Commanderie des Costes du Rhone - Fall 2022 Kick-off (Claud): Alas not the best of bottles and perhaps could have done with a double decant as it poured quite a bit more cloudy. Unfortunate as I had an enjoyable experience with the last one.
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Garnet in colour with moderate brick at rim. Thoroughly impressed with this showing – textbook nose of olive tapenade, cured meat, smoldering pine needles, juniper, decaying leaves, with some distant memories of blackcurrants and red berries. The palate is well integrated at this juncture, with fully resolved tannins, moderate acidity, and a fairly length finish. Well in to the savoury and mature realm for syrah, but absolutely striking, and truly captivating. Drink now.
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From half bottle served blind. Wow! What a positive surprise. Drop dead gorgeous textbook old Rhone but with lots left in the tank. Peppery, gravelly, notes of hung meat. A real treat. Could not believe how a half bottle would be so great at age 42... reminded me a bit of Jamet Cote Rotie late 90s.
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What a wonderful time to catch the 78 Hermitage; the wine almost seems more about the sandalwood, warm earth, meaty notes than the pretty wild raspberry and quince notes which are seamlessly woven in. Still with beautiful presence in the mouth. Perhaps this is the perfect time to drink this wine?
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Last bottle of 3 and this was definitely the best. Great old Hermitage - the perfume was enticing with tons of bacon fat, meat, grilled notes but with such nuance and delicacy. Yet, this wine has tremendous power on the finish. Felt like this bottle has another 10 years left in the tank. Will have to find more!
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Absolutely spot on...undoubtedly one of my wines of the year. Just otherworldy perfumed nose of dried red raspberry, spice, charcoal and campfire...flitting back and forth between fruity, savory, and smoky....unbelievable complexity. On the palate, great acidity, and still showing some dried red fruit, a touch of brine...and still some tannin structuring the finish. This bottle was so on point...
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1978 Vintage Wine Dinner At Marc's in MD (DC/Silver Spring MD): Seemed a bit closed. This wasn’t opened till like 930, so I think we opened this too late. Red fruit, good amount of heat on the nose from the alcohol. Had some nice jalapeno on the nose Taste was a touch green with green pepper, black fruit, earth, medium body, medium tannins.
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Significantly better than the last bottle. Classic Hermitage notes of spices, pepper, grilled meat, burning ashes and game. Highly nuanced and at this stage pretty delicate and bugundian yet with big and robust Hermitage flavors. Really lovely tonight.
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Wonderful color, palate feel was delicious, mature, super sweet finish, holding up exceptionally well, spice, got better in the glass even after a decant.
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Cork was soaked through and corroded. Popped and poured which was a mistake. This wine needed some air as it had significant funk - barnyard, brett, band-aid. By the end the funk had subsided a bit and we got some meat, grilled notes, red berries and campfire. Structurally this wine was good - just needed some time to show itself.
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The expected combination of dark soil notes, rich savory spice, and dark fruit. Fruit was quite mature in this bottle, and I would not be inclined to wait much longer on this wine. Rewarding but not particularly expressive. 91-
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Guigal Hermitage Vertical (Palo Alto): Great fruit, almost a bit of floral, a bit of dust, very nice; full bodied with great acidity on the palate, fresh, middle aged, would go really well with food. Excellent balance. 92-93. My #2, Group's #2.
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Mature Hermitage with intense nose of dry spices, roasted meat, earth with good layer of black fruit notes. Palate was increadibly fresh with amazing acidity and vibrant finish. Tannins fully resolved but giving good support and working well wih the acdity. Black currant, leather and animal notes. Will easily hold for another decade or more.
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One of the biggest disappointments in my wine life, this wine was basically high-end sherry. Not corked, but definitely showing major corks flaws. Oh well.
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Consistently delicious. These are definitely throwing a lot of sediment. This bottle was decanted by the somm without asking, but didn't seem to hurt and in hindsight not a bad decision.
