We recently enjoyed these at the socal gathering at the Pasadena Pops on the green.
Notes
2014 Merlot
Alc: 14.7%
Color: Deep red with no sediment
Nose: big young nose of cherry and plum, slight bit of heat, no noticeable oak.
Taste: Dry, medium/full bodied, moderate acidity, medium soft tannins, well balanced, very flavorful full red fruit profile, a bit more oak than the nose and a not of pepper in the nose.
Overall: Modern/new world take on merlot, tasty but not particularity complex, several notches above typical merlots at the grocery. It seemed to open up a bit more and be more expressive as the night when on.
2013 Cabernet
Alc: 13.8%
Color: Deep clear ruby coloring.
Nose: big youthful nose, some moderate oak, a bit of alcohol, big red fruit, and hint of green in the background.
Taste: dry, full bodied, good acidity, medium dry tannins, good red fruit profile, well balanced.
Overall: Good solid Cabernet for the price point here. Definitely modern in style but not over the top, the wine is well balanced with out many rough edges.
I think I preferred the Merlot to the cab which is not real normal for me. Both were good but not great and if anything a bit boring. Well priced here though.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Donati Family Reserve Reds - $40 = 16.65%
Dear fellow casemates,
Once again I have the honor and pleasure to LabRat a selection of fine wines for your edification.
FredEx and Casemates both informed me that a package was imminent. So I went over to my mom’s house with high expectations…and a box awaited in her foyer. Not the box that I anticipated, but a two-bottle box!
I tore open the box, removed the styrofoam insert lid and extracted the two very classy bottles nestled within. The bottles were substantial…heavy and dark with a relatively deep punt, and the labels were dark and refined, all of which indicated to me that the juice enclosed was likely to be…special.
The wines are Donati Family Vineyards Merlot Reserve 2014 and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2013.
I had invited some people from work over for Saturday afternoon, some wine drinkers and some not, and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to elicit opinions about this wine.
Then…a tragedy occurred!
I recalled that I had purchased DFV wines from the old site, had drunk some, and might still have a bottle in the cellar. I started rummaging through the racks and knocked a bottle out of and behind my diamond cube style wine rack. I emptied the lowest section and reached behind and found to my horror, a broken empty carcass of a 500 ml bottle that had recently contained that sweet nectar (yes, nectar) Recioto! I emptied the rack of about 110 bottles, and did my best cleaning it up. What a mess! The mice will be very happy.
OK, a few hours later. (Note that I’ve had quite a bit of wine at this point: Donati Merlot and Cabernet, Quest Blend, Mollydooker The Maitre D’ Cabernet and Paringa Sparkling Shiraz), so I’ll do my best to Rat for you.
On Pop-N-Pour, the Donati Merlot is an 80 point wine. The nose is quite nice, with rich black fruits and a little alcohol, but the taste is thin with little fruit and no finish to speak of. OK, I poured most of it into a decanter to try later. The Cabernet is better, perhaps 87 points, some viscosity, some fruit, and enough acid to make me think it would be good with food. Poured it into a decanter too. Then we went on with dinner of Smoked Turkey, Smoked Portabella Mushrooms, some with Blue Cheese and some with Feta, Ziti with sausage, Stuffed Shells, Cheeses, and a variety of wines. At the end of the meal, about two hours later, after dark, sitting out in the gazebo with the fire pit on low, I brought out the two decanters of Donati. They were both fabulous! So, either decant these wines for a couple of hours, ot let them sit for several years in your cellar until they mature into the wines that they can be.
I do have a responsibility to accurately Rat these wines, so I’ll go and get an aliquot of each and try to describe their current characteristics.
The Merlot is well-integrated with some oak, but not too much. Cassis, licorice and leather. Very dry with apparent tannins, not yet as smooth as a Merlot should be. This baby needs more time in the bottle, and I think it will be a 92 point wine. Now, I’d give it 90 points and a buy at <$20.
