Lacaze Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 by Jean Pascal Lacaze

The worst thing about this magnificent Red is that it sold out way too fast. This is a very robust and smooth Cab – I did decant it and poured the first glass through an aerator. I found the tannins soft allowing the complexity of this delicious wine to come through. The color is gorgeous, deep and rich; the smell is like a walk through the vineyards on a warm summer day with dark rich berries growing on the periphery adding a symphony of scents to delight the senses. I love the utter complexity as it hits the tip of my tongue and it teases a dry note that mellows into a wonderful almost sweet end, but it is not the end – it blossoms along the palate in a medley of berries – red, black and currants to a very smooth velvety finish that leaves a very pleasant almost sweet after taste reminiscent of fresh baked honey yeast bread.  A truly enjoyable experience, Thank you!

Origin: Chili, Iconic winemaker trained in Bordeaux, France

Scott Peterson Rumpus Cabernet Sauvignon California 2014

Magnificent Red!!! I decanted it for about 45 minutes after reading other reviews but not sure it needed it. The color is deep and luscious, the scent is divine and fruity with a grape I have smelled before from California Vineyards. It is wonderfully smooth - greets the entrance of your mouth with a pure treat treat that develops into a smooth fruity taste of plums, jammy fruits and light flowers (although this may be my imagination) that builds up a crescendo near the finish, into a beautiful smooth finish with a tantalizing linger on the tongue begging for the next sip - or glass.

This puts me in mind of a luscious French Cab I had at dinner last week at a French restaurant. The only difference was that that glass was twice as much as the full price of Rumpus. 

Thank you and Kudos to Scott Peterson.

I will definitely buy more of this and put one aside for a couple of years.

Origin: Sonoma County, California, USA

Carmen Stevens' Angels Reserve Shiraz 2015

09/16 I have liked very few Shiraz but when I have they have been winners and this wine is excellent! I let mellow for about 30 minutes and a little longer after pouring it into the glass. Beautiful depth of color as a Shiraz should have, very clear with a nice medium body. The scent of blackberries and spice struck me right off, very pleasant indeed! This wine possesses a big bold but smooth fruity flavor with a lingering intensity. Complex flavors, nicely dry, just the right amount of spice, blackberries and a hint of plum but devoid of unpleasant acidity. Has an incredible finish that lingers in a most pleasant way.

I paired this wine with a Chinese stir fry with aged brewed mushroom and oyster sauce. However it is wonderful by itself.

Definitely a winner! Thank you!

Origin: South Africa

F. Stephen Millier Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon California 2014

I am so glad I purchased two bottles of this but I should have gotten a case.  I decanted it for about an hour or so before drinking it. It has a beautiful fragrance of luscious fruits - blackberries and black cherries, a touch of oak but a flowery oak. Its color is rich and dark with lovely purple bubbles, but with a wonderful medium body.  Now the taste is where it gets very interestingly complex. Yum. Ok I'll explain. It is so smooth the flavor of dark plums and blackberries exploded onto the palate and midway the black cherry flavor blended in and slowed to an end with a hint of dark chocolate and a touch of oaky spice leaving a very smooth finish.  I did not eat with this wine and that makes it higher on my list as a wonderful libation to relax and end the night with. I want more, more than the bottle I put up to age. I doubt it will make it to age, this wine is wonderful as it is right now. This is a most excellent wine. Thank you and kudos!

Origin: Sierra Foothills, California, USA

Carlos Rodriguez Rioja Graciano 2015

10/09/16  I am so disappointed in myself that I took so long to write a review. Early in the  month of September, I brought this with me to a weekend in the country where an old friend and I had an easy weekend surrounded by woods, wildlife, horses and accompanied by our beloved dog companions. We had several bottles of wine but agreed this was our favorite. I ordered more. This is a great drinking wine and I'll update this review when I enjoy the next bottle and the flavors are fresh on my lips! Thank you, Carlos, this is an excellent Red!
Origin: Spain

ROX Scott Peterson All Blacks Sonoma County 2014

10/08/16 Another winner from Scott Peterson ROX All Blacks is an exquisite elixir blended by an artist. To begin with, one is met with a fragrance of sweet floral notes and a hint of sweet vanilla spices to the nose swirling in a seductive bouquet of luscious deepest darkest fruits. This fruit of the vine traverses across the tongue with an abundance of dark red fruit, deep purple mulberries, blackberries, plums with just a hint of sweet vanilla spices and a touch of anise-laced bittersweet chocolate and a long lovely silky smooth finish.  Juicy and seductive, it has a voluptuous body that opens up in the glass. The first night I opened the bottle I paired it with a rare t-bone basted and grilled with garlic and olive oil and roasted vegetables.  It was so delicious I had another glass later in the evening with a small dark chocolate brownie.  Yet I decided I will wait and enjoy the remaining glasses of wine without accompaniment – and I did enjoy each glass as much as the other.  It is ready to enjoy now but would only get better in the next two to three years – I just wish I acted faster before our warehouse ran out but I have one more bottle to savor. Thanks again Scott for yet another wonderful wine!
Origin: Sonoma County, California USA

Stefano di Blasi IGT Toscana 2014

09/16 This wine, this marvelous wine brought me back to my childhood summers when I would go stay with my Nonny and Poppy out on Long Island. The marvelous aroma, naturally not the taste, not as a child anyway but later on when I came of age, which was 18 back then, I would enjoy a taste or two of a fine Italian vintage. It was late, I was enjoying the tradition of relaxing before bed with a glass of wine but the memories this wine brought to me also brought a nostalgic yet happy mist to my eyes.  I decided not to rate it last night but to wait until I prepared my evening meal today, an early meal like my Nonni did. The meal I prepared was inspired by those wonderful summers of long ago created with vegetables from their garden, and since i had garden veggies courtesy of my friends, I successfully replicated those wonderful memories.

