2015 “Barlow Vineyards” Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
The color profile is a deep ruby red while the nose is dominated by dark cherry and a touch of spice. Cherry also shows up on the palate along with some subtle oak. Full bodied with rich, chewy tannins that will open up with decanting to drink now or will age well in your cellar. Decant now or drink by 2035.
Specs
Vintage: 2015
Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Appellation: Calistoga
Barrel Regime: 19 months, 100% French Oak, 35% new barrels
Alcohol: 13.7%
Production: 446 cases
2016 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
In true to our vineyard fashion, light caramel shows up on the nose along with ripe cherry and red fruits. A nice hint of black pepper shows up on the palate along with warm spices. Medium tannins give way to a lingering finish. A well balanced wine which pairs nicely with lamb, mushroom and heavier fare. Drink by 2024.
Vineyard Notes
The estate vineyard was planted in 1996, just before Laura took ownership in 1999. The vineyard sits on the west side of the Oat Hill Mine Road, planted at the base of the hill. Michael carefully tends the plants and has renovated the vineyard planted in 1980 with new plantings in 2007, 2010 and 2014. As the new plantings get to full production, the rest of the vineyard continues to give us great complexity and a zinfandel flavor that just hints at some black pepper on the palate while remaining quite fruity and food friendly.
Specs
Vintage: 2016
Varietal Composition: 100% Zinfandel
Appellation: Calistoga
Barrel Regime: 19 months, 100% American Oak, 40% new barrels
Alcohol: 15.3%
TA: 6.3
pH: 3.63
1% RS
Production: 358 cases
Included in the Box
4-bottles:
2x 2015 “Barlow Vineyards” Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga, Napa Valley
2x 2016 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Case:
6x 2015 “Barlow Vineyards” Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga, Napa Valley
6x 2016 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Laura and Michael Swanton know the many challenges of establishing a boutique winery dedicated to crafting small quantities of fine wine in the Napa Valley. They have experienced them all in their demanding, yet delicious, journey from fledging winery to award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel producers.
A long-time wine enthusiast, Owner and Proprietor Laura Swanton purchased the Calistoga winery estate that would become Laura Michael Wines from the Traulsen family in 1999. At the time, Laura was a sales specialist with Cisco Systems in San Jose. It was a career that required intimate knowledge of high-tech product application. Knowing how the technology worked was critical to her success in selling the product.
At the time Laura purchased the winery, Michael had embarked on an independent career in power generation and services, a career that spanned nearly two decades. When they came together in 2006, their current journey started and continues to this day. Today, their tenacity for learning systems and science is directed at running their small winery and vineyard estate dedicated to limited-production, premium red wines. Since 1999, Laura has managed all winemaking processes from grape sourcing to the logistics of launching and operating a winery. Her zeal to understand winegrowing at its root has her pruning, picking, irrigating and collecting samples in the vineyard. A thirst for winemaking knowledge encourages her participation in crush, pump-overs, racking and bottling.
“We do it all,” says Laura. “It’s so important that we work alongside every member of our team from the temporary harvest help to our consulting winemaker. We are not ones to stand on the sidelines, and fortunately because we are as small as we are, we can be actively involved in every aspect of this business.”
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
I don’t have much technical analysis to add here, but am excited to see this offer. We stumbled upon this winery at the suggestion of our driver in February and I was blown away by literally every single wine I tried.
Laura’s wines have always been winners in my experience. The major thing preventing me from buying today is that I’m not much of a zin drinker. Well, and the lack of space in the cellar - I’m just not drinking my inventory fast enough!
@ttboy23 You drank in high school! Fetch me my fainting couch. Mine is Coors Light, but I think it was more of whatever the parents drank of the friend everyone knew.
The cork broke off in the bottle. Then, while trying to get the remaining cork out with a paring knife, I pushed the remainder into the bottle with great force causing a giant splashback all over me and my table. Evidence of the crime scene still lingers on the label in my photo below. Not a great first impression for me, but it happens. I poured the wine through a fine metal strainer and into my decanter so I could power through. Nothing stands between me and my duty to wine!
Upon first sniff, in the decanter, I smelled dark fruit and definite notes of oak. I love oak (and zin!) so I excitedly poured a glass. The color in the glass is a deep dark garnet. I actually held the glass up to the light and I couldn’t see through it at all. It coats the glass, too, which is just really cool. Overall, it’s just gorgeous to look at.
