I just stumbled across a little trove of these and stacked up on a few. I have read about the producers Terry and Frances Leighton. At the price I paid, I though it was worth gambling. I won’t be able to try them for a little while so I thought I would try to live vicariously through the folks here until I get them.
TIA
Great wines. Bought the last few in Nashville a few years ago. No one has brought them in since then. I buy direct now. Slightly more expensive than retail, but I’m ok with it.
Yes.
E
Their Semillon is EPIC with some age.
+1
David–I saw that you got the Chards. The PNs have shown real bottle variation but when you get a great one it is a wonderful experience
David, i prefer the whites to the reds…especially like the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc…they can both be quite extraordinary.
Cheers, Bob
Scott, I also ordered the 1999 Semillon which is 20% Sauv Blanc. I just stumbled across some article about them, did a little research, and took the leap of faith that a 20 year old Cali Chard will show well if it is relatively unmanipulated. As for the Semillon, I am huge fan of Bordeaux Blanc, but not the price point. Anything that could come close would be great.
Great wines.
Thanks Bob and Roberto, I ordered 6 ea of the 99 Semillon, the 93 Stealth, and the 95 Cuvee LV. I will post notes to this thread as I open and try.
I think you will be very happy
99 Semillon, who do they think they are…Lopez de Heredia? Cool!
I love Kalin.
Lots of bottle variation, but more hits than misses.
I had an '87 Sauv Blanc this year that was amazing.
The '95 Chardonnay is my go-to when people complain about CA whites.
I like the whites. The 98 Semillon and the 94 LD Chardonnay are mindblowing for their price. I liked the 95 LD, but it didn’t quite reach the heights of the 94 for me.
No experience with the reds, but very curious.
I also love the web site, which seems to have been created around the same time these wines were being harvested…I think it is optimized for Netscape Navigator…
Prefer the whites as well…
Jim, no kidding. However, one of their distributors got in touch with me within 2-3 days, so they do actually pay attention to communication.
Way back, a Cuvee LD sent us on the road to winedom.
All downhill from there.
Picked up at the LWS today. Opened a 1993 Cuvee LD. 13.2% alcohol. Light golden color. Nose of green apple, ginger, mace, mineral. On the palate, beautifully balanced with a nice oily texture and the saline sensation I get from Chablis and Alsace PG. Clean finish with a bit of almond balanced by crisp acidity. Hard to wrap my head around this. A cerebral wine experience to be certain. If scoring 95-96, probably the best Cali chardonnay experience I have had. Definitely an AWFE wine if there ever was one. Will post impressions on the 95 LV and 99 Semillon later this week.
I ordered a few bottles of Kalin to try a few months back and a few weeks ago got delivery of:
1993 Kalin Cellar “Cuvée LD” Sonoma Chardonnay (thanks David for the notes on this one)
1999 Kalin Cellars “Cuvée DD” Sonoma County Pinot Noir
2000 Kalin Cellars Livermore Valley Sémillon
Any thoughts on these - did you like them, how drinkable now, etc.
Overall, I’m a fan, but I didn’t care for either their '95 LV Chardonnay (more “California” than Kalin, if that makes sense) or the '99 Livermore Valley Semillon, which struck me as oxidized (more than one bottle).
Prior to buying a few bottles each of those two, I had absolutely wonderful, thoroughly Kalin, bottles of different vintages of their Chardonnay and Semillon; a friend brought them to a dinner and I didn’t note the vintages or designations, but apparently they were no longer available when we ordered a few weeks later.
Frank, that makes sense. I will try the Semillon tonight and post notes here. I don’t mind oxidized notes but completely gone would be a different thing.