Far Niente - 2006 Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley – Oakville --- Excellent wine - but it is built for the long run - drinking this vintage now only reveals a fraction of what it can be with proper care and storage. Balanced and rich, with a long finish - gets better with some air. Bordeaux-like - it is a blend (94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot) and the fruit is evident but not forward or over the top - the grapes from which this wine is made are of superior quality. This wine becomes a Super Star with food. Most times, I drink wines like this alone, but this wine begged for food and then it strutted like a peacock in heat when I enjoyed it with a a nice Neapolitan Crust Margherita Pizza. Most Excellent wine. Buy 2 bottles (if you can afford it) drink one now with something spicy and cheesy and cellar the other. I venture to say that the pizza made it a (94 or 95 - very good with the pizza). Smoky, slightly spicy, brambly blackberry licorice, and a hint of mocha on the palate - big wine. I'm sure purists might be cringing because this is high-end Cali Cab Sav, but it worked like that for me! Lives up to the hype - may be a tad bit overpriced for most wine buyers - a splurge wine.

Extremely smooth and balanced - everything is perfectly balanced - this wine reminded me of Dominus. Excellent in every aspect - nose is very nice (floral and mint) and everything you would expect of a wine of this caliber. On the palate - SMOOOOOOOOOTH and oh so elegant and nice and velvety. Tannins are tame and yet still evident and finish is long. Very nice wine - makes me want to try the next tier - Caymus Special Selection. You will like ths wine - it did not disappoint me - instead - I was pleasantly surprised that it measured up to it's hype! You may even question that you are actually drinking "wine" - it is that smooth and balanced. Spend your $$ and get this experience - it is real and it is a must if you want to expand your horizons in elegant, upscale wine tasting! Caymus doesn't make much of the fact that they are in Rutherford in NAPA, but that region's other wine producers make a lot of noise about the "Dust". CAYMUS is first-class top-notch wine, guys. Really good stuff!

Aye, mate. Be sure you're drinking 2005 or earlier when you buy this bottle. This evening, I've enjoyed a bottle of Talus Collection Pinot Noir 2005 from CALIFORNIA, and it was great! I paid less than 9 bucks for the bottle, had it with grilled cedar plank sockeye salmon filets, broccoli spears in butter, honey glazed carrots, and chicken corn chowder. It was superb. I'll get some more. Just the right amount of Pinot Noir requisite spice, nice body, great nose, good finish, good tannins, and the price was terrific. Nice bargain!

This is a magnificent Pinot Noir - as smooth as silk. It's nose is divine and as described by the website - the nose is dark cherry and spiced tea - and a flirtatious hint of spice. On the palate, a well behaved Pinot Noir, very cultured, and possessing the ability to cross the lines of conventional thinking (and taste) into the world of pairing PN with rare red meat. Tonight, I enjoyed this wine with steamed broccoli topped with my jalapeno bacon white cheddar cheese sauce (made from scratch with cream and butter and Vermont Sharp White Cheddar, fresh jalapenos, and bacon) and a thick grilled bone-in Ribeye cooked rare. I actually bought this wine in Newport, Rhode Island last weekend while on vacation. I visited a very nice high-end wine shop (BELLEVUE WINE & SPIRITS, OF NEWPORT R.I.), on Bellevue Avenue in Newport (they had a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild wine for $15,000.00 and several bottles of Petrus for around 2000 - 3000 bucks), and I purchased several bottles of wine - no where near those price ranges above - but it was nice to be near such good wine. I managed to get this bottle of Calera Pinot Noir back to my home not far from New Orleans, Louisiana in my check-in luggage on the plane(s). Tonight, when I opened it, I took off the lead cap seal, and much to my surprise, this wine is corked with the new Vino-Seal glass stopper. Really fascinating - no cork screw - no screw cap - not much effort required to remove it - looks like an O-ring that seals it - I was suprised it survived the pressure changes while in my luggage on the way back from Rhode Island to Louisiana. This Pinot Noir is head and shoulders above any other PN I have enjoyed. Superb. Refined. Well Done. The finish is terrific. I can still taste the wine after a good 2 minutes. Extremely balanced. Elegant. I paid about 30 bucks for this bottle - well worth the price. A Class Act, guys! Find it and enjoy! 3,239 cases were produced by Calera. As a side note - while in Newport, RI, we visited the Newport Vineyards - nice winery and good wine tasting.

