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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 46 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 3/11/2023 & rated 90 points: Still drinking with fresh fruit complexity! (380 views) | | | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 12/13/2021 & rated 92 points: this wine is complex yet has fruit and life remaining, A hit at our vertical tasting. (947 views) | | | Tasted by houstonjeff@hotmail.com on 2/13/2021 & rated 91 points: Big and bold. Complex and drinking great right now. (1108 views) | | | Tasted by Alaskawino on 6/16/2017 & rated 88 points: Huge fruit bomber on the nose with hints of leather and chocolate. Acid domination on the palette. After aeration the fruit poked through but it never dominated (3110 views) | | | Tasted by Wino Laurie on 5/14/2017 & rated 88 points: Fruit forward cab that was pleasing with Filet Mignon. Was a bit disappointed that after cellaring, it never developed the complexity that one hopes from a designated vineyard wine, especially give Schraders reputation. (2896 views) | | | Tasted by JSPuskar on 10/12/2016 & rated 90 points: Surprisingly good. A bit tannic when I opened it two days ago, but it smoothed out nicely with pronounced dark fruit and a bit of leather on the palate. (3228 views) | | | Tasted by Backdoctor on 8/22/2016 & rated 91 points: decanted an hour, showed well with good body, fruit and still decent tannins but not overbearing. (2859 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 10/1/2015 & rated 88 points: Consistent with previous tasting notes. (3486 views) | | | Tasted by *Vine* on 6/12/2015: Popped and poured, dark ruby. Nose is filled with red fruits, black currant, spices and a touch of smoke from oak. Medium to medium-plus body. Much like the nose, the flavors are full of red fruits...think cherries and strawberries along with notes of cedar, spices a touch of the herbaceous and again some toasty oak. Decent acidity for a CA Cab and nicely balanced overall, smooth.
Good Cabernet, probably a great QPR in today's world of inflated CA Cab pricing. (2447 views) | | | Tasted by Clrv on 4/4/2015 & rated 90 points: Drinking well right now. Not complexed just simply a nice casual fruit forward wine. Jammy Plum with just enough tannins. (2560 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 11/7/2014 & rated 89 points: Consistent with previous tasting notes. (2751 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 3/30/2014 & rated 89 points: Consistent with previous tasting notes. (3310 views) | | | Tasted by Wino from Michigan on 1/9/2014 & rated 90 points: This wine is drinking well. It is not a classic save wine but rather a pop and poor that is fairly called a fruit bomb. I do not mind this as long as I know what it is as there is a place and time for this. ENJOY (3024 views) | | | Tasted by Wino from Michigan on 8/30/2013 & rated 90 points: After reading some of the reviews was expecting a rather disappointing to bad wine but this was not -- wondered if I was drinking same wine as others.
It is one dimensional in the sense that tastes thick and jammy with clear notes of apricot and ripe red berries but it does have a good nose and the fthis wine was enjoyable on the deck after dinner . (3226 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 8/29/2013 & rated 87 points: Noticeable improvement from the first bottle we had last year...while this is still a bit of a one-note wine, at least the note is a more pure rendition of Cabernet and less of a fruit bomb. (2939 views) | | | Tasted by Backdoctor on 6/7/2013 & rated 91 points: nice fruit forward cab. Can cellar much longer but performed good with a few hours of air (2894 views) | | | Tasted by brianngibson on 5/6/2013 & rated 86 points: Is this wine remarkable? No. Is this wine as good as prior vintages? No. Is this wine as good as the Bomber X (disclaimer, I have not opened the 2010)? No. Is it as good as the Schrader namesakes? Well, did you really expect it to be at $40 vs. $175? Is it as bad as some of the previous reviews? Absolutely not.
It is disjointed, and a little vegetal. No complexity to the fruit, all plum for me. The finish is very short. Interestingly, in previous vintages I have thought this wine was excessively hot and tannic, and I don't think this is the same flaw this vintage. I also found those previous vintages to improve with some age, and I really don't see that it will happen this year. I agree that the finish is noticeably short.
All in all, drinkable, but not special in any way . . . but then that was consistent, more or less, with my expectation. (2487 views) | | | Tasted by domecard on 3/15/2013 & rated 90 points: I read with alarm the other reviews of this wine, so I opened one up. After two hours of sipping, My conclusion is this is still very young and needs more time. The earlier reviewer's "spaghetti sauce" reference is incredibly off-base and unsubstantiated, in my opinion. Be patient with this, after all, it is a 2010 vintage. Give it some time. (2886 views) | | | Tasted by wineberg on 3/7/2013: Blah. Had a small taste to confirm there's still nothing going on here, then threw the rest in a batch of Spaghetti sauce. Not even going to bother rating this anymore. (2304 views) | | | Tasted by NH WINO on 12/30/2012 & rated 82 points: Maybe a few more years this will improve. (2853 views) | | | Tasted by stanb on 12/27/2012 & rated 80 points: Not too different from my last review...still disappointing. Got a bit of a green bitter finish. (2482 views) | | | Tasted by wineberg on 12/14/2012 & rated 79 points: Friday Wine Night 12/14: After seeing the other TNs, we had to try this...and are pretty much in agreement.
I've been on the Schrader flagship list since '06, and I've bought DD over the years because in the past I've enjoyed them. But this Amber Knolls is just blah, and after having the Double Diamond Bomber X vertical last week, I think I have a decent baseline; this one just doesn't have anything to it. I'm a bit disappointed as well. My reaction to this is "Meh, it's wine", which is my definition of a 79.
I get grape, and others who tried it noted peaches and nectarines, but I'm having trouble finding much else. This hits the palate and just trails off.......where is the rest of this wine? Even the slight tannins are blah... (2731 views) | | | Tasted by afu on 12/9/2012 & rated 83 points: Mediocrity at best. Could also say buying this is the price we pay for trying to get on the mailing list for real Schrader.
Inoffensive grape juice with alcohol, one dimensional, sweet, no finish and no promise. Certainly not foul by any means. Have had Double Diamond in the past which had some personality and was interesting in its own right.
All about nothing, albeit @ $40/bottle. There is a lot of really good wine out there for the same money. Unlikely to take the bait next year. Real Schrader or no Schrader. They should be able to do a lot better. (2469 views) | | | Tasted by jshufelt on 11/18/2012 & rated 84 points: Pop and pour. In the glass, dark reddish-purple. On the nose, clean fruit and not much else. On the palate, more of the same. When I was starting to get into wine, many of my initial experiences were with cheap young Aussie fruit bombs, and this wine reminded me a great deal of those wines. Nothing offensive, but really nothing to hold interest, either, unless you're just really into fruit. There was a bit of tannin on the finish, so I suppose it's theoretically possible more nuances might emerge over time, but I wouldn't bet on it. (2456 views) | | | Tasted by stanb on 10/29/2012 & rated 80 points: What a disappointment...TN - grapes...that's it. All fruit, no tannin, no structure, no complexity, no finish. Drinks like grape juice with a hint of oak. I'm not sure if Schrader was going for this style or if i got a bad bottle (or if this is what Lake County taste like) but it is not good. Gift this bottle to a non wine drinker. (2565 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Double Diamond (Schrader) Producer websiteCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson North CoastThe North Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA) in California, covering more than three million acres, includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, and portions of Marin and Solano counties. (see The Wine Institute for more information)Red Hills Lake County Federal Register entry establishing the "Red Hills Lake County" Viticultural Area. The "Red Hills Lake County" AVA is entirely within the "Lake County" AVA. |
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