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Cathrine Todd

@damewine

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Wine Storyteller based in New York City

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by @damewine

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2 months ago

Diving into the other wines of one of my new favorite Santa Ynez Valley producers - Roblar Winery & Vineyards @roblarwinery, as my previous post just focused on their Refugio Ranch wines and this post expands to their original Roblar Estate vineyards as well as sourcing from other vineyards within the area.
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2021 Grace & Grit, Gold Collection: 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot sourced 100% from the Roblar Estate vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley. Deep and compelling with notes of blackberry tiramisu dappled with espresso liqueur with asian spices wafting in the background intertwined with wet slate and cigar box making this an extremely complex wine that has an impressive prodigious finish. Only 229 cases made.
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2023 Cabernet Franc: 84% Cabernet Franc and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced 100% from the Roblar Estate vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley. Real precision when it comes to expressing terroir such as forest floor and crushed rocks layered with wild raspberries and dry tree bark that has juicy cassis flavors on the palate with a dusting of cocoa powder that is all wrapped up in elegant tannins. Only 245 cases made.
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2023 Sangre De Dioses: 63% Sangiovese, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot sourced from Santa Ynez Valley and Los Olivos District. A celestial beautiful that is dancing across the sky with expressionistic notes of fresh leather and crushed rose petals with lots of finesse and purity on the palate of red cherries and mulberries with a perfect balance achieved in the texture as it has just enough structure to ground it yet there is still plenty of lift to make it soar. Only 527 cases.
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2024 Chardonnay Reserve: 100% Chardonnay sourced from Peake Ranch vineyard, John Sebastiano vineyard and Zotovich vineyard in cool climate Santa Rita Hills within Santa Ynez Valley. A lively, spritely Chardonnay with enchanting aromas of white flowers, chalky minerality and peach skin, crisp acidity with lemon curd and lime blossom notes with long mouth watering acidity. Only 227 cases made.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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18 days ago

I thought I tried the best of the best of Santa Ynez Valley wines in Santa Barbara, California, until I came upon Roblar Winery & Vineyards and their special property Refugio Ranch @refugioranch, (and little scream) they are making wines with Rhône varieties as Santa Ynez has a wide diversity of climatic conditions. Also, their Petite Sirah, a grape that has been in California for over 140 years, and Sauvignon Blanc, are on another level of expression that comes from vineyards that have fragments of limestone with an otherworldly black, lunar-like rocky topsoil.
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It is no wonder that Refugio Ranch has become the soul of the Gleason Family Vineyards with Kevin and Niki Gleason living in a renovated barn on the property as they planted and managed vineyards over 20 years ago as they saw the great potential which has turned into incredible wines that thrill. And today, their son, daughter and son-in-law work there as well, and so, it is a family passion.
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2022 Barbareno: 90% Syrah, 5% Grenache and 5% Petite Sirah. A perfumed bouquet of white pepper, wild sage and mulberry skillet cake and aniseed with a hint of smoldering earth that languidly wraps itself around each note that has soft tannins and an intense precision on the mid-palate.
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2022 Petite Sirah: 100% Petite Sirah. Impressive opaque ruby color with a purplish tint that immediately envelopes the palate with raspberry liqueur flavors with an undercurrent of gravelly rocks and espresso beans with a powerful muscularity that is expertly manicured and polished to bring an exciting power without the harshness.
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2022 Escondrijo: 92% Grenache, 7% Petite Sirah and 1% Syrah. A nose that is effusively entrancing with brambly fruit, vivid red cherries and cinnamon bark laced in a chalky minerality as a glimmer of Mediterranean scrub starts to reveal itself and is enhanced by the finely etched tannins.
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2025 Tiradora: 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Captivating aroma of honeysuckle that is so crystalline in its expression that it is striking and heighted by crisp acidity and lemon zest with an electric drive and intense sense of minerality on the finish.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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24 days ago

