Keplinger, Lithic, Amador County

Wonderful, balanced and still has plenty of fruit. No rush.

2010 vintage

Four years since my last bottle. Then I thought it would drink well for another 3 years or so. That was accurate as it is still drinking well but probably starting a decline. Dark red with fading at the edges. Bright berry and spice nose. Red-fruited and crisp on the palate, cherry, blueberry. The grenache in the blend comes out strongly. Fine tannins, pronounced acidity, decent balance. Finishes long and gradual and red-fruited. Probably a bit past peak but still …

2008 vintage

Double decanted just before service. Dark red at the core with faint translucence at rim. Deep cherry nose. Lush, intense fruit but somewhat refined. Cherries, blueberries. Stright cherry on the mid-palate. Tannins need to soften a bit, but not bothersome. Bright acidity, great balance. Finishes long and dark fruited. Quite nice now, but I'd like a bit more complexity on the palate. Give it 3 to 5 years, there's plenty of fruit there to wait on. 44% Grenache; 31% Mourvèdre; …

2010 vintage

Wonderful wine. At peak.

2010 vintage

Fantastic wine! Aging very well.

2010 vintage

dark inky red and blue fruit - I get a hint of smoke - anyone else? Some herbs. beautiful wine!

2010 vintage

Dark red color. Lovely ripe berry nose. The palate shows cherries, plums, bit of blueberry, some roasted meats. Gets richer with air. Smooth tannins, nice acidity and balance. Finishes moderately long with mixed red and blue fruits. Drinking well and should do so for another 3 to 4 years. 44% Grenache/31% Mourvedre/25% Syrah.

2010 vintage

Very nice, smooth. Ready now. Black fruits, cassis, red licorice.

2010 vintage

Mint, iron, white pepper and black fruit nose. Smooth full palate of black cherry, cola and licorice. Firm drying tannins. Long finish. Drinking really nicely right now.

2010 vintage

Red raspberry, black raspberry, and cassis. Some cherry with a slight amount of chocolate. Perfectly balanced and full bodied. Creamy texture with strong tannins. Not a pushover, but a wine strutting it's stuff and saying "I am here". Hits you straight on like a California wine is designed. Seems to be better having sat in argon gas since I last tried it with the coravin a few weeks ago. Delightful wine with salmon tonight.

2010 vintage

Coravin glass. Opened up after an hour and lost it two hours later. Initially had spice and fruit was hidden. After an hour the wine had firm tannins and red berry fruit. In hour two the tannins began to fade and fruit took over. Well rounded red raspberry with pepper spice in middle and back end, but lackluster in third hour. Fruit beginning to fade in finish in hour three and spice remaining. I would start to consume after 60 …

2010 vintage

A lovely wine, but not what I expected at all. 40% Grenache, 46% Mourvedre and 14% Syrah. A bright nose of cherries and roasted meats. The palate starts out bright with blueberries and transitions to dark cherry with a bit of pepper. The tannins are already soft and polished, great acidity. A long finish of dark fruits and warm spice. I was expecting a big, in-your-face wine. This ain't that kind of wine at all (thank heavens!). I expect this …

2008 vintage

Open it up but don't drink it until the second night. It all comes together in a wonderfully expressive mix of Grenache (44%), Mourvedre (31%), and Syrah (25%).

2010 vintage

Had over 3 days. Superb and nowhere near peak.

2010 vintage

Perfect pairing with roasted chicken leg quarters with fall vegetables and sourdough chunks.

2010 vintage

Give it time to open and it'll reward you. In a good spot right now.

2008 vintage

Accessed a couple glasses via Coravin. Still very youthful, with the secondary characteristics that come from age in no hurry to displace the fruit. Should have heeded the community notes suggesting plenty of air prior to drinking, and will do so with the other half of the bottle. Nonetheless, enjoyable. 91+ now, but expect the score will improve when given the time it deserves.

2008 vintage

Has come into its own, rich, dark fruit, tannins largely resolved.

