Problems with the cork. Dissimilar from other reviews my bottle was still fine: nice deep red color, fruity nose, some overripe notes at the beginning. Medium bodied wine, ripe and fully developed with charming berry bouquet combined with a lovely sweetness. Vanilla and even some Cola notes after an hour. Silky finish.
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Used my Coravin to sample 3 years ago. Today, it appears that the Coravin failed to live up to it's hype. The fruit was flat, structure was nonexistent, and finish was short and astringent. Now I know.
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Unfortunately this forgotten treasure was past its prime. I certainly enjoyed the other bottles 6 to 10 years ago. While properly stored all this time, this Merlot was not meant to be kept this long. Still drinkable and the color was nice, but the fruit had lost its pizzazz and the juice was clearly over the hill. Cork had not aged well and was a little difficult to remove, though still had good seal.
Opened and let breath for 30 minutes. Slowly drank 1/2 bottle with slight improvement during the evening. Finished 2nd half the next night and it showed little further improvement.
It was a very good wine in its day, my fault for losing track of it. If you still have a bottle, open it immediately. You may get lucky, but i think your experience will mirror mine ... at best.
Blackberry jam on freshly made toast mingled with a little lightly toasted oak and paprika on the nose. Sugared prunes, spices and a bit of blueberry on the palate. Large grained tannins lightly coat the teeth but slightly over-dominate the wines flavors. Finish is short and too tannic leaving a sawdust like feeling on the palate.
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Still a nice bottle, although I found the nose to be lacking. Gave a whiff of alcohol, rather than nuanced notes. Decant for 30 minutes before drinking.
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Dark cheery and blackberry fruit, restrained, with cola undertones and hints mint, herbs and earth. Somewhat chewy, and a bit flat. Good but not overwhelming.
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Very chewy; lots of cherry on the palate with a spicy finish. Leaves a hot feeling in the back of the throat; Beautiful, deep ruby color; Earthy on the nose.
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Opened and tasted. Aromas of musky, earthy leather. Restrained flavors of dark cherry, a little cola and still a chewy tannic finish--though very well integrated. Drinking well...may improve with more age, but I'm skeptical if the fruit will hold up. Excellent.
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No decanting Purple/maroon color. Surprised by how much we enjoyed this wine. Medium bodied with a medium+ finish. Flavor tends towards "jammy" a bit, but overall, very enjoyable.
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Very harsh out of the bottle, mellowed after about 45-minutes of breathing. Green pepper, mineral, herb & earth tastes. Overall, not a bottle that's worth the money.
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Opened and allowed to sit for 45 minutes, but not decanted. Nice right out of the bottle, with the cherry, cola and chocolate notes detailed by others very evident, but not overpowering. Cola was a bit of an aftertaste, that detracted a bit in our opinion. Short finish, this weakened and became less enjoyable after about 2.5 hours.
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Really thought I'd enjoy this more than I did. Color was ruby, dark red. Expansive nose, cherry, red fruit, ripe, black cherry, cola. Had some upfront cherry fruit with nice mouth feel, but dropped off quickly at mid palate. Detected heat mid palate and finish.
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Drinking better than the prior bottle last month. No dilute taste upon opening, this one was open and medium bodied from the beginning. This bottle repeats the notes of plum, blackberry and cola, with chocolate on a medium finish (longer than the last bottle). Overall, the body had more fruit and glycerin than the last one.
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A nice nose developed over time of plums, blackberry, maybe a little earth. On the palate, at first it was a bit dilute, but filled out over time to a medium body of plums, cola, and blackberry, adding some chocolate on a short to medium finish. Nice bottle, but merlot still is not my favorite varietal, and this did not change my mind.
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TBone: Decanted for one hour. Purple/plum color, fading to more of a marroon or red on the edges. Nose of blackberry, plum, and cherry with a hint of chocolate, spice and black licorice on the pallate. Medium to long finish. Seemed to get more "jammy" as time went on. Originally I rated it a low 90, but by the end of the bottle the jammyness really outweighted the other characteristics of the wine and I knocked it down to a 88.
DrBunda: Decanted for One Hour. Color was dark with little rim variation. Nose of plum, backberry, black currant, and a hint of leather (i think). Palate was similar to the nose with maybe a hint of violet in addition. Velvety feel with a medium to long finish. Good wine.
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Full red purple. MEdium clean bright aroma of black fruit with a hint of spicy licorice. Tight bright blackcurrant fruit with a nice round tannic frame.
