Rich and viscous, with some oyster shell and herbaceous notes (rosemary/thyme?) quite prominent on the palate. This is a very interesting wine, though the viscosity is not for everyone.
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Super viscous. Layers and layers of flavor, dried apricot, roasted nuts, dried orange rind. Good acidity balanced the sugar. Held up very well over a week of drinking. A little is all you need, very satisfying.
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Sitting in a great place and just glourious now. Like a deep coloured BA with huge marmalade, caramel, butter honey and other tangy / burnt elements. Coats and dissolves across the whole palate. Nice little zip of acidity on the end and just a hugely enjoyable bottle.
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Raid the Braxton Cellar (Braxton Cellar - Libertyville IL): Small glass, brief note from memory. Apricot and apple pie. Botrytis adds a wonderful edge of complexity. Very good wine, but expensive vs better Sauternes or other Old World examples.
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This was nice. I opened this New Year’s Eve and have been following it with small pours. Dried Turkish apricot, a touch of mandarin orange zest and burnt salted caramel and a touch of molasses. It actually has developed a bit of acid that younger tastings didn’t show.
I compare this to a 2009 Z-H SGN TS which had its acids hidden but this is a bit less deep and very dark. The 1995 Z-H was a lot lighter in color. This is almost a flinty butnt orange. The wax capsule on this was not intact when I purchased this about 5 years ago. I have another with a full wax capsule. The cork was in amazing condition but worried me with a greenish stain on the top of the cork. I was worried it was water damaged as I bought this from a LB marathon years ago.
Good for comparing different grapes effected by botrytis. So much better than the Concha y Toro. I would like to try Krached Austrian Chardonnay in TNA style.
Very enjoyable.
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Prior bottle consumed 8 years ago, held this until now and so glad I did. While the earlier bottle was spectacular, this one was another step up due to the effects of another 8 years of age, with no end in sight. Magnificent caramel notes throughout the complex, still-balanced and remarkable result from SQN's magic worked on Chardonnay grapes. Blew the dinner guests away, and us too.
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An incredibly powerful wine. Thick, syrupy, apricot, fig, brown sugar, orange zest. a very deep golden color. agree with others that a hint of acidity may be better, but this is exactly what you would expect with a sqn wine. Definitely a treat and look forward to my remaining bottles
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These are always wonderful wines, but I think my palette was just not quite in the right place for it. Spent a lovely afternoon drinking through some really excellent reds and by the time we got here I was feeling a bit fatigued. The good news is the non-subtlety of this wine means you don't miss out on the flavors even when you have been tasting for most of the day. Lots of apricot and honey and maybe orange peel. But what I usually appreciate where there's this wonderful hit of acidity right at the end that pulls it back from the edge I didn't get so much. Esp in contrast to an inniskillin sparkling that was served alongside and had just the right amount of lightness that was called for at that point. Enjoyed, but perhaps not appreciated as well as it should be.
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Rioja dinner at Phil's (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. The older SQN sweet wines have always impressed me, though there are odd ones here and there that do end up cloying. This isn't one of them. This is all dried fig syrup and brown sugar, cut with barely enough acidity. Very rich and almost oily, this somehow manages to toe the balance line well. On the other hand, I can't imagine having more than a small glass of this -- it's incredibly heavy stuff.
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Darker gold than I recalled. Still has some years left. First few sips are shockingly good, but quickly becomes a bit too much. Could use a bit more acidity. Honey, apricot and orange.
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Man I love these wines. It pours a very dark burnt caramel and has a flavor profile that fits with the coloring. Very sweet but with age there's a bit more mellowing of how in your face these can be. Still - lots of caramelized apricot. Very yummy.
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Q1 2017 Tasting - Starts with the Letter (The Apt): A wonderful way to end the evening. It was delicious. Poured a very dark almost burnt caramel color which fit with the flavor profile. Lots of those toasty, almost nutty, and then great beautiful caramel. Still decent acidity. A bit intense as these wines always are, but just lovely too.
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Never seen a Chardonnay this dark. Very brown profile with a hint of crimson. Sweet melons, honey dew, thick, viscous, super long finish. Literally feels like drinking honey from a jar. Probably not the first thing I would grab but can appreciate the style. Very well balanced with just a hint of acid.
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Awesome. So much ripe nectarine, orange marmalade, mango, honey and brown sugar packed in here with just enough acidic push to stretch it into endlessness on the finish. A huge hit with the company present and it's great to hear the reaction to telling someone it's Chardonnay. The color is a beautiful golden bronze with flashes of amber at the edge. So delicious. 5+12+18+9= 94
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Thick, unctuous, rich and incredibly sweet, the complex array of spicy orange, tangerines, apricot and tropical fruits slathered with honey was almost too much of a good thing. A little goes a long way with this sweet, treat. Blind, I would have guessed it was a TBA.
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Spectacular dessert wine. These are funny wines - they are so in your face with the orange peel and honey and white fruits and then suddenly there's this hint of acidity and rather than being cloying these are more enticing. Not subtle though. This is a dessert wine that can stand coming after three big reds ('96 Ducru, '05 Pontet Canet, '94 La Mouline). Delicious as always.
Not trying to go against the grain.. first time tasting the wine..
It was golden yellow, nose had lots of apricot, peach, and honey. Palate disappointed with big/heavy/syrupy weight, with very little acidity. Makes it out of balance, and hard to drink more than a sip or two.
