April 29, 2024 - Superb. Medium ruby. The wine had a bouquet and taste that seemed to be the unique combination of part Grand Cru Burgundy with cherry and ripe fruit, and part Rhone, with bacon and meats. Very intriguing and complex wine. Close to a point but maybe wait 2 or 3 years and then I would expect a plateau of at least 5 to 7 years. Great stuff. Sadly I only have one bottle left.
February 19, 2024 - GRAND TASTING #2: Decanted for 2 hrs. 90 mins glass time. Clear, dark purple/red color. Med, concentrated Grenache nose. This is great stuff. Superbly balance/integrated, med/full body, bacon, red fruit, black cherry, silky, smooth, rich, seamless, merlot-like, soft edges, resolved tannins, very long proper finish. Not hot or extracted. No reason to wait although this will keep a long time yet. Outstanding juice, nothing off.
October 21, 2023 - Dark fruit some funk when opened on the nose. Splash decanted and blew off. Drinking very well tannins silky
July 21, 2023 - Grenache Night 2023 (Black Sheep, Santa Barbara, CA): Silky, rich and energetic, with the freshness I recall from the best bottles but which was lacking in the last one I tried. Herbal notes alongside the ripe fruit. Very good concentration. Seamless and irresistible. Wears its alcohol level well (16.5%, contrary to the label, which says 15%).
June 3, 2023 - Superb nose of morning roasted bacon, herbes de Provence, black salty cherries, mine de crayon, hint of mineral … Very very sappy black cherries, strawberries, lenght of 45 sec, still a lot of potential ahead!!
February 27, 2023 - Seriously lovely. Hard to believe it's Grenache. Lovely though slightly subdued nose. Dark color, looks viscous. Silky smooth but big. Long finish. Delightfully complex.
November 20, 2022 - Pop n pour. WOTN. Grenache tasting evening (although all others 100% grenache this one we cheated with 75% grenache and remaining syrah). Grenache flavors still dominate with dark fruit also. Significant tannins present but not obtrusive. Beautiful wine has many years to go.
October 29, 2021 - Black nose of incense and mineral black fruit… Still very tannic and has closed down since the beautifull showing after release… Dont touch it for the next 10 years!!!
September 4, 2021 - Likely just needs time as it does settle as the night goes on. Opened in the bottle seven plus hours. Borderline pruned black/blue fruit (would guess CDP blind) with clove, anise and a feral animal funk. The funk dissipated but never went away. Heat also remained a constant dissipating but never leaving. Fun to try but didn’t fully deliver. Give it another five years?
June 23, 2021 - Informal dinner, no notes taken. This is quite an exciting wine with so much pure, ripe red berries, with lots of earthy, mineral and herbal notes to balance the fruit. Despite coming from a hot region it has the Grenache light- and airiness which I like a lot. The wine is still not as expressive, complex and spectacular as right after release but it slowly opens up. This bottle has not been decanted properly but got a double decant 4 hours before drinking, it could have used a bit more time and a proper decant. I would better wait 5 years.