I'm going to be the odd man out here and since there are still 90 bottles listed as being in cellars on CT, I am going to tell them "Well done!" When this wine first came out it was rather cooked, heavy, leaden and checking in at 14.5%, it was a "headache in every bottle" as a friend of mine use to call it whenever we opened some. Sure it was smoooooth in an almost raisiny sort of fashion, but it had so many other evident flaws that I'm not surprised at the wide range of scores that have accompanied this wine over its life.
Still, after carefully cellaring this wine for 12 years I am happy to report that it has emerged from some sort of cocoon as an elegant, light/medium weight beauty with lift and appeal - I didn't even notice the 14.5% it was so well integrated. The heavy over ripe fruit of youth was gone, it was no longer the black inky wine of old. If ever a duckling could grow up to be a swan this is it. If you are one of the lucky 90 good for you.
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Wine had a nice bright berry nose and followed up with fairly vibrant fruit with some green notes and a decent finish- i thought this wine was very nice and probably the most aged USA grown Mourvedre I have had-Would be interested to see where it goes in a few more years. A solid food wine
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Surprisingly good; still retained fruit and had some complexity though everything finished rather abruptly. Not bad for a New World Monastrell/Mourvèdre.
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Quite a nice wine. Judging by the tasting notes it seems that this wine has improved with age. While there is some more of the leather and tar notes on the nose there is still quite a bit of fruit: dried fig, prune, but also some black cherry and for awhile I thought I detected orange peel. Also some nice spice: nutmeg and clove. The tannins are soft and the acidity is medium. Easy drinking on a rainy night.
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Enjoyed this immensely. Very earthy, almost painfully dry. This doesn't compare at all to a typical California Cab, which surprised me., I found to be wonderfully different. Drink with a steak for sure.
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Nose: Dark fruits & some vegetables (green peppers). Chocolate dust (like cocoa mix). Taste: A little Hy-C thin at first. Then a strange taste (not wrong - just different). I'm not sure how to describe. Medium to long finish. Definately a food wine. I tried it with steak and it matched very well.
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Like others said, this IS odd and slightly vegetal, but it's actually more or less balanced in that regard, not half as bad in that regard as, say, a Cab Franc would be (and I like Cab Franc). The flavor profile was actually kind of interesting, but the wine itself was lifeless, no acidity, no tannin to speak of til it was nearly dead, and no finish whatsoever. Such a blah wine, on such an interesting concept. I know it's a tricky grape to do this with, but I'd still be interested in trying varietal Mourvedre is I found a good example. This is not it.
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some dark plum flavors and oak, but this didn't sit with me too well. there's a bizarre, funky prune candy flavor that starts on the midpalate and continues to the finish. lacking any sort of complexity.
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Bought this at Glen Ellen Market for a picnic up at Benziger Winery. Very dark inky purple in glass. Nose of dark berries and rose petals. Very soft and elegant on the nose. Sweet cherry/raspberry fruit wrapped in oak on the palate with a short astringent finish. An easy drinking wine but nothing too complex. C.
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REALLY didn't enjoy this bottle... don't know if there was something wrong with it or not. Tasted very earthy, with a very "green" undertone. Given... this is the first mourvedre we have tried. It may be the varietal that we're not fond of, or it may be this particular label.
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SFwine double blind night (Kev's pad, San Francisco): I don't think "cooked" even begins to describe what went wrong here. An acrid solvent-like aroma emanates from the glass, with some raisiny, madeirized notes. For me, this was clearly DNPIM. But others got past it, so like a lemming i tasted it. Sweet, pruney fruit with a green streak, seriously not good.
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Great glycerol mouth feel. Touch of spice and eucalypt. Tannins well integrated, maybe a little lower acidity then I remember from the '03, which I think I liked the most. Good bottle at a great price, though.
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12/18/2017 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 90 Points
I'm going to be the odd man out here and since there are still 90 bottles listed as being in cellars on CT, I am going to tell them "Well done!" When this wine first came out it was rather cooked, heavy, leaden and checking in at 14.5%, it was a "headache in every bottle" as a friend of mine use to call it whenever we opened some. Sure it was smoooooth in an almost raisiny sort of fashion, but it had so many other evident flaws that I'm not surprised at the wide range of scores that have accompanied this wine over its life.
Still, after carefully cellaring this wine for 12 years I am happy to report that it has emerged from some sort of cocoon as an elegant, light/medium weight beauty with lift and appeal - I didn't even notice the 14.5% it was so well integrated. The heavy over ripe fruit of youth was gone, it was no longer the black inky wine of old. If ever a duckling could grow up to be a swan this is it. If you are one of the lucky 90 good for you.
