Reviews - Artistry & Napa Valley Red

2005 Artistry

A supple, complex blend, that is full bodied, lightly oaky, and long on the palate, with a persistent finish, tasting of blackberry, toast, caramel, black currant, and spicy oak. Excellent quality. 54% CS, 22% CF, 14% PV, 9% MB and 1% ME.
- Restaurant Wine, Issue #123

89 Points & One Puff
54% Cabernet Sauvignon; 22% Cabernet Franc; 14% Petite Verdot; 9% Malbec; 1% Merlot. This deep and well-filled blend of Bordeaux varietals exhibits plenty of richness and a full measure of nicely ripened cassis and black cherry fruit from beginning to end, and it sports a bit of early suppleness before being closed out by firming tannins. It requires a half-decade of patience and could use even more, but it has all the right stuff in all the right places to make aging a sure thing.
- Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, April 2008

2004 Artistry

5 Stars
Rich, depth, complexity; this blend has it all. It is supple, well balanced, quite long on the palate, and persistent in the finish. Needs aging. Tastes of blackberry, cherry, toast, licorice, toast and cedar. 63% CS, 13% PV, 12 % MB, 9% ME, 3% CF. Unfined, unfiltered.
- Restaurant Wine, Issue # 121-122

2003 Artistry

5 Stars
Outstanding: Wines of such remarkable character and quality as to be in a class by themselves.
56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec and 5% Petite Verdot. Big, deep, rich, well-concentrated, blackberry, French roast and toasty oak flavors.
- QRW's 23rd Annual California's Best of The Best, Summer 2007

91 Points - Good Value!
Relatively outgoing yet not at all overdone. This ripe, multifaceted wine smells of currants, black cherries and hints of orange-rind with a lavish backdrop of rich, creme brulee and lightly toasted oak notes. Full but not heavy in palatal impact and tasty from front to back, the wine carries the expected tannins of youth and seems assured of future softening and rounding with bottle age. In today's Cabernet market, this one is an absolute bargain at the price. - Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine, December 2006

2002 Napa Valley Red

93 Points
A bit of sediment drifted through this garnet wine. Aromas of dark berry fruit, rose, oak and leather wafted into the nose. Flavors of dark berries, gentle clove, leather and vanilla floated across the tongue. Well balanced with 'good complexity,' this 'very pleasant but young' full-bodied wine felt 'gritty' on the teeth. One taster suggested that it would benefit from 'some downtime.' The 'fairly tannic' finish blended 'bright, pleasant fruit' with 'brown' flavors and spice. - Wine Report, November/December 2005

92 Points
This smells like a Napa Cabernet, with dark purple fruit and equally dark herbal tones. Then it feels more European, with a clean, bracing freshness and a sleek refinement to the structure of the wine. Lean and lithe, with impressive concentration, this should age well for ten years or more. Marco DiGiulio, formerly of Lokoya, is the winemaker here, the wine a blend of five Bordeaux varieties grown on hillside and valley floor vineyards in Oakville and St. Helena.
- Wine & Spirits, December 2005

Intense and concentrated, with a solid tannic backbone supported by a rich core of ripe currant, blackberry and black cherry fruit. Hints of anise and plum peek through at points and the finish returns to chewy tannins. Best from 2007 through 2011. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 4,522 cases made.
- Wine Spectator, October 31, 2005

2001 Napa Valley Red
Gold Medal STARWINE COMPETITION, March 2005

Outstanding.
This Bordeaux-style blend offers complexly layored flavors of fresh berry, plum, spice and black cherry, with a silky finish of ripe, chocolate tannins. The Cabernet Franc component is particularly notable, offering a hint of Cheval Blanc-like herb and cassis intensity midway through to the finish.
- Ben Giliberti, Washington Post, February 2, 2005

One Puff
Dominant themes of ripe raspberries and cherries may make this one a bit hard to immediately tag as Cabernet, but its mix of sweet fruit and fairly rich oak is nonetheless easy to like. It is full and very slightly fat on the palate with plenty of glycerin smoothing its way, and while it keeps tannins low, it is touched by heat at the finish.
- Connoisseur’s Guide, December, 2004

A classy Cabernet that offers richness without excess with aromas of ripe cherry, plum and blackberry, with a touch of espresso. Excellent balance, lively acidity, firm tannins and a long complex aftertaste.
- The Wine Spectator, November 15, 2004

2000 Napa Valley Red
* * * * -- is a fairly well-balanced blend of half cabernet sauvignon, a fourth cabernet franc, and the rest merlot and malbec, all from Napa . It has good fruit, and it shames so many of its Napa neighbors' "meritage" blends at twice the price.
- Michael Lonsford, Houston Chronicle, September 16, 2004

91 Points
This blend of Cabernet and other Bordeaux varieties is elaborately crafted, with an overlay of sweet, smoky oak. It feels very elegant in the mouth, and the blackberry, casis and cherry flavors are lip-smackingly good. Finishes with a scour of acids and tannins.
- Wine Enthusiast April 2004

"Best Cabernet Sauvignon Buy In the Market"
- Connoisseur's Guide to California Wine, March 2004

