Vice Versa, Beckstoffer Las Piedras Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

My greatest day of wine (over)consumption. Ever. (Aaron and Tiffany's pad) : The third of 3 csimm's announced contributions; more on the unannounced part soon. I don't remember seeking out the nose on this, but by the time I got to the cabs/Bordeaux blend, we'd been at for quite a while. On the palate, dark mixed berries, some black cherries and currants, classic LPV minerality, dark chocolate, the world's strongest espresso, graphite and a Graves-like hot asphalt streak on the …

Vice Versa weekend and dinner : I’ve played around with this wine here and there over the last few years and I am always a little circumspect about predicting how it is going to perform. LPV in general can shut down throughout bottle evolution and for whatever reason I’m no stranger to catching it when it can be pretty balled-up and tense. This particular bottle displayed focused and honed black cherry and crushed asphalt flavors that are distinctly LPV. Because …

Vice Versa Wine Dinner : The ever fickle 15 LPV was finally open for business on this occasion. Showed lots of wonderful crushed stone notes to go along with blackberries and hints of char. Next to the BBS wines, this was a bit lighter on its feet and worked more deftly around the palate. Super expansive while also showing great freshness, this is still a baby. It’s amazing how young these wines still taste at age 6. I expect this …

This is my third 2015 Vice Versa in 2021 that is more tight and reserved than open and expansive. Call it the vintage, but - as a native Midwesterner - I feel qualified at spotting something that is good but a little repressed, and this wine currently fits the bill. I imagine it will be impressive in another few years, but I won’t open my other bottle until at least 2023. Dark cherry in color and full in body, the …

Not as stubborn as the last time I had this wine 2.5 years ago, but still somewhat disinclined to fan out and show its full flavor potential, the 2015 VV LPV is going to be a slow burn of a wine moving forward before it ultimately decides to reveal the pulsating sum of its parts. Black cherry, dark plum, and some higher register red fruit (pomegranate and cranberry) mix with slight mineral elements that ride on the surface of the …

Thought it would be fun to side by side this with the 2015 Fairchild Stones 1, since they both are LPV and have Melka as the consulting wine maker. Also because as of I believe the 2018 vintage, all this fruit will be with VV and Fairchild will no longer have the Stones 1 (or at least it won't be from LPV). Unfortunately, both of these wines seemed to be pretty shutdown. We had them PnP, and initially the Fairchild …

Side-by-side of a 2015 Vice Versa Las Piedras and a 2015 Fairchild Stones 1. Both wines struggled to find much semblance of order at the end of it all. The VV started off heavy on the structure and grip, with hints of dark black fruit and minerality peeking out here and there. The Fairchild started off oddly fruity, lacking much structure, with a bitter back end and stunted finish. After about an hour or so, both wines completely shut down. …

Dark and brooding with savory flavors and scorched earth aromatics reminiscent of a young LMHB. Being the rockiest of the three sites, the Las Piedras shows off its mineral driven core layered throughout the depth of rich, concentrated fruit.

Same as my notes from last month. A great bottle of wine that stood out from all of the other wines served alongside it. I’ll try to hold remaining bottles for another year.

Blind Wine Tasting at the Lang's (Tustin CA) : Served blind. As I look at my notes, very similar to those on 9/11/17. Great perfumed nose of wet stone, spring flowers, black licorice and cassis fruit. On the pallet, nice concentration of black fruit and mineral driven flavors. Very smooth and silky texture. Very refined and quite long with a 30 sec+ finish.

Though I usually can't help but blather on about this topic, I don't have to write much on this particular wine because Cristal2000, #1WineLover, and BadMonkey pretty much covered all that needs to be said about this sophisticated and downright captivating LPV. I could stick my face in this thing all night long (which I kinda did - a little embarrassing, but well worth savoring every whiff and sip of this wine). Dark black raspberry, black cherry, blackberry, purple plum, …

Slow ox'ed for 3 hours and then decanted for 3 more. It needed all of that! My Coravin pour a couple of weeks ago was disappointing so I'm glad that bottle shock has settled down. A really great wine and a solid effort with dark colors (black, purple and red) and dark fruit (blackberry and dark currants). An interesting blend of Vanilla Bean mid-palate and then chocolate on the finish. Had the trademark vineyard notes of graphite, stone, and earth. …

Although young, I'm considering buying more but wanted to see where this vintage is at first. Black fruit with a touch of red - blackberry, dark currants, and a little dark cherry. Really smooth mid-palate coupled with nice depth and purity. Full/vibrant flavors of dark berries, a little spice, and a nice mineral/graphite component. Long/deep finish. Decanted for three hours and drank over another three. Improved with time but quite enjoyable after the decant. However, I believe this vintage could …

This is magical stuff. An intensely perfumed nose of crushed flowers, crushed rocks, black licorice and cassis fruit. A lot going on here. On the pallet this has a beautiful mouthfeel, great concentration of black fruit and mineral driven flavors and a very nice finish of about 30 seconds. A terrific wine that I regret not purchasing in higher quantities.