Complex aromas of Morello cherries, lilacs, incense, and cedar. Medium to full bodied on the palate with dark cherry fruit, dense and delicious and salty, soft tannins smoothly integrated, a rich gilding of acid framing the aromatic finish. Wise and balanced with age but retaining great power.
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Fantastic. Drank well from PnP and over hours before, during, and after dinner. Out of the gates with cherry tobacco, smoke, sweet wet aged meat, sois bois, dried rose petals, developing over time to show leather, dark cherry, sweet wet leather, a touch of caramelized fruit, and revealing some rust, and iron. Intense and deep on a sturdy, invisible frame. Medium-long finish.
Very good pairing with a mushroom and lentil pasta dish. This would work well with mushroom dishes, including porcinis, with duck or quail. So nice!
This was the lone bottle of this wine purchased six years ago in a $250 "take it on faith" mixed case. What a winner it's been. The hits keep coming!
Edit: Wondering why this is the last vintage from this producer, I discovered that this remarkable winemaker died tragically shortly after the 2010 harvest. RIP.
Aromas of dark berries, black pepper, briar bush, roses, and fragrant soil. Penetrating fruit on the palate, generously sweet and salty with integrated tannins, lovely peppery aromatic back note moving into the singing acid finish. Excellent with skewered breaded shrimp a la Marcella Hazan and buttered asparagus.
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Fine savory aromas of black cherries, mushroom, sourdough crust, roses, with a fine base of cedar. Dark concentration of salty fruit on the palate with an acid laced aromatic spine at the back. Difficult to think of the right food pairing, perhaps a gruyère soufflé or roast duck.
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Decanted 90 minutes before pairing with magret with rasberry sauce. Lovely pairing and a wine that's in peak drinking window. Good focus, purity and balance. Medium bodied with nice dark fruit. A real pleasure
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Not a detailed note because I served it at a wine tasting where I just got a sip, but it had the crusty jammy quality noted before, maybe a bit lacking in acid. But quite lovely.
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Crusty savory aroma with notes of pepper, dark berry, and a lilting floral note. Wide swathe of aromatic jammy fruit on the palate with a very light seasoning of acid, concentrating beautifully into a long sweet tannic finish. A lovely round and deeply satisfying wine. 50 + 16 + 17 + 8.
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Ruby garnet. Complex nose of red plums, smoke, and sweet spice, with violets emerging. Very generous spread of fruit on the palate, shifting finish with interplay of gentle tannins and acids. Plush without being dense, textured. 50 + 17 + 16 + 9.
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From memory last night: a retiring nose with dominant aromas of barnyard and undertones of fruit, nice well-balanced palate with good concentration of fruit, solid tannins and a medium finish. Went well with the meal and was a pleasure to drink.
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On the nose, an interesting juxtaposition between gunpowder and earth funk, and an uplifting freshness. On the palate, excellent fruit depth with a hint of pepper. Very complex even at this relatively early stage of its evolution. Predictably tight on a quite long finish, but this will be an absolute stunner when it comes into its own. I'm surprised at how harmonious this is for current consumption. I'll put my remaining bottles away for at least 5 years, and with any discipline probably more. Outstanding QPR. 93 points.
12/16/2023 - Scott Burg Likes this wine:
Drinking well now. No reason to wait. Good wine. Solid. Would buy again
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3/31/2021 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 94 Points
Complex aromas of Morello cherries, lilacs, incense, and cedar. Medium to full bodied on the palate with dark cherry fruit, dense and delicious and salty, soft tannins smoothly integrated, a rich gilding of acid framing the aromatic finish. Wise and balanced with age but retaining great power.
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12/23/2020 - tward Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fantastic. Drank well from PnP and over hours before, during, and after dinner. Out of the gates with cherry tobacco, smoke, sweet wet aged meat, sois bois, dried rose petals, developing over time to show leather, dark cherry, sweet wet leather, a touch of caramelized fruit, and revealing some rust, and iron. Intense and deep on a sturdy, invisible frame. Medium-long finish.
Very good pairing with a mushroom and lentil pasta dish. This would work well with mushroom dishes, including porcinis, with duck or quail. So nice!
This was the lone bottle of this wine purchased six years ago in a $250 "take it on faith" mixed case. What a winner it's been. The hits keep coming!
Edit: Wondering why this is the last vintage from this producer, I discovered that this remarkable winemaker died tragically shortly after the 2010 harvest. RIP.
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6/28/2020 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 92 Points
Aromas of dark berries, black pepper, briar bush, roses, and fragrant soil. Penetrating fruit on the palate, generously sweet and salty with integrated tannins, lovely peppery aromatic back note moving into the singing acid finish. Excellent with skewered breaded shrimp a la Marcella Hazan and buttered asparagus.
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6/30/2019 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fine savory aromas of black cherries, mushroom, sourdough crust, roses, with a fine base of cedar. Dark concentration of salty fruit on the palate with an acid laced aromatic spine at the back. Difficult to think of the right food pairing, perhaps a gruyère soufflé or roast duck.
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9/30/2018 - 2caveman Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted 90 minutes before pairing with magret with rasberry sauce. Lovely pairing and a wine that's in peak drinking window. Good focus, purity and balance. Medium bodied with nice dark fruit. A real pleasure
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5/6/2017 - wgmccallum Likes this wine:
Not a detailed note because I served it at a wine tasting where I just got a sip, but it had the crusty jammy quality noted before, maybe a bit lacking in acid. But quite lovely.
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4/4/2017 - jmoore431 wrote: 90 Points
Nose of rich fruit and slightly poopy; soil, mushrooms, a bit wild; young and quite good.
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1/3/2017 - gtonn Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wow! Garnet colored. Beautiful aromas of red fruit, black tea and a bit of earth.
Very good!
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12/11/2016 - celestialmundane Likes this wine: 90 Points
Ruby. Meaty, peppery nose. Full in the mouth.
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7/12/2016 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 91 Points
Crusty savory aroma with notes of pepper, dark berry, and a lilting floral note. Wide swathe of aromatic jammy fruit on the palate with a very light seasoning of acid, concentrating beautifully into a long sweet tannic finish. A lovely round and deeply satisfying wine. 50 + 16 + 17 + 8.
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2/17/2016 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 92 Points
Ruby garnet. Complex nose of red plums, smoke, and sweet spice, with violets emerging. Very generous spread of fruit on the palate, shifting finish with interplay of gentle tannins and acids. Plush without being dense, textured. 50 + 17 + 16 + 9.
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11/10/2015 - Elwoodr wrote: 93 Points
Raspberry, dirt and cherry with a touch of leather. Just a great wine that keeps expanding in the glass. Love this wine.
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9/5/2015 - jemorris Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tart strawberry, rasberry notes, elegant brooding wine.
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2/18/2014 - wgmccallum wrote: 89 Points
From memory last night: a retiring nose with dominant aromas of barnyard and undertones of fruit, nice well-balanced palate with good concentration of fruit, solid tannins and a medium finish. Went well with the meal and was a pleasure to drink.
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5/3/2013 - vanpe003 wrote: 93 Points
On the nose, an interesting juxtaposition between gunpowder and earth funk, and an uplifting freshness. On the palate, excellent fruit depth with a hint of pepper. Very complex even at this relatively early stage of its evolution. Predictably tight on a quite long finish, but this will be an absolute stunner when it comes into its own. I'm surprised at how harmonious this is for current consumption. I'll put my remaining bottles away for at least 5 years, and with any discipline probably more. Outstanding QPR. 93 points.
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