Difficile le jour 1, mis à part pour le nez qui est incroyable, en bouche c'est quand meme lourd, cerise, vanille, le bois est présent, tout d'un bloc malgré les 3 heures de carafe. Par contre le lendemain, vin resté en carafe, le vin se raffine, le bois s'assouplit, mieux intégré, cerises, mures, eucalyptus. Nette amélioration et pour le mieux
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I have the same reaction to Chris Ringland wines, whether in Australia or, in this case, Spain: it's not that they are bad (although people who don't like big fruit would disagree), they are actually good to my palate, it's just that... there's no there there. I just don't get excited about them. Rich black fruit, good depth, length and balance, the oak present but well-integrated by this point. And not much else. It's odd that what is obviously a well-crafted wine seems so...meh.
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Big and boisterous. Chocolate cherry, raspberry, oak spice with black tea, minerals. Many complex layers, all fruit oriented, and all balanced and beautifully done.
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Cedar, chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla. Dark blackberry and raspberry. Tannins have softened, at this is just firing on all cylinders. Nose is to die for. 2021-2030+
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- Brick color with medium forming legs. It's in total harmony and has flavours of black currant, blackberry, raspberry, chocolate and licorice anise with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - Unbelievably great wine. The nose is perfectly balanced. A lot of fruit. Blueberries predominate. Loaded wit a lot of deep red fruit.
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Cellared since release and at an expensive price point back then ($120)- it tastes like a barrel sample... of American oak, big fruit and a bit of heat. I’m not really sure it’s American oak but it has the sour dill telltale signs for my palate. Has a distinct oak smell in the glass too... I’m going to reserve judgement for a couple of hours or so and see how it goes... p.s. the bottle must weigh 5 pounds...
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I enjoyed this wine. Even though the international style of the era is very much in evidence and finesse is not its middle name, the red and blue fruits and subtle secondary flavors are very appealing. Glad I have more to watch develop over time.
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Super riche, extrait et concentré...plusieurs ont mentionné bombe de fruit. Hyper long avec une pointe de chauffe vers la fin. Assez unidimensionel certe mais c'est pas méchant au gout....une fois de temps en temps et pour accompagner des plats relevés...un verre fut suffisant.
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On ne fait pas dans la dentelle ici. C'est riche, concentré, enveloppant. Ne montre pas une ride malgré ses 14 ans. Torréfaction, café, confiture de bleuets. Les tannins sont bien intégrés et une pointe d'acidité, qui s'avère essentielle, le rend accessible. Il saura plaire aux amateurs de vins de facture moderne. Pourra tenir encore 10 ans.
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Big, round, rich and concentrated, this monastrell blend is a teeth staining red. This is drinking very well right now and has settled down considerably over the past few years. Tannins are more integrated now.
Style can be quite polarizing. The Bordeaux drinkers in the crowd found it to be too concentrated and monolithic. The napa and aussie fans thought it was fun and a bit different. All agreed it had lots of sweet berry fruit and grenache-y roundness with a well integrated finish.
I found it enjoyable. It goes well with sharp cheeses.
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Slow-oxed for 3 hours, in decanter for another 3. Huge wine, fruit forward, high alcohol, but well balanced. This is not generally my style of wine but was absolutely spectacular with ribs. Loved it. Happy to have more. Think this will glide along for at least a decade, but sure is delicious now with extended air.
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Last of three bottles purchased after first tasting of the wine at a Jorge Ordonez hosted dinner in conjunction with the Nantucket Wine Festival circa 2008. Still deep reddish-purple color. Enticing on the nose - cassis, mint with a little earthiness. Black fruits dominate on the palate with medium tannins and good finish. A little monolithic and not really my preferred style with ABV of 15.5%. I understand why others will rate it higher.
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Starting to come along nicely, with softer tannins and fruit that is controlled. Still could use another 5+ years to really show its stuffing. For now, rich dark fruit, some rock and lavender, but as the detractors like to point out, its primarily a monolith. Not that there's anything wrong with that....
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Absolutely delicious, fruit fading a little bit in favor of secondaries, a bit oakey , but works for the style. I would drink this over the next few years, not sure of the style is intended for long-term aging.
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This has improved a lot since I last tried a bottle 5-6 years ago and has really come into its own. Still a big fruit bomb, but more polished and restrained than their second wine, Clio. This could go head to head with a lot of the big boy Can blends from Napa.
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Big and powerful. Port-like. Strong black fruit and spices. Tannins grab you and remind you that this wine, at 11 years, still has a lot of growing to do. Loooong finish. Menthol, cigar box, and earth. Amazing. The really amazing part is how easy it is to drink this powerful and serious wine. There's talent here.
