Tight, but started to open up after about 30 minutes showing good fruit, medium/full body, solid finish. Continued to open for another hour and improved through dinner. Cellared since release. Not gone yet.
Unfortunately, this one is definitely getting past prime. Dried tannins, clipped fruit and an overall slight bitterness on the finish diminishes the tasting experience. No damage appeared to have occurred on this bottle, and it was stored in a climate controlled environment. Initial tasting was the best with some cassis and mint flavors, an abundance of earthy almost mushroom flavors on the finish. But the fruit was subsumed by the unkind tannins, which stayed strong through the second day. Hope anyone else who still has a bottle finds a better experience than I did.
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probably should've popped this 2-3 years ago, but it was pretty good. Hint of stewed fruit tho. Early notes of it being super oaky kept me from diving in sooner, but I was still pleasantly surprised... drink up if you have it.
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Waited all this time and this was great but still kind of disappointing. Disparate components. Some jutting intensity but also some subtlety and nuance. I don’t know that it will ever come together. If you have just one—as I do now—I guess I’d drink in 2020.
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Nose is filled with charred wood and creosote, redolent of green bell pepper and black currant. Medium-full bodied with sweet creme de cassis and new vanillin oak. Decidedly sweet on the palate, this has caressing tannins and bright acidity. Seems a bit disjointed to me, but it is fine nonetheless. Still quite youthful as the level of sweetness attests. Drink now-2021+ 90
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Perfectly middle aged--fruit is unmistakably Cabernet, but there's all this interesting secondary development and all's in perfect, harmonious balance. Blackberry, tobacco, coffee. Wouldn't want it a day younger or a day older, but it should hold nicely for a few years.
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The first of 6 purchased on release. This was decanted for 90 minutes leaving a fairly substantial fine grained sediment. The color was a dense purple red with no indication of bricking. The accessible aromatics were dominated by full, ripe dark fruits with emerging secondary notes and an herbal-briary edge. In the mouth, it is very solid, round, and surprisingly soft with resolved tannins. For me though, it seems a little unfocused. Flavor intensity starts out well with ripe fleshy fruit, a touch of tobacco, and noticeable but not obtrusive oak, but it flattens out in mid palate and trails off rather quickly. In spite of the 14.6% alcohol, it finishes without a trace of heat or harshness. Overall, it is totally satisfying but a little short in the complexity and flavor delineation departments. I expect this to hold well and plan to finish them over the next 7-10 years. 90 points
3/16/2014 Decanted for 60 minutes, this second bottle was clearly a better showing. The lack of focus and disjointed character of the first bottle were not in evidence and it was solid across the palate with good length that was somewhat marred by noticeable heat at the end. I'm not sure if this just happened to be a better bottle or if the wine is now starting to come into its own but if it continues to improve at the same rate, I will be delighted. 92 points
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Popped 1 hour before first pour, vinturied and consumed over 3 hours. Nose: Light to medium expressiveness, black and blue fruit and a hint of menthol. Palate: tangy blue fruit, tobacco, and mint up front holds up well through the mid-palate with the mint intensifying towards the back-end where leather and earth flavors join in and dominate a medium-plus length finish
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Brought the bottle from Seattle to Jasper, Alberta so it endured some movement and temperature fluctuations over the last couple of days. Tobacco on the nose, well integrated and drinking nicely.
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Pop and pour. Nose is full of dark red fruits (black cherry) and some oak. Palate is deep and rich with solid tannins. Very nice. I see no reason to hurry and drink up.
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This has turned out beautifully. Recall being underwhelmed 2 yrs ago. Decanted 90 mins this time, wine was subtle at first but then expanded with fruits and flavors and a nice finish. I think this has years left, but seems to be peaking.
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30 min of air in bottle, then drunk over an hour. The wood dissipated, leaving nice dark fruit aroma and alcohol. I agree with others that the finish, while lush, is just too hot to merit a higher score. Probably better with a fatty cut of meat.
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Still a deep maroon, a lot of oak on the nose and not much else can shine thru - palate has good but dark fruit, decent balance but for the oak - probably a nice wine lurking behind the wood, but we'll never know. I'd drink now before the fruit disappears.
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This starts out hot and full of wood and vanilla. As it opens up the heat and oak dissipates and it settles down. We popped and poured, I will decant with the remaining bottles. Medium weight, lots of fruit, this could still cellar for a while longer.
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Opened this yesterday and had half. Finished off today. My last bottle was a real treat, where it delivered more then I expected. This time my expectations were higher and it slightly under delivered. Don't get me wrong, the nose was worth it by itself. Today my first taste was too cold and it improved with getting up to room temp. It's unfined and filtered so what your last taste. Good pure WA state Cab with some Merlot and CF thrown in. Enjoy!!!
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Had this next to a Pina Buckeye Cab from Napa. This wine needs more time, next to the Pina it tasted like a fruit bomb with oak. Sweet compared with the Napa cab. This is a big wine that needs more time to integrate, have 2 more bottles so will be interested to see how this wine evolves with more time.
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I'm tempted to give this a 92 and would be hypocritical if I didn't. That's what it's all about. This just made me say Wow from the first sniff and taste to my last. I wish all my Washington state wines were this good, and for around 30 bucks it beats many I've had in the past. Wish I had more then 2 more in the cellar. Second half tonight. Enjoy!
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This wine has a nice deep ruby color, the purple is almost gone. I gotta say I'm getting hooked on my new present, the Vinturi, for anything that's less than 5-7 years old, or you forget to decant ahead of time... Back to the wine: "post-Vinturi" it's more expressive w/ a plum, cassis, cedar, hint of mint profile. All reflected on the palate which is lush and has decent length. Very enjoyable, and has 5 years.
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Vancouver trip after Thanksgiving. Deep, dark black color with purple/red undertones. Tart red fruit aromas with a tinge of alcohol. Great Cabernet expression with pomegranate flavor and a long finish of brown sugar and sasparilla. Wine has a lot of again potential, try again in 2+ years.
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From a half bottle opened and decanted about two hours before dinner. Deep garnet colorwih aromas of blackberries, cassis and dark fruit. Firm tannins, with flavors of dark fruit, mint and a bit of oak. Time should do this well.
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Strong nose of embers and cherry. Tons of fruit and wood in the mouth, finishing with rich tannins. Great mouth feel. WA has it just about right, description and score-wise. It's highly extracted and woody, but if you like that, at < $30 this is a bargain. Gonna get a case of this for everyday.
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Donated to SF ArtSpan - Nocturnes Open Studio closing gallery event "party". Oak, but counterweighted by loads of ripe bing cherry and dark red fruit, some leather and tobacco. Very big, and drinking well right now.
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Cabernet: New Releases (Wine Exchange in Orange, CA): Dark maroon. Pain grille, cedar, and embers hit you first, but things sweeten up with more swirling. Outstandingly long, this has serious structure yet feels very naturally extracted. The first wine thus far to speak of its varietal.
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I tried the 04 Woodward Canyon Artist Series #13 Cabernet Sauvignon. It has 1% Cab. Franc and that adds a bit of a lush mouthfeel to this wine and adds to a beautiful wine on the palate. Tastes of sweet cherries, tart plums and black currants are all very accessible in this medium bodied wine. The Medium ruby red color is light for the body of this wine but seems to prepare one for where the bouquet is at right now. It was very light and reticent in the nose and had a soft blend of scents that seemed intriguing but was so faint as to disappoint. Didn't know what to make of the bouquet on this wine but based on my experience with it would score it as follows. If the bouquet opens up it could easily rate a couple of points higher. 50+5+10+16+8=89
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5/24/2023 - skipwine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Tight, but started to open up after about 30 minutes showing good fruit, medium/full body, solid finish. Continued to open for another hour and improved through dinner. Cellared since release. Not gone yet.
