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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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Red
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NV Cayuse Grenache 6,042
Walla Walla Valley
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From the Cayuse offer email:
6,042 Grenache:
What sets this unique (and never to be created again) Grenache apart is its depth and nuance, achieved through the careful blending of wines from three different harvests—56% 2013, 24% 2014, and 20% 2015. By blending across vintages, Elizabeth and Christophe have created a wine that transcends the limitations of any single year, offering a unique expression of Grenache that is both timeless and captivating.
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Red
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2020 The Walls Vineyards Bellamy
Walla Walla Valley
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Opened this and a less expensive Napa Cab Franc as wine choices.
The Cab Franc quickly vanished, the Bellamy got capped and saved to drink on the following day. It is quite. young, but the fruit seemed a tad bitter for a $70 wine. More age may help.
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White
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2021 Jaine Chardonnay Laura Lee Vineyard
Yakima Valley
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My first bottle of Jaine Chardonnay. This one was not oaked, and had a very clean and crisp taste which is perfect for a summer afternoon in the shade. Great price point.
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White
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2022 JB Neufeld Sauvignon Blanc Schmidt Vineyards
Yakima Valley
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The horse women frequently grab a white wine in the afternoon to drink under the redwood. But this wine got complements as being crisp and delightful. Great price, twist top, complements, what's not to like?
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Red
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2012 Tero Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve Windrow Vineyard
Walla Walla Valley
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One of the best cabs I've ever had. Drinking great right now. Silky smooth, plenty of fruit and a lasting finish. Doug's masterpiece. I think it's got another 7 years, but I'll try the next bottle in 4 or 5.
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Red
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2012 Virage Vineyards
Napa Valley
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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I purchased 18 bottles of the 2012, the last vintage produced of Virage. I have but one more after this one. It has peaked and will not benefit from more time in the bottle. Now smooth and subtle, it's still a pleasure to drink.
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Red
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2017 Betz Family The Untold Story
Columbia Valley
Red Blend more
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Bought 6 as a new Betz offering, opened one to try it out.
Mix of 50% Cab Sauv, 40% Syrah, 10% Merlot, sourced from the Columbia Valley AVA.
Pop and pour, the color was dark and inviting, but when it hit the mouth it was an unexciting greeting, and upon exit it did not linger. It appears to be a wine assembled from a gathering of second tier fruit. Drink up, for aging will not be of benefit.
The Untold Story should have remained untold. It compares with $20 grocery store red blends.
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Red
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2016 Leonetti Cellar Single Vineyard Series Loess Vineyard
Walla Walla Valley
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Winemaker Notes:
Since Leonetti’s founding in 1977, Gary had coveted the hillside to the East of the winery, and in 1999 we were finally able to acquire the land and plant it a few years later. Ever since it has become a true backbone for all of our Bordeaux vartietal wines, producing wines with stunning aromatics and perfect balance.
TASTING NOTES – Beautiful, dark color. The aroma is extraordinarily floral and perfumed with dried roses, lavender accents, and other dried herbs. Intensely fresh and alive on the palate with notes of crisp cut plum and just-picked blackberries, backed by terrific nerve, brightness, and acid balance. A powerful and very direct wine that has amazing age-worthiness.
50% Petit Verdot
30% Cabernet Sauvignon
20% Merlot
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Red
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2016 Leonetti Cellar Single Vineyard Series Mill Creek Upland Walla Walla Valley
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Winemaker Notes:
On a perfectly crowned hillside in the foothills of the Blue Mountains lies our Mill Creek Upland Vineyard. The first in what is now becoming a destination for Bordeaux varietal vineyards. It is noted for huge temperature swings from day to night, which breeds power, density, and firm acidity in the wines.
TASTING NOTES – As always, this Blue Mountain foothills site yields wine that is broodingly dark in color. The impressive nose boasts dark raspberries and blueberries, espresso, baking spices, and white pepper, with subtle notes of fir needles and vanilla. Our highest elevation vineyard boasts dramatic daily temperature swings, leading to a wine that is both powerful and pure.
