of sweet cherries, blackberries, mocha and baking spice, this is an easy drinking crowd-pleaser. Firm mouth-coating tannins, with ample fruit on the palate […]
Fontaine-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2011
Ripe d’Anjou pear gliding under aromas of lemon zest, white flowers and smoke. Notably, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet is the smallest of the Montrachet Grand Crus, and is known for producing white Burgundies endowed with chalk and saline. This 2011 Fontaine-Gagnard is a superb example. Not only is it expansive and slightly glycerol-laden on the palate, this decadent […]
Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol Rosé 2014
The perfect companion to a classic summer dish—Salade Niçoise. The Terrebrune Bandol Rosé is one of the more winsome, elegant rosés I’ve tasted this year. Primarly composed of Mourvèdre grown in blue Trias limestone soils, it is the minerality that really shines, along with breezy notes of alpine strawberries, raspberries, white peach and Rainier cherries. […]
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot Premier Grand Cru Classé Saint-Émilion 2000
Ruby-hued and breathtakingly fresh, with a deep perfume of black cherry and cassis, forest notes, cedar, graphite, violets and an unexpected top note of smoke and coal dust. In the mouth, the 2000 Beau-Sejour Becot is silk over sinew, with penetrating black fruit neatly framed by polished tannins and moderate acidity. There are decadent notes […]