Community Tasting Note

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Friday, January 24, 2020 - With all the buzz lately about Pontet Canet releasing their first wine from the Pym Rae Estate (97 WA), thought it was time to taste this final Robert Craig offering from said vineyard (though they now own and produce from the Amentet Estate next door.) I first sampled it in October 2018 at the Robert Craig wine room in Napa and picked up several bottles. I remember thinking then it was tasty but needed a few years to settle in.

The nose is a hauntingly beautiful mix of berries, spices, purple florals, and dusty minerals. Plenty of drive on the attack is followed by classically styled dark cherry and cassis with hints of blue fruit, mouthwatering acidity, fullness, tobacco, cedar, and heroic but smooth tannins top to bottom on the palate. The structure is big but it really frames out the flavors amazingly well here, even as a relative youngster (with a 2 hour decant.) Yes, there's appropriate Napa ripeness of course, but the style comes off more Bordeaux-like due in part to the (mountain) acidity and the minerality that follows on the long finish.

A very enjoyable wine, and with time I expect the score will rise. 94+

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