Justin Vineyards & Winery Isosceles Reserve is made from 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot
Dark, ruby/purple core with a medium intensity rim and moderately stained tears. Complex and very aromatic with black cherry, cassis, toasty vanilla, cinnamon, cedar, graphite, oak, dusty leaf notes, star anise and red licorice. Full bodied, with ripe black fruit of cherry, currant and berry with baking spice on entry. The mid-palate features sustained fruit with sweet tobacco, leather, vanilla and licorice, and mouth coating tannins that balance its full fruit character through a very long, fresh and beautifully balanced finish that evolves with a complex mix of fruit, spice and savory elements.
The 2016 ISOSCELES Reserve is a bold, but balanced wine that pairs nicely with rich meat dishes like slow cooked stews and braises, but shines beautifully with a simple grilled ribeye steak.
Review:
Clean lines of blackberry jam, charred toast and crushed slate make for a focused nose in this reserve blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. It is very dense and thick on the palate, where mocha, caramel, loamy earth and dark berry flavors align into an lusciously rich yet elegantly dry experience.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
The Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay Les Fremiets Premier Cru is from a parcel that is up-slope, and the wine is very calcaire, or limestony; you literally taste the stone in this elegant, intensely perfumed wine. Pair with veal filet mignon, squab, beef steak and roast duckling.
Review:
I really like this terroir and the 2021 is an absolutely classic example of this fine premier cru, offering up a refined and pure bouquet of black plums, dark berries, coffee bean, a complex base of dark soil tones, a nice touch of new oak and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with a superb core, lovely soil signature, ripe, suave tannins and a long, vibrant and complex finish. Fine, fine juice. 2033-2080.
93 pts- John Gilman, View from the Cellar #102
Tim Atkin 93 Points
Mt Brave Malbec is made from 100 percent Malbec.
On the Palate of the 2016 Mt. Brave Malbec killer spice overlays rich boysenberry and black currants. A pop of fruit carries across to the finish which is clearly mountain structure based.
Review:
The 2016 Malbec Mt. Veeder is another fabulous wine from winemaker Chris Carpenter. It offers a vibrant, focused, savory style in its blue fruits, graphite, and lead pencil aromatics, and has a concentrated, layered style on the palate. It’s a complex, age-worthy Malbec that will evolve for over a decade.
-Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
The 2016 Malbec Mt. Veeder (100% Malbec) is very deep purple-black in color and reveals stunning black and red cherries, black plums and violets with wafts of unsmoked cigars and mossy bark. Full, concentrated and seductive in the mouth, it has a solid line of fine-grained tannins and loads of bold, perfumed fruit, finishing long. 484 cases produced.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points
This shows a vivid boysenberry and blackberry fruit profile, laced with licorice, roasted apple wood and violet notes, all backed by a solidly grippy structure and a late zing of minerality. Best from 2021 through 2038. 6,441 cases made.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese is made from 100 percent Riesling.
An endlessly energizing late-harvest Riesling from a selection of botrytis-affected grapes harvested in the “sundial” vineyard. This precipitously steep, rocky vineyard consistently yields some of the most elegant and sophisticated white wines in the world. Auslese means “selected from the harvest,” and is a luscious sweet wine made from very ripe clusters that are about 50 percent affected by botrytis. The resulting wine is dense, intensely flavored and rich on the palate, but retains the elegant structure that is characteristic of this great site.
Review:
Rich, but very elegant and creamy with beautiful, peachy character and lovely, floral-honey notes. Long, very silky finish. Drink or hold.
James Suckling 95 Points
J Lohr Signature Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon 6% Cabernet Franc 6% Saint Macaire 4% Petit Verdot 4% Malbec.
J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon was first produced to honor the 80th birthday of founder Jerry Lohr. This limited release was specially selected and blended from the exceptional 2016 vintage in Paso Robles. It is both a tribute to Jerry's pioneering efforts in the region and our red wine portfolio's ultimate expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. VINEYARDS & CELLAR Beck Vineyard, in the Creston District of Paso Robles, is a unique, high elevation site that sits at 1,700 feet above the early morning fog line. Its calcareous soils and cooling afternoon winds are perfect for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet from this vineyard ripens early with excellent color, purity of fruit, and phenolic maturity. Incorporation of Cabernet Franc brings freshness to the blend, while the rare Bordeaux variety, Saint Macaire, brings density and a savory character. Petit Verdot and Malbec add structure, color, and a component of bright fruit. The hand-harvested grapes were held separate at harvest and berry-sorted into six-ton open top tanks for fermentation. Maceration took place on the skins for five days, before early pressing to achieve ideal tannin extraction. Aged 19 months in 100% new French oak from coopers Nadalie and Sylvain.