The Cabernet, after a 2-hour+ decant is pretty darn good. Great fruit, raspberry and black cherry enough acidity to wash down the most marbled of ribeyes. Not quite as dry or tannic as the Merlot…perhaps the extra year in the bottle made a difference. I’d give this better than 90 points now, and I think that it will be even better down the road. This wine would be a great buy at $25.
These wines are well-made and seem to be a good compromise between old-world and new-world. Both wines are seriously good, and have very classy packaging. But, please don’t pop one of these and suck it down immediately. You will be disappointed.
We tasted on Saturday, and it’s Tuesday night now. One indicator of a good wine is if it’s good the next day after sitting on the counter with a cork in it. The Merlot is still quite tasty…the cabernet, not so much. Three days for the Merlot is impressive.
My wife and I attended the concert with @cortot and shared the ratting experience. My palate is not so discriminating, I just enjoy wine and fellowship. I would say that my assessment is much closer to @fritzcat than @cortot’s. Both the Merlot and the Cab seemed hot and sharp on PNP, around 7pm, but by intermission around 9 pm, the Merlot in particular had opened up and the flavors were well integrated. IMO these wines need more time in the bottle, decanting, or at least time to breathe. I would not call them “boring” at all.
Full disclosure: by 9 pm we had opened and sampled 9 bottles for 7 people including these 2 and a future offering, so take that into account.
If any SoCal folks are ordering, I would take 4.
I was also at the concert and tried these wines, I tried them early on fwiw. The cab to my tastes I liked a bit better at first but did notice it seemed to have more rough edges, lots of cassis and reddish fruit. I thought it was a 17 vintage and chalked it up to that but seeing now it was a 13 I guess it could need more time or just might not come around? The merlot was pretty tasty imho. I didn’t think it tasted much like merlot but it was tasty. Not bad wines.
2013 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paicines, Central Coast
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Cherry Cola, licorice, violets
Palate: Fruit forward, ripe cherry, dried cranberry, black pepper
Finish: Currants, long finish with velvety tannin
Winemaker Notes
Our Family Reserve series of wines were released in March of 2017. These limited production wines were created as an extension of our Founder’s vision, please enjoy with Family and Friends.
Specifications
Vintage: 2013
Blend: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot
Appellation: Paicines
Winemaking:
100% Stainless Steel Fermented
Twice daily punch-downs and pump overs
Aging: 100% Barrel Aged; 26 months; 11% New French Oak
Bottling Date: 7/14/16
Alcohol: 13.8%
2014 Family Reserve Merlot, Paicines, Central Coast
Winery: Donati Family Vineyard
Owners: The Donati Family
Founded: 2003
Location: Paicines, CA
Family, Estate, Vision.
As a young boy, Ron Donati grew up in South San Francisco, the son of a first generation Italian-American family. One of his fondest memories was the sights and smells of his grandfather making wine in his basement. Like most Italian immigrants, Albino Donati made his own wine for the family dinner table. As an adult, Ron became a successful entrepreneur with a penchant for making quality products that were attainable to all, not just a select few. This same passion serves as the foundation and guiding mission of Donati Family Vineyard today. It is our goal to produce wines of exceptional quality regardless of budget.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI
Love Donati, so have to pick this up. The wine shop I work at carries their Claret and it’s crazy popular (and delicious). A Donati rep came through with a bunch of their stuff and remembered enjoying them all to various degrees, the caveat being they may remain a bit safe in their flavor profile, but safe typically translates to crowd pleaser. Also, the rep made a super positive impression about the winery (good people, low marketing budget to pass on savings to us drinkers! etc…).
Just felt compelled to provide some general love to the Donati family.
We recently enjoyed these at the socal gathering at the Pasadena Pops on the green.
Notes
2014 Merlot
Alc: 14.7%
Color: Deep red with no sediment
Nose: big young nose of cherry and plum, slight bit of heat, no noticeable oak.
Taste: Dry, medium/full bodied, moderate acidity, medium soft tannins, well balanced, very flavorful full red fruit profile, a bit more oak than the nose and a not of pepper in the nose.
