The wine of the tasting! Nez intense de fruits mûrs, sel de céleri et épices à ketchup maison entre autres...complexe ! Un vin fruité, mûr, ample, rond, riche, harmonieux...charmeur ! Ultra longue finale sur des notes de chocolat noir. Boire sans tarder. 95++
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PnP with spice-encrusted lamb chop “popsicles” as apps before Christmas dinner. No detailed notes. Smooth and flavorful. Nice spice. Got rave reviews from the crowd. Drinking great.
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Dark berries, dark cherry, plum, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Still enjoying this bottle.
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Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Still enjoying this bottle.
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Seems to be peaking. Nose of dark berry, slight prune, spice. Licorice, dark fruits, a bit sour/tart (like cherries). Long finish. Suggest drinking this up.
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Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries-- preferred '08. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Having drank a few bottles, my overall impression is still unwavered.
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Crimson in color. 15.9% ABV. Super nose of black fruits, plums and white pepper. Lush, spicy and concentrated. Remarkably well balanced. Creamy blackberries, raspberries, pepper and iron on the palate. The finish is exceptionally long and plush. Textbook Howell Mountain Zinfandel. Drink over the next 2-3 years.
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No doubt about it - this is a big wine. On PnP too much fruit, heat and oak. So poured a couple glasses worth into the decanter and let is sit for an hour. Dramatic improvement, much more approachable and enjoyable. Color is a bright ruby red. On the nose red fruits and a bit of toastiness. On the palate this has cassis and cranberry with a good shot of pepper, also some earthy and woody notes in the mid palate and then a touch of heat on the finish. On night 2 - this was back to being unenjoyable for me - pure dark chocolate, espresso, woody milkshake. Very heavy and lethargic on the palate - I just kept thinking that this could do with a shot of some more acidity.
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Brief decant and served slightly cooled. Plum, cherry and pepper on the nose. Smooth soft mouthfeel with spice (agree on the gingerbread note), blackberry and pepper flavors with a seamless evolving finish. Three hours later the mouthfeel became quite harsh with heat and acid on the finish. (So did not benefit from prolonged aeration.)
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Nice floral blueberry nose. Mouthfeel was moderately creamy with berry, floral, & qhite quickly, pepper notes. There was a long, pleasant peppery finish
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Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries-- preferred '08. This still isn't doing it for me despite periodically opening a bottle.
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Classic Outpost Zin -- kirsch, savory gingerbread, dry cedar, pepper. Loads of flavor and character in an unusual light bodied frame but will singe your nose hairs -- serve cool.
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Dark garnet colored, full bodied, this wine typifies that classic rich thick extracted forward Howell Mtn briery mountain berry fruit accented by spice, floral with hints of tobacco on the supple long lasting chewy tannins.
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Thank goodness for a return to the old fashioned Zinfandel profile. Medium purple color. Pepper, bramble and a bit of sage on the palate. Nicely balanced but could probably use another year or two in the bottle. This more than held its own against three different vintages of Dead Arm and a Sine Qua Non.
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Trying to catch up on my TNs so Matt L doesn't give me grief. This was unlike any Outpost Zin I can remember. I didn't tast the mountain fruit. This was tannins and alcohol. I didn't look to see what I wrote in my previous TNs on this wine.
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Great classic zin. No flaws. Mild sediment. Great nose. No tannin or acid. Low to medium alcohol. Short to medium finish. very drinkable and lots of bottle life left.
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Did not appreciate the creamy texture I had remembered but immediately after opening there was striking pepper flavor (which diminished over course of evening). Not a favorite of the group
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So good. Drinking really well right now. Drank against a similarly priced '11 zin (can't remember the vineyard!) and there was no contest. Outpost blew it away. Full body, muted, but present spices and the fruit comes shining through on the finish.
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Another winner from TRB! Big nose with oak coming through as vanilla. Lots of fruit and oak. Just the right amount of spice. Good finish, but maybe not as long as other Howell Mt. years; still, no complaining!
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I got more liqueur and less earth than my January note indicates, but otherwise similar to that note and to previous vintages. Strong and vibrant but not dark or thick. A distinctive Zin with Turley stylings, but this lacks some pliancy at the moment. 90-91.
