San Antonio Wine Geeks - The Great Lamb Feast (with syrah) (Home of John Webber): Great nose of currants, mocha, and the only syrah showing a citrus grapefruit that I picked up tonight. Nose turned rather stinky/funky as the night wore on. Clean red fruit palate, mostly integrated tannins turning slightly sweet on a toasty mocha finish. The Novy syrahs always show a slightly coarse “unpolished” tannic structure to me, and this was no exceptions. Great complexity and QPR, probably near peak now.
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Cork crumbled again, but the wine was fine. Less gamey than previous bottles, but firmer tannins. Of the three bottles I purchased, this was perhaps the best. Now kicking myself for not buying more while I had the chance. [$14.5% abv.; $3.75].
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Decanted one hour, enjoyed over one. Dark rich color. Beefy, that wonderful Rosella's citric acidity, black fruits. Plums a la plancha. Wonderful foil for the Mexican food, as the deep flavors of the wine accentuated the smokiness of the beef and the acidity drew out the richness of the beans.
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PnP. Dark fruit on nose, but with little else I'm interested in a syrah. On palate the intense fruits are balanced by sharp tannins and focused, bright acidity. This gives a nice sense of texture and even a little finesse. A very soundly made wine that would be great with some complexity. It may develop, but this is my only bottle.
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14.5% alcohol. Still a deep red color, although perhaps the slightest hints that some bricking may come about soon. Aromatic nose of classic Rosella's citrus, meaty black fruit, and a forest floor note. In the mouth, lush and focused, with excellent concentration. Pure fruit flavors, laced with a meaty edge, and the citric liveliness of this vineyard come into play. Strong finish that sails on. Tannins have pretty much fully resolved. The finish is quite caressing. Drinking very well. A-
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dark garnet color; plums and blackberry on the nose; full finish; great depth to this wine; still has at least several more years of life in it; while not cheap, you are getting a lot of wine for the price; have one more left and I am going to wait at least a year to see how this wine ages
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Popped and poured, consumed over 6hrs. Inky crimson in the glass. Nose very bright, with currants, plum, and blackberries, a fine streak of citrus, tar, and a little alcohol that was slightly intrusive. Palate with strong acidity, fine tannins, and full fruit body, all well balanced and a little heat, while adding some toast and scorched earth. Reasonable length finish, with rocks and currants, and a citrus element that some have referred to as grapefruit, becoming prominent. A unique well made syrah, but a little on the hot side for me. Still, a fine wine that I certainly enjoyed that I don't see getting better--in the middle of its drinking window.
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Cork split upon opening & part had to be pushed in...Jet black, fairly thin legs. Quite big nose of stewed dark fruit, musty leather, game meat, & a strong, almost Pinot-like funk. Little if any oak. The funk & gamey notes eventually blew off somewhat from the nose, but then followed over onto the palate, which apparently isn't uncommon given others' notes. A little hollow initially on the midpalate, but fleshed-out some with air. Not particularly high in acidity, nor fruit for that matter, but nice tannins do grip during the finish. An unique Syrah, just not quite as powerful as the nose would suggest.
Day 2: Most the funk & game notes have subsided, revealing a core of beautiful dark fruit & finer tannic structure than most Aussie counterparts. But, lacks the same crecendo of Aussie spice during the midpalate. Worthy at this price. [14.5% abv.; $23.50].
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My last 2004. The more wine I drink from this property the more I assert that there is typicity and terroir from this site. The merde-like nose even shows itself here on the open, but fades with air. Add a crushed rock note, too. This is Rosella's typicity. The citrus acidity, which is Rosella's. The bbq meat and soy.......more typicity. Perhaps given the vintage, this version from Adam shows more iron notes, more red and black a bit more alcohol and chocolate. Really kind of a mix of everything. In the end, it's Rosella's but not my favorite, which now is still led by the 2003, likely that will be surpassed by the 2005. Anyway, we'll see how some air treats it. Note--2 years ago, I indicated blue and black fruit with my TN.....interestingly, I get iron and red/black this time. Palate awareness, bottle development????? Last glass a day later....more expressive, better weight, more darker fruit (yet still some red) and more rich, akin to the vintage. Overall, I liked this wine much better after the extra day, it flows well.
