Kudos to Larry S. for pulling this out of the cellar. Rich and unctuous, living up to its heady aromatics. Balanced and rewarding, this wine outshone the 2005 Turley served alongside it.
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Wow! this is in a wonderful place. No worries about high alcohol and ripeness foretelling the doom of this wine, Greenblanket. At nine years past vintage this is expressing smooth dark petite and zin fruit and spice with no hint of out of place alcohol.
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A "blow your head off" zin, but in a good way. Super ripe berry flavors. Alcohol obvious, but not overwhelming. Tasty as a "show" wine. Not really food friendly.
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Wow - what a bottle of Zin. Amazing flavor - as my wife said "That wine has a lot going on". I was awesome, and signs of heat or alcohol for 16% bottle. I wish I had more - last bottle !
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Only 7 notes on this wine in almost 2 years, and yet there is close to 200 users with this wine in inventory. Interesting ratio. Anyway, my oldest Carlisle zin and of which, my last zin from this vintage. I know this was a hot year and a recent 04 Sonoma County AVA zin from Mike that I drank a couple months back to me seemed over the top, both a result of my palate changing and also that I let wines from that era of my former palate rest too long. For some it may still work, but that wine to me was tired. (And a side note here, I drank a 2007 Carlisle Montafi zin this past week that was incredible and with a balance and class that was top flight, so I add this comment for context in speaking about the 2004s). Anyway, to this wine. This has seemed to fair better than the Sonoma County, offering a meaty aspect to go with the black raspberry fruit, along with a pruny-like nose. While the aromatics are not all that great, the palate has held up and the wine has some shadings of secondary character on it, a little hint of that cedary thing, some hints of dried cherry. Later on, I'll add a closing note to see how some further aeration treats this bottle, as I am curious as to whether this could hold up and lay down for a few more years and really get into the second life.
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Pure red violet to the rim. Heady and explosive aromas in the typical Zinberry style with boysenberry, spices, sage, and dark chocolate. Full bodied, concentrated, and tannic on the palate with rich herb infused blackberry fruit, currant, a touch of prune, and nice leafy character on the finish. Pretty solid and fairly standard but picking up some complexity and restraint.
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Any worries that Greenblanket had about how this wine will age are pretty much over. It was beautiful tonight with smooth ripe tannin and a deep dark fruit profile that was livened up with zin and petite spice. There was no evident alcohol. This delicious wine should be able to travel down this road for the mid term future at least.
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Calling this defective, because a second bottle was way better. This bottle was way too hot. Rich berry flavors were completely overwhelmed by the burning heat of 15.9% alcohol. A disappointment, to say the least. Hard to drink, and terrible with food.
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15.9% alcohol. Wow, this is some serious stuff. Deep red color. Huge bouquet of black fruit, a touch of bacon fat, minerals, and loads of spice. In the mouth, this is done just as Carlisle can these days, if you ask me. Chock full of concentrated fruit that doesn't get flabby or taste overdone. Plenty of acidity to balance. Layers and layers of fruit. A long, stunning finish. This is phenomenal. A-/A
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Inky color. Lots of licorice and spice on the palate. This just coats the mouth and lingers for a while. One of the best wines I have had from this great winery.
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Just a terrific bottle of wine. Starts with an enticing nose, a nice oak/fruit balance, and a silky mouthfeel. Mr. Officer is a real pro (and you can't beat the QPR, if you like big wines).
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This zin from my cellar is drinking beautifully now. Beautiful dark red purple. Nose of cherries, blackberry and a bit of pepper. Superb balance with nicely interateed flavors of berry fruits, a bit of earth, pepper and a touch of tannin. Nice long lingering finish. This wine is great now but shows no signs of giving up the ghoast. Glad to have one more to enjoy in the future. Pretty much what zin is supposed to be. Bravo Mike!!
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Greenblanket made the mistake of opening and immediately pouring this after the game for a nightcap with guests. This was a pretty dumb and wasteful move as the wine was good but performed far below past experiences. The nose was reticent and the palate and finish seemed to be mostly about rather dumb petite. This is great wine but Greenblanket found out that it's not supernatural. Thankfully this is fabulous after a night in the fridge and some time on the counter with killer aromatics, amazing layers of fruit, spices and herbs, wonderful lively acidity, and a long expansive finish. Outstanding Zinfandel.
