Sublime. Aged nicely, it was very approachable with deep red in the glass, nose of cherries and berries, great berry, cassis and a little tobacco on the palate and smooth finish. Everyone enjoyed it
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Disappointed. Upon airing out for an hour seemed balanced but closed with good mouth feel. It seemed to only need a little more time to open. However over the next nine hours never really became delineated. Muted nose, nice berries on the palate but no tertiary flavors to speak of. Didn't deteriorate, no detectable flaws, just stayed in a dumb phase. For an 11 year old wine this had been fined/filtered within an inch of its life (given how little sediment there was), which may explain its lifelessness. I wonder if this could have been so much more without all the filtering.
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Dark grape color, color extends to the rim. Aromas start out with light oak, leather and hints of strawberry and raspberry. After an hour the oak and leather receded, revealing a stronger, yet still mild fruit aromas. Initial taste was dominated by tannins. As with the aromas, after a hour, tannins really mellowed out and flavors of raspberry and strawberry appeared.
After a hour, the wine made a valeant attempt to resurrect the past. It brought back memories of when I first tasted it, many years ago. Unfortunately, it is now a faint representation of the past. I waited too long to open this wine and let it’s better days past.
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Well, I think I enjoyed this a fair amount more than my other bottle two years ago, though still has some limitations to me. Big, big sweet fruit (very possibly literally sweet, i.e., RS) of blueberry pie, spiced oak, black pepper, peppered meat, some crushed rock. Abundant glycerol alcohol though decently tamed on the finish. 89+ In some ways this does impress me because it is tasty even though I don't believe it turned out right.
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Dark inky color, I get plum and spice on the nose. Slightly sweet festive wine with sweet dark berries and softening tannins. Medium weight with a nice finish. Overall not bad but its pretty sweet and too one dimensional for me.
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Dark purple with Magenta rim. Dry tannins with medium fruit, a little hot initially with a slightly bitter acid component. Open over night, a little disappointing given all the praise. Sort of jammy to my taste, but I am liking a more retrained old world and this is new world style. Let's see if more time results in improvement over night. Give another night and it's starting to pick up weight, bold fruit and body, tart blueberry pie with cherries. While not my style, it has a lot of presence for the bold fruit lovers. Showing improvement over the last two nights and integrating into a nice fruity, medium bodied wine with a bitter tannin finish, all within good balance. The heat is mostly diminished, but still present. I doubt I will buy again because I prefer a more restrained style. Not to be too negative, but I have had better wines at less than half the cost, not a good QPR for me on this one.
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Get Together at the Crib with the Farmhouse Crew (Chez Moi, Talman Avenue): Real nice Washington Syrah styling. Not too savory or meat forward but still present. Moderate ripe blueberry compote, dark bacon meat, some purple flowers. Long finish but light on its feet for a Syrah blend. Limited notes but everyone really enjoyed the bottle. A rich wine that comes across as feminine and vibrant.
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Drank too young. There is still a little heat on the nose and some slightly rough tannin structure that would benefit from a few more years in bottle. A well crafted wine nonetheless.
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Very pretty chocolate, red berries, licorice, some earth and herbs. Spikey alc and pretty one dimentional right now. Clashed a little with lamb chops too. Was a bit dissappoited with this one with all the chocolate and heat.
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Had side by side with Patrick Lesec 2006 CnP. No formal notes. Nice dark color. Rich w/ ripe fruit, a mix of black and blue fruit and a hint of spice. Good wt and tasty but just could not keep up with the balance and elegance of the CnP. Gonna let my other bottles age a bit and hope it comes together with age.
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A lot going on here... just outstanding. Dark fruits, earth on the nose. More dark fruits on the palate with a little bit of heat (cinnamon spice) at the back of the throat. C liked a lot, I liked even more.
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Medium purple in color. Great nose with a ton of dark and blue fruit and a little earth and forest. A palate of blueberries, tart cherry with a nice long finish. Good thick mouth feel with fine tannins.
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Desperately wanted to love this wine, but even after sitting in a decanter for four hours I was overwhelmed by sweet black and blueberry aromas and some oak. Secondary bouquet consisted of dark earth and cinnamon spice mixed with crushed peppercorn. There was more balance across the palate, yet the ripe sweet berry notes dominated again, masking anything subtle that could have made this wine a lot more enjoyable. I wished the secondary flavors had been out in force because they'd have provided a needed counterweight to the fruit. Still, with one bottle left, I am going to set it down and wait a few years.
