August 22, 2025 • 40 mins
Lillie was full of spit and fire
@Larkmeadvineyards @hallwines #wine #napavalleywine #cabernetwine #podcast #radioshow #host
Co hosts : Good ol Boy Harmeet, Good ol Boy Justin, Made Man Bob
SIPS – Join us for a delightful exploration of fine wines in this episode of Sips, Suds, & Smokes! Our hosts dive into a tasting of exceptional selections from Napa Valley.
With plenty of humor and spirited debates, the hosts share their tasting experiences and ratings while discussing the rich history behind each winery. From the spirited origins of Larkmead to the stunning architecture of Hall, the stories behind these wines are as captivating as the flavors themselves. Expect lively banter about food pairings (yes, a bacon show is on the horizon!) and detailed tasting notes that reveal the nuances of each wine, from floral aromas to dark fruit flavors.
Get ready for an entertaining and educational journey through the world of wine, complete with ratings from 1 to 5 , ensuring there's something for every wine enthusiast. Tune in and discover why 2021 is hailed as a remarkable vintage for both Larkmead and Hall!
05:25 Larkmead Firebelle Red 2021 4 SIPS
11:14 Larkmead Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 4 SIPS
15:17 Larkmead Solari Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 5 SIPS
21:35 Hall 1873 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 4 SIPS
28:30 Hall Jacks Masterpiece Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 5 SIPS
33:47 Kathryn Hall 2021 5 SIPS
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Wine Tasting, Larkmead Wines, Hall Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Wine Ratings, Wine Reviews, Wine And Food Pairing, Wine Enthusiasts, Wine History, Wine Production, Wine Recommendations, Tasting Notes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Brent (00:00):
On the next episode of Sip, Suds and
Smokes. So we're gonna be. We're gonna be talking about wine on
this episode.
>> Harm (00:07):
Well, what about you?
>> Brent (00:08):
You're having a glass of wine. I'm not having a
glass of wine.
>> Harm (00:12):
I'm having six.
>> Brent (00:13):
It's called a tasting, and it's classy. Here are, uh,
the wines that we are going to be discussing today. From
Larkmead, we have the Larkmead fire bell red
2021, we have the Larkmead, uh, Estate
Cabernet Sauvignon M21, we have the
LarkmeaD Solari Cabernet Sauvignon 21.
And from hall, we have the Hall
(00:33):
1873 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021,
the Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021, and the
Catherine Hall 2021.
>> Harm (00:44):
So I'm excited. Um,
yeah, very aroused.
>> Brent (00:49):
Yeah. This is.
>> Harm (00:50):
This is.
>> Brent (00:51):
This is a pretty good day.
>> Bob (00:53):
We'll be right back after this break.
>> Brent (01:17):
Brought to you almost live from the dude in the
basement studios. Why?
>> Bob (01:22):
Because that's where the good stuff, uh, is.
>> Brent (01:25):
Sips, suds, and smokes with your smoke.
And host the good old boys.
(01:49):
And now it's sipping time.
Foreign
time again. Welcome to this Sips episode where everything in
life is worth discussing.
>> Harm (02:04):
It's not because we don't discuss food.
Why do we discuss food? Why don't we do a steak show?
>> Brent (02:10):
Because we're too busy eating it.
>> Harm (02:12):
Yeah, it's true. Although these wines today would grow
great with a steak show.
>> Brent (02:16):
Well, anything goes good with a steak.
Yeah.
>> Harm (02:20):
Justin, what about you? Steak show, pork show.
You're. You're Jewish. You don't keep kosher, right?
No, but, uh, let's do a bacon show. Sure.
>> Brent (02:29):
Oh, yeah, we should definitely do a bacon show.
>> Harm (02:31):
So we do a bacon and wine show.
>> Brent (02:32):
Yeah, sure, sure.
>> Harm (02:34):
So almost everything good life's worth discussing. We need to
talk to the producers and get us a bacon show.
>> Brent (02:39):
We have friends who own a winery in Napa that also own a
Wagyu cattle farm just north of Napa.
>> Harm (02:44):
I think there's an. There's a few episodes right there, baby.
>> Brent (02:47):
Yeah. Ah, we did a wine tasting at a restaurant up in
Delray, and they. They air shipped in the
meat.
>> Bob (02:54):
I'll volunteer to grill it on, um, my charcoal.
>> Brent (02:56):
Pretty good day.
>> Harm (02:58):
We do an episode in the restaurant. Okay.
So, well, but today we're discussing wine.
>> Brent (03:02):
We're gonna be. We're gonna be talking about wine on this episode.
>> Harm (03:05):
Well, what about you? You're having a glass of wine.
>> Brent (03:08):
I'm not having a glass of wine. I'm having
six. It's called a tasting, and it's classy. Yeah,
there you go.
So,
SIPs rating our SIPs ratings about wine.
Distilled spirits, tea, coffee, anything else you can sip.
And here are, uh, the wines that we are going to be discussing
today. From Larkmead, we have the
Larkmead fire bell red 2021,
(03:30):
we have the Larkmead Estate. Uh, Cabernet Sauvignon
21, we have the LarkmeaD Solari
Cabernet Sauvignon21. And from
hall, we have the Hall 1873
Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, the
Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon2021, and the
Catherine Hall 2021.
>> Harm (03:52):
So I'm excited. Um,
yeah, very aroused.
>> Brent (03:57):
Yeah. This is.
>> Harm (03:58):
This is.
>> Brent (03:58):
This is a pretty good day, so.
>> Harm (04:00):
It's a good day.
>> Brent (04:03):
So let's have Justin tell us about our SIPs ratings.
>> Bob (04:06):
One sip. Give me a glass of
water to wash out my mouth.
>> Brent (04:12):
Sounds like Boris Karloff after he had a brain in here.
>> Bob (04:19):
Two sips. Nice spot.
What else do you have?
>> Harm (04:24):
That was close. We're not going to say who he's trying to do, but I want you
guys to figure it out.
>> Bob (04:27):
Uh, three sips.
It's interesting. What was this
again?
>> Harm (04:34):
Interesting.
>> Brent (04:35):
Definitely Boris Karloff with an aneurysm.
>> Harm (04:37):
I know. Yeah.
>> Bob (04:38):
Four sips. Let's, um,
keep this secret to ourselves and
pour me another.
>> Harm (04:47):
That's classified.
>> Bob (04:50):
Five sips. Oh, my.
I was unaware anything could be this good.
>> Brent (04:57):
Are you sure? Is that you're gonna go with that?
Yeah, sure. Okay.
>> Harm (05:02):
Oh, my goodness. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Yes.
>> Brent (05:08):
I wasn't so sure about that choice, but okay.
>> Harm (05:10):
And if you contestants at home guessed, uh,
Alan Rickman, you're
genius, because that did not sound like Alan
rickman.
>> Brent (05:19):
Yeah. No, Mr.
Potter. Yeah. Okay. Good Lord help us all.
All right, so that takes us to our first wine.
So let's talk a little bit about
larkmead. So, in 1851, Charles
Hitchcock was an army surgeon, moved from North
Carolina to San Francisco with his wife, Martha and their
spirited daughter, Lily. She
(05:41):
was later dramatically rescued from a fire in San
Francisco by the Number 5 Fire Company. This experience
made her a lifelong supporter of the fire department,
and she even began signing her name with the number five after it
for the rest of her life. And she was given the
honorary membership in the fire department
and given the nickname of Fire Bell Lil.
(06:02):
Um, she Was spirited, shall we say.
So her parents, trying to settle her down, decided to
move her out of the city and sent her
to live up in Napa Valley, which was the
absolute sticks at the time.
Um, that didn't work.
So she named her new home Lark Mead after the meadow
arcs in the area. Um, she was the first one to
(06:24):
plant the first vineyard on the property. Um, the
property was subsequently leased to the mena family in
1895, who then purchased it outright. And
1903, it was expanded in
1906 and run until Felix's death in
1940. The family sold the vineyards
to a Chicago distributor. Um, in
1943. It was then sold to National
(06:46):
Distillers. Then it was purchased by
Larry and Polly Solari. The property
eventually was passed down to their daughter, Kate Solari
Barker, and her late husband, Cam Baker. And
in 2005, they built the first phase
of the new state of the art winery. You've got to see it.
It's absolutely stunning. Beautiful,
beautiful winery. And I mean, that's, this isn't a place with a lot of beautiful
(07:08):
wineries. They actually have their own coat of
their own shade of white that I think Sherwin
Williams or whoever the paint company was, they named it after the
winery. So if you go and order
Larkmead White, that's what you get. So our
first wine is the Lark Mead Fire Bell Red, named
after Firebellwill. So it is the 2021.
It's 14.7% ABV, Napa
(07:31):
Valley, 62% Merlot, 21% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc.
It's aged for 20 months in French oak,
67% of which is new.
It's got a nice dark garnet color to
it. It's got a nice rim
on the nose.
(07:52):
Roses, black cherries,
just a touch of cedar.
Yeah, dark, dark berries on the
palate.
(08:13):
On the palate. Blackberries,
black cherries.
A little bit of pipe tobacco
and like, dark
chocolate. Milk Milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, kind of on
the back palate.
>> Harm (08:29):
No milk chocolate. You're wrong. All dark chocolate.
You're so wrong.
>> Bob (08:33):
Now I got. Yoohoo.
>> Harm (08:35):
You are just broken.
>> Brent (08:37):
Yeah. There's something twisted in you.
>> Harm (08:38):
Yeah, I, I, I agree with, I
agree with the rose petals.
>> Brent (08:42):
Do I have to? Cherries.
>> Harm (08:44):
But I got white pepper on there. Not just cedar
and a hint of menthol. Justin, what'd you get on the
nose there? Just the nose.
>> Bob (08:51):
I got, uh, like, dried fruit
basket and, um, beautiful,
like cherries and blackberries.
>> Harm (09:00):
It's just gorgeous. The palette, well,
you know, that's just like, uh.
>> Brent (09:06):
Your opinion, man.