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6/12/2022 - Mr.Overhill Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Unfortunately, this one is definitely getting past prime. Dried tannins, clipped fruit and an overall slight bitterness on the finish diminishes the tasting experience. No damage appeared to have occurred on this bottle, and it was stored in a climate controlled environment. Initial tasting was the best with some cassis and mint flavors, an abundance of earthy almost mushroom flavors on the finish. But the fruit was subsumed by the unkind tannins, which stayed strong through the second day. Hope anyone else who still has a bottle finds a better experience than I did.
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9/14/2020 - Grape_ape Likes this wine:
probably should've popped this 2-3 years ago, but it was pretty good. Hint of stewed fruit tho. Early notes of it being super oaky kept me from diving in sooner, but I was still pleasantly surprised... drink up if you have it.
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7/29/2020 - eyesnwine wrote: 92 Points
Fruit foreard well integrated alcohol. Peak
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5/12/2020 - SeattlePaul Likes this wine: 90 Points
Good, bold, still mostly balanced, but a little off what I suspect it was at its peak.
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10/16/2019 - Rbtrage Likes this wine: 93 Points
From half bottle. PnP. Drinking very well. At peak. Excellent QPR.
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8/24/2019 - Rbtrage wrote: 92 Points
From half bottle. Initially thought not as good as 2005 but on the second day, it was equally impressive. Excellent QPR
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5/7/2018 - Rollerball wrote: 88 Points
Waited all this time and this was great but still kind of disappointing. Disparate components. Some jutting intensity but also some subtlety and nuance. I don’t know that it will ever come together. If you have just one—as I do now—I guess I’d drink in 2020.
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4/8/2018 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nose is filled with charred wood and creosote, redolent of green bell pepper and black currant. Medium-full bodied with sweet creme de cassis and new vanillin oak. Decidedly sweet on the palate, this has caressing tannins and bright acidity. Seems a bit disjointed to me, but it is fine nonetheless. Still quite youthful as the level of sweetness attests. Drink now-2021+ 90
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9/26/2017 - Neecies Likes this wine: 93 Points
Perfectly middle aged--fruit is unmistakably Cabernet, but there's all this interesting secondary development and all's in perfect, harmonious balance. Blackberry, tobacco, coffee. Wouldn't want it a day younger or a day older, but it should hold nicely for a few years.
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11/23/2014 - sraders Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of best cabs out of Washington with a beautiful long finish.
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8/2/2014 - JGinMO wrote: 93 Points
well balanced, tannins have softened, leaving a very nice wine
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7/26/2014 - BATWine wrote:
Double amazing
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4/8/2014 - SeattlePaul Likes this wine: 91 Points
Typical of this wine with nice light oaky notes and hints of floral and vanilla. Nice structure and balance, this wine has some years left in it.
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10/2/2013 - VTCellarDweller Likes this wine: 91 Points
The first of 6 purchased on release. This was decanted for 90 minutes leaving a fairly substantial fine grained sediment.
The color was a dense purple red with no indication of bricking. The accessible aromatics were dominated by full, ripe dark fruits with emerging secondary notes and an herbal-briary edge. In the mouth, it is very solid, round, and surprisingly soft with resolved tannins. For me though, it seems a little unfocused. Flavor intensity starts out well with ripe fleshy fruit, a touch of tobacco, and noticeable but not obtrusive oak, but it flattens out in mid palate and trails off rather quickly. In spite of the 14.6% alcohol, it finishes without a trace of heat or harshness.