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dark and dense. From the color to the aromas this wine does not pull any punches. I don't get the pink grapefruit but I do pick up some acidity so maybe I'm getting close? Lots of smoked, scorched earth with plenty of fruit to round this out. Great stuff.
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Saturday Club -- August 23, 2008 (Mike Brown's Claymont Corner Deli): Quite toasty syrah fruit nose -- reminded me of Mitolo, if only for the aromatics of the wine. A couple of comments suggested the nose smelled synthetic -- which I take to be the combination of the blue/blackberry fruit and the oak. Very big mouthfeel, but balanced and with a long finish. A good tasting wine.
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Who stole the grapefruit? Oddly enough this is my first Rosella's that does not show any notes of it's signature trademark, pink grapefruit. The wine drinks nice enough so I'm having a hard time attributing it to an off bottle, but I must say I dearly miss the grapefruit. A Rosella's syrah without grapefruit is like a day without sunshine.
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Double decanted and poured, and consumed over 5 hours. Medium to full-bodied wine that is dark magenta/purple in color. On the nose, dark berries, light funk that mostly blew off after an hour or so, campfire wood, and light VA. On the palate, blackberries, grapefruit, and mocha on the very long 30-40 second finish. Nice fruit here, and a fair bit of acidity...balance and structure are good, too. I always love Novy's version of Rosella's Syrah...and 2004's version is another QPR winner!
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Dropped in the decanter about 2 hours ago. Deep, dark purple in the glass. Initially, bloody, meaty scents on the nose. Stacked dark fruit and scorched earth, more meat and some espresso notes on the palate. Big, tannic finish. Begs for a few years in the cellar. At two hours, some buttered popcorn notes emerge along with some more red fruit. Very nice, very young.
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The wine had a dark ruby color and aromas of dark cherry, plum and chocolate. The fruit carrys through in the palette and filled up the mouth. Full body, soft tannins and the characteristic black pepper spiciness of syrah characterize the wine. Despite the big fruit and the lack of tannin, and slightly low acidity the wine did not feel flabby and was well structured. It remained well balanced and showed medium to full length finishing with chocolate. I had this wine over a period of 3 hours and was surprised to find the fruit actually come out more towards the end. Would recommend this wine by itself rather than pairing it with food.
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Decanted from a magnum in a magnum decanter...deep, dark depth of purple haze, and a full clean nose of ripe dark fruit that had a smokey and earthy edge to it...and that edge seemed to frame a full fruit structure that was nicely rounded in texture from entry to finish...and it had that edge all the way through, that for me was simply from its youth. Great substance and character that will last for several more years.
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Inky, dark purple color, with rich meaty flavors, plenty of dark fruit, and a very smooth structure of tannins. Very savory (as opposed to sweet) in style, but very rich and ripe.
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This is a meaty wine. The nose is awesome. It starts off with some raspberry mixed with pepper. This is followed by hints of cherry, blueberry, tar, and earth. The palate is thick and juicy with lots of dark fruit and pepper, mixed with small amounts of earth and flowers. The tannins are very ripe and really grip the entire mouth. The fruit and pepper flavors stay in the mouth for a long time.
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a step up for sure from the Napa and Sonoma county bottlings. Very good, beautiful nose and rich dark in color. Very spicy and I do sense a little bit of chocolate. more great stuff from Novy!
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First run at this new vintage. With the wife out of town for a few days, figured I'm on my own so having a leftover italian sausage from the KB offline, wrapped in a pita with Trader Joe's yellow mustard. Good combo. So to the wine.....on first pour, it smells like a Rosella's: spicy, peppery (oh, wait....aren't the SLH wines supposed to lack pepper??? sorry, inside WS joke) and with that loamy note--classic Novy Rosella's. Texture of the wine is medium to full bodied and right now the wine is dominated by three main flavors: red cherry, pink grapefruit and chocolate, which I would guess is from a good blast of oak. The finish is quite spicy and the wine is really just a baby now...juicy, giant and young. I plan to let my other two sleep, likely for a few years but like past vintages of this wine, it's got the goods.
