Finally opening one of the '09; my '08 is almost gone. Looks like I'm somewhat in the minority here, but I like it albeit perhaps not as much as I did the '08. Blackberry, black cherry, big and concentrated. Middling acidity gives a bit of lift, and the finish is pleasant. A tad hot, but not unpleasantly so. Good value.
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Took to a dinner party tonight and everyone loved it. Great quaffable wine for the price here. Big, bold, juicy. We had it with smokey pork ribs and potato gratin. Still a lot of alcohol here though - I think it still has some time left.
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Final out of the six purchased. Only 1 of the 6 bottles showed anything worthwhile and the rest were complete plonk. Poured half of this one down the drain, too. Not sure what Full Pull was thinking on this one but I see that they're offering the 2011 this week. Good luck with that!
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Much better this time. Finding these bottles pretty inconsistent. Fortunately this was a good one. Core of dark fruit with some nice mineral earthy tones. Good structure and finish. Good QPR.
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Fifth try at this and I still can't wrap my head around this wine. Bottle #4 was drinkable and showed some balance but this one is back to the awkward, alcoholic mess of the first three. Actually, I think it's worse. Not much to like on the nose and the palate is a near disaster. Yuckers. 4+7+5+3 = 69
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Very different from the first 3 bottles I've tried. Pop n' pour, then followed for about 3 hours. Dark ruby color, very slow and heavy legs. No sediment. The nose still seems a little tight, but it is better balanced than before. Featuring nice herbs and dried flowers, still some etoh present but not offensive like it was a mere few months ago. Palate gives up ripe black cherry and raspberry notes with tamed oak influence. Tannins are light and soft, acidity is proportional to the fruit and there is now an earthy complexity to add to the picture. Medium length finish that displays consistent structure and extra nuances. Quite a turnaround in such a short period of time. If my remaining two bottles perform as well, all is forgiven:). Next time, I may even press the "I like it" button. 4+10+15+7 = 86
a bit of a hot mess. Take a second pressing, throw in some glycerin, oak chips and powdered sugar and sell it to Costco for $10/bottle so they can retail for $12. Doesn't suck but so many other wines out there to try in this price point...
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No better, no worse than the last one 3 months ago. Fruity on it's face and pretty clumsy everywhere else. I get a little more underlying minerality in the finish this time that adds to the texture, but flavor-wise, I think it's going nowhere. 4+9+13+5 = 82
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Still unimpressed even at the $14 price. Last swallow showed some promise, but that could have been that I got over being pissed off. Might be the last time I pay to ship daily drinkers...enough decent stuff floating around PA in the Chairman's Selection program. If scoring 81-83.
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Well a couple months sideways has helped this out. Very volatile for the first two hours open and I was using words like weird, awkward, shrill, and funky (not in a good way). But it did settle in eventually to become a more balanced, however non-descript blend of wine. Nose is still quite shy but has nice perfume and not as alcohol-driven as my first bottle 2 months ago. The attack on the palate is not as candied, either. The mid-palate is kind of empty before leading into a dry, slightly bitter finish. Have no idea of potential for this. 4+9+14+6 = 83
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Too fruit forward & luscious for me, but it is an OS wine so I should have known. Decanted & waited a couple of hours. Lots of berry: redcurrant, cherry--all very concentrated. Slightly mellower on day two, but still not subtle enough for my taste.
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Consumed over two nights. A little rough. Difficult to reconcile with DP's tasting notes. Not horrible at $14, but not as good as advertised. Five bottles left, hopefully time with have a positive influence. If scoring 84-86.
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Popped and followed over the course of a day. Very dark ruby color, over 90% saturated and slow, lightly-stained legs. Very ripe nose with a lot of stinky funk at the pop that blows away in a few hours, leaving behind jammy blackberry fruit, spices, and alcohol. Tightly concentrated and stewy palate. Not a lot of fun. A touch of heat and bitter tannins held up with good acidity. I hope time will help on the over-concentrated nature of this. Perhaps the ripeness can stretch out and integrate with age. Otherwise, it tastes like a cheap flavorized box wine, imho. More Lodi than Columbia Valley. 4+8+12+6 = 80
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12/21/2015 - Leomania Likes this wine: 88 Points
Drinking just fine. Both me and the wine.
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7/8/2015 - Leomania Likes this wine: 88 Points
Still drinking nicely. Consistent with previous.
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2/6/2015 - Leomania Likes this wine: 89 Points
Popped another one. Previous note applies; really love this wine especially at this tariff.
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12/31/2014 - Leomania Likes this wine: 88 Points
Finally opening one of the '09; my '08 is almost gone. Looks like I'm somewhat in the minority here, but I like it albeit perhaps not as much as I did the '08. Blackberry, black cherry, big and concentrated. Middling acidity gives a bit of lift, and the finish is pleasant. A tad hot, but not unpleasantly so. Good value.
