4/17/2024 - pgm wrote:

Visible signs of maturity, with a coppery edge on the ruby purple color. Good complex aromas and flavors of dried flowers, leather, and plum. Tannic through the finish. Probably at peak.

4/16/2024 - pgm wrote:

Bright and lovely zin accented with orange peel and floral notes

4/14/2024 - pgm wrote:

Corked

2/17/2024 - pgm wrote:

Really lovely syrah, with meaty, herbal, and black fruit notes, definitely emphasizing the savory character of the varietal. This has been my least favorite Carlisle syrah in their lineup, which has always somewhat surprised me because of the fame of the vineyard, but this one makes me rethink things. Maybe it just needs all this time before drinking. Definitely open for business now.

2/6/2024 - pgm wrote:

Still on the young side, but drinks well with air.

2/4/2024 - pgm wrote:

This was a bright juicy and fresh wine for its age. Berries, cassis, spices, hot wet stones. Drink in the near term

2/4/2024 - pgm wrote:

Seems at the beginning of maturity, with fresh notes of currant and blackberry, tertiary notes of loamy earth, and tannins that give the finish persistence. Definitely a long life ahead.

2/2/2024 - pgm wrote:

Lovely. Youngish. Has 5-10 years left

12/21/2023 - pgm wrote:

Lovely underripe peach with mango and flowers on the nose. Flavors are rich quince and starfruit. Not crisply acidic, but balanced, and a fantastic mouthfeel. Great success in this wine.

12/9/2023 - pgm wrote:

Lovely balanced cab

12/3/2023 - pgm wrote:

Started tart cocktail cherries with drying tannins, but with an hour of air, it shows off its whole range: rich dark cherry and plum, leather and spice. Long grippy finish.

11/28/2023 - pgm wrote:

Thought this was surprisingly rich and generous. Loads of cherries, leather and dried rose. Gotta be at peak, but years from being tired yet.

11/24/2023 - pgm wrote:

Really lovely Champagne featuring grilled lemon and apple, good yeasty richness and spice notes. Super enjoyable and accessible but has surprising complexity too. In the early end of a 10+ year drinking window.

11/16/2023 - pgm wrote:

Lovely ripe aromas of apple, pineapple, and marzipan. All of them reappear on the palate with added savory herbal flavors. Mature complexity, but still just plain delicious and retaining refreshing acidity. Probably at peak. Should be good for another five years.

10/26/2023 - pgm wrote:

Really lovely tropical nose of mango and savory herbs, anise and dill, getting floral after about an hour. Well-balanced in the mouth, with good pear-stone fruit-starfruit flavors with the slightly bitter mineral notes that really declare the semillon content.

Usually I think of this as the food wine in Carlisle’s white lineup, but this vintage is one to study and enjoy. Really lovely right now.

10/16/2023 - pgm wrote:

Classic case of “last bottle in the cellar is the best.” This is ready to drink, still bright, and ready to go on opening. Cherry with cranberry and herbal notes. At peak, but you’ve still got a few years if you’re holding ‘em.

9/29/2023 - pgm wrote:

Truly lovely. Unusual floral/ minty note on the nose and throught the palate. Juicy berry and currant notes. Unusual CdP but definitely adding this domaine to my list.

9/27/2023 - pgm wrote:

Drinking in an ideal place. Rich black fruit with some funky leather and mineral notes. Persistent finish.

9/21/2023 - pgm wrote:

Drinking nicely at this age, savory character, vegetal and mineral notes more than citrus, but it’s still got good balancing acidity

7/2/2023 - pgm wrote:

Very enjoyable, redcurrant and blackcurrants, raspberry, herbs and forest spices. Balanced character from aromas through the finish. This is definitely ready to drink, even as a pop-and-pour, though a brief decant still helps. Drink in the next 10 years.

6/16/2023 - pgm wrote:

Spicy savory and saline nose followed up with a meaty mushroomy palate featuring kirsch and cherry flavors. Has a lovely tart and tannic finish that hangs on awhile. Seems like a wine that’s just on the front end of its drinking window, but gives the impression it’ll stay there at least ten years. It’s not a monumental wine, it’s just lovely.

4/30/2023 - pgm wrote:

Vegetal Cabernet notes highlight currant, cherry and black raspberry. In a very nice place and seems likely to last there for another seven to ten years.

4/29/2023 - pgm wrote:

Youngish, plush flavors of blackberry, black cherry, and raspberry with some cocoa and tobacco through the finish. Not really showing much age at all; should easily make it through 2030.

4/15/2023 - pgm wrote:

Lovely classic syrah character of pepper, olive, herbs and delicious black fruit.

3/25/2023 - pgm wrote:

Great nose of earth, leather, dried roses and plum, then cherry added on the palate. Juicy acidity through the finish, with tannins that still give grip and persistence. Beautiful wine, probably at peak. This bottle suggests that it’ll drink well until 2030 or so.

2/22/2023 - pgm wrote:

Classic syrah, black berries and currant, peppery through the finish

2/14/2023 - pgm wrote:

Currants and cherry fruit with savory minerality, drinking nicely, probably at peak.

1/16/2023 - pgm wrote:

Classic lime and mineral/petrol notes on the nose, with a juicy mouthful of citrus and starfruit. Nice with Thai food.

1/13/2023 - pgm wrote:

No detailed notes, but it’s a very nice wine, drinks better on day two, so decant or give it time.

1/12/2023 - pgm wrote:

Classic peppery syrah with blueberry and black currant fruit. It’s got some sanguine notes at first, but gets nice and floral with a couple hours. Bright acidity, and though it’s ready to drink now, there’s good tannic structure for aging for another 10 years or so.