>> Harm (09:07):
Well, I was gonna say your opinion was right on the palate. Except for the milk
chocolate, it's all dark chocolate.
>> Bob (09:14):
The palette, I got like Swisher. Ah, sweets,
fruits.
>> Brent (09:18):
Yeah.
>> Bob (09:21):
Little dark.
>> Brent (09:21):
I'm trying to pick the sound effect for that one. Hold on. It's
my, my brain's starting to hurt. Um, okay,
you.
>> Harm (09:28):
You imbecile. You bloated
idiot. You stupid fat you.
>> Brent (09:35):
Yeah, okay.
>> Harm (09:36):
Swish it. I, I think the first time I smoke Swisher Sweets is,
um, playing poker with my buddies at 18.
Those are the grossest things.
>> Brent (09:43):
Trying to be, trying to be sophisticated.
>> Harm (09:45):
Apparently we were trying to be grown men.
>> Brent (09:48):
Didn't work out.
>> Harm (09:49):
Didn't work out.
>> Bob (09:50):
It's a tough, it's a tough brand.
>> Brent (09:53):
Well, we've been lucky to work
with Lark Mead several times over the last several years
and we, we've reviewed quite a bit of their wine and I can say
with 100 certainty, this is the best Fire
Bell they've had. Yeah.
>> Bob (10:05):
Yeah, definitely.
>> Brent (10:06):
I mean, it's always good, but this.
>> Harm (10:07):
One, I think I missed a couple shows. I didn't
have all the ones you had, but this one is impressive. I
mean, I had it at the store before, so this is the best. The
2021 is the best. Fireball.
>> Brent (10:18):
Yeah.
>> Bob (10:18):
So good.
>> Brent (10:19):
I mean, we, again, I've always liked it and we like all their
wines anyway. But I think this, this one is
without a doubt the best firebell release I've ever had.
And I've probably had five or six of them. So I mean, this
one absolutely kills it.
>> Harm (10:33):
Most people don't see these retail. You see these in restaurants.
>> Brent (10:36):
Yeah, yeah. But that's fine. Buy it in a restaurant. Buy
it wherever you can find it. So we're going to be giving the
Fire Bell, uh, Lark Mead fire bell red
2021, a well deserved four
sips.
>> Harm (10:49):
That's classified.
>> Brent (10:52):
Yeah, this one is, uh, again, best
one I've had in a while. And we'll be back.
>> Harm (11:03):
Hey.
>> Brent (11:03):
And we're back and we were just discussing, uh, the
Fire Bell Red, uh, from Lark Mead. We gave
that a well deserved for a sip. So we're going to go on to our next wine.
We're going to have Harm. Tell us about that one.
>> Harm (11:13):
Thanks, Bob.
Our next wine is the Larkmead estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2021, 14.7% ABV.
It's Napa Valley. It's 92% Cabernet
Sauvignon. And 8% Cabernet Francisco. It's
aged for 20 months in French oak barrels,
64% of which were new. It's got
a beautiful garnet color, actually
(11:34):
almost ruby. Uh, the edges
are clear, so this is pretty young.
And the nose,
it's floral, it's chocolate.
It's a little bit of plum.
Not as much cassis. And there's spices coming out.
There's clove and Chinese five spice
(11:58):
and something sweet. I'm not sure if that's vanilla or not, but,
um, on the palate,
a floral note. Cassis
got some herbs coming out. And,
um, I don't know, the
tan is just so good. A great
mouth feel. It's, uh, it's. It
(12:20):
starts out a little silky, but then the
tannins start gripping. And on the finish,
it's long and fruity and gorgeous. Not.
Not too fruity, still dry. But,
um, it's gonna. There's a hint of graphite
on there, too. Graphite on the nose. Justin, what'd you think?
>> Bob (12:37):
I got a lot of the same notes you did.
Um, Pals, like, sweet, oaky, balanced.
And you could taste the Cobb franc, and it really
helped, this expression with
balance.
>> Harm (12:49):
I love Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Cab Franc because I like
cap franc by itself too. But, yeah, it's a good blend.
8%'s and all you need to. It still shines as a
Cabernet Sauvignon.
>> Brent (12:59):
Right.
>> Harm (12:59):
But the, uh, the.
>> Bob (13:00):
It's helpless sometimes.
>> Harm (13:01):
Yeah.
>> Bob (13:04):
What'd you think, Bob?
>> Brent (13:07):
I think it's lovely.
Um, on the nose,
definitely. I get.
I definitely get that just slight hint of
clove on the back of the nose. Um,
I get a sort of a dusty river stone kind of
minerality on it.
>> Harm (13:28):
Did you get the graphite or not? It comes and goes for me.
>> Brent (13:31):
I get more of, like, dry stone
as opposed to graphite.
>> Harm (13:35):
Now, I understand what you're saying.
>> Brent (13:36):
Um, on the
palate, just beautiful dark
black fruit. Blackberries,
cassis.
>> Bob (13:48):
M. Look at all the mineral notes in the exhale.
>> Harm (13:51):
Yeah, a little nasal, baby.
>> Brent (13:53):
Just a little bit of BlackBerry.
Again, not sweet at all. Uh, even with all the
fruitiness, it's still bone dry, but
m. So well done. Just so well
integrated. And I'm, um. With you.
It's just on the. On the front palette, as you swallow,
(14:14):
it's just silky and just beautiful and
smooth. And then after it's gone
down is when the tannin goes and just sort
of locks into the tongue and goes, hey, I'm still here.
>> Harm (14:26):
Mhm.
>> Brent (14:28):
And a great finish. You know it, it's got
a really nice finish. It stays with you for a while. Um,
again, another, another winner from the folks.
>> Harm (14:37):
The acidity is really balanced too.
>> Brent (14:38):
Oh yeah, very, very well balanced.
Yeah, just enough, not, not too much where
your mouth is over watering, but just enough to
cut through whatever it is you're eating.
This again. Great. A great wine for a steak.
Yeah.
>> Harm (14:57):
I'm telling you, we need to do a steak show.
>> Brent (15:00):
Yeah. So well done. So
we're going to be giving the Lark Mead estate cabinet
sauvignon 2021 A. Ah, well deserved.
Forceps.
>> Harm (15:10):
That's classified.
>> Brent (15:13):
So that's going to take us to our next wine. We're going to have
Justin tell us about that one.
>> Bob (15:17):
So we're going to talk about Lark Mead solari
cabernet sauvignon 2021.
It's 14.7% alcohol. By
volume, it's 100% cabernet sauvignon.
It's aged for 20 months in French oak.
71% of that is new.
Um, it's got a beautiful
(15:39):
dark red color to it on the
nose. It's got
beautiful, um, sweet fruits, fragrant
flowers, and
like Ethiopian coffee.
Um, you know, some man,
some Madagascar vanilla, some
(16:00):
light cedar on the palette,
full of fruit. The finish is, is long
and it gets slightly chalky.
It's pretty cool. What did you think, Harm?
>> Harm (16:16):
I'm. You said that floral note. I mean, I got the
violets that we got in the last wine, but more so it's more
pronounced here. It's definitely
violets. It's BlackBerry.
And you said vanilla.
I'm getting that. But it's, it's, uh, the
cedar kind of overwhelms it. It's, it's kind of, it's, it's cool.
>> Brent (16:36):
How it works with the under note.
>> Harm (16:38):
Yeah, yeah. And, uh, plum
and tobacco. That's all good there. This is
really beautiful. Um, so the Solari family
is the current owners of Larkp. Is that it? Yeah, I
can I see why they put their name on this one. This is great.
>> Bob (16:52):
Yeah, it's really good.
>> Harm (16:56):
And the palate,
it's all about that plum. Um,
there's a little bit of a coffee note to it.
Um, it's dry. It's,
it's. The tannins seem a little bit aggressive here to me.
Um, it's very drying.
This does need food. It needs a steak. Or maybe we need to decant
(17:16):
this longer than we did. Um, the
finish is infinite. It just keeps going on and on and on.
Bob, what do you think?
>> Brent (17:23):
Well, this was run through a Venturi twice.
>> Harm (17:25):
Seriously.
>> Brent (17:27):
Out of the bottle and back into the bottle.
>> Harm (17:29):
Yeah.
>> Brent (17:29):
And then it's been sitting over on the counter while we
recorded the first show. Um, and
I did this probably half an hour before you guys got here.
So it's. It's
been sitting there for, uh, about three and a half, four hours.
Open this.
>> Harm (17:44):
This wine has 20 years to age. Easy M.
You can drink it 20 years from now.
>> Brent (17:50):
So that just gives you an idea. That's why. That's why
I only did it the once as opposed to the twice, because I
knew I'd be waiting on the first show to finish. But,
uh, yeah, this one is.
Again, we've. We've been very fortunate to have
reviewed quite a few of their wines before. And we've done the
Solari before once or twice.
And this is definitely the best Solari we've
(18:12):
had.
Um,
it's. It's 71% new oak, but the oak is
nowhere in there. It's not overpowering
you over the head.
>> Harm (18:24):
No, at all.
>> Brent (18:25):
Everything else is elevated. And
you're getting more cedar than you're getting oak.
>> Harm (18:30):
Right.
>> Brent (18:31):
Which just shows you how well they tied it
all together.
>> Harm (18:35):
Their fruit must be super ripe to get this kind of
alcohol and this kind of fruitiness and balance with that
71% oak.
>> Brent (18:42):
The violets are just overpowered by it. The violets are just
there, just leaping out of the glass.
>> Harm (18:47):
I love that floral note.
>> Brent (18:50):
Tobacco notes on the back. And outside.
There's definitely that coffee
note a little bit in the back of the nose.
>> Harm (19:01):
Well, uh, it's. You know, I say coffee, but maybe it's
mocha.
>> Brent (19:04):
Very, very light. Not whacking
you over the head, but it's definitely there.
>> Harm (19:09):
There's a dark chocolate note to go with the coffee.
>> Brent (19:11):
That cedar is. That cedar is there. And again, not
overpowering, but it's. It's right up front
on the palate.
M
M. Just violets, plums, dark
stewed fruit, Beautifully
integrated tannins on this.
(19:33):
So well done
and a finish that just stays with you. It's,
uh. Again, I mean,
we've done. We've done a lot of Lark Mead in the past, But I think
21 was 100% their year.
>> Harm (19:47):
Yeah.
>> Brent (19:48):
Yeah. This one was. This one was
really, really good.
>> Harm (19:53):
Yeah.
>> Brent (19:55):
And we'll be back.
Hey. And we're back, and we were just, uh, off
air discussing some of the wines that we have here from Lark Mead.
And, um, this is the best. Just.
Yeah.
>> Harm (20:09):
2021 was our year.
>> Brent (20:11):
Yeah.
>> Harm (20:13):
I've not had a better Lark Mead before.
>> Brent (20:16):
Yeah, it's. I
was discussing off the air. I believe, if
I'm remembering correctly, I believe this is the
first release of the current winemaker
who we met up in New York. Ah, a while ago. I think this
is, I think this.
>> Harm (20:32):
Is their first disclaimer here. I had no
idea about the new winemaker.
>> Brent (20:36):
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is, if I remember correctly, I think this is
her first. Um, but
absolutely stunning. I mean, absolutely stunning.
Um, we're going to be giving the Lark Mead Slurry Cabernet
2021 a well deserved five sips.
>> Harm (20:50):
Oh, my goodness. Yeah.
Yeah. Yes.
>> Brent (20:55):
And again, we've been fans of the wine for a while, but this is,
uh, this is, this is next level. There's, you
know, like I said, I believe if I'm remembering
correctly, this is the new winemaker. Um, if,
if I'm incorrect, then 21 was
absolutely the best year they've ever had. This is the year
for them. So.
>> Harm (21:13):
Yeah, so I just looked it up. Avery Healing Avery.
>> Brent (21:16):
Yeah.
>> Harm (21:17):
So she's the new winemaker and I think this may have been her first
vintage.
>> Brent (21:20):
Yeah. Met her in New York and just,
just, really just uh, just a lovely, lovely
lady. But wow, she just, she knocked it out of the park with
this one. Again, it was always good wine, but this is, you
know, this went from a 10 to 11, so.
Well, let's go to our next winery. So.
Since first working Long and her family's Mendocino
(21:41):
Vineyards, Catherine hall dreamed of a place to
showcase fine wines alongside expressive art
and architecture. The Halls
acquired the historic St. Helena, uh, Bergfeld Winery
in 2003 and reopened it as Hall
St. Helena. With a rich history
spanning over 150 years, their location
was once the home of the Napa Valley Co op,
(22:03):
producing about 40% of Napa Valley's wines.
In 2013, the hall family completed the restoration
of the 1885 Burgfield Winery and merged history
and innovation with the completion of California's first
LEED Gold certified Gravity flow winemaking
facility. Hall, uh, Rutherford was purchased
in 1995 in the hills of Rutherford and a
(22:24):
state of the art winery opened at that property in
2005. Beautiful property. What an amazing view.
Oh my God, just such a beautiful view.
And the uh, Fermenter room was just cool as hell
with the lights. They have a tasting room
underneath it with a giant Swarovski
crystal chandelier that looks like the vines
coming through the roof. It Looks like the vine. It
(22:46):
looks like the roots of the.
>> Harm (22:47):
Roots coming from the roof. Yeah.
>> Brent (22:49):
Absolutely amazing. Um, Hall's estate vineyards
encompass more than 500 acres of classic Bordeaux
varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon.
So we are going to be having the hall 1873
cabernet sauvignon 2021.
This one's 15.7% ABV, Napa
Valley, 85% cabernet sauvignon,
14% merlot, and 1% petit verdot.
(23:11):
Uh, 26 months and 70% new French
oak. In 1873,
Captain William Peterson came to Napa and
established a pioneering winery at the hall property.
Throughout the 30s and 40s, the site grew to become Napa's
most important winery, producing nearly 40% of
its entire vintage. So beautiful.
(23:32):
Beautiful dark,
purplish, garnet color.
It's got a nice opaqueness to it. On the
nose,
black currants,
BlackBerry,
(23:52):
a little bit of sweet pipe tobacco. And on the
palate, let's see.
>> Harm (23:59):
Nose M is still good. Mm.
Mhm.
>> Brent (24:03):
On the palate, black
cherries, a little bit of black pepper.
Very well done, Very well integrated tannins.
It's got a great mouthfeel, a really nice viscosity to
it. A little bit of
a. On the back palate, a little bit of a mineral
(24:24):
note. Wow.
>> Harm (24:26):
More earthy than mineral.
>> Brent (24:28):
Yeah. This is, uh, again, we've. We've done
quite a few wines from hall, but this is the first time we've had,
um, actually, two of these. Uh, the
1873 is the first time we've done it. Um,
Beautiful wine. Absolutely beautiful wine.
>> Harm (24:42):
I've only had this at a friend's house. I don't get this wine in the store.
>> Brent (24:45):
I don't think they sell it in retail. I think this is.
>> Harm (24:48):
I think this is mostly restaurant.
>> Brent (24:49):
I don't even think this one's restaurant. I think this one's just up to their
wine list. And at the winery.
>> Harm (24:54):
Yeah, yeah. I have friends who. Who are, um, who are members of their.
Their wine club. And I've had this at someone's house
before. And, uh.
>> Brent (25:01):
Wait, wait. You got invited to someone's house?
That was clearly an error.
>> Harm (25:07):
They. They may have thought I was bringing extra stuff for them. I don't know.
>> Brent (25:10):
They probably thought you were the help.
>> Harm (25:11):
Yeah. Oh, maybe that was a delivery, and I just stayed for
dinner.
>> Brent (25:15):
Oh, that's.
>> Harm (25:17):
That's how. That's how I get in.
>> Brent (25:19):
Yeah. Okay.
All right.
>> Harm (25:20):
Uh, all right, all right. Just say the right
Thing. Say the thing I want you to say.
>> Brent (25:25):
Okay.
>> Harm (25:25):
Yeah. So anyway, I, uh, that's the only time I've had the
1873 before, and this is better than what I had there at their
place, but I don't think they store their wine properly
either, so.
>> Brent (25:34):
Heathens.
>> Harm (25:35):
They don't listen to me. I don't care.
>> Brent (25:36):
Well, we keep ours in the basement here in Florida, so.
>> Harm (25:39):
Yeah. This is absolutely gorgeous, dude.
I, uh, mean a little. Everything you said I agree with, except I'm getting a little bit
of black olive note on the, on the, on the
palate and on the nose, I got more anise.
This is really beautiful, Justin. What do you think?
>> Bob (25:53):
Well, I think all the winemakers there are happy because
this beautiful golden retriever.
>> Brent (25:59):
Oh, yeah, they.
>> Bob (26:00):
Everyone was tip top shape, and
I think that's what makes the wine awesome.
>> Brent (26:05):
Well, we were there, they had the cat, and it wouldn't come down because.
>> Bob (26:08):
Their cat was a character.
>> Brent (26:09):
The cat would climbed up. They had like a barbecue pit area out
front overlooking the valley, and the cat was just up there
watching us the whole time. Would not come down.
It would look down at us and could care less that
we were there.
>> Harm (26:22):
But.
>> Brent (26:23):
Yeah, but the retriever, what a pretty dog. Came over and
said hello to everybody. Yeah, yeah. Just a sweet
dog.
>> Harm (26:29):
So the winemakers have good emotional health.
>> Bob (26:31):
So they're happy. We were happy.
>> Brent (26:33):
I rated wineries, um,
on their dogs.
>> Bob (26:36):
Yeah.
>> Brent (26:38):
I. If I go in and I don't see a dog, I'm already not
happy. If I go in and I see a dog. Okay. I'm okay. And depending
upon, you know, how the dog's personality is, it, uh,
determines how, you know the experience is going to be.
Right. Like, we went topless creek. They had two
dogs.
>> Bob (26:52):
Yeah.
>> Brent (26:52):
And then they had two more dogs. Like, oh, perfect
winery. There's four dogs and two of them were bull mastiffs. You could see
those things from a mile away. They look like horses.
Yeah.
>> Harm (27:02):
Jeez.
>> Bob (27:03):
They were to keep all the other animals in line.
>> Brent (27:05):
It was to keep the, uh. What does he say? Keep the mountain
lions away from the sheep. Yeah. I don't think a mountain coming
near these sheep with these dogs. Right. But yeah.
>> Harm (27:13):
Oh.
>> Brent (27:13):
Ah, beautiful winery, but wow. This one's.
>> Harm (27:16):
This is juicy. This is more juicy than I remember it being the first
time I had it. This is quite good. I'm impressed.
M. So it's great
entry on the mouthfeel, and it's a long finish.
>> Brent (27:28):
You got anything to add, Justin?
>> Harm (27:30):
Spicy.
>> Bob (27:30):
Oh, about the wine itself. Yeah. Beautiful
aromas of tobacco on the nose.
Great, bold fruit. The palate was rich,
complex, and the finish
was, like, sweet. Had this beautiful
fermented tobacco.
>> Brent (27:47):
And again, like sweet pipe tobacco.
>> Bob (27:49):
Lovely.
>> Harm (27:50):
Why are you guys hitting it on the mark today? Yeah, Sweet
pipe tobacco. And long. Long and long.
>> Bob (27:55):
Long like the clock I'm right twice a day. A broken clock.
I'm right twice a day.
>> Brent (28:00):
Uh, no, the broken clock with no hands is never right. So.
Yeah. Depends on how it's broken.
>> Harm (28:06):
Uh, you're. You could be the. You're the broken clock on military time. Once a day,
max.
>> Brent (28:09):
Yeah, maybe.
>> Bob (28:10):
Fair enough.
>> Brent (28:10):
On your best day.
>> Bob (28:11):
Fair enough.
>> Brent (28:14):
Yeah. This one's. This one's definitely special. So we're going to be
giving the hall 1873 cabernet sauvignon
2021 a, uh, well deserved. Forceps.
>> Harm (28:23):
That's classified.
>> Brent (28:25):
So let's go to our next one. We're gonna have Harm tell us about that one.
>> Harm (28:29):
Thanks, Bob.
Our next wine is the Hall Jax Masterpiece
Cabernet Sauvignon 2021. I don't know what the
ABV is. Where's the bottle?
>> Brent (28:36):
15.6.
>> Harm (28:37):
15.6. Let me write that down there.
ABV Napa Valley 98 Cabernet Sauvignon,
2% Merlot aged for 26 months and 70% new French
oak. The color is,
uh, impressively opaque, uh,
garnet with, uh, ruby edges. It is
freaking beautiful on the nose. Do we have another segment after the
(28:58):
commercial after this? Yeah. Okay, good.
>> Brent (29:00):
Yeah. Opaque's not the word, dude. Bite does not penetrate
this. Yeah, this is beautiful.
>> Harm (29:06):
Oh, my God. And it's such ripe fruit
on this. And,
um, river stones
and blackberries.
And there's spice coming out from the barrel,
which I'm picking up is light
clove and cinnamon. And there's a
little toasty note to it. Ah. Uh.
(29:28):
God, I just. I could just. Just smell this wine forever.
Mmm. The
mouthfeel, it's so rich.
Mouth coating, dense, purdy mouth.
Yeah, that one's got a pretty mouth.
Um, dark berries,
(29:48):
the graphite, which I was kind of getting on the nose.
I don't know. We have to go to a commercial.
>> Brent (29:54):
We'll be back.
>> Harm (29:54):
Keep going. Yeah.
And we're back. And I don't remember where I left off,
except the palette concentrated.
It's so rich. So mouth,
uh, mouth cutting. But I keep going back to the nose.
Oh, my God, this is such
(30:15):
a gorgeous, rich, sweet. And
I mean, the barrel. It's every. It's all there. It's all
there. My God, it's taking my words
away. Um, there's a hint of graphite on
the nose as well,
but that concentrate palette just covers
your. Covers your mouth.
(30:35):
Um, there's a little herbal note.
There's. It's great fruit,
great tannin. This wine could have 20,
30 years, maybe 20 more.
Plus, it's, it's just. I'm sorry, I was not talking the mic.
I'm just talking. I'm talking to my glass of wine instead of the microphone, so
you hear me coming out.
Um, this wine could last
(30:57):
in the cellar for years and years. I mean, maybe 20, maybe
30. I'm, I'm. I want this one.
I want this wine in my store. I want this one in my mouth. I want.
>> Brent (31:06):
You want it in your life?
>> Harm (31:07):
I want it in my life, yeah. Justin, do you,
uh, tell, uh, me how I'm wrong? What's going on?
>> Bob (31:11):
No, I concur. Yeah, I concur. It's very good.
>> Harm (31:15):
So, well, expand on that.
>> Brent (31:16):
Yeah. You want to maybe use some words? I'm just saying.
>> Bob (31:19):
I got some, like, beautiful fruits, like, a hint of
rum, barrel on the nose.
I got a mix of
intense floral flavors
with fruit. And the finish was
unreal. I mean, you, you can make a better
wine, but not that much better.
>> Brent (31:39):
Yeah, I, I, Yeah, I, I dare you
to make a better wine. And, you know, and if you do, it's probably a
heck of a lot more money now.
>> Harm (31:48):
They did a great job. This, this, this wine is under 200 bucks,
I believe. Um, this is.
It tastes like something that could be five, six hundred dollars. That's the
thing.
>> Brent (31:57):
Yeah. All day, I,
Yeah, I. There's not a lot I can add to this.
Uh, again,
blackberries.
>> Harm (32:07):
Yeah.
>> Brent (32:10):
Dry stone.
Just a hint of little, little bit of spice on the nose,
but just so fruity and yummy and
chewy and juicy.
>> Harm (32:23):
It's absolutely bone dry. It's bone dry, but that nose
fools you.
>> Brent (32:27):
M m. And on
the palate, it's just. I mean, it's dark,
it's thick, it's rich,
it's. Oh, it's
mouth coating. Um, yeah, this one is
absolutely lovely. There's.
There's some destiny minerality
(32:47):
to it. A little bit of
sage, a little bit of,
um, dried herb on the back
palette.
Um, and it just goes on
and on and on. I mean, the finish on this thing is
almost never ending.
Um, yeah, it's,
uh.
>> Harm (33:06):
We've got one more wine. Give it a rating, man.
>> Brent (33:08):
This one's fantastic. And, and all I can say is thank you. For
sending it. And please, um, send more
next vintage. So, um. But
yeah, well the folks at Paul have been a joy to work
with.
>> Harm (33:20):
So 21 was a great vintage for these guys.
>> Brent (33:22):
Yeah, 21, yeah. 21 has been a good vintage for, for both of
these wineries so far. So uh, we're going to be
giving the Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021 a well
deserved five sips.
>> Harm (33:35):
Oh my goodness. Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
>> Brent (33:40):
And that brings us up to our next wine and we're gonna have Justin tell us
about that one.
>> Bob (33:44):
And I am so lucky to talk about this wine.
Catherine Hall, Napa Valley Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021. It's
97% Cabernet, 3%
Cobb Franc aged a
luxurious 26 months in 70%
new French oak using grapes from their
legendary Shirash vineyard.
(34:07):
Go with that as their base.
Sacrochet. Merci beaucoup.
The Catherine Hall Cabernet Sauvignon
is the pinnacle of Hall's blending efforts. Each
year. The color is dark like
Harm's Heart.
>> Harm (34:23):
No, no, this is darker than my heart.
>> Brent (34:25):
I don't have a heart.
>> Harm (34:27):
Yeah, I saw my soul a long time ago. There's that
darkness, my soul.
>> Brent (34:30):
I can see that black hole in the center of your
chest consuming all white matter. But yeah.
>> Bob (34:37):
So it's got like intense fruit
on it. Um,
diatomaceous rich earth,
beautiful graphite.
>> Harm (34:46):
Look at you. Your sat word.
>> Brent (34:48):
Mhm.
>> Bob (34:49):
I know, right? Multi syllabic
and like beautiful
dark chocolate on this one.
The palette, it just smooth,
it just goes forever. It
alternates flavors with like fruit,
um, minerality to it that I can't really put the words
(35:09):
to. And the finish is. You just
wish it kept going on.
>> Harm (35:13):
And on and on. This is stunning.
Absolutely stunning. I um,
I've had Katherine hall before again from the same, those same friends with,
who are part of the wine, the uh, wine club
and we had a dinner and they had some Catherine hall and they
were very generous to share this with me. We do
get it in the store for retail every now and then, but mostly
this is restaurant wine. Um, if
(35:36):
you meet your allocations and if you uh, if you meet
your, your basic entry, uh, level,
uh, purchasing from these guys from, from the, the uh,
supplier. You can sometimes get the Catherine hall in the
retail and you'll, you'll save a lot of money getting the
Catherine hall retail if you can get this. But be prepared to spend
a few hundred dollars in the restaurant.
>> Bob (35:55):
You pay more direct from them.
>> Harm (35:57):
Uh, in the wine club is hard to get. You'd be on a wait list right now.
But, um, if you get this in a restaurant
and they. You see it being ridiculously expensive,
don't worry about it. Just go ahead and order.
Just have them decant it for you. Make sure your,
your sommelier decants this wine. Order it with.
Order something else to have with the apps. By the time the entree comes
(36:19):
out, this wine will be barely be ready. This wine
is stunning. Oh, my God.
Currents, Graphite,
you said, uh, what do you say?
>> Bob (36:29):
To the microphone, not the wine.
>> Harm (36:31):
I'm, um, talking the wine.
>> Brent (36:32):
Isn't the mic knucklehead.
>> Harm (36:37):
Just absolutely intense? I got
baked black cherries. I got,
um, that dark chocolate.
The mouthfeel is. I was going on about the mouth of the previous
wine. This wine puts it to shame.
And again, intense. Long finish. Bob, uh,
what do you think?
>> Brent (36:57):
Well, the last Catherine we did was the 2019. We gave
that five step, so it's, it's not surprising. This one
is good, but I swear this one's better than
the 2019. Um, again, I think 21
was a great year for both of these wineries.
It's so full, it's so well
integrated. The tannins are just huge, but
(37:18):
not overpowering. It's just, it's
so well done. Dark fruits,
dry stone,
graphite on the nose, a little bit of black currant. It's
just, I mean, uh, I can't really think of anything I
could do to possibly make this any better
other than ship a case to sip suds
(37:39):
and smoke care of Bob.
>> Harm (37:41):
Or, uh, we could get it for free.
>> Brent (37:43):
Yeah, I know this is. Again, be prepared
to pay for this.
>> Harm (37:47):
Wine, but it's worth it.
>> Brent (37:47):
You guys sat down as we got three from hall and you all went well. It's
Catherine Hall. You know, that one's really going to be good, but Jesus, the
other two as well. So,
um, yeah, we're going to be giving the Catherine hall
Napa Valley cabernet seven, you know, 2021 a
well deserved five sips.
>> Harm (38:03):
Oh my goodness. No surprise.
>> Brent (38:08):
And you were talking about Alan Rickman, so no surprise.
This Californian wine.
Oh, so good.
So, yeah,
great episode and honestly, amazing showings for
both Lark Mead and Hall. I mean, they make great wines, but.
>> Harm (38:29):
Ralph, 2021 was a vintage you want to look at.
>> Brent (38:31):
Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you guys for joining me. Thank you,
Justin.
>> Bob (38:35):
Thank you so much. Pleasure to be in the basement and thank
you.
>> Brent (38:38):
Harmonious.
>> Harm (38:38):
Can I have the leftover wine, Bob? No. Damn.
>> Brent (38:41):
You, Bob, gonna stay with me.
>> Harm (38:45):
So good. Thanks for having me.
>> Brent (38:46):
I have a gun. And back off. Liz made
Mad Bob for Sip, Suds and Smokes. Thank you for joining us.
Remember, life is too short to drink bad wine and
good lord, we didn't have to do that today. So
uh, congratulations to the folks at both
hall and Larkmead for really knocking it out of the park on this
episode.
>> Harm (39:04):
Episode guys, this vintage, this
vintage was great.
Mhm.
>> Brent (39:10):
Fantastic.
>> Announcer (39:12):
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Give it a little tappy tap, tap
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(39:47):
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>> Brent (39:52):
The thousands, millions and
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>> Brent (40:25):
This has been a one tan hand.
>> Harm (40:26):
Production of Sips, Suds and Smokes,
a.
>> Brent (40:29):
Program devoted to the appreciation of some of the
finer slices of life from the dude in the
Basement Studios. Your host, the Good Old Boys
will.
>> Harm (40:38):
See you all next time.
On the next episode of Sip, Suds and
Smokes. So we're gonna be. We're gonna be talking about wine on
this episode.
>> Harm (00:07):
Well, what about you?
>> Brent (00:08):
You're having a glass of wine. I'm not having a
glass of wine.
>> Harm (00:12):
I'm having six.
>> Brent (00:13):
It's called a tasting, and it's classy. Here are, uh,
the wines that we are going to be discussing today. From
Larkmead, we have the Larkmead fire bell red
2021, we have the Larkmead, uh, Estate
Cabernet Sauvignon M21, we have the
LarkmeaD Solari Cabernet Sauvignon 21.
And from hall, we have the Hall
(00:33):
1873 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021,
the Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021, and the
Catherine Hall 2021.
>> Harm (00:44):
So I'm excited. Um,
yeah, very aroused.
>> Brent (00:49):
Yeah. This is.
>> Harm (00:50):
This is.
>> Brent (00:51):
This is a pretty good day.
>> Bob (00:53):
We'll be right back after this break.
>> Brent (01:17):
Brought to you almost live from the dude in the
basement studios. Why?
>> Bob (01:22):
Because that's where the good stuff, uh, is.
>> Brent (01:25):
Sips, suds, and smokes with your smoke.
And host the good old boys.
(01:49):
And now it's sipping time.
Foreign
time again. Welcome to this Sips episode where everything in
life is worth discussing.
>> Harm (02:04):
It's not because we don't discuss food.
Why do we discuss food? Why don't we do a steak show?
>> Brent (02:10):
Because we're too busy eating it.
>> Harm (02:12):
Yeah, it's true. Although these wines today would grow
great with a steak show.
>> Brent (02:16):
Well, anything goes good with a steak.
Yeah.
>> Harm (02:20):
Justin, what about you? Steak show, pork show.
You're. You're Jewish. You don't keep kosher, right?
No, but, uh, let's do a bacon show. Sure.
>> Brent (02:29):
Oh, yeah, we should definitely do a bacon show.
>> Harm (02:31):
So we do a bacon and wine show.
>> Brent (02:32):
Yeah, sure, sure.
>> Harm (02:34):
So almost everything good life's worth discussing. We need to
talk to the producers and get us a bacon show.
>> Brent (02:39):
We have friends who own a winery in Napa that also own a
Wagyu cattle farm just north of Napa.
>> Harm (02:44):
I think there's an. There's a few episodes right there, baby.
>> Brent (02:47):
Yeah. Ah, we did a wine tasting at a restaurant up in
Delray, and they. They air shipped in the
meat.
>> Bob (02:54):
I'll volunteer to grill it on, um, my charcoal.
>> Brent (02:56):
Pretty good day.
>> Harm (02:58):
We do an episode in the restaurant. Okay.
So, well, but today we're discussing wine.
>> Brent (03:02):
We're gonna be. We're gonna be talking about wine on this episode.
>> Harm (03:05):
Well, what about you? You're having a glass of wine.
>> Brent (03:08):
I'm not having a glass of wine. I'm having
six. It's called a tasting, and it's classy. Yeah,
there you go.
So,
SIPs rating our SIPs ratings about wine.
Distilled spirits, tea, coffee, anything else you can sip.
And here are, uh, the wines that we are going to be discussing
today. From Larkmead, we have the
Larkmead fire bell red 2021,
(03:30):
we have the Larkmead Estate. Uh, Cabernet Sauvignon
21, we have the LarkmeaD Solari
Cabernet Sauvignon21. And from
hall, we have the Hall 1873
Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, the
Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon2021, and the
Catherine Hall 2021.
>> Harm (03:52):
So I'm excited. Um,
yeah, very aroused.
>> Brent (03:57):
Yeah. This is.
>> Harm (03:58):
This is.
>> Brent (03:58):
This is a pretty good day, so.
>> Harm (04:00):
It's a good day.
>> Brent (04:03):
So let's have Justin tell us about our SIPs ratings.
>> Bob (04:06):
One sip. Give me a glass of
water to wash out my mouth.
>> Brent (04:12):
Sounds like Boris Karloff after he had a brain in here.
>> Bob (04:19):
Two sips. Nice spot.
What else do you have?
>> Harm (04:24):
That was close. We're not going to say who he's trying to do, but I want you
guys to figure it out.
>> Bob (04:27):
Uh, three sips.
It's interesting. What was this
again?
>> Harm (04:34):
Interesting.
>> Brent (04:35):
Definitely Boris Karloff with an aneurysm.
>> Harm (04:37):
I know. Yeah.
>> Bob (04:38):
Four sips. Let's, um,
keep this secret to ourselves and
pour me another.
>> Harm (04:47):
That's classified.
>> Bob (04:50):
Five sips. Oh, my.
I was unaware anything could be this good.
>> Brent (04:57):
Are you sure? Is that you're gonna go with that?
Yeah, sure. Okay.
>> Harm (05:02):
Oh, my goodness. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Yes.
>> Brent (05:08):
I wasn't so sure about that choice, but okay.
>> Harm (05:10):
And if you contestants at home guessed, uh,
Alan Rickman, you're
genius, because that did not sound like Alan
rickman.
>> Brent (05:19):
Yeah. No, Mr.
Potter. Yeah. Okay. Good Lord help us all.
All right, so that takes us to our first wine.
So let's talk a little bit about
larkmead. So, in 1851, Charles
Hitchcock was an army surgeon, moved from North
Carolina to San Francisco with his wife, Martha and their
spirited daughter, Lily. She
(05:41):
was later dramatically rescued from a fire in San
Francisco by the Number 5 Fire Company. This experience
made her a lifelong supporter of the fire department,
and she even began signing her name with the number five after it
for the rest of her life. And she was given the
honorary membership in the fire department
and given the nickname of Fire Bell Lil.
(06:02):
Um, she Was spirited, shall we say.
So her parents, trying to settle her down, decided to
move her out of the city and sent her
to live up in Napa Valley, which was the
absolute sticks at the time.
Um, that didn't work.
So she named her new home Lark Mead after the meadow
arcs in the area. Um, she was the first one to
(06:24):
plant the first vineyard on the property. Um, the
property was subsequently leased to the mena family in
1895, who then purchased it outright. And
1903, it was expanded in
1906 and run until Felix's death in
1940. The family sold the vineyards
to a Chicago distributor. Um, in
1943. It was then sold to National
(06:46):
Distillers. Then it was purchased by
Larry and Polly Solari. The property
eventually was passed down to their daughter, Kate Solari
Barker, and her late husband, Cam Baker. And
in 2005, they built the first phase
of the new state of the art winery. You've got to see it.
It's absolutely stunning. Beautiful,
beautiful winery. And I mean, that's, this isn't a place with a lot of beautiful
(07:08):
wineries. They actually have their own coat of
their own shade of white that I think Sherwin
Williams or whoever the paint company was, they named it after the
winery. So if you go and order
Larkmead White, that's what you get. So our
first wine is the Lark Mead Fire Bell Red, named
after Firebellwill. So it is the 2021.
It's 14.7% ABV, Napa
(07:31):
Valley, 62% Merlot, 21% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc.
It's aged for 20 months in French oak,
67% of which is new.
It's got a nice dark garnet color to
it. It's got a nice rim
on the nose.
(07:52):
Roses, black cherries,
just a touch of cedar.
Yeah, dark, dark berries on the
palate.
(08:13):
On the palate. Blackberries,
black cherries.
A little bit of pipe tobacco
and like, dark
chocolate. Milk Milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, kind of on
the back palate.
>> Harm (08:29):
No milk chocolate. You're wrong. All dark chocolate.
You're so wrong.
>> Bob (08:33):
Now I got. Yoohoo.
>> Harm (08:35):
You are just broken.
>> Brent (08:37):
Yeah. There's something twisted in you.
>> Harm (08:38):
Yeah, I, I, I agree with, I
agree with the rose petals.
>> Brent (08:42):
Do I have to? Cherries.
>> Harm (08:44):
But I got white pepper on there. Not just cedar
and a hint of menthol. Justin, what'd you get on the
nose there? Just the nose.
>> Bob (08:51):
I got, uh, like, dried fruit
basket and, um, beautiful,
like cherries and blackberries.
>> Harm (09:00):
It's just gorgeous. The palette, well,
you know, that's just like, uh.
>> Brent (09:06):
Your opinion, man.
>> Harm (09:07):
Well, I was gonna say your opinion was right on the palate. Except for the milk
chocolate, it's all dark chocolate.
>> Bob (09:14):
The palette, I got like Swisher. Ah, sweets,
fruits.
>> Brent (09:18):
Yeah.
>> Bob (09:21):
Little dark.
>> Brent (09:21):
I'm trying to pick the sound effect for that one. Hold on. It's
my, my brain's starting to hurt. Um, okay,
you.
>> Harm (09:28):
You imbecile. You bloated
idiot. You stupid fat you.
>> Brent (09:35):
Yeah, okay.
>> Harm (09:36):
Swish it. I, I think the first time I smoke Swisher Sweets is,
um, playing poker with my buddies at 18.
Those are the grossest things.
>> Brent (09:43):
Trying to be, trying to be sophisticated.
>> Harm (09:45):
Apparently we were trying to be grown men.
>> Brent (09:48):
Didn't work out.
>> Harm (09:49):
Didn't work out.
>> Bob (09:50):
It's a tough, it's a tough brand.
>> Brent (09:53):
Well, we've been lucky to work
with Lark Mead several times over the last several years
and we, we've reviewed quite a bit of their wine and I can say
with 100 certainty, this is the best Fire
Bell they've had. Yeah.
>> Bob (10:05):
Yeah, definitely.
>> Brent (10:06):
I mean, it's always good, but this.
>> Harm (10:07):
One, I think I missed a couple shows. I didn't
have all the ones you had, but this one is impressive. I
mean, I had it at the store before, so this is the best. The
2021 is the best. Fireball.
>> Brent (10:18):
Yeah.
>> Bob (10:18):
So good.
>> Brent (10:19):
I mean, we, again, I've always liked it and we like all their
wines anyway. But I think this, this one is
without a doubt the best firebell release I've ever had.
And I've probably had five or six of them. So I mean, this
one absolutely kills it.
>> Harm (10:33):
Most people don't see these retail. You see these in restaurants.
>> Brent (10:36):
Yeah, yeah. But that's fine. Buy it in a restaurant. Buy
it wherever you can find it. So we're going to be giving the
Fire Bell, uh, Lark Mead fire bell red
2021, a well deserved four
sips.
>> Harm (10:49):
That's classified.
>> Brent (10:52):
Yeah, this one is, uh, again, best
one I've had in a while. And we'll be back.
>> Harm (11:03):
Hey.
>> Brent (11:03):
And we're back and we were just discussing, uh, the
Fire Bell Red, uh, from Lark Mead. We gave
that a well deserved for a sip. So we're going to go on to our next wine.
We're going to have Harm. Tell us about that one.
>> Harm (11:13):
Thanks, Bob.
Our next wine is the Larkmead estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2021, 14.7% ABV.
It's Napa Valley. It's 92% Cabernet
Sauvignon. And 8% Cabernet Francisco. It's
aged for 20 months in French oak barrels,
64% of which were new. It's got
a beautiful garnet color, actually
(11:34):
almost ruby. Uh, the edges
are clear, so this is pretty young.
And the nose,
it's floral, it's chocolate.
It's a little bit of plum.
Not as much cassis. And there's spices coming out.
There's clove and Chinese five spice
(11:58):
and something sweet. I'm not sure if that's vanilla or not, but,
um, on the palate,
a floral note. Cassis
got some herbs coming out. And,
um, I don't know, the
tan is just so good. A great
mouth feel. It's, uh, it's. It
(12:20):
starts out a little silky, but then the
tannins start gripping. And on the finish,
it's long and fruity and gorgeous. Not.
Not too fruity, still dry. But,
um, it's gonna. There's a hint of graphite
on there, too. Graphite on the nose. Justin, what'd you think?
>> Bob (12:37):
I got a lot of the same notes you did.
Um, Pals, like, sweet, oaky, balanced.
And you could taste the Cobb franc, and it really
helped, this expression with
balance.
>> Harm (12:49):
I love Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Cab Franc because I like
cap franc by itself too. But, yeah, it's a good blend.
8%'s and all you need to. It still shines as a
Cabernet Sauvignon.
>> Brent (12:59):
Right.
>> Harm (12:59):
But the, uh, the.
>> Bob (13:00):
It's helpless sometimes.
>> Harm (13:01):
Yeah.
>> Bob (13:04):
What'd you think, Bob?
>> Brent (13:07):
I think it's lovely.
Um, on the nose,
definitely. I get.
I definitely get that just slight hint of
clove on the back of the nose. Um,
I get a sort of a dusty river stone kind of
minerality on it.
>> Harm (13:28):
Did you get the graphite or not? It comes and goes for me.
>> Brent (13:31):
I get more of, like, dry stone
as opposed to graphite.
>> Harm (13:35):
Now, I understand what you're saying.
>> Brent (13:36):
Um, on the
palate, just beautiful dark
black fruit. Blackberries,
cassis.
>> Bob (13:48):
M. Look at all the mineral notes in the exhale.
>> Harm (13:51):
Yeah, a little nasal, baby.
>> Brent (13:53):
Just a little bit of BlackBerry.
Again, not sweet at all. Uh, even with all the
fruitiness, it's still bone dry, but
m. So well done. Just so well
integrated. And I'm, um. With you.
It's just on the. On the front palette, as you swallow,
(14:14):
it's just silky and just beautiful and
smooth. And then after it's gone
down is when the tannin goes and just sort
of locks into the tongue and goes, hey, I'm still here.
>> Harm (14:26):
Mhm.
>> Brent (14:28):
And a great finish. You know it, it's got
a really nice finish. It stays with you for a while. Um,
again, another, another winner from the folks.
>> Harm (14:37):
The acidity is really balanced too.
>> Brent (14:38):
Oh yeah, very, very well balanced.
Yeah, just enough, not, not too much where
your mouth is over watering, but just enough to
cut through whatever it is you're eating.
This again. Great. A great wine for a steak.
Yeah.
>> Harm (14:57):
I'm telling you, we need to do a steak show.
>> Brent (15:00):
Yeah. So well done. So
we're going to be giving the Lark Mead estate cabinet
sauvignon 2021 A. Ah, well deserved.
Forceps.
>> Harm (15:10):
That's classified.
>> Brent (15:13):
So that's going to take us to our next wine. We're going to have
Justin tell us about that one.
>> Bob (15:17):
So we're going to talk about Lark Mead solari
cabernet sauvignon 2021.
It's 14.7% alcohol. By
volume, it's 100% cabernet sauvignon.
It's aged for 20 months in French oak.
71% of that is new.
Um, it's got a beautiful
(15:39):
dark red color to it on the
nose. It's got
beautiful, um, sweet fruits, fragrant
flowers, and
like Ethiopian coffee.
Um, you know, some man,
some Madagascar vanilla, some
(16:00):
light cedar on the palette,
full of fruit. The finish is, is long
and it gets slightly chalky.
It's pretty cool. What did you think, Harm?
>> Harm (16:16):
I'm. You said that floral note. I mean, I got the
violets that we got in the last wine, but more so it's more
pronounced here. It's definitely
violets. It's BlackBerry.
And you said vanilla.
I'm getting that. But it's, it's, uh, the
cedar kind of overwhelms it. It's, it's kind of, it's, it's cool.
>> Brent (16:36):
How it works with the under note.
>> Harm (16:38):
Yeah, yeah. And, uh, plum
and tobacco. That's all good there. This is
really beautiful. Um, so the Solari family
is the current owners of Larkp. Is that it? Yeah, I
can I see why they put their name on this one. This is great.
>> Bob (16:52):
Yeah, it's really good.
>> Harm (16:56):
And the palate,
it's all about that plum. Um,
there's a little bit of a coffee note to it.
Um, it's dry. It's,
it's. The tannins seem a little bit aggressive here to me.
Um, it's very drying.
This does need food. It needs a steak. Or maybe we need to decant
(17:16):
this longer than we did. Um, the
finish is infinite. It just keeps going on and on and on.
Bob, what do you think?
>> Brent (17:23):
Well, this was run through a Venturi twice.
>> Harm (17:25):
Seriously.
>> Brent (17:27):
Out of the bottle and back into the bottle.
>> Harm (17:29):
Yeah.
>> Brent (17:29):
And then it's been sitting over on the counter while we
recorded the first show. Um, and
I did this probably half an hour before you guys got here.
So it's. It's
been sitting there for, uh, about three and a half, four hours.
Open this.
>> Harm (17:44):
This wine has 20 years to age. Easy M.
You can drink it 20 years from now.
>> Brent (17:50):
So that just gives you an idea. That's why. That's why
I only did it the once as opposed to the twice, because I
knew I'd be waiting on the first show to finish. But,
uh, yeah, this one is.
Again, we've. We've been very fortunate to have
reviewed quite a few of their wines before. And we've done the
Solari before once or twice.
And this is definitely the best Solari we've
(18:12):
had.
Um,
it's. It's 71% new oak, but the oak is
nowhere in there. It's not overpowering
you over the head.
>> Harm (18:24):
No, at all.
>> Brent (18:25):
Everything else is elevated. And
you're getting more cedar than you're getting oak.
>> Harm (18:30):
Right.
>> Brent (18:31):
Which just shows you how well they tied it
all together.
>> Harm (18:35):
Their fruit must be super ripe to get this kind of
alcohol and this kind of fruitiness and balance with that
71% oak.
>> Brent (18:42):
The violets are just overpowered by it. The violets are just
there, just leaping out of the glass.
>> Harm (18:47):
I love that floral note.
>> Brent (18:50):
Tobacco notes on the back. And outside.
There's definitely that coffee
note a little bit in the back of the nose.
>> Harm (19:01):
Well, uh, it's. You know, I say coffee, but maybe it's
mocha.
>> Brent (19:04):
Very, very light. Not whacking
you over the head, but it's definitely there.
>> Harm (19:09):
There's a dark chocolate note to go with the coffee.
>> Brent (19:11):
That cedar is. That cedar is there. And again, not
overpowering, but it's. It's right up front
on the palate.
M
M. Just violets, plums, dark
stewed fruit, Beautifully
integrated tannins on this.
(19:33):
So well done
and a finish that just stays with you. It's,
uh. Again, I mean,
we've done. We've done a lot of Lark Mead in the past, But I think
21 was 100% their year.
>> Harm (19:47):
Yeah.
>> Brent (19:48):
Yeah. This one was. This one was
really, really good.
>> Harm (19:53):
Yeah.
>> Brent (19:55):
And we'll be back.
Hey. And we're back, and we were just, uh, off
air discussing some of the wines that we have here from Lark Mead.
And, um, this is the best. Just.
Yeah.
>> Harm (20:09):
2021 was our year.
>> Brent (20:11):
Yeah.
>> Harm (20:13):
I've not had a better Lark Mead before.
>> Brent (20:16):
Yeah, it's. I
was discussing off the air. I believe, if
I'm remembering correctly, I believe this is the
first release of the current winemaker
who we met up in New York. Ah, a while ago. I think this
is, I think this.