Overall, it is totally satisfying but a little short in the complexity and flavor delineation departments. I expect this to hold well and plan to finish them over the next 7-10 years. 90 points
3/16/2014
Decanted for 60 minutes, this second bottle was clearly a better showing. The lack of focus and disjointed character of the first bottle were not in evidence and it was solid across the palate with good length that was somewhat marred by noticeable heat at the end. I'm not sure if this just happened to be a better bottle or if the wine is now starting to come into its own but if it continues to improve at the same rate, I will be delighted. 92 points
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9/9/2013 - nschmidt wrote: 87 Points
Drank at Next Door with the Franklins. A run of the mill cabernet. O.K. but nothing exciting. A little bit of unpleasantness in the finish.
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7/19/2013 - eyesnwine wrote: 92 Points
improved for 3 days in my skybar
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10/16/2012 - ecola Likes this wine: 91 Points
Rich and dark fruit with leather lingering in the background. Dry gripping finish.
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9/17/2012 - Bandonista wrote: 92 Points
Nice structured balanced cab. Has aged well. Drink now.
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9/2/2012 - prasm wrote: 90 Points
Popped 1 hour before first pour, vinturied and consumed over 3 hours. Nose: Light to medium expressiveness, black and blue fruit and a hint of menthol. Palate: tangy blue fruit, tobacco, and mint up front holds up well through the mid-palate with the mint intensifying towards the back-end where leather and earth flavors join in and dominate a medium-plus length finish
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7/9/2012 - WAWINEFAN wrote: 90 Points
Brought the bottle from Seattle to Jasper, Alberta so it endured some movement and temperature fluctuations over the last couple of days. Tobacco on the nose, well integrated and drinking nicely.
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6/29/2012 - PSUSteve Likes this wine: 91 Points
Pop and pour. Nose is full of dark red fruits (black cherry) and some oak. Palate is deep and rich with solid tannins. Very nice. I see no reason to hurry and drink up.
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6/24/2012 - JGinMO wrote: 94 Points
This has turned out beautifully. Recall being underwhelmed 2 yrs ago. Decanted 90 mins this time, wine was subtle at first but then expanded with fruits and flavors and a nice finish. I think this has years left, but seems to be peaking.
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5/18/2012 - MLD70 wrote: 86 Points
30 min of air in bottle, then drunk over an hour. The wood dissipated, leaving nice dark fruit aroma and alcohol. I agree with others that the finish, while lush, is just too hot to merit a higher score. Probably better with a fatty cut of meat.
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5/6/2012 - juneau bob wrote: 91 Points
Like doesn't get any better than this. Tannins still provide structure. Long lasting finish of oak, coffee and dark chocolate.
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12/12/2011 - Bandonista wrote: 91 Points
Fruit starting to fade. Drink now. A little too hot with alcohol, but still nice.
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12/8/2011 - winot wrote: 88 Points
Still a deep maroon, a lot of oak on the nose and not much else can shine thru - palate has good but dark fruit, decent balance but for the oak - probably a nice wine lurking behind the wood, but we'll never know. I'd drink now before the fruit disappears.
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9/10/2011 - Sundesertcactus wrote: 90 Points
This starts out hot and full of wood and vanilla. As it opens up the heat and oak dissipates and it settles down. We popped and poured, I will decant with the remaining bottles. Medium weight, lots of fruit, this could still cellar for a while longer.
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9/5/2011 - knlowery wrote: 93 Points
Well balanced; soft tannins; layers of spice and vegetable. Wonderful compliment to Steak Aupoivre.
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11/21/2010 - Sundesertcactus Likes this wine: 90 Points
Had this with a Owen Roe Cab and Donedei Cab and this was the favorite of the three. No detailed notes.
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11/14/2010 - deltacop wrote: 90 Points
Opened this yesterday and had half. Finished off today. My last bottle was a real treat, where it delivered more then I expected. This time my expectations were higher and it slightly under delivered. Don't get me wrong, the nose was worth it by itself. Today my first taste was too cold and it improved with getting up to room temp. It's unfined and filtered so what your last taste. Good pure WA state Cab with some Merlot and CF thrown in. Enjoy!!!