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On the nose I get raisins and alcohol predominantly. Full bodied, very very jammy, extremely ripe (over-ripe in my opinion) and noticeably alcoholic on the palate. On the plus side you know it's zinfandel and I get some nice mountain spice. Stylistically not my bag.
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Tried it at Pappas' Steakhouse Zin Tasting. This is a big fruit bomb. Not much structure or complexity. At 15.9% alcohol, it was one of the biggest offerings. Very much of a WOW wine. Pretty impressive.
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Dark jammy zin with strong overtones of spice and oak. Full bodied, big on the tongue, peppery, leather-like. Perhaps I need to let this one breathe a little before jumping right in-- I didn't find it as excellent as most writers. Perhaps the next bottle...
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Decanted and drank over 2 hours. Cherry/brick red. Fairly translucent. Tart cherries with earth and peppery spice. Long finish. Still a little tight. Will wait for a couple more years or will decant for several hours. Bet this will jump a few points then.
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Very nice mountain zin. Somewhat reticent nose but very good earthy cherry and spice palate with the bones to last a long time. This didn't open up till the second day but then showed what a few years could do for the wine. Nice mature flavors but still with plenty of structure and tanins. Raspberries chocolate and a hint of vanilla increase the interest and add to the compexity.
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Reading the reviews, I expected to have to water this one down. I thought it was going to pour like molasses out of the bottle. I thought that I was going to have to stick a knife in the bottle to get it to flow. Instead, the pop was consistent with a choco-spice. Intriguing. Nice nose, a little strawberry liqueur. Wine was decanted through a Vinturi "turbocharger" and allowed to sit. This was the second of the "guess the varietal" night. The thing is about this wine - - - it was medium bodied, rosy red opaque medium body in the glass. This one isn't like your regular Zin that is inky purple, full bodied, dense,.....no, this one had quite a bit less on it. After 45 minutes of decanting, this one was finally opening up. Vanilla, raisin, strawberry, red cherry, some spice in the front, sandalwood creeping in, oregano coming later. HEADY at 15,9 percent alcohol!!! Pepper finish was a lot less than anticipated. This was a 20-25 second finish, possibly more? Very nice, but there is still some tannin here. This wine is integrated now, but I can only imagine the integration in 5 years and the development that you'll see on this one. I didn't get much dark fruit on the palate, only on the nose. I can tell why many people chose cabernet as the blind choice based only on nose. I got 2 votes for cab, 1 for petit syrah, 1 for pinot noir, and 1 for sangiovese based only on nose, and 2 for sangiovese, 2 for pinot, and 1 for cab franc (?) based on palate. True zin front on this one after 1 hr of decanting.
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Until we went up the road from Outpost to Black Sears because the Outpost guys told us about it, this was the best Zinfandel we had ever had. Not your fancy winery tasting at a big table with a formal line up and a marketing director to give a speech about the complex components of the wine. This was a glass in the office with Rich Smock, John Gianini and the other guy from Rivers Marie whose name I can't remember. But what a glass. No unctious port-like zinfandel pouring like honey (though I have nothing against that either). This was the Howell Mountain stuff, with two doses of pepper (smoky black and smooth white) mixed with dark fruit and a tiny touch of vanilla for balance. Very long finish, easy to drink, a WOW wine and an outstanding Zin. Thomas Rivers Brown knows how to make zin and he got some great fruit for this one to show his talents. The only zin I had ever had before that left such an impression was the 2006 Carlisle Montafi Ranch, but this was a bit better, with more spice than fruit in the balance.
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Amazing bright cherry nose. Luscious red fruit, cherry, red raspberry. Starts silky leading to a bit of pucker from tannins and a finish of pencil lead.
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big huge fruitbomb. if you have guests who want and like big straightforward fruity rich wines, this one is right in your wheelhouse. big rich red raspberry, cherry, overripe plum and nice notes of vanilla and huge rich chalky chocolate finish with good finishing tannins. nice gritty wine and maybe a a little hedonist for the fruit but all for it for a zinfandel in this vintage. fun wine for drinkers.
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This wine was simply mind-blowing. Captivating nose of leather, spice, strawberries, raisins -- and Christmas. Spicy pepper on the palate, with terrific light fruit flavors and some chocolate. Absolutely perfectly balanced and composed. I was surprised at how restrained and elegant this was.