Sniffing that first glass actually burned my eyes. The alcohol burn completely ruined the taste of the first few sips so I decided to let it mellow. I felt like this bottle was taking me on an emotional rollercoaster at that point anyway, so I needed to step away. But my perseverance and patience were heavily rewarded. After sitting for a few hours, that initial harshness had completely dissipated. I was left with a beautiful earthy, sour cherry, peppery goodness. Two glasses in, I can confidently say I could easily polish off the whole bottle in one sitting. But I won’t; I want to see how it evolves overnight.
All drama aside, my overall opinion is that this is a wonderful zinfandel. It’s dry, oaky, and bold. All of my favorite characteristics of a red wine.
@rjquillin I tried several different corkscrews but they couldn’t reach far enough into the bottle to catch onto the broken bit (if that makes sense). Clearly my home needs a corkscrew upgrade…
I stored it overnight in my decanter, which you can see in the background of my pic. I wrote the review last night so as soon as I’m more awake, I’ll go try a sip!
Update: spending the night in the decanter really mellowed this wine out. It’s so smooth today and even more delicious. My non-wine-drinker-fiance absolutely hated it yesterday, even after letting it breathe for a few hours. But today, he loves it! He says it’s fruity and kind of sweet.
Already ordered, but any chance we get some winemaker participation? Labrat admitted the fiance wasn’t a wine drinker, but I do not like “sweet” in ANY wine that is not a dessert wine.
Perceived sweetness/acidity, we’ve been down that road, this is obviously dry, but inquiring minds want to know…
@KNmeh7 FWIW, I don’t agree with fiance’s assessment of sweet at all. I think he tasted the fruit today (compared to just the alcohol yesterday) and described that as “sweeter” than the day before. I think it’s a really good dry zin, but that’s one gal’s opinion. I’d love to hear from the winemaker as well!
@origamipenguins It is pretty disappointing that 20 hours after launch the “small winery that micromanages every single aspect” can’t be bothered to make a presence on casemates.
And for someone who worked at Cisco, their website is atrocious with mislabeled vintages and labels.
Whatever, I bought into the hype, but it would be nice for someone who touts themselves as overseeing every aspect of the wine, you would think they would show up.
Seriously, though, should I cancel my order considering, and I quote:
We are not ones to stand on the sidelines, and fortunately because we are as small as we are, we can be actively involved in every aspect of this business.
@KNmeh7@origamipenguins@rjquillin@WCCWineGirl@Winedavid49 Marketing words are cheap. Interaction and listening and discussing takes effort. Same things apply to wine, as to our entire society at the moment. Or always has, we just may not have been aware of it…
@KNmeh7@origamipenguins it’s pretty disappointing that these words you have written here are unnecessarily aggressive and abusive. The casemates community is not one in which participants speak to each other the way you are.
If your disappointment with the winery participation is so hurtful to you, I can’t imagine you will ever enjoy this wine, no matter how excellently produced or rare.
Having had their wines myself, I believe they do oversee every aspect of their wonderful wine. Making great wine has zero to do with marketing hype and chat rooms, unless you’re a ruthless capitalist pig. Fine wine is created by artists.
Maybe they aren’t on the sidelines but just could not get here now. Does that means everything they do is questionable to you? Seriously though, that sounds like an atrocious way to exist.
@KNmeh7@origamipenguins@Vince247 This! Thank you Vince247 for saying this. Some wine drinkers “get it”, others are clueless and think the world revolves around them and every casemates purchase they make.
@KNmeh7@origamipenguins@Vince247
You read way too much into this. The casemates community expects winery participation on offerings - the more expensive the more we expect it. The more the producer is known to us, the more we expect it, generally speaking. The community is what makes casemates different from every other deal site and all you have to do is look through hundreds of past offers to see phrases like “wasn’t going to buy this but winery participation got me”.
@klezman@KNmeh7@origamipenguins don’t dismiss my comments with the tired, patronizing “you read way too much into this”. Maybe you don’t read into it enough?
I know what this community expects. This winery is a regular provider of wine on this site. This wasn’t about the request for winery participation. It was about the tasteless and bullying approach of the poster.
Sure, winery participation is important. But they can’t for whatever reason. Is that a reason for this poster to add their passive/aggressive and generally confrontational, unhelpful, angry demands? Absolutely not. Threatening to “cancel your order” is a magnitude of entitled and obnoxious I wont let stand without comment.
All you have to do is not tell other people how to feel. What next, am I being " too sensitive?".
@KNmeh7@Vince247 whoah, please don’t drag me into this! Please reread my single comment on this thread and leave me out of the infighting. I’m just here to enjoy good wine! And I did!
@klezman “Have a nice day” What an obnoxious and obviously insincere response. You said everything that I “ascribed” in the tone of what you wrote and your approach. It’s how you say things that’s important. A mature adult understands that.
Oh dear. I’ve been trying to save money and not buy wine since I’m moving. But I love Laura Michael and its an auto buy for me. Sigh. Not sharing in LA.
I have had Laura Michael’s wines in the past (from the old site), and really liked them. And if I hadn’t just gone down to my favorite local winery (another shoutout to Long Point Winery on Cayuga Lake, who have their grapes shipped out from CA) and bought 10 bottles, I would definitely be in. And, I agree; a little participation from the winery might just push me over the edge.
@FritzCat I drive by that winery several times a week, commuting to Ithaca…but usually at 6 AM and 8 PM. Do they make both local and “California” wines? Must find a day to stop in.
@gillisr Yes they do. Their Cab Franc is local, as are their whites…excellent off-dry Riesling. Their “California” wines are excellent though, and the prices are reasonable. Do stop in for a tasting.
@FritzCat@gillisr HI, our current tasting availability is two times a day, 10am or 1pm. We aren’t taking same day reservations, so please plan ahead. I am not mixing groups together and there is a party size limit of 6. No minors, no pets. Masks required on property except at the tasting table, which is outside, so keep the hot weather in mind. We would love to see you! Cheers!
Hi Everyone, Laura Swanton here from Laura Michael Wines. thank you for all the comments. Both the wines have staying power in your cellar. The 2015 vintage, coming off the drought, was highly tannic at picking. We normally wait at least three years to release the wine so the time did help in the bottle. It’s easily a 15 year cellar stay if you have the time and inclination. This cab is 100% cab from Barlow Vineyards in Calistoga. We’ve been doing business with them since 2007 and feel that the longer we are in a vineyard, the better we get. We always age the cabs on French oak, usually 35%-40% new barrels for about 19 months so we are trying to moderate additional tannin by using a greater majority of neutral oak.
The 2016 Oat Hill estate is grown at the winery. We’ve been farming this land since 1999 and the vineyard has never looked, or performed better. 2016 is a bit more lush that the previous couple of years. We were officially out of the drought by then, but zin tends to be a heavy crop anyway, which lends itself to a more fruit forward style rather than a peppery style. We try very hard to work the vines and not overcrop. I like the wine to be food friendly and at 15%, it’s nicely balanced, especially with some decant, as the Lab Rats pointed out.
For those that perceive sweetness, it’s often the case that higher alcohol wines come across as sweet because the alcohol fools your mouth into thinking it’s sweet when it’s really 15% plus. All my dry wines are made completely dry, less than 1% residual sugar. We make a dessert wine, so that’s the sweet one in the line up , called Laura’s Theme.
@klezman As always, the devil is in the details. If you have been storing it “properly” then it should still be great. it’s been in the bottle since 2011 - so 9 years of bottle age should have it showing really well. It’s not a super high alcohol dessert wine, we always try to keep it in the 18% class or so, and usually 8%-10% RS. Once you open it you have about a month of life on it. Cheers!
@chipgreen@klezman@lauramichaelnv
Some of us are ‘not so close’ as to make visits easy. Chip, for instance, is from OH, while klez and I are from ‘next door’ SoCal.
@chipgreen@lauramichaelnv@rjquillin Exactly. I also got mine on that visit.
I don’t think I’ve been tasting in Napa since then, aside from the 2014 RPM Tour.
I have enjoyed all the Laura Michael wines (all Zins so far) that I’ve had. Opened a bottle of 2013 Old Vines Zin last night (not Oat Hill, which I also have) and it was excellent- wasn’t planning on buying, but that pushed me over the edge. In for the case. My wallet doesn’t thank you, but I will.