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9/5/2010 - Sundesertcactus wrote: 88 Points
Had this next to a Pina Buckeye Cab from Napa. This wine needs more time, next to the Pina it tasted like a fruit bomb with oak. Sweet compared with the Napa cab. This is a big wine that needs more time to integrate, have 2 more bottles so will be interested to see how this wine evolves with more time.
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3/23/2010 - deltacop wrote: 92 Points
I'm tempted to give this a 92 and would be hypocritical if I didn't. That's what it's all about. This just made me say Wow from the first sniff and taste to my last. I wish all my Washington state wines were this good, and for around 30 bucks it beats many I've had in the past. Wish I had more then 2 more in the cellar. Second half tonight. Enjoy!
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7/30/2009 - Grinner wrote: 92 Points
This wine has a nice deep ruby color, the purple is almost gone. I gotta say I'm getting hooked on my new present, the Vinturi, for anything that's less than 5-7 years old, or you forget to decant ahead of time... Back to the wine: "post-Vinturi" it's more expressive w/ a plum, cassis, cedar, hint of mint profile. All reflected on the palate which is lush and has decent length. Very enjoyable, and has 5 years.
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11/28/2008 - GA_Seattle wrote: 91 Points
Vancouver trip after Thanksgiving. Deep, dark black color with purple/red undertones. Tart red fruit aromas with a tinge of alcohol. Great Cabernet expression with pomegranate flavor and a long finish of brown sugar and sasparilla. Wine has a lot of again potential, try again in 2+ years.
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3/23/2008 - AllRed wrote: 92 Points
From a half bottle opened and decanted about two hours before dinner. Deep garnet colorwih aromas of blackberries, cassis and dark fruit. Firm tannins, with flavors of dark fruit, mint and a bit of oak. Time should do this well.
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3/1/2008 - hutch wrote: 91 Points
The Jug's Washington Tasting (The Cook's Basement): Huge amounts of fruit and oak. Fantastic nose. This is a big massive wine. 91-93
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1/28/2008 - redrhonewine wrote: 95 Points
Yummy, thick, dark, burnt plums, darkest creamiest blackberries. Almost sweet. Just delightful.
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12/29/2007 - peternelson wrote: 92 Points
Winery: Tobacco, cassis, cigar, blkberry, bramble, maple!Classic cab, grt minerals, big t’s, complex. Wow.
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12/23/2007 - ths wrote: 93 Points
Strong nose of embers and cherry. Tons of fruit and wood in the mouth, finishing with rich tannins. Great mouth feel. WA has it just about right, description and score-wise. It's highly extracted and woody, but if you like that, at < $30 this is a bargain. Gonna get a case of this for everyday.
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10/16/2007 - Mark wrote: 91 Points
Donated to SF ArtSpan - Nocturnes Open Studio closing gallery event "party". Oak, but counterweighted by loads of ripe bing cherry and dark red fruit, some leather and tobacco. Very big, and drinking well right now.
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9/22/2007 - tcfishler wrote: 91 Points
Cabernet: New Releases (Wine Exchange in Orange, CA): Dark maroon. Pain grille, cedar, and embers hit you first, but things sweeten up with more swirling. Outstandingly long, this has serious structure yet feels very naturally extracted. The first wine thus far to speak of its varietal.
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9/2/2007 - Tad GW wrote: 89 Points
I tried the 04 Woodward Canyon Artist Series #13 Cabernet Sauvignon. It has 1% Cab. Franc and that adds a bit of a lush mouthfeel to this wine and adds to a beautiful wine on the palate. Tastes of sweet cherries, tart plums and black currants are all very accessible in this medium bodied wine. The Medium ruby red color is light for the body of this wine but seems to prepare one for where the bouquet is at right now. It was very light and reticent in the nose and had a soft blend of scents that seemed intriguing but was so faint as to disappoint. Didn't know what to make of the bouquet on this wine but based on my experience with it would score it as follows. If the bouquet opens up it could easily rate a couple of points higher.
50+5+10+16+8=89
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