December 16, 2023 - Excellent Bordeaux blend with age. Still big but smooth. Drank with braised bison short rib.
October 31, 2022 - Much better than the last one, but drink up!
April 24, 2022 - Not the blockbuster I was hoping for. Seems to be sliding down the hill. Fruit is losing some of it’s luster. I’ll likely drink my other bottle soon.
February 26, 2021 - A special wine - the nose is bursting with red currant and blackberry along with a whiff of chocolate. All of that is in the wine itself, presented in a soft, lush wine that caresses the mouth and delivers up a deep red black cherry flavor accompanied by a prominent streak of baker’s chocolate. Firm tannin that holds the wine together across the palate and carried to a lengthy finish. Acidity in perfect balance. Very sad to bid my last bottles of this goodbye. Some significant cork trouble as it crumbled and as I was away from my Durand I ultimately had to push the cork into the bottle - a dicey maneuver especially when wearing nice clothes. But, a successful operation, luckily.
March 27, 2020 - Waited too long on this, my last, bottle. The cork was in poor condition. upon opening the wine had a definite funk to the initial aroma and taste. I decanted it twice and let it sit. it improved but only to the point of being acceptable. The next day it was slightly better but still disappointing. Darn.
October 23, 2019 - The nose showed dusty red fruits, spicy florals, citrus-infused mineral tones and tart wild berry fruit. On the palate, I found a silky expression, with polished ripe red and black fruit, giving way to savory spices and inner earth tones. The finish was long, coating the senses with notes of sweet and sour hard candies, powerful spice, and a twang of tart red fruits. The ‘06 is the child of a warm vintage, but it does a wonderful job of balancing its power and primary fruit.
September 22, 2019 - Very dark red/purple color. PNP, drank a glass plus over 3 hours. A bigger and bolder style, but not over the top. Fruit forward with a mix of black cherry, choke cherry and plum with floral notes and lot of pepper on the back end. Full bodied and well concentrated, dark fruits, rather plush, the palate adds a blackberry note as well. Dense with a velvet texture. and the pepper stands out again. Ready to go and a bit hedonistic. 91+ to 92pts.
July 18, 2019 - Took to a Bordeaux blend tasting - Cork crumbled, the wine - came in 2nd. Green veggie nose, fruit is integrated well, tannin's holding up well to, finish on the shorter side. I felt it was in it's prime.
May 24, 2019 - Inky purple. Lots of sediment. Blackberry and plum fruit. A savory, almost Rhone-like olive, bacon note on finish. Gritty tannins. A good foil for grilled NY strips.
March 30, 2019 - As a Bordeaux blend, this is overly ripe to my taste. As a Washington wine, it is similarly too ripe relative to many other great wines from the region. My third bottle since 2015 and I don't think I'm liking it any better than the previous two. Studied this wine over 4 hours of decanting. It improved with air. Deep dark red and blue fruit notes, with some honey notes in the back. Fruit is fairly concentrated. Finish is reasonably long, with some secondary and tertiary notes. Painfully ripe though. I recommend consuming it over the next two years; with more age, the ripeness is likely to stay but the tannins and acidity are likely to only soften, making the wine only more unbalanced with more age.