Crumbled cork, so probably not well sealed. Very "mature". Fully bricked color on the rim. Fruit was very muted on opening but opened a bit with time . Lots of acid and complex forest tastes...mushroom, humic soil. This bottle was past its prime (so my rating is also a reflection of my mistake in losing this bottle in storage), but still enjoyable with lamb chops, asparagus, and sage-butter gnocchi.
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Floral bouquet with cherry, red fruit. Later into night, it became more tart cherry. Medium body with some acid - tartness. Didn’t have as much tertiary component or mushroom flavor.
Wife and enjoyed it.
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Just delightful. It's all flowers on the nose with flowers spice strawberries, an earthy touch and smooth creamy finish. What it lacks in POWER it more than makes up for in class and finesse. Very enjoyable.
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Couldn't wait the three or four years I wanted to last time. But a year later this still is a very pretty wine. The notes are constant. Mushrooms, forest floor and cigar box enveloped in raspberry fruit. Silky and bright with a fairly long life ahead. If you still have some, lucky you.
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Jenny and Rudy here for outside dinner during Covid. Wonderful salmon dish. Great wine with good age.drinkup. This has filled out nicely and drink really well, yummy.
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Much better than the Littorai we had by its side. Nose is more pronounced, palate is more assertive and you can feel that time has done well to this bottle. Mature notes of mushrooms, wet forest floor and cigar box are starting to pop. I can't wait to try this three or four years from now.
Expectations were lowered by CT tasting notes but the bottle drank great. No decanting. Great fruit and length will raspberries and cherries evident. Fresh and lovely. Drink now.
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My tasting aligns with PAULST's. Found the wine to have a bit of raisiny character to go along with the surge of raspberry and cherry. Visually though, this was one of the most "murky" W-S wines I have had. Most W-S wines have clarity to the color -- this one was fully opaque. I didn't mark it flawed because the palate was correct. I have one more bottle and will report back.
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Opened at the Whitfield, at the Ace Hotel. The light was not really good enough to see the color, but it looked like a typical Williams Selyem bright ruby. Out of the bottle, the nose was quiet, but picked up cherry notes and spice very quickly. The bright palate was balanced and full bodied, with tons of cherries, plenty of structure, and more subtle darker red fruits, spice, and a hint of cinnamon. Long finish. Paired wonderfully with our mushroom risotto and black cod entrees. This has gained a lot in the two years since we last tried it.
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Beautiful red hue, lots of fruit on the nose—cherry and raspberry especially. Palate has some gentle cinnamon and woodiness but not too heavy. Delicious Pinot.
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Popped and poured with dinner. Pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Perfect. Bright ruby red. Quiet nose, some cherries and a hint of white pepper. Lots if cherries on the palate, WS signature, but spice and some darker red fruit at the back. Long, pleasant finish. Good out of the bottle, much better as it took on some air. I think this has plenty of time left.
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Slo-oxed for a half hour. Nose opened to show dark red fruit, earth, and some cola. These followed on the palate along with great acidity and a nice finish. Solid pinot, but not W-S's best. Should hold for several years.
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Syrupy in color. Brambly black cherry and sage on the nose and palate. Medium weight with fleshy, almost meaty overtones. A little stewed fruit on the finish; resolves to sweet, tart cherry. Not as distinctive or well-defined as some of the other W-S single-vineyard bottlings. Not likely to improve from here.
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Sometimes I tend to underestimate their base level pinots. They often can be as good or better than the single vineyard designations. This was very nice, given the year and location, not austere or too much pomegranate flavors. Long finish, great acidity, very nice red cherry fruit.
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December '16 - January '17 Events: Of the American pinots on the menu, this was the most pleasing – it showed a bit of the raspberry creamsicle note that I sometimes detect in W-S wines and which I love. But at the same time, it is bright enough to enjoy over time and had an earthy component on the finish that nodded to the old world.
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Dark cherry color. Black cherry on nose and palate. Less subtle or refined than its RRV cousin of the same vintage, but very good example of the appellation. Bigger, brambly fruit gives this one its personality. Very good.
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Delicious bottle of Pinot. PnP and it was great. Lots of cherry and some cola on the nose. Tartness makes it a great food wine. Had it with a ham based thanksgiving meal and it worked great. Plenty of life left in this bottle, but drinking quite well at the moment.
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Typical WS nose and palate. Cherry, rasberry and clean vanilla oak. This had some high acid at first but mellowed with a bit of air. Drink now with some air or it can hold for a while
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for the money, this particular WS is a little disappointing. Thin comes to mind as I describe it. A little acidic, almost like it needed to sit for a while.
