White Burgs and Rhone Varietals To Go With Burgers and Thursday Night Football (Los Olivos, CA): This bottling was meant to be held for a long time, but for me never seemed to turn the corner. I thought it would make a nice comparison with a 2009 Saint Cosme, but the Keplinger's fruit was subdued. The wine did not come off to any of the experienced tasters I was hosting as tired, nor flawed, and others liked it a bit more than I did for its grippy texture, but I was craving some juiciness.
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Interesting wine. I spent the first 45 minutes wondering if this one had some kind of taint going on. And after four hours or so, probably found that it is a little bit of volatile acidity. However, after an hour it started settling down. Didn't affect the palate. At an hour and a half, it started to show some wildflowers, black fruit, some herbs, some baking spice, but really quite subtle with a finish that was a little more acidic and out of balance vs. the fruit on the front and middle. White pepper finish. This is still a nice wine and IMO deserving of a 90. But I think the best years of this wine were about 1-2 years ago and probably should have popped the cork on this one then.
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One Fun-Filled Afternoon Spent Poolside with Friends (Los Olivos, CA): Another wine I wanted to spend more time on, this showed a great purity of aromatic, black and blue fruit, complemented by a fennel aspect. Grippy and energetic. Florality emerged in the expansive, slightly tannic finish. Just entering the earliest stages of its drinking window in my estimation.
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Good, but not great. Detected some heat and harshness that muted the fruit flavors. An earthy, spicy and leathery drink. Maybe needs a longer decant to open up.
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Q4 wine club - Rhone varietals that are not Syrah (The Apt): Wine #4: Drank as part of a blind tasting but as this was one of our contributions so I knew what it was. Came on the heels of an '09 No Girls Grenache and the comparison was not favorable. Honestly I was a bit disappointed in this. Had opened and decanted a few hours before, but this tasted more gloppy and syrupy at first. With some time the glass the heat burned off a bit and then I got a bit more leather to balance the fruit which helped. Still, not sure that I'd seek this out again.
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opened thanksgiving morning and slow ox'd for 3 hours before thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps should have decanted - a little bit hot, not a great pairing. possibly user error; looking forward to another shot at this.
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Rich nose of black berries, black cherries, pepper and a touch of dried herbs. Flavors of black berries, black cherries, plum and a touch of raspberry. Medium acidity, firm tannin, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
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The color is dense, garnet, and nearly opaque. The smells are swwet spice, alcohol, cherry, raspberry, plum, and some asphalt. The tastes are toast, sweet cherry, candied red fruit, and jammy fruit. The tannins are like fine satin and the finish is floral and fruity.
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PnP Seemed to have some VA immediately upon opening. Set aside bottle and glass to revisit in a couple hours. The air and 67F serving temp really transformed this bottle into something very enjoyable. As other tasters have mentioned this is a lighter style but still with a new world texture and mouthfeel. Lots of dark red fruits, roasted cacao beans, and a dash of baking spices. Glorious balance. Showed best the end of the night.
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Red cherries and strawberries on the nose, layer of flavor the palate, the finish seems to last forever. A+ wine, served to a crowd of novices, question arise about what it is and where can they get some.
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PnP, consumed over two days. Initial nose of smoked meat, baking spices and dark berries. Balanced and well integrated on the palate, a bit lighter in weight than anticipated. A very feminine expression of the varietal. Day 2 saw the smoked aspects recede and gave way to very pure dark cherry notes with warm spicy undertones. A touch of heat on the finish, but not entirely unwelcome or distracting for this particular wine.
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Similar to RWATKIN's review below, I like this lighter style Grenache, but also like the "slutty" Paso style Alban and Saxum. From the north, Keplinger and Outpost are my favorites.
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pnp, consumed over 4 hours. initial lovely aromas that poured out of the glass. spicecake, luscious black cherry, pure and driven and really exciting. but in the mouth this had an odd, zingy acidity for awhile. that bottle was pretty shut down for the first few hours, then opened beautifully in hour 4. I think this is in a bit of a closed phase, or needs a long decant. I think patience is key here, with this one coming around in another year or two. if scoring this bottle, 89-91. just not enough depth of flavor and persistence on the finish to match the exotic nose.
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Intense and focused. I like the fact that the grenache fruit does not stray into the bigger, Paso style. Great wine here that shows the complex side of grenache as opposed to the "slutty" style, which i like to. Should age quite well for 5-8 yrs.
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Decanted for about an hour before initial taste. Rebottled after about 6 hours and recorked overnight. 15% ABV
Day 1: Initially after the hour decant, lots of strawberry, vanilla, and mild spice on the nose. Palate was pretty closed down though...lots of tannin, not much else. Didn't open up very much over the course of the evening.
