Dense purple hues, with evocative aromas of black cherries, ripe plums, nectarines, boysenberry, wild bramble and exotic oak spice. The juicy and sweet-fruited palate entry, combined with crunchy tannins, lures one into a sense of overtness, yet the wine is sublimely elegant and poised. The complex layers of fruit is in perfect harmony with the oak, all bound together by a lively seam of acidity. The finish is pleasantly dry and savory, with lingering notes of Christmas cake and vanilla pod.
Pair with barbequed meats, especially venison and beef / bobotie / lamb curry / seared tuna / spicy Asian-styled cuisine / aromatic curries / duck with sweet plum sauce / beef or lamb burgers / pizza
Review:
"A full-bodied and brooding wine. Precisely balanced with red cherries, blueberries, coffee, and chocolate with silky tannins and refreshing sour cherry acidity. Serious pedigree here."
- Decanter WWA 2021, 96 points and Gold Medal
Freelander Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Pinot Noir from California is the inaugural Pinot release from Freelander. Aged in French and American oak, it shows baked cherry and violet in the nose. Crisp flavors of red currant, baking spice and vivid strawberries balance the mouth feel. A touch of toasted oak completes the gentle finish.
Freemark Abbey Bosche Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot.
The nose exhibits aromas of black cherry, mocha, cassis and forest floor. The palate is bright yet creamy and filled with notes of forest fruits, leather, baking spices and soft vanilla. The textures are vibrant and integrated making this wine lovely now with the ability to age for decades in the cellar.
Review:
Blended with 7% Merlot from the famous site, along the benchlands of the Mayacamas, this is a juicy, delicious and sophisticated wine, with impressive, complementary bolts of freshness and intensity that are fully in sync. Notes of gravel, black cherry, currant and herb ride along a structured and generous palate of memorable greatness. Enjoy best from 2028–2038. Cellar Selection
- Wine Enthusiast 98 Points
Freemark Abbey Sycamore Cabernet Sauvignon is made from
Wine Profile: Opaque dark ruby describes the color of this Rutherford wine. Black currant and Boysenberry notes dominate the aroma, with dark chocolate truffle, cocoa powder, Worcestershire sauce, cremini mushrooms and forest floor adding to the complexity. The oak adds the ideal amount of complexity with aromatic cedar, cinnamon and clove. The wine has great depth of black fruit flavor, with a strong expression of sweet black cherry. This full-bodied cabernet sauvignon has resolved tannins yet firm structure, with good acidity. Lovely long finish!
Primary Vineyard: Sycamore Vineyard—Rutherford (100%): Small 24-acre vineyard located about 1.2 miles south of Bosche, right up against the Mayacamas Range, this vineyard has a rich clay loam. Sycamore Vineyard produces small berries reminiscent of mountain fruit berries, with intense extract of color and flavor. The color is very dark early in the fermentation, with flavors of black currant and black berry with a forest floor complexity.
Review:
From a vineyard closer to the Mayacamas Mountains and first made in 1980, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards checks in as 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It spent 27 months in 66% new French. It offers more black fruits, earth, tobacco, cedar, and gravelly minerality as well as a touch more burly, masculine style on the palate. Nevertheless, it's still beautifully balanced, has considerable elegance, and a great finish.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards gives up powerful crème de cassis, dark chocolate-covered cherries, mulberries and baked plums scents with hints of lavender, camphor, pencil shavings and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with rich, black fruits plus a beautiful perfumed undercurrent, framed by finely grained tannins and lovely freshness, finishing with a mineral lift. 1,989 cases were made.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points
Herbal, with characteristics of peppercorn, cedar and pencil shavings, this beautiful wine is also dusty and mineral-driven, with demure flavors of red and black currant. Full bodied and well structured, it shows an underlying softness that should continue to soften in the cellar. Enjoy best from 2026–2031.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
The nose opens with aromas of blackberry, blueberry, black current and boysenberry. The fruit elements are complimented with notes of forest floor, cigar box, dark chocolate and espresso. The wine is rich and balanced and French oak barrels add the ideal amount of complexity with notes of baking spice and warm vanilla. This is a full-bodied wine with integrated tannins that give it a long, lingering finish. Stunning.
Primary Vineyard: Sycamore Vineyard—Rutherford (100%): Small 24-acre vineyard located about 1.2 miles south of Bosche, right up against the Mayacamas Range, this vineyard has a rich clay loam. Sycamore Vineyard produces small berries reminiscent of mountain fruit berries, with intense extract of color and flavor. The color is very dark early in the fermentation, with flavors of black currant and black berry with a forest floor complexity.
Review:
Mint, spearmint, dark-berry and blueberry aromas. Leaves and sage, too. Full-bodied and firm with fantastic depth. Cool fruit with menthol and mint. Spice. Refreshing. Firm tannins. Fantastic 2017. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 97 Points
Fullerton Three Otters Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir - 40 years old
11 months in 25% new Oak and 75% neutral
Bella Vida Vineyard is perched high in the heart of the Dundee Hills. This picturesque site provides elegant fruit from the storied Jory soils of the AVA. LIVE certified.
