2018 Carlisle Zinfandel Montafi Ranch - This could be one of the top 5 Carlisle wines I have ever had. Great on PnP and even better on night 3 under VinVac. Red and blue fruit with depth and a long finish. Bit of dustiness throughout.
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Agreed my friend! I freaking love Montafi and the 18 is outstanding! That ‘dusty’ note in well made OVZ makes my knees weak 
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We live around 90 miles from Carlisle, so decided to go in person to pick up our order yesterday. It is always nice to see Mike, Kendall and Jay, because they are all so down-to-earth and friendly. They were pouring 4 2022’s, the Derivative, the Rossi Ranch Grenache, Papera Zin and the Old Hill. They were all very nice, but the Derivative was a standout and the Old Hill was the best of the reds for me.
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2013 Santa Lucia Highlands Syarh, pop and pour and improved slightly over the course of a few hours. Bright red fruit on the nose that followed through to the palate. Rasbertty and black cherry, nice acidity and perfcect balance with no heat. I think this is in its prime drinking window though does not seem to be fading. Wish I had more. Looks like Mike’s drinking chart shows the window through 2024 but I think it has several more years.
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2013 Sonoma County Syrah. Drinking beautifully.
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2018 Dry Creek Zinfandel. AKA-The Florida Panthers Good Luck Charm.
2024 Game 7 vs. Oilers Win
2025 Game 5 vs. Toronto Win
2025 Game 6 vs. Oilers Win
Vamos Gatos!
2018 Mancini drinking really well. Ultra concentrated but with a lot of lift and acidity to balance the power. Lots of orange, pepper, violets etc on the nose to keep the rich fruit in check. Worth opening one if you’ve got it.
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Ahhhh, awesome note! I absolutley love this wine! Think I’ve gone through 4 of them in the last year. Your description is spot on!
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Your CT note was what made me pull it!
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Popped a 21’ Dry Creek last night. I will forever be amazed at the QPR for Mike’s wines. Looking forward to max ordering his 23s in a few weeks.
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Is there an official release date yet? Definitely will be ordering more than historically. So good 
Always mid July.
Site says July 16th.
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2019 Montafi.
I love Montafi. Easily in my top 3 Carlisles (along with Papera and Mancini). Unfortunately…this 2019 was not great. Thin and lacking the depth and enjoyment that i usually find from this vineyard. To top it off, im getting significant heat/alcohol on the palate which has never happened before. My first 19 so not sure if it’s the vintage or an off bottle??
I haven’t tried this wine, but looking at cellar tracker it seems like it’s your bottle. I have loved the 2019 Carlisle Vineyard, Papera, and Sonoma all of which stand out for their richness, a plus for me.
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Yep, it definitely could be! As i mentioned, Montafi is one of my favorites and I’ve consumed quite a few across many vintages, and this one wasn’t great. If Richness is a staple of the 2019 Carlisles like you mentioned…Montafi is an outlier or this was an off bottle, because it was literally the opposite of that.
I’ll open a 2019 papera soon and hopefully it shows as well as yours did
2018 and still vibrant. Some fruit is gone but undertones are there. Amazing how long this can last. I think my prefer time is around three years but this is really good. Some acid. nice mid palette. Light but long finish.
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Hi Cliff, thanks for the data point on an aged Derivative, I think I have had them up to 4 to 6 years but never at age 7 or later.
But the real reason I replied is the vittles pictured - is that the hot honey pork chops from Epicurious? I ask as i make it once a month, easy and tasty weekend night meal.
Ha. It is. First time making it. Was really good and was a pretty good food and wine match.
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I’ve been drinking several vintages of The Derivative in the last year - 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021. I’ve found Mike’s drinking windows to be pretty accurate. I last had the 2018 in August and thought it was better the second night, suggesting some aging potential. I found the best of these wines for drinking now is the 2016, which I think is maybe the best Derivative I’ve had, and should hold for another couple of years. Given Mike’s drinking window on the 2019 (2021-2036), I haven’t tried that yet.
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