2/14/2013 - wineberg Likes this wine:

Couldn't resist opening another bottle of this for Valentines Day. I'm starting to feel a compulsion to horde this wine.

Decanted 4+ hours. 15.3% ABV

This is fantastic tonight, along with some Aged Prime NY Strip steaks from the local butcher. Wife agrees! Ticking this up another point; I'm in love.

My first thought when I tasted this today was '06 SQN Raven. Consistent with my last notes; a gorgeous wine, cured meat, salami?, florals, vanilla, wife says pink grapefruit...She always gets more citrus flavors than I do!

As a follow up note: I pop 'n poured another bottle of this the next day to compare with the bottle that had been open a day. Night and day difference...the pop 'n pour bottle (which I'd probably give a 90 or so) really showed a lot of barrel flavors, to the detriment of everything else....this really, really benefits from at least a few hours in the decanter to let the barrel flavors subside, and just keeps getting better the longer you give it.

12/28/2012 - emrugger Does not like this wine:

I was very excited to try this wine and having gotten a good price on CW I picked up a few bottles.

Frankly, I was very disappointed.

The wine was not very memorable with a flat nose and hollow mid-palate. The fruit might be there in a few years, but given the wine's lack of density and rather grassy feel I am unsure of its development. Perhaps I am open to trying another bottle to make sure I'm not being harsh, but I this wine to me is way overpriced for the quality of fruit and consumer hype.

12/27/2012 - emrugger Likes this wine:

Decanted for 3 hours...

The nose: Anise spice, cinnamon, and apple pie filling with tannins that careen like a birdcage firework display on the glass. Lovely.

In the glass: Very smooth, soft smoke and almost an oily-rich texture. Very distinctly a Washington Syrah given its smoothness, initial flavor profile continues to a very long (30. Sec) finish which is slightly dry at the end. Softer fruit than my typical Santa Barbra Rhone varietals. Very similar to Maggie's Lillian offering with with a richer feel if slightly less forward fruit. Very nice and particularly well-balanced.