Not my thing.. drank along side a 2003, and i thought the 2003 was a little better (tho not much). At the $100+ for half bottle price, it's pretty hard to buy more..
Appreciate Scott for bringing it to the tasting though! always great fun to try a well known wine.
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First coravinned about two months ago, this is my third tasting of the 2002 Sine Qua Non Noble Man. The color was a goldish orange what seemed like the wine was a lot older than a 2002. In the nose there is plenty of apricots, white fruits such as white peach, pear, and again apricot. In addition to all the fruits in the nose there are also notes of honeysuckle. The body is very thick and syrupy. Lots of white fruits in the palate such as apricot and white peaches. From what I remember last time it seems to taste a little more like a dessert wine than before. Before it was a little thin, now it is thicker and fuller. Absolutely delicious. I have really enjoyed trying out this SQN, one day hopefully I can try out some other wines of theirs!
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Appearance: slight orange and gold Nose: pear and honey Palate: smooth and fruity lots of pear. But single layered. Opinion: tasted along side the 2013 Mullineux straw wine which actually won out. So amazing wine
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Coravinned, nose: apricot and fruity french toast. Palate: syrupy perfect for dessert, apricot jam and honey Perfectly balanced. Color: gold with an orange tone.
Solid dessert wine
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Great nose of apricots, blood orange and roasted pineapple. Great balance On the palate with considerable acidity, unctuous, thick texture rendered weightless with the supporting acidity, with notes of honeyed pear, mandarin orange and apricot. I think this is in its sweet spot...
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Apricot jam, dried stone fruit, honey, spice. Mouth coating with a very full-bodied, rich, syrupy texture. Long finish of sticky sweet honey. Overly rich, heavy, and extracted for my taste. Somewhat lacking in acidity/balance. Certainly was not a crowd pleaser.
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Belated celebrations: Medium-deep copper color. Pours like motor oil. Pronounced nose of apricot jam. Dried tropical fruits, citrus, some spice. It has all of the ingredients to be an outstanding wine if only someone didn't concentrate it into a condensed wine -- perhaps I should add water?
Seriously, the nose is very nice, and the wine has a good deal of complexity, but it is syrupy, over-the-top, and a bit cloying (though the acid is quite good). The finish is quite long, but that is in no small part because your mouth receives a thick coating of the wine that stays with you for minutes.
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Chicago Wine Flock..."Wines that Bill B Loves" (goosefoot - Chicago IL): Tasted double blind. Lots of dried apricot with impressive concentration. Botrytis is not particularly dominant here, but everything work together in good balance and a textural lightness that can be very enjoyable in sweet wines.
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Gold/copper color, citrus, stone fruits, flowers and honey on the nose, syrupy rich texture, full body, flavors follow the nose with some spicy complexity added, well balanced if a little low acid but not cloying, long finish. Outstanding.
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Thick & sweet, caramel color, looks & in a weird way slightly tastes as if a touch of scotch were blended in, but sweetness prevails. I'll give the next bottle a few more years to allow further development.
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On the nose this just screams dessert as though it could be unclear and it wants to make sure it exerts its presence. The wine is dark and caramel in color. There's a bit of syrupyness and you almost wonder on it, but it's just that the acidity is a bit late to the game and so it balances the wine out a bit later on your palate. Of course there are the deep apricots and maybe some butterscotch (esp in the aftertaste). Thick and almost creamy as you bring it around, it's the dessert wine of SQNs (a somewhat obvious statement). Delicious though and you find yourself longing for the next sip even if that last one was so intense that it felt it might cover you in dessert wines for the rest of your life. Well done. Glad we have 2 more.
Thick unctuous caramel and brown sugar flavors. Lacks sufficient acidity to be in the upper echelon on the world's sweet wines. Truly dessert in a glass, this should be consumed without food.
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Thick out of the bottle. Honey and stone fruits nose. Very thick and unctuous. Had to throw it back in the fridge because as it warms it becomes a little cloying. Loads of honey, apricots, some banana. Interminable finish, but clean at the right temperature.
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An exceptionally good dessert wine with a combination of complexity, depth and acidity. Apricot, vanilla cream, pear and a touch of earth spice and petrol. It is an enormous wine but stays balanced.
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Did not decant. Semi-dark, almost turpentine and amber in color. Carmel apple, baked pear, petrol, hazelnut, and honey. The nose is just thrilling. Multi-faceted with very distinct layers. The finish soars past a minute and there is a welcomed hint of acidity. This Late Harvest Chardonnay is just hitting it's stride and should develop nicely for the next ten years. It was the Noble Man that really turned me on to Manfred's genius. This is the best Desert wine made from Chardonnay that you'll find. A botrytis bombshell. Drink now - 2020.
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Very sweet, and just enough acidity to keep it from being ridiculously cloying (therefore it is only almost ridiculously cloying). Good for one glass, but too over the top for my tastes.
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Fantastic Night of Old Barolo and More! (An excellent Vancouver restaurant): Hoo boy, was this wine ever intense!!! Almost painfully so - it really grabbed your attention and would not let go. This features super-intense botrytis and unfathomable richness. It does call to mind the most intense Kracher wines of all time (the 13 to 15 bottlings). Tremendous - a little goes a long way!
