Extraordinary nose of celery and parsley...vegetal, but not unripe, with bright plummy fruit under the all the herby herby herbiness. I liked it a lot. Don't hate.
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100% Pineau d'Aunis. Quite dark, slowly starting to show some maturity on the rim. Nose is quite vegetal with roots (celery, carrots). Very strict. After 3 days, fruit finally show up: intense strawberry wtih dark cherry giving you a glimpse of its potential. There's also a nice light licorice note. Tannins are quite firm, helping the wine's structure. This was definitely better with a lot of air and food is mandatory here. I'd like to try another vintage than 2004. Interesting for sure.
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Medium garnet red, strikingly bright. Classic Pineau d'Aunis nose but not too aggressive, with tobacco and sneaky sweet fruit that is surprisingly black in profile. Bright flavors, with a slightly gravelly texture. Lingering bell pepper and cumin aftertaste made this a curiously complementary pairing with chili. With time in the bottle this reveals more generosity and ready albeit far from obvious appeal, with an undeniable juicy streak running throughout. Great length caps it all off.
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Smelled like pine needles or, as my wife less generously put it, bug spray. Didn't taste much better. Too herbal for my tastes, which is a nice way of saying we hated it.
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This will NOT be to everyone's taste. Color is dark ruby, the color of a cru beajolais. That analogy carries over to the body of the wine, which is light-medium even though I was surprised to see it was 14% alc/vol. Aromas of topsoil and forest floor. Palate is cherries, earth, and pine. This is only going to work with food, and then think earthy like mushrooms, black beans, etc.
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This is a bold but not big wine. Has a very different taste that I'm not sure I liked. I could not guess the grape - and that's because (well...) it's one I hadn't had before, Pineau d'Aunis. For wine adventurers, in a good way, and it might be an interesting one to age.
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Loire Tasting and Dinner (Traci's pad, Rockridge): Intensely resinous, medicinal pine tar nose. Palate reminiscent of swedish bitters mixed with light red fruit and earthy clay. Tony V mentioned agave and that clicked - the palate here is oddly reminiscent of a good earthy reposado tequila, without any heat. Lots of drying tannins on the finish. Fascinating in its own way, but this didn't work for me as either a food or sipping wine, as the overwhelming pine tar nose was too distracting.
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This was a big hit. I think it would have gone really well with the lobster we ate, but we finished most of it before-hand. Nutty, slighty sweet, maybe a little spearmint. Best Pineau d'Aunis I've had, not that that's saying much, altogether a very nice (and very different) wine.
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10/12/2011 - Junior wrote:
Extraordinary nose of celery and parsley...vegetal, but not unripe, with bright plummy fruit under the all the herby herby herbiness. I liked it a lot. Don't hate.
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10/8/2010 - french16 wrote:
100% Pineau d'Aunis. Quite dark, slowly starting to show some maturity on the rim. Nose is quite vegetal with roots (celery, carrots). Very strict. After 3 days, fruit finally show up: intense strawberry wtih dark cherry giving you a glimpse of its potential. There's also a nice light licorice note. Tannins are quite firm, helping the wine's structure.
This was definitely better with a lot of air and food is mandatory here. I'd like to try another vintage than 2004.
Interesting for sure.
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6/11/2010 - Aloysius16 wrote: 87 Points
Good fruit quality but hard to get beyond the powerfully medicinal bouquet.
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4/23/2010 - tcfishler wrote:
Medium garnet red, strikingly bright. Classic Pineau d'Aunis nose but not too aggressive, with tobacco and sneaky sweet fruit that is surprisingly black in profile. Bright flavors, with a slightly gravelly texture. Lingering bell pepper and cumin aftertaste made this a curiously complementary pairing with chili. With time in the bottle this reveals more generosity and ready albeit far from obvious appeal, with an undeniable juicy streak running throughout. Great length caps it all off.
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12/21/2009 - benjordan wrote:
Weird wine, but interesting. Ready to drink?
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10/18/2008 - ttriche wrote: 70 Points
Smelled like pine needles or, as my wife less generously put it, bug spray. Didn't taste much better. Too herbal for my tastes, which is a nice way of saying we hated it.
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8/5/2008 - drdebs wrote: 90 Points
This will NOT be to everyone's taste. Color is dark ruby, the color of a cru beajolais. That analogy carries over to the body of the wine, which is light-medium even though I was surprised to see it was 14% alc/vol. Aromas of topsoil and forest floor. Palate is cherries, earth, and pine. This is only going to work with food, and then think earthy like mushrooms, black beans, etc.
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11/21/2007 - LoireFan wrote:
This is a bold but not big wine. Has a very different taste that I'm not sure I liked. I could not guess the grape - and that's because (well...) it's one I hadn't had before, Pineau d'Aunis. For wine adventurers, in a good way, and it might be an interesting one to age.
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4/14/2007 - 5laton wrote:
Loire Tasting and Dinner (Traci's pad, Rockridge): Intensely resinous, medicinal pine tar nose. Palate reminiscent of swedish bitters mixed with light red fruit and earthy clay. Tony V mentioned agave and that clicked - the palate here is oddly reminiscent of a good earthy reposado tequila, without any heat. Lots of drying tannins on the finish. Fascinating in its own way, but this didn't work for me as either a food or sipping wine, as the overwhelming pine tar nose was too distracting.
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1/6/2007 - cab wrote:
Once again, enjoyed by (almost) all. Piney, aromatic, nutty, very interesting and very fulfilling.
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12/25/2006 - Spencer wrote:
This wasn't corked, but it was clearly flawed in some other way. Spritzy, sour, acidic. Undrinkable.
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12/22/2006 - cab wrote:
This was a big hit. I think it would have gone really well with the lobster we ate, but we finished most of it before-hand. Nutty, slighty sweet, maybe a little spearmint. Best Pineau d'Aunis I've had, not that that's saying much, altogether a very nice (and very different) wine.
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3/25/2006 - WNissen wrote:
Real Wine Assault (K&L Wines, San Francisco, Cal.): $23. Striking herbality, pine, and if not for a smoky note, has quite a similar nose to the previous two wines. Good+.
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