Review:
The nose on this luxury-level bottling is pure and refreshing, offering aromas of black cherry, loamy soil, dried mint and caramel-laced coffee. The palate is framed by upright tannins, yet is soft enough to enjoy now, showing deep flavors of black currant, dried herb, milk chocolate and toffee. Drink 2020–2040.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
Marchesi Di Gresy Barbaresco Martinenga Camp Gros Riserva is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
Review:
Gorgeous scents of cherry, raspberry, rose hip and white pepper are augmented by leather, tobacco and chalky, mineral flavors in this detailed, complex red, which starts out fresh and inviting, before the dense matrix of tannins puts a lock on the finish. Nonetheless, this has length, harmony and stellar potential. Best from 2025 through 2043. 663 cases made, 50 cases imported.
-Wine Spectator 96 Points
Morlet Family Vineyards Coeur De Vallee Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 75% Cabernet Sauvignon & 25% Cabernet Franc.
Propietary Name Cœur de Vallée
Name Meaning Heart of the Valley
Type of wine Vineyard designated
Appellation Oakville, Napa Valley
Vineyard singularity Morlet Family ‘Cœur de Vallée’ Vineyard Bale soils, loamy topsoil on loamy & clay-loamy subsoils
Typical harvest date October Picking Manual, small lugs, refer truck
Sorting Cluster by cluster, berry per berry Fermentation Through native yeast. Punch downs Tank and Puncheons
Upbringing 16 months French oak from artisan coopers Bottling Unfiltered
Cellaring time 10+ years Serving Room temperature Decanting recommended
Winemaker notes:
Located in the world-renowned Oakville appellation, in the heart of the Napa Valley, our Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines benefit from the gravelly and loamy Bale soil derived from an alluvial fan in this warm yet temperate climate. Handcrafted using classical winemaking techniques, this wine is dedicated to Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Nancy Hampel who have always demonstrated their kindness of heart. It is ‘Heart of the Valley’ or ‘Cœur de Vallée.’
Deep garnet-purple in color, the ‘Cœur de Vallée’ is characterized by a striking bouquet of lavender and violets over a core of sweet red berries, crème de cassis, Chambord liqueur, blackcurrants and licorice, and compelling notes of mocha, espresso, chocolate and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied with an impressive fine-grained texture, this powerful yet refined Cabernet Sauvignon is expressive from start to finish, boasting a background freshness that supports the intense black fruit layers. The wine displays an extraordinary concentration, richness, finesse and purity while possessing silky and polished tannins leading to an elegant lift on the long, lush finish. Featuring the interaction of the clayish yet well-draining gravelly volcanic soil, the site’s microclimates and the low-interventionistic Morlet winemaking approach, the stunning ‘Cœur de Vallée’ ages gracefully for decades.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallée comes all from Beckstoffer’s portion of the To Kalon Vineyard and it’s a thrill a minute, offering awesome notes of blue fruits, chocolate, incense, candied violets, and high-class cigar tobacco. As seamless and elegant as they come, yet also opulent and sexy, this remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon could come from nowhere else in the world. Drink it over the coming 2-3 decades.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
This is the last vintage when this wine will come exclusively from Beckstoffer’s To Kalon vineyard. In the future it will come (more and more) from Morlet’s own new vineyard in Oakville—just across from To Kalon. A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallee has a very deep purple-black color and reveals compelling notes of minted blackcurrants, black cherries and wild blueberries with touches of sage, cigar box, tilled black soil and Indian spices with a suggestion of cardamom. Full-bodied and laden with densely packed, muscular fruit, it has a rock-solid frame of ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long with those To Kalon spices lingering with fantastic persistence. 250 cases produced, to be released in the fall of 2019.
-Wine Advocate 97 Points
Charles Krug Family Reserve Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
Rising 1,650 feet above the Napa Valley floor on the southwestside of Howell Mountain, the Family Reserve Howell MountainCabernet Sauvignon sits above the fog line. The distinctiveclimate, along with volcanic and iron-rich red soils, producefruit with great balance and intensity.
