Decanted about 3 hours prior to consumption at Bear Stanley Ranch in Napa.
Get the short-ribs!!!!!!! Best ever.
Oh so this was really nice. Smooth, nice balance and finish. Was a tad on the new world in style which held it back IMO. Could have been more complex.
However, this suffered next to the 1997 Percarlo which was absolutely stunning. There was a richness to that which made the rioja seem a bit shy.
I'd say the 04 was in a good drinking window. May improve w more bottle age. Was hoping for a little more complexity. However, it did best the 2007 Insignia which came in last place out of the 3 I brought.
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Amazing expressive bouquet without any flaws, secondary and tertiary ripe fruit flavors. Has aged well and gracefully. Full body mouthfeel with impeccable balance. Long length and pleasant finish. A classic Rioja. Where can I find a 2010 or 2019 bottle?!
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Brilliant, charming, right on top and years to go. This is spectacular wine. I don't see why professional critics don't praise this wine but instead only give moderate reviews (except for Tim Atkin). This is full of dark, ripe fruit, cola, tree bark, inky blueberry, fine chocolate, coffee notes and all this is held together by an enticing structure and a perfect integrated acidity. It is dark, ripe yet fresh a with a long and very satisfying length. The 2004 has still a lot of grip and I imagine that it could be even more alluring with less youthful baby fat, that it still has. Thanks to señor de Grigorio.
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Somewhat spoofy, but in a good way. On cusp of benefiting from decant. Elected to leave open a couple of hours. Violet with hint of red. More complex as evening wore on and wine warmed. Blackberry, dark cherry, lead pencil and hint of roasted meat on nose. Full bodied fruit on palate with deep penetration, but quite nicely balanced with some (light) acidity and still prominent tannin. Beautiful length. Just great with food (migas and pork chops). Good now or hold for at least a decade.
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Lovely wine. Well balanced. Still has some youth in it. Lots of blackberry, cassis up front. Strong finish with some graphite lead pencil notes. Still surprisingly tannic. Went beautifully with a herb rubbed, grilled pork chop.
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Pnp through Vinituri. Air helped. Dark fruit, black blum, blackberry. Bramble. Plenty of acidity, a bit too tannic. Drying. This was stored properly. Did I wait too long?
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4 hour decant. 14%. Deep purple with a hint of evil - grape and some heat in the nose - chubby legs - big in the mouth - grippy - nice balance - certainly more Wagner's Brunhilde than Puccini's Mimi, but that's OK - dark fruits - nice balance - fine wine, but, as a mostly Portuguese wine drinker, I don't think this is better than many Portuguese wines at 1/3 of the price.
A Thursday night at Rich's (Chez Nanda): Nose: There is a robust intensity to the nose with smoke, black cherries, licorice, spice tones, cranberries, herbs, violets, vanilla, and toasted oak notes. The nose shows some extraction as well that hasn't fully dialed in with age.
Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity and high tannins. The structure is still youthful with the tannins showing a slight woodiness. There is some extraction to the feel, but it is more tamed down with smoke, black cherries, spice tones, cranberries, and violets.
Overall: This is still youthful, but it doesn't feel like everything is fully coming together. It's still a bit clunky, but there is class and quality lying underneath.
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A well made but rather nondescript wine. Would be very hard to peg this as Rioja (in fact, served blind to a group of friends nobody guessed Rioja). Good balance. Polished but not overdone fruit or oak influence. Drinking well now but could hold for years, I suppose.
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Honey Butter Fried Chicken and blinds (Chicago, IL): Served double-blind. Inky and big, but not particularly over-the-top. I thought that the fruit would have been very ripe and extracted based on the colour, but it certainly wasn't. There's a fair bit of acidity here too. I was all over the place on guessing this wine -- it's hard to pick out Rioja without that telltale American oak signature. That said, the oak use here, while not traditional for Rioja, is quite judicious. Good, but just not the sort of wine I'd ever pull on my own.
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Fantastic wine. Notes from memory. Powerful nose of red fruits and bramble with spice, licorice, leather, and espresso. Palate showed lots of hedonistic flair with a highlight on a gorgeous texture. Powerful, fine tannins are balanced right between a graphite silkiness and just maybe a rusticity. That texture obviously made quite an impression! I'm thinking of a silk garment with a coarse weave. Big mid-palate and long finish. This wine has a number of years left, and is a true pleasure to drink.
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PnP and then consumed over a two hour period, the nose is a delicious blend of dark raspberry, cherry, cocoa and violets and is almost chateauneuf de pape like. The palate is very deep with bright acidity and firm tannins that fall in line with each other with time in the glass. Dark cherry, floral elements and more cocoa flesh out this powerful wine with a long finish.
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Q1 Tasting - Spanish wines (The Apartment): Wine #6: This was probably the group's favorite wine (or the most ppl's favorite). In my top 4 I think. Would have liked to be able to go back and revisit later, but it was popular. Opened and decanted and prob drank within 30-40 minutes of that. Great cherry flavor, lots of bright fruit. Good tannins backing it up at the end. It again was a bit less spicy but the wood really counterbalanced the fruit and kept the wine together. I enjoyed it.
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Opened for 2 hours.Rich. Texture silky and dense. Red and dark fruit with cocoa and floral notes. Cherry linger on the long finish. Coming into a good place now.
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A dark crimson. Complex and rich and elegant. Mocha/tobacco. Covers the spectrum. Light to the palate. I think this may need more time in the cellar. Will wait another year.
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Grabbed this on sale after reading the CT reviews and it paid off! Fantastic wine with plenty of life left. Powerful, red fruit,spice, maybe tobacco, gritty gripping dusty tannins, with charcoal and gravel,good acidity leads to a very nice long finish. Lots of flavors going on as evident in all the CT reviews.This will be better with more time, if you drink now give a few hours decant.
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Deep crimson-black. N: Wonderful nose of sage, wet slate, black currant, plum. P: Silky smooth mouthfeel. Very fresh black plum, with a touch of the tongue-numbing plum skin effect. Tobacco. Then milk chocolate. A bit of iron on the finish. Wonderfully smooth transitions throughout. 45-60 second finish. This is outstanding.
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So powerful yet elegant. Ripe toasty strawberry vanillin on the nose with coffee beans and candy covered almonds. Impressive long finish, great balance of acid and fruit
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This is not for the light hearted and fir sure will appeal to lovers of californa wines. Its a big, powerfull new age spain with all that goes with it. oak, extraction, purple red colour, forward on the fruit and so on. From the very good 04 vintage this can be a good match for food. Still though the you have to like the style as the oak irons out any finesse and complexity. 90-91 Drink now with decanting ( 1hr min) but this will last anothe 10yrs easily
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Decanted about 2 hours. This is showing so much better on the nose than the last time I tasted this 2+ years ago. I love the smoky olive aromas. It matches well with the bright red fruit and creamy oak. The palate is rich anf intense, and it had the same smoky olive and red fruit mix as the nose. I'm normally not a fan of big-oaked wines, but the creaminess of the finish is extremely good.
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Interesting bottle - had with cheese a la casa - tons going on. Somehow gets fruitier more it is open - elegant but full wine. Long finish. Pretty well balanced. Too expensive for what it is...
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Red cherries, lots of spices, forest honey, licorice, mushrooms and conserved fruits in nose. Palate a bit dominated by the minerality. There are no different phases. The wine more or less fades away with one tone. Certainly a good wine but not worth the price.
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limited notes. fully bodied and extracted (sappy) yet not shining like the 2002. Probably needs five to ten years to develop some complexity in bottle. HOLD.
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Both Nics and I are now fully converted into "new" age spanish wines. This is no exception. Decanted for 45minutes and should have given it a couple of hours to tell the truth. Big Big body super deep red colour. Nice long finish. Well rounded and balanced with good structure and no rough or bitter tannins. Forward and enjoyable to drink now but will develop for sure over the next few years.
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Wines of Spain! (Farpointe Cellar): The nose was full of blackberry liqueur and also had vanilla, spice, and floral notes. It ended with a bit of blueberry. The palate had a lot of cedar upfront, plus some blackberry, spice, and toast. It finished with blueberry and vanilla.
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New world as it gets with power, fruit and cream but it has the freshness component a nice bright acidity that make it drinking great now and will evolve greatly.
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Wine X: Dusty leather, low nose, sous bois-shrooms; a bit non-descript, mth has nic a’s, cherry notes and minerals!* Low nose, nice cherry, feels like no oak (but 14 mo!)
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3/17/2024 - essenceofreal wrote: 93 Points
Decanted about 3 hours prior to consumption at Bear Stanley Ranch in Napa.
Get the short-ribs!!!!!!! Best ever.
Oh so this was really nice. Smooth, nice balance and finish. Was a tad on the new world in style which held it back IMO. Could have been more complex.
However, this suffered next to the 1997 Percarlo which was absolutely stunning. There was a richness to that which made the rioja seem a bit shy.
I'd say the 04 was in a good drinking window. May improve w more bottle age. Was hoping for a little more complexity. However, it did best the 2007 Insignia which came in last place out of the 3 I brought.
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4/22/2023 - Winiac wrote: 95 Points
Amazing expressive bouquet without any flaws, secondary and tertiary ripe fruit flavors. Has aged well and gracefully. Full body mouthfeel with impeccable balance. Long length and pleasant finish. A classic Rioja. Where can I find a 2010 or 2019 bottle?!
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11/13/2022 - Christian von Dresky Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brilliant, charming, right on top and years to go. This is spectacular wine. I don't see why professional critics don't praise this wine but instead only give moderate reviews (except for Tim Atkin). This is full of dark, ripe fruit, cola, tree bark, inky blueberry, fine chocolate, coffee notes and all this is held together by an enticing structure and a perfect integrated acidity. It is dark, ripe yet fresh a with a long and very satisfying length. The 2004 has still a lot of grip and I imagine that it could be even more alluring with less youthful baby fat, that it still has. Thanks to señor de Grigorio.
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1/11/2021 - thomaskeil wrote: 92 Points
Somewhat spoofy, but in a good way. On cusp of benefiting from decant. Elected to leave open a couple of hours. Violet with hint of red. More complex as evening wore on and wine warmed. Blackberry, dark cherry, lead pencil and hint of roasted meat on nose. Full bodied fruit on palate with deep penetration, but quite nicely balanced with some (light) acidity and still prominent tannin. Beautiful length. Just great with food (migas and pork chops). Good now or hold for at least a decade.
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8/16/2020 - phandley66 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lovely wine. Well balanced. Still has some youth in it. Lots of blackberry, cassis up front. Strong finish with some graphite lead pencil notes. Still surprisingly tannic. Went beautifully with a herb rubbed, grilled pork chop.
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5/19/2019 - Bodie67 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Silky and delicious. Still full of flavour and drinking well. Lovely.
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9/23/2018 - edjBoca Likes this wine: 91 Points
This is still early in it's drinking window for me.
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8/17/2018 - Bumbanian Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking beautifully now
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7/9/2018 - bablues wrote: 94 Points
didn't take detailed notes but this was a tremendous hot with friends. Extremely well balances and nice complexity. Sad that it is my last one
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3/28/2017 - BrunelloBob wrote: 88 Points
Pnp through Vinituri. Air helped. Dark fruit, black blum, blackberry. Bramble. Plenty of acidity, a bit too tannic. Drying. This was stored properly. Did I wait too long?
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2/10/2017 - Claw Dee Puss Likes this wine: 90 Points
4 hour decant. 14%.
Deep purple with a hint of evil - grape and some heat in the nose - chubby legs - big in the mouth - grippy - nice balance - certainly more Wagner's Brunhilde than Puccini's Mimi, but that's OK - dark fruits - nice balance - fine wine, but, as a mostly Portuguese wine drinker, I don't think this is better than many Portuguese wines at 1/3 of the price.
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1/17/2017 - benny wrote: 95 Points
This one great wine. A benchmark.
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12/22/2016 - KeithAkers wrote: 88 Points
A Thursday night at Rich's (Chez Nanda): Nose: There is a robust intensity to the nose with smoke, black cherries, licorice, spice tones, cranberries, herbs, violets, vanilla, and toasted oak notes. The nose shows some extraction as well that hasn't fully dialed in with age.
Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity and high tannins. The structure is still youthful with the tannins showing a slight woodiness. There is some extraction to the feel, but it is more tamed down with smoke, black cherries, spice tones, cranberries, and violets.
Overall: This is still youthful, but it doesn't feel like everything is fully coming together. It's still a bit clunky, but there is class and quality lying underneath.
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12/22/2016 - Nanda wrote: 88 Points
A well made but rather nondescript wine. Would be very hard to peg this as Rioja (in fact, served blind to a group of friends nobody guessed Rioja). Good balance. Polished but not overdone fruit or oak influence. Drinking well now but could hold for years, I suppose.
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12/22/2016 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
Honey Butter Fried Chicken and blinds (Chicago, IL): Served double-blind. Inky and big, but not particularly over-the-top. I thought that the fruit would have been very ripe and extracted based on the colour, but it certainly wasn't. There's a fair bit of acidity here too. I was all over the place on guessing this wine -- it's hard to pick out Rioja without that telltale American oak signature. That said, the oak use here, while not traditional for Rioja, is quite judicious. Good, but just not the sort of wine I'd ever pull on my own.
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3/27/2016 - Lobonick Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fantastic wine. Notes from memory. Powerful nose of red fruits and bramble with spice, licorice, leather, and espresso. Palate showed lots of hedonistic flair with a highlight on a gorgeous texture. Powerful, fine tannins are balanced right between a graphite silkiness and just maybe a rusticity. That texture obviously made quite an impression! I'm thinking of a silk garment with a coarse weave. Big mid-palate and long finish. This wine has a number of years left, and is a true pleasure to drink.
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2/21/2016 - Viking 61 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dring great. Nice soft dark fruits. Solky smooth.
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11/1/2015 - quaffnov Likes this wine: 92 Points
PnP and then consumed over a two hour period, the nose is a delicious blend of dark raspberry, cherry, cocoa and violets and is almost chateauneuf de pape like. The palate is very deep with bright acidity and firm tannins that fall in line with each other with time in the glass. Dark cherry, floral elements and more cocoa flesh out this powerful wine with a long finish.
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3/19/2015 - benny wrote: 94 Points
Need 4 hours of decant. Then it sings.
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2/7/2015 - MC2 Wines wrote:
Q1 Tasting - Spanish wines (The Apartment): Wine #6: This was probably the group's favorite wine (or the most ppl's favorite). In my top 4 I think. Would have liked to be able to go back and revisit later, but it was popular. Opened and decanted and prob drank within 30-40 minutes of that. Great cherry flavor, lots of bright fruit. Good tannins backing it up at the end. It again was a bit less spicy but the wood really counterbalanced the fruit and kept the wine together. I enjoyed it.
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12/10/2014 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
Russk. Brought to WW holiday party. Better than last time. Full bodied. Seeming more like Ribera, than Rioja. Similar to the Aalto.
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5/11/2014 - benny wrote: 95 Points
Opened for 2 hours.Rich. Texture silky and dense. Red and dark fruit with cocoa and floral notes. Cherry linger on the long finish. Coming into a good place now.
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6/25/2013 - benny wrote: 93 Points
A dark crimson. Complex and rich and elegant. Mocha/tobacco. Covers the spectrum. Light to the palate. I think this may need more time in the cellar. Will wait another year.
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2/18/2013 - dkhale4 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Excellent wine. Rich and deep without being overdone. The fruit is dark and black, the finish nice and creamy.
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11/22/2012 - bablues wrote: 93 Points
No notes on this but was amazing..
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11/17/2012 - J2K wrote:
Grabbed this on sale after reading the CT reviews and it paid off! Fantastic wine with plenty of life left. Powerful, red fruit,spice, maybe tobacco, gritty gripping dusty tannins, with charcoal and gravel,good acidity leads to a very nice long finish. Lots of flavors going on as evident in all the CT reviews.This will be better with more time, if you drink now give a few hours decant.