Day 2: More smoked meat and darker fruit to the nose now, and the palate has definitely opened up overnight, but still pretty tannic. Dark raspberry, mild leather, spice.
Unfortunately, none will be left to try on night 3, but I have a feeling it would continue to smooth out. Lots of structure here, this is a big Grenache (96%/4% Syrah). Good bottle of wine (90) on night 2, but pretty harsh initially (84). Not going to touch my last bottle for a while, this needs probably 2 or 3 years more to really calm down and show it's best.
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S FL WS Group tastes 1988 Bordeaux (and others) (Jupiter, FL): This is nearly all grenache, and it showed less body and more acidity (both medium plus) than the syrahs. Also veered more towards red fruit with a bright, focused profile. This will likely get better with more time in the bottle.
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Totally different experience from previous bottle. This bottle was well balanced and smooth. Pretty, deep purple color. Nose was a bit muted, but still decent. Palate and finish were very nice. I will hold the rest.
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A friend grabbed this instead of the Lithic and opened it before I could stop him. Shows very promising elements of pepper and meat amidst occasional notes of fruit, but way too early to have tried this. To be continued...
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pop n pour. heady, perfumed aromas of cherry extract, forest floor, and spice box. maybe some sweet pipe tobacco. boozy in an unbalanced way. the palate and finish really underwhelmed. i'm chalking this up to an off bottle based on previous experience. if scoring this bottle, 86-88.
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Johnny's Going Away Dinner (Scoozi, Chicago): Greg and I brought this to Johnny's going away dinner at Scoozi. Candied fruit. Sexy flamboyant spicy styling. Plump pink fruit. More Jolly Rancher - watermelon and cherry. Palate has more grip than the nose lets on. Nice white chocolate, coconut. So so tasty. Really awesome wine. Gotta go deeper into Keplinger.
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Really something weird about this bottle. Double decanted approx 2.5 hrs. Poured back in bottle. Had tasting sips at each stage. Tasted a lot of heat each time. Just did not seem to integrate very well. Still good, but just an average showing. Maybe it wasn't decanted enough. Maybe it just needs more aging time.
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As others have noted, needs either a decant now or more time in the bottle. I enjoyed this much more on the second day, it really softened up and had layers of dark strawberry, raspberry with some floral and spice notes. Typing this note from memory a couple days after the fact, so not too detailed.
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Tried to give it more cellar time. Just couldn't help myself. Drank over two nights. Day 1 was extremely tight. Nice nose, well structured, complex and long finish. Based on this, I knew that I was in for a memorable Day 2. Boy, was I not disappointed. Immediately the nose jumped out with luscious dark fruit. The mid-palate was silky as the tannins were in perfect balance. The finish lingered in elegance. WOW! Sitting on the rest...hopefully?
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pop and pour, consumed over 5 hours. this was another pure, beautifully-crafted grenache from this winery. ripe yet focused, with clearly-delineated flavors of earthen spice and gorgeous black cherry. if i could have fit my whole head in my wine glass, i would have; smelling this wine was just as pleasing as drinking it. a long, powerful yet elegant finish. i promise i'm not on this winery's payroll; i just absolutely, unabashedly LOVE everything they do. if scoring, 93-95. this will be phenomenal with 3-5 more years of bottle age.
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Very good, but seriously in need of decanting. Much better the second night. I've heard Grenache needs time to reveal itself - more than syrah, for example. This one is excellent, but expect in 2 years it'll be memorable.
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12/23/2021 - JonnyG wrote: 88 Points
White Burgs and Rhone Varietals To Go With Burgers and Thursday Night Football (Los Olivos, CA): This bottling was meant to be held for a long time, but for me never seemed to turn the corner. I thought it would make a nice comparison with a 2009 Saint Cosme, but the Keplinger's fruit was subdued. The wine did not come off to any of the experienced tasters I was hosting as tired, nor flawed, and others liked it a bit more than I did for its grippy texture, but I was craving some juiciness.
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6/14/2019 - mflesh wrote: 89 Points
Interesting wine. I spent the first 45 minutes wondering if this one had some kind of taint going on. And after four hours or so, probably found that it is a little bit of volatile acidity. However, after an hour it started settling down.
Didn't affect the palate. At an hour and a half, it started to show some wildflowers, black fruit, some herbs, some baking spice, but really quite subtle with a finish that was a little more acidic and out of balance vs. the fruit on the front and middle. White pepper finish. This is still a nice wine and IMO deserving of a 90. But I think the best years of this wine were about 1-2 years ago and probably should have popped the cork on this one then.