Pizza night with best friends (Our House): started drinking on Thanksgiving and finished the next night. Good fruit, Good viscosity. Dark color and great aftertaste.
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California's Trockenbeerenauslese, rich with cream, spice and sugar. Who needs creme brulee when it comes in a glass. Would have liked just a bit more acidity to balance perfectly, but this comment is a stretch to find the only reason not to add 5 points to our score......delicious and incredibly well-crafted.
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Super dark golden color. Inital aromas of very ripe roasted peach and nectarine. Baked apricot. After opening a bit, some very rich vanilla creme brulee. Super rich, palate staining fruit. Even with all of the rich, there is still some decent acidity buried in there. Long finish. An intense dessert wine, but if I had my choice I would stick with Sauternes.
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TN: Burgundy vs. U.S Pinot Noir blind tasting....plus a dozen others!!! (Buzzini House): HUGE viscous liquid gold...loaded with sweet apricot, wild honeycomb, creme brulee crust, exotic white flower spice, tobacco. Has good acidity...but not as much as the '03 if I remember correctly. Super Alban fruit terroir of smoky hazelnut, match strike. Always a treat.
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Coppery amber in the glass. Great aromatics of burnt orange peel, honey, and honeysuckle/floral notes. Citrus is repeated on the palate with mandarin oranges and fabulous length. Peppery elements on the nose along with orange marmalade. Vanilla and cinnamon. Baked apple, candied mango. Hints of smoke/burnt sugar. Touches of caramel. Day 2 -- 2/23 Excellent with Stilton. Orange marmalade and more vanilla. Honey and fig. Notes of aromatic iced tea, similar to Earl Gray.
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Wow was this sweet. Honey on steroids, but enough aciidty to balance it off and keep it from being maple syrup. Almonnds, hazel nuts, apricots, pears and dried fruits on the nose. Very sweet, irhc and unctous on the palate. I think this will pick up even more complexity as it ages, but it is pure hedonistic pleasure at the moment.
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Naples Dinner at Wiesen's: John brought this treat to cap off a very nice day. Rich Apricot honeyed nose with nutmeg spice. Depth of flavors was intense, but dominated by lush thick honeyed texture. Very sweet Apricot quality, but with clear presence of balancing acidity. An over the top wine that defines the term unctuous. Not for everyone, but a real conversation piece at a minimum.
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Drank with fois gras and a bit of roasted grapes, pear mustard and argula, then again after dinner with a cheese plate. Honey amber. Beautiful pineapple, pear and dried appricots. Sharp acidic tang. Honey and apricots on the finish. Nice transition. Very, very sweet, but outstanding balance with the acidity. After dinner (with an hour and a half of air) it was just stupendous.
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Find me any dessert wine from the New World that packs this much punch. This is Chateau d'Yquem on roids!!! Completely over the top, this golden elixir must be tasted to be believed. This is as extracted as you can get. I love this stuff. Sad to hear the news about Mr. K (Alois Kracher), RIP my man.
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Dark golden color. Quite sweet and luscious with a high sugar content that makes it a very rich, tasty wine but I kept wishing it had a bit more acidity to balance it out. Great flavors of apricots, hazelnuts, brown sugar and burnt hay and ultimately has a round, oily texture not unlike the consistency of an aged Sauternes. Consumed at Hearth, NYC. 91
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Dinner at Chris Freemott's (Chicago): Bright golden-yellow in the glass - the nose shows lots of honey, citrus, pineapple and tropical fruits. More sweet white and tropical fruits and marmalade flavours on the palate with almost honey-like consistency. Finish is long, rich but slightly cloying.
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Blue Oval brought this bottle to the Haggis aloha party. Very generous to bring this wine. This was the best dessert wine I have ever had from the USA and could hold its own to almost any dessert wine in the world. It reminded me of 2 great dessert wines I have had in the recent past, the 2003 Weingut Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany and the 2001 Feiler-Artinger Welschriesling Ruster Ausbruch Essenz from Austria. If I had not known what this was I would have guessed a TBA from one of the best German producers. Ripe and concentrated effort with fruit bursting out of the glass and onto the nose and palate. Notes of pear nectar, apricot marmalade and fresh tropical fruits. Sweet but extremely well balanced. Biting acidity that left a very refreshing finish. This is the only California mailing list I have signed up for. I've been waiting for 2 years now and am looking forward to the day I can finally order some of Mr. K's wine (probably another 10 years). 97 points.
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Chicago SQN Postcard Offline (Mel Hill's home - Barrington, IL): Gorgeous nose of boytrised white and tropical fruits. Dense palate with ripe and rich fruits. Boytris and honey notes at the forefront. Lush, viscous and seamless into a long finish. Delicious!
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My first try at this wine -very impressed. Amber color, great nose, sweet but not cloying or heavy. This is drinking well now -its worth a try. I will hold at least one for a few years to see how it does.
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Bought the last bottle off the list at Arterra. What a spectacular showing! Incredibly rich, thick and mouthcoating apricot, tangerine, and honey. This particular bottle seemed to have better balance than the two previous bottles I've tasted. It's amazing to me how viscous these wines are - dessert in a glass!
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Absolutely delicious. Beautiful golden color, a bit thick, and perfectly balanced. Pure, intense, terrific honey and orange/apricot/peach flavors. The finish went on and on. Truly a great dessert wine -- would love to get more!
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Intense, almost decayed floral notes (sounds negative, but is meant to be totally positive!) along with apricot, honey and some green apple hints. On the palate this is so rich and thick it is almost absurd. The taste is honey, apricot, and some tropical fruits. There seemed to be more acidity balancing the richness in this bottle compared to a previous bottle. Really awesome stuff!
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Chicago Wine Geeks do CdP (Joe Wu's Place): This was a wow wine. My notes are skimpy due to the 12 wines that preceded it. On the palate sick layers of fruit - pineapple, grapefruit with some cocunut.
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My first experience with a Mr. K. Wow - this is one intense wine. Gorgeous golden hue in the glass, with a perfumed, sweet nose. On the palate this was huge - a bigger wine than the Yalumba in terms of mouthfeel, and that's saying something. Honey, apricots, orange marmalade. This wine has a great dose of acidity, keeping the sweetness in check. I have one more 375 of this, and it will be interesting to see how it tastes in a few years.
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Very similar to previous bottle. Big, viscous, rich and with enormous sweetness. It has lots of acidity, but IMO not quite enough for that sweetness. But it sure is impressive.
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10/20/2023 - dwaller Likes this wine:
Rich and viscous, with some oyster shell and herbaceous notes (rosemary/thyme?) quite prominent on the palate. This is a very interesting wine, though the viscosity is not for everyone.
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4/14/2022 - Peech Likes this wine: 94 Points
very sweet, very grapey, a little nutty, honeydew melon. Very rich and viscous on the palate.
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2/4/2022 - RayOB wrote: 94 Points
Drank in London
Rich sweet with a nice balance
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11/29/2020 - sdrucker1000 wrote: 96 Points
Flavors upon flavors upon flavors. Toffee, nuts, cherries and much more. Mouthfeel gets fuller as it warms up. Delicious.
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10/27/2020 - winemo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Super viscous. Layers and layers of flavor, dried apricot, roasted nuts, dried orange rind. Good acidity balanced the sugar. Held up very well over a week of drinking. A little is all you need, very satisfying.
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9/10/2020 - Barry Rothof wrote: 93 Points
Layered and complex, rich, sweet, with good energy, citrus fruit, nut praline, mocha opulance and rather lovely!
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11/29/2019 - Mbad77 wrote: 96 Points
Sitting in a great place and just glourious now. Like a deep coloured BA with huge marmalade, caramel, butter honey and other tangy / burnt elements.
Coats and dissolves across the whole palate. Nice little zip of acidity on the end and just a hugely enjoyable bottle.
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8/26/2019 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Kiawah Trip 2019; 8/24/2019-9/4/2019 (Kiawah Island): Surprise of the night. Other worldly. Caramel, maple, thick viscous oxidized fig.
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7/26/2019 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 95 Points
Darker color, syrup feel on the palate with Apricot, oh so good on the finish, great texture, true sweet wine and delicious. Wow, sadly last Btl.
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3/3/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Raid the Braxton Cellar (Braxton Cellar - Libertyville IL): Small glass, brief note from memory. Apricot and apple pie. Botrytis adds a wonderful edge of complexity. Very good wine, but expensive vs better Sauternes or other Old World examples.
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1/1/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine: 96 Points
This was nice. I opened this New Year’s Eve and have been following it with small pours. Dried Turkish apricot, a touch of mandarin orange zest and burnt salted caramel and a touch of molasses. It actually has developed a bit of acid that younger tastings didn’t show.
I compare this to a 2009 Z-H SGN TS which had its acids hidden but this is a bit less deep and very dark. The 1995 Z-H was a lot lighter in color. This is almost a flinty butnt orange. The wax capsule on this was not intact when I purchased this about 5 years ago. I have another with a full wax capsule. The cork was in amazing condition but worried me with a greenish stain on the top of the cork. I was worried it was water damaged as I bought this from a LB marathon years ago.
Good for comparing different grapes effected by botrytis. So much better than the Concha y Toro. I would like to try Krached Austrian Chardonnay in TNA style.
Very enjoyable.
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1/1/2018 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Apricot and Caramel. Not overly sweet. Perfect end to the night!
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12/10/2017 - Snoman Likes this wine: 95 Points
Prior bottle consumed 8 years ago, held this until now and so glad I did. While the earlier bottle was spectacular, this one was another step up due to the effects of another 8 years of age, with no end in sight. Magnificent caramel notes throughout the complex, still-balanced and remarkable result from SQN's magic worked on Chardonnay grapes. Blew the dinner guests away, and us too.
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10/21/2017 - wbohonnon wrote: 94 Points
An incredibly powerful wine. Thick, syrupy, apricot, fig, brown sugar, orange zest. a very deep golden color. agree with others that a hint of acidity may be better, but this is exactly what you would expect with a sqn wine. Definitely a treat and look forward to my remaining bottles
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6/24/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
These are always wonderful wines, but I think my palette was just not quite in the right place for it. Spent a lovely afternoon drinking through some really excellent reds and by the time we got here I was feeling a bit fatigued. The good news is the non-subtlety of this wine means you don't miss out on the flavors even when you have been tasting for most of the day. Lots of apricot and honey and maybe orange peel. But what I usually appreciate where there's this wonderful hit of acidity right at the end that pulls it back from the edge I didn't get so much. Esp in contrast to an inniskillin sparkling that was served alongside and had just the right amount of lightness that was called for at that point. Enjoyed, but perhaps not appreciated as well as it should be.
