95 points Vinous, Josh Raynolds: "A complex, highly perfumed bouquet evokes red fruit preserves, incense and potpourri, with smoky mineral and Asian spice accents building as the wine opens up. Juicy, appealingly sweet and concentrated yet lithe on the palate, offering intense raspberry, cherry liqueur, spicecake flavors and a hint of candied rose on the back half. Delivers solid punch but comes off graceful, showing absolutely no rough edges on its extremely long, vibrant, red fruit-driven finish."
2015 vintage notes
Lingua Franca's finest expression of their series of 2015 wines is complex and deep in every way. It is a wine you want to contemplate over two or three days and we wish we'd had that precious time to do so. Named for Mimi Casteel whose mind is as brilliant as her vineyard. - Marcus
94 points Wine Spectator: "Lissome and polished, with expressive violet and blueberry aromas and precise but richly complex flavors of plum, mineral and spiced cinnamon. Drink now through 2023."
Mimi Casteel’s beautifully maintained vineyard is a product of her creative and unique farming practices. However, they are grounded in a very thoughtful--philosophical and scientific--study of natural farming practices that include Biodynamic and organic, but escape any single categorization. You may see her pruning in winter while her dwarf sheep, herded by a prized lama, are keeping the flowers and grasses around the vineyard trimmed. The balance of life in her vineyard is obvious to anyone open to the natural world around, with little apparent intervention necessary on her part, except to provide the minimal amount of spraying required to fight fungus in a wet year. We love the example this vineyard sets for us, because it is just above the town on Hopewell, sloping to the east, and has a little wash of Woodburn soils at the bottom of the vineyard that graduate up into Nekia and Jory—similar to the situation at Lingua Franca. We hope to learn from her example.
This is the finest expression of our series of wines this year. Deeply flavored with complex interplay of mineral, floral and fruit elements, with spice, truffles, savory herbs and “tension” so important to a vibrant wine. The finish goes on and carries the complex of flavors to the end, diminishing ever so slowly. It is a wine to contemplate.
Foods: The simplest and most classic of roasted and grilled beef, lamb, veal and pork. Served with morels, porcini or truffles, or Rossini-style. Fish dishes with richer hoisin or oyster sauces, or with fish sauce laced miso dashi. Can even be served with a Neopolitan pizza margherita. Also goes with game birds with classic sauces and preparations, pressed duck, glazed duck, duck with sauce veneur. Venison sauce grand veneur. Roast beef with truffle jus and Yorkshire pudding, Connaught style.