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Cherries and a bit of leather on the nose. The palate has similar notes. The cherries are really juicy and fresh. This wine isn't as hefty as some other vintages, but is delicious. Drink now and enjoy!
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Tart cherry and cranberry fruit. A touch of leather on the end, but mostly dominated by a pleasant acidity. Certainly not as robust as I expected. Maybe Cabral was trying for something to appeal to the restrained style crowd.
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PnP w/15 min glass time. Clear, med purple/ruby. Nice CA Pinot nose. This drank like expected. Usual SC fruit, a but lighter due to vintage, well made, nice finish. Nothing off. $54
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Absolutely love this wine... although it is our last bottle. It inspired me to log in to my WS allocation and buy several bottles of the current vintage the next day. No formal notes becuase it was consumed over various courses at Table 34 a few days ago. It went great with several dishes, most notably the oregon mushroom pasta in a sherry cream sauce.
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strawberry and sour cherry. nice acidity and quite lively on the palate. Might be a bit overpriced, but I'm never disappointed by WS pinots. Good, not great. 90+
A little lighter than I'm used to. I think this whole vintage is light and almost dilute. Still the fruit is there, even if subtle. I doubt we see any classic ratings except on the luckiest of vineyard locations.
Drank with with white fish, pea purée, and roasted golden beets. Good example of a cool climate pinot with subtle flavors peaking out through the red fruit. Everyone loved it.
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Lots of big red fruit flavors but not a lot of complexity, not much telling me it's Sonoma Coast. But very delicious fruit, primarily red cherry, and perhaps some age will add some nuance.
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Sour cherry and earth on the nose, with cranberry and pepper, and some leather at the end. Cherry and cranberry on the palate, with leather and forest floor on the mid-palate, and a nice spicy finish.
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3/7/2024 - Panurge wrote: 86 Points
Crumbled cork, so probably not well sealed. Very "mature". Fully bricked color on the rim. Fruit was very muted on opening but opened a bit with time . Lots of acid and complex forest tastes...mushroom, humic soil. This bottle was past its prime (so my rating is also a reflection of my mistake in losing this bottle in storage), but still enjoyable with lamb chops, asparagus, and sage-butter gnocchi.
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9/17/2023 - Marshmarsh Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still holding up well.
Burgundy color.
Floral bouquet with cherry, red fruit. Later into night, it became more tart cherry. Medium body with some acid - tartness. Didn’t have as much tertiary component or mushroom flavor.
Wife and enjoyed it.
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11/25/2021 - Deadhead wrote: 85 Points
Just ok. Drank from magnum. The earthy notes totally overpowered the fruit. Too much mushroom, not enough toasty earth.
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4/11/2021 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 91 Points
Just delightful. It's all flowers on the nose with flowers spice strawberries, an earthy touch and smooth creamy finish. What it lacks in POWER it more than makes up for in class and finesse. Very enjoyable.
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1/23/2021 - DoubleMagnum Likes this wine: 92 Points
Couldn't wait the three or four years I wanted to last time. But a year later this still is a very pretty wine. The notes are constant. Mushrooms, forest floor and cigar box enveloped in raspberry fruit. Silky and bright with a fairly long life ahead. If you still have some, lucky you.
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9/11/2020 - theharve wrote: 92 Points
slightly lighter than RR, equally good
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7/25/2020 - Winiac wrote: 90 Points
Expressive bouquet. Tart cherries and strawberry flavors. Fresh and acid plus with medium body. Overall good wine for the vintage.
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6/26/2020 - Ravi Deshpande Likes this wine: 91 Points
First night very sweet with maraschino cherry.
Second night with a sour cherry and beautiful (I love it) raspy mouthfeel.
The Sonoma Coast Willie is always a great value.
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6/18/2020 - MichielV wrote:
Jenny and Rudy here for outside dinner during Covid. Wonderful salmon dish. Great wine with good age.drinkup. This has filled out nicely and drink really well, yummy.
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11/29/2019 - DoubleMagnum Likes this wine: 92 Points
Much better than the Littorai we had by its side. Nose is more pronounced, palate is more assertive and you can feel that time has done well to this bottle. Mature notes of mushrooms, wet forest floor and cigar box are starting to pop. I can't wait to try this three or four years from now.
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10/19/2019 - alohaboys wrote: flawed
Hint of cork taint. Hoped it would blow off, but no luck. Down the drain it goes.
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10/2/2019 - RusisWine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Expectations were lowered by CT tasting notes but the bottle drank great. No decanting. Great fruit and length will raspberries and cherries evident. Fresh and lovely. Drink now.