Day 2--Wine still carries a nose of some pepper and some herb...what's the french term....garrigue? The wine texturally has smoothed out quite a bit since last night with a dominance of bittersweet chocolate and grapefruit leading the flavors. Some plum to the wine tonight too. The wine will drink well enough now to enjoy and is pretty hedonistic, which is the way I like these much of the time.
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This showed poorly at a wine tasting. Too much oak. I remember this being better at the winery, so perhaps a long decant is in order (or my palate was shot by that point).
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6/8/2014 - rhanke wrote: 92 Points
Showing great
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2/18/2012 - sunnyjam wrote: 92 Points
Excellent nose with earth, funk and fruit. Fruit forward on the palate, medium finish. Very good.
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2/6/2011 - Nutty08 wrote: 92 Points
San Antonio Wine Geeks - The Great Lamb Feast (with syrah) (Home of John Webber): Great nose of currants, mocha, and the only syrah showing a citrus grapefruit that I picked up tonight. Nose turned rather stinky/funky as the night wore on. Clean red fruit palate, mostly integrated tannins turning slightly sweet on a toasty mocha finish. The Novy syrahs always show a slightly coarse “unpolished” tannic structure to me, and this was no exceptions. Great complexity and QPR, probably near peak now.
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8/3/2010 - Bacchant wrote: 92 Points
Cork crumbled again, but the wine was fine. Less gamey than previous bottles, but firmer tannins. Of the three bottles I purchased, this was perhaps the best. Now kicking myself for not buying more while I had the chance. [$14.5% abv.; $3.75].
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2/7/2010 - blondon wrote:
Decanted one hour, enjoyed over one. Dark rich color. Beefy, that wonderful Rosella's citric acidity, black fruits. Plums a la plancha. Wonderful foil for the Mexican food, as the deep flavors of the wine accentuated the smokiness of the beef and the acidity drew out the richness of the beans.
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11/5/2009 - thomaskeil wrote: 88 Points
PnP. Dark fruit on nose, but with little else I'm interested in a syrah. On palate the intense fruits are balanced by sharp tannins and focused, bright acidity. This gives a nice sense of texture and even a little finesse. A very soundly made wine that would be great with some complexity. It may develop, but this is my only bottle.
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11/5/2009 - gutt22 wrote:
14.5% alcohol. Still a deep red color, although perhaps the slightest hints that some bricking may come about soon. Aromatic nose of classic Rosella's citrus, meaty black fruit, and a forest floor note. In the mouth, lush and focused, with excellent concentration. Pure fruit flavors, laced with a meaty edge, and the citric liveliness of this vineyard come into play. Strong finish that sails on. Tannins have pretty much fully resolved. The finish is quite caressing. Drinking very well. A-
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10/19/2009 - windypinot wrote: 91 Points
dark garnet color; plums and blackberry on the nose; full finish; great depth to this wine; still has at least several more years of life in it; while not cheap, you are getting a lot of wine for the price; have one more left and I am going to wait at least a year to see how this wine ages
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9/11/2009 - Bacchant wrote: 91 Points
Consistent with previous notes. A bit more acidity and this would have sung. An absolute steal for the pice [14.5% a.b.v.; $3.75].
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7/18/2009 - Nutty08 wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured, consumed over 6hrs. Inky crimson in the glass. Nose very bright, with currants, plum, and blackberries, a fine streak of citrus, tar, and a little alcohol that was slightly intrusive. Palate with strong acidity, fine tannins, and full fruit body, all well balanced and a little heat, while adding some toast and scorched earth. Reasonable length finish, with rocks and currants, and a citrus element that some have referred to as grapefruit, becoming prominent. A unique well made syrah, but a little on the hot side for me. Still, a fine wine that I certainly enjoyed that I don't see getting better--in the middle of its drinking window.
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7/18/2009 - bigdogflow wrote: 91 Points
Well balanced with big fruit on nose and taste. Nice even finish. Very nice!!!
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7/16/2009 - shaneajohnson wrote: 90 Points
No formal notes. Drinking very well right now.