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3/24/2012 - Bumbanian wrote: 94 Points
Deep crimson-black. N: Wonderful nose of sage, wet slate, black currant, plum. P: Silky smooth mouthfeel. Very fresh black plum, with a touch of the tongue-numbing plum skin effect. Tobacco. Then milk chocolate. A bit of iron on the finish. Wonderfully smooth transitions throughout. 45-60 second finish. This is outstanding.
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2/13/2012 - DarinC wrote: 92 Points
Very enjoyable, but really needed at least 2 hours to open up and show some complexity. Great balance. I would wait about 3 yrs to open another.
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8/15/2011 - yayinski wrote: 94 Points
So powerful yet elegant. Ripe toasty strawberry vanillin on the nose with coffee beans and candy covered almonds. Impressive long finish, great balance of acid and fruit
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5/14/2011 - RussK wrote: 87 Points
RUSSK WSW@KenT RiojaBB My bottom tier. Wait longer.
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5/7/2011 - Papies wrote: 90 Points
This is not for the light hearted and fir sure will appeal to lovers of californa wines. Its a big, powerfull new age spain with all that goes with it. oak, extraction, purple red colour, forward on the fruit and so on. From the very good 04 vintage this can be a good match for food. Still though the you have to like the style as the oak irons out any finesse and complexity. 90-91 Drink now with decanting ( 1hr min) but this will last anothe 10yrs easily
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11/13/2010 - mmurry Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted about 2 hours. This is showing so much better on the nose than the last time I tasted this 2+ years ago. I love the smoky olive aromas. It matches well with the bright red fruit and creamy oak. The palate is rich anf intense, and it had the same smoky olive and red fruit mix as the nose. I'm normally not a fan of big-oaked wines, but the creaminess of the finish is extremely good.
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9/6/2010 - willthethrill wrote: 91 Points
Interesting bottle - had with cheese a la casa - tons going on. Somehow gets fruitier more it is open - elegant but full wine. Long finish. Pretty well balanced. Too expensive for what it is...
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7/23/2010 - Doni.Bertolami wrote: 92 Points
Red cherries, lots of spices, forest honey, licorice, mushrooms and conserved fruits in nose. Palate a bit dominated by the minerality. There are no different phases. The wine more or less fades away with one tone. Certainly a good wine but not worth the price.
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5/9/2010 - rabs wrote: 91 Points
Deep purple. Strawberries on the nose. Full-bodied, fruity, cherries. Not quite syrupy but rich fruit feel. Nice wine.
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3/13/2010 - soyhead wrote: 90 Points
limited notes. fully bodied and extracted (sappy) yet not shining like the 2002. Probably needs five to ten years to develop some complexity in bottle. HOLD.
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10/24/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Very rich and well extracted.
Excellent. A little overpriced maybe.
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9/13/2009 - Papies wrote: 92 Points
Both Nics and I are now fully converted into "new" age spanish wines. This is no exception.
Decanted for 45minutes and should have given it a couple of hours to tell the truth. Big Big body super deep red colour. Nice long finish. Well rounded and balanced with good structure and no rough or bitter tannins. Forward and enjoyable to drink now but will develop for sure over the next few years.
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6/16/2009 - jimf wrote:
Terrible bottle of wine. Strong nose of dried meat that carried through on the taste. Couldn't get past half a glass.
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1/1/2009 - DRob wrote: flawed
Corked bottle.
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2/9/2008 - mmurry wrote: 94 Points
Wines of Spain! (Farpointe Cellar): The nose was full of blackberry liqueur and also had vanilla, spice, and floral notes. It ended with a bit of blueberry. The palate had a lot of cedar upfront, plus some blackberry, spice, and toast. It finished with blueberry and vanilla.
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9/22/2007 - blue wrote:
New world as it gets with power, fruit and cream but it has the freshness component a nice bright acidity that make it drinking great now and will evolve greatly.
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9/15/2007 - peternelson wrote: 89 Points
Wine X: Dusty leather, low nose, sous bois-shrooms; a bit non-descript, mth has nic a’s, cherry notes and minerals!* Low nose, nice cherry, feels like no oak (but 14 mo!)
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