/giphy cardiac-strong-louse
Many top notch wineries who pay attention to every aspect of the operation (making wine) perhaps don’t have the slickest or most up to date websites. Some basically have no web presence at all. But if that attention applies to what’s in the bottle, well, that’s what counts.
2015 “Barlow Vineyards” Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Specs
2016 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel, Calistoga, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Vineyard Notes
Specs
Included in the Box
Price Comparison
$582 at Laura Michael Wines for 6x of the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga and 6x of the Zinfandel, Calistoga without tax or shipping
About The Winery
Winery: Laura Michael Wines
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, August 6th - Monday, August 10th
Laura Michael Mixed Reds
4 bottles for $99.99 $25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $269.99 $22.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2015 Cabernet Barlow Vineyards
2016 Zinfandel Oat Hill Estate
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Laura Michael Mixed Reds - $30 = 9.99%
Looking for some rats, so I can buy accordingly… ?
I don’t have much technical analysis to add here, but am excited to see this offer. We stumbled upon this winery at the suggestion of our driver in February and I was blown away by literally every single wine I tried.
Laura’s wines have always been winners in my experience. The major thing preventing me from buying today is that I’m not much of a zin drinker. Well, and the lack of space in the cellar - I’m just not drinking my inventory fast enough!
/giphy tense-budding-blueberry
I have never tried Laura’s wines despite having some 2012 and 2014 Rutherford cabs. Add to the collection, I suppose.
@KNmeh7 Don’t touch my Bud Light, lol!
@KNmeh7 actually, that beer gives me an instant headache (and memories of high school)
@ttboy23 You drank in high school! Fetch me my fainting couch. Mine is Coors Light, but I think it was more of whatever the parents drank of the friend everyone knew.
2016 Oat Hill Estate Zinfandel
The cork broke off in the bottle. Then, while trying to get the remaining cork out with a paring knife, I pushed the remainder into the bottle with great force causing a giant splashback all over me and my table. Evidence of the crime scene still lingers on the label in my photo below. Not a great first impression for me, but it happens. I poured the wine through a fine metal strainer and into my decanter so I could power through. Nothing stands between me and my duty to wine!
Upon first sniff, in the decanter, I smelled dark fruit and definite notes of oak. I love oak (and zin!) so I excitedly poured a glass. The color in the glass is a deep dark garnet. I actually held the glass up to the light and I couldn’t see through it at all. It coats the glass, too, which is just really cool. Overall, it’s just gorgeous to look at.
Sniffing that first glass actually burned my eyes. The alcohol burn completely ruined the taste of the first few sips so I decided to let it mellow. I felt like this bottle was taking me on an emotional rollercoaster at that point anyway, so I needed to step away. But my perseverance and patience were heavily rewarded. After sitting for a few hours, that initial harshness had completely dissipated. I was left with a beautiful earthy, sour cherry, peppery goodness. Two glasses in, I can confidently say I could easily polish off the whole bottle in one sitting. But I won’t; I want to see how it evolves overnight.
All drama aside, my overall opinion is that this is a wonderful zinfandel. It’s dry, oaky, and bold. All of my favorite characteristics of a red wine.
@origamipenguins Why a pairing knife, and not just again screw into the cork and extract the remainder?
Look forward to tomorrows’ follow-up.
How you storing it overnight?
@rjquillin I tried several different corkscrews but they couldn’t reach far enough into the bottle to catch onto the broken bit (if that makes sense). Clearly my home needs a corkscrew upgrade…
I stored it overnight in my decanter, which you can see in the background of my pic. I wrote the review last night so as soon as I’m more awake, I’ll go try a sip!
@origamipenguins Thanks for the report. Had the ‘13 OVZ not long ago and remember the heavy oak influence there as well. Where are the cab rats?
Update: spending the night in the decanter really mellowed this wine out. It’s so smooth today and even more delicious. My non-wine-drinker-fiance absolutely hated it yesterday, even after letting it breathe for a few hours. But today, he loves it! He says it’s fruity and kind of sweet.
@origamipenguins Sounds like you found a good wine and a good fiancé.
@origamipenguins oh, I’ve never done that cork thing
@origamipenguins thank you for reporting even after a precarious start.
/giphy Queenlike-buttoned-pancake
Phew.