Overall: Modern/new world take on merlot, tasty but not particularity complex, several notches above typical merlots at the grocery. It seemed to open up a bit more and be more expressive as the night when on.
2013 Cabernet
Alc: 13.8%
Color: Deep clear ruby coloring.
Nose: big youthful nose, some moderate oak, a bit of alcohol, big red fruit, and hint of green in the background.
Taste: dry, full bodied, good acidity, medium dry tannins, good red fruit profile, well balanced.
Overall: Good solid Cabernet for the price point here. Definitely modern in style but not over the top, the wine is well balanced with out many rough edges.
I think I preferred the Merlot to the cab which is not real normal for me. Both were good but not great and if anything a bit boring. Well priced here though.
Donati Family Reserve Reds
4 bottles for $79.99 $20/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2013 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2014 Family Reserve Merlot
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Donati Family Reserve Reds - $40 = 16.65%
Dear fellow casemates,
Once again I have the honor and pleasure to LabRat a selection of fine wines for your edification.
FredEx and Casemates both informed me that a package was imminent. So I went over to my mom’s house with high expectations…and a box awaited in her foyer. Not the box that I anticipated, but a two-bottle box!
I tore open the box, removed the styrofoam insert lid and extracted the two very classy bottles nestled within. The bottles were substantial…heavy and dark with a relatively deep punt, and the labels were dark and refined, all of which indicated to me that the juice enclosed was likely to be…special.
The wines are Donati Family Vineyards Merlot Reserve 2014 and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2013.
I had invited some people from work over for Saturday afternoon, some wine drinkers and some not, and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to elicit opinions about this wine.
Then…a tragedy occurred!
I recalled that I had purchased DFV wines from the old site, had drunk some, and might still have a bottle in the cellar. I started rummaging through the racks and knocked a bottle out of and behind my diamond cube style wine rack. I emptied the lowest section and reached behind and found to my horror, a broken empty carcass of a 500 ml bottle that had recently contained that sweet nectar (yes, nectar) Recioto! I emptied the rack of about 110 bottles, and did my best cleaning it up. What a mess! The mice will be very happy.
OK, a few hours later. (Note that I’ve had quite a bit of wine at this point: Donati Merlot and Cabernet, Quest Blend, Mollydooker The Maitre D’ Cabernet and Paringa Sparkling Shiraz), so I’ll do my best to Rat for you.
On Pop-N-Pour, the Donati Merlot is an 80 point wine. The nose is quite nice, with rich black fruits and a little alcohol, but the taste is thin with little fruit and no finish to speak of. OK, I poured most of it into a decanter to try later. The Cabernet is better, perhaps 87 points, some viscosity, some fruit, and enough acid to make me think it would be good with food. Poured it into a decanter too. Then we went on with dinner of Smoked Turkey, Smoked Portabella Mushrooms, some with Blue Cheese and some with Feta, Ziti with sausage, Stuffed Shells, Cheeses, and a variety of wines. At the end of the meal, about two hours later, after dark, sitting out in the gazebo with the fire pit on low, I brought out the two decanters of Donati. They were both fabulous! So, either decant these wines for a couple of hours, ot let them sit for several years in your cellar until they mature into the wines that they can be.
I do have a responsibility to accurately Rat these wines, so I’ll go and get an aliquot of each and try to describe their current characteristics.
The Merlot is well-integrated with some oak, but not too much. Cassis, licorice and leather. Very dry with apparent tannins, not yet as smooth as a Merlot should be. This baby needs more time in the bottle, and I think it will be a 92 point wine. Now, I’d give it 90 points and a buy at <$20.
The Cabernet, after a 2-hour+ decant is pretty darn good. Great fruit, raspberry and black cherry enough acidity to wash down the most marbled of ribeyes. Not quite as dry or tannic as the Merlot…perhaps the extra year in the bottle made a difference. I’d give this better than 90 points now, and I think that it will be even better down the road. This wine would be a great buy at $25.
