The 2009 Ateca was sourced from mountainside vineyards and aged for 10 months in French oak. It displays aromas of cedar, an earthy minerality, black cherry, and lavender leading to a savory, deep, well-balanced red with succulent fruit and a lengthy, seamless finish. Drink this outstanding value over the next 4-5 years.

“The 2009 Montebuena is 100% Tempranillo. Dark ruby-colored, it offers an appealing perfume of spice box, leather, tobacco, and blackberry. On the palate it is packed with ripe fruit, has outstanding concentration, and impeccable balance. It is a great bargain that offers a sneak preview of the great 2009 vintage in Rioja and northern Spain in general. It should drink well for 6-8 years.”

Wine Spectator 90 pts – Harvey Steiman Polished, velvety and spicy, this is generous with its tobacco and loamy earth elements that surround a lithe core of dark berry and herb. Lingers softly. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Shiraz. Drink now through 2015. 10,000 cases made.

Wine Enthusiast 88 pts – Joe Czerwinski This medium- to full-bodied Shiraz features a welcoming mix of mulberries and vanilla, overtaken by cedary flavors on the finish, where the fruit turns crisp. A slab of charred steak would match the woody notes nicely.

Description: Deep red. The nose has some complex developed notes with roasted meats, aniseed and red capsicum. The palate is rich, full bodied and enticing with plums, roasted capsicum and vegemite notes. The maturation in French oak has led to some subtle spice lift and a lovely roundness and richness on the palate. There are some fleshy tannins which will make this wine an ideal match to rich dishes, especially red meats or game. The flavours linger in the mouth.’

The deep, full-bodied, rich 2006 Blend 26 (the same vineyard blends as the 2005) offers plenty of cassis and cedary fruit. Long and heady with velvety tannins, it is a seductive red to consume during its first 10-12 years of life.

This relatively new producer’s debut vintage was 2003, but these are the first wines I have tasted from B Cellars. Proprietors Jim Borsack and Duffy Keys have hired Kirk Venge as their consulting winemaker, and the wines are clearly made in a fruit-forward style that should satisfy consumers and restaurants looking for immediate drinkability. Two of their flagship wines are their Blend 24 and Blend 25. The Blend 24 is normally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Merlot, followed by Sangiovese and Petite Sirah. The Blend 25 is usually a two varietal blend of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Syrah. The third blend, the Blend 26, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from three vineyard sites. Two-thirds come from the Stagecoach Vineyard above the Silverado Trail, 23% from the To-Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, and 11% from the Dr. Crane Vineyard in St. Helena.

90 points, Stephen Tanzer’s IWC
June 2011
(all declassified fruit from Patz & Hall’s single-vineyard sites): Bright, deep red. Bright aromas of raspberry, cherry, flowers and spices. Sweet, lush and flavorful; a red fruit bomb framed and enlivened by pepper and spice nuances, plus a whiff of flowers. At once dense and fruity. Should be a real crowd-pleaser. Very strong for an entry-level pinot.

About 2009 Patz and Hall Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

About the Winery Patz and Hall
Established in 1988, Patz & Hall embodies the shared vision and collective expertise of four talented friends – Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses and Heather Patz. Together, this dedicated team of individuals has turned a desire to craft benchmark, single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs into one of California’s most celebrated artisan wineries.

“Jess Jackson’s new St.-Emilion estate, which includes some impressively old vines, is still a work in progress, but he is achieving higher and higher quality in each vintage. The 2006 reveals slightly too much new oak, but it is a medium to full-bodied effort with powerful tannin, impressive concentration, and a backward style. Pierre Seillan, the Bordelais winemaker responsible for such brilliant wines as Verite, is also overseeing the production of Lassegue. The winemaking team is clearly aiming for a St.-Emilion that will last 2-3 decades. The 2006 should be at its finest between 2014-2025.

90 points, Wine Enthusiast

“The top wine produced by Jess Jackson in St-Emilion, Lassegue is soft, ripe, open, packed with dark plums, very opulent.”

90 points, Stephen Tanzer

“Good deep red-ruby. Black cherry, dark berries, minerals, cola and sexy oak on the nose; became more perfumed with aeration. Sweet and fine-grained, but with solid underlying spine to its dark fruit, spice and cola flavors. Thanks to its impression of lushness without weight, this is the most refined wine yet from this property.”

Light to medium cherry red color; cinnamon, clove, strawberry, and cherry aromas and flavors

Description:
We strive to achieve a terroir-drive Pinot Noir from Patagonia, a wine with floral aromas, ripe red fruit flavors and a soft, supple texture.

Label Notes:
Real winemakers get their hands dirty. Hands black with wine. That what Manos Negras is all about. Rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty. That’s how we make these hand-crafted wines.

“Shows all the hallmarks of an ageable wine. It’s bone dry, big and hard in tannins, and densely packed with blackberries, cherries, cola, licorice and smoky cedar notes. Nowhere near ready. Better after 2015.”

92 points, Wine & Spirits

“This starts off as black satin, mostly tannin and dark fruit, before air brings up more distinct black cherry and earth in the middle of the wine. The plush texture doesn’t get in the way of the firm structure, allowing the wine to build complexity as it develops in the glass. Cellar it for a few years, or decant a bottle for roast leg of lamb.”

Robert Parker- “The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of fruit (79% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Merlot and tiny dollops of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc) from estate vineyards. Classic aromas of cedarwood, roasted herbs, dark cherries and white chocolate emerge from this spicy, medium-bodied Cabernet. It should provide plenty of pleasure over the next decade.”

On the nose, this wine shows black currant, blackberry compote, juniper berry and dark chocolate, with cinnamon and clove. The oak is well integrated with a slight nuance of aromatic cedar. The flavor has full cherry-berry notes with cassis and a fleshy mid-palate over a bed of resolved tannins. A very inviting wine, it is full flavored from start to finish, with a very long lingering fruitfulness.