60% Cabernet Sauvignon
40% Petit Verdot
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Red
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2016 Leonetti Cellar Single Vineyard Series Serra Pedace Vineyard
Walla Walla Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon more
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Winemaker Notes:
Named after my great grandparents, Frank and Rose Leonetti’s, hometown in Calabria, Italy. The terraces carved into the side of this incredibly steep East-facing slope — on never before farmed, shallow and rocky soils — are a unique site in the Valley. This windy hillside produces wines of extraordinary density and power.
TASTING NOTES – Beautiful, dark color. The aroma is extraordinarily floral and perfumed with dried roses, lavender accents, and other dried herbs. Intensely fresh and alive on the palate with notes of crisp cut plum and just-picked blackberries, backed by terrific nerve, brightness, and acid balance. A powerful and very direct wine that has amazing age-worthiness.
50% Petit Verdot
30% Cabernet Sauvignon
20% Merlot
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Red
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2016 Leonetti Cellar Single Vineyard Series Holy Roller
Walla Walla Valley
Red Blend more
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Winemaker Notes:
Our first venture into The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. The fruit from this impossibly cobbled vineyard produces wines of polished texture, minerality, salinity, and plush fruit that are always approachable even in their youth.
TASTING NOTES – Such a unique wine. Violet in the glass. The nose is an endlessly fascinating fusion of sun-dried blueberries and black currant, rare seared steak, rose petals, stone fruit, river rock, and petrol. Fainter notes of charcuterie, umami, and cinnamon linger. On the palate, the wine shows off the typical Rocks District of Milton-Freewater terroir and is soft, creamy, long, and delicious.
56% Cabernet Sauvignon
44% Sangiovese
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Red
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2017 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Coury Clone Freedom Hill Vineyard
Willamette Valley
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Wine Information from Patricia Green:
AVA: Willamette Valley LOCATION: Burnell Rd., Dallas, OR
ELEVATION: 500’ SOIL TYPE: Bellpine
YEAR PLANTED: 1998 CLONAL MATERIAL: 100% Coury
VINEYARD SIZE: 85-acre vineyard, 1.1-acre PGC block VINIFICATION: 2.5-ton open-top fermenters done with 100% whole cluster and 35% whole cluster fermentations.
PICKING DATE: 09/27/17 TONS/ACRE: 3.23
OWNERS: Dan and Helen Dusschee PRODUCTION: 216 cases bottled
Wine Making and Notes: Coury Clone Pinot Noir has a fascinating background tale that is literally rooted in the earliest history of the Oregon wine industry. The short version is that Charles Coury submitted his master’s thesis for cool climate winegrowing to the University of California at Davis while studying in Alsace, France in 1964. He brought cuttings back to the U.S. when he returned that summer. From these small and straight forward beginnings the plantings and legend of the Coury Clone begins. For a full and detailed account of this very, very interesting agricultural story that was lost to history for some time please go to The Price of Pinot’s website (http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/1214/) and read for yourself.
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Red
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2017 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Coury Clone Hyland Vineyard
McMinnville
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Wine Information from Patricia Green Cellars:
AVA: McMinnville LOCATION: Vineyard Ln.
ELEVATION: 650’ SOIL TYPE: Jory
YEAR PLANTED: 1989 CLONAL MATERIAL: 100% Coury
VINEYARD SIZE: 135-acre vineyard, 1.4-acre PGC block VINIFICATION: Four 1.5-ton open-top fermenters done 100% destemmed.
PICKING DATE: 10/07/17 TONS/ACRE: 3.36
OWNERS: Laurent Monthelieu PRODUCTION: 216 cases bottled
Winemaking and Notes: This is an amazing old vineyard. How, back in 1972, someone decided to plant this insanely remote vineyard well southwest of McMinnville is sort of beyond me. Nonetheless, this nearly 50 year-old vineyard is the defining site in the McMinnville AVAs and is one of the renowned vineyards in the state of Oregon. The site is farmed biodynamically and the attention to detail there is amazing, especially when one takes into account the size (around 135 acres). We were offered a small section of the site planted to Coury Clone in 1989. Given our predilection for collecting the great sites of Oregon in our cellar, our desire to work with beautifully farmed old vine fruit and our obsession with Coury Clone this was a no-brainer.