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Decanted for two hours. In the glass, inky purple. On the nose, aromas of white pepper and chocolate. In the mouth, blackberry and licorice. Medium-length finish. Treads the line between New World and Old World. A little rough around the edges now, but should age nicely and strut its stuff in 3-5 years.
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WLTV Offline - WA/OR tasting (Bin on the Lake, Kirkland, WA): The nose had aromas of dark fruits, anise, white pepper and some herbs. The palate had flavors of mixed berries, plums, licorice and spices. Good mouthfeel, and a medium-long finish. We tasted this bottle at a cooler temperature than the last one, and I did find it more enjoyable.
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I was excited to try this wine again after enjoying it so much at the winery. Right away, this seemed much more like a Syrah than a GSM blend. I know that his wine is 50% Syrah, but there really seemed to be little influence from the Grenache in this bottle. It did have nice dark fruit and licorice flavors and a long finish, but just seemed a little out of balance. Tasted this wine next to an 09 Denner Ditch Digger. The Denner had a higher % of Grenache, and the Maison Bleue seemed a lot heavier and a little awkward next to the Denner.
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Right in the Maison Bleue wheel house. Huge nose with big fruit and spice and licorice. An exciting new world wine (though I feel like the owner would not like that description). Wonderful balance with tons of complexity and structure. Big wine, but not overbearing. A bit of bitterness. Give this a few years.
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11/20/2021 - CosmicDude wrote: 93 Points
Sublime. Aged nicely, it was very approachable with deep red in the glass, nose of cherries and berries, great berry, cassis and a little tobacco on the palate and smooth finish. Everyone enjoyed it
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11/16/2021 - Musedir Likes this wine: 91 Points
Took a short while to loosen up but then soared. None of the fruit diminished. Hate not having any more.
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10/9/2020 - tenorselbow wrote: 87 Points
Disappointed. Upon airing out for an hour seemed balanced but closed with good mouth feel. It seemed to only need a little more time to open. However over the next nine hours never really became delineated. Muted nose, nice berries on the palate but no tertiary flavors to speak of. Didn't deteriorate, no detectable flaws, just stayed in a dumb phase. For an 11 year old wine this had been fined/filtered within an inch of its life (given how little sediment there was), which may explain its lifelessness. I wonder if this could have been so much more without all the filtering.
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3/15/2019 - fitchbuck wrote: 91 Points
over two evenings, 90-91
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3/2/2019 - Lee Fining wrote: 88 Points
Dark grape color, color extends to the rim. Aromas start out with light oak, leather and hints of strawberry and raspberry. After an hour the oak and leather receded, revealing a stronger, yet still mild fruit aromas. Initial taste was dominated by tannins. As with the aromas, after a hour, tannins really mellowed out and flavors of raspberry and strawberry appeared.
After a hour, the wine made a valeant attempt to resurrect the past. It brought back memories of when I first tasted it, many years ago. Unfortunately, it is now a faint representation of the past. I waited too long to open this wine and let it’s better days past.
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6/1/2015 - MindMuse wrote: 89 Points
Well, I think I enjoyed this a fair amount more than my other bottle two years ago, though still has some limitations to me. Big, big sweet fruit (very possibly literally sweet, i.e., RS) of blueberry pie, spiced oak, black pepper, peppered meat, some crushed rock. Abundant glycerol alcohol though decently tamed on the finish. 89+
In some ways this does impress me because it is tasty even though I don't believe it turned out right.
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11/27/2014 - jackaroo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Thanksgiving wine. Great value and outstanding presence. Would hold it's own in any match up.
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10/25/2014 - Nbkat8 wrote: 90 Points
Dark inky color, I get plum and spice on the nose. Slightly sweet festive wine with sweet dark berries and softening tannins. Medium weight with a nice finish. Overall not bad but its pretty sweet and too one dimensional for me.
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7/20/2014 - dsgris wrote: 91 Points
Dark purple with Magenta rim. Dry tannins with medium fruit, a little hot initially with a slightly bitter acid component. Open over night, a little disappointing given all the praise. Sort of jammy to my taste, but I am liking a more retrained old world and this is new world style. Let's see if more time results in improvement over night. Give another night and it's starting to pick up weight, bold fruit and body, tart blueberry pie with cherries. While not my style, it has a lot of presence for the bold fruit lovers. Showing improvement over the last two nights and integrating into a nice fruity, medium bodied wine with a bitter tannin finish, all within good balance. The heat is mostly diminished, but still present. I doubt I will buy again because I prefer a more restrained style. Not to be too negative, but I have had better wines at less than half the cost, not a good QPR for me on this one.
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5/11/2014 - Nbkat8 wrote: 91 Points
Nice Rhone blend, lively and spicey is how I would describe this, slighly sweet, higher alcohol?