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Red cherry fruit, pepper, vanilla and even a bit of coffee. This wine is much more complex than is normal for a zin and lacks the sweetness that a lot of people complqain about. No het from the alcohol. Dark ruby color with a nice mouth feel. The finish on this is long.
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Drunk over two nights. Showing some heat now that detracts. Nose muted even on 2nd night. Some strawberry and briary components. Not much else i can pick out, but still yummy. Good potential - should wait a year or so, but i probably won't be able to do it, and pop another one sooner.
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Fantastic zin, certainly made all the better by the inclusion of a good amount of Petite Sirah. Like velvet, with an almost kirsch-like texture but not the sweetness, just enough structure to make reign it in, a lovely drink!
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Rich, dark blackberry fruit is very concentrated on the palate. Persistent with terrific palate presence. Juicy acidity counterpoints the rich fruit. Long finish is full of blackberry, toast and spices. Terrific.
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This absolutely gorgeous Zinfandel was selected for pre-Thanksgiving dinner consumption at the "Old World" Brother In Law's house. It was served to the OWBIL with no introduction or explanation and he loudly exclaimed "What the hell is this, my god, this is wonderful” Now this is worth mentioning because the OWBIL is widely known to be rudely intolerant of anything outside of his small world of BV, Duhart, and Barber-roo-sko. Like all of my other Carlisle experiences this wine seems to supernaturally combine luscious zin fruit with a beautiful sense of elegance and balance. It is deep dark and layered with fresh and liqueur-like fruit sensations yet has lively freshness and acidity. The twenty five percent petite obviously has a big influence on the depth and richness of this wine. Deep, layered, complex, long and elegant this is outstanding wine.
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Followed the '03. Penetrating nose of baking spice, vanilla, buttered popcorn. Palate is rich with blackberry, cherry,and licorice notes. Has mellowed a touch from my last bottle back in March, the palate is quite smooth with no hint of the 16% alcohol. Big, briary finish that goes on. Beautiful Zin here.
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Very dark ruby-red with the typical powerful Officer aromas that wafted all over the house. Deep and broad cherry and spicy notes. Very balanced but quite fruit-driven with dark fruits and red fruits and earth. Amazing length but never over the top. Just a gorgeous Zin.
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I actually like this Zin more that some of the single vineyard Zins. Just awesome purity and balance. No Pruny overripe flavors and alcohol is well integrated. Lots of Tannin.
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OK, Greenblanket has a big problem now. This stuff is delicious and exceedingly well made. It has beautiful fruit and zin character with great acidity and silky but not wimpy tannic structure. I have never used the term before but this wine gives a lovely impression of 'freshly crushed' blackberries and raspberries without seeming overly fruit driven. In the mouth it combines a sense of richness depth and weight with a lively freshness. A big thing for me is that this wine is very food friendly. We served it with the courses created as part of a family "quick fire" contest and it loved everything from barbecued black mole pork tacos to a molten chocolate cake with wild blackberry caramel. (BTW, Greenblanket held the young chef to a draw over four courses.) I have had bigger zins and more deeply concentrated complex zins but the balance, structure, superb delineation and elegance of this wine put it in a class of its own. And the single vineyard wines are better? Amazing!
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was not really concentrating, but I did not detect the normal heat I've been tasting with Carlisle lately. a good zin. bleuberry, rasberry. fairly one dementional.
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Inky purple color. Nose: blue berry, brambly, black fruit and some vanilla notes. Palate: big flavor, velvety texture, black fruit, long with good acidity. Gets bigger over time and shows some chocolate. Was expecting a little more.
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PH: relatively muted nose showing some earth and red fruits, feels pretty good in the mouth, cherry and black rasberry flavors, rather short finish initially. after ~2hrs has a great balance, finishes with a nice acidity that i'm loving. i still wish there was some more earthiness to it, but is great now for its fantastic deep red fruits... EW (the better taster): 90pts, too simple... Now 3+ hrs after opening and keeps getting better.
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Holy smokes, what a palate this thing has on it. Been open 45 mins, breathing in a Riedel stem on the counter. Nose seems a bit shy to me at this stage but this wine cuts a enormous swath of black cherry and earthy berry across the mid-palate, then finishing with a dose of blackberry and crisp acidity. Just a mouth coater of zippy, broad dark fruit. Oh, what will this be in 2 hours, then 24 hours. Oy vay.
