Community Tasting Note
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J @ y H @ c k wrote: 92 points
September 2, 2012 - Popped and poured into plastic cups at a pre-wedding BBQ. The Howell Mountain terroir, combined with the Thomas Rivers Brown winemaking, create a superb Grenache with wonderful balance, spices and fruit. The 2004 was an interesting wine but was very hot with very obvious alcohol that obscured the flavors. That weakness has been eliminated and instead there is the pure spice that I find in many Howell Mountain reds (see, e.g., the Black Sears Zinfandel) backed up by dark, brooding fruit. The spice is primarily mid-level pepper, not smokey black but not smooth white either. A whiff of allspice. There is a bit of grenache raspberry mixed with dark cherry. This is not a shy, retiring wine, but the power is at least as much in the spice than in the fruit, so no one would mistake this for a fruit bomb. This is the first of six bottles I have opened. I will enjoy watching this develop
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