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3/21/2014 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Get Together at the Crib with the Farmhouse Crew (Chez Moi, Talman Avenue): Real nice Washington Syrah styling. Not too savory or meat forward but still present. Moderate ripe blueberry compote, dark bacon meat, some purple flowers. Long finish but light on its feet for a Syrah blend. Limited notes but everyone really enjoyed the bottle. A rich wine that comes across as feminine and vibrant.
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10/19/2013 - kwn70 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank too young. There is still a little heat on the nose and some slightly rough tannin structure that would benefit from a few more years in bottle. A well crafted wine nonetheless.
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6/19/2013 - MindMuse wrote: 88 Points
Peppered blueberry cinnamon tart. Heated finish. Intense, but my least favorite bottle of MB so far.
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10/30/2012 - bajayngo wrote: 88 Points
Very pretty chocolate, red berries, licorice, some earth and herbs. Spikey alc and pretty one dimentional right now. Clashed a little with lamb chops too. Was a bit dissappoited with this one with all the chocolate and heat.
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5/17/2012 - brooklynwine wrote: 88 Points
Had side by side with Patrick Lesec 2006 CnP. No formal notes. Nice dark color. Rich w/ ripe fruit, a mix of black and blue fruit and a hint of spice. Good wt and tasty but just could not keep up with the balance and elegance of the CnP. Gonna let my other bottles age a bit and hope it comes together with age.
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5/9/2012 - Vinomarcus wrote: flawed
Wednesday Night Blind - May 2012 (Peter Pratt's Inn): GF#2 - Blind - Corked! Many deemed it the best corked wine they've had. It had tremendous underpinnings.
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4/25/2012 - domco wrote: 93 Points
A lot going on here... just outstanding. Dark fruits, earth on the nose. More dark fruits on the palate with a little bit of heat (cinnamon spice) at the back of the throat. C liked a lot, I liked even more.
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2/12/2012 - DavidDay wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful aroma, great flavors, very precise with the flavors on the palate
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12/30/2011 - atrox wrote: 92 Points
Medium purple in color. Great nose with a ton of dark and blue fruit and a little earth and forest. A palate of blueberries, tart cherry with a nice long finish. Good thick mouth feel with fine tannins.
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11/29/2011 - ucbeau wrote: 89 Points
Desperately wanted to love this wine, but even after sitting in a decanter for four hours I was overwhelmed by sweet black and blueberry aromas and some oak. Secondary bouquet consisted of dark earth and cinnamon spice mixed with crushed peppercorn. There was more balance across the palate, yet the ripe sweet berry notes dominated again, masking anything subtle that could have made this wine a lot more enjoyable. I wished the secondary flavors had been out in force because they'd have provided a needed counterweight to the fruit. Still, with one bottle left, I am going to set it down and wait a few years.
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9/27/2011 - Dagalaifus Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted for two hours. In the glass, inky purple. On the nose, aromas of white pepper and chocolate. In the mouth, blackberry and licorice. Medium-length finish. Treads the line between New World and Old World. A little rough around the edges now, but should age nicely and strut its stuff in 3-5 years.
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6/17/2011 - last chance wrote: 91 Points
WLTV Offline - WA/OR tasting (Bin on the Lake, Kirkland, WA): The nose had aromas of dark fruits, anise, white pepper and some herbs. The palate had flavors of mixed berries, plums, licorice and spices. Good mouthfeel, and a medium-long finish. We tasted this bottle at a cooler temperature than the last one, and I did find it more enjoyable.
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5/7/2011 - last chance wrote: 91 Points
I was excited to try this wine again after enjoying it so much at the winery. Right away, this seemed much more like a Syrah than a GSM blend. I know that his wine is 50% Syrah, but there really seemed to be little influence from the Grenache in this bottle. It did have nice dark fruit and licorice flavors and a long finish, but just seemed a little out of balance. Tasted this wine next to an 09 Denner Ditch Digger. The Denner had a higher % of Grenache, and the Maison Bleue seemed a lot heavier and a little awkward next to the Denner.
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4/30/2011 - pdemaio wrote: 93 Points
Right in the Maison Bleue wheel house. Huge nose with big fruit and spice and licorice. An exciting new world wine (though I feel like the owner would not like that description). Wonderful balance with tons of complexity and structure. Big wine, but not overbearing. A bit of bitterness. Give this a few years.
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4/8/2011 - last chance wrote: 93 Points
This wine had flavors of cassis, blackberry, licorice and some spices. Great mouthfeel and a long finish. Wow, I loved this wine.
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