Our instincts proved correct. This is easily one of the top wines in the cellar from 2017 and given that we bottled 26 other Pinot Noirs that is saying a lot. Having the experience with the Freedom Hill Coury Clone definitely gave us insight into what the potential was and what the experience of the clone’s impact within the context of the site’s terroir was going to be but, holy cow, we did not know we were getting something like this. Hyland is higher elevation and thus in volcanic (Jory) soil while Freedom Hill is lower and in marine (Bellpine) soil. The difference the soil
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Red
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2014 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
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Per John Thomas - "The [2014] vintage was the warmest we’ve ever had (2015 & 2016 have continued that pattern) so the fruit was opulent to begin with. Secondly, I took advantage of that ripeness by including a high percentage of whole cluster fruit in the fermentation."
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Red
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2015 Fidelitas 4040
Red Mountain
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Pop and Pour. Was excited to try an affordable Red Mountain Cab, but despite a good wine maker, the wine was just average.
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Red
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2014 Abeja Cabernet Franc Heather Hill
Walla Walla Valley
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I have not tasted this wine yet and only hold two bottles.
This is our inaugural vintage of Cabernet Franc from our Heather Hill estate vineyard. Just one barrel produced - Abeja
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Red
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2011 Result of a Crush Red Wine
Walla Walla Valley
Syrah Blend, Syrah more
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Pop and pour with crackers and olive tampinod before dinner. Dark Ruby colored with sediment free transparency and medium legs. The nose was earthy, mushrooms, maybe a bit of horse barnyard but all notes were subtle. Smooth medium body with a short low acid finish. Good QPR, additional cellar time would not harm or benefit.
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Red
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2013 Chester's Anvil Zinfandel Mead Ranch
Atlas Peak
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Pop and pour on a Tuesday night.
Inky purple in color, with a sweet blackberry aroma.
The taste is fruit forward followed by alcohol with a lingering finish that makes me smile. 20 years ago a loved big zins, and this one is not a fruit bomb, but hints of fruit bombs I loved years ago. I would buy this again.
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Red
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2011 Jones of Washington Cabernet Sauvignon Jack's Reserve
Wahluke Slope
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Pop and pour at home on a Tuesday night.
Dark purple and filtered, it had simplistic notes of dark cherry and walnuts.
Light to medium body, tannins, acidity and alcohol. Nothing improper for this varietal, but nothing exciting. The finish was brief and boring. The more time left to breathe, the more the flavors and finish flattened.
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Red
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2005 Kiona Sangiovese Estate Reserve
Red Mountain
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Pop and pour to consume with spaghetti. Not what I was expecting for a Sangiovese. Bing cherries, smooth up front, no real tannin on the finish. Very affordable, pleasant to drink, unremarkable.
A couple of hours later, the wine is now reclining on my couch, snoring, flat, uninteresting. Being Estate bottled from Red Mountain it's like family. I'll welcome it back in the future, but I will not seek it out.
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Red
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2011 Cultura Kairos
Yakima Valley
Red Blend more
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Popped and poured. Not very strong on the nose, pleasant fruits in the mouth with mild finish. Right bank style BDX blend. Second day it was much better. Much stronger in the mouth and on finish the tannins lingered much longer. I'll wait to open the next bottle. I really liked it.
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Red
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2010 Domaine de la Graveirette Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Mémentes
Red Rhone Blend more
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Note to self: Buy again.
Starts sweet and has a nice finish.
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Red
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1989 Château Bel-Air Lagrave
Moulis en Médoc
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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I think this may be a bit past its prime.
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Red
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2001 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino
Sangiovese more
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Enjoyed very much - a classic Brunello. Will buy again.
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Red
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2009 Tardieu-Laurent Rasteau Vieilles Vignes
Red Rhone Blend more
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We opened this with guests, and it was instantly well received. Fruit forward and spices, everyone wanted a refill. Well worth the price, would buy again.
The wine looks ruby colored. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like black pepper, blackberry and gooseberry.
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