The color is very pale but the light catches flashes of bright gold. The nose is very soft and aromatic, starting with pears and honeysuckle, their sweetness tempered by a tiny grating of fresh lemon zest. The palate opens with-read more-
This is a great big dark tannic wine begging for a long nap in the cellar. Tart blackberries, licorice, and eucalyptus are wrapped tightly in leather. The finish is redolent with lavendar. This would unwind some with a nice cut-read more-
The wine opens with huge jammy dark elderberry and black pepper. It has earth and brambles, giving it underlying depth and keeping it from qualifying as a "fruit bomb," but just barely. Licorice is more pronounced on the palate than-read more-
This is a powerful, well-balanced wine. Big dark fruit is countered by flavors of cooked meat and spice, the crisp end of a prime rib rubbed with black pepper and a touch of rosemary. Tannins are smooth but very firm.-read more-
This has a powerful nose, full of blackberry, mulberry, and orange peel. The palate is extraordinarily complex for an under $10 wine. It starts with blackberries and pepper, then adds orange peel, intense spices and licorice. The wine is medium-bodied-read more-
Minerals and strawberries, plus a single spray of oil from a key lime rind, blend together beautifully on the nose. The palate opens with a quick startling flavor of beef fat and dark berries, leading to strawberries and plums, along-read more-
For a Pinot Noir, this wine is just huge, in my opinion too huge. Delicious and varietally correct pinot flavors of cherries, sage, cranberry and marjoram are shouldered aside by blueberries, vanilla, and chocolate. Tannins and acid are both low,-read more-
This is a deeply opaque wine and surprisingly complex wine. The nose opened with blackcurrant and cedar, with a background aroma of vanilla cream, but very light, not overpowering wood-based vanilla. The palate shows blackcurrants and blackberries. Peppermint and eucaplyptus-read more-