I made a pomodoro e basilico base and roasted thinly sliced portabella mushrooms, red, yellow and green sweet but a touch warm Italian banana peppers, red onion and minced garlic - which I tossed in the sauce and simmered for about 5 minutes before spooning over linguine fini. I also had roasted a small fresh eggplant that i first quartered lengthwise and sliced thin, which I laid over the linguine and sauce/vegetables and topped it off with pecorino romano - I also did not spare the fresh black pepper as my father would do when my mother was not looking. The wine paired perfectly as if made for the meal! Of course! It is a wine of Italy!

This true Tuscan classic is a good old fashioned Italian wine with a classic fine taste without pretense. I did let it decant as should be done and poured it through an aerator. The color is absolutely beautiful purple garnet and the slight froth was almost a reddish purple, the aroma is that of a fruit grove, but one where wild berries grow, dark rich berries, currants, alongside the grapes. Much like the groves I visited in the wine regions of Italy. I would consider this a medium consistency well-balanced wine with low-medium acidity. The first taste impression is that of currants with a hint of plum which continues mid-palate adding a lovely vanilla oak to a very smooth almost hint of dark chocolate and almost a hint of sweet finish. To my tastes, it is silken and refined.

I do want more of this wine! Mille Grazie caro Stefano di Blasi!
Origin: Tuscany, Italy

Benjamin Darnault Minervois Plus 2015

09/16 It is no wonder the ancient Romans sought to control Gaul when the region produces wine such as this that would bring Bacchus himself to his knees! I do believe it was a wine like this that inspired Milton to muse that one sip [of this] will bathe drooping spirits in delight beyond the bliss of dreams. I have tried to write to a review the past two nights but i have enjoyed my nightly glass so much I put it off. This wine is smooth, a lovely deep purple, like velvet it enters the mouth and exits down the throat in the same smooth fashion. Right off It pleases the olfactory senses with a floral scent intertwined with that of fruit orchards and rich oaky woods then delights the tip of the tongue with cherries blooming into blackberries and plums filling the palate with rich slightly tart, almost sweet complex flavors not unlike that of very dark chocolate teasing flavors of smooth vanilla oak on the periphery of the tongue weaving a succulent memory to linger on the palate as it flows down the throat.

I have added some more of this to my basket. Merci beaucoup Monsieur Darnault, you are a master!
Origin: France

ROX Scott Peterson Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2014

09/06/16 Despite the advice to wait I could not. I was seduced by the other reviews. This rich medium-full bodied wine just got better with each glass, a true delight to the senses. Right off its scent is simply sumptuous! It is an explosion of smooth Blackberries and luscious grapes as it enters the mouth and bathes the tongue in a complex orchard of the dark fruits, plums, and chocolate weaving a hint of sweetness on the side of the tongue as it delivers a marvelously warm decadence down one's throat. This wine is another winner and I shall order more. Can't wait to enjoy Rox All Blacks. These wines are the next best thing to building a cabin on a corner of Scott Peterson's vineyard!
Origin: Sonoma County, California USA

99 Barrels Derek Rohlffs Santa Lucia Highlands Rose 2015 by Derek Rohlffs

10/5/2016 What a pleasant surprise this lovely Rosé turned out to be! I found it to be quite versatile, and deserving of being sipped slowly to appreciate fully. I decanted it late in the afternoon and placed it in the refrigerator to breath and chill.

I did pour a few ounces out before decanting so the wine would have more room to breathe. I was delighted by the scent of young tart early strawberries, spring raspberries, a hint of vanilla and a delicate floral citrusy scent that I am torn between the heritage yellow tea roses that grew in my grandparents garden or the white  magnolias that fleetingly waft by the porch on a warm southern spring evening. It is springtime in a bottle which elicited images of this gorgeous strawberry colored wine served with a spring meal of lamb with an au jus rosemary gravy made from the cooked juices of the lamb along with a touch of “new” Chianti wine accompanied by light and colorful seasonal vegetables.

 For my first “tasting” I prepared a meal of tender Portobello mushrooms and shallots sautéed in butter to which I added a reduced chicken stock just before serving, over grain-free linguini and topped with a dusting of fresh ground ancho pepper.  Prior to preparing the evening’s repast, I poured out about five ounces of this lovely light-bodied Rosé through an aerator into the stemware to breath a bit more and develop the flavors. And what wonderful flavors, surpassing the lovely scents that promised a delicious wine!

The very moment the wine hits the tip of the tongue it bursts with the flavor of tart Blakemore strawberries blended with early raspberries which lend a pleasant medium amount of acidity but is also reminiscent of the almost sweet pink grapefruit that delights with a dulcet lingering on the palate. The touch of sweetness creates a smooth, refreshing, and complex elixir over the tongue but also on the sides leaving a pleasant and slightly dry aftertaste.

This is definitely a wine to enjoy with dinner but also with dessert and complimented the small bowl of sweet strawberries drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate I ended dinner with.

For me, this is a wine to share with friends and for special occasion dinners as I found that by day three it lost some of its complexity as a simple sipping wine - which is how I prefer my wine.  This wine needs to be consumed within a day or two of opening to enjoy its full bouquet and flavor.  I usually drink one glass in the evening, either with my meal or after meals as it takes me 3 to 4 days to finish a bottle so this I would reserve for special occasions. It has a beautiful festive color and a wonderful complexity which, to me, makes it a perfect special occasion wine. 
Origin:  California USA