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8/26/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 Points
One Fun-Filled Afternoon Spent Poolside with Friends (Los Olivos, CA): Another wine I wanted to spend more time on, this showed a great purity of aromatic, black and blue fruit, complemented by a fennel aspect. Grippy and energetic. Florality emerged in the expansive, slightly tannic finish. Just entering the earliest stages of its drinking window in my estimation.
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12/27/2016 - Castle Peak wrote: 90 Points
Similar to earlier notes.
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10/22/2016 - ELH wrote: 87 Points
Not much personality.
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4/1/2016 - ELH wrote: 89 Points
Rhone varietal blend of Grenache 96% and Syrah 4%. Pleasant but, for me, not much personality from this bottle.
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1/30/2016 - Castle Peak wrote: 89 Points
Good, but not great. Detected some heat and harshness that muted the fruit flavors. An earthy, spicy and leathery drink. Maybe needs a longer decant to open up.
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11/21/2015 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Q4 wine club - Rhone varietals that are not Syrah (The Apt): Wine #4: Drank as part of a blind tasting but as this was one of our contributions so I knew what it was. Came on the heels of an '09 No Girls Grenache and the comparison was not favorable. Honestly I was a bit disappointed in this. Had opened and decanted a few hours before, but this tasted more gloppy and syrupy at first. With some time the glass the heat burned off a bit and then I got a bit more leather to balance the fruit which helped. Still, not sure that I'd seek this out again.
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11/27/2014 - grayfont wrote:
opened thanksgiving morning and slow ox'd for 3 hours before thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps should have decanted - a little bit hot, not a great pairing. possibly user error; looking forward to another shot at this.
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10/5/2014 - wineismylife wrote: 93 Points
WIML93
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Rich nose of black berries, black cherries, pepper and a touch of dried herbs. Flavors of black berries, black cherries, plum and a touch of raspberry. Medium acidity, firm tannin, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
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9/3/2014 - hackey37 wrote: 93 Points
The color is dense, garnet, and nearly opaque. The smells are swwet spice, alcohol, cherry, raspberry, plum, and some asphalt. The tastes are toast, sweet cherry, candied red fruit, and jammy fruit. The tannins are like fine satin and the finish is floral and fruity.
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7/18/2014 - DarinC Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP Seemed to have some VA immediately upon opening. Set aside bottle and glass to revisit in a couple hours. The air and 67F serving temp really transformed this bottle into something very enjoyable. As other tasters have mentioned this is a lighter style but still with a new world texture and mouthfeel. Lots of dark red fruits, roasted cacao beans, and a dash of baking spices. Glorious balance. Showed best the end of the night.
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3/13/2014 - DavidDay Likes this wine: 94 Points
Red cherries and strawberries on the nose, layer of flavor the palate, the finish seems to last forever. A+ wine, served to a crowd of novices, question arise about what it is and where can they get some.
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3/3/2014 - Fugu Me Likes this wine:
PnP, consumed over two days. Initial nose of smoked meat, baking spices and dark berries. Balanced and well integrated on the palate, a bit lighter in weight than anticipated. A very feminine expression of the varietal. Day 2 saw the smoked aspects recede and gave way to very pure dark cherry notes with warm spicy undertones. A touch of heat on the finish, but not entirely unwelcome or distracting for this particular wine.
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2/26/2014 - TheWineDon wrote: 93 Points
Similar to RWATKIN's review below, I like this lighter style Grenache, but also like the "slutty" Paso style Alban and Saxum. From the north, Keplinger and Outpost are my favorites.
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1/10/2014 - caeleric wrote:
pnp, consumed over 4 hours. initial lovely aromas that poured out of the glass. spicecake, luscious black cherry, pure and driven and really exciting. but in the mouth this had an odd, zingy acidity for awhile. that bottle was pretty shut down for the first few hours, then opened beautifully in hour 4. I think this is in a bit of a closed phase, or needs a long decant. I think patience is key here, with this one coming around in another year or two. if scoring this bottle, 89-91. just not enough depth of flavor and persistence on the finish to match the exotic nose.
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12/10/2013 - rwatkin wrote: 89 Points
My second bottle. Felt this one had entered a closed phase. Tasted more like lean claret than grenache. Will wait a year or two to try next bottle
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10/13/2013 - rwatkin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Intense and focused. I like the fact that the grenache fruit does not stray into the bigger, Paso style. Great wine here that shows the complex side of grenache as opposed to the "slutty" style, which i like to. Should age quite well for 5-8 yrs.
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10/7/2013 - Ilikadajuice Likes this wine: 91 Points
Open for business. No decant. Minimal nose, smooth palate. Not overly complex, just nice drinking
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4/11/2013 - wineberg Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for about an hour before initial taste. Rebottled after about 6 hours and recorked overnight. 15% ABV
Day 1: Initially after the hour decant, lots of strawberry, vanilla, and mild spice on the nose. Palate was pretty closed down though...lots of tannin, not much else. Didn't open up very much over the course of the evening.