Aromas of cherry and raspberry flow into finely-tuned layers of cedar, cocoa, licorice, and baking spices. The palate pulses with energy as the silky tannins and gorgeous mid-palate captivate your senses. A radiant and profound experience.
A co-fermentation of Dijon clones 113, 667, and 777, this wine expresses the volcanic soils of the Dundee Hills elegantly, yet powerfully. Upon arrival, the grapes were immediately de-stemmed into an open-top two-ton fermenter. Following a seven day cold soak, the wine started fermenting slowly at a cool temperature. To manage extraction, we utilized one to two punch-downs and one pump-over per day, with two rack-and-returns at the beginning and middle of fermentation. As fermentation neared the end, the must was heated to achieve a peak temperature of 94° F resulting in optimum extraction, and then we immediately chilled the wine to extend the time on the skins, while switching to one pump-over per day to limit harsh, seed-tannin extraction. After a total of 19 days on the skins, we drained and pressed the wine, keeping the free-run and press fractions separate. This bottling contains only the free run fraction. Following two days of settling, the wine was racked to barrel and aged for 11 months in 25% new French oak and one month in tank prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Review:
Vivid red. Displays fresh red/dark berry and pungent floral aromas, along with suggestions of cola, mocha and five-spice powder. Appealingly sweet and energetic on the palate, offering intense black raspberry, cherry-cola, spicecake and rose pastille flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. Fine-grained tannins frame the well-defined finish, which lingers with impressive, red fruit liqueur-driven persistence. (all de-stemmed fruit and 25% new French oak). - Josh Raynolds" - Antonio Galloni's Vinous (June 2019), 93 pts
Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain is made from 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Malbec and 8% Syrah.
The 2017 vintage started out with a cool, wet winter, with significantly above average snowfall in eastern Washington. Red Mountain had a 24% increase in rainfall in 2017 over the 10 year average. Going into spring, the cool trend continued. As a result, bud break at Klipsun was behind the historical average and significantly behind the most recent warm vintages of 2013 2016. Bloom was also slightly delayed. Because of the cool weather, set was lighter than usual which translated into significantly less fruit in 2017.
The early part of the summer saw average temperatures followed by above average temperatures in July and August. As a result, he at accumulation was a bit above average for the season, despite the cool start. And because of the smaller than normal yield, harvest began right on schedule, perhaps even a bit early for some of the whites. In the second half of September, when Klipsun traditionally harvests all the reds, the temperatures cooled considerably, which delayed ripening. This allowed for luxurious amounts of hang time without the threat of increased sugar accumulation, stretching harvest into the first week of October. A s a result, all fruit going into the 2017 Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon could be picked at perfect sugars levels with great fruit maturity and flavors. Overall, the quality of t he 2017 harvest is as high as the 2016. However, the style is slightly different. The 2017 wine has a firmer structure, more spice & mocha in the nose and will take a few mo re years than the 2016 to reach a perfect balance between fruit and tannin.
Review:
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain is composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Malbec and 8% Syrah, which immediately emanates with aromas of dark roasted espresso bean, toasted oak, dried tobacco and dusty black fruit tones of cassis, currant and blackberries covered in dark cocoa powder. Full-bodied, generous in complexity and still tight in the mouth, the wine unpacks layers of cedar and vanilla tones with dusty purple flowers and bitter dark chocolate across the mid-palate, giving way to fine-grained tannins that will loosen with time. As the wine sits on the palate, the 100% French oak regimen is on full display for all to see. The wine lingering long and continues to evolve in the mouth, ending with a drying finish that highlights the oak and terroir. It’s still a baby, and I would keep it in the cellar for another few years before popping the cork—this will effortlessly coast for more than a decade. The 2017 vintage marks the second release of this wine, with 6,300 bottles produced. It comes from its namesake vineyard, first planted in 1984 on Red Mountain. I’m keeping my eye on this producer. I’m impressed, and even though the oak may be a bit much at the moment, it's still delicious. - Wine Advocate 94+ Points
Alain Jaume Chateauneuf Du Pape Rouge Vieux Terron is made from 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre
An intense purple color is followed by ripe red fruit aromas, such as sweet black cherry.
The palate reveals clearly the aromatic complexity: spices and black fruit are boasted with soft tannins. The finish is long with aromatic hints of liquorice and pepper. Red raspberries, star anise and hints of cinnamon.
It will accompany game, red meat or meat in sauce and strong cheeses.
Soil types
Châteauneuf du Pape vineyards are mostly located on plateaux. Stony-clay soil covered with large rolled stones. Some plots are more sandy.
Winemaking and aging
Harvest is destemmed and crushed. Fermentation temperature is controlled at 30°C. Vatting period of 18 to 21 days. Matured in vats (80%) and oak casks (20%).