1/8/2023 - pgm wrote:

A light transparent ruby color, I’ve had rosé nearly this dark, featuring nice red currant and strawberry aromas and flavors, a nice floral component. A nice wine to keep on hand for the proper meal, seems ideal for spring and summer, but also hit the spot for a light vegetarian meal in winter. Not for aging, drink it within a year for its fresh and bright character.

1/4/2023 - pgm wrote:

Bretty animal, earthy and sour notes over the cherry and framboise flavors.

12/29/2022 - pgm wrote:

First, and most importantly, give it two hours at least. At one hour, it’s nice but somewhat shy. With air, there’s loads of complexity: dusty minerals and tobacco spices, cherry and currant, cedar smoke, floral notes from the nose through the finish. Lovely and at prime drinking now and for ten years yet.

12/25/2022 - pgm wrote:

A rich, full expression, featuring apple and roasted lemon, peppery anise spices.

12/18/2022 - pgm wrote:

Still a touch young, but pretty currant berry and plum fruit, with a herbal tobacco edge. Another couple years would benefit it.

12/17/2022 - pgm wrote:

Decanted about an hour. Initially quite primary, with pure blackberry and currant fruit. Effusive, fragrant, and powerful palate with juicy acidity. With another 90 minutes, it adds spicy complexity, with anise and baking spices and some charred herbs. Doesn’t seem young exactly, doesn’t need more time in the cellar, and probably sitting at a long plateau, good easily for 10 years and likely another 20. But still benefits from a good decant.

12/4/2022 - pgm wrote:

Drinking great now. Dried flowers with black fruit, black berry and raspberry, with Cabernet currant notes carrying through the finish. Good vintage for a benchmark Cabernet. Probably another ten years, but near its peak now.

12/3/2022 - pgm wrote:

Hardly budging from the where it stood in 2020 and 2016, it’s still loaded with bloody and braised beef, olives and brine, and heaps of blackberry and black cherry.

Powerful from the first sniff through the long finish. Still youngish and probably a decade to go at least.

11/23/2022 - pgm wrote:

A year later, less primary, it’s got grilled herb smokiness and cigar box spices to go with the blackberry and black cherry. Drinking well now and for probably 10 years.

11/23/2022 - pgm wrote:

This is a real cellar treasure, the first Brunello that made Italy click for me 14 years ago. Opening the second bottle was even more satisfying. Cherry and plum notes with leather mineral and spice. A lot going on. Long grippy finish for a 21 year old wine.

Drinking at peak now, should persist for at least another five years.

11/18/2022 - pgm wrote:

Classic, brambly charred earth and berries with tea and leather on the nose. The bright pure core of cherry fruit is really singing right now, but it’s equaled by savory flavors of smoked beef, herbs, rooibos tea.

Seems to have found a marvelous peak, much improved from the 2015 bottle, judging by the notes. Should be steady here for awhile and then decline only slowly for 15-20 years.

11/12/2022 - pgm wrote:

At a nice plateau, consistent with notes from two years ago. Drink within 5 years.

10/1/2022 - pgm wrote:

Another classic bottle, showing no real signs of aging, with a nose of pencil shavings, black cherry and blackberry, and powerful flavors in the mouth: plum, fresh blackberry and currant. Cigar box notes on the finish.

This has really shined in the last couple years, hitting a peak that I really didn’t anticipate in its youth. Should be good for another ten years.

9/16/2022 - pgm wrote:

Cherry, leather, tobacco and exotic spice on the nose. In the mouth, plum and sour cherry. Bright and dense. It’s at a very good place right now and probably for another 8-10 years.

9/13/2022 - pgm wrote:

Just unabashedly delicious. Rich, blackberry and black cherry fruit, well balanced with acidity.

9/11/2022 - pgm Likes this wine:

Decanted for two hours before dinner. This is the first bottle I’ve had that shows age at all, a slight bronze color at the rim of an otherwise deep purple wine, and the nose shows tertiary aromas of the forest. Also heaps of black and red fruit, cigar box and leather and wet stones on the nose.

The mouth is again rich with fruit and complex meaty mineral notes. Tannins are pretty well resolved in this bottle (though notably less sediment than previous bottles), but the finish holds on nicely with black cherry and plum flavors and forest spices.

Still needs a decant of at least two hours (and longer would have been better), but I’d say this is in its drinking window now. This bottle suggests another 10-12 years of prime drinking, though previous bottles pointed to a longer arc.

8/28/2022 - pgm wrote:

This needs decanting!

Underwhelming at first, rich fruit but flat. After two hours though, somehow it adds brightness and acidity, foresty spices and cranberry notes to go with the cherry compote. Scoring the last glass.

8/26/2022 - pgm Does not like this wine:

Flavor profile is quite light: raspberry and strawberry maybe some red currant. Has some leather notes there on the nose, too, just a little funk. In the mouth, remarkably viscous, a glycerin character, heavy bodied. Needs acidity to balance it out. Would not age this.

8/20/2022 - pgm wrote:

Dense black fruit, featuring blackberry and plum and cassis. Effusive and exotic spices, anise, allspice, even coriander, with underlying cigar box aromas. All of it lingers through the finish. Seems to be at a gorgeous peak. Drink by 2030, probably within five years.

8/17/2022 - pgm wrote:

First impressions on the nose are mineral: graphite and iron, then olive, and the cassis and black fruit. It’s full and rich, adds some licorice candy and plum to the flavors from the nose. It’s a treat. Finish has a persistent coffee note. Long and juicy finish. This bottle is a perfect example of why you subscribe.