2010 vintage

started out a little funky; but man did this open up to rich berry fruit, spice and smoke with a long smooth finish

2010 vintage

Opened up after a couple hours and was phenomenal. Aging nicely.

2008 vintage

Complex wine with dark fruit, earth, leather and spice notes. After recently tasting a lot of GSM blends from Washington, however, this tasted somewhat harsh. May need more time to integrate.

2010 vintage

Absolutely wonderful. Decanted for 4 hours. Still opening up. Much better than last bottles we opened. Maybe this bottling just needed more time.

2008 vintage

Very nice bottle. Not as much complecxity as I was expecting for the price point.

2010 vintage

Wow. Decanted and drank over four hours. Dark crimson. Brooding in the glass. Nose of baked cobbler and tobacco. The palate took a long time to come around, once it did, the balance is noticeably impeccable. Fruit and earth with a grip. Vanilla showed itself later. Great finish. Can't say enough about this wine.

2010 vintage

Dark and a bit brooding. Reticent in the nose, Aromas of dark fruit mix with smoke and a bit of leather. Flavors of dark fruit, light smoke, stone and graphite. Pronounced tannins, but no heat. Served after a bottle of 2010 Red Slope, this was a completely different experience, less fruit forward and layered, more subtle. Nice.

2010 vintage

Really good blend with GSM mix - something I typically do not like. Nice balance and very good finish

2010 vintage

Pleasant. Dusty tannins. Mild acidity. Mourvèdre seems most evident. No heat from alcohol. Will improve over next couple years. Best with a hearty meal.

2010 vintage

The 2010 Lithic has the most potential of any of the Keplinger wines I have visited lately. The nose is driven by a touch of orange peel, tea and spice notes. Palate is in balance though the chewy tannin obviously needs more time to resolve. Decanted 5 hours and drank over 2. Very nice.

2010 vintage

The wine, though good and showing real potential, seems still quite young. I'll wait a year, maybe two to drink the next bottle--closer to when it's ready. High hopes here given other HK wines I've had.

2010 vintage

pnp, consumed over 5 hours. this was stellar. i've been lukewarm on keplinger wines lately, and this was a great example of how good they can be. meaty, but with enough fruit to keep the wife happy. powerful yet elegant. perfectly in balance with no perceptible heat. really impressive stuff here. if scoring, solid 94. i would think this can age gracefully for another 5-7 years.

2010 vintage

Decanted three hours. Served with lamb, which was a great pairing. Nice nose of strawberry, leather, anise, burnt rubber, along with some dark fruits. On the palate, rich and dense with black raspberry, melted licorice, olive, smoked meats, leather, and some bright red fruit flavors. Finishes long with decent acidity, definitely marred by the heat.

2010 vintage

Needs some air to open up and develop. Really nice blending. The Mourvèdre is more apparent than the 2009. Red & black fruit, smoked meat, herbs, spices, minerals...it's all there in great balance. Medium + finish with mostly resolved tannins. Great drinking now with some air time and should easily hold a few more years. Day 2 it continued to open and developed some mocha flavors along with the finish extending. One of my favorite bottles in the Keplinger lineup. …

2008 vintage

absolutely smoking with Christmas dinner. Velvety mouthfeel and loads of fruit and a finish that sails on and on. This was an awesome contrast to the 1995 Les Cailloux we poured next to it - both outstanding and a terrific demonstration of old/elegant vs young/powerful where both are great examples.

2008 vintage

Am a huge Kep fan but had not had the '08 Lithic until this bottle. Dark purple, with a muted nose, it impressed from the first sip after a 2-hour decant, yet seemed years from rounding into an integrated blend with softened tannins. All the ingredients are there, though.

2008 vintage

Two hour decant. Maybe it was the hustle and bustle of Easter, but i did not get a chance to focus on this wine. It was a big crowd pleaser with the family. They all said it was "big" with some fruit, but the pepper, spice, and mineral characteristics we're what they seemed to mention most.

