10/3/2022 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Great find at Costco for $24. Definitely a rebuy. Decanted for a couple hours. Long life ahead of it. Well balanced.

9/15/2017 - Rob MacKay wrote:

A pretty tasty wine and still showing a lot of baby fat. Could use a little more of a tannic edge on it. It'll be interesting to see how this one comes together.

2/7/2015 - Rob MacKay wrote:

A little bit of a spice note with some oak on the finish. Nicely developed but has a few rough edges that need a little time to mellow out.

11/25/2013 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Opened 4 of these so far. All were fizzy. :(

Update: Opened all remaining bottles (8) and dumped them all. Every one was soda pop. If these are taking up any space in your cellar, you'd be best to free up that space for something else.

5/3/2013 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Fantastic wine. Well integrated dark fruits and spice with a touch of earth and burnt toast. Fruit still shines through nicely throughout and the finish is nice, long and clean. For $35, this is a fantastic value for a wine of this caliber.

1/10/2013 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Last tasted 18 months ago. It's starting to pick up a few secondary characteristics on the nose, bringing in a little earth. Probably needs just a couple more years to complete integration. For $20, a great value.

12/12/2012 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Needed about an hour in the decanter to open up and after that was really amazing. The purity of the fruit is quite impressive as it has amazing depth and complexity and comes across the palate with an effortless smooth texture and a super long finish.

12/1/2012 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Last had a bottle of this about 2 years ago. It was awesome then and is probably even better this time around. Just a wonderful, complex wine with a hugely expressive nose and an amazing texture on the palate. The finish just goes on and on. Amazing.

12/26/2010 - tanglenet wrote:

Opened not decanted. Consumed over 2 days. Better on Day 2. Dark, rich tastes of blackberry, blueberry, with some mid-palate tastes of tart red berries. Ends with a semi-drying light citrus finish. Good on Day 1. Very Good on Day 2.

12/25/2010 - caeleric wrote:

Popped, poured off a sizable glass and let the open bottle aerate for 4 hours before consuming. First glass or two were relatively muted on the nose, but the flavor punch once in the mouth was spectacular. The gorgeous earthy spice component mingling with the black cherry fruit was mesmerizing. The texture was so soft and delicate, sexy even. I had to restrain myself from drinking this too quickly because each sip swallowed made me excited to go back for more. This was unequivocally the best Pinot I've ever had! Thanks to tjib13 for an outstanding 2010 CT Secret Santa gift.

12/25/2010 - Pknut wrote:

We opened this at Deb's parents' house, but enjoyed it some three hours later at ours. Terrific fruits on the palate, I'm getting red currant and Deb says plums, with a tapered palate that has shed its baby fat and is linear and direct today. Still primary, but developing hints of secondary complexities. The finish is long, juicy and detailed and hints to the potential of this wine. I would hold this for a few more years, and hope that the midpalate can fill out a bit more and the secondary complexities develop.

6/10/2010 - maxmanx wrote:

Quite nice, with true cabernet flavor and some oak. Would buy more if it was cheaper, but at $18, the QPR is only OK, and there are better buys out there right now.

5/8/2010 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Every once in a while you have an experience with a bottle of wine that just simply puts a smile on your face like a 6 year old on Christmas morning. The 2005 Spottswoode Cab did that for me last July and it stood out as probably one of the best wines I've had, until last night when this 07 took it up another notch. This wine is the absolute definition of balance. We're talking Cirque du Soleil crazy acrobat balance here. The mix of dark fruits, new leather, vanilla, texture, length, and the softest tannins combine in the glass to create a magical elixir of tastiness. It's not overweight and brooding but also not at all wimpy or understated. Unquestionably the best Napa Cabernet Sauvignon I've ever had.

5/1/2010 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Nice big nose of black forest cake with a touch of a floral element, perhaps lavender. Oak is present but not harsh at all. Intense black cherry flavors with a really nice mouth-coating texture and a great finish. Seems to be coming together very nicely now. A couple more years and it should be in a perfect place. So far, the best Sea Smoke I've had.

4/19/2010 - Clarkmeister wrote:

Rock star. To show this well so young, and right after I tried the impressive 2005 is a testament to this wine. Perfectly balanced with great fruit, but restrained and confident in a way that so many Napa cabs today just aren't. Layered, complex midpalate with a tremendous finish. Just about has it all and is better than many wines that cost several times the amount. My only knock is that the nose wasn't giving off much this night, but nevertheless, this is incredible juice.