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4/13/2019 - petermpls Likes this wine:
My tasting aligns with PAULST's. Found the wine to have a bit of raisiny character to go along with the surge of raspberry and cherry. Visually though, this was one of the most "murky" W-S wines I have had. Most W-S wines have clarity to the color -- this one was fully opaque. I didn't mark it flawed because the palate was correct. I have one more bottle and will report back.
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1/29/2019 - dlduchon wrote: 85 Points
I liked this bottle of WS. I served it well chilled which I think helped with the balance. It still had weird aromatics the are un-Pinot like.
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4/5/2018 - JS199 wrote: 91 Points
Similar to previous note.
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3/16/2018 - paulst Likes this wine: 91 Points
Green; dense; concentrated; deep cherry and earth; tannic; good finish.
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3/4/2018 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Light but greenish sweet raisen - raspberry; balanced and long; well integrated although still feeling young.
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3/3/2018 - Tony Poli Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened at the Whitfield, at the Ace Hotel. The light was not really good enough to see the color, but it looked like a typical Williams Selyem bright ruby. Out of the bottle, the nose was quiet, but picked up cherry notes and spice very quickly. The bright palate was balanced and full bodied, with tons of cherries, plenty of structure, and more subtle darker red fruits, spice, and a hint of cinnamon. Long finish. Paired wonderfully with our mushroom risotto and black cod entrees. This has gained a lot in the two years since we last tried it.
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3/2/2018 - peolsf wrote: 91 Points
Beautiful red hue, lots of fruit on the nose—cherry and raspberry especially. Palate has some gentle cinnamon and woodiness but not too heavy. Delicious Pinot.
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2/5/2018 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Herbaceous; raisen and plum; terrior with cedar; a wine of place; balanced.
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12/3/2017 - Tony Poli Likes this wine: 92 Points
Popped and poured with dinner. Pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Perfect. Bright ruby red. Quiet nose, some cherries and a hint of white pepper. Lots if cherries on the palate, WS signature, but spice and some darker red fruit at the back. Long, pleasant finish. Good out of the bottle, much better as it took on some air. I think this has plenty of time left.
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11/15/2017 - VlgJeff wrote: 89 Points
Slo-oxed for a half hour. Nose opened to show dark red fruit, earth, and some cola. These followed on the palate along with great acidity and a nice finish. Solid pinot, but not W-S's best. Should hold for several years.
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7/4/2017 - wineguy1968 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Juicy and fresh the fruit leaps out of the glass. It does need some air as it improved and opened quite a bit on day 2
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6/4/2017 - Pinot1313 Likes this wine: 89 Points
REBUY - MAYBE, Had with Salmon. Easy to drink. Nothing that distinguished about it. Cherry, Not enough substance to it.
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6/3/2017 - vino_per_tutti wrote: 88 Points
Syrupy in color. Brambly black cherry and sage on the nose and palate. Medium weight with fleshy, almost meaty overtones. A little stewed fruit on the finish; resolves to sweet, tart cherry. Not as distinctive or well-defined as some of the other W-S single-vineyard bottlings. Not likely to improve from here.
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5/26/2017 - kenthargis wrote: 91 Points
Sometimes I tend to underestimate their base level pinots. They often can be as good or better than the single vineyard designations. This was very nice, given the year and location, not austere or too much pomegranate flavors. Long finish, great acidity, very nice red cherry fruit.
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5/20/2017 - csimm wrote: 85 Points
Basic and a little funky. I much preferred a 2011 WS Peay Pinot and a 2011 DuMol Connor Pinot served alongside this wine. Drinkable but forgettable.
Drink now. Not much body or focused fruit to hold it all together.
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4/7/2017 - drycreekwhine wrote: 88 Points
Extremely bright. I love it, but it is surely a different Pinot.
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3/18/2017 - Edclr Likes this wine: 90 Points
Great value for the basic sonoma coast appellation. Good acidity, nice fruit, decent finish.
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3/12/2017 - pdadams66 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Good colour, robust nose of strawberry and cola, good body with supporting acidity and tannin. Very good now, will probably be better in 2 years.
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3/11/2017 - JS199 wrote: 92 Points
This was better than expected due to the vintage. Plenty of time left.
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1/28/2017 - pgb67 wrote: 94 Points
December '16 - January '17 Events: Of the American pinots on the menu, this was the most pleasing – it showed a bit of the raspberry creamsicle note that I sometimes detect in W-S wines and which I love. But at the same time, it is bright enough to enjoy over time and had an earthy component on the finish that nodded to the old world.