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4/24/2009 - Bacchant wrote: 90 Points
Cork split upon opening & part had to be pushed in...Jet black, fairly thin legs. Quite big nose of stewed dark fruit, musty leather, game meat, & a strong, almost Pinot-like funk. Little if any oak. The funk & gamey notes eventually blew off somewhat from the nose, but then followed over onto the palate, which apparently isn't uncommon given others' notes. A little hollow initially on the midpalate, but fleshed-out some with air. Not particularly high in acidity, nor fruit for that matter, but nice tannins do grip during the finish. An unique Syrah, just not quite as powerful as the nose would suggest.
Day 2: Most the funk & game notes have subsided, revealing a core of beautiful dark fruit & finer tannic structure than most Aussie counterparts. But, lacks the same crecendo of Aussie spice during the midpalate. Worthy at this price. [14.5% abv.; $23.50].
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4/24/2009 - Frank Murray III wrote:
My last 2004. The more wine I drink from this property the more I assert that there is typicity and terroir from this site. The merde-like nose even shows itself here on the open, but fades with air. Add a crushed rock note, too. This is Rosella's typicity. The citrus acidity, which is Rosella's. The bbq meat and soy.......more typicity. Perhaps given the vintage, this version from Adam shows more iron notes, more red and black a bit more alcohol and chocolate. Really kind of a mix of everything. In the end, it's Rosella's but not my favorite, which now is still led by the 2003, likely that will be surpassed by the 2005. Anyway, we'll see how some air treats it. Note--2 years ago, I indicated blue and black fruit with my TN.....interestingly, I get iron and red/black this time. Palate awareness, bottle development????? Last glass a day later....more expressive, better weight, more darker fruit (yet still some red) and more rich, akin to the vintage. Overall, I liked this wine much better after the extra day, it flows well.
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9/2/2008 - MBrown wrote: 91 Points
dark and dense. From the color to the aromas this wine does not pull any punches. I don't get the pink grapefruit but I do pick up some acidity so maybe I'm getting close? Lots of smoked, scorched earth with plenty of fruit to round this out. Great stuff.
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8/23/2008 - BordeauxNut wrote: 92 Points
Saturday Club -- August 23, 2008 (Mike Brown's Claymont Corner Deli): Quite toasty syrah fruit nose -- reminded me of Mitolo, if only for the aromatics of the wine. A couple of comments suggested the nose smelled synthetic -- which I take to be the combination of the blue/blackberry fruit and the oak. Very big mouthfeel, but balanced and with a long finish. A good tasting wine.
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8/11/2008 - shaneajohnson wrote: 90 Points
No formal notes, but liked very much.
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8/7/2008 - assaf wrote: 90 Points
No notes, but it was very good especially with some air.
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8/7/2008 - pjhr wrote: 92 Points
As tasty as the last bottle!
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4/15/2008 - RussW wrote:
Who stole the grapefruit? Oddly enough this is my first Rosella's that does not show any notes of it's signature trademark, pink grapefruit. The wine drinks nice enough so I'm having a hard time attributing it to an off bottle, but I must say I dearly miss the grapefruit. A Rosella's syrah without grapefruit is like a day without sunshine.
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4/11/2008 - Taylor56 wrote: 90 Points
Not as good as our first bottle but still a solid wine.
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2/20/2008 - gdbarton1@gmail.com wrote:
Very dark purple, opaque. Dark black fruit nose. Full bodied, blackfruit and juniper. Great flavor and balance, big, sturdy, blackfruit and spive.
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2/20/2008 - gdbarton1@gmail.com wrote:
Very dark purple. Nose of dark black fruit. Full bodied, black fruit and juniper. Great flavor and balance, big sturdy, black fruit and spice.
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1/5/2008 - pkbackman wrote: 91 Points
This is an awesome wine. A lot of depth. Earthy nose. Big fruit flavors, with mouth coating tannings and a smooth finish with hints of oakiness.
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11/5/2007 - pjhr wrote: 92 Points
Tasty Syrah! Wonderful berry and pepper aromas with delicious fruit, spices, and tobacco notes. Well integrated tannins with a long finish.
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10/31/2007 - DFC wrote: 91 Points
Double decanted and poured, and consumed over 5 hours. Medium to full-bodied wine that is dark magenta/purple in color. On the nose, dark berries, light funk that mostly blew off after an hour or so, campfire wood, and light VA. On the palate, blackberries, grapefruit, and mocha on the very long 30-40 second finish. Nice fruit here, and a fair bit of acidity...balance and structure are good, too. I always love Novy's version of Rosella's Syrah...and 2004's version is another QPR winner!
