Argot Bastard Tongue Pinot Noir 2018

Jada Sawbones is made from Paso Robles 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Syrah, 14% Petit Verdot.

A seamless fusion of the best Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah lots from Jada Estate Vineyard. Currants, blackberries, pencil shavings, and clove meet ripe strawberry, chocolate and fresh minerality. Full-bodied with balanced tannin and a persistently fruity finish, the wine is supported by plenty of acidity.

SAWBONES is slang for a surgeon and doctor. Jada's founder and owner, Jack Messina, was a cardiovascular & thoracic surgeon for over 40 years so when Josh and the winemaker at the time were going back and forth about a new wine to showcase their Cab & Syrah programs, Josh decided on this tribute to his father to represent the many years of love and devotion Jack has given to ountless patients and families throughout his long career.

In 2017 they combined multiple small-lot fermentations of Syrah and a co-fermentation of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The Cabernet Sauvignon is from clone 337 only, chosen to compliment the Syrah in this blend with dark and aromatic fruit, higher acidity, and deep color. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot co-fermentation spent 9 days in tank before pressing to avoid excessive tannin, whereas the Syrah fermentations averaged 16 days. All varieties were triple sorted with multiple green passes in the vineyard, cluster sorting, and a final berry sorting before gravity-filling each tank. Aging for 18 months in 225L Barrels (54% New French Oak, 36% Once Used French Oak).

Review:

"The 2017 Sawbones checks in as 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Syrah, and 14% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in 54% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by stunning notes of blackcurrants, cassis, lead pencil shavings, chocolate, and crushed rocks. Pure, full-bodied, loaded with sweet fruit, and beautifully balanced, it's one hedonistic yet elegant beauty from this team that knocks it out of the park.”
- Jeb Dunnuck (October 2019), 96 pts

Klinker Brick Winery Zinfandel Old Ghost made from 100 percent Zinfandel.

The Old Ghost represents the best Zinfandel that Klinker Brick produces each year. Brambleberry fruit aromas intermingled with anise, clove and exotic spice, echo previous vintages. Smaller berries harvested from this vineyard block tend to offer more “skin to flesh,” providing a greater level of smooth yet firm tannin and structure to this wine. Pair with your prime porterhouse or grilled lamb. 

Appellation: Lodi (Mokelumne River)

Varietal: Old Vine Zinfandel
Brix: 27
Residual Sugar: .33
Alcohol 15.9%
PH 3.71
TA .66

Review:

This rich, ripe and showy wine offers a deep color, lavish spice aromas and mouthfilling chocolate and blackberry-jam flavors. Dramatic cinnamon, vanilla and ginger notes linger on the finish. 

Wine Enthusiast 90 Points

Luis Canas Reserva Seleccion de la Familia Rioja is made from 85% Tempranillo and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon

Aged for 20 months in new oak barrels - 50% French 50% American.

45 years old vines
Alcohol: 14,5º
Total acidity: 5,73 g./l.
Volatile acidity: 0,73 g./l.
PH: 3,53
Free SO2: 28 mg./l.
Reducing sugars: 1,3 g./l.

The “family reserve” from one of Rioja Alavesa’s most enduring family-run wineries. Wines destined to be the Reserva de la Familia label are made from a selection of grapes from old vines, those which combine a series of characteristics such as good orientation and exposure to the sun, and a poor soil which ensures low yields.

This wine is one of very few Rioja wines to blend Cabernet Sauvignon with Tempranillo. Bodegas Luis Cañas was granted permission by the D.O.Ca. to plant this variety as an experiment in the early 1980s.

Tasting notes
A brillant garnet color with cherry hints on the edges.
The nose offers a complex variety of aromas that combine to bring an intense and sophisticated wine. Initially we can find very ripe berry fruits, smoky notes, raisins and liquor. After a certain amount of aeration, the cinnamon and jam notes appear and, with a little more time, the roasted and spiced aromas are noticed more clearly.

The palate is full, with a good presence of tannins, although these are offset by the glycerine like character, resulting in a fleshy sensation. Long lasting and lingering finish.

Winemaking and aging:
The grapes were cold macerated for 72 hours upon arrival at the winery. They underwent fermentation at 26º C in sealed cement tanks under constant thermal control, with the must pumped over daily. With the paste devatted by gravity, spontaneous malolactic fermentation took place after 45 days.
The wine was aged for 20 months in 50% medium toasted American and 50% French oak barrels. The barrel ageing not only adds tannins from the wood, but stabilizes the wine naturally. After the final racking, it was clarified in tanks with a small amount of natural egg white, decanted after 30 days and bottled directly without any type of filtration. Because this wine’s evolutionary cycle is quite slow, only corks of the highest quality available were used to ensure that it could be prolonged for several years. 

Argot Starstruck Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot (15-25 years old)

Sourcing from vineyards scattered throughout Napa Valley’s spectrum of terroirs, this wine arrives in the glass with a great complexity of personality. Remaining true to last vintage’s bottling, 2016’s Starstruck pours a vibrant purple, offering vibrant aromatics, regal structure and great freshness. Where this bottling has evolved, is by way of Sage Ridge’s warmer, up-valley, higher elevation, red-fruited power, which bolsters the dark blue/purple, cool-fruited character of the other three, cooler-climate Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. Further, the addition of Merlot has added a wonderful juiciness in both flavor and structure. A palate’s tour of Napa Valley’s myriad terroir — sunbaked ridgetops; forested hillsides; orange-soils; cooling, maritime winds; dense, fog-shrouded mornings. While 2016 keeps with the theme from previous vintages, new flourishes have been added to the mix — a warmer, up-valley vineyard, along with a dollop of Merlot — to up the ante. This cuvee opens to an alluring approach-ability, vibrance, and kiss of juiciness, by way of baked red pie-fruits. On a beam of blood orange accents, a powerfully precise delineation of intense dark fruits flushes out the palate. A singularly delicious and complex representation of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley, that begs to be devoured.

Sourced from four Napa Valley vineyards — Suscol Ranch’s orange, iron-laden soils; Sugarloaf West’s fiercely steep hillside; Sugarloaf East’s south-facing, ferociously rocky “soils”; Sage Ridge’s geographically dramatic ridgetop vineyard in far-eastern Napa. CRUSH: Hand-harvested at night, to protect fruit integrity — Sage Ridge, 9/12, 9/26; Sugarloafs and Suscol, 10/13. Cluster sorted, destemmed, berry sorted by hand, fully crushed. FERMENT: 7-day cold soaks, an average of 20 days skin contact. Individual vineyards raised separately, blended shortly before bottling. AGING: 20 months in French oak, 80% new. Suscol Ranch barrels racked once at twelve months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered.

Review:

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Starstruck is a step up and offers more density and depth, as well as the classic purity of fruit that makes this vintage so compelling. Ripe, powerful notes of blueberries, cassis, green tobacco, and graphite all flow to a full-bodied Cabernet that has loads of fruit, ripe tannins, good acidity, and the class to evolve for upwards of two decades. Bravo!" - Jeb Dunnuck (January 2019), 94 pts