4/13/2010 - cns wrote:

Very good wine. Got better the longer it was decanted during the evening. Great backbone, wonderful fruit and a lot of oak, but the wine pulls it off. Should age well. However, I don't think that it's worth $150 IMHO.

4/12/2010 - Gargamel wrote:

decant at 2:45. no sediment but could see some cloudiness. nose has spicey red fruit, briary raspberry/currant, a touch of blueberry, and minerality. much better than expected. 94-95pts for nose. palate has one dimensional very tart cherry. 85pts or lower, one of the most closed down wines i have ever come across.
6:45 nose is still great, palate has opened just a touch. shows like a very burgundian styled pinot. the finish is acidic but is starting to broaden out a bit. not drinkable yet.
9:15 nose is still the best part of this wine. palate seemes to be slowly building depth showing some tart blackberry with some greeness. finish is fairly long (25-30 sec) due to high acidity, showing the darker blackberry vs. cherry shown earlier. soft, well hiden tannins have built up and add to tartness to the wine. cork shows a light dusting of tartrate crystals which seems inappropriate for a young california pinot. maybe some tartaric was added to the juice?
10:20 the wine is still changing, showing darker and more complex notes. a bit high in acid for my taste by does show an ever increasing complexity. has potential with age. currently nose- 95pts, palate- 91pts, finish-90 pts

4/11/2010 - pinotfan1970 wrote:

Definite smoke taint on the nose. Almost like smelling liquid smoke. The palate was much better, but hard to get around that nose. Time may integrate the smokiness, but only time will tell. Also, even before the smoke, higher alcohol was apparent on the nose.

2/14/2010 - jasonmalumed wrote:

Drank at room temperature. The only thing that comes to mind when I think back about this wine is "expansive". It just seemed to keep growing in the glass, getting more and more interesting as I let it sit. In the mouth as well, just seemed to invade every single part of my palate. Beautiful deep golden yellow, with some slight cloudiness. On the nose, very beautiful and perfumey, lots of flowers, apple and different pome fruits, oak, eventually giving way to some real deal minerality as well with about an hour of opening up. On the palate, massive wine. Absurd mouthfeel, have never experienced a wine like this before. Definitely agree with an almost hazelnut component, along with apples, asian pear, lemon, and white creamed honey, and almost a white truffle note on the back end. Ate with the duck confit on a savory apple tart with a hen's egg and shaved truffle from Sovana Bistro in Kennett Square, PA and was honestly the single best wine pairing I have ever experienced.

3/30/2010 - FoodMuse Likes this wine:

Wonderfully oaky notes of caramel and vanilla with hints of dark plums. Lite hints of thai basil with a great finish. Ready to drink now.

4/7/2010 - thelostverse wrote:

Have six, so I thought I'd try one early to check on the smoke factor for myself. Did not find any smokiness and do not consider it to be a problem. My wife had no idea that it was even an issue, and she confirmed the lack of smoke after I told her about the wildfires. Nose was abundant red fruits and earthiness that I like in my Pinot. Initial palate was muted, but opened nicely after 30 minutes in the glass. May have scored a bit higher, but the acidity seemed a tad low. Hoping that will come around with some bottle age - I've never opened my Kutch's this early before. Glad I took full allocation.

2/25/2010 - rjhilgers@gmail.com wrote:

This is the lowest score I've given a Sea Smoke Pinot. Not too low at a 90, but there's something missing for me about Sea Smoke the last few vintages. I don't know if it's the new(er) winemaker or what, but Sea Smoke used to blow me away...incredible tasting experiences with particularly the Botellas and Tens (not as big a fan of the Southings). So, relatively speaking the 2007 Ten is not my favorite relative to other Sea Smokes. But, against other Pinot Noir, this is still very nice. A bit young and rambunctious still, but a nice blend of dark cherries, lavender and blood orange with a hint of smoke. Incredible acidity on this wine, especially for a California Pinot Noir.

4/1/2010 - Winetex wrote:

Dark ruby with a red rim; Sweet spice and kirsch aromas with kirsch, spice, dark chocolate and blueberry flavors. Long tannic and acidic finish. After the decant this was very disjointed but after some time in the decanter started to come together. There was some disagreement whether it was acidity or too much alcohol on the finish. I voted for both. Hopefully a few more years will help the integration with this wine. Decanted about 30 minutes and needed quite a bit more time. Note that the score was for the final glass.