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A big wine without being overdone. Very good balance while still having delicious black cherry and red fruit influences on both nose and palate. This wine has a nice spine of acidity and a touch of minerality. Savory notes are also present and the wine becomes rounder and more open on the second day.
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This drank very well. Great red berry/bramble fruit with peppery blackberry, sandalwood spice, ginger, and earth. Different but of equal quality as the more typical 07 Carlisle Carlisle served at the same time. If this were $37.50 I'd buy twice as much. 91-93.
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Huge cherry bright red fruit nose. Jammy, feels a touch sweet although that is just the massive fruit. Overall a bit simplistic but went great with food.
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Initial nose showed bright red cherry. On the palate dense cherry as well. Over the next 1-3 hours demonstrated figs, raisins, and then smoked meat and leather. Medium body and minimal tannins. Much better stucture and balance compared to the bottle of 2008 Outpost zin we had a few months ago but could use more in terms of mouthfeel. Day 2, much more syrupy and port like with predominant alcohol. Also, raisin and cola on the palate. Mouthfeel much more interesting with round tannins and some astringency.
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10/20/2023 - ChateauDutremble Likes this wine: 95 Points
The wine of the tasting!
Nez intense de fruits mûrs, sel de céleri et épices à ketchup maison entre autres...complexe ! Un vin fruité, mûr, ample, rond, riche, harmonieux...charmeur ! Ultra longue finale sur des notes de chocolat noir. Boire sans tarder. 95++
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12/25/2022 - Ed B Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP with spice-encrusted lamb chop “popsicles” as apps before Christmas dinner. No detailed notes. Smooth and flavorful. Nice spice. Got rave reviews from the crowd. Drinking great.
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2/28/2021 - williamswhine wrote: 90 Points
Dark berries, dark cherry, plum, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Still enjoying this bottle.
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4/23/2020 - konadog Likes this wine: 90 Points
A little roasted/raisiny at first taste. Begins to open up after an hour and the raisin note is replaced by red cherry and slight menthol.
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4/22/2020 - williamswhine Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Still enjoying this bottle.
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2/9/2019 - thestuer Likes this wine:
Starting to pass peak. Decanted and after first hour it began to open nicely. Very floral nose for a zin. Still good color, but I would drink soon.
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11/7/2018 - williamswhine wrote: 90 Points
Seems to be peaking. Nose of dark berry, slight prune, spice. Licorice, dark fruits, a bit sour/tart (like cherries). Long finish. Suggest drinking this up.
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10/11/2017 - williamswhine wrote: 90 Points
Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries-- preferred '08. White pepper, black plum, undertones or rose/floral. Having drank a few bottles, my overall impression is still unwavered.
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10/29/2016 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine:
love these zins
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10/4/2016 - tomlee wrote: 93 Points
Crimson in color. 15.9% ABV. Super nose of black fruits, plums and white pepper. Lush, spicy and concentrated. Remarkably well balanced. Creamy blackberries, raspberries, pepper and iron on the palate. The finish is exceptionally long and plush. Textbook Howell Mountain Zinfandel. Drink over the next 2-3 years.
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9/7/2016 - retired_and_roving wrote:
No doubt about it - this is a big wine. On PnP too much fruit, heat and oak. So poured a couple glasses worth into the decanter and let is sit for an hour. Dramatic improvement, much more approachable and enjoyable. Color is a bright ruby red. On the nose red fruits and a bit of toastiness. On the palate this has cassis and cranberry with a good shot of pepper, also some earthy and woody notes in the mid palate and then a touch of heat on the finish.
On night 2 - this was back to being unenjoyable for me - pure dark chocolate, espresso, woody milkshake. Very heavy and lethargic on the palate - I just kept thinking that this could do with a shot of some more acidity.
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8/28/2016 - TJK Likes this wine: 93 Points
Terrific! Big and fruit forward. Dark, dark fruit. Smooth and lingering finish.
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3/26/2016 - wasupp wrote:
2nd day much more rounded and enjoyable
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2/7/2016 - Old Gray Hare wrote: 92 Points
Brief decant and served slightly cooled. Plum, cherry and pepper on the nose. Smooth soft mouthfeel with spice (agree on the gingerbread note), blackberry and pepper flavors with a seamless evolving finish. Three hours later the mouthfeel became quite harsh with heat and acid on the finish. (So did not benefit from prolonged aeration.)