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1/28/2011 - kahuna75 wrote: 88 Points
Wine had a nice bright berry nose and followed up with fairly vibrant fruit with some green notes and a decent finish- i thought this wine was very nice and probably the most aged USA grown Mourvedre I have had-Would be interested to see where it goes in a few more years. A solid food wine
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10/1/2010 - wattacetti wrote: 84 Points
Surprisingly good; still retained fruit and had some complexity though everything finished rather abruptly. Not bad for a New World Monastrell/Mourvèdre.
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6/14/2010 - pinotsandy wrote: 88 Points
Quite a nice wine. Judging by the tasting notes it seems that this wine has improved with age. While there is some more of the leather and tar notes on the nose there is still quite a bit of fruit: dried fig, prune, but also some black cherry and for awhile I thought I detected orange peel. Also some nice spice: nutmeg and clove. The tannins are soft and the acidity is medium. Easy drinking on a rainy night.
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11/10/2008 - Hershey in CA wrote: 88 Points
Deep earthy flavors, and dark rich green leafy veggies. Slight gameyness made this interesting, perhaps with roasted chicken & garlic.
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9/23/2008 - Tommy429 wrote: 86 Points
easy to drink, more vegetal than fruit flavors
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8/8/2008 - Dark Helmet wrote: 87 Points
Enjoyed this immensely. Very earthy, almost painfully dry. This doesn't compare at all to a typical California Cab, which surprised me., I found to be wonderfully different. Drink with a steak for sure.
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4/30/2008 - bccdavid wrote: 88 Points
Nose: Dark fruits & some vegetables (green peppers). Chocolate dust (like cocoa mix).
Taste: A little Hy-C thin at first. Then a strange taste (not wrong - just different). I'm not sure how to describe. Medium to long finish.
Definately a food wine. I tried it with steak and it matched very well.
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3/28/2008 - thirtyoneknots wrote:
Like others said, this IS odd and slightly vegetal, but it's actually more or less balanced in that regard, not half as bad in that regard as, say, a Cab Franc would be (and I like Cab Franc). The flavor profile was actually kind of interesting, but the wine itself was lifeless, no acidity, no tannin to speak of til it was nearly dead, and no finish whatsoever. Such a blah wine, on such an interesting concept. I know it's a tricky grape to do this with, but I'd still be interested in trying varietal Mourvedre is I found a good example. This is not it.
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1/18/2008 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 79 Points
some dark plum flavors and oak, but this didn't sit with me too well. there's a bizarre, funky prune candy flavor that starts on the midpalate and continues to the finish. lacking any sort of complexity.
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1/16/2008 - Combee1 wrote: 85 Points
Bought this at Glen Ellen Market for a picnic up at Benziger Winery. Very dark inky purple in glass. Nose of dark berries and rose petals. Very soft and elegant on the nose. Sweet cherry/raspberry fruit wrapped in oak on the palate with a short astringent finish. An easy drinking wine but nothing too complex. C.
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1/9/2008 - Winepirate wrote:
Quite fruit-forward & low acid, but went well with some BBQ ribs. For the price, not bad at all.
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11/10/2007 - Pat & Jen B wrote: flawed
Cooked w/ half. The other half verified that this is something we won't buy again.
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11/1/2007 - Pat & Jen B wrote: 74 Points
REALLY didn't enjoy this bottle... don't know if there was something wrong with it or not. Tasted very earthy, with a very "green" undertone. Given... this is the first mourvedre we have tried. It may be the varietal that we're not fond of, or it may be this particular label.
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7/31/2007 - Arch57 wrote: 85 Points
No match as a follow-up for Two Hands Brave Faces but hey we were still thirsty!
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5/23/2007 - 5laton wrote: flawed
SFwine double blind night (Kev's pad, San Francisco): I don't think "cooked" even begins to describe what went wrong here. An acrid solvent-like aroma emanates from the glass, with some raisiny, madeirized notes. For me, this was clearly DNPIM. But others got past it, so like a lemming i tasted it. Sweet, pruney fruit with a green streak, seriously not good.
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5/21/2007 - hutch wrote: 88 Points
Great glycerol mouth feel. Touch of spice and eucalypt. Tannins well integrated, maybe a little lower acidity then I remember from the '03, which I think I liked the most. Good bottle at a great price, though.
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