How fortuitous that I didn’t like the first bottle of this wine and simply continued to skip over this bottle whenever I came across it in the cellar. But with “only sausages” on the menu, I opted to let the real Rhones sleep and pull something Rhone-ish but not one of my favored California Rhone Rangers. Ripper got the call. The 2011 vintage brought challenges with fruit set and frost induced losses. Rain challenged harvest. And while Grenache can produce some beguiling wines, California Grenaches, particularly 100% Grenache wines can be syrupy messes. The Durland cracked through the wax capsule. The cork came out clean and easy followed by the wine decanting a bit. With the initial inhale of the wine’s bouquet and pouring less than a half ounce, I thought, “It’s an alcoholic mess.” Later, just before dinner the brooding darkness smelled of strawberries and dried cherries. With the first pour for dinner, strawberries dominated the attack while cracked black pepper carried the finish. The mid-palate was a bit hollow. With the second pour, the strawberries sang as if macerated in balsamic vinegar, while dried cherries held their own. The mid-palate had filled in with leather, tobo leaf, cigar smoke and carried over with the black pepper finish. The alcohol on the nose (and decidedly present on the palate) never smooths out, but it does dissipate. This is a beautiful wine that is a step out of balance. Surprisingly, not a speck of sediment. 14.8% alc. With grilled sausages from Yellow Umbrella and grilled radicchio under balsamic vinegar which worked rather well with the wine itself. 10.21.23. Recommended, and but for the alcohol being out of balance, would likely have been Highly Recommended.
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Palate: dried cranberry, dried cherry, dried tart cherry; medium+ finish of leather, black pepper, slight dried herbs; dry; medium- body; high tannin; medium+ acidity
Slightly declined on day two where it was somewhat similar but tasted more of dirt.
Overall: Shocked this was from Paso and Grenache. I guessed old world. To me, the palate was simple with only dry, almost dirty fruit, and a lighter body, but still a lot of stuffing. For my palate, it was quite out of balance and lacking both "umph" and finesse or elegance. I thought this was just mediocre and right on the edge of being pretty bad/lacking. Booker has yet to really impress me, especially for the price, but this was surprisingly disappointing for me.
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Ripe cherry, licorice, violet. Fresh with high alcohol coming through upfront. Ripe red fruit, lavender candy, hints of ashes, slightly herbal with a sweet red fruit finish. Lot of finesse in this wine.
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I feared that I'd waited too long to open this, but it's in a good place right now. A great example of what California Central Coast Grenache can be. Dark for Grenache, the finish is long and pleasurable with lots of fruit.
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PnP and drank over several hours. Drinking perfectly now. Typical Grenache CdP-ish funky barn aromas. Purple hue with medium opacity but still holding together well. Raspberry and cherry, minerality and acidity makes this a very lively wine. Long 30 second finish with cracked black pepper lingering on the tongue.
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Two hour decant. Fragrant nose of flowers and plum. Red and black fruits with white pepper. Medium-full body. Silky texture. Nicely balanced wine with dusty tannins and a long finish.
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4th Saturday Group (Sue's): Double blind. Dusty ruby color. Currant, pepper and spice notes. Red fruit and cherry; rather noticeable acidity. Chateauneuf crossed my mind but I guessed pinot.
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One Fun-Filled Afternoon Spent Poolside with Friends (Los Olivos, CA): A fascinating, and divisive, wine, but one I really enjoyed despite the evident heat. There’s a place in my wine world for fruit-forward powerhouses when held in check by the wine’s energy and mineral backbone. Loads of bright red fruit, pepper and mild. Decadent doesn’t mean flawed, to me anyway.
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Used a coravin to check it out. Unfortunately a little bit of a disappointment especially from this winery. Seemed to lack depth, but was very drinkable.
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Licorice and herbs on the nose. Ripe raspberry and blackberry fruit, medium texture and surprisingly lean on the palate. Blind I may not have guessed Grenache. Tasty but a bit one dimensional. I expected more. Unfortunately, for this bottle we have recently opened several bottles of Grenache from Chateau Saint Cosme in Gigondas and there is simply no comparison. There is greater elegance and complexity in the French bottles. It's Burt Bacharach versus Debussey. Not that there is anything wrong with Burt Bacharach.