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10/16/2015 - Old Gray Hare wrote: 92 Points
Nice floral blueberry nose. Mouthfeel was moderately creamy with berry, floral, & qhite quickly, pepper notes. There was a long, pleasant peppery finish
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3/10/2015 - pkatz Likes this wine: 93 Points
A zinfandel for steak. An outstanding balance between structure and fruit. Could continue to improve.
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3/7/2015 - williamswhine wrote: 89 Points
Dark berries, spicy, oak nose. Dark hue. Little tight upon opening, a lot of spice, tobacco, oaky, dark berries-- preferred '08. This still isn't doing it for me despite periodically opening a bottle.
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12/29/2014 - silton Likes this wine: 90 Points
Classic Outpost Zin -- kirsch, savory gingerbread, dry cedar, pepper. Loads of flavor and character in an unusual light bodied frame but will singe your nose hairs -- serve cool.
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11/27/2014 - Reblin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Robust, with plenty of fruit and spice.
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10/30/2014 - bobv Likes this wine: 92 Points
Rich, tasty flavor. Subtle. We found this to be superb.
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10/22/2014 - H*3 wrote: 92 Points
Sadly my last bottle of the '09. Still a big and bold. A wonderful Howell Mountain Zinfandel.
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9/27/2014 - rmcnees Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark garnet colored, full bodied, this wine typifies that classic rich thick extracted forward Howell Mtn briery mountain berry fruit accented by spice, floral with hints of tobacco on the supple long lasting chewy tannins.
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9/27/2014 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 90 Points
Thank goodness for a return to the old fashioned Zinfandel profile. Medium purple color. Pepper, bramble and a bit of sage on the palate. Nicely balanced but could probably use another year or two in the bottle. This more than held its own against three different vintages of Dead Arm and a Sine Qua Non.
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8/31/2014 - marka wrote: 87 Points
Trying to catch up on my TNs so Matt L doesn't give me grief. This was unlike any Outpost Zin I can remember. I didn't tast the mountain fruit. This was tannins and alcohol. I didn't look to see what I wrote in my previous TNs on this wine.
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8/10/2014 - Mark H. LeQuire wrote: 93 Points
Great classic zin. No flaws. Mild sediment. Great nose. No tannin or acid. Low to medium alcohol. Short to medium finish. very drinkable and lots of bottle life left.
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3/7/2014 - BDWine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking great now. well balanced throughout. Drank over 2 hours after initial hour decant.
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2/16/2014 - Encinitas_Joe wrote: 93 Points
Decanted a magnum for about an hour and then consumed over the next 2-3 hours. Drinking really well now. Great bottle from Outpost.
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12/1/2013 - Old Gray Hare wrote: 89 Points
Did not appreciate the creamy texture I had remembered but immediately after opening there was striking pepper flavor (which diminished over course of evening). Not a favorite of the group
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9/28/2013 - marka wrote: 87 Points
Too much alcohol. Buried everything else. Not good. Bad bottle? First Outpost Zin I haven't loved.
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9/8/2013 - J @ y H @ c k wrote:
Ignore - entered in error. See 2010 vintage.
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8/23/2013 - DCSteve wrote: 94 Points
So good. Drinking really well right now. Drank against a similarly priced '11 zin (can't remember the vineyard!) and there was no contest. Outpost blew it away. Full body, muted, but present spices and the fruit comes shining through on the finish.
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6/11/2013 - MotoMannequin Does not like this wine:
Last bottle of this - like the others I found it hot and alcoholic.
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3/24/2013 - cestes wrote: 93 Points
Another winner from TRB! Big nose with oak coming through as vanilla. Lots of fruit and oak. Just the right amount of spice. Good finish, but maybe not as long as other Howell Mt. years; still, no complaining!
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3/6/2013 - RobbieC wrote: 92 Points
Very nice. Balanced. Color a bit lighter than the taste.
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3/1/2013 - Old Gray Hare wrote: 91 Points
Full bodied and delicious
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1/3/2013 - D.Callahan Likes this wine: 92 Points
Excellent fruity Zinfandel with great balance and depth. Balanced with a depth of flavor and good acidity.