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11/24/2016 - vino_per_tutti Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark cherry color. Black cherry on nose and palate. Less subtle or refined than its RRV cousin of the same vintage, but very good example of the appellation. Bigger, brambly fruit gives this one its personality. Very good.
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11/24/2016 - Bucket Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious bottle of Pinot. PnP and it was great. Lots of cherry and some cola on the nose. Tartness makes it a great food wine. Had it with a ham based thanksgiving meal and it worked great. Plenty of life left in this bottle, but drinking quite well at the moment.
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6/26/2016 - MrPinot wrote: 92 Points
Wonderful
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle.
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6/17/2016 - PVJC Likes this wine: 93 Points
Floral aromatics. Delicious. Drinking very nicely.
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6/15/2016 - Griffeyfan04 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Typical WS nose and palate. Cherry, rasberry and clean vanilla oak. This had some high acid at first but mellowed with a bit of air. Drink now with some air or it can hold for a while
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5/12/2016 - leinton wrote: 94 Points
Good flavor with some raspberry and charcoal mixed into it. Very unusual taste, it's a different Pinot noir. Can't forget the cherry flavor.
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2/6/2016 - ACR16719 Likes this wine: 89 Points
for the money, this particular WS is a little disappointing. Thin comes to mind as I describe it. A little acidic, almost like it needed to sit for a while.
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8/30/2015 - kkleg Likes this wine: 91 Points
Cherries and a bit of leather on the nose. The palate has similar notes. The cherries are really juicy and fresh. This wine isn't as hefty as some other vintages, but is delicious. Drink now and enjoy!
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8/19/2015 - underwds wrote: 89 Points
Tart cherry and cranberry fruit. A touch of leather on the end, but mostly dominated by a pleasant acidity. Certainly not as robust as I expected. Maybe Cabral was trying for something to appeal to the restrained style crowd.
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4/27/2015 - Barry Notes Likes this wine: 91 Points
PnP w/15 min glass time. Clear, med purple/ruby. Nice CA Pinot nose. This drank like expected. Usual SC fruit, a but lighter due to vintage, well made, nice finish. Nothing off. $54
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4/19/2015 - witsend23903 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Such a wonderful, smooth, well-balanced pinot. Nice finish
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2/23/2015 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 94 Points
Absolutely love this wine... although it is our last bottle. It inspired me to log in to my WS allocation and buy several bottles of the current vintage the next day. No formal notes becuase it was consumed over various courses at Table 34 a few days ago. It went great with several dishes, most notably the oregon mushroom pasta in a sherry cream sauce.
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10/26/2014 - Melli Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really nice...wish I has a lot more for the price!
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9/28/2014 - nkredich wrote: 89 Points
Tart, cherry, typical WS
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7/13/2014 - wiscgrad wrote: 90 Points
strawberry and sour cherry. nice acidity and quite lively on the palate. Might be a bit overpriced, but I'm never disappointed by WS pinots. Good, not great. 90+
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4/3/2014 - SMZ wrote: 89 Points
Got a little better over the course of an hour, but it's clear that WS had problems with their 2011 vintage.
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3/1/2014 - Cyrus of the Valley Likes this wine: 88 Points
Needs to be decanted at least 2 hours
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1/23/2014 - SMZ wrote: 90 Points
Not really up to the usual WS standards
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1/10/2014 - gew71walsh wrote: 88 Points
A little light with subtle fruits, May need more time, or may be 2011 vintage is delivering light wines with little complexity
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9/23/2013 - rxlaw95 wrote: 89 Points
A little lighter than I'm used to. I think this whole vintage is light and almost dilute. Still the fruit is there, even if subtle. I doubt we see any classic ratings except on the luckiest of vineyard locations.
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9/3/2013 - briquette wrote: 89 Points
Big fruit but no elegance. Hopefully with dime time
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7/22/2013 - wineo11 wrote: 91 Points
Drank with with white fish, pea purée, and roasted golden beets. Good example of a cool climate pinot with subtle flavors peaking out through the red fruit. Everyone loved it.
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7/16/2013 - Grillgod Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lots of big red fruit flavors but not a lot of complexity, not much telling me it's Sonoma Coast. But very delicious fruit, primarily red cherry, and perhaps some age will add some nuance.
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7/11/2013 - mmurry Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sour cherry and earth on the nose, with cranberry and pepper, and some leather at the end. Cherry and cranberry on the palate, with leather and forest floor on the mid-palate, and a nice spicy finish.
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4/24/2013 - wabi47 wrote: 87 Points
still primary red cherry and fennel/green tea; some mocha/oak that isnt yet integrated
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4/23/2013 - anonymoose12345 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Ripe red fruit, cranberry, sweetness. Tart finish with good acidity.
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