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Nice bouquet of smoky raspberries and flowers. Silky and harmonious, with raspberry liquor, pink grapefruit, and sous bois. Striking acidity, a very long, slightly tart finish. Lovely mature wine.
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Dark fruit, earth and barnyard on the nose, with meaty notes. The first half of the bottle was nice once it opened up. Still some fruit, tempered by mineral and earth. As you work your way down toward the bottom, however, the wine gets rather murky. From an intellectual standpoint, it is fun to contemplate the age and the history of the bottle; it almost feels like you're chewing 30 year old earth. But from a taste and texture perspective, it's bad enough that in the end, you don't really want to finish the bottle. Hard to rate a wine like this. The score reflects the first half of the bottle.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Miscellaneous (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Second time tasted. Lovely mature Hermitage, redolent with iron, black truffles, leather, and dark fruit. Fully resolved tannins. Seems to be holding on very well, although there's no reason not to start drinking these up. Co-WOTN for me.
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Wednesday at Heidi's: This is a beautiful bottle of wine. Brick red color. Beguiling nose of dark fruit, earth, barnyard, mineral, and iron. Just beautiful. This is well structured but with a concentrated core of fruit that is much more expansive on the palate than the previous bottle. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral that pick up steam by mid-palate and finish very strongly. Really exciting stuff.
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Another great bottle. Took a few minutes to open up in the glass, but then absolutely fantastic; beautifully perfurmed with grilled meat and earth tones, yet with some cherry fruit remaining.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Northern Rhône (Fugaise, Minneapolis): A recent Winebid acquisition. Nicely dark, brick red color. Incredible, perfumed nose that is classic Hermitage through and through. Leather, violets, smoke, and black licorice. The palate is a touch less impressive, showing mature but still vigorous flavors of dark fruit, meat juice, mineral, and leather. Medium body; silky texture; long finish. Terrific.
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Mpls does Northern Rhone (Chave, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chapoutier, Clape, more): This bottle was in surprisingly good shape. Dark brick red color. Expressive nose of red fruit, earth and mineral/iron. Beautiful. On the palate this is a bit chunky and a compact palate impression. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral. Picks up steam by mid-palate and finishes very well. Excellent stuff.
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Absolutely delicious, and totally au pointe! Drank this with a BYO barbeque along with Ann’s mushroom polenta and kale together with Paul and Marilyn. Classy, balanced and evrything red wine should be.
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Cork was completely soaked through and fell apart. Still the color was deep red with only slight bricking. Initially closed nosed and thin and very tart on the palate. After 30 minutes in the glass it really opened up and put on some weight. Lots of dark fruit, grilled meat, spice and earth. Nice balance.
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Tasted on 4/7/07. No specific notes taken, but the wine was stunning! Now I know what the hype about the '78 vintage was all about.... Very complex, layers of flavor, no hint of decline. Wish I had another bottle or two to drink with a little more attention to detail.
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Low expectations given the RMP tasting notes, but this showed quite well. Ruby color with bricking on the edges. Surprising weight on the palate, with a little glycerin. Nice nose of dark fruit and a little spice. I was also surprised by the balance of the fruit. There is a small amount of tartness, but it provides a contrast and compliment to the fruit. Not dried out at all.
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WOW. What a wine. Cork was slightly dried out and was difficult to get out. Poured into a large bottomed decanter. Purple/Ruby red with hints of bricking on the edges. Initially this was very tart and didn't give much on the nose. After about 45-60 minutes this started to open up. We drank over the course of 2+ hours and it was at it's best towards the end. This definitely indicates to me that it has a long life ahead of it. Once it opened up, it had an incredible nose of earth, smoke, dark fruits, mushrooms, and stone. This all followed through with a great balance. Very smooth and lush, with a nice finish. One of the best wines I have had recently.
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Upon opening bottle, strong and striking aroma of Spanish olives and pimientos! Later, dusty dried fruit and tannins. Pale edge but vigorous color. Very nice with lamb.
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9/6/2022 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Commanderie des Costes du Rhone - Fall 2022 Kick-off (Claud): Alas not the best of bottles and perhaps could have done with a double decant as it poured quite a bit more cloudy. Unfortunate as I had an enjoyable experience with the last one.