These wines are well-made and seem to be a good compromise between old-world and new-world. Both wines are seriously good, and have very classy packaging. But, please don’t pop one of these and suck it down immediately. You will be disappointed.
We tasted on Saturday, and it’s Tuesday night now. One indicator of a good wine is if it’s good the next day after sitting on the counter with a cork in it. The Merlot is still quite tasty…the cabernet, not so much. Three days for the Merlot is impressive.
@FritzCat Woah, it’s Monday where I am. Did you go through time-lapse wormhole or did I?
@KitMarlot I got the package waaaay early.
@FritzCat That’s disappointing. I was hoping you were from the future
@FritzCat @KitMarlot Well, he will be.
My wife and I attended the concert with @cortot and shared the ratting experience. My palate is not so discriminating, I just enjoy wine and fellowship. I would say that my assessment is much closer to @fritzcat than @cortot’s. Both the Merlot and the Cab seemed hot and sharp on PNP, around 7pm, but by intermission around 9 pm, the Merlot in particular had opened up and the flavors were well integrated. IMO these wines need more time in the bottle, decanting, or at least time to breathe. I would not call them “boring” at all.
Full disclosure: by 9 pm we had opened and sampled 9 bottles for 7 people including these 2 and a future offering, so take that into account.
If any SoCal folks are ordering, I would take 4.
I was also at the concert and tried these wines, I tried them early on fwiw. The cab to my tastes I liked a bit better at first but did notice it seemed to have more rough edges, lots of cassis and reddish fruit. I thought it was a 17 vintage and chalked it up to that but seeing now it was a 13 I guess it could need more time or just might not come around? The merlot was pretty tasty imho. I didn’t think it tasted much like merlot but it was tasty. Not bad wines.
2013 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paicines, Central Coast
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Cherry Cola, licorice, violets
Palate: Fruit forward, ripe cherry, dried cranberry, black pepper
Finish: Currants, long finish with velvety tannin
Winemaker Notes
Our Family Reserve series of wines were released in March of 2017. These limited production wines were created as an extension of our Founder’s vision, please enjoy with Family and Friends.
Specifications
2014 Family Reserve Merlot, Paicines, Central Coast
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Ripe cherries, blackberry, blueberry cobbler, campfire
Palate: Dark fruit, raspberries, blueberries, sweet plum undertones
Finish: Medium finish of black pepper, plum and blue fruit
Specifications
Included In The Box
Price Comparison
$588.98 at Donati Family Vineyard
About The Winery
Winery: Donati Family Vineyard
Owners: The Donati Family
Founded: 2003
Location: Paicines, CA
Family, Estate, Vision.
As a young boy, Ron Donati grew up in South San Francisco, the son of a first generation Italian-American family. One of his fondest memories was the sights and smells of his grandfather making wine in his basement. Like most Italian immigrants, Albino Donati made his own wine for the family dinner table. As an adult, Ron became a successful entrepreneur with a penchant for making quality products that were attainable to all, not just a select few. This same passion serves as the foundation and guiding mission of Donati Family Vineyard today. It is our goal to produce wines of exceptional quality regardless of budget.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, October 17th - Monday, October 21st
Well I think this might be a good offer for me… is anyone else around Kansas City up for a split?
Love Donati, so have to pick this up. The wine shop I work at carries their Claret and it’s crazy popular (and delicious). A Donati rep came through with a bunch of their stuff and remembered enjoying them all to various degrees, the caveat being they may remain a bit safe in their flavor profile, but safe typically translates to crowd pleaser. Also, the rep made a super positive impression about the winery (good people, low marketing budget to pass on savings to us drinkers! etc…).
Just felt compelled to provide some general love to the Donati family.
@stoibskd Dang. You work at a wine shop and still buy wine elsewhere? @Winedavid45 is doing something right!
Anyone in WNY looking to split? @catcoland @fritzcat
@schristopher524 Would love to, but can’t. Just spent a bunch on Beckstoffer Cabs and Amarones.
@schristopher524 I can’t either but thanks for the offer!