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A dark purple color with a muted nose on opening that developed over the evening to a benign pleasing aroma of dark fruit and plums. Not a very assertive personality, but a calm pleasing wine that was, believe it or not, overwhelmed by our diner at Peter Lugers Steakhouse...shoulda' ordered a cab!
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Purple to the rim. Velvety texture, with thick notes of mocha. Well structured, with deep fruit and none of the usual Merlot weedy/green/vegetal overtones. I'm not a Merlot fan, but this was pretty darn good.
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8/15/2023 - shafer1994 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Problems with the cork. Dissimilar from other reviews my bottle was still fine: nice deep red color, fruity nose, some overripe notes at the beginning. Medium bodied wine, ripe and fully developed with charming berry bouquet combined with a lovely sweetness. Vanilla and even some Cola notes after an hour. Silky finish.
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1/3/2021 - herbtcat wrote: 81 Points
Used my Coravin to sample 3 years ago. Today, it appears that the Coravin failed to live up to it's hype. The fruit was flat, structure was nonexistent, and finish was short and astringent. Now I know.
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7/14/2020 - JTROCKER wrote:
Unfortunately this forgotten treasure was past its prime. I certainly enjoyed the other bottles 6 to 10 years ago. While properly stored all this time, this Merlot was not meant to be kept this long. Still drinkable and the color was nice, but the fruit had lost its pizzazz and the juice was clearly over the hill. Cork had not aged well and was a little difficult to remove, though still had good seal.
Opened and let breath for 30 minutes. Slowly drank 1/2 bottle with slight improvement during the evening. Finished 2nd half the next night and it showed little further improvement.
It was a very good wine in its day, my fault for losing track of it. If you still have a bottle, open it immediately. You may get lucky, but i think your experience will mirror mine ... at best.
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4/12/2018 - B&PBaker wrote:
mistake
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4/5/2018 - B&PBaker wrote: 87 Points
Brick red. Nice and smooth. Fruit faded a bit. Touch of earth. Took an hour to open. 87
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9/5/2015 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 91 Points
Earthiness, raspberry, menthol, and red berries on the nose. Medium finish. Well aged merlot.
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12/7/2013 - Spl232 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lovely wine. NEeded some time to open up, but had lovely balance and depth. Would love to find more.
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8/1/2012 - JBVino wrote:
not expecting much from this 10+ year old merlot but life left, good structure, nice length...solid wine
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2/14/2012 - clmacarthur wrote: 87 Points
Initially had stong tannins; mellowed after about 30 minutes.
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12/17/2011 - bwillia wrote: 90 Points
Very youthful color. Still a little jammy but has some nice backbone acidity to support it.
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12/2/2008 - dv002i wrote: 86 Points
Blackberry jam on freshly made toast mingled with a little lightly toasted oak and paprika on the nose. Sugared prunes, spices and a bit of blueberry on the palate. Large grained tannins lightly coat the teeth but slightly over-dominate the wines flavors. Finish is short and too tannic leaving a sawdust like feeling on the palate.
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4/12/2008 - B&T wrote: 86 Points
Still a nice bottle, although I found the nose to be lacking. Gave a whiff of alcohol, rather than nuanced notes. Decant for 30 minutes before drinking.
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3/9/2008 - tubeman wrote:
Still OK - 85 pts
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2/7/2008 - JDRFoster wrote: 86 Points
Dark cheery and blackberry fruit, restrained, with cola undertones and hints mint, herbs and earth. Somewhat chewy, and a bit flat. Good but not overwhelming.
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2/2/2008 - stevenp22 wrote: 89 Points
Very nice, easy tannis. A little less flavor than I would have expected.
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1/19/2008 - jeffreym123 wrote: 86 Points
nothing wrong with it per say, but very uninteresting. not alot of fruit. bad qpr.
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12/29/2007 - LSAngeli wrote: 85 Points
Just OK...fruit had started to fade
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11/19/2007 - semichee wrote: 87 Points
Very chewy; lots of cherry on the palate with a spicy finish. Leaves a hot feeling in the back of the throat; Beautiful, deep ruby color; Earthy on the nose.
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10/16/2007 - yotaiwan wrote: 87 Points
deep,sweet with thick sawdust like wood flavor, too strong and over powering for me.
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6/10/2007 - wineward wrote: 89 Points
Opened and tasted. Aromas of musky, earthy leather. Restrained flavors of dark cherry, a little cola and still a chewy tannic finish--though very well integrated. Drinking well...may improve with more age, but I'm skeptical if the fruit will hold up. Excellent.