Been open 24 hours: Nose shows a bit more tonight, with some brambly notes and some pepper. In looking at the petite component of this wine, I think that is what is also peeking through on the nose. For me, petite seems to entice you in and grab the olfactories with a high-toned floral/sweet component--this is the undefined note I seem to be struggling with. The wine shows some chocolate and coarseness (also perhaps the 25% petite helping), along with that same earth berry note and blackberry from last night. The acidity on this wine remains the support for the finish, along with some licorice that sustains through the end. In sum, for me, this wine is neither the elegant Zin that some prefer, nor the cloying fruit bomb that in Zin I can no longer enjoy. Rather, this wine is really something and given the petite and size, should go another 2-3 years and IMO improve further and then drink well for another 3-5 more. Terrific.
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One of the best zin noses I've had the opportunity to encounter in some time. Previous posters are right on, this is a great zin in it's prime right now. Great zin. Just wish I had some more in my cellar.
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This is delicious wine. The Petite Sirah seems to pack a punch in the middle of all the delicious fruit (cherry liquer, cassis, chartruese) and spice (clove allspice, cinnamon). Notes of milk chocolate and dark chocolate in the mid and late pallate, with a touch of liquorice. The finish is long, complex and interesting. Yeah!
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Three zinfandels and molte pizze (a casa, San Francisco): Double-decanted & recorked 12 hours before drinking...then thrown back in the decanter as the wine was still pretty tight. Opened up with an additional 45 minutes of air to reveal a rich and heavily extracted wine, with superripe blackberry/ollalieberry pie, vanilla, toasted biscuit, pepper. Chewy, with some bitter coffee grounds on the finish. While approachable now, i think this still needs some time to unwind. Impressive for what it is, but i found it tiresome to drink and preferred the '04 Outpost in this lineup. Tasted blind.
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Looks like syrah. Nose of blackberry and blueberry dessert and tary. Dark, chewey and ripe. Chocolate and coffee on the finish. Big round tannins and sweet oak on the finish. Tasted along side 2001 Martinelli GL, 2003 Sapphire Hill Winberrie, 2004 Stephen Ross Dante Dusi. Carlisle in another league.
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Note after 24 hours. This is good stuff!!! Blueberries, red licorice and cherries on the nose. Tons of fruit on the palate, long lingering finish, alcohol is in check. What a great QPR.
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Taken camping, drank over three days with no temperature stabilization except the wet tee-shirt evaporative cooler. No formal notes, but very tasty, and no signs of giving up even after three days. Good now, but I'm sure it's got some time left.
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Drank because I had heard that of the Carlisle wines, this was one that was approachable early. Right out of the bottle (at cellar temperature) the wine was reticent and sort of all over the place. After about 30 minutes in the glass, this wine was fabulous. Big dark fruit that despite being ripe, never approached sweet. Some, for lack of a better word, dust mixed in with the fruit. Excellent length and so so smooth - wonderful mouthfeel. Mild tannins at the end gave it pleasant structure. Tasted again the next day and the wine seemed even riper, now bordering on sweet and the tannin had disappeared. I really really like this wine and I am excited for the rest of my Carlilsles to be ready.
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Not really a huge, dense Zin and by no means jammy...Alc 15.9 but you wouldnt know it. Pure and light on its feet. Being new to Carlisle Ive noticed what I can ony describe as a finish that Ive noticed in wines with Viogner in them...weird. Much less here than in the Three Birds or Sonoma Syrah though. Nice wine but more noticable for its lack of faults rather than its greatness in any one area.
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Delicious. Medium purple with a ruby rim. Zinny mixed black fruit and earth with a white pepper finish edge. Initially I tasted some of the slight oak treatment on the finish (espresso) but that faded with air. Nicely balanced and pleasantly soft in the mouth. It did not reveal layers of complexity, but pure hedonistic pleasure. Nice wine.
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Had it the day after the shipment arrived. No travel shock noted. Balanced wine, was surprised to see the 15.9 alcohol. It wears it well. A great example of Dry Creek Zin with nice restrained zinberry flavors. Not extremely complex, but a very well made Zin.
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9/3/2013 - FLI Likes this wine: 88 Points
This bottle came off overheated. Fruit and nose were nice, but a bit out of balance.