4/5/2010 - dtirsell wrote:

Opened and poured after 30 minutes, went well with Easter Ham. Still young, tannins still strong, nose closed at first, opened after 2 hours in bottle. Cherry fruit forward with a complex tang on the tongue. Not a lot of length. Have one more and will wait.

4/6/2010 - TylerMcNinch wrote:

Pale lavender meniscus moving to red-violet core. Nose of briary black fruit, redcurrant, flowers, and black licorice. Flavors of iron, cassis, and minerals, with medium body, medium-plus tannins, and medium acidity. Finishes with raspberry, minerals, and tart peach pit for around 30 seconds. Day 2 saw more floral and red fruit notes emerge with the tannins becoming much more silky.

4/1/2010 - thomasito2001 Likes this wine:

Still primary and on the young side to my taste, the wine is however slowly getting there, the tannins are no longer prominent and there is no strong herbaceous taste lingering there. This should become very nice with more age.

3/29/2010 - pian0_player wrote:

Really exceptional and beautiful. Magnificent color and nose. Dark fruit, earth, oak, mineral, chocolate, like a blackberry jam. Sadly the wine is quite closed and has required incredible patience on my part. Huge midpalate, exceptional finish. Over the top, but very impressive. I love this wine. It needs a few more years in the bottle to calm down and let the oak move out of center stage. Incredible grip and depth. The wine is stubborn and backward. I recently had the 2002 and the wines could not be more different. The '02 is definitely drinking better at the moment, but the 04 is a profound effort. Drink 2015+

Day three, the wine is fully open and has lost some of its power. Nose is fully open, with ripe plum and cassis on the nose. Some charcoal, and cigar box. Smells like a great vintage port. Still oaky on the palate, but really nice length and finesse. Doesn't really taste like what I expect from Bordeaux, but it is a great wine!

3/25/2010 - randomly Likes this wine:

Aromatically beautiful with notes of lilac, tar, underbrush and red berry fruit; light bodied and quite restrained on the palate; it gives the impression that it's holding a lot back, and not very forthcoming. Hold until 2012, at least.

3/21/2010 - asaselzer Likes this wine:

The wine looks Garnet colored.
The legs are Fast.
It smells like Red Currant, and Forest floor.
It tastes like Raspberry, Red Currant, Cherry, and Forest floor.
The body is Light/Medium.
The wine is textured Juicy.
The wine finishes Medium.

3/18/2010 - B Paul Likes this wine:

Upon opening this was closed and had a strong toasty (or smoky) element to it, but fortunately that blew off with a couple hours of air and this really opened up and showed very well. Cherry, raspberry and a little spice (baking) all present. Good mouthfeel and silky texture. If you open now, decant for a couple of hours. I'll hold my other bottles for 6 months to a year. 91+ pts.

2/13/2010 - subtlet wrote:

An Offer of Awesome Burgundy Inspires A Day of Tasting In the Willamette Valley (Willamette Valley): The nose is big and full of blackberries, steak, and distinct red earth. (I was relieved to later discover that Vosne Romanee actually does have read earth!) This wine is very clean and even on the front with light cherry flavors coming in on the mid palate. The flavors never get too big, and the red earth appears as the nose suggests it would.

3/12/2010 - GalvezGuy Likes this wine:

Spalsh decanted. Nose of black cherry, black raspberry, cranberry, black tea, mushroom, vanilla, spice. On the palate, black cherry, pie cherry, strawberry, black tea, vanilla, spice. Sappy transition to a crisp racy finish. Could probably use another year or two in the bottle, but still very enjoyable. Drink or hold. So so value.

3/10/2010 - kris.h Likes this wine:

The color is medium ruby red with good clarity. The nose gives scents of raspberry, cherry, red currant, and brown sugar. The palate is medium to body with silky texture. Moderately firm tannins with well balanced acidity. Soft persistent finish with darker fruits.

I opened this too early. It was a bit awkward and disjointed immediately after opening but 30 minutes in the decanter did it a lot of good. The wine is very good now after an hour or two in the decanter. I suspect it will be much better after 6 months to a year.

3/7/2010 - VHJV wrote:

I'm having mixed feelings about this one. On the other hand the wine was nicely expressive, wild and complex. On the other hand, I think, it was somewhat out of balance and/or not yet integrated. Time will tell how much better it will become. It is certainly asking for 10+ years in the cellar.

