March 23, 2024 - Decanted off the moderate-plus sediment and left to breathe.
Aromas hit the nose with moderate-plus intensity and notes of star anise, cardamom spice, graham, dried herbs, bay leaf and mocha combine with notes of cassis, muddled plum, blackberry that come laced with nuances of vanilla, violet pastilles, worn leather, earth and mushroom.
The palate shows a medium-plus frame with juicy acidity and firm smoothed out tannins. The flavor profile follows the nose leading with the fruit notes of cassis, plum, blackberry that bring in the spice, mocha, earth and herb notes. Moderate through the finish. Still drinking well.
January 8, 2023 - Double decanted and poured starting about half an hour later. It continued to open up over a couple more hours.....very nice, expressive nose, tannins are smooth and largely resolved, but still adequate to provide some cut and structure. Very merlot without being too "plummy"...This seems in its drinking window, but should hold for the mid term
October 5, 2021 - Decanted 2 hrs., the secret is a longer decant, at 3 hrs. the wine is big, yet came together and paired well with grilled chicken. My last bottle was consumed with too little air.
July 11, 2021 - 14% Petite Verdot was too big an impact on the wine. Not to my taste.
February 13, 2021 - Really delicious stuff, probably at its peak. Pnp’d lots of red fruits with some secondary flavors and it had a touch of acid that made me worry for a bit. Would the acid harmonize or dominate, fortunately it harmonized and the wine just got bigger and velvet smooth with air.
May 3, 2020 - This wine was a freaking revelation. I popped it on a whim and wasn’t expecting too much. I had read some reviews of the 2009 Collab Series IV and it didn’t seem like it had that much potential. Oh wow! Was I wrong. This wine is beautiful - lush, vibrant bursting from the glass, it is all you could ask for in a wine. It is predominantly merlot (61%) with 23% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petite Verdot and Cab Franc. It’s an inky purple, still very lively. On the nose, its a gorgeous bouquet of blue fruit, leather, mocha, spice and distinctive minerality. In the mouth, it is expansive with delicious notes of candied cherrys, blueberry, lead pencil and vanilla. With the tell-tale cocoa flavor filling out the finish. Tannins are lush, soft, sweet and well-integrated. The finish goes on for nearly a minute. This is one delicious wine and it was one of the most pleasurable wines in recent memory. A real delight!
June 22, 2019 - A fairly brooding showing. Oak influenced with dark fruit - cassis and the like. Shows quality of fruit. Good with a steak, but on the side of clunky and monolithic.
January 3, 2019 - I had this with a cheese plate on 1/3/19. It had a rich, fragrant and very expressive bouquet of black cherry, plum, mocha, cocoa, eucalyptus, herb and spice aromas. The palate was rich, jammy and hot with flavors of black cherry, plum, mocha, cocoa, herb and spice. 91+
October 19, 2018 - We had this while playing cards on 10/19/18. It had a rich, expressive bouquet of black cherry, coffee, eucalyptus, herb, spice and cocoa aromas. The palate was rich, hot and dry with flavors of black cherry, kirsch, coffee, herbs and spice.
June 10, 2018 - Pnp. Nose came off as very medicinal and did not blow off. Very odd. Palate was decent with a nice mouthfeel with a touch of tannin on the finish. Decent fruit. Could use a bit of a decant to smooth out a bit.