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5/11/2017 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Rioja dinner at Phil's (Chicago, IL): From half-bottle. The older SQN sweet wines have always impressed me, though there are odd ones here and there that do end up cloying. This isn't one of them. This is all dried fig syrup and brown sugar, cut with barely enough acidity. Very rich and almost oily, this somehow manages to toe the balance line well. On the other hand, I can't imagine having more than a small glass of this -- it's incredibly heavy stuff.
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4/28/2017 - cadamson Likes this wine: 92 Points
Darker gold than I recalled. Still has some years left. First few sips are shockingly good, but quickly becomes a bit too much. Could use a bit more acidity. Honey, apricot and orange.
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4/14/2017 - sdrucker1000 wrote: 94 Points
Delicious. I was expecting more syrup and sugar but was pleasantly surprised with just slightly sweet fruit (apricot, pears).
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2/10/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Man I love these wines. It pours a very dark burnt caramel and has a flavor profile that fits with the coloring. Very sweet but with age there's a bit more mellowing of how in your face these can be. Still - lots of caramelized apricot. Very yummy.
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2/4/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Q1 2017 Tasting - Starts with the Letter (The Apt): A wonderful way to end the evening. It was delicious. Poured a very dark almost burnt caramel color which fit with the flavor profile. Lots of those toasty, almost nutty, and then great beautiful caramel. Still decent acidity. A bit intense as these wines always are, but just lovely too.
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1/18/2017 - raek Likes this wine: 95 Points
Never seen a Chardonnay this dark. Very brown profile with a hint of crimson. Sweet melons, honey dew, thick, viscous, super long finish. Literally feels like drinking honey from a jar. Probably not the first thing I would grab but can appreciate the style. Very well balanced with just a hint of acid.
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12/9/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wow is this wonderful and delicious. It's super unctuous and orange and honey and so much more. Really enjoyed it.
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8/26/2016 - fingers Likes this wine: 94 Points
Awesome. So much ripe nectarine, orange marmalade, mango, honey and brown sugar packed in here with just enough acidic push to stretch it into endlessness on the finish. A huge hit with the company present and it's great to hear the reaction to telling someone it's Chardonnay. The color is a beautiful golden bronze with flashes of amber at the edge. So delicious. 5+12+18+9= 94
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4/28/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Thick, unctuous, rich and incredibly sweet, the complex array of spicy orange, tangerines, apricot and tropical fruits slathered with honey was almost too much of a good thing. A little goes a long way with this sweet, treat. Blind, I would have guessed it was a TBA.
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3/26/2016 - tcarter Likes this wine: 96 Points
As always, this wine is the perfect end to a decadent meal.
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3/23/2016 - tcarter Likes this wine: 96 Points
Sir Orr's Birthday Dinner (Totoraku): Perfectly balanced sticky. Not too sugary, but you feel like you want to chew on this nectar for hours.
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3/15/2016 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Apricot and Honey. Great way to end a meal as the dessert. Will definitely buy more of it.
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2/26/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Spectacular dessert wine. These are funny wines - they are so in your face with the orange peel and honey and white fruits and then suddenly there's this hint of acidity and rather than being cloying these are more enticing. Not subtle though. This is a dessert wine that can stand coming after three big reds ('96 Ducru, '05 Pontet Canet, '94 La Mouline). Delicious as always.
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1/16/2016 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 91 Points
Deep orange yellow. perfume, honeysuckle, rotten apricots. sweet sugary and thick like syrup
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12/11/2015 - mye Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Not trying to go against the grain.. first time tasting the wine..
It was golden yellow, nose had lots of apricot, peach, and honey.
Palate disappointed with big/heavy/syrupy weight, with very little acidity. Makes it out of balance, and hard to drink more than a sip or two.
Not my thing.. drank along side a 2003, and i thought the 2003 was a little better (tho not much). At the $100+ for half bottle price, it's pretty hard to buy more..
Appreciate Scott for bringing it to the tasting though! always great fun to try a well known wine.
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10/16/2015 - Millennial Drinkers Likes this wine: 94 Points
First coravinned about two months ago, this is my third tasting of the 2002 Sine Qua Non Noble Man. The color was a goldish orange what seemed like the wine was a lot older than a 2002. In the nose there is plenty of apricots, white fruits such as white peach, pear, and again apricot. In addition to all the fruits in the nose there are also notes of honeysuckle. The body is very thick and syrupy. Lots of white fruits in the palate such as apricot and white peaches. From what I remember last time it seems to taste a little more like a dessert wine than before. Before it was a little thin, now it is thicker and fuller. Absolutely delicious. I have really enjoyed trying out this SQN, one day hopefully I can try out some other wines of theirs!
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10/16/2015 - cab blends Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dark old distance room nose.
Thick and viscous. Sweet and uncious. Quite sugary. Most enjoyable but the price point concerns me.
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8/30/2015 - Millennial Drinkers Likes this wine: 93 Points
Appearance: slight orange and gold
Nose: pear and honey
Palate: smooth and fruity lots of pear. But single layered.
Opinion: tasted along side the 2013 Mullineux straw wine which actually won out. So amazing wine
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8/21/2015 - Millennial Drinkers Likes this wine: 93 Points
Coravinned, nose: apricot and fruity french toast.