3/7/2010 - Brsed Likes this wine:

I am a really big fan of Windy Oaks wines. Very expressive nose of cherries and spice. Great depth of fruit with a refreshing crisp acidity.

3/5/2010 - ArntErik wrote:

Half hour in decanter. Not enough; had a vail of rawness that disappeared after a while in the glass. Hints of pencil and blackberry on the nose. Surprisingly light and one-dimensional on the palate, its smell is better than its taste. «Hollow» as Iren put it. Drank with pizza margherita.

3/6/2010 - balassis wrote:

Popped and poured.
Medium garnet.
Scents of barnyard, smoke, red forest fruits and some animal notes.
Medium bodied with well integrated tannins and flavors of berries, meat, spices and oak.
Great CdP!
Very approachable from now, but with further ageing it will gain in complexity

2/25/2010 - tendring Likes this wine:

Wine Education Service Chianti Classico and Very Superiore (LSE): A hint of age.
A little ripe black fruit on the nose with a hint of oak.
Fruity, youthful, luscious, very soft tannins, smooth mid palate, roughening in a quite long finish.

2/24/2010 - Rob MacKay wrote:

For me, this didn't really live up to my expectations and past experiences that I've had with Pégaü. While it was still a very good wine, I think I was just expecting to be blown away and I wasn't. Professional scores for this wine are all in the 92-94 range and I feel that's a bit of a stretch. The main flaw I found was that the alcohol was a touch out of balance and certainly made the wine very hot on the finish. Everything else was quite nice so perhaps it just needs some time to come together. I've got another bottle that I will check in on in the near future and reserve scoring until I can give it another chance. As it is right now, I'd put it in the 87-90 range.

3/4/2010 - GalvezGuy Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Nose of black cherry, vanilla, pie cherry, tea. On the palate, black raspberry, black cherry, vanilla, spice, smokey oak. Finishes smooth. Much softer than most Southings of this age. Probably a vintage to drink sooner than later. Excellent to Outstanding. Pass on value.

2/28/2010 - jschmeling wrote:

Dark cherry red, lighter red rim, black and red fruit, but soft, very broad nose. The taste is fruit driven, but not fruit dominated, with soft subtle tannins, mouth-watering acidity, medium bodied, and spicy finish. Cab/Merlot Bordeaux from the Saint Estephe area, a second growth, well made, but nothing jumping out as complex, elevated. I expected more, but lots of reviewers seem to be suggesting it's closed right now.

1/18/2010 - greenblanket wrote:

A Costco buy and a good one if you like your Bordeaux modern and polished. Actually, even though the devil had a hand in the making of this wine I can't hate on it too much because it has a lovely Margaux nose and a nicely textured and complete palate. Excellent, but there's a lot of wine out there for fifty dollars that interests me a lot more. I'm just sayin'.

3/1/2010 - WineForRob wrote:

Think some of the experts arent giving this wine it due. I do sense the floral note that defines Spottswoode. Sense some more red fruits and some licorice. This was tight but with air opened up nicely. Full bodied in the mouth with sweet but somewhat dry tannins. Think this will ultimatley be better than the 05.

2/26/2010 - manonthemoon wrote:

Dark red to purple color. Really nice nose of red berry, dill, herb, spice. On the palate there more red fruit, raspberry, cherry, spice and ALCOHOL. Correctly guessed Cali because of the heat. Really disappointing with the sticker on this wine, I guess WS had it right for a change. (88)

2/28/2010 - jahlove Likes this wine:

At this point, I'd rather smell this wine than drink it. Beautiful nose, perfume for days, very complex. On the palate its huge and complex showing cola, sassafrass, blueberry, huckleberry. But its too hot and all over the place at the moment. The 90 plus score comes from the nose alone.

2/26/2010 - cct wrote:

A chameleon of a wine. At first terribly (in a good way_) floral and screaming Roussanne, apricots, bananaas, honeysuckle, and ester-y stuff, with very rich palate presence, almost oily-butter type texture blended with great acidity and freshness that are almost a yen-yang thing of beauty. pulling it off quite well. Over time more of a Viognier floral prettiness more than the earlier brawn on the nose, becoming more lithe over a couple of hours, gaining focus and clarity. A complicated and delicious wine that is to use a painful phrase, outside the box for sure. Flat out lovely. Thanks Chuck. 94pts.