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12/3/2012 - Janstan wrote: 89 Points
Huge wine. I errrored by having with french food that paired well with the 82 Bourdeauxes. Loved this wine before. Wrong foode
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11/20/2012 - Janstan wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with my 7/5 review
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10/29/2012 - 1H2oMan wrote: 91 Points
This is my favorite zin
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10/25/2012 - silton wrote: 90 Points
I got more liqueur and less earth than my January note indicates, but otherwise similar to that note and to previous vintages. Strong and vibrant but not dark or thick. A distinctive Zin with Turley stylings, but this lacks some pliancy at the moment. 90-91.
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10/21/2012 - jtinto Does not like this wine: 86 Points
On the nose I get raisins and alcohol predominantly. Full bodied, very very jammy, extremely ripe (over-ripe in my opinion) and noticeably alcoholic on the palate. On the plus side you know it's zinfandel and I get some nice mountain spice. Stylistically not my bag.
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10/6/2012 - TannicBeast wrote: 90 Points
Tried it at Pappas' Steakhouse Zin Tasting. This is a big fruit bomb. Not much structure or complexity. At 15.9% alcohol, it was one of the biggest offerings. Very much of a WOW wine. Pretty impressive.
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10/3/2012 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Big dark and extracted Zinfandel. With some oak.
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9/28/2012 - williamswhine wrote: 89 Points
Dark jammy zin with strong overtones of spice and oak. Full bodied, big on the tongue, peppery, leather-like. Perhaps I need to let this one breathe a little before jumping right in-- I didn't find it as excellent as most writers. Perhaps the next bottle...
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7/10/2012 - Ed B wrote: 91 Points
Decanted and drank over 2 hours. Cherry/brick red. Fairly translucent. Tart cherries with earth and peppery spice. Long finish. Still a little tight. Will wait for a couple more years or will decant for several hours. Bet this will jump a few points then.
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7/5/2012 - Janstan wrote: 92 Points
Controlled but plentiful jamminess and spice - the way a Zin should be. NIce nose and finish. Excellent all the way through.
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6/16/2012 - bigdogflow Likes this wine:
Tasted at 2012 Taste of Howell Mountain
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6/11/2012 - D.Callahan Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very nice mountain zin. Somewhat reticent nose but very good earthy cherry and spice palate with the bones to last a long time. This didn't open up till the second day but then showed what a few years could do for the wine. Nice mature flavors but still with plenty of structure and tanins. Raspberries chocolate and a hint of vanilla increase the interest and add to the compexity.
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6/6/2012 - 1H2oMan wrote: 92 Points
GREAT ZIN
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5/29/2012 - mflesh wrote: 93 Points
Reading the reviews, I expected to have to water this one down. I thought it was going to pour like molasses out of the bottle. I thought that I was going to have to stick a knife in the bottle to get it to flow. Instead, the pop was consistent with a choco-spice. Intriguing. Nice nose, a little strawberry liqueur. Wine was decanted through a Vinturi "turbocharger" and allowed to sit. This was the second of the "guess the varietal" night. The thing is about this wine - - - it was medium bodied, rosy red opaque medium body in the glass. This one isn't like your regular Zin that is inky purple, full bodied, dense,.....no, this one had quite a bit less on it. After 45 minutes of decanting, this one was finally opening up. Vanilla, raisin, strawberry, red cherry, some spice in the front, sandalwood creeping in, oregano coming later. HEADY at 15,9 percent alcohol!!! Pepper finish was a lot less than anticipated. This was a 20-25 second finish, possibly more? Very nice, but there is still some tannin here. This wine is integrated now, but I can only imagine the integration in 5 years and the development that you'll see on this one. I didn't get much dark fruit on the palate, only on the nose. I can tell why many people chose cabernet as the blind choice based only on nose. I got 2 votes for cab, 1 for petit syrah, 1 for pinot noir, and 1 for sangiovese based only on nose, and 2 for sangiovese, 2 for pinot, and 1 for cab franc (?) based on palate. True zin front on this one after 1 hr of decanting.