Palate: syrupy perfect for dessert, apricot jam and honey
Perfectly balanced.
Color: gold with an orange tone.
Solid dessert wine
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5/9/2015 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
PnP. Dark amber gold, Tropical fruits, coconut, apricots & pineapple on the palate. Elegant viscous palate and finish.
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12/27/2014 - Bill Bucklew wrote: 92 Points
Great nose of apricots, blood orange and roasted pineapple. Great balance On the palate with considerable acidity, unctuous, thick texture rendered weightless with the supporting acidity, with notes of honeyed pear, mandarin orange and apricot. I think this is in its sweet spot...
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10/9/2014 - johnwine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very dark amber in color reminiscent of the Rieussec 1971 but this was 100% Chardonnay. Honey and nuts and candied lemon peel.
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7/23/2014 - patwjr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Thick & sweet, and I thought this tasted sweeter than 2002 Straw Man, though technically it wasn't. Everyone loved both wines!
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6/25/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 87 Points
Apricot jam, dried stone fruit, honey, spice. Mouth coating with a very full-bodied, rich, syrupy texture. Long finish of sticky sweet honey. Overly rich, heavy, and extracted for my taste. Somewhat lacking in acidity/balance. Certainly was not a crowd pleaser.
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6/10/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 89 Points
Belated celebrations: Medium-deep copper color. Pours like motor oil. Pronounced nose of apricot jam. Dried tropical fruits, citrus, some spice. It has all of the ingredients to be an outstanding wine if only someone didn't concentrate it into a condensed wine -- perhaps I should add water?
Seriously, the nose is very nice, and the wine has a good deal of complexity, but it is syrupy, over-the-top, and a bit cloying (though the acid is quite good). The finish is quite long, but that is in no small part because your mouth receives a thick coating of the wine that stays with you for minutes.
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2/6/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Chicago Wine Flock..."Wines that Bill B Loves" (goosefoot - Chicago IL): Tasted double blind. Lots of dried apricot with impressive concentration. Botrytis is not particularly dominant here, but everything work together in good balance and a textural lightness that can be very enjoyable in sweet wines.
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2/2/2014 - Vinophiliac559 wrote: 95 Points
very contrated fruit. dried peaches and apricots. white flowers. syrupy texture. very sweet. excellent white desert wine.
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2/1/2014 - dbg wrote:
Gold/copper color, citrus, stone fruits, flowers and honey on the nose, syrupy rich texture, full body, flavors follow the nose with some spicy complexity added, well balanced if a little low acid but not cloying, long finish. Outstanding.
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1/2/2014 - copdyke wrote: 95 Points
Un-freakin-believable, very well put together and balanced. Syrupy and over the top, but in a good way.
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11/2/2013 - patwjr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Thick & sweet, caramel color, looks & in a weird way slightly tastes as if a touch of scotch were blended in, but sweetness prevails. I'll give the next bottle a few more years to allow further development.
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10/13/2013 - scott w Likes this wine: 93 Points
pours like syrup, looks like golden syrup in the glass, off the charts deliciousness in a glass, just lacking some acid.
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10/4/2013 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine: 94 Points
On the nose this just screams dessert as though it could be unclear and it wants to make sure it exerts its presence. The wine is dark and caramel in color. There's a bit of syrupyness and you almost wonder on it, but it's just that the acidity is a bit late to the game and so it balances the wine out a bit later on your palate. Of course there are the deep apricots and maybe some butterscotch (esp in the aftertaste). Thick and almost creamy as you bring it around, it's the dessert wine of SQNs (a somewhat obvious statement). Delicious though and you find yourself longing for the next sip even if that last one was so intense that it felt it might cover you in dessert wines for the rest of your life. Well done. Glad we have 2 more.
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6/30/2013 - sja61 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Exceptional dessert wine. Syrupy yet clean. Great caramel and vanilla taste. Golden color. Everyone loved it.
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5/3/2013 - ews3 wrote:
Sine Qua Non Dinner, volume II (Maloney & Porcelli, NYC): this may have been the straw man, not 100% sure. very very sweet, with not quite enough acid. still tasty, but tough to drink more than a taste.
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12/31/2010 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 90 Points
Thick unctuous caramel and brown sugar flavors. Lacks sufficient acidity to be in the upper echelon on the world's sweet wines. Truly dessert in a glass, this should be consumed without food.
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10/29/2010 - Uglypinga wrote:
Thick out of the bottle. Honey and stone fruits nose. Very thick and unctuous. Had to throw it back in the fridge because as it warms it becomes a little cloying. Loads of honey, apricots, some banana. Interminable finish, but clean at the right temperature.
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10/2/2010 - bwaverley wrote: 94 Points
An exceptionally good dessert wine with a combination of complexity, depth and acidity. Apricot, vanilla cream, pear and a touch of earth spice and petrol. It is an enormous wine but stays balanced.
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8/2/2010 - Matt Scott wrote: 95 Points
Did not decant. Semi-dark, almost turpentine and amber in color. Carmel apple, baked pear, petrol, hazelnut, and honey. The nose is just thrilling. Multi-faceted with very distinct layers. The finish soars past a minute and there is a welcomed hint of acidity. This Late Harvest Chardonnay is just hitting it's stride and should develop nicely for the next ten years. It was the Noble Man that really turned me on to Manfred's genius. This is the best Desert wine made from Chardonnay that you'll find. A botrytis bombshell. Drink now - 2020.