2008 vintage

Decanted straight out of the cellar. Taking on some reddish hue now, but still quite purple. Black cherry, cassis, smoked pepper, hint of leather, meat, mushrooms, horseradish cream (I was surprised on this, but had some Friday with pot roast, and the smell is really fresh in my memory...I get it every time I go back and smell this wine...love it) Tannins are very big and grippy still, but are relaxing with more time in the decanted..this can be left …

2008 vintage

Excellent GSM blend

2008 vintage

barnyard nose which blew off later; give this about an hour's decant to full enjoy

2008 vintage

after going ballz deep into helen's spring release, i decided to revisit a keplinger wine to remind myself why buying this wine is a better decision than paying my mortgage. pop and poured into a decanter, vigorously swirled, then poured back into the bottle. did this a total of 5 times. drank 2 glasses per day over 3 days. i don't usually put much stock into thinking a wine can substantially evolve in less than 12 months, but it's fun …

2008 vintage

Wonderful juicy nose with blueberry and raspberries. Rich palate with nice berries, sage and spices. Lovely finish with great acidity. Paired wonderfully with Flannery steaks.

2008 vintage

Rhone-style blend dominated by Mourvedre. Dark ruby, almost purple in the glass. Aromas of earth and smoked meat. On the palate, medium-bodied with dark berries, musk, leather and wonderfully integrated (for a young wine) tannins. Lengthy finish. Perhaps the best Mourvedre-based wine I have ever tasted. A complex, multi-layered and memorable effort from Helen Keplinger.

2008 vintage

decanted 2 hours, consumed 3/5 on day 1 with grilled lamb chops and the rest on day 2 with grilled pork chops. initial meaty, stemmy aromas mixed with blackberries and cranberry. when paired with the lamb chops, the fruit exploded on the palate in a wonderful way. the slight gaminess of the lamb brought out the juicy blackberry flavors in the wine. day 2 saw the sauvage aromas subside into a very pretty black-fruit infused nose with some damp earth …

2008 vintage

Needs a couple of hours to open up, but when it's had some breathing time it's worth the weight. Aromas of crushed blackberries and dark ripe strawberries upon opening, these flavors come through in spades with some air.

2008 vintage

DAWGS August 2011 - Rhone vs Central Coast (The Cedars Social) : WIMLNR Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of black pepper, black berries and blueberries. Flavors of black berries, black currants and black cherries. Medium acidity, firm tannins and full bodied. Seemed a bit disjointed and hot so no rating.

2008 vintage

Very solid, smooth wine after several hours. I get vanilla and aged leather.

2008 vintage

stored in 55 degree cabinet & decanted 2 hours prior to serving. serious viscosity that completely coats the entire mouth, with a flavor profile reminiscent of a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. The vanilla is an undertone, and a bit "bready," with the deep chocolate/cocoa notes more dominant and lush. delicious and I think it will be better after a few years when it's not as much in your face.

2008 vintage

Interesting, unique red from the Sierra Foothills in Amador County. Rich, flavorful wine that highlights features from each grape in the blend. A mocha drenched lead in from the Mourvedre, and midpalate of red licorice and dusty berry from the Grenache and peppery, meaty edge represents the Syrah. All combined in a fine wine from Helen and her group. I'd think in a year all the elements will have meshed together in the cellar. Hospice du Rhone Grand Tasting.

2008 vintage

Wow. Helen Keplinger rocks. Big earthy nose- forest floor, sage, smoked meat, mushrooms. This gives way to some dark berry fruit. Palate is full and round with a long finish. Amazing how well this showed young. Still have some left for day two- more notes to follow.

2008 vintage

Napa Offline and a whole bunch of wine, mostly Syrah (Napa Valley Wine & Cigar) : Roy brought this. Made by the new winemaker at Bryant, I was excited to try this. I was not let down. Ruby with purple hues. Mostly clear and bright. There is a nice earthy stink about this (Mourvedre?) along with great black raspberries and boysenberries. Nice juicy texture. On the palate, black raspberries and leather and some earth, well layered. Nice complexity. Long finish. …

2008 vintage

Strong reduction aromas upon opening. Some nice berry flavors in there. Fairly juicy.

2008 vintage

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Keplinger, Lithic, Amador County

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