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5/3/2012 - J @ y H @ c k wrote: 94 Points
Until we went up the road from Outpost to Black Sears because the Outpost guys told us about it, this was the best Zinfandel we had ever had. Not your fancy winery tasting at a big table with a formal line up and a marketing director to give a speech about the complex components of the wine. This was a glass in the office with Rich Smock, John Gianini and the other guy from Rivers Marie whose name I can't remember. But what a glass. No unctious port-like zinfandel pouring like honey (though I have nothing against that either). This was the Howell Mountain stuff, with two doses of pepper (smoky black and smooth white) mixed with dark fruit and a tiny touch of vanilla for balance. Very long finish, easy to drink, a WOW wine and an outstanding Zin. Thomas Rivers Brown knows how to make zin and he got some great fruit for this one to show his talents. The only zin I had ever had before that left such an impression was the 2006 Carlisle Montafi Ranch, but this was a bit better, with more spice than fruit in the balance.
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4/28/2012 - jtonglet wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with previous bottle. Excellent wine.
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4/19/2012 - AlexHop wrote: 93 Points
Amazing bright cherry nose. Luscious red fruit, cherry, red raspberry. Starts silky leading to a bit of pucker from tannins and a finish of pencil lead.
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4/16/2012 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Tenzing Portfolio Tasting (Tenzing - Chicago, IL): Great Zinfandel. Nice fruit. Not overdone. Excellent restraint with a nice surprisingly acidic back end.
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3/31/2012 - DCSteve wrote: 92 Points
Wow. What a wine. Not as peppery as you'd expect from a zin. Nice fruit - smooth as silk.
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3/22/2012 - BCharlieG wrote: 90 Points
big huge fruitbomb. if you have guests who want and like big straightforward fruity rich wines, this one is right in your wheelhouse. big rich red raspberry, cherry, overripe plum and nice notes of vanilla and huge rich chalky chocolate finish with good finishing tannins. nice gritty wine and maybe a a little hedonist for the fruit but all for it for a zinfandel in this vintage. fun wine for drinkers.
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3/11/2012 - jtonglet wrote: 92 Points
Excellent wine. Layers of earthy flavors. Delicious, spicy finish. Paired it with red beans and rice with smoked sausage.
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2/18/2012 - rrschrumjr wrote: 94 Points
This wine was simply mind-blowing. Captivating nose of leather, spice, strawberries, raisins -- and Christmas. Spicy pepper on the palate, with terrific light fruit flavors and some chocolate. Absolutely perfectly balanced and composed. I was surprised at how restrained and elegant this was.
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2/1/2012 - chadwick721 wrote: 92 Points
Great wine. One of the better zins I've had. Rich, complex, beatiful finish. Wish I had bought more.
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1/20/2012 - D.Callahan Likes this wine: 92 Points
A big wine without being overdone. Very good balance while still having delicious black cherry and red fruit influences on both nose and palate. This wine has a nice spine of acidity and a touch of minerality. Savory notes are also present and the wine becomes rounder and more open on the second day.
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1/16/2012 - silton wrote:
This drank very well. Great red berry/bramble fruit with peppery blackberry, sandalwood spice, ginger, and earth. Different but of equal quality as the more typical 07 Carlisle Carlisle served at the same time. If this were $37.50 I'd buy twice as much. 91-93.
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1/6/2012 - Mike Dildine wrote: 91 Points
Nice structure fruit intensity and balance.
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12/23/2011 - AlexHop wrote: 92 Points
Huge cherry bright red fruit nose. Jammy, feels a touch sweet although that is just the massive fruit. Overall a bit simplistic but went great with food.
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12/18/2011 - Etonian wrote: 93 Points
Initial nose showed bright red cherry. On the palate dense cherry as well. Over the next 1-3 hours demonstrated figs, raisins, and then smoked meat and leather. Medium body and minimal tannins. Much better stucture and balance compared to the bottle of 2008 Outpost zin we had a few months ago but could use more in terms of mouthfeel. Day 2, much more syrupy and port like with predominant alcohol. Also, raisin and cola on the palate. Mouthfeel much more interesting with round tannins and some astringency.
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12/3/2011 - 1H2oMan wrote: 91 Points
WOW this is a great zin
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11/17/2011 - Mike Dildine wrote: 92 Points
A baby, but rich, deep and pure with a very attractive savory element. Excellent.
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1/29/2011 - bambam wrote: 86 Points
ZAP 2011 20th Annual Grand Tasting; 1/29/2011-1/31/2011 (San Francisco, Fort Mason): I have been a fan of this wine in the past but this vintage was a let down.
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