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6/11/2010 - BradE wrote:
Very sweet, and just enough acidity to keep it from being ridiculously cloying (therefore it is only almost ridiculously cloying). Good for one glass, but too over the top for my tastes.
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4/7/2010 - Blair Curtis wrote: 94 Points
Fantastic Night of Old Barolo and More! (An excellent Vancouver restaurant): Hoo boy, was this wine ever intense!!! Almost painfully so - it really grabbed your attention and would not let go. This features super-intense botrytis and unfathomable richness. It does call to mind the most intense Kracher wines of all time (the 13 to 15 bottlings). Tremendous - a little goes a long way!
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11/27/2009 - jlgnml wrote: 92 Points
Pizza night with best friends (Our House): started drinking on Thanksgiving and finished the next night. Good fruit, Good viscosity. Dark color and great aftertaste.
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8/29/2009 - Snoman wrote: 94 Points
California's Trockenbeerenauslese, rich with cream, spice and sugar. Who needs creme brulee when it comes in a glass. Would have liked just a bit more acidity to balance perfectly, but this comment is a stretch to find the only reason not to add 5 points to our score......delicious and incredibly well-crafted.
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7/31/2009 - MatthewF wrote:
Super dark golden color. Inital aromas of very ripe roasted peach and nectarine. Baked apricot. After opening a bit, some very rich vanilla creme brulee. Super rich, palate staining fruit. Even with all of the rich, there is still some decent acidity buried in there. Long finish. An intense dessert wine, but if I had my choice I would stick with Sauternes.
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7/27/2009 - Mrbuzz wrote: 95 Points
TN: Burgundy vs. U.S Pinot Noir blind tasting....plus a dozen others!!! (Buzzini House): HUGE viscous liquid gold...loaded with sweet apricot, wild honeycomb, creme brulee crust, exotic white flower spice, tobacco. Has good acidity...but not as much as the '03 if I remember correctly. Super Alban fruit terroir of smoky hazelnut, match strike. Always a treat.
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2/22/2009 - W.Simons wrote:
Coppery amber in the glass. Great aromatics of burnt orange peel, honey, and honeysuckle/floral notes. Citrus is repeated on the palate with mandarin oranges and fabulous length. Peppery elements on the nose along with orange marmalade. Vanilla and cinnamon. Baked apple, candied mango. Hints of smoke/burnt sugar. Touches of caramel. Day 2 -- 2/23 Excellent with Stilton. Orange marmalade and more vanilla. Honey and fig. Notes of aromatic iced tea, similar to Earl Gray.
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1/3/2009 - psmith wrote:
Insanely intense - all apricot fruit and super-high sugar levels. Ultra thick, ripe, and viscous. Dessert wine on steroids. Good in small doses.
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12/28/2008 - Coastman3 wrote: 94 Points
Honey and apricots with a deep lingering nectar flavor that is amazing.
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11/24/2008 - jreis wrote:
Wow was this sweet. Honey on steroids, but enough aciidty to balance it off and keep it from being maple syrup. Almonnds, hazel nuts, apricots, pears and dried fruits on the nose. Very sweet, irhc and unctous on the palate. I think this will pick up even more complexity as it ages, but it is pure hedonistic pleasure at the moment.
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5/25/2008 - KenK wrote: 94 Points
Naples Dinner at Wiesen's: John brought this treat to cap off a very nice day. Rich Apricot honeyed nose with nutmeg spice. Depth of flavors was intense, but dominated by lush thick honeyed texture. Very sweet Apricot quality, but with clear presence of balancing acidity. An over the top wine that defines the term unctuous. Not for everyone, but a real conversation piece at a minimum.
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3/15/2008 - Clemonster wrote: 95 Points
Drank with fois gras and a bit of roasted grapes, pear mustard and argula, then again after dinner with a cheese plate. Honey amber. Beautiful pineapple, pear and dried appricots. Sharp acidic tang. Honey and apricots on the finish. Nice transition. Very, very sweet, but outstanding balance with the acidity. After dinner (with an hour and a half of air) it was just stupendous.
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2/23/2008 - buckeye76 wrote: 98 Points
AS USUAL, DOESN'T REALLY NEED A DESSERT COURSE, UNBELIEVABLY RICH FRUIT WITH APRICOTS, MANGO, AND CITRUS. LONG FINISH.
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12/31/2007 - sosgoodjhu wrote: 97 Points
Find me any dessert wine from the New World that packs this much punch. This is Chateau d'Yquem on roids!!! Completely over the top, this golden elixir must be tasted to be believed. This is as extracted as you can get. I love this stuff. Sad to hear the news about Mr. K (Alois Kracher), RIP my man.
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12/31/2007 - JOsgood wrote: 89 Points
Drank from RT's cellar - very interesting desert elixir that is super extracted and massively sweet. RIP Mr. K.
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12/31/2007 - the godfather wrote: 85 Points
taste like cooked sugar to me, not my cup of tea
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11/7/2007 - jwwinec wrote: 92 Points
Not surprisingly, this has a lot in common with a Kracher - I missed the vibrant ridge of acidity that balances most Krachers, however.