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9/20/2014 - Portland Pinot Pigs Likes this wine: 87 Points
Took to a dinner party tonight and everyone loved it. Great quaffable wine for the price here. Big, bold, juicy. We had it with smokey pork ribs and potato gratin. Still a lot of alcohol here though - I think it still has some time left.
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2/15/2014 - seattle64 wrote: 84 Points
Good. Amazing how much better the 2007 was compared to this or the 08.
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2/10/2014 - fingers Does not like this wine:
Final out of the six purchased. Only 1 of the 6 bottles showed anything worthwhile and the rest were complete plonk. Poured half of this one down the drain, too. Not sure what Full Pull was thinking on this one but I see that they're offering the 2011 this week. Good luck with that!
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12/15/2013 - donknotts Likes this wine: 88 Points
Much better this time. Finding these bottles pretty inconsistent. Fortunately this was a good one. Core of dark fruit with some nice mineral earthy tones. Good structure and finish. Good QPR.
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11/18/2013 - fingers Does not like this wine: 69 Points
Fifth try at this and I still can't wrap my head around this wine. Bottle #4 was drinkable and showed some balance but this one is back to the awkward, alcoholic mess of the first three. Actually, I think it's worse. Not much to like on the nose and the palate is a near disaster. Yuckers. 4+7+5+3 = 69
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10/28/2013 - fingers wrote: 86 Points
Very different from the first 3 bottles I've tried. Pop n' pour, then followed for about 3 hours. Dark ruby color, very slow and heavy legs. No sediment.
The nose still seems a little tight, but it is better balanced than before. Featuring nice herbs and dried flowers, still some etoh present but not offensive like it was a mere few months ago.
Palate gives up ripe black cherry and raspberry notes with tamed oak influence. Tannins are light and soft, acidity is proportional to the fruit and there is now an earthy complexity to add to the picture. Medium length finish that displays consistent structure and extra nuances. Quite a turnaround in such a short period of time. If my remaining two bottles perform as well, all is forgiven:). Next time, I may even press the "I like it" button. 4+10+15+7 = 86
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9/12/2013 - SGates wrote: 84 Points
a bit of a hot mess. Take a second pressing, throw in some glycerin, oak chips and powdered sugar and sell it to Costco for $10/bottle so they can retail for $12. Doesn't suck but so many other wines out there to try in this price point...
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8/22/2013 - gwarnken Likes this wine: 88 Points
A nice 14.00 dollar bottle of wine that went well with grilled hamburgers.
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8/21/2013 - fingers wrote: 82 Points
No better, no worse than the last one 3 months ago. Fruity on it's face and pretty clumsy everywhere else. I get a little more underlying minerality in the finish this time that adds to the texture, but flavor-wise, I think it's going nowhere. 4+9+13+5 = 82
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7/11/2013 - cwiebe Likes this wine: 89 Points
Consistent with prior bottles.
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6/19/2013 - dontime wrote:
Still unimpressed even at the $14 price. Last swallow showed some promise, but that could have been that I got over being pissed off. Might be the last time I pay to ship daily drinkers...enough decent stuff floating around PA in the Chairman's Selection program. If scoring 81-83.
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5/31/2013 - fingers wrote: 83 Points
Well a couple months sideways has helped this out. Very volatile for the first two hours open and I was using words like weird, awkward, shrill, and funky (not in a good way). But it did settle in eventually to become a more balanced, however non-descript blend of wine. Nose is still quite shy but has nice perfume and not as alcohol-driven as my first bottle 2 months ago. The attack on the palate is not as candied, either. The mid-palate is kind of empty before leading into a dry, slightly bitter finish. Have no idea of potential for this. 4+9+14+6 = 83
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5/18/2013 - by wrote:
Too fruit forward & luscious for me, but it is an OS wine so I should have known. Decanted & waited a couple of hours. Lots of berry: redcurrant, cherry--all very concentrated. Slightly mellower on day two, but still not subtle enough for my taste.
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5/8/2013 - ddmhunter Likes this wine: 89 Points
Excellent QPR
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4/24/2013 - dontime wrote:
Consumed over two nights. A little rough. Difficult to reconcile with DP's tasting notes. Not horrible at $14, but not as good as advertised. Five bottles left, hopefully time with have a positive influence. If scoring 84-86.
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4/3/2013 - fingers wrote: 80 Points
Popped and followed over the course of a day. Very dark ruby color, over 90% saturated and slow, lightly-stained legs. Very ripe nose with a lot of stinky funk at the pop that blows away in a few hours, leaving behind jammy blackberry fruit, spices, and alcohol. Tightly concentrated and stewy palate. Not a lot of fun. A touch of heat and bitter tannins held up with good acidity. I hope time will help on the over-concentrated nature of this. Perhaps the ripeness can stretch out and integrate with age. Otherwise, it tastes like a cheap flavorized box wine, imho. More Lodi than Columbia Valley. 4+8+12+6 = 80
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2/25/2013 - cwiebe Likes this wine: 88 Points
Not as good as the 2008. A little more restrained on the palate although the nose is close to the 2008.
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