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Mike G. does Cleveland (Landerwood Pool & Tennis): The label indicates 100% Grenache. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is great with dark cherries, some spice and also pepper. On the palate, this is not a monster wine. Perhaps the vintage but everything seems to be in its proper proportion. Much less on the throttle than the bigger wines on the table. Still young but showing a tight layering of cherries with spice and minerals. Good acidity. Nice fresh finish. Very pretty wine. Don't get me wrong, this is not a shrinking violet. Just not as big as other vintages or nearby wineries.
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Drank at Shabbat dinner following a nice burg. I have to say, I love Booker and have had great bottles time and again but this particular bottle was, well . . . boring. Fruit was fine, not complex. Raspberry mostly. Again, it was fine if not a bit nondescript.
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Perfect pairing for our Beef Bourguignon, which had a strong bacon flavor. The wine was a little harsh and metallic upon opening, but 3/4 hour air time mellowed it nicely. Complements all around on this wine.
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Stupendous without being overwhelming. Rich Grenache fruit. fragrant, light and substantial at the same time. Needed about 20 minutes in glass to hit its stride. 14.8% alcohol but unabtrusively so.
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This bad boy is just singing-drank with about 20 minutes of air in the glass. Fresh fruit but mot overwhelming, beautiful translucent red, medium body-just excellent.
If you waiting stop and pop one-you won't be disappointed. Who said 2011 was a lousy vintage???!!
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This bottle continues my love / hate relationship with booker wines. Decanted this wine for about 3 hrs and it was still closed ans very alcoholic. Continued to drink over an hr with hope that it would get better and it didn't. Last bottle of booker I decanted for the same time and it was wonderful. Any thoughts or advice?
Fantastic wine. Inky purple in the glass. Nose of fresh, sweet black fruit which continues to a round palate with low-to-moderate acidity and through the very smooth finish. Everything perfectly integrated. Very fresh and appealing.
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PnP. Really great wine. Maybe one of the best Grenaches i've ever tasted.Bright fruit, firm(almost gritty) texture, and long finish with silky tannins. Will age nicely but ready to drink today. Booker nails it again!
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Part of R&RR Aprkl 27-28 2013 Gawd, the alcohol 14.6% alc. is intense! The tannins are intense! The fruit is intense! But after, I dunno, 5 hours, it’s still intense, but no longer enamel-stripping-intense. Bob wanted Grenache. He’s got it in spades with this sample of 100% Amerikin-by-Gawd-Grenache. A huge palate of candy apple with spice and tobacco. The length of the finish will make a large colon cramp.
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pop and pour while out to dinner. Special in many ways, fruit and spice on the nose are followed up with a deep ride through all flavors grenache. Mouth feel is smooth, don't even notice the tannins till a minute after. Sadely I'm in the wine club and only get one of these, wonderful wine
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Very young obviously however this shows great now with a couple hours of air. Lighter reddish/purple color. The nose is closed at first but opens with air to flowers, raspberries, and ripe strawberries. Like drinking summer in a glass. The palate gains flesh too with time however I think it is very reflective of the vintage. Just not going to be a heavyweight during its life. Booker is making some great great wines that really reflect the best of Paso.
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10/21/2023 - timewithwine Likes this wine:
How fortuitous that I didn’t like the first bottle of this wine and simply continued to skip over this bottle whenever I came across it in the cellar. But with “only sausages” on the menu, I opted to let the real Rhones sleep and pull something Rhone-ish but not one of my favored California Rhone Rangers. Ripper got the call. The 2011 vintage brought challenges with fruit set and frost induced losses. Rain challenged harvest. And while Grenache can produce some beguiling wines, California Grenaches, particularly 100% Grenache wines can be syrupy messes.
The Durland cracked through the wax capsule. The cork came out clean and easy followed by the wine decanting a bit. With the initial inhale of the wine’s bouquet and pouring less than a half ounce, I thought, “It’s an alcoholic mess.” Later, just before dinner the brooding darkness smelled of strawberries and dried cherries. With the first pour for dinner, strawberries dominated the attack while cracked black pepper carried the finish. The mid-palate was a bit hollow. With the second pour, the strawberries sang as if macerated in balsamic vinegar, while dried cherries held their own. The mid-palate had filled in with leather, tobo leaf, cigar smoke and carried over with the black pepper finish. The alcohol on the nose (and decidedly present on the palate) never smooths out, but it does dissipate. This is a beautiful wine that is a step out of balance. Surprisingly, not a speck of sediment. 14.8% alc. With grilled sausages from Yellow Umbrella and grilled radicchio under balsamic vinegar which worked rather well with the wine itself. 10.21.23. Recommended, and but for the alcohol being out of balance, would likely have been Highly Recommended.