The Spottswoode @spottswoodewinery beauties below exquisitely illustrate why these wines have been compared to First Growths in Bordeaux as their precision, finesse and overall vitality is glorious in both of these bottlings.
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2025 Sauvignon Blanc: 95% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Semillon. Brilliant aromas of lemon zest, chalky minerality and lime blossom with an incredible depth of flavor that is not typical of many Sauvignon Blanc wines that is presented magnificently with honeycomb and quince paste on the palate elevated by an electric acidity. The 2025 vintage is the first bottling that is sourced from 100% organic vineyards in Sonoma and Napa.
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2023 Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot from family-owned vineyards across Napa Valley that blends the best aspects of the sub-regions with each having their own unique characteristics, and in their totality, they create a mosaic of greatness. Intricate nose with mingled notes of crushed violets, gravelly rock, black cherry scone and bay leaves with vivid brambly berries and spicy raspberry sauce with a breathtaking lift, energy and prodigious finish which is a showstopper.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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a month ago

The below Napa Acumen @acumenwine single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is a great example of why Sauvignon Napa wines have become so deliciously irresistible, and the below single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also a block and barrel selection of the finest lots from Edcora Vineyard is awe-inspiring!
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2023 Acumen PEAK Sauvignon Blanc: 100% Sauvignon Blanc sourced from their Attelas Estate Vineyard located at high elevations on Atlas Peak. Delightful scents of honeysuckle, lemon curd and river stones with juicy peach flavors enriched with nectarine tart flavors with a tinge of candied violets with marked acidity and a long flavorful finish. A great example of why one cannot resist a Napa Sauvignon Blanc!
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2022 Acument PEAK Cabernet Sauvignon: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot sourced from their Edcora Estate Vineyard which reaches elevations of 1,600 feet and this bottling is a block and barrel selection of the best of the best. Deep and dark with blackberry compote, smoldering earth and wildflowers with black raspberry liqueur flavors with a hint of cocoa nibs that is ideally balanced by lots of pristine juicy fruit and tannins that are so fine and delicate they are awe-inspiring!
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#wine #damewine #winemaking taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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a month ago

There are a few places outside of the Rhône Valley, France, where Syrah really shines to extraordinary levels and Walla Walla Valley in Washington State is one of them and this is a lovely example of such a new world Syrah.
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2023 Bledsoe McDaniels @bledsoe_mcdaniels, Syrah McQueen Estate, Walla Walla Valley, Washington State: 100% Syrah from the high-elevation McQueen Estate. On the nose, picturesque blueberry preserves and spice box with an added complex note of pulverized granite rock that has fresh, electric fruit on the palate that has precise, delineated brambly fruit mingled with wildflowers and the tannins that are so fine they seem to melt away while allowing the pristine, multilayered fruit to shine. Only 113 cases were made.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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2 months ago

Davis Estates @davisestates in Napa Valley has an incredible story behind its owners, Mike and Sandy Davis,who both started from humble backgrounds, with Mike being a passionate entrepreneur who started by selling newspapers when he was a boy and Sandy starting as a nurse and beginning her career in critical care medicine. They bonded over their love for wine and Napa first starting to visit this magical wine oasis in the early 1980s. They always had a fantasy that one day, maybe, they could own their own winery yet it was an impossible dream for a young married couple that had to place tons of time into their careers and family. A few decades later, after building a company from scratch called Applied Computer Solutions and then selling it, they founded Davis Estates in Napa with their main stunning 155-acre estate in Calistoga and the others ini Carneros, Rutherford and Howell Mountain.
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2023 Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley: 100% Cabernet Franc. Delightful nose of crushed violets, ripe mulberries and pulverized rocks with a soft, supple texture and juicy blueberry fruit infused with complex notes of tree bark and asphalt and an uplifting acidity that brings a sparkle to the finish.
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2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromas that engage right off the bat with cigar box, cocoa nibs and a penetrating deep cassis note that is electrifying as much as it is decadent.
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2022 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. This Rutherford bad boy is intricately woven with blackberry cobbler, spice box and wild herbs with broad-shouldered tannins that bring that intense power of a rebel yet the structure is finely etched revealing a gentle heart with pristine fruit that makes one sigh.
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2022 Zephyr, Private Reserve: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot. Gorgeous tapestry of aromas and flavors that unwind in the glass with loamy soil, pipe tobacco and cherries jubilee that is well-balanced and lively with an incredible persistence on the finish.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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2 months ago

