Jonive Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
This wine has a brilliant Burgundy color with a deep brooding nose that explodes out of the glass with aromas of orange peel, shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, dried leaves, bay laurel and fall berries. The wine is a great balance between red and black fruit notes that saturate the palate with black tea, autumnal leaves, wood spice, dried citrus peel, and fennel. It is bright and fresh as well as deep and broad. This Pinot Noir is medium bodied combining silkiness with a nice grip of tannin, all with restrained alcohol that gives way to an amazingly complex and long finish that brings you back for another sip, another glass, and another bottle.
Review:
Ripe and succulent, showing a delicious set of raspberry and boysenberry fruit flavors dotted with dried anise, black tea and singed wood spice notes. This is rich yet defined and toasty yet fresh.
Wine Spectator 93 Points
Joseph Phelps Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 1% Malbec.
A classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with inviting violet, dark fruit, tobacco, subtle baking spice and earthy dried herb aromatics. The palate is filled with expressive black cherry, blackberry and dark plum, hints of spice box and sweet vanilla bean. A focused, concentrated wine with youthful energy and freshness nimbly balanced by supple tannin structure and finesse.
Review:
Blackcurrants, spiced cedar and dark spices with bark undertones. Full-bodied with very fine, velvety tannins. Textured and compact with a firm, lingering finish. Tight at the end. Needs time to open.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Justin Isosceles Proprietary Red Paso Robles is made from 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc.
In 1987, we made our first vintage of a wine styled after the famous First Growth producers of Bordeaux, created with the same uncompromising care as the Grands Vins of those venerable chateaux. For more than 30 vintages, ISOSCELES has been our flagship wine and quality benchmark for this style of wine here on the Central Coast of California. A blend based on Cabernet Sauvignon supported by Cabernet Franc and Merlot, the 2018 ISOSCELES shows why Paso Robles is such a great place to grow these varieties.
Full-bodied, with ripe black fruit, complex baking spice and amazingly ready to drink right out of the gate, you can try a bottle or two now, but make sure to save a few to enjoy this wine as it continues to evolve after some time in the cellar.
Appearance: Deep ruby/purple core with black secondary color, lighter toward the rim with moderate plus viscosity and slow forming, moderately stained tears.
Aroma: Very aromatic and complex with ripe black cherry and cassis fruit, vanilla, cinnamon and licorice spice with sweet tobacco, cedar, leather and camphor notes.
Palate: Full-bodied with ripe black cherry and blackcurrant fruit complemented with baking spice and oak notes on entry. Sustained fruit and spice are joined by savory autumn leaf, cedar and leather on the mid-palate with mouth filling, fine tannins that lead into a long, complex and balanced finish with attractive fruit, spice, cedar and subtle camphor notes.
Try it with a classic herb crusted roasted rack of lamb, a grilled prime ribeye steak, or the exquisite cheeseburgers with tomato, arugula, bacon jam and chive aioli from The Restaurant at JUSTIN.
Review:
A stunning Bordeaux blend with smooth, intense flavors of plum, toast, and chocolate. Dense, layered, and balanced, with a long, concen- trated finish.
-Tasting Panel 95 Points
K Vintners King Coal 2020 is Cabernet Sauvignon with 24% Syrah, the 2020 King Coal Stoneridge Vineyard is firmer, darker and fresh with notes of pencil shavings and a juicy and generous core of spicy dark fruits, with delicate dusty red flowers, delightful brown baking spices and dark berries. Full-bodied, fresh and still tight, this will be released in September of 2023. Buy it, put it directly into your cellar, and forget about it for at least four years. It will go the distance; just be patient. Made from 100% whole-cluster grapes, the wine aged in 60% new French oak for 22 months. Bravo!
Review:
Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon with 24% Syrah, the 2020 King Coal Stoneridge Vineyard is firmer, darker and fresh with notes of pencil shavings and a juicy and generous core of spicy dark fruits, with delicate dusty red flowers, delightful brown baking spices and dark berries. Full-bodied, fresh and still tight, this will be released in September of 2023. Buy it, put it directly into your cellar, and forget about it for at least four years. It will go the distance; just be patient. Made from 100% whole-cluster grapes, the wine aged in 60% new French oak for 22 months. Bravo!
Wine Advocate 98 Points
K Vintners Rockgarden Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Black plum, Asian five spice, warm turned river stone and taut with tension. Seamless Syrah that persists with black olive, high-polished black shoe leather and beef jerky that keeps going and never gives in.
Review:
Iodine and licorice with crushed-stone and dark-berry character. Full-bodied with chewy tannins that are structured and intense. Flavorful and polished at the end with just a hint of coffee. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 96 Points
K Vintners The Beautiful Syrah 2018 is made from 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier.
A multi-layered beauty; perfumed, lovely. Super dark rose. Broken, unfiltered cigarette, Amaro. Densely colored with a shimmering red rim. Giving, yet just an inch at a time. One to ponder. One to enjoy.
Review:
The 2018 Syrah The Beautiful Powerline Vineyard comes from a vineyard outside of Walla Walla, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. It was not destemmed and was brought up in neutral, larger barrels. An exotic nose of ripe blue and black fruits, lavender, sappy flowers, and herbes de Provence-like nuances give way to a medium to full-bodied, richly textured, structured wine with a mouth-filling, layered, meaty style that builds nicely with time in the glass. There's always a sappy, almost herbal edge to this beauty, and it ages beautifully. Feel free to open bottles any time over the coming 15-20 years. It would certainly be hard to pick out in a lineup of top Northern Rhône Syrahs.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
Long Shadows Saggi Red is made with 58% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon 12% Syrah. Among Tuscany's oldest and most prestigious wine families, Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari teamed with Allen Shoup to produce a wine that showcases Washington State's terroir with plenty of Italian character. Saggi (meaning "wisdom") is a stunning blend of two outstanding Washington Sangiovese vineyards. Candy Mountain Sangiovese gives the wine its dark fruit flavors and appealing notes of anise. Dick Boushey's Yakima Valley Sangiovese, planted in 1992, adds vibrancy and liveliness. Because Cabernet Sauvignon has the potential to overtake Sangiovese, the Folonaris work closely with Sagemoor Vineyards to carefully select blocks of Cabernet they know from experience deliver elegant character and refined tannins. Syrah, also from Sagemoor, adds to the wine's dark color and rich mid-palate.
Review:
The 2018 Red Wine Saggi is mostly Candy Mountain Sangiovese (58%) with Cabernet Sauvignon (30%) and Syrah (12%). Gilles Nicault has created a sensational, one-of-a-kind blend here. The wine explodes out of the glass with potpourri and anise tones alongside a beautiful core of red and dark fruits. The palate offers tobacco, milk chocolate and boysenberry flavors, serious depth and concentration, insanely good range and an opulent sense of texture. Complex and delicious with firm tannins and a touch of hedonism, this sensational and novel blend will provide drinking enjoyment for another 15 years to come.
-Vinous 95 Points
Domaine La Maionnette Rose Cotes de Provence is made from 60% Syrah, 20% Cinsault and 20% Grenache.
The plots of Domaine de la Maïonnette benefit from a clay-limestone soil and are located on a plateau surrounded by hundred-year-old oaks. Bordered by the Provencal scrubland, the vineyard enjoys a dry climate typical of the region.
An emblematic cuvée of the estate, this Cotes de Provence rosé reveals concentrated aromas of citrus fruits and white flowers, and a beautiful structure. The fresh palate brings out sweet candy notes, gooseberry and litchi, and delivers bright acidity and ample length on the finish.