Showing a multifaceted bouquet of dark red fruit and earthy tobacco, the 2013 Cab is a bit lighter than the 2016 vintage, but it offers lots of sweet dark fruit flavors accompanied by notes of pepper and tobacco. There’s well integrated oak and a persistent finish with solid tannins. A great steak wine.
Offering an earthy, herbal bouquet with black and red currant notes that carry over to the full bodied palate. There’s good acidity and freshness, nicely concentrated black currant and licorice flavors and well integrated oak. Finishes with fine, round tannins.
Saturated ruby. The bouquet reveals explosive cassis and cedar aroma. The palate is silky and dense with sweet, expansive dark fruit flavors and a light earthy note. Well focused and tightly structured with still firm tannins finishing with lingering rich dark red fruit notes.
More elegant than blockbuster, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent wine. The bouquet is redolent of dark cassis complemented by notes of earth and underbrush. There’s a lovely, silky texture to the mouth filling palate and nice integration of blackberry fruit and toasted oak. The tannins are still youthful but ripe. A wine that will only improve with a couple of years bottle age.
This beautiful Port-style dessert wine offers tempting, concentrated black-fruit flavors accented by flower and orange-peel notes. It is quite sweet and full in weight, feeling smooth and just a touch tannic in texture. Best through 2030.
This immense wine is wrapped tightly in tannins, holding the black currant and black cherry flavors firmly in check while a drying sensation puckers the palate. It has good focus and concentration underneath all that, which bodes well for aging.
This impressive and well-balanced wine is concentrated in a delicious black-fruit flavor, with a softly tannic, velvety texture that’s seductive. Layers of pure blueberry, black cherry and dark chocolate are wrapped in a creamy mouthfeel.
This annual post looks back at all the wines I wrote about in the previous year and singles out 50 that I thought were great wines. “Great” doesn’t necessarily imply the most profound, though several of these are as profound as wine gets; nor does it necessarily mean that these are the world’s famed wines intended for laying down in cellars for long aging. I don’t usually encounter such wines anyway.
From the estate’s 18-acre biodynamic mountain vineyard at 2,00o feet elevation, we are constantly in awe of the dynamism of these wines. Starting with rocky, red volcanic soils and aged for 25 months in French oak, this small production red (95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot) offers up violets and iron on the nose. Chalky, dry cocoa-cherrywood tannins produce a thrilling mouthfeel. Muted dried blue flowers and Italian herbs are saturated by black cherry.
Lake County’s rocky red volcanic soil, the 18-acre estate mountain biodynamically farmed vineyard’s high elevation up to 2,200 feet, results in a distinctively elegant expression of this teeth-clutching variety. Aromas of boysenberry, dark chocolate and brush lead to a finely grained texture with notes of dusted chocolate mint, violets and a sinewy, gliding finish of licorice and purple fruit.
The wine showed a dark ruby color. Black cherry, raspberry preserves, vanilla, licorice and oak could each be found on the nose. Cherry cola, raspberry preserves, vanilla, licorice, oak and hints of mocha followed on the palate where the robust cola notes set the tone for complexity. The wine was full-bodied and exhibited great length along with soft tannins. This wine would be an ideal pair for a roast beef tenderloin with horseradish cream.
Isaac Baker at Terroirist tastes six of our wines: https://www.terroirist.com/2020/08/wine-reviews-lake-countys-hawk-and-horse-vineyards/
Lyle Jensen tastes the Library Reserve Trio with Mitch and profiles the winery:
Viscous, fruity, hedonistic and just immensely enjoyable, this red late harvest wine is exactly what you want in a sweet dessert, namely, pleasure. A Platinum Award winner at the 2020 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition.
We are honored to have received a platinum and three gold medals from the 2020 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition.
2015 Petite Sirah / 94 Pts / James MelendezListen to James The Wine Guy’s reviews of our wines
The wine showed a dark ruby almost opaque color. Blackberry, raspberry preserves, cassis, licorice, vanilla, oak and whiffs of eucalyptus all arrived on the nose. Black cherry, raspberry, vanilla, cassis, licorice, oak and eucalyptus followed on a palate teeming with black cherry. The wine was full-bodied and exhibited good length along with moderate tannins. This wine would be an ideal pair for a seared dry-aged New York strip steak.
From the estate’s 18-acre biodynamic mountain vineyard at 2,00o feet elevation, we are constantly in awe of the dynamism of these wines. Starting with rocky, red volcanic soils and aged for 25 months in French oak, this small production red (95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot) offers up violets and iron on the nose. Chalky, dry cocoa-cherry wood tannins produce a thrilling mouthfeel. Muted dried blue flowers and Italian herbs are saturated by black cherry.
Deep garnet color and a lush nose of berry and oak. Smooth, juicy and tangy, with crisp berry flavors and bright acidity; long and charming.
International Wine Review takes a look at our Cabernets: Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake County’s Hawk and Horse Vineyard: 2008-2016 by Don…
A sturdy but approachable Petite Sirah that is more than worthy of your cellar. Blackberry, bold wood spice, firm grip and a long finish where the fruit shines through – it’s a classic tale that fans of the grape will recognize. Bravo! A Platinum Award winner at the 2020 Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition.
His 2016 Block Three is yet another stunning Cab from Mitch, on a par with more famous wineries in neighboring Napa. This vintage is rich and dense, with aromas of blackberry and spice, a note of graphite and beautifully integrated tannins. A Platinum Award winner at the 2020 Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition.
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Block Three 2016 96 points Winemaker Mitch Hawkins is currently producing some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon ever…
Winemaker Mitch Hawkins is currently producing some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon ever made in Lake County, in the hills northeast of the Napa Valley.
This full-bodied and impressive wine matches the intense tannins of the variety with equally intense fruit flavors for good balance on a very big frame. Bright blueberry and blackberry aromas lead to effusive black-fruit and dried fruit flavors, accented by dark chocolate.
Serious and full bodied, this complex wine is made from organic grapes. It wafts aromas of mint, toasted oak and baking spices and delivers layers of black and red fruits, cedar and vanilla on the palate. It has moderate tannins and a mouth-filling texture.
Old world style with lower alcohol
Grows in rich volcanic soil
A nose of cedar, ripe roses and nutmeg
Soft and elegant, tastes of Bing cherries, sweet fruit, leather and cocoa
Long velvety finish with sweet tannins