There was perfect weather today in New York City and so it was fitting to have wines that always strive for perfection!
@MerryEdwardsWinery
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2023 Merry Edwards, Chardonnay, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County: 100% Chardonnay. This sings from the glass with honeycomb, lemon blossom and dried white flowers with a taut body with lots of tension that gives an electric expression of grapefruit zest and crushed rocks on the palate finishing with mouthwatering acidity.
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2023 Merry Edwards, Olivet Lane Vineyard, Chardonnay, Russian River Valley: 100% Chardonnay. Aromas evocative of ripe pears and hints of hazelnut that are framed by a deft touch of oak with a racy acidity complemented by quince paste flavors on the palate that has a long, linear drive on the finish.
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2023 Merry Edwards, Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County: 100% Pinot Noir. A generous basket of a multitude of red fruits on the nose mingled with notions of cumin seed, violets and crushed rocks that has vibrant rhubarb flavors on the finely woven palate with a strong drive and marked acidity.
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#wine #damewine #winetasting taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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2 months ago

Keeping up with the wine industry is a full time job.

Luckily, there are journalists who do exactly that and make it easier for the rest of us. From changing markets to producer stories and industry shifts, they help turn information into insight.

If your work involves wine, these are voices worth keeping close.

Who else should be on this list?

(Wine Industry, Wine Journalism, Wine Trade, Wine Business, Wine Professionals, Wine Media, Asia Wine Ratings, Beverage Trade Network) by @damewine

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3 months ago

Love trying these mountain fruit beauties from Chappellet @chappellet_winery with the first as a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend and the second being a Cabernet Franc-dominant blend. Also, these 2023 bottlings not only represent an exceptional and potentially "once-in-a-lifetime" harvest but it is the first vintage that Ry Richards has taken over as winemaker. Ry has been working under Chappellet's longtime, legendary winemaker Phillip Corallo-Titus for 20 years and Phillip will still serve as a senior winemaking advisor, and so, it is exciting to get new energy leading the helm while also having a lot of experience with the Chappellet's uniquely, outstanding estate vineyard on Pritchard Hill.
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2023 Chappellet, Signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot. Exuberant plum tart and blueberry compote with a waft of cocoa powder and espresso that has a real drive and energy that is highlighted by crushed rocks and a linear finish.
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2023 Chappellet, Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley: 80% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. Aromatic medley of violets, fresh raspberries and dry tree bark that seems shy at first yet slowly unfurls with increasing intensity and precision with a mouthfeel that delivers a degree of finesse and exuberance with a seamless structure.
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#wine #damewine #winemaking taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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3 months ago

Incredible 11 vintage vertical with Ridge Vineyards @ridgevineyards to celebrate the legendary Judgment of Paris tasting's 50th anniversary, where they made history with other California winemakers by beating out some of the most prestigious French wines.
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I have first listed the oldest, 1971, which was the vintage at the tasting, and the youngest, 2023. But in the comments you can find the tasting notes for the other vintages.
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1971: A multidimensional mixture of dried herbs, iron and expansive fruit with a verve and poise that is spectacular and slowly unfurls with an intense sense of place.
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2023: Stunning ruby color with captivating violet notes and blueberry compote flavors and a complex hint of tar underneath with broad-shouldered tannins and an enveloping core of fruit that has a long length of flavor.
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More tasting notes in comments⬇️
#wine #damewine #winemaking taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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4 months ago

So nice to try a 2024 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as it was the driest summer there for nearly 100 years, with warm days and cool nights that were perfect for a slow, balanced ripening.
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2024 Wither Hills @witherhills, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand: 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Not only did I try this wine chilled but also tried it room temperature and it was delicious both times, which shows the incredible harmony and balance with irresistible flavors of key lime pie and vivid notes of green mango with a saline minerality and a delicate acidity that is refreshing without the austerity.
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#wine #damewine #winemaking taken in New York, New York by @damewine

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4 months ago