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4/13/2007 - blackmistressdiva wrote: 79 Points
Black fruit, leather on the nose which was promising, but this fell very flat. A disappointing wine.
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4/3/2007 - Mosco wrote: 90 Points
No decanting Purple/maroon color. Surprised by how much we enjoyed this wine. Medium bodied with a medium+ finish. Flavor tends towards "jammy" a bit, but overall, very enjoyable.
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4/1/2007 - jcbrand wrote: 83 Points
Very harsh out of the bottle, mellowed after about 45-minutes of breathing. Green pepper, mineral, herb & earth tastes. Overall, not a bottle that's worth the money.
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8/13/2006 - DanaSr wrote: 92 Points
Very, very smooth, Full Body with Mega Fruit. Enjoyed to the last drop
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5/29/2006 - MetFan wrote: 88 Points
Fruity nose. Hints of tobacco and mint. Opened up after an hour.
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4/29/2006 - davidandrose wrote: 87 Points
Opened and allowed to sit for 45 minutes, but not decanted. Nice right out of the bottle, with the cherry, cola and chocolate notes detailed by others very evident, but not overpowering. Cola was a bit of an aftertaste, that detracted a bit in our opinion. Short finish, this weakened and became less enjoyable after about 2.5 hours.
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4/22/2006 - caboychuck wrote: 86 Points
Really thought I'd enjoy this more than I did. Color was ruby, dark red. Expansive nose, cherry, red fruit, ripe, black cherry, cola. Had some upfront cherry fruit with nice mouth feel, but dropped off quickly at mid palate. Detected heat mid palate and finish.
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3/16/2006 - SacredCow wrote: 89 Points
Drinking better than the prior bottle last month. No dilute taste upon opening, this one was open and medium bodied from the beginning. This bottle repeats the notes of plum, blackberry and cola, with chocolate on a medium finish (longer than the last bottle). Overall, the body had more fruit and glycerin than the last one.
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2/25/2006 - SacredCow wrote: 87 Points
A nice nose developed over time of plums, blackberry, maybe a little earth. On the palate, at first it was a bit dilute, but filled out over time to a medium body of plums, cola, and blackberry, adding some chocolate on a short to medium finish. Nice bottle, but merlot still is not my favorite varietal, and this did not change my mind.
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2/24/2006 - drcbarroso wrote: 88 Points
TBone: Decanted for one hour. Purple/plum color, fading to more of a marroon or red on the edges. Nose of blackberry, plum, and cherry with a hint of chocolate, spice and black licorice on the pallate. Medium to long finish. Seemed to get more "jammy" as time went on. Originally I rated it a low 90, but by the end of the bottle the jammyness really outweighted the other characteristics of the wine and I knocked it down to a 88.
DrBunda: Decanted for One Hour. Color was dark with little rim variation. Nose of plum, backberry, black currant, and a hint of leather (i think). Palate was similar to the nose with maybe a hint of violet in addition. Velvety feel with a medium to long finish. Good wine.
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11/12/2005 - winefool wrote: 90 Points
Full red purple. MEdium clean bright aroma of black fruit with a hint of spicy licorice. Tight bright blackcurrant fruit with a nice round tannic frame.
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11/7/2005 - Tejano wrote: 87 Points
A dark purple color with a muted nose on opening that developed over the evening to a benign pleasing aroma of dark fruit and plums. Not a very assertive personality, but a calm pleasing wine that was, believe it or not, overwhelmed by our diner at Peter Lugers Steakhouse...shoulda' ordered a cab!
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1/21/2005 - Patrick wrote:
Vibrant red; sweet cherry and earth nose; massive on the palate with pure sweet fruit and a lot of tannin; huge and long way from ready
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1/15/2005 - spidersva wrote:
Very good. Great flavor, although I thought it got thin after not too long.
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7/31/2004 - Eric wrote:
My trip to Napa, Part 4: Montelena, Phelps, Darioush, lunch at Tra Vigne, Dinner at Bouchon and a nightcap (Napa Valley, California, USA): Was this an off bottle? It was sweet, almost sickly sweet, sort of a pale shadow of a Pride Merlot with all of the sweetness but none of the intrigue or complexity. The palate has some herbal elements and then finishes like cherry cough syrup. I can't give this a score, undrinkable.
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6/19/2004 - Siggy wrote: 88 Points
Purple to the rim. Velvety texture, with thick notes of mocha. Well structured, with deep fruit and none of the usual Merlot weedy/green/vegetal overtones. I'm not a Merlot fan, but this was pretty darn good.
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