The wine looks tawny colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like strawberry, red currant, tea and tobacco. It tastes like strawberry jam, vanilla, light toast and forest floor. The body is medium. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity.
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Surprising flavor profile for s CA wine, old world profile. Inky bricky color reminiscent of old world brunello! Not overly tannin at all. Brunello style profile, earthy mineraly flavor, dusty smell. A great find
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Fabulous! Inky bricky brunello type color that smacks of an Italian old world flavor profile !
Earthy mineraly dusty flint profile . Quite a surprise! San gioovese in CA that replicates the old world style! Not the overly tannin grape you might expect in a Chianti
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Brick red in color. Fresh meat dominates with cedar and tobacco. A touch of gaminess on first taste followed by Cherry fruit with leather notes without the earth. Drinking very well.
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A nose like old vines ~ the cork is very brittle be careful ~ needs to open ~ at least an hour before you drink ~ need to drink with food not good on it’s own ~ pasta and wine paired was very good
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A heavier version of sangiovese than I prefer. Nothing bad, mind you, as its well made and very enjoyable. This is good as a stand-alone tipple; however I typically drink sangios with food, where the lighter style is better, IMHO.
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Deep crimson color, cherries and other red fruits on the nose with a little heat and spice. Really well integrated overall, with loads of red fruit. Cherry, raspberry, currant, rhubarb, even a little strawberry. Medium bodied with juicy mouthfeel and tannins that filled the mouth without being especially drying or grippy. The oak treatment and acidity both seemed in perfect balance and the wine really hid its 15.1% alcohol well. It paired nicely with a variety of foods - risotto cakes, garlic pasta w/spinach and grilled halibut over a spicy plum sauce, even salad!
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Opaque ruby. A spoofy, heavily oaked blackberry smoothie. Medium-bodied, little structure, no typicity. Less extracted than the Casanova di Neri white label Brunello it resembles. Perfectly pleasant, but as anonymous as they come.
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Might have jumped the gun a bit here. Will do well to hold this for a couple more years, I think. But wow - excellent sanjo. Best with food. Plenty of fruit and acid, held together with great balance.
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1.5 hour decant prior to ND/MSU game. Great mouthfeel, shortish finish. Fully integrated. Probably in the second half of its drinking window, but still very good. Decent for the money I paid, not the list price of $65 though!
91 points; purchased from Hart Davis Hart for $35 on 9/10/2012
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Misc CA tasting at Kenneth: Vanilla and black currant nose. The palate is very unstructured with a lot dryness that is muting all flavors. Just a weird wine but the quality is still there.
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I am not going to rate this because I think like most Sangiovese, it needs to be consumed with food. A bit of a funky noss. Ripe cherries, well structured.
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Beautifully perfumed nose and very likely the earliest drinker of the 2005 line-up that I have tasted. Excellent juice but didn't quite live up to the El Alma or El Desafio. Don't get me wrong, I'll take all I can get my hands on
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11/17/2023 - ChipP68 Likes this wine: 93 Points
The wine looks tawny colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like strawberry, red currant, tea and tobacco. It tastes like strawberry jam, vanilla, light toast and forest floor. The body is medium. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has low acidity.
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11/5/2023 - econnertx Likes this wine: 91 Points
Surprising flavor profile for s CA wine, old world profile. Inky bricky color reminiscent of old world brunello! Not overly tannin at all. Brunello style profile, earthy mineraly flavor, dusty smell. A great find
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11/5/2023 - econnertx Likes this wine: 91 Points
Fabulous! Inky bricky brunello type color that smacks of an Italian old world flavor profile !
Earthy mineraly dusty flint profile . Quite a surprise! San gioovese in CA that replicates the old world style! Not the overly tannin grape you might expect in a Chianti
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9/5/2023 - ChipP68 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose violet and cherry, wonderful light fruit long smooth finish
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3/5/2023 - gstutz Likes this wine: 91 Points
Brick red in color. Fresh meat dominates with cedar and tobacco. A touch of gaminess on first taste followed by Cherry fruit with leather notes without the earth. Drinking very well.
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2/10/2023 - Vincent Vino Likes this wine: 91 Points
A nose like old vines ~ the cork is very brittle be careful ~ needs to open ~ at least an hour before you drink ~ need to drink with food not good on it’s own ~ pasta and wine paired was very good
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11/2/2016 - ChipGreen wrote:
Still drinking very well, wish I had more....
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5/15/2016 - carman Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank At Home
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5/25/2015 - Magnum Bill Likes this wine: 89 Points
A heavier version of sangiovese than I prefer. Nothing bad, mind you, as its well made and very enjoyable. This is good as a stand-alone tipple; however I typically drink sangios with food, where the lighter style is better, IMHO.
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11/8/2014 - sweensomm wrote: 93 Points
Just nice. Great texture with balanced acidity and tart fruit. Amazing refined, silky tannins. ?
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5/11/2014 - ChipGreen wrote: 94 Points
Deep crimson color, cherries and other red fruits on the nose with a little heat and spice. Really well integrated overall, with loads of red fruit. Cherry, raspberry, currant, rhubarb, even a little strawberry.
Medium bodied with juicy mouthfeel and tannins that filled the mouth without being especially drying or grippy. The oak treatment and acidity both seemed in perfect balance and the wine really hid its 15.1% alcohol well.
It paired nicely with a variety of foods - risotto cakes, garlic pasta w/spinach and grilled halibut over a spicy plum sauce, even salad!
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5/7/2014 - svpandae wrote:
Drinking very well right now. Needs about 30 minutes to open up. Great stuff. Much more of an Italian profile than most CA Sangio, but not austere.
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5/13/2013 - cooberp wrote: 88 Points
Opaque ruby. A spoofy, heavily oaked blackberry smoothie. Medium-bodied, little structure, no typicity. Less extracted than the Casanova di Neri white label Brunello it resembles. Perfectly pleasant, but as anonymous as they come.
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11/20/2012 - svpandae Likes this wine: 93 Points
Might have jumped the gun a bit here. Will do well to hold this for a couple more years, I think. But wow - excellent sanjo. Best with food. Plenty of fruit and acid, held together with great balance.
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9/15/2012 - smcilhen Likes this wine: 91 Points
1.5 hour decant prior to ND/MSU game. Great mouthfeel, shortish finish. Fully integrated. Probably in the second half of its drinking window, but still very good. Decent for the money I paid, not the list price of $65 though!
91 points; purchased from Hart Davis Hart for $35 on 9/10/2012
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6/18/2010 - canan wrote: 92 Points
Misc CA tasting at Kenneth: Vanilla and black currant nose.
The palate is very unstructured with a lot dryness that is muting all flavors. Just a weird wine but the quality is still there.
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4/20/2010 - rdsboca wrote:
I am not going to rate this because I think like most Sangiovese, it needs to be consumed with food. A bit of a funky noss. Ripe cherries, well structured.
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2/1/2010 - jackarmando wrote: 92 Points
Delish. It's bigger than Italian Sangiovese but nicely balanced with good acidity to hold the big fruit together.Will taste even better in 5 years!
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8/28/2007 - jolson wrote:
Beautifully perfumed nose and very likely the earliest drinker of the 2005 line-up that I have tasted. Excellent juice but didn't quite live up to the El Alma or El Desafio. Don't get me wrong, I'll take all I can get my hands on
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