Review:
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Release Cold Springs is the most distinctive of the wines in this range of limited-release Cabernets from Charles Krug. Gravel, licorice, menthol and spice all develop in a Howell Mountain Cabernet endowed with tremendous class and nuance.
-Vinous 92 Points
Guillemot-Michel Vire-Clesse Charleston is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This cuvée is produced from hundred-year old vines that the great-grandfather planted after he returned from World War I. The family wanted to honor his memory and vinify these vines the same way he did, in old demi-muids.
Charleston is a deep and complex wine that gently express itself in the glass, offering juicy white fruit flavors and a lengthy finish.
Charleston is vinified and aged for one year in demi-muids of over 10 years old. During the following harvest, the wine is racked and placed in vats for another 6 months of aging before bottling.
Fish in white sauce, poultry in creamy sauce, hard cheeses.
Review:
"The 2019 Viré-Clessé Charleston is brilliant, opening in the glass with notes of buttered citrus fruit, pear, beeswax and vanilla pod. Full-bodied, layered and textural, with huge concentration, lively acids and a seamless, multidimensional profile, it's long and penetrating. It's one of the very best wines I've ever tasted from the domaine. Readers will remember that the Guillemot family's oldest parcel of vines dates back to 1918, and the idea behind this cuvée is to work the vines and make the wine in the same way as their grandfather—who planted them—did. It spends a year in old demi-muids followed by six months in tank on the lees. - William Kelley"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (August 2021), 94+ pts
Vintners Dennis O’Neil and Steph Martin began development of Checkerboard Vineyards in 1999 and retained winemaker Martha McClellan to create a portfolio of wines reflecting the mountainside. The estate includes four vineyard sites of different elevation, exposure and soil composition, providing the foundation for a portfolio that includes Checkerboard Aurora Vineyard, Checkerboard Coyote Ridge Vineyard, Checkerboard Nash Creek Vineyard, Checkerboard Kings Row, Checkerboard Sauvignon Blanc, and Checkerboard Rose. Grapes are harvested at dawn in micro-lots and delivered steps away to the winery where clusters are sorted, discarding any blemished ones. Individual berries are hand-selected for vinification and transferred for fermentation, by hand, to Taransaud wooden tanks, stainless tanks, and individual wooden barrels.
Farming is based on long-term sustainability and includes water conservation and monitoring, permanent cover crops planted in alternating rows, and the use of entomology for pest control and the development of soils with good organic matter and microbiology. Checkerboard Vineyards is a member of Fish Friendly Farming which promotes environmentally-friendly land practices and water quality management. Aurora Vineyard is located in a small valley midway up Diamond Mountain and on a large knoll at an elevation of 1,200 feet. The knoll bulges outward, giving the vineyard full Southern exposure and open light from the East and West and protection from Napa Valley’s summer fog. Six acres are planted in the knoll’s rich, volcanic soils that are riddled with basalt cobble in a loamy red clay. The remaining six acres are planted in a deep gravely mix of volcanic ash and chips of decomposed Rhyolite that were washed down from the steep, rocky crags of Diamond Mountain above.
There's a fresh, sweet aroma to the 2016 Checkerboard Aurora Vineyard that builds excitement and anticipation for what's to come. On approach, the palate is juicy and expansive and explodes with flavors of blackberry, mulberry, dark cherry, caramel, leaf tobacco and green olive. The wine continues with a voluptuousness that's linear and constant yet lifted by natural acidity. The finish is showy, long and lingering with finely polished tannins. An exceptional vintage.
J. Davies Nobles Vineyard Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Nobles Pinot Noir starts off with aromas of rich strawberry, black cherry and Earl Grey tea, followed gracefully with coriander and exotic spices. The palate offers a juicy mid-palate of blueberry and plum layered with mocha and rhubarb, closing with a long-integrated acidity.
Review:
Elegant and pure-tasting, with red berry, plum and raspberry flavors that are well-structured. Toasty midpalate, with a rich finish that offers spicy minerality. Drink now through 2026.
-Wine Spectator 92 Points
The 2021 Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay Les Champans Premier Cru is from the domain’s largest premier cru holding, 4.2 acres whose vines date from 1934, 1971, and 1985. Champans is down-slope in the premier cru band, and its wine typically has more fruit and power than other Voillot Volnays.