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7/17/2012 - JonnyG wrote: 95 Points
Kudos to Larry S. for pulling this out of the cellar. Rich and unctuous, living up to its heady aromatics. Balanced and rewarding, this wine outshone the 2005 Turley served alongside it.
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5/22/2012 - greenblanket wrote:
Wow! this is in a wonderful place. No worries about high alcohol and ripeness foretelling the doom of this wine, Greenblanket. At nine years past vintage this is expressing smooth dark petite and zin fruit and spice with no hint of out of place alcohol.
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12/21/2011 - FLI Likes this wine: 90 Points
A "blow your head off" zin, but in a good way. Super ripe berry flavors. Alcohol obvious, but not overwhelming. Tasty as a "show" wine. Not really food friendly.
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9/5/2011 - ZARDO wrote: 95 Points
Wow - what a bottle of Zin. Amazing flavor - as my wife said "That wine has a lot going on". I was awesome, and signs of heat or alcohol for 16% bottle. I wish I had more - last bottle !
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5/29/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Only 7 notes on this wine in almost 2 years, and yet there is close to 200 users with this wine in inventory. Interesting ratio. Anyway, my oldest Carlisle zin and of which, my last zin from this vintage. I know this was a hot year and a recent 04 Sonoma County AVA zin from Mike that I drank a couple months back to me seemed over the top, both a result of my palate changing and also that I let wines from that era of my former palate rest too long. For some it may still work, but that wine to me was tired. (And a side note here, I drank a 2007 Carlisle Montafi zin this past week that was incredible and with a balance and class that was top flight, so I add this comment for context in speaking about the 2004s). Anyway, to this wine. This has seemed to fair better than the Sonoma County, offering a meaty aspect to go with the black raspberry fruit, along with a pruny-like nose. While the aromatics are not all that great, the palate has held up and the wine has some shadings of secondary character on it, a little hint of that cedary thing, some hints of dried cherry. Later on, I'll add a closing note to see how some further aeration treats this bottle, as I am curious as to whether this could hold up and lay down for a few more years and really get into the second life.
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1/22/2011 - ogres3 wrote:
An outstanding zin and drinking well after about 90 minutes of a decant. Great fruit, good nose - wish I had more.
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12/31/2010 - wiskytango wrote:
as advertised... its all been said before. Thank you for making great Zin Mike.
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6/9/2010 - JBD wrote: 91 Points
Excellent Zinfandel. Drinking like this, this wine's window should extend well beyond 2011.
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1/15/2010 - Badfish wrote: 90 Points
Pure red violet to the rim. Heady and explosive aromas in the typical Zinberry style with boysenberry, spices, sage, and dark chocolate. Full bodied, concentrated, and tannic on the palate with rich herb infused blackberry fruit, currant, a touch of prune, and nice leafy character on the finish. Pretty solid and fairly standard but picking up some complexity and restraint.
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11/16/2009 - greenblanket wrote:
Any worries that Greenblanket had about how this wine will age are pretty much over. It was beautiful tonight with smooth ripe tannin and a deep dark fruit profile that was livened up with zin and petite spice. There was no evident alcohol. This delicious wine should be able to travel down this road for the mid term future at least.
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10/31/2009 - ogres3 wrote:
Excellent. Full bodied, lots of fruit, but didn't get shocked with the alcohol content.
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4/13/2009 - FLI wrote: flawed
Calling this defective, because a second bottle was way better. This bottle was way too hot. Rich berry flavors were completely overwhelmed by the burning heat of 15.9% alcohol. A disappointment, to say the least. Hard to drink, and terrible with food.
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12/7/2008 - gutt22 wrote:
15.9% alcohol. Wow, this is some serious stuff. Deep red color. Huge bouquet of black fruit, a touch of bacon fat, minerals, and loads of spice. In the mouth, this is done just as Carlisle can these days, if you ask me. Chock full of concentrated fruit that doesn't get flabby or taste overdone. Plenty of acidity to balance. Layers and layers of fruit. A long, stunning finish. This is phenomenal. A-/A
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10/18/2008 - martuna wrote: 93 Points
Fabulous, full bodied, perfectly balanced Zin. About as good as Zin gets!