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10/16/2007 - dream wrote: 91 Points
Dark golden color. Quite sweet and luscious with a high sugar content that makes it a very rich, tasty wine but I kept wishing it had a bit more acidity to balance it out. Great flavors of apricots, hazelnuts, brown sugar and burnt hay and ultimately has a round, oily texture not unlike the consistency of an aged Sauternes. Consumed at Hearth, NYC. 91
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9/15/2007 - salil wrote: 87 Points
Dinner at Chris Freemott's (Chicago): Bright golden-yellow in the glass - the nose shows lots of honey, citrus, pineapple and tropical fruits. More sweet white and tropical fruits and marmalade flavours on the palate with almost honey-like consistency. Finish is long, rich but slightly cloying.
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8/13/2007 - the godfather wrote: 95 Points
not a lot of the botrytis character but very nice weight. not too overly sweet, gorgeous honey, pear and date characteristics
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4/10/2007 - Vino Me wrote: 97 Points
Blue Oval brought this bottle to the Haggis aloha party. Very generous to bring this wine. This was the best dessert wine I have ever had from the USA and could hold its own to almost any dessert wine in the world. It reminded me of 2 great dessert wines I have had in the recent past, the 2003 Weingut Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany and the 2001 Feiler-Artinger Welschriesling Ruster Ausbruch Essenz from Austria. If I had not known what this was I would have guessed a TBA from one of the best German producers. Ripe and concentrated effort with fruit bursting out of the glass and onto the nose and palate. Notes of pear nectar, apricot marmalade and fresh tropical fruits. Sweet but extremely well balanced. Biting acidity that left a very refreshing finish. This is the only California mailing list I have signed up for. I've been waiting for 2 years now and am looking forward to the day I can finally order some of Mr. K's wine (probably another 10 years). 97 points.
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12/27/2006 - kstoddard wrote: 92 Points
Nose of honey, apricot, peach and petrol. Tastes like a bowl of honey. Rich, thick and dense. Lacking acidity. Cloying. Great freshness.
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12/6/2006 - phenricsson wrote: 95 Points
Wow, big, viscous, rich, sweet. Very unusual, lots of botyritis-honey but lots of other tasstes as well.
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10/29/2006 - 2thdoc wrote: 100 Points
No Flaws
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10/29/2006 - 2thdoc wrote: 100 Points
Unbelievable
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10/28/2006 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Sine Qua Non "Postcard" Dinner (Chez Hill - Barrington IL): Very good pop of Botrytis to start, very enjoyable, but somewhat one-note from middle to finish.
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10/28/2006 - Nanda wrote:
Chicago SQN Postcard Offline (Mel Hill's home - Barrington, IL): Gorgeous nose of boytrised white and tropical fruits. Dense palate with ripe and rich fruits. Boytris and honey notes at the forefront. Lush, viscous and seamless into a long finish. Delicious!
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9/13/2006 - EBoyer wrote: 93 Points
My first try at this wine -very impressed. Amber color, great nose, sweet but not cloying or heavy. This is drinking well now -its worth a try. I will hold at least one for a few years to see how it does.
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6/16/2006 - MarkC wrote: 97 Points
Bought the last bottle off the list at Arterra. What a spectacular showing! Incredibly rich, thick and mouthcoating apricot, tangerine, and honey. This particular bottle seemed to have better balance than the two previous bottles I've tasted. It's amazing to me how viscous these wines are - dessert in a glass!
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4/29/2006 - andolini wrote: 97 Points
Absolutely delicious. Beautiful golden color, a bit thick, and perfectly balanced. Pure, intense, terrific honey and orange/apricot/peach flavors. The finish went on and on. Truly a great dessert wine -- would love to get more!
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4/20/2006 - MarkC wrote: 95 Points
Intense, almost decayed floral notes (sounds negative, but is meant to be totally positive!) along with apricot, honey and some green apple hints. On the palate this is so rich and thick it is almost absurd. The taste is honey, apricot, and some tropical fruits. There seemed to be more acidity balancing the richness in this bottle compared to a previous bottle. Really awesome stuff!
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4/1/2006 - Nanda wrote: 92 Points
Chicago Wine Geeks do CdP (Joe Wu's Place): This was a wow wine. My notes are skimpy due to the 12 wines that preceded it. On the palate sick layers of fruit - pineapple, grapefruit with some cocunut.
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3/5/2006 - MarkC wrote: 93 Points
My first experience with a Mr. K. Wow - this is one intense wine. Gorgeous golden hue in the glass, with a perfumed, sweet nose. On the palate this was huge - a bigger wine than the Yalumba in terms of mouthfeel, and that's saying something. Honey, apricots, orange marmalade. This wine has a great dose of acidity, keeping the sweetness in check. I have one more 375 of this, and it will be interesting to see how it tastes in a few years.
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1/8/2006 - bdenuyl wrote: 97 Points
Rich luscious wine with flavors of apricot, pear and honey. Less acidity than a Sauterne, but balanced beautifully nonetheless.
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12/26/2005 - YankeeClipper wrote: 95 Points
Simply sublime.
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6/21/2005 - phenricsson wrote: 93 Points
Very similar to previous bottle. Big, viscous, rich and with enormous sweetness. It has lots of acidity, but IMO not quite enough for that sweetness. But it sure is impressive.
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