Review:
‘The 2021 Volnay Les Champans Ter Cru has much more brightness and delineation than the Fremiets this year, with red cherries, wild strawberries and ust a touch of iodine and sous-bois. This is nicely focused. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine structure, pliant tannins and a harmonious finish. Not the most complex Champans encountered from this address, yet it has class.
-Vinous 91-93 Points
The 2021 les Champans is also a simply stunning example of this fine premier cru vineyard. The beautifully elegant nose wafts from the glass in a blend of red and black plums, cherries, spit-roasted quail, a complex base of soil, woodsmoke, coffee bean and a deft touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off superb depth at the core, great soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and a long, nascently complex and very promising finish. This is a touch more reserved on the palate than the Fremiets and will take a bit longer to blossom, but it is going to be stellar. 2034-2085.
93+ pts- John Gilman, View from the Cellar #102
Charles Krug Peter Mondavi Family Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection has a deep garnet-purple color and features exuberant notes of crushed black cherries, mulberries and blackcurrant cordial with touches of unsmoked cigars, menthol, yeast extract and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, concentrated and opulent in the mouth, it has a solid line of plush tannins and plenty of backbone freshness to lift the generous fruit to a long fruity finish.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points
Guillemot-Michel Vire-Clesse Charleston is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This cuvée is produced from hundred-year old vines that the great-grandfather planted after he returned from World War I. The family wanted to honor his memory and vinify these vines the same way he did, in old demi-muids.
Charleston is a deep and complex wine that gently express itself in the glass, offering juicy white fruit flavors and a lengthy finish.
Charleston is vinified and aged for one year in demi-muids of over 10 years old. During the following harvest, the wine is racked and placed in vats for another 6 months of aging before bottling.
Fish in white sauce, poultry in creamy sauce, hard cheeses.
Guillemot-Michel Vire Clesse is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Beautifully expressive, with yellow fruits, orange blossom, smoke & flint. Thick and saline on entry, then seriously deep in the mid-palate, with suggestions of exotic fruits perfectly countered by strong minerality. This wine strikes a perfect balance between sweet and salty elements, and it shows vibrant acidity. It boasts a thickness that few other northern Mâconnais can match.
Enjoy with fish (such as sole meuniere), seafood, roasted chicken, goat cheese.
Review:
"The 2018 Viré-Clessé Quintaine is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with a lovely bouquet of honeyed citrus fruit, fresh pastry and orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and supple, it's elegantly textural and refined, with a fragrant core of fruit and a long, penetrating finish. Even though it will reward a bit of bottle age, it's slightly finer-boned than the more concentrated, muscular 2017, so I would opt to drink this immensely charming wine before its older sibling. – William Kelley"
- The Wine Advocate (Issue 249, June 30th 2020), 93 pts
Johann Michel Cornas is 100% Syrah
This Cornas is a blend from 2 different vineyard sites:
- 60% of the final blend is from vineyards located on a hillside (16 year old vines on the "coteau"), planted on sandy soils, decomposed granite and some rocks, giving the structure, spiciness and licorice flavors to the blend.
- the other 40% of the final blend comes from the bottom of the slope (40 years old vines on the "pied de coteau"), planted on sandy soils, bringing acidity and balance to the wine.
Expressive, deep, rich, silky and juicy. Well structured and round, it displays red fruit, leather, black cherry, liquorice and black berry aromas.
Review:
"Bright and intense both in color and in aroma. Hyper-fresh, searching berry fruits, this is electric. Rounded, with plump berry fruits that are concentrated and fresh. The tannins are intense too, grippy and strict on the long finish. This is almost painful to taste at this stage, but should be excellent in time. Vines with an average of 35 years of age, from lieux-dits Saveaux, Patou and Les Côtes, all destemmed and then aged in two- to five-year-old demi-muids. - Matt WALLS"
- Decanter (Rhone 2021 en primeur, October 1st 2022), 96 pts
Johann Michel Cornas Cuvee Mere Michel is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Cuvee Mère Michel was first introduced in 2016 and is not produced every year. This wine is a tribute to Johann Michel' wife, Emmanuelle, and a nod to the French song, La Mere Michel. This wines comes from Selection Massale (replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines from the same property) cuttings of Serine off the 1947 Yves Cuilleron vineyard at Chavanay. The vineyards are located in the lieu-dit "Les Cotes" at an altitude of 230 meters and benefiting from a southern sun exposure.
