Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

I have mentioned my admiration for this producer when Charles Hendricks was their Winemaker through 2013. 2013 is a great Napa vintage for a swan song. My last Regusci post was their Patriarch and is my second favorite Regusci vineyard. Angelo’s, I mentioned was my favorite and this didn’t disappoint.

Not many well stored Angelo’s or Patriarch Regusci’s made by Charles left on the secondary market. This one was well stored with next to no wine running down the cork.

The nose is inviting. Ripe, ruby fruits of, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries, raspberries & cherries. Dark chocolate to pudding, anise, malted milk balls, mid berry to red cola, beautiful, nicely layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanilla, moist sage, black olive, dry stem & top soils, baking powder, tree bark with red & dark florals for days.

The tannins are still M+ but rounded & velvety. Ripe, ruby fruits of, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries, raspberries & cherries. Dark chocolate cake to pudding, anise, malted milk balls, mid berry to red cola, dark, fruit liqueur notes beautiful, nicely layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanilla, moist sage, black olive, dry stem & top soils, limestone, dry crushed rocks, baking powder, tree bark, dark, pronounced spice w/ heat, dryish tobacco w/ ash, leather, lead pencil with red & dark florals for days and liquid violets, beautiful acidity with tall structure/tension, great length & balance and elegance that lasts minutes and long sets on dry earth & spice.

Outstanding.Tasted many Napa Cabernets last weekend at Pebble Beach Food & Wine. Holds its own in all of them except the Harlan tasting; 94, 04, 07, 13, 16 & 20. Even Grace Family. — a month ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Etude – Heirloom Pinot Noir 2012
Grace Benoist Ranch, Carneros AVA – California, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
Estate-grown from the celebrated Grace Benoist Ranch, this Heirloom Pinot underscores Etude’s mastery of Carneros terroir. Over a decade since harvest, it has aged with remarkable poise, offering proof that Carneros Pinot can rival the greats for longevity. This one delivers the wow-factor in spades.

Aromas & Flavors
Dried cherry, black raspberry, and plum layered with rose petal, tea leaf, and subtle leather. Mature accents of forest floor and truffle bring savory depth to the fruit core.

Mouthfeel
Silky and seamless, with tannins fully resolved into finesse. Bright acidity carries the wine gracefully, while the finish lingers in layers of spice, earth, and fruit. Quite literally, the wine dances in the mouth.

Food Pairing
A natural match with duck confit, wild mushroom risotto, or aged Comté cheese. The wine’s silky texture and earthy notes intertwine beautifully with savory, umami-rich dishes.

The Verdict
A captivating Pinot Noir that reaffirms Etude’s finesse and Grace Benoist Ranch’s pedigree. This 2012 shows the sweet spot for Etude Heirloom around the 10–12 year mark, where fruit, earth, and structure harmonize in peak expression. Among Carneros’ top benchmarks for age-worthy Pinot. Cheers! — 8 months ago

Ted

9.1

Herbs, cinnamon and hints of incense. Light color. Pretty damn good. — 4 months ago

with Jeni

Doug Powers

9.2

Medium-dark red-purple color, beautiful redfruit aromas and flavors, with medium-toast oak showing as a seasoning the background, pretty sound structure and backbone, solid acidity, long, lingering finish, excellent California mountain Merlot (w/25% Cabernet Sauvignon). The sheer quality and complexity of this bottle is a wonderful tribute to the vision of Barbara and Jim Richards, who I am certain would be very proud, with Paloma now being ably run by their son Sheldon and his family. — 5 months ago

with Jim

TwiLea Fletcher

8.9

07.1125
Quite quite nice. — 10 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2021 vintage. No 2020 made for obvious reasons and only 90 cases of the 2019 vintage made so realistically not in the marketplace. 2018 (9.6) yielded a whopping 152 cases. 2021 was slightly more prolific but not exactly easy to run into. Same eternal, quiescent pace and style as the 2018. The rare Napa Cab effort inviting conversation versus attempts to dominate/control/stifle it. You can keep all your assorted vintages and producers of Beckstoffer This and Thats. I'll take this, any vintage, over any interpretations/producers of that, any time. And, frankly, once you taste it, you likely will too. @me with your impressions. 01.29.25. — a year ago

Kurt Schuster

8.9

Vivid clear, color and tight, concentrated fruit. Cherries and plums and juiciness. Very delicious, but also seem to fade very quickly and it’s flavor. Corked it for a day and a half and came back to something that was quite quickly on its way out and had become round and just grape juicy. Maybe that’s on me for leaving it.  — 5 months ago

with Denise

Tegan Marriott

8.9

Santa Barbara highlands radiance in a glass! Yo, I'll pretend I'm rolling through da Wine Ghetto! — 6 months ago

Raul Puga

9.4

Yes!!! Grenache!!! Yummy — a year ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

Initial impressions - Earthy, Herbal, Soy. Cherry complex and long. Much intestinal fortitude ie. guts. Thankfully not overly menthol/eucalyptus (just a trace) as you often get with all Wendouree Cuvées. Amazing the intensity provided by those old vines going back to the 1890’s. Could easily last another 5 to 10 years but pretty much at its peak right now. This is as good as Australian Shiraz gets - up there with Grange and Hill of Grace and recognised as such by Langtons. With time in the decanter, like all great wines, they develop and change. I was getting raspberry and mineral after a few hours. An exceptional wine and in the top 5 or so wines I have had this year. In good vintages I don’t think Wendouree Shiraz should be approached at under 20 years of age. — 4 years ago