Already ordered, but any chance we get some winemaker participation? Labrat admitted the fiance wasn’t a wine drinker, but I do not like “sweet” in ANY wine that is not a dessert wine.
Perceived sweetness/acidity, we’ve been down that road, this is obviously dry, but inquiring minds want to know…
@KNmeh7 FWIW, I don’t agree with fiance’s assessment of sweet at all. I think he tasted the fruit today (compared to just the alcohol yesterday) and described that as “sweeter” than the day before. I think it’s a really good dry zin, but that’s one gal’s opinion.
I’d love to hear from the winemaker as well!
@origamipenguins It is pretty disappointing that 20 hours after launch the “small winery that micromanages every single aspect” can’t be bothered to make a presence on casemates.
And for someone who worked at Cisco, their website is atrocious with mislabeled vintages and labels.
Whatever, I bought into the hype, but it would be nice for someone who touts themselves as overseeing every aspect of the wine, you would think they would show up.
Seriously, though, should I cancel my order considering, and I quote:
So… why on the sidelines?
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins
Something for @WCCWineGirl and @winedavid49 to take note of…
some producers ‘get it’, others are clueless.
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins @rjquillin @WCCWineGirl @Winedavid49 Marketing words are cheap. Interaction and listening and discussing takes effort. Same things apply to wine, as to our entire society at the moment. Or always has, we just may not have been aware of it…
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins it’s pretty disappointing that these words you have written here are unnecessarily aggressive and abusive. The casemates community is not one in which participants speak to each other the way you are.
If your disappointment with the winery participation is so hurtful to you, I can’t imagine you will ever enjoy this wine, no matter how excellently produced or rare.
Having had their wines myself, I believe they do oversee every aspect of their wonderful wine. Making great wine has zero to do with marketing hype and chat rooms, unless you’re a ruthless capitalist pig. Fine wine is created by artists.
Maybe they aren’t on the sidelines but just could not get here now. Does that means everything they do is questionable to you? Seriously though, that sounds like an atrocious way to exist.
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins @Vince247 This! Thank you Vince247 for saying this. Some wine drinkers “get it”, others are clueless and think the world revolves around them and every casemates purchase they make.
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins @Vince247
You read way too much into this. The casemates community expects winery participation on offerings - the more expensive the more we expect it. The more the producer is known to us, the more we expect it, generally speaking. The community is what makes casemates different from every other deal site and all you have to do is look through hundreds of past offers to see phrases like “wasn’t going to buy this but winery participation got me”.
@klezman @KNmeh7 @origamipenguins don’t dismiss my comments with the tired, patronizing “you read way too much into this”. Maybe you don’t read into it enough?
I know what this community expects. This winery is a regular provider of wine on this site. This wasn’t about the request for winery participation. It was about the tasteless and bullying approach of the poster.
Sure, winery participation is important. But they can’t for whatever reason. Is that a reason for this poster to add their passive/aggressive and generally confrontational, unhelpful, angry demands? Absolutely not. Threatening to “cancel your order” is a magnitude of entitled and obnoxious I wont let stand without comment.
All you have to do is not tell other people how to feel. What next, am I being " too sensitive?".
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins @Vince247
I never said or implied what you’re ascribing to me. I simply disagree with your characterization.
Have a nice day.
@KNmeh7 @Vince247 whoah, please don’t drag me into this! Please reread my single comment on this thread and leave me out of the infighting. I’m just here to enjoy good wine! And I did!
@klezman “Have a nice day” What an obnoxious and obviously insincere response. You said everything that I “ascribed” in the tone of what you wrote and your approach. It’s how you say things that’s important. A mature adult understands that.
Seems this Covid (I was slammed for calling it by it’s origin earlier) and SIP is getting the best of some of us…
@KNmeh7 I chimed in later in the discussions! (Laura of Laura Michael Wines!)
@KNmeh7 @origamipenguins @rjquillin @Winedavid49 Appreciate your thoughts. Will keep striving for more and timely winery participation. Could have been the weekend?
Bought their Zinfandel vertical offer here in 2018 and it was amazing. Glad to see more of their wines being listed. Auto buy for us.
Oh dear. I’ve been trying to save money and not buy wine since I’m moving. But I love Laura Michael and its an auto buy for me. Sigh. Not sharing in LA.