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10/21/2021 - alittle wrote: 95 Points
Garnet in colour with moderate brick at rim. Thoroughly impressed with this showing – textbook nose of olive tapenade, cured meat, smoldering pine needles, juniper, decaying leaves, with some distant memories of blackcurrants and red berries. The palate is well integrated at this juncture, with fully resolved tannins, moderate acidity, and a fairly length finish. Well in to the savoury and mature realm for syrah, but absolutely striking, and truly captivating. Drink now.
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8/10/2021 - englishman's claret wrote: 88 Points
A weaker showing than on the last occasion with a woody nose and palate, subtly accented by warm earth and cherry. Not a ton of energy left.
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8/31/2020 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 94 Points
From half bottle served blind. Wow! What a positive surprise. Drop dead gorgeous textbook old Rhone but with lots left in the tank. Peppery, gravelly, notes of hung meat. A real treat. Could not believe how a half bottle would be so great at age 42... reminded me a bit of Jamet Cote Rotie late 90s.
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8/22/2020 - wsammons Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very good after some air to blow off the funk; amazing that this wine still has years left
Very smooth and integrated
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6/8/2020 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
What a wonderful time to catch the 78 Hermitage; the wine almost seems more about the sandalwood, warm earth, meaty notes than the pretty wild raspberry and quince notes which are seamlessly woven in. Still with beautiful presence in the mouth. Perhaps this is the perfect time to drink this wine?
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3/16/2020 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 94 Points
Last bottle of 3 and this was definitely the best. Great old Hermitage - the perfume was enticing with tons of bacon fat, meat, grilled notes but with such nuance and delicacy. Yet, this wine has tremendous power on the finish. Felt like this bottle has another 10 years left in the tank. Will have to find more!
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11/26/2019 - wsammons Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still in a very good place - lots of sediment though - make sure to aerate to blow off funk at the beginning
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2/1/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
La Tablee: Legends Dinner w E. Guigal & after party (Daniel & SommTime): Here again the animal. Also get a bit of sand (not the texture, just the flavor). It's a bit lighter than the 1990. Missing the structure of the Cote Roties, but still a tasty wine.
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11/2/2018 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Absolutely spot on...undoubtedly one of my wines of the year. Just otherworldy perfumed nose of dried red raspberry, spice, charcoal and campfire...flitting back and forth between fruity, savory, and smoky....unbelievable complexity. On the palate, great acidity, and still showing some dried red fruit, a touch of brine...and still some tannin structuring the finish. This bottle was so on point...
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6/2/2018 - ericindc Likes this wine: 88 Points
1978 Vintage Wine Dinner At Marc's in MD (DC/Silver Spring MD): Seemed a bit closed. This wasn’t opened till like 930, so I think we opened this too late. Red fruit, good amount of heat on the nose from the alcohol. Had some nice jalapeno on the nose Taste was a touch green with green pepper, black fruit, earth, medium body, medium tannins.
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4/21/2018 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 93 Points
Significantly better than the last bottle. Classic Hermitage notes of spices, pepper, grilled meat, burning ashes and game. Highly nuanced and at this stage pretty delicate and bugundian yet with big and robust Hermitage flavors. Really lovely tonight.
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3/11/2018 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wonderful color, palate feel was delicious, mature, super sweet finish, holding up exceptionally well, spice, got better in the glass even after a decant.
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2/19/2018 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 89 Points
Cork was soaked through and corroded. Popped and poured which was a mistake. This wine needed some air as it had significant funk - barnyard, brett, band-aid. By the end the funk had subsided a bit and we got some meat, grilled notes, red berries and campfire. Structurally this wine was good - just needed some time to show itself.