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9/14/2008 - cookie7 wrote: 93 Points
Inky color. Lots of licorice and spice on the palate. This just coats the mouth and lingers for a while. One of the best wines I have had from this great winery.
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7/14/2008 - 2loyal wrote: 92 Points
Just a terrific bottle of wine. Starts with an enticing nose, a nice oak/fruit balance, and a silky mouthfeel. Mr. Officer is a real pro (and you can't beat the QPR, if you like big wines).
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6/8/2008 - dsimmons wrote: 93 Points
This zin from my cellar is drinking beautifully now. Beautiful dark red purple. Nose of cherries, blackberry and a bit of pepper. Superb balance with nicely interateed flavors of berry fruits, a bit of earth, pepper and a touch of tannin. Nice long lingering finish. This wine is great now but shows no signs of giving up the ghoast. Glad to have one more to enjoy in the future. Pretty much what zin is supposed to be. Bravo Mike!!
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6/3/2008 - greenblanket wrote:
Greenblanket made the mistake of opening and immediately pouring this after the game for a nightcap with guests. This was a pretty dumb and wasteful move as the wine was good but performed far below past experiences. The nose was reticent and the palate and finish seemed to be mostly about rather dumb petite. This is great wine but Greenblanket found out that it's not supernatural. Thankfully this is fabulous after a night in the fridge and some time on the counter with killer aromatics, amazing layers of fruit, spices and herbs, wonderful lively acidity, and a long expansive finish. Outstanding Zinfandel.
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4/11/2008 - DesMarteau wrote: 91 Points
Great blueberry, kiwi, strawberry fruit explosion. long fruity, spice finish. Good integration.
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2/8/2008 - J @ y H @ c k wrote: 90 Points
Red cherry fruit, pepper, vanilla and even a bit of coffee. This wine is much more complex than is normal for a zin and lacks the sweetness that a lot of people complqain about. No het from the alcohol. Dark ruby color with a nice mouth feel. The finish on this is long.
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1/13/2008 - E wrote: 93 Points
Superb zin....and this was a bottle we were worried about as the cork was stained all the way up. Full of fruit with a bit of pepper, but elegant.
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12/18/2007 - Chasse wrote: 91 Points
Drunk over two nights. Showing some heat now that detracts. Nose muted even on 2nd night. Some strawberry and briary components. Not much else i can pick out, but still yummy. Good potential - should wait a year or so, but i probably won't be able to do it, and pop another one sooner.
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12/3/2007 - jbposell wrote: 92 Points
Fantastic zin, certainly made all the better by the inclusion of a good amount of Petite Sirah. Like velvet, with an almost kirsch-like texture but not the sweetness, just enough structure to make reign it in, a lovely drink!
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11/22/2007 - Nanda wrote: 92 Points
Rich, dark blackberry fruit is very concentrated on the palate. Persistent with terrific palate presence. Juicy acidity counterpoints the rich fruit. Long finish is full of blackberry, toast and spices. Terrific.
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11/22/2007 - greenblanket wrote:
This absolutely gorgeous Zinfandel was selected for pre-Thanksgiving dinner consumption at the "Old World" Brother In Law's house. It was served to the OWBIL with no introduction or explanation and he loudly exclaimed "What the hell is this, my god, this is wonderful” Now this is worth mentioning because the OWBIL is widely known to be rudely intolerant of anything outside of his small world of BV, Duhart, and Barber-roo-sko. Like all of my other Carlisle experiences this wine seems to supernaturally combine luscious zin fruit with a beautiful sense of elegance and balance. It is deep dark and layered with fresh and liqueur-like fruit sensations yet has lively freshness and acidity. The twenty five percent petite obviously has a big influence on the depth and richness of this wine. Deep, layered, complex, long and elegant this is outstanding wine.
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11/21/2007 - decaturwinedude wrote: 91 Points
Followed the '03. Penetrating nose of baking spice, vanilla, buttered popcorn. Palate is rich with blackberry, cherry,and licorice notes. Has mellowed a touch from my last bottle back in March, the palate is quite smooth with no hint of the 16% alcohol. Big, briary finish that goes on. Beautiful Zin here.
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11/11/2007 - elliott.h.farber@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Very dark ruby-red with the typical powerful Officer aromas that wafted all over the house. Deep and broad cherry and spicy notes. Very balanced but quite fruit-driven with dark fruits and red fruits and earth. Amazing length but never over the top. Just a gorgeous Zin.