Excellent Pinot Noir - lovely nose of spice and dark fruit - very smooth and elegant. Great finish. Nice legs. If you're looking for a good example of California Pinot Noir - try this. Clove spice (and allspice) and bright black cherry on the palate (and finish). This worked extremely well with Cedar Plank Salmon topped with Sweet/Spicy Pineapple Salsa and Cheesy Broccoli & Rice for a side dish.

Terrific wine. Extremely balanced and rich. Grapes are the star of the show. Fruit is perfect. Coats the stemware with slow, thick syrup-like legs. A very nice example of NAPA merlot done right and at a terrific price. Aroma of plum and dark fruits. On the palate - silky smooth with blackberry, plum, raisin and a good, long finish. This will work well with a very wide variety of food. Enjoy!

Superb wine - floral, perfume notes on the nose - grapes peek through on the nose. Excellent Legs in the stemware. On the palate - extremely balanced - full and richly flavored. The wine has deep, ripe fruit characters with hints of vanilla and spice. It finishes with rich but soft tannins and sweet mouth feel from the oak. Yhis is the epitome of very good NAPA Meritage. I highly recommend - you won't go wrong. Your guests will love it. I will have more of this later with Filet Mignon, steamed Yukon Potatoes, and peas and carrots and Cheddar Broccoli Soup. Superb wine and well worth the money for a special occasion or gift. Any vintage of this wine will work! Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot are main Bordeaux ingredients. One of the best examples of French Bordeaux from California. SUPERB!

Most Excellent Merlot. Balanced and extremely long finish. Black cherries and blueberies and blackberry pie - a tad bit of chocolate. Jammy nose but refined on the palate. Will work with Italian Pasta just fine. Tannins are just right. You can't go wrong with this, but it is hard to find. For the price, an excellent Merlot. I will do it again! I have to drive a ways to get this, but I will! Really want to try the 2005 - highly rated vintage.

I've Goggled around - this is a winery in Napa acquired by Bronco Wines. The grapes for this vintage now come from Napa vineyards (not so in past vintages). This is a real nice wine, especially at 12 bucks - it is a steal at 12 bucks. It exhibits the best of NAPA Cab Sav. Great legs - 12.5% alcohol - nice nose of ripe, dark fruit - very silky smooth all the way across the palate and into the long finish. I like this wine. I enjoyed this with a Frenched Rack of Lamb and roasted carrots and a nice bowl of crab bisque with a Maryland Crab Cake dunked right in the middle of the bowl of bisque like a dumpling. Yum Yum. Everything worked just great. Nice Cab Sav. Creamy smooth. Balanced. Blackberries, raisins and dark cherries, and cocoa on the finish. Excellent. Get some. I've also tried the Merlot version of Rutherford Vineyards. It is OK, but not as good as this Cab Sav wine. Rutherford Cabs tend to have a "dusty tannin" - I don't know that this wine was made from Rutherford grapes, but this wine's tannins are very nice. I will get this again - Tomorrow!!!

Here we go - I tried this in a taste test over 2 nights - pitting this Ancient Vines offering from Cline against their own entry level Zin offering (Cline California Zinfandel 2006). I started night one with the entry level and ended night two with the next level Ancient Vines. I am reviewing the Ancient Vines here, but I will say the entry level at about 10 bucks is very good. This Ancient Vines version is a pretty nice Zin. I had the pleasure to visit Cline Cellars in the mid-90s, and they were proud of their Zins. They should be. This 2006 Ancient Vines is a gem. Great legs - 14.5% alcohol. Loads of dark fruit on the nose and a hint of spice and a bit of vanilla or cream. Inky dark in the stemware. Syrupy and thick. On the palate - dark fruit with some zip and zing - bright red fruit in the background - sweet smelling allspice/cinnamon. Think of this - a nice slice of cinnamon raisin bread fresh out of the toaster slathered with melted butter, and then lightly pasted with strawberry/raspberry preserves. That good. That creamy. That luscious. Nice, nice wine. Nice medium finish. Fairly well balanced. I like it. I say 89. I give the entry level version a score of 86. It is good, but not as good as this Ancient Vines wine is. NOTE: I did not finish the second bottle (Ancient Vines) on the second night, so the next night (night 3) I poured a glass, and this wine was falling apart. Probably best to consume the whole bottle on the night it is opened.