Community Tasting Notes 13

• Birorganic Likes this wine: 90 points

  August 8, 2014 - A solid wine that should be way past its prime. RP said to drink it 2004-2014. The 61 bottles in cellars without any tasting notes for years tells me these bottles are buried in big cellars. Well you'll be in for a pleasant surprise when you finally crack the cork. The fruit is still there, well integrated. The joy with this wine when young was the bright fruit and Viognier co-fermented with the Syrah. Now it has more of a northern Rhone feel to it with more brooding dark complex fruit. This would be perfect right now with grilled steak but I've been vegetarian for 24 years. Fire up the grill carnivores and pull the cork! Bravo again Richard Arrowood.

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• Comte de Rousset wrote: 99 points

  September 7, 2013 - Superbe en tout point!

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• Why Yes wrote:

  July 8, 2010 - Bought on the secondary market about a year ago. This bottle was over the hill for my tastes. The mature nose of leather and sandalwood is actually quite pleasing and had me anticipating a wonderful Thursday night wine experience with my homemade pizza. Alas, the palate could not hold up as it was very drying and harsh, and, in taste, a bit 'cheesy'. The tannins in the bottle have far outpaced the fruit, and I think even the francophiles out there that would have eaten (snorted) up the nose would be disappointed with what is going on in the mouth. A real shame cuz I've had this bottle of wine many times before and, while not the stunner the 98 is, it has always been delightful. Hopefully, this is bottle specific. Reserving judgement on scoring.

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• Tom_B wrote: 91 points

  July 14, 2007 - This was the surprise wine of the evening for me. If this wine was tasted blind, I might have thought it to be a Rhone syrah. Red garnet in color, with lots of earthy, meaty notes, blanketing the hints of black fruit and oak. Medium to full bodied, but balanced well and held up for hours in the glass.

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• bsherwin wrote:

  June 25, 2007 - Wonderfully restrained and complex, I'm glad I let this bottle age. Elegant on the nose with some game, but mostly plums, light smoke and, with time, a bit of anise. Very easy from entry through the finish, it has unwound nicely and served up impeccable balance of fruit and acid. What I enjoyed most was the deceptively long finish that drew on like a low frequency hum. Not showy by any stretch, but well-made and a stellar complement for food.

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Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1999
• Type Red
• Producer Arrowood
• Varietal Syrah
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Saralee's Vineyard
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Sonoma County
• Appellation Russian River Valley
• UPC Code 009385600997

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 2 (2%)
• In Cellars 60 (47%)
• Consumed 66 (52%)

Food Pairing

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