>> Harm (20:32):
Is their first disclaimer here. I had no
idea about the new winemaker.
>> Brent (20:36):
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is, if I remember correctly, I think this is
her first. Um, but
absolutely stunning. I mean, absolutely stunning.
Um, we're going to be giving the Lark Mead Slurry Cabernet
2021 a well deserved five sips.
>> Harm (20:50):
Oh, my goodness. Yeah.
Yeah. Yes.
>> Brent (20:55):
And again, we've been fans of the wine for a while, but this is,
uh, this is, this is next level. There's, you
know, like I said, I believe if I'm remembering
correctly, this is the new winemaker. Um, if,
if I'm incorrect, then 21 was
absolutely the best year they've ever had. This is the year
for them. So.
>> Harm (21:13):
Yeah, so I just looked it up. Avery Healing Avery.
>> Brent (21:16):
Yeah.
>> Harm (21:17):
So she's the new winemaker and I think this may have been her first
vintage.
>> Brent (21:20):
Yeah. Met her in New York and just,
just, really just uh, just a lovely, lovely
lady. But wow, she just, she knocked it out of the park with
this one. Again, it was always good wine, but this is, you
know, this went from a 10 to 11, so.
Well, let's go to our next winery. So.
Since first working Long and her family's Mendocino
(21:41):
Vineyards, Catherine hall dreamed of a place to
showcase fine wines alongside expressive art
and architecture. The Halls
acquired the historic St. Helena, uh, Bergfeld Winery
in 2003 and reopened it as Hall
St. Helena. With a rich history
spanning over 150 years, their location
was once the home of the Napa Valley Co op,
(22:03):
producing about 40% of Napa Valley's wines.
In 2013, the hall family completed the restoration
of the 1885 Burgfield Winery and merged history
and innovation with the completion of California's first
LEED Gold certified Gravity flow winemaking
facility. Hall, uh, Rutherford was purchased
in 1995 in the hills of Rutherford and a
(22:24):
state of the art winery opened at that property in
2005. Beautiful property. What an amazing view.
Oh my God, just such a beautiful view.
And the uh, Fermenter room was just cool as hell
with the lights. They have a tasting room
underneath it with a giant Swarovski
crystal chandelier that looks like the vines
coming through the roof. It Looks like the vine. It
(22:46):
looks like the roots of the.
>> Harm (22:47):
Roots coming from the roof. Yeah.
>> Brent (22:49):
Absolutely amazing. Um, Hall's estate vineyards
encompass more than 500 acres of classic Bordeaux
varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon.
So we are going to be having the hall 1873
cabernet sauvignon 2021.
This one's 15.7% ABV, Napa
Valley, 85% cabernet sauvignon,
14% merlot, and 1% petit verdot.
(23:11):
Uh, 26 months and 70% new French
oak. In 1873,
Captain William Peterson came to Napa and
established a pioneering winery at the hall property.
Throughout the 30s and 40s, the site grew to become Napa's
most important winery, producing nearly 40% of
its entire vintage. So beautiful.
(23:32):
Beautiful dark,
purplish, garnet color.
It's got a nice opaqueness to it. On the
nose,
black currants,
BlackBerry,
(23:52):
a little bit of sweet pipe tobacco. And on the
palate, let's see.
>> Harm (23:59):
Nose M is still good. Mm.
Mhm.
>> Brent (24:03):
On the palate, black
cherries, a little bit of black pepper.
Very well done, Very well integrated tannins.
It's got a great mouthfeel, a really nice viscosity to
it. A little bit of
a. On the back palate, a little bit of a mineral
(24:24):
note. Wow.
>> Harm (24:26):
More earthy than mineral.
>> Brent (24:28):
Yeah. This is, uh, again, we've. We've done
quite a few wines from hall, but this is the first time we've had,
um, actually, two of these. Uh, the
1873 is the first time we've done it. Um,
Beautiful wine. Absolutely beautiful wine.
>> Harm (24:42):
I've only had this at a friend's house. I don't get this wine in the store.
>> Brent (24:45):
I don't think they sell it in retail. I think this is.
>> Harm (24:48):
I think this is mostly restaurant.
>> Brent (24:49):
I don't even think this one's restaurant. I think this one's just up to their
wine list. And at the winery.
>> Harm (24:54):
Yeah, yeah. I have friends who. Who are, um, who are members of their.
Their wine club. And I've had this at someone's house
before. And, uh.
>> Brent (25:01):
Wait, wait. You got invited to someone's house?
That was clearly an error.
>> Harm (25:07):
They. They may have thought I was bringing extra stuff for them. I don't know.
>> Brent (25:10):
They probably thought you were the help.
>> Harm (25:11):
Yeah. Oh, maybe that was a delivery, and I just stayed for
dinner.
>> Brent (25:15):
Oh, that's.
>> Harm (25:17):
That's how. That's how I get in.
>> Brent (25:19):
Yeah. Okay.
All right.
>> Harm (25:20):
Uh, all right, all right. Just say the right
Thing. Say the thing I want you to say.
>> Brent (25:25):
Okay.
>> Harm (25:25):
Yeah. So anyway, I, uh, that's the only time I've had the
1873 before, and this is better than what I had there at their
place, but I don't think they store their wine properly
either, so.
>> Brent (25:34):
Heathens.
>> Harm (25:35):
They don't listen to me. I don't care.
>> Brent (25:36):
Well, we keep ours in the basement here in Florida, so.
>> Harm (25:39):
Yeah. This is absolutely gorgeous, dude.
I, uh, mean a little. Everything you said I agree with, except I'm getting a little bit
of black olive note on the, on the, on the
palate and on the nose, I got more anise.
This is really beautiful, Justin. What do you think?
>> Bob (25:53):
Well, I think all the winemakers there are happy because
this beautiful golden retriever.
>> Brent (25:59):
Oh, yeah, they.
>> Bob (26:00):
Everyone was tip top shape, and
I think that's what makes the wine awesome.
>> Brent (26:05):
Well, we were there, they had the cat, and it wouldn't come down because.
>> Bob (26:08):
Their cat was a character.
>> Brent (26:09):
The cat would climbed up. They had like a barbecue pit area out
front overlooking the valley, and the cat was just up there
watching us the whole time. Would not come down.
It would look down at us and could care less that
we were there.
>> Harm (26:22):
But.
>> Brent (26:23):
Yeah, but the retriever, what a pretty dog. Came over and
said hello to everybody. Yeah, yeah. Just a sweet
dog.
>> Harm (26:29):
So the winemakers have good emotional health.
>> Bob (26:31):
So they're happy. We were happy.
>> Brent (26:33):
I rated wineries, um,
on their dogs.
>> Bob (26:36):
Yeah.
>> Brent (26:38):
I. If I go in and I don't see a dog, I'm already not
happy. If I go in and I see a dog. Okay. I'm okay. And depending
upon, you know, how the dog's personality is, it, uh,
determines how, you know the experience is going to be.
Right. Like, we went topless creek. They had two
dogs.
>> Bob (26:52):
Yeah.
>> Brent (26:52):
And then they had two more dogs. Like, oh, perfect
winery. There's four dogs and two of them were bull mastiffs. You could see
those things from a mile away. They look like horses.
Yeah.
>> Harm (27:02):
Jeez.
>> Bob (27:03):
They were to keep all the other animals in line.
>> Brent (27:05):
It was to keep the, uh. What does he say? Keep the mountain
lions away from the sheep. Yeah. I don't think a mountain coming
near these sheep with these dogs. Right. But yeah.
>> Harm (27:13):
Oh.
>> Brent (27:13):
Ah, beautiful winery, but wow. This one's.
>> Harm (27:16):
This is juicy. This is more juicy than I remember it being the first
time I had it. This is quite good. I'm impressed.
M. So it's great
entry on the mouthfeel, and it's a long finish.
>> Brent (27:28):
You got anything to add, Justin?
>> Harm (27:30):
Spicy.
>> Bob (27:30):
Oh, about the wine itself. Yeah. Beautiful
aromas of tobacco on the nose.
Great, bold fruit. The palate was rich,
complex, and the finish
was, like, sweet. Had this beautiful
fermented tobacco.
>> Brent (27:47):
And again, like sweet pipe tobacco.
>> Bob (27:49):
Lovely.
>> Harm (27:50):
Why are you guys hitting it on the mark today? Yeah, Sweet
pipe tobacco. And long. Long and long.
>> Bob (27:55):
Long like the clock I'm right twice a day. A broken clock.
I'm right twice a day.
>> Brent (28:00):
Uh, no, the broken clock with no hands is never right. So.
Yeah. Depends on how it's broken.
>> Harm (28:06):
Uh, you're. You could be the. You're the broken clock on military time. Once a day,
max.
>> Brent (28:09):
Yeah, maybe.
>> Bob (28:10):
Fair enough.
>> Brent (28:10):
On your best day.
>> Bob (28:11):
Fair enough.
>> Brent (28:14):
Yeah. This one's. This one's definitely special. So we're going to be
giving the hall 1873 cabernet sauvignon
2021 a, uh, well deserved. Forceps.
>> Harm (28:23):
That's classified.
>> Brent (28:25):
So let's go to our next one. We're gonna have Harm tell us about that one.
>> Harm (28:29):
Thanks, Bob.
Our next wine is the Hall Jax Masterpiece
Cabernet Sauvignon 2021. I don't know what the
ABV is. Where's the bottle?
>> Brent (28:36):
15.6.
>> Harm (28:37):
15.6. Let me write that down there.
ABV Napa Valley 98 Cabernet Sauvignon,
2% Merlot aged for 26 months and 70% new French
oak. The color is,
uh, impressively opaque, uh,
garnet with, uh, ruby edges. It is
freaking beautiful on the nose. Do we have another segment after the
(28:58):
commercial after this? Yeah. Okay, good.
>> Brent (29:00):
Yeah. Opaque's not the word, dude. Bite does not penetrate
this. Yeah, this is beautiful.