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8/14/2022 - Backdoctor wrote: 93 Points
Medium body grenache, lots of fruit still showing at 11 yrs old
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9/12/2021 - Backdoctor wrote: 94 Points
Another great Booker wine. Big fruit on palate. Easy drinking, went well with dinner.
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10/24/2020 - ddsolomon2000 wrote: 97 Points
Still going strong.
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7/18/2020 - JRockEsq Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Method: tasted blind; decanted for a few hours; about 63 degrees; Cab glass; this bottle was purchased recently, so no one knows how it was stored
Nose: potpourri, clean linen, dried cranberry, light grape Jolly Rancher, black cherry, milk chocolate
Palate: dried cranberry, dried cherry, dried tart cherry; medium+ finish of leather, black pepper, slight dried herbs; dry; medium- body; high tannin; medium+ acidity
Slightly declined on day two where it was somewhat similar but tasted more of dirt.
Overall: Shocked this was from Paso and Grenache. I guessed old world. To me, the palate was simple with only dry, almost dirty fruit, and a lighter body, but still a lot of stuffing. For my palate, it was quite out of balance and lacking both "umph" and finesse or elegance. I thought this was just mediocre and right on the edge of being pretty bad/lacking. Booker has yet to really impress me, especially for the price, but this was surprisingly disappointing for me.
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7/7/2020 - awilliamson4 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great mouthfeel with warm red fruit. Like red fruit loop flavor. Cedar and flint. Really tasty will buy more booker at auction
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12/7/2019 - Alpton wrote: 91 Points
Ripe cherry, licorice, violet. Fresh with high alcohol coming through upfront. Ripe red fruit, lavender candy, hints of ashes, slightly herbal with a sweet red fruit finish. Lot of finesse in this wine.
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12/4/2019 - DAGwine Likes this wine: 94 Points
I feared that I'd waited too long to open this, but it's in a good place right now. A great example of what California Central Coast Grenache can be. Dark for Grenache, the finish is long and pleasurable with lots of fruit.
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11/15/2019 - DrBad Likes this wine: 95 Points
PnP and drank over several hours. Drinking perfectly now. Typical Grenache CdP-ish funky barn aromas. Purple hue with medium opacity but still holding together well. Raspberry and cherry, minerality and acidity makes this a very lively wine. Long 30 second finish with cracked black pepper lingering on the tongue.
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6/10/2019 - mvande21 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Two hour decant. Fragrant nose of flowers and plum. Red and black fruits with white pepper. Medium-full body. Silky texture. Nicely balanced wine with dusty tannins and a long finish.
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11/24/2018 - AllRed wrote: 88 Points
4th Saturday Group (Sue's): Double blind. Dusty ruby color. Currant, pepper and spice notes. Red fruit and cherry; rather noticeable acidity. Chateauneuf crossed my mind but I guessed pinot.
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8/26/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 93 Points
One Fun-Filled Afternoon Spent Poolside with Friends (Los Olivos, CA): A fascinating, and divisive, wine, but one I really enjoyed despite the evident heat. There’s a place in my wine world for fruit-forward powerhouses when held in check by the wine’s energy and mineral backbone. Loads of bright red fruit, pepper and mild. Decadent doesn’t mean flawed, to me anyway.
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7/1/2018 - monared wrote: 89 Points
Used a coravin to check it out. Unfortunately a little bit of a disappointment especially from this winery. Seemed to lack depth, but was very drinkable.
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3/24/2018 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 92 Points
deep and powerful, black fruit and sweet spice - ends with strong mineral and herb flavors
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12/9/2017 - UofM Likes this wine: 93 Points
Well, that was everything I hoped for. Spectacular expression of Grenache by EJ. In a perfect place right now.
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11/28/2017 - tantotinto wrote: 90 Points
Licorice and herbs on the nose. Ripe raspberry and blackberry fruit, medium texture and surprisingly lean on the palate. Blind I may not have guessed Grenache. Tasty but a bit one dimensional. I expected more. Unfortunately, for this bottle we have recently opened several bottles of Grenache from Chateau Saint Cosme in Gigondas and there is simply no comparison. There is greater elegance and complexity in the French bottles. It's Burt Bacharach versus Debussey. Not that there is anything wrong with Burt Bacharach.
