Aged for two years in used French oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, this is a Pinot with some weight. Oak integrates with sweet cherry and creates a textural graininess that is mouth filling and appealing. Tobacco leaf and cinnamon-coffee bristle on the palate. Meaty, with an inner brightness caught up in a fine acid structure.
Wonderfully proportioned wine with compelling purity and vibrancy. Lifted red fruit, strawberry, cherry, cranberry with delicate star anise spice and dried mushroom. Ten months oak aging, small proportion of new oak lends subtle, intriguing nuance. Skillfully produced allowing the expressive fruit character and strong sense of place on full display.
Wonderfully proportioned wine with compelling purity and vibrancy. Lifted red fruit, strawberry, cherry, cranberry with delicate star anise spice and dried mushroom. Ten months oak aging, small proportion of new oak lends subtle, intriguing nuance. Skillfully produced allowing the expressive fruit character and strong sense of place on full display.
This wine came as news to me—very good news. Explicitly a project of the Cakebread family, it is among the most complex and enduringly interesting Sauvignon Blancs I’ve tasted from Paso. Whether the fruit was picked at just the right time or whether multiple pickings were performed at different stages to capture acidity as well as riper fruit, the interplay of citrus and white melon fruit could hardly be better. Zesty and yet also showing substance on the palate, this is terrific.
The intense, rich color mirrors the intense nose of ripe blackberry, cassis, and plum, followed by black pepper, bell pepper, and tomato leaf. On the palate, this young wine shows red fruit characteristics balanced with baking spices and a hint of tobacco.
In its first vintage for the Black Stallion North Coast Collection, this lush red possesses an easily quaffable nature. Notes of black cherry and dark chocolate are surrounded by lavender, taking a far forward lead. Armed with horsepower, bold and athletic, its suede coat of spiced, toasted oak, ripe boysenberry, and raspberry are carried on sleek tannins in a full-bodied stride.
Fruit sourced from the Alexander Valley (70%) and Sonoma Coast (30%) result in a aromatic, flavorful white with stamina and staying power. Toasted brioche, cake batter, and tangerine are opulent on nose and palate. Elegant, reined in succulence, it washes over the moth with grace in a stream of plush, ripe apricot, a streak of melon, and marzipan. Fine acidity offers a crispness that softens the buttery finish.
The Blue Grand Canyon sits underneath Monterey Bay and influences Monterey’s grape-growing regions. This coastal Pinot offers up black raspberry, clove, and cinnamon stick, melded with damp earth, for a deep and satisfying profile. Espresso and vanilla linger on the shadowed finish.