Country: | United States |
Region: | California |
Winery: | Bonny Doon Vineyard |
Grape Type: | Grenache Blanc |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Opaque color. Very rich, dark chocolate aromas with some black cherry and mature fruit coming through. There is also a pleasing freshness to the port originating from its floral and cistus (rockrose) bouquet. The Quinta de la Rosa Vintage 2017 is a powerful wine with much potential but at the same time elegant and generous on the palate. Full of flavors, very complex with fine tannins that gives the wine a nobility and persistence. A great vintage made to give pleasure now and in the next few decades.
Review:
The 2017 Vintage Port was bottled a few weeks before tasting after spending 18 months in used tonels. It is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, coming in with 98 grams per liter of residual sugar. Wonderfully aromatic and filled with flavor, this got plenty of aeration and didn't blink even a little. It was still vibrant and expressive. Aeration only made it more tannic. It is also delicious. This is potentially a great Port, and it seems like the best I've seen from La Rosa. This is sort of approachable in the near future, but it really needs (at least) a decade of cellaring. It has a lot of muscle and should age well.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points
Very floral in profile, with violet and lilac accents leading off, followed by a decidedly red-fruit spectrum of raspberry, cherry and red currant coulis flavors that race throughout. Has grip, but this is more reliant on acidity, showing a nearly piercing feel as the tightly focused finish zips along, leaving a mouthwatering impression. Delightfully idiosyncratic. Best from 2033 through 2050. 112 cases imported. — JM
-Wine Spectator 95 Points
This is a rounded Port, showing layers of black fruits, ripe tannins and spice. At the same time, it does have a solid structure that will allow it to age. The acidity comes through at the end. Drink from 2028.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.
“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.” - Thomas River Brown
Review:
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is an absolutely gorgeous wine that conveys a striking interplay of richness, power and nuance. Silky and restrained for this site, the Winfield offers up a compelling melange of red fruit, iron, cedar, tobacco, rose petal and dried herbs, all in a mid-weight style that is incredibly appealing. The Winfield is a selection taken from Blocks 1, 4 and 5.
-Vinous 94 Points
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
The 2017 Brunello has certainly enjoyed the benefits of a careful selection in the parcels (including the Millecento vineyard). The wine has a wide nose. It maintains crisp fruit and floral notes. In the mouth it is elegant, complete and supported by an excellent acidity.
Review:
Aromas of ripe berries and plums with some flowers and nutmeg follow through to a full body with round tannins and a juicy finish. Slightly chewy, but friendly and succulent. Excellent 2017, despite the dry growing season.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Keermont Steepside Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Planted in 2005 on the steep midslopes of the Helderberg Mountain range, Steepside Syrah sits at an elevation of 300m. Vines grow in rich red clay loam soils with high levels of iron and quartzite originating from the peaks above. The combination of these deep granitic soils and the intensity of the sunshine on the North facing ridge allows the vineyard to produce wines with power and structure, while the spicy herbal aromatics can be attributed to the elevation and the pristine fynbos flora that surround it.
This is an intense wine with a bright scarlet color. Pure grapey aromas are complimented by red spices, herbs and lavender. The palate has a gentle entry with subtle spicy fruit flavors filling the mid palate. The tight structure gives the wine a succulent dry finish with lingering flavors of red fruit, anise, liquorice and a mineral saltiness.
All grapes used in producing our wines are grown on Keermont Vineyards. Small parcels of grapes are selected according to optimal ripeness and harvested by hand. The grapes are vinified gently and naturally following traditional techniques.
Pair with game or venison. Although any red meat works well.
Review:
"Steepside faces north and east and is situated at 300 metres on granite and clay loam soils. The result in 2017, that exceptional Cape vintage, is a world-class Syrah from Alex Starey, with a combination of violet and pine aromas, fine-boned tannins, subtle oak and bramble and black cherry fruit. Vibrant and energetic. 2024-35"
- Tim Atkin (South Africa 2022 Report), 96 pts
Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare is made from 57% Grenache, 18% Grenache Blanc, 9% Mourvèdre, 6% Roussanne, 5% Carignane, 5% Cinsaut
No oak.