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10/5/2017 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 95 Points
Mike G. does Cleveland (Landerwood Pool & Tennis): The label indicates 100% Grenache. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is great with dark cherries, some spice and also pepper. On the palate, this is not a monster wine. Perhaps the vintage but everything seems to be in its proper proportion. Much less on the throttle than the bigger wines on the table. Still young but showing a tight layering of cherries with spice and minerals. Good acidity. Nice fresh finish. Very pretty wine. Don't get me wrong, this is not a shrinking violet. Just not as big as other vintages or nearby wineries.
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4/12/2017 - ravbik wrote: 95 Points
Ripe complex Grenache. Not overtly sweet. Rose petals, allspice, medium tannins but nice easy crisp finish
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1/20/2017 - Fid wrote: 89 Points
Drank at Shabbat dinner following a nice burg. I have to say, I love Booker and have had great bottles time and again but this particular bottle was, well . . . boring. Fruit was fine, not complex. Raspberry mostly. Again, it was fine if not a bit nondescript.
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9/18/2016 - Bob & Sue Atlanta wrote: 95 Points
Easy 95...Outstanding.
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1/27/2016 - mhenry Likes this wine: 93 Points
Perfect pairing for our Beef Bourguignon, which had a strong bacon flavor. The wine was a little harsh and metallic upon opening, but 3/4 hour air time mellowed it nicely. Complements all around on this wine.
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10/3/2015 - sbfireman wrote: 97 Points
Runaway delicious. Rich and powerful without a heavy hand. One to look for if it was your last
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7/9/2015 - rralls wrote: 93 Points
Fabulous as always.
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4/18/2015 - Stumpy wrote: 94 Points
Consistent with last night
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9/7/2014 - ELH wrote: 94 Points
Stupendous without being overwhelming. Rich Grenache fruit. fragrant, light and substantial at the same time. Needed about 20 minutes in glass to hit its stride. 14.8% alcohol but unabtrusively so.
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5/15/2014 - Stumpy wrote: 95 Points
This bad boy is just singing-drank with about 20 minutes of air in the glass. Fresh fruit but mot overwhelming, beautiful translucent red, medium body-just excellent.
If you waiting stop and pop one-you won't be disappointed. Who said 2011 was a lousy vintage???!!
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12/19/2013 - rralls wrote: 92 Points
Needs time.
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10/18/2013 - RMundell Likes this wine: 95 Points
Amazing wine.
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8/6/2013 - KCBrian wrote: 90 Points
This bottle continues my love / hate relationship with booker wines. Decanted this wine for about 3 hrs and it was still closed ans very alcoholic. Continued to drink over an hr with hope that it would get better and it didn't. Last bottle of booker I decanted for the same time and it was wonderful. Any thoughts or advice?
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7/25/2013 - sqn19 wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic wine. Inky purple in the glass. Nose of fresh, sweet black fruit which continues to a round palate with low-to-moderate acidity and through the very smooth finish. Everything perfectly integrated. Very fresh and appealing.
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6/28/2013 - Dollar Spot Likes this wine: 95 Points
PnP. Really great wine. Maybe one of the best Grenaches i've ever tasted.Bright fruit, firm(almost gritty) texture, and long finish with silky tannins. Will age nicely but ready to drink today. Booker nails it again!
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4/27/2013 - timewithwine wrote:
Part of R&RR Aprkl 27-28 2013
Gawd, the alcohol 14.6% alc. is intense! The tannins are intense! The fruit is intense! But after, I dunno, 5 hours, it’s still intense, but no longer enamel-stripping-intense. Bob wanted Grenache. He’s got it in spades with this sample of 100% Amerikin-by-Gawd-Grenache. A huge palate of candy apple with spice and tobacco. The length of the finish will make a large colon cramp.
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4/21/2013 - shadow wrote: 96 Points
pop and pour while out to dinner. Special in many ways, fruit and spice on the nose are followed up with a deep ride through all flavors grenache. Mouth feel is smooth, don't even notice the tannins till a minute after. Sadely I'm in the wine club and only get one of these, wonderful wine
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4/6/2013 - fdub Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very young obviously however this shows great now with a couple hours of air. Lighter reddish/purple color. The nose is closed at first but opens with air to flowers, raspberries, and ripe strawberries. Like drinking summer in a glass. The palate gains flesh too with time however I think it is very reflective of the vintage. Just not going to be a heavyweight during its life. Booker is making some great great wines that really reflect the best of Paso.
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