Review:
"A new cuvée (at least for me), the 2017 Cornas Mere Michel comes from sandy, granite-laced soils and was brought up in new demi-muids. It's largely in the same mold as the traditional cuvée yet has another level of richness, depth, and texture. Blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, burning embers, and a kiss of bloody meat all flow to a rich, powerful Cornas that has ultra-fine tannins, beautiful mid-palate depth, and a great, great finish. It's unquestionably a candidate for the wine of the vintage in Cornas. Bravo!"
- Jeb Dunnuck (December 12th 2019), 98 pts
Johann Michel Cornas Cuvee Mere Michel is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Cuvee Mère Michel was first introduced in 2016 and is not produced every year. This wine is a tribute to Johann Michel' wife, Emmanuelle, and a nod to the French song, La Mere Michel. This wines comes from Selection Massale (replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines from the same property) cuttings of Serine off the 1947 Yves Cuilleron vineyard at Chavanay. The vineyards are located in the lieu-dit "Les Cotes" at an altitude of 230 meters and benefiting from a southern sun exposure.
Review:
"Only made in top vintages, the 2018 Cornas Mère Michel is a tribute to Johann's wife and a play on the French song "La Mere Michelle." Brought up in a new demi-muid, it's a richer, broader wine compared to the Cuvée Jana yet still has incredible Cornas style in its red, black, and blue fruits as well as notes of toasted spice, roasted meat, chocolate, and wild herbs. Rich, full-bodied, and opulent, it has a touch more upfront appeal and should be drinkable in just 4-5 years yet also evolve for two decades." -
Jeb Dunnuck (Northern Rhône: The 2018s and 2019s, November 19th 2020), 98 pts
Alejandro Bulgheroni Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate Lithology is a series of single vineyard and AVA-designated wines made from select sites within Napa Valley. Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is produced solely from fruit grown in the historic Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard planted in 1865 by W.H. Crabb and represents Oakville's famous bench land.
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Franc Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard just shines for its bouquet, which is classic To Kalon with its floral, incense, spicy, red and black-fruited aromatics. These all flow to a medium to full-bodied, utterly seamless Cabernet Franc that’s balanced, has laser-like precision, and a great finish. This isn’t the biggest or richest wine in the lineup, but it’s Cabernet Franc in all its glory, with soaring aromatics and complexity, ample richness and texture, and a beautiful sense of finesse and elegance. It’s going to keep for 15-20 years with no issues.
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
Composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is a barrel sample with a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a fair bit of coaxing to unlock scents of blackberry pie, warm blueberries and cassis plus suggestions of spice cake, underbrush, candied violets and chocolate box. The full-bodied palate brings forth loads of earthy layers to accent the rich, black fruits, framed by plush tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
-Wine Advocate 97 to 99 points
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Lithology Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is one of the very finest wines I have tasted from Alejandro Bulgheroni's Napa Valley project. The 2019 To Kalon captures all the pedigree of this iconic Oakville vineyard, and yet also remains nuanced and wonderfully finessed for an intense wine. To Kalon Cabernets are rarely this elegant, but the Bulgheroni 2019 sure is.
-- Antonio Galloni 97 Points
Bellevue Cotes de Castillon Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is made from 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc. Aged in mostly new oak barrels (90% French oak and 10% American oak), and some Château Haut Brion 2nd Barrels.
The wine offers a rich and intense bouquet of blackcurrant, blackberry and strawberry. It is smooth and full in the mouth with a velvety texture. Acidity combined with firm but well-integrated tannins are a fine supporting cast to the black fruit flavors at the end.
Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge is made from 30% each Grenache and Mourvèdre, with 10% each Counoise and Syrah, plus 20% other permitted varieties, including a healthy proportion of white grapes.
The story :
Château de Beaucastel has long been considered one of the great wines of France. It is unanimously renowned for its balance, elegance and ageing potential. Beaucastel has an extraordinary terroir at the Northern end of the appellation with heavy exposure to the Mistral. All 13 varieties of the appellation have been organically grown here since the sixties.
Location :
Châteauneuf du Pape, between Orange and Avignon, Château de Beaucastel red is a 70-hectare vineyard.