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10/19/2007 - imbibe wrote:
huge dark fruits with some mint and tannin on the finish.
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8/19/2007 - Ekoostik wrote: 92 Points
I actually like this Zin more that some of the single vineyard Zins. Just awesome purity and balance. No Pruny overripe flavors and alcohol is well integrated. Lots of Tannin.
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7/15/2007 - greenblanket wrote:
OK, Greenblanket has a big problem now. This stuff is delicious and exceedingly well made. It has beautiful fruit and zin character with great acidity and silky but not wimpy tannic structure. I have never used the term before but this wine gives a lovely impression of 'freshly crushed' blackberries and raspberries without seeming overly fruit driven. In the mouth it combines a sense of richness depth and weight with a lively freshness. A big thing for me is that this wine is very food friendly. We served it with the courses created as part of a family "quick fire" contest and it loved everything from barbecued black mole pork tacos to a molten chocolate cake with wild blackberry caramel. (BTW, Greenblanket held the young chef to a draw over four courses.) I have had bigger zins and more deeply concentrated complex zins but the balance, structure, superb delineation and elegance of this wine put it in a class of its own. And the single vineyard wines are better? Amazing!
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5/25/2007 - blgros wrote: 94 Points
Big, rich and balanced
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5/8/2007 - goofy Yno wrote: 87 Points
HdR; 5/3/2007-5/8/2007: cherry, nice acids, fairly one dimentional, but not bad
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4/22/2007 - goofy Yno wrote: 89 Points
was not really concentrating, but I did not detect the normal heat I've been tasting with Carlisle lately. a good zin. bleuberry, rasberry. fairly one dementional.
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4/19/2007 - caboychuck wrote: 90 Points
Inky purple color. Nose: blue berry, brambly, black fruit and some vanilla notes. Palate: big flavor, velvety texture, black fruit, long with good acidity. Gets bigger over time and shows some chocolate. Was expecting a little more.
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4/9/2007 - stillers 'nat wrote: 92 Points
PH: relatively muted nose showing some earth and red fruits, feels pretty good in the mouth, cherry and black rasberry flavors, rather short finish initially. after ~2hrs has a great balance, finishes with a nice acidity that i'm loving. i still wish there was some more earthiness to it, but is great now for its fantastic deep red fruits... EW (the better taster): 90pts, too simple... Now 3+ hrs after opening and keeps getting better.
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4/9/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Holy smokes, what a palate this thing has on it. Been open 45 mins, breathing in a Riedel stem on the counter. Nose seems a bit shy to me at this stage but this wine cuts a enormous swath of black cherry and earthy berry across the mid-palate, then finishing with a dose of blackberry and crisp acidity. Just a mouth coater of zippy, broad dark fruit. Oh, what will this be in 2 hours, then 24 hours. Oy vay.
Been open 24 hours: Nose shows a bit more tonight, with some brambly notes and some pepper. In looking at the petite component of this wine, I think that is what is also peeking through on the nose. For me, petite seems to entice you in and grab the olfactories with a high-toned floral/sweet component--this is the undefined note I seem to be struggling with. The wine shows some chocolate and coarseness (also perhaps the 25% petite helping), along with that same earth berry note and blackberry from last night. The acidity on this wine remains the support for the finish, along with some licorice that sustains through the end. In sum, for me, this wine is neither the elegant Zin that some prefer, nor the cloying fruit bomb that in Zin I can no longer enjoy. Rather, this wine is really something and given the petite and size, should go another 2-3 years and IMO improve further and then drink well for another 3-5 more. Terrific.
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4/9/2007 - Screameagle wrote: 92 Points
One of the best zin noses I've had the opportunity to encounter in some time. Previous posters are right on, this is a great zin in it's prime right now. Great zin. Just wish I had some more in my cellar.
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4/8/2007 - Ekoostik wrote: 92 Points
Delicious right now and the best of the 3 times Ive had it really fleshed out and ready to go. Picking up some flavors and is a Very nice wine
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3/29/2007 - zheem wrote:
This is delicious wine. The Petite Sirah seems to pack a punch in the middle of all the delicious fruit (cherry liquer, cassis, chartruese) and spice (clove allspice, cinnamon). Notes of milk chocolate and dark chocolate in the mid and late pallate, with a touch of liquorice. The finish is long, complex and interesting. Yeah!