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4/8/2017 - tinybubbles wrote: 91 Points
The expected combination of dark soil notes, rich savory spice, and dark fruit. Fruit was quite mature in this bottle, and I would not be inclined to wait much longer on this wine. Rewarding but not particularly expressive. 91-
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4/8/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Wine Tasted at Acker Auction (Le Bernardin Prive - New York NY): Small glass, brief note. All black fruit, black pepper, plenty of earth. Very enjoyable now. Moderate weight and length. Best for the near-term, no upside here, but no urgency either.
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1/4/2015 - AWBryce Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful, clove, cinnamon, earthy, red fruit nose. Good finish, medium acidity, silky mouthfeel. Still a treat.
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3/19/2014 - europat55 wrote: 92 Points
1978-2003 Guigal Hermitages (Tom's house in Palo Alto, California): Nose is similar to the 1980, but a little bit softer (A-). Excellent palate, little bit watery (B++/A-).
My #1, Group's #2 (75 pts). Tasted blind.
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3/19/2014 - aagrawal wrote: 92 Points
Guigal Hermitage Vertical (Palo Alto): Great fruit, almost a bit of floral, a bit of dust, very nice; full bodied with great acidity on the palate, fresh, middle aged, would go really well with food. Excellent balance. 92-93. My #2, Group's #2.
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5/10/2013 - Old Claret wrote: 98 Points
Clean, balanced, cherry fruit. Did not need decanting. From a pristine-looking bottle w/great fill.
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1/19/2013 - rnellans wrote: 94 Points
Dark. Very mature funky nose with some secondary and barnyard aromas. Red fruited, big in the middle. Good fresh lingering finish. Loved this wine!
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10/14/2012 - Lombardi wrote: 93 Points
Mature Hermitage with intense nose of dry spices, roasted meat, earth with good layer of black fruit notes. Palate was increadibly fresh with amazing acidity and vibrant finish. Tannins fully resolved but giving good support and working well wih the acdity. Black currant, leather and animal notes. Will easily hold for another decade or more.
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4/10/2012 - jlgnml wrote:
IWFSC 774th Dinner (Goosefoot, Chicago IL): Meaty, earth, light, tobacco and cedar. Overall outstanding in the glass and with the food.
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2/9/2012 - Reptibark wrote: flawed
One of the biggest disappointments in my wine life, this wine was basically high-end sherry. Not corked, but definitely showing major corks flaws. Oh well.
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2/21/2011 - jerhardt wrote: 93 Points
Consistently delicious. These are definitely throwing a lot of sediment. This bottle was decanted by the somm without asking, but didn't seem to hurt and in hindsight not a bad decision.
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11/16/2009 - davergny wrote: 93 Points
Nice bouquet of smoky raspberries and flowers. Silky and harmonious, with raspberry liquor, pink grapefruit, and sous bois. Striking acidity, a very long, slightly tart finish. Lovely mature wine.
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11/13/2009 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 91 Points
Dark fruit, earth and barnyard on the nose, with meaty notes. The first half of the bottle was nice once it opened up. Still some fruit, tempered by mineral and earth. As you work your way down toward the bottom, however, the wine gets rather murky. From an intellectual standpoint, it is fun to contemplate the age and the history of the bottle; it almost feels like you're chewing 30 year old earth. But from a taste and texture perspective, it's bad enough that in the end, you don't really want to finish the bottle. Hard to rate a wine like this. The score reflects the first half of the bottle.
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11/4/2009 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Miscellaneous (Heidi's, Minneapolis): Second time tasted. Lovely mature Hermitage, redolent with iron, black truffles, leather, and dark fruit. Fully resolved tannins. Seems to be holding on very well, although there's no reason not to start drinking these up. Co-WOTN for me.
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11/4/2009 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 93 Points
Wednesday at Heidi's: This is a beautiful bottle of wine. Brick red color. Beguiling nose of dark fruit, earth, barnyard, mineral, and iron. Just beautiful. This is well structured but with a concentrated core of fruit that is much more expansive on the palate than the previous bottle. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral that pick up steam by mid-palate and finish very strongly. Really exciting stuff.
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5/26/2009 - jerhardt wrote: 93 Points
At village pub. Another very good showing. A bit cloudy and showing its age, but very aromatically complex and retaining some fruit on the palate.