This wine is quite emblematic of the great sea change that has occurred at Bonny Doon Vineyard since the sell-off/ draw-down of the Ginormous Doonamath, whereby we have essayed a most sincere effort to make “quieter” wines in a more natural, less manipulated fashion. As such, this Vin Gris is made from bespoke grapes and is not a byproduct of red wine production, per se. We harvested at the appropriate ripeness level for its style. The essential principle here is that less is truly more. The wine does not overwhelm one with fruitybombasticity; it’s charms are seductively subtle. An extremely elegant and complex Vin Gris de Cigare.
The ’17 Vin Gris is a return to form from recent vintages, and a true expression of a proper Vin Gris, which is to say a pale pink wine made with the scantest skin contact. As a result, the wine is somewhat lighter and more delicate on the palate with minimal astringency and perhaps more of a floral aspect than doonright fruitiness. The perfume of this wine is subtle, haunting, not vulgar or tawdry, like some of the louche rosés de la nuit. Enfin, this wine is all about elegance and restraint. Rosehips, cassis, fraises de bois, citrus rind, with a wonderfully austere stony finish.
The wine does not overwhelm one with fruity-bombasticity; it’s charms are seductively subtle. An extremely elegant and complex Vin Gris de Cigare.
The Grenache for our Vin Gris came from bespoke sections of the Alta Loma Vineyard, harvested at the appropriate maturity level for this elegant style of wine. About 24% of the wine is composed of traditional white Rhône varieties in substantial part from the Beeswax Vineyard in the Arroyo Seco district of Monterey, adding a surprising richness and foundation. We also employed the practice of postfermentation bâtonnage—the stirring or re-suspension of yeast lees—to give the wine a certain creaminess of texture.
Varietal Blend: 57% Grenache, 18% Grenache Blanc, 9% Mourvèdre, 6% Roussanne, 5% Carignane, 5% Cinsaut.
Appellation: Central Coast
Vineyards: 41% Alta Loma, 13% Beeswax, 11% Bokisch Ranch, 8% JD Farming, 6% San Miguel, 7% Cass, 5% Gonsalves, 4% Scheid, 3% Wente, 1% Rancho Solo, 1% Ventan
Alcohol by Volume: 13.2%
TA: 4.5 g/L
pH: 3.42
This wine just begs for oysters or stone crab.
Review:
- Wine & Spirits Magazine (June 2018), 90 pts, BEST BUY - YEAR'S BEST ROSES
Pulled from a Gentleman's cellar, all wines from this cellar have been purchased by the owner either from the importer or direct from winery. They stayed in his cellar until being moved to the Timeless Wines warehouse.
In 1992 the Hill-Smith family counted themselves amongst those fortunate enough to own a vineyard upon the famous Coonawarra terra rossa soil over limestone. Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies’ reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance and structure.
Situated in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra rossa strip, The Menzies Estate vineyard lies on a flat plain, approximately 70km from the coast. Given the terrain and influence of the cooling Bonney upwelling, Coonawarra is an ideal location to grow premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Our soil is red sandy loam over limestone, which is classic Cabernet Sauvignon country. The grapes for The Menzies 2017 are from vines planted in 1994 and 1996. Bunches are usually small with small berries, giving concentration via an ideal skin to juice ratio favouring the making of fullbodied reds.
Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention, and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies' reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance, and structure.
Aromas of fresh rosemary, mulberry, violets and exotic spices. Take a sip and you will feel the poise and tension for which great Cabernet is renowned. A wine of great complexity with flavors of blackcurrant, bitter chocolate, and mulberries, wrapped in divine tannins and a lovely sweet, dark fruit finish. With decanting in its youth, it is enjoyable as an elegant full-bodied red wine.
Review:
The 2017 The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon is looking good next to the 2016 tasted beside it. It is fresh and vibrant, with layers of complexing dark earth characters, with cigar box, black olive brine, cassis, bramble, milk chocolate and cracked black pepper. This is very good, and it has what I am coming to recognize as a "Yalumba red character": dried herbs, particularly oregano. The juicy splay of fruit through the finish is a highlight.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points