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3/27/2007 - 5laton wrote: 89 Points
Three zinfandels and molte pizze (a casa, San Francisco): Double-decanted & recorked 12 hours before drinking...then thrown back in the decanter as the wine was still pretty tight. Opened up with an additional 45 minutes of air to reveal a rich and heavily extracted wine, with superripe blackberry/ollalieberry pie, vanilla, toasted biscuit, pepper. Chewy, with some bitter coffee grounds on the finish. While approachable now, i think this still needs some time to unwind. Impressive for what it is, but i found it tiresome to drink and preferred the '04 Outpost in this lineup. Tasted blind.
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2/25/2007 - swp3 wrote: 92 Points
Looks like syrah. Nose of blackberry and blueberry dessert and tary. Dark, chewey and ripe. Chocolate and coffee on the finish. Big round tannins and sweet oak on the finish. Tasted along side 2001 Martinelli GL, 2003 Sapphire Hill Winberrie, 2004 Stephen Ross Dante Dusi. Carlisle in another league.
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1/24/2007 - cookie7 wrote: 92 Points
Note after 24 hours. This is good stuff!!! Blueberries, red licorice and cherries on the nose. Tons of fruit on the palate, long lingering finish, alcohol is in check. What a great QPR.
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12/25/2006 - E wrote: 94 Points
Super stuff. Big shouldered zin, but carried its largess extremely well
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12/21/2006 - ChillyWino wrote:
Deep purple. Intense nose of dark ripe fruits, earth, and pepper. Incredibly smooth and lush with a great finish.
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10/28/2006 - olm2000 wrote: 92 Points
wonderful zin...carries 15.9 alcohol w/o a trace of heat
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8/20/2006 - Ekoostik wrote: 91 Points
Much better this time, fleshing out and coming together nicely. So pure in both coloration and flavor, not at all over done. Bargain.
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8/15/2006 - zheem wrote:
Taken camping, drank over three days with no temperature stabilization except the wet tee-shirt evaporative cooler. No formal notes, but very tasty, and no signs of giving up even after three days. Good now, but I'm sure it's got some time left.
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8/14/2006 - suthersm wrote:
Drank because I had heard that of the Carlisle wines, this was one that was approachable early. Right out of the bottle (at cellar temperature) the wine was reticent and sort of all over the place. After about 30 minutes in the glass, this wine was fabulous. Big dark fruit that despite being ripe, never approached sweet. Some, for lack of a better word, dust mixed in with the fruit. Excellent length and so so smooth - wonderful mouthfeel. Mild tannins at the end gave it pleasant structure. Tasted again the next day and the wine seemed even riper, now bordering on sweet and the tannin had disappeared. I really really like this wine and I am excited for the rest of my Carlilsles to be ready.
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6/17/2006 - mfkidd wrote: 89 Points
Decanted for 4-5 hours. Smoky fruit. Well balanced at first, but then came apart a bit at the end. Smoky fruit with a kick at the end. 89-90
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5/26/2006 - Melli wrote: 88 Points
Not the big fruit bomb I expected. OK...but not worth all the hype.
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4/28/2006 - Ekoostik wrote: 89 Points
Not really a huge, dense Zin and by no means jammy...Alc 15.9 but you wouldnt know it. Pure and light on its feet. Being new to Carlisle Ive noticed what I can ony describe as a finish that Ive noticed in wines with Viogner in them...weird. Much less here than in the Three Birds or Sonoma Syrah though. Nice wine but more noticable for its lack of faults rather than its greatness in any one area.
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4/15/2006 - Hillbilly wrote: 91 Points
Delicious. Medium purple with a ruby rim. Zinny mixed black fruit and earth with a white pepper finish edge. Initially I tasted some of the slight oak treatment on the finish (espresso) but that faded with air. Nicely balanced and pleasantly soft in the mouth. It did not reveal layers of complexity, but pure hedonistic pleasure. Nice wine.
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4/9/2006 - irish87 wrote: 88 Points
Had it the day after the shipment arrived. No travel shock noted. Balanced wine, was surprised to see the 15.9 alcohol. It wears it well. A great example of Dry Creek Zin with nice restrained zinberry flavors. Not extremely complex, but a very well made Zin.
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