Rated Two Puffs, ||, 91 POINTS
"In a world in which top-rated claret-styled wines are selling up in the stratosphere, it is a pleasure to come across this deep, well-made effort that is somewhat more affordable. Its young, compact, sappy black currant and dried cherry fruit is enhanced by scents of crème brulée, caramel, slate and a hint of herb. Full, rounded, supple and quite nicely concentrated on the palate, it is possessed of wonderful length and fights its way through a veneer of youthful tannins and slight stiffness towards the back. A few years in bottle will do great things, and it seems likely to improve for many more years after that." "GOOD VALUE"
- CONNOISSEURS' GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA WINE, DECEMBER, 2003

RATED 4 STARS
"An excellent Blend; very supple in texture, full in body, and complex in flavor, with medium richness and very good balance. Medium long finish. Tastes of toasted oak, plum, black currant, pepper and caramel"
- RESTAURANT WINE, OCTOBER, 2003

RATED 92 - 94 POINTS
"Girard Napa Valley Red has lush silky flavors of blackberry, currant, cloves and cinnamon with a strong presence of blueberry from the Cabernet Franc with a velvety smooth finish of toasty oak. The 2000 Girard Napa Valley Red is the best and most aromatic red wine I have tasted in some time, and is a must for red wine lovers"
- WICHITA FALLS TIMES RECORD, JULY, 2003

"An Outstanding Napa Valley wine, look for the 2000 Napa Valley Red Table wine, a superbly balanced, scented and smooth Cabernet Blend."
- ELIN MCCOY AND JOHN FREDERICK WALKER, OCTOBER 22,2003

"Bordeaux like in its elegant style and supple, with a mix of cherry, currant, herb and cassis. Finishes with a touch of stalkiness and firm tannins."
- WINE SPECTATOR, OCTOBER 31, 2003

5 STARS, HIGHEST RATING
"Without a doubt one of the best red wines I sampled this year. A remarkably sophisticated, harmonius blend that sings with authority and pedigree. I think that it's the sublimely juicy presence of the Cab franc that makes this wine so special. A 12 bottle case is the only way to go."
- SPIRIT JOURANAL, DECEMBER 2003

"Full-blown and rich dark berry flavors with touches of cinnamon and anise. This wine is delicious now but will improve with several years of aging."
- ANNAPOLIS CAPITAL October 29,2003

1999 Napa Valley Red
Highly Recommended
Rated 91
"Tight, dense and richly flavored, with firm currant, chocolate and blackberry flavors that are sharply focused. Reveals extra layers of depth and dimension. Firms up on the finish, where the tannins flex their muscles."
- Wine Spectator, October 31, 2002

Exceptional
Rated 93
"Though this red meritage blend is but 50 percent cabernet sauvignon, it is anything but meek. The '99 Girard offers up a good serving of good old Napa Valley depth and concentration, the characteristics that have made this 30-mile strip of Northern California agriculture America's mecca of red wine. It's rich and full-bodied, loaded with dark fruit complexities and nuances of anise and cinnamon. One of the better Napa reds for the money. Cab franc and merlot complete the blend."
- Robert Whitley, Copley News Service, June 5,2002

Editors Choice
Rated 92
"A terrific wine that defines midvalley balance, harmony and style. Casis & smoky oak flavors describe the objective characteristics, but can’t convey the feeling of plushness and class. Some dusty tannins suggest holding through 2004."
-Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide, November 2002

Highly Recommended
Rated 90
"Big and rich right in the middle, then closed off from view, this young wine hasn't extended the length of its flavor yet. But there's already plenty of depth to the cherry liqueur scents, the plush and gentle texture, the green herb edges. It all points to a wine that should grow more elegant, lengthening over the next ten years."
- Wine & Spirits, October 2002

Rated One Puff
"This big, plush slightly supple youngster displays a certain sense of  juicy fruit that very much suggests Merlot, but its sturdy structure and undisguised tannin are all Cabernet in Character"
- Connoissuer’s Guide, November 2002

1998 Napa Valley Red
Rated 90
"Smooth and supple on the palate, the wine is brimming with ripe black cherry, blackberry, anise and cassis flavors that are followed by hints of coffee and herb. The ensemble is framed in rich, silky tannins that taper off with a long, lush finish."
- Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide, May 2002

Rated 89 - 90
“exhibits smoky casis aromas, an elegant sweet attack, moderate tannin, and a rich, nicely textured, stylish, graceful finish”
- The Wine Advocate, January 2000, Robert Parker

Rated 89 , | One Puff
“ Attractively fruited aromas that are both ripe and somewhat narrow and nervy in style show a nice bit of currant and a rich note of creamy oak. The wine is supple and well-polished in mouth-feel, and its currant and black cherry flavors hold nicely across the palate and let up only a bit at the end to heat and late-arriving acidity. A few years in the bottle should be beneficial"
- Connoisseur's Guide, April, 2002

1997 Napa Valley Red
Highly Recommended
Rated 92
"Intense and vibrant Bordeaux style blend, offering a pretty array of black cherry, plum, sage, mineral and cola, folding in pretty toasty oak. Turns elegant and complex, with just enough firmness to the tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2007.
- Wine Spectator, December 31, 2000