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7/20/2007 - decaturwinedude wrote: 91 Points
Dropped in the decanter about 2 hours ago. Deep, dark purple in the glass. Initially, bloody, meaty scents on the nose. Stacked dark fruit and scorched earth, more meat and some espresso notes on the palate. Big, tannic finish. Begs for a few years in the cellar.
At two hours, some buttered popcorn notes emerge along with some more red fruit. Very nice, very young.
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3/31/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
OC Virtual Rosella's Syrah Tasting (OC and Virtual For Parker BB): More open textured than the 2004 Roar Rosella's, more forward and a broader palate with grapefruit. Dark espresso and to me, more blue/black flavors here than red.
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3/13/2007 - DocSkinner wrote: 89 Points
Very nice needs a little more bottle time, but probably not too much!
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2/15/2007 - duggarm@outlook.com wrote: 93 Points
The wine had a dark ruby color and aromas of dark cherry, plum and chocolate. The fruit carrys through in the palette and filled up the mouth. Full body, soft tannins and the characteristic black pepper spiciness of syrah characterize the wine. Despite the big fruit and the lack of tannin, and slightly low acidity the wine did not feel flabby and was well structured. It remained well balanced and showed medium to full length finishing with chocolate. I had this wine over a period of 3 hours and was surprised to find the fruit actually come out more towards the end. Would recommend this wine by itself rather than pairing it with food.
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2/10/2007 - Tejano wrote: 90 Points
Decanted from a magnum in a magnum decanter...deep, dark depth of purple haze, and a full clean nose of ripe dark fruit that had a smokey and earthy edge to it...and that edge seemed to frame a full fruit structure that was nicely rounded in texture from entry to finish...and it had that edge all the way through, that for me was simply from its youth. Great substance and character that will last for several more years.
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2/2/2007 - Taylor56 wrote: 92 Points
Very solid syrah.
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11/26/2006 - sdatl wrote: 92 Points
Inky, dark purple color, with rich meaty flavors, plenty of dark fruit, and a very smooth structure of tannins. Very savory (as opposed to sweet) in style, but very rich and ripe.
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9/10/2006 - mmurry wrote: 91 Points
This is a meaty wine. The nose is awesome. It starts off with some raspberry mixed with pepper. This is followed by hints of cherry, blueberry, tar, and earth. The palate is thick and juicy with lots of dark fruit and pepper, mixed with small amounts of earth and flowers. The tannins are very ripe and really grip the entire mouth. The fruit and pepper flavors stay in the mouth for a long time.
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7/22/2006 - JonnyB wrote: 90 Points
a step up for sure from the Napa and Sonoma county bottlings. Very good, beautiful nose and rich dark in color. Very spicy and I do sense a little bit of chocolate. more great stuff from Novy!
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6/8/2006 - Frank Murray III wrote:
First run at this new vintage. With the wife out of town for a few days, figured I'm on my own so having a leftover italian sausage from the KB offline, wrapped in a pita with Trader Joe's yellow mustard. Good combo. So to the wine.....on first pour, it smells like a Rosella's: spicy, peppery (oh, wait....aren't the SLH wines supposed to lack pepper??? sorry, inside WS joke) and with that loamy note--classic Novy Rosella's. Texture of the wine is medium to full bodied and right now the wine is dominated by three main flavors: red cherry, pink grapefruit and chocolate, which I would guess is from a good blast of oak. The finish is quite spicy and the wine is really just a baby now...juicy, giant and young. I plan to let my other two sleep, likely for a few years but like past vintages of this wine, it's got the goods.
Day 2--Wine still carries a nose of some pepper and some herb...what's the french term....garrigue? The wine texturally has smoothed out quite a bit since last night with a dominance of bittersweet chocolate and grapefruit leading the flavors. Some plum to the wine tonight too. The wine will drink well enough now to enjoy and is pretty hedonistic, which is the way I like these much of the time.
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6/5/2006 - collin wrote:
This showed poorly at a wine tasting. Too much oak. I remember this being better at the winery, so perhaps a long decant is in order (or my palate was shot by that point).
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