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4/1/2009 - Gargantua wrote: flawed
Murky metallic hell. Burned on Acker, such a shame.
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12/31/2008 - jerhardt wrote: 93 Points
Another great bottle. Took a few minutes to open up in the glass, but then absolutely fantastic; beautifully perfurmed with grilled meat and earth tones, yet with some cherry fruit remaining.
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11/25/2008 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Northern Rhône (Fugaise, Minneapolis): A recent Winebid acquisition. Nicely dark, brick red color. Incredible, perfumed nose that is classic Hermitage through and through. Leather, violets, smoke, and black licorice. The palate is a touch less impressive, showing mature but still vigorous flavors of dark fruit, meat juice, mineral, and leather. Medium body; silky texture; long finish. Terrific.
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11/25/2008 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Mpls does Northern Rhone (Chave, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chapoutier, Clape, more): This bottle was in surprisingly good shape. Dark brick red color. Expressive nose of red fruit, earth and mineral/iron. Beautiful. On the palate this is a bit chunky and a compact palate impression. Flavors are dominated by dark cherry and iron/mineral. Picks up steam by mid-palate and finishes very well. Excellent stuff.
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11/19/2008 - jerhardt wrote: 93 Points
Excellent bottle of wine. Pure and classic Hermitage fully mature and drinking at its peak, but at no risk of falling apart.
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5/3/2008 - Old Claret wrote: 97 Points
Absolutely delicious, and totally au pointe! Drank this with a BYO barbeque along with Ann’s mushroom polenta and kale together with Paul and Marilyn. Classy, balanced and evrything red wine should be.
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9/3/2007 - rsepulve wrote:
Cork was completely soaked through and fell apart. Still the color was deep red with only slight bricking. Initially closed nosed and thin and very tart on the palate. After 30 minutes in the glass it really opened up and put on some weight. Lots of dark fruit, grilled meat, spice and earth. Nice balance.
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4/19/2007 - Winebroker2007 wrote: 95 Points
Tasted on 4/7/07. No specific notes taken, but the wine was stunning! Now I know what the hype about the '78 vintage was all about.... Very complex, layers of flavor, no hint of decline. Wish I had another bottle or two to drink with a little more attention to detail.
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1/11/2007 - cweiss wrote:
From a 375ml. Nothing at first, and then opened up to be just fair. I suspect this would have been better in the past.
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1/8/2006 - JoeB wrote: 90 Points
Low expectations given the RMP tasting notes, but this showed quite well. Ruby color with bricking on the edges. Surprising weight on the palate, with a little glycerin. Nice nose of dark fruit and a little spice. I was also surprised by the balance of the fruit. There is a small amount of tartness, but it provides a contrast and compliment to the fruit. Not dried out at all.
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12/20/2005 - ChillyWino wrote: 95 Points
WOW. What a wine. Cork was slightly dried out and was difficult to get out. Poured into a large bottomed decanter. Purple/Ruby red with hints of bricking on the edges. Initially this was very tart and didn't give much on the nose. After about 45-60 minutes this started to open up. We drank over the course of 2+ hours and it was at it's best towards the end. This definitely indicates to me that it has a long life ahead of it. Once it opened up, it had an incredible nose of earth, smoke, dark fruits, mushrooms, and stone. This all followed through with a great balance. Very smooth and lush, with a nice finish. One of the best wines I have had recently.
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6/1/2000 - winefool wrote: 88 Points
Surprisingly fresh (Parker was crazy). Good solid fruit, with a pale red complexion (not garnet). Interesting and enjoyable. (6/00)
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4/2/1999 - RogerG wrote:
Upon opening bottle, strong and striking aroma of Spanish olives and pimientos! Later, dusty dried fruit and tannins. Pale edge but vigorous color. Very nice with lamb.
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9/19/1992 - RogerG wrote:
Salmon rim; very deep color; dry fruity nose; raisiny, not so intense; drying out, especially noticeable by 2nd day. 3 of 15
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