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Big purple fruit bomb, from nose to tail, better by itself than with anything other than grilled/flame broiled beef but still satisfying. Not a big value wine but you could use the bottle as a club to subdue rowdy wine bibbers into submission.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are slow. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry and blueberry. It tastes like blackberry, blueberry, black currant (cassis) and medium toast. The body is full. The wine has fleshy texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity.
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Nido has lost a little bit of its "flamboyant" personality but has become a delightful well integrated blend. Great mouthfeel, long finish and still the heaviest bottle I own! .
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Spanish (Kevin's house): A 3 hour decant, and followed a small glass over about 1.5 hours. Fruit all over - blueberry, boysenberry, wild raspberry. There is also earth and loam. I thought the flavor profile was more balanced than the 2003, but it was also a bit more alcoholic. I would like to try one of these in 5-10 years.
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Minneapolis Wine Club - Spain (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Purple color. Decanted for 3 hours, drank 1 glass over an hour plus. The nose was very nice and similar to the '03 with blueberry, blackberry, dried earth, and some heat. The palate is disjointed right now, hot, oak, spicy, blackberry liqueur, black cherry, glycerin, full bodied though thinner than the '03. The nose is far better than the palate currently. I'd let this sit for 3 years and revisit then. 91(+?)pts.
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Ten or fifteen years ago, I may have actually enjoyed this, but on the night, I was bored after the first sip. Full ruby color with no sign of age. Aromas of blackberry, coriander, black licorice, vanilla bean, mulberry and cassis. Presents as monolithic, linear, with the only real complexity on the palate, where some really pretty cardamom shows up on the medium(-) finish. It manages enough acidity to keep it from being sappy, but the blueberry-vanilla smoothie flavors are like a broken record, repeating over and over again. Full-bodied, thick and rich; and boring. Unwelcome random heat spikes; glossy, chewy tannins. 15,5% abv. (yet to be resolved)
Slow-O 4 hours, served non-blind. Really quite good with a grilled ribeye with gorgonzola butter.
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Purple, black. Unbelievable fruit, Vanilla Oak and buttered popcorn. This is a fruit bomb, but does have good acidity. One might argue that a Fruitbomb wine could never be balanced, but this wine comes pretty close. Hedonistic, and extremely enjoyable. Drink now right out of the bottle, or over the next 5+ years.
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2013 Christmas Wine Dinner (Naperville, IL): Had many Clio's and a few El Nido's. First time with the 05. Didn't not disappoint at all. No detailed notes but just remember thinking "Wow".
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Rouge rubis opaque. Nez de liqueur de cerises et épices douces. En bouche , excellente acidité et fruits rouges sures. panoplie de saveurs et tres longue finale. peut evoluer et tenir la route encore bien des années . Encore une fois , coup de coeur. 96+
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Rouge grenat foncé. Nez très complexe de liqueure de baies noires , sirop de bleuet , graphite, 5 épices chinoises. En bouche, explosion de saveurs de fruits noirs écrasés et même confits, ressemblant a du porto. Balancé avec précision et le 15.5% d'alcool n'est pas ressenti. Finale 60 secondes +. Peu maturer encore 5 ans et se boire pour les prochains 10-15 ans . Un chef-d'oeuvre. Coup de coeur. 97+
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Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs Double Blind; 2/5/2013-2/6/2013 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): The wine looks Purple colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like Blackberry, Black currant (cassis), Strawberry, Vanilla, Eucalyptus, and Lavender. The body is Full. The wine has Juicy texture. The wine finishes Long. Mark's wine me. Decanted in am and tasted unaerated and aerated. Decided to use Vinturi on half and rebottled. A tad better than Clio, but not worth the differential.
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Really good. Aging well. Has developed a lot of vegetation and floral nose and flavors since the last tasting, 3 years ago. Much more complete an experience.
Still has dark fruit, almost a motor-shop nose (that's a good thing). Lots of leather and smoke. Eucalyptus, mossy, forest floor. Spice and a bit of pepper early on. Evened out and leveling of acid in about 1.5 hours of decanting.
Great stuff!
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A food pairing wine. I expected more. We decanted after tasting and finding too much wood. It had structure but was a bit unbalanced? Better after 2 hours than when first opened
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Filled with refined characteristics not found on wines this young. I loved the casis and complexities of spice and long finish. Looking forward to the next 4.
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Had about 3 sips of this from the same bottle as cooberp below, out of a paper cup after the bottle had been open about 24 hours. It was terrible. I didn't even notice much alcoholic heat, but it didn't matter. There's a distinctive and off-putting turpentine/paint-thinner aroma that I think is ethyl acetate, with maybe a hint of liquerish sweet black fruit hiding in the background. This shows up a bit on the palate as well, where the fruit is so overripe that the whole thing tastes bitter, like when fresh fruit gets too ripe and starts to spoil. There's a big round smooth mouthfeel but hardly any tannin and the only structure here comes from oak in the background. It finishes sweet and bitter at the same time, like a fruity cocktail made with cheap well vodka.
This was almost certainly a flawed bottle, but my sense is that the underlying material wouldn't have been particularly enjoyable even without the turpentine.
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By way of a disclaimer, I'm about as far from the anti-flavor wine elite as you can get. I often enjoy modern, high-alcohol, hot-climate wines, like my oak plenty, and have no problem with "manipulative" winemaking techniques. I paid triple digits for this wine hoping to rave about it, not trash it. Furthermore, I don't get any kick out of ripping wines I don't like. Normally if a wine isn't at least near 85 points for me (the "happy enough to drink it" level), I just don't bother reviewing it.
That said, this wine is just beyond-the-pale bad. I'm looking for any excuse to check the "flaw" box--corked, oxidized, heat damaged, brett, VA, you name it--but there is none. I slow-oxed it all day, then let it sit in a glass for three hours, sipping at regular intervals, and it didn't get any better. This is by far the most alcoholic wine I've ever come across. It smells like hard liquor--from across the room. It's abrasively, burningly hot. There's anonymous/blurry dark fruit, but nothing else, and even that takes a back seat to the alcohol. One taster mentioned turpentine. I get that in spades, but don't consider it a good thing. I'm not picking up the tannin other tasters perceived--I don't see this aging into anything better. Maybe this was just a bad bottle. But if it's at all representative, I think I'd rather drink Yellow Tail.
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Brought this to a tasting of Spanish wines, which turned out to be (in part) an El Nido vertical. This was the groups favorite, out of an '02, '03 the '05 and a '07 Clio. Very fruit forward, lots of blueberry, blackberry and spice. Nose almost sweet, but on the palate, very well balanced and clearly a stunning wine. I downgraded this wine because it though it was way too young. To me it was still very primary and tannic, but with enormous potential. I will keep my remaining bottle a long time, as I expect it will get better and better. I liked the '03 the best of these now.
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6-hr decant. What a difference a few hours make. Upon opening tannic and overwhelming (although delicious)...6 hours later almost grenache like flavors (butterscotch) and sooth and inte3grated flavors. Really fabulous.
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A winner. Better than the 2002. New world yes, but NOT CA like oak and out of balance alcohol. Despite some alcoholic tinge throughout, the wine from first sip to 3 1/2 of decanting. garnet red in the glass, absolutely explosive nose of blueberry, mint and clay with some alcohol; on the palate rich, new world fruit with rich viscous center of sweet mint from the cabernet, almost candied fruit and briary monastrel notes and long finish, albeit with alcohol emerging, fading and re emerging. Tough to say how this will age since it is full of delicious baby fat and real data on wines from this region since improved. So drink now and save one bottle for the long term.
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Fantastic! Refined tannis (on the heavy side) with pleasing blueberry earth/leather mouth feel. Somewhat of a brutish elegance. I would want to reconsider pairings for next bottles...I envision an elk backstrap possibly.
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The deep purple is surprisingly bright and lively and the nose has very serious coffee and herbs together with highly extracted black fruit. The style is clearly modern and fruit forward, but not at all in the california style. the integration of herbs, mocha and expresso is palpable and intense. This, together with the cab fruit, and a sweet firm set of tannins make this a truly unique wine. the finish is 90 seconds, and the memory stays much longer. Just outstanding and truly different.
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Tasted at our wine tasting. Nose was deep yet not overwhelming. Had strong scents of chocolate/mocha, blueberrys, and fresh cut flowers (?). Taste was a blast of blueberry liqueur, more chocolate, and stone flavors similar to a riesling. The tannins I don't think had fully integrated and I got the impression this might need several more years before it really struts its stuff.
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Decanted 1 1/2 hrs. Very impressive. Huge nose and flavors. Very dark notes. It did lose some of the intensity and fruit after 3 hours. Still good but not quite as impressive later. Don't decant next time.
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Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Massive perfume of fruit forward New World styled Cabernet from a fantastic cult producer in Jumilla. Heavy black truffle and pepper aromas and flavors as well as a large dose of baking spice, vanilla and oak. Lovely long finish. Quite feminine and flamboyant in nature. Awesome.
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One of those WOW wines. Intoxicating nose with tons of sweