Retail $25. Heavy bottle. I picked up this bottle on a visit to the winery back in 2015. This week, I am trying to do a little inventory in the cellar and I came across this bottle which I immediately realized needed to be consumed. Fairly dark in the glass with stewed plum and blackberry aromas. Add in a bit of anise, menthol, and pencil shavings, and we are almost there. As some have mentioned, there is a bit of Brett here, but it is far from debilitating, in fact, I find it, um, charming? Sure, this is likely past its prime, maybe even "well past" but I find it charming if not compelling.
Lovely right now. A delicate, mild blueberry-flavoured, mid-palate sweetness make this an enjoyable drink. Certainly a light northern Rhone style; possibly lacking a little heft and complexity but very drinkable. Don't keep any longer.
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Very interesting - in the good kinda way... Big aromas, with lots going on: blackberry, blackcurrant, and olive, with toasty savoury aromas. Smoke and old leather. Black pepper. Slight reductive smell, but still ok to me. Enjoyable wine! Still has potential.
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Deep purple, with a red tinge. Delicious red fruits on the nose, dominated by raspberry. Finely balanced in the glass, smokey red fruits but perhaps a touch too much smoke that fails to pull this into the 90s. Very well made though, but £16 is enough.
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Everything was going along fine on this wine with my drinking partner, until my palate got to the the brettanomyces. Deep rich dark color. To me a funky nose, but everyone else was enthralled. There was plum and sandalwood and baking spice with something savory, but also something weedy, stemmy and briny. There is enough fresh upfront fruit with underlying structure for this wine to merit the acceptance it has. Hate to rain on the parade, but the brett diminished the fruit, brought on a tree sap flavor, ruined the mouth feel, and left me disappointed, alongside some people who loved it.
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8/30/2023 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 88 Points
Retail $25. Heavy bottle. I picked up this bottle on a visit to the winery back in 2015. This week, I am trying to do a little inventory in the cellar and I came across this bottle which I immediately realized needed to be consumed. Fairly dark in the glass with stewed plum and blackberry aromas. Add in a bit of anise, menthol, and pencil shavings, and we are almost there. As some have mentioned, there is a bit of Brett here, but it is far from debilitating, in fact, I find it, um, charming? Sure, this is likely past its prime, maybe even "well past" but I find it charming if not compelling.
www.thedrunkencyclist.com
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5/15/2021 - CarmenScott Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still a delicious wine. Blackberry and cherry finish. Perfect with a spicy Ethiopian wat.
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2/16/2018 - Geoffwine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Lovely right now. A delicate, mild blueberry-flavoured, mid-palate sweetness make this an enjoyable drink. Certainly a light northern Rhone style; possibly lacking a little heft and complexity but very drinkable. Don't keep any longer.
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4/10/2017 - Teawine Likes this wine:
Very interesting - in the good kinda way... Big aromas, with lots going on: blackberry, blackcurrant, and olive, with toasty savoury aromas. Smoke and old leather. Black pepper. Slight reductive smell, but still ok to me. Enjoyable wine! Still has potential.
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10/10/2016 - thehaughleydrinker Likes this wine: 88 Points
Deep purple, with a red tinge. Delicious red fruits on the nose, dominated by raspberry. Finely balanced in the glass, smokey red fruits but perhaps a touch too much smoke that fails to pull this into the 90s. Very well made though, but £16 is enough.
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9/22/2016 - Blue92 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Deep, refined and fruit-forward, this Northern Rhone varietal yields a smooth and robust wine with black pepper and black cherry on the finish.
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9/18/2016 - pjaines wrote:
Clunky and chunky right now and lacks nuance. Will it get any better than the oaky bacon it currently has? Probably not.
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9/9/2015 - kmwesley Likes this wine: 90 Points
K: 90
M: 85
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3/10/2015 - Mike Kopanski wrote: 87 Points
Everything was going along fine on this wine with my drinking partner, until my palate got to the the brettanomyces. Deep rich dark color. To me a funky nose, but everyone else was enthralled. There was plum and sandalwood and baking spice with something savory, but also something weedy, stemmy and briny. There is enough fresh upfront fruit with underlying structure for this wine to merit the acceptance it has. Hate to rain on the parade, but the brett diminished the fruit, brought on a tree sap flavor, ruined the mouth feel, and left me disappointed, alongside some people who loved it.
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