>> Harm (29:06):
Oh, my God. And it's such ripe fruit
on this. And,
um, river stones
and blackberries.
And there's spice coming out from the barrel,
which I'm picking up is light
clove and cinnamon. And there's a
little toasty note to it. Ah. Uh.
(29:28):
God, I just. I could just. Just smell this wine forever.
Mmm. The
mouthfeel, it's so rich.
Mouth coating, dense, purdy mouth.
Yeah, that one's got a pretty mouth.
Um, dark berries,
(29:48):
the graphite, which I was kind of getting on the nose.
I don't know. We have to go to a commercial.
>> Brent (29:54):
We'll be back.
>> Harm (29:54):
Keep going. Yeah.
And we're back. And I don't remember where I left off,
except the palette concentrated.
It's so rich. So mouth,
uh, mouth cutting. But I keep going back to the nose.
Oh, my God, this is such
(30:15):
a gorgeous, rich, sweet. And
I mean, the barrel. It's every. It's all there. It's all
there. My God, it's taking my words
away. Um, there's a hint of graphite on
the nose as well,
but that concentrate palette just covers
your. Covers your mouth.
(30:35):
Um, there's a little herbal note.
There's. It's great fruit,
great tannin. This wine could have 20,
30 years, maybe 20 more.
Plus, it's, it's just. I'm sorry, I was not talking the mic.
I'm just talking. I'm talking to my glass of wine instead of the microphone, so
you hear me coming out.
Um, this wine could last
(30:57):
in the cellar for years and years. I mean, maybe 20, maybe
30. I'm, I'm. I want this one.
I want this wine in my store. I want this one in my mouth. I want.
>> Brent (31:06):
You want it in your life?
>> Harm (31:07):
I want it in my life, yeah. Justin, do you,
uh, tell, uh, me how I'm wrong? What's going on?
>> Bob (31:11):
No, I concur. Yeah, I concur. It's very good.
>> Harm (31:15):
So, well, expand on that.
>> Brent (31:16):
Yeah. You want to maybe use some words? I'm just saying.
>> Bob (31:19):
I got some, like, beautiful fruits, like, a hint of
rum, barrel on the nose.
I got a mix of
intense floral flavors
with fruit. And the finish was
unreal. I mean, you, you can make a better
wine, but not that much better.
>> Brent (31:39):
Yeah, I, I, Yeah, I, I dare you
to make a better wine. And, you know, and if you do, it's probably a
heck of a lot more money now.
>> Harm (31:48):
They did a great job. This, this, this wine is under 200 bucks,
I believe. Um, this is.
It tastes like something that could be five, six hundred dollars. That's the
thing.
>> Brent (31:57):
Yeah. All day, I,
Yeah, I. There's not a lot I can add to this.
Uh, again,
blackberries.
>> Harm (32:07):
Yeah.
>> Brent (32:10):
Dry stone.
Just a hint of little, little bit of spice on the nose,
but just so fruity and yummy and
chewy and juicy.
>> Harm (32:23):
It's absolutely bone dry. It's bone dry, but that nose
fools you.
>> Brent (32:27):
M m. And on
the palate, it's just. I mean, it's dark,
it's thick, it's rich,
it's. Oh, it's
mouth coating. Um, yeah, this one is
absolutely lovely. There's.
There's some destiny minerality
(32:47):
to it. A little bit of
sage, a little bit of,
um, dried herb on the back
palette.
Um, and it just goes on
and on and on. I mean, the finish on this thing is
almost never ending.
Um, yeah, it's,
uh.
>> Harm (33:06):
We've got one more wine. Give it a rating, man.
>> Brent (33:08):
This one's fantastic. And, and all I can say is thank you. For
sending it. And please, um, send more
next vintage. So, um. But
yeah, well the folks at Paul have been a joy to work
with.
>> Harm (33:20):
So 21 was a great vintage for these guys.
>> Brent (33:22):
Yeah, 21, yeah. 21 has been a good vintage for, for both of
these wineries so far. So uh, we're going to be
giving the Hall Jack's Masterpiece Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021 a well
deserved five sips.
>> Harm (33:35):
Oh my goodness. Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
>> Brent (33:40):
And that brings us up to our next wine and we're gonna have Justin tell us
about that one.
>> Bob (33:44):
And I am so lucky to talk about this wine.
Catherine Hall, Napa Valley Cabernet
Sauvignon 2021. It's
97% Cabernet, 3%
Cobb Franc aged a
luxurious 26 months in 70%
new French oak using grapes from their
legendary Shirash vineyard.
(34:07):
Go with that as their base.
Sacrochet. Merci beaucoup.
The Catherine Hall Cabernet Sauvignon
is the pinnacle of Hall's blending efforts. Each
year. The color is dark like
Harm's Heart.
>> Harm (34:23):
No, no, this is darker than my heart.
>> Brent (34:25):
I don't have a heart.
>> Harm (34:27):
Yeah, I saw my soul a long time ago. There's that
darkness, my soul.
>> Brent (34:30):
I can see that black hole in the center of your
chest consuming all white matter. But yeah.
>> Bob (34:37):
So it's got like intense fruit
on it. Um,
diatomaceous rich earth,
beautiful graphite.
>> Harm (34:46):
Look at you. Your sat word.
>> Brent (34:48):
Mhm.
>> Bob (34:49):
I know, right? Multi syllabic
and like beautiful
dark chocolate on this one.
The palette, it just smooth,
it just goes forever. It
alternates flavors with like fruit,
um, minerality to it that I can't really put the words
(35:09):
to. And the finish is. You just
wish it kept going on.
>> Harm (35:13):
And on and on. This is stunning.
Absolutely stunning. I um,
I've had Katherine hall before again from the same, those same friends with,
who are part of the wine, the uh, wine club
and we had a dinner and they had some Catherine hall and they
were very generous to share this with me. We do
get it in the store for retail every now and then, but mostly
this is restaurant wine. Um, if
(35:36):
you meet your allocations and if you uh, if you meet
your, your basic entry, uh, level,
uh, purchasing from these guys from, from the, the uh,
supplier. You can sometimes get the Catherine hall in the
retail and you'll, you'll save a lot of money getting the
Catherine hall retail if you can get this. But be prepared to spend
a few hundred dollars in the restaurant.
>> Bob (35:55):
You pay more direct from them.
>> Harm (35:57):
Uh, in the wine club is hard to get. You'd be on a wait list right now.
But, um, if you get this in a restaurant
and they. You see it being ridiculously expensive,
don't worry about it. Just go ahead and order.
Just have them decant it for you. Make sure your,
your sommelier decants this wine. Order it with.
Order something else to have with the apps. By the time the entree comes
(36:19):
out, this wine will be barely be ready. This wine
is stunning. Oh, my God.
Currents, Graphite,
you said, uh, what do you say?
>> Bob (36:29):
To the microphone, not the wine.
>> Harm (36:31):
I'm, um, talking the wine.
>> Brent (36:32):
Isn't the mic knucklehead.
>> Harm (36:37):
Just absolutely intense? I got
baked black cherries. I got,
um, that dark chocolate.
The mouthfeel is. I was going on about the mouth of the previous
wine. This wine puts it to shame.
And again, intense. Long finish. Bob, uh,
what do you think?
>> Brent (36:57):
Well, the last Catherine we did was the 2019. We gave
that five step, so it's, it's not surprising. This one
is good, but I swear this one's better than
the 2019. Um, again, I think 21
was a great year for both of these wineries.
It's so full, it's so well
integrated. The tannins are just huge, but
(37:18):
not overpowering. It's just, it's
so well done. Dark fruits,
dry stone,
graphite on the nose, a little bit of black currant. It's
just, I mean, uh, I can't really think of anything I
could do to possibly make this any better
other than ship a case to sip suds
(37:39):
and smoke care of Bob.
>> Harm (37:41):
Or, uh, we could get it for free.
>> Brent (37:43):
Yeah, I know this is. Again, be prepared
to pay for this.
>> Harm (37:47):
Wine, but it's worth it.
>> Brent (37:47):
You guys sat down as we got three from hall and you all went well. It's
Catherine Hall. You know, that one's really going to be good, but Jesus, the
other two as well. So,
um, yeah, we're going to be giving the Catherine hall
Napa Valley cabernet seven, you know, 2021 a
well deserved five sips.
>> Harm (38:03):
Oh my goodness. No surprise.
>> Brent (38:08):
And you were talking about Alan Rickman, so no surprise.
This Californian wine.
Oh, so good.
So, yeah,
great episode and honestly, amazing showings for
both Lark Mead and Hall. I mean, they make great wines, but.
>> Harm (38:29):
Ralph, 2021 was a vintage you want to look at.
>> Brent (38:31):
Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you guys for joining me. Thank you,
Justin.
>> Bob (38:35):
Thank you so much. Pleasure to be in the basement and thank
you.
>> Brent (38:38):
Harmonious.
>> Harm (38:38):
Can I have the leftover wine, Bob? No. Damn.
>> Brent (38:41):
You, Bob, gonna stay with me.
>> Harm (38:45):
So good. Thanks for having me.
>> Brent (38:46):
I have a gun. And back off. Liz made
Mad Bob for Sip, Suds and Smokes. Thank you for joining us.
Remember, life is too short to drink bad wine and
good lord, we didn't have to do that today. So
uh, congratulations to the folks at both
hall and Larkmead for really knocking it out of the park on this
episode.
>> Harm (39:04):
Episode guys, this vintage, this
vintage was great.
Mhm.
>> Brent (39:10):
Fantastic.
>> Announcer (39:12):
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>> Harm (39:21):
Give it a little tappy tap, tap
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(39:47):
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Fans on those social media platforms. Do
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for another episode and keep on sipping.
>> Brent (40:25):
This has been a one tan hand.
>> Harm (40:26):
Production of Sips, Suds and Smokes,
a.
>> Brent (40:29):
Program devoted to the appreciation of some of the
finer slices of life from the dude in the
Basement Studios. Your host, the Good Old Boys
will.
>> Harm (40:38):
See you all next time.
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