/giphy lone-auburn-zebra
I have had Laura Michael’s wines in the past (from the old site), and really liked them. And if I hadn’t just gone down to my favorite local winery (another shoutout to Long Point Winery on Cayuga Lake, who have their grapes shipped out from CA) and bought 10 bottles, I would definitely be in. And, I agree; a little participation from the winery might just push me over the edge.
@FritzCat I drive by that winery several times a week, commuting to Ithaca…but usually at 6 AM and 8 PM. Do they make both local and “California” wines? Must find a day to stop in.
@gillisr Yes they do. Their Cab Franc is local, as are their whites…excellent off-dry Riesling. Their “California” wines are excellent though, and the prices are reasonable. Do stop in for a tasting.
@FritzCat @gillisr HI, our current tasting availability is two times a day, 10am or 1pm. We aren’t taking same day reservations, so please plan ahead. I am not mixing groups together and there is a party size limit of 6. No minors, no pets. Masks required on property except at the tasting table, which is outside, so keep the hot weather in mind. We would love to see you! Cheers!
You had me at Zahtila …
Hi Everyone, Laura Swanton here from Laura Michael Wines. thank you for all the comments. Both the wines have staying power in your cellar. The 2015 vintage, coming off the drought, was highly tannic at picking. We normally wait at least three years to release the wine so the time did help in the bottle. It’s easily a 15 year cellar stay if you have the time and inclination. This cab is 100% cab from Barlow Vineyards in Calistoga. We’ve been doing business with them since 2007 and feel that the longer we are in a vineyard, the better we get. We always age the cabs on French oak, usually 35%-40% new barrels for about 19 months so we are trying to moderate additional tannin by using a greater majority of neutral oak.
@lauramichaelnv Thanks for stopping by, Laura! I certainly enjoyed some of your Barlow Vineyard Cabs in the past.
The 2016 Oat Hill estate is grown at the winery. We’ve been farming this land since 1999 and the vineyard has never looked, or performed better. 2016 is a bit more lush that the previous couple of years. We were officially out of the drought by then, but zin tends to be a heavy crop anyway, which lends itself to a more fruit forward style rather than a peppery style. We try very hard to work the vines and not overcrop. I like the wine to be food friendly and at 15%, it’s nicely balanced, especially with some decant, as the Lab Rats pointed out.
For those that perceive sweetness, it’s often the case that higher alcohol wines come across as sweet because the alcohol fools your mouth into thinking it’s sweet when it’s really 15% plus. All my dry wines are made completely dry, less than 1% residual sugar. We make a dessert wine, so that’s the sweet one in the line up , called Laura’s Theme.
@lauramichaelnv Science! Very cool! Thanks for clarifying the “sweetness” issue!
@lauramichaelnv I have a bottle of the 2007 Laura’s Theme - what do you think for a drinking window?
@klezman As always, the devil is in the details. If you have been storing it “properly” then it should still be great. it’s been in the bottle since 2011 - so 9 years of bottle age should have it showing really well. It’s not a super high alcohol dessert wine, we always try to keep it in the 18% class or so, and usually 8%-10% RS. Once you open it you have about a month of life on it. Cheers!
@klezman @lauramichaelnv
I have one of these too, purchased at your place during the 2012 “RPM Magical History Tour”.
@chipgreen @klezman That was a fun day! Why so long since you’ve visited again?
@chipgreen @klezman @lauramichaelnv
Some of us are ‘not so close’ as to make visits easy. Chip, for instance, is from OH, while klez and I are from ‘next door’ SoCal.
@chipgreen @lauramichaelnv @rjquillin Exactly. I also got mine on that visit.
I don’t think I’ve been tasting in Napa since then, aside from the 2014 RPM Tour.
I have enjoyed all the Laura Michael wines (all Zins so far) that I’ve had. Opened a bottle of 2013 Old Vines Zin last night (not Oat Hill, which I also have) and it was excellent- wasn’t planning on buying, but that pushed me over the edge. In for the case. My wallet doesn’t thank you, but I will.
/giphy cardiac-strong-louse
Many top notch wineries who pay attention to every aspect of the operation (making wine) perhaps don’t have the slickest or most up to date websites. Some basically have no web presence at all. But if that attention applies to what’s in the bottle, well, that’s what counts.