Terroir :
Château de Beaucastel is 110 hectares, with one single plot at the north of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay and limestone deeper down. The vines are old and have been organically grown for 50 years, which has allowed the roots to grow exceptionally deep.
Beaucastel grows all thirteen grape varieties authorised by the appellation.
Ageing :
Each variety is harvested manually and separately. Vinification is completed in truncated oak barrels for the reductive grapes (Mourvèdre and Syrah) and in traditional tiled cement tanks for the oxidative grapes (such as Grenache). After the malolactic fermentations, the family blends the different varieties and then the wine ages in oak Foudres for a year before bottling.
Review:
deep, quite herbal expression, with liquorice and crushed blueberries to the cassis fruit. Full-bodied, powerfully fruited, dense and deep. Really mouthcoating, intense fruit. The tannins are ripe, fine and plentiful, all saturated in blackberry juice on a long finish. Certainly one of the more successful Châteauneufs this year. Will age well. A Mourvèdre-led expression of Beaucastel - it contains more than usual, at least 35% and probably more. Grenache and Cinsault fermented in cement, Syrah and Mourvèdre fermented in foudre. (MW) (9/2022)
-Decanter 96 Points
Every now and then, in life and in wine, we are presented with unique opportunities to express ourselves and create something truly remarkable.
When rare opportunities arise, we need to capture, nurture and develop them so that their potential is fulfilled. So when Torbreck was given the opportunity to work with one of the most famous vineyards in the Barossa Valley, it became almost inevitable that the resulting wine would be truly remarkable.
In 2003, Torbreck growers and fourth generation descendants of the Seppelt family, Malcolm and Joylene Seppelt, asked our winemakers to create for them a small batch of Shiraz from their old Gnadenfrei vineyard in the sub-region of Marananga.
Planted in 1958, the five acre vineyard is traditionally dry grown and comes from an original Barossa clonal source. South facing, on the eastern side of a ridge separating the Seppeltsfield and Marananga appellations, these aged vines have been meticulously hand tended, traditionally farmed and pruned by a grower with a lifetime’s experience on Western Barossa soils of very dark, heavy clay loam over red friable clay. The resulting low yields of small, concentrated Shiraz berries make the vineyard the envy of all winemakers in the Barossa.
We looked longingly at the wine when it was returned to the Seppelts, knowing that it was the best we had ever made. In 2005 we convinced the Seppelts to sell Torbreck the fruit and The Laird was born. In 2013 Torbreck purchased the Gnadenfrei vineyard, securing The Laird’s reputation as one of the world’s great single vineyard Shiraz wines.
Torbreck is the name of a forest near Inverness, Scotland and you’ll find more than a passing nod to the Celts in our wine naming conventions. The Laird of the Estate in Scotland is the Lord of the Manor and master of all he surveys.
Review:
I poured the 2017 The Laird, set it aside and got about doing other jobs for 45 minutes or so, to give it some room to breathe. And it does breathe. It has its own pulse and beat and life, and it flexes and moves in the mouth. This is incredibly enveloping, with aromas reminiscent of campfire coals, charred eucalyptus, lamb fat, roasted beetroot, black tea and a prowling sort of countenance. In the mouth, the wine is bonded and cohesive and seamless, there are no gaps between anything, no space between fruit, oak and tannin; it all comes as one. While this is a singular wine, it is so big and concentrated that it needs no accompaniment other than some fresh air and a good mate. It's denser than osmium and is impenetrable at this stage.
Rutherford Ranch Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich and vibrant with classic Rutherford Cabernet tannins, dark cherry mingled with toasty oak, sweet oak and sweet sage lingering on the palate.
The base for our Reserve Cabernet is from the world-renowned Rutherford appellation, which is home to our Abela and Franklin estate vineyards. Perfect climatic conditions and the region’s deep, loamy, well-drained soils produce dark, intensely flavored Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Our rich soil sets the foundation for an exquisite, cellar-ready wine that will evolve in character and quality for years to come.
This Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautiful complement to ribeye steak, rack of lamb or mushroom risotto.
Review:
A flint and gunpowder nose leads to bold graphite, blueberry and tobacco flavors in this full-bodied wine that is laced with a high level of fine-grained tannins. This wine is meant for aging, being so tightly packed with fruits and minerals and having the structure to keep it fresh while more complex flavors develop over time. Best from 2028–2038.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points