Day 2: More smoked meat and darker fruit to the nose now, and the palate has definitely opened up overnight, but still pretty tannic. Dark raspberry, mild leather, spice.
Unfortunately, none will be left to try on night 3, but I have a feeling it would continue to smooth out. Lots of structure here, this is a big Grenache (96%/4% Syrah). Good bottle of wine (90) on night 2, but pretty harsh initially (84). Not going to touch my last bottle for a while, this needs probably 2 or 3 years more to really calm down and show it's best.
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3/1/2013 - MLoscalzo wrote: 93 Points
92.5. Has potential for much more.
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2/23/2013 - vinole wrote: 92 Points
S FL WS Group tastes 1988 Bordeaux (and others) (Jupiter, FL): This is nearly all grenache, and it showed less body and more acidity (both medium plus) than the syrahs. Also veered more towards red fruit with a bright, focused profile. This will likely get better with more time in the bottle.
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12/30/2012 - Ilikadajuice Likes this wine: 92 Points
Totally different experience from previous bottle. This bottle was well balanced and smooth. Pretty, deep purple color. Nose was a bit muted, but still decent. Palate and finish were very nice. I will hold the rest.
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12/20/2012 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 Points
A friend grabbed this instead of the Lithic and opened it before I could stop him. Shows very promising elements of pepper and meat amidst occasional notes of fruit, but way too early to have tried this. To be continued...
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11/21/2012 - caeleric Likes this wine:
pop n pour. heady, perfumed aromas of cherry extract, forest floor, and spice box. maybe some sweet pipe tobacco. boozy in an unbalanced way. the palate and finish really underwhelmed. i'm chalking this up to an off bottle based on previous experience. if scoring this bottle, 86-88.
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11/18/2012 - DavidDay wrote: 94 Points
Absolutely the best grenache I have every had.
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10/19/2012 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Johnny's Going Away Dinner (Scoozi, Chicago): Greg and I brought this to Johnny's going away dinner at Scoozi.
Candied fruit. Sexy flamboyant spicy styling. Plump pink fruit. More Jolly Rancher - watermelon and cherry.
Palate has more grip than the nose lets on. Nice white chocolate, coconut. So so tasty. Really awesome wine. Gotta go deeper into Keplinger.
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10/14/2012 - Ilikadajuice wrote: 90 Points
Really something weird about this bottle. Double decanted approx 2.5 hrs. Poured back in bottle. Had tasting sips at each stage. Tasted a lot of heat each time. Just did not seem to integrate very well. Still good, but just an average showing. Maybe it wasn't decanted enough. Maybe it just needs more aging time.
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9/23/2012 - DavidDay wrote: 94 Points
Complex mouth filling red wine, stimulates every corner of your mouth
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7/21/2012 - wineberg Likes this wine: 92 Points
As others have noted, needs either a decant now or more time in the bottle. I enjoyed this much more on the second day, it really softened up and had layers of dark strawberry, raspberry with some floral and spice notes. Typing this note from memory a couple days after the fact, so not too detailed.
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5/26/2012 - Ilikadajuice wrote: 93 Points
Tried to give it more cellar time. Just couldn't help myself. Drank over two nights. Day 1 was extremely tight. Nice nose, well structured, complex and long finish. Based on this, I knew that I was in for a memorable Day 2. Boy, was I not disappointed. Immediately the nose jumped out with luscious dark fruit. The mid-palate was silky as the tannins were in perfect balance. The finish lingered in elegance. WOW! Sitting on the rest...hopefully?
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5/13/2012 - caeleric Likes this wine:
pop and pour, consumed over 5 hours. this was another pure, beautifully-crafted grenache from this winery. ripe yet focused, with clearly-delineated flavors of earthen spice and gorgeous black cherry. if i could have fit my whole head in my wine glass, i would have; smelling this wine was just as pleasing as drinking it. a long, powerful yet elegant finish. i promise i'm not on this winery's payroll; i just absolutely, unabashedly LOVE everything they do. if scoring, 93-95. this will be phenomenal with 3-5 more years of bottle age.
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5/13/2012 - DavidDay wrote: 94 Points
Dark red fruit, flowers, licorice, layers of sweet, ripe fruit with a perfumed finish
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3/31/2012 - Baggio wrote: 92 Points
Very good, but seriously in need of decanting. Much better the second night. I've heard Grenache needs time to reveal itself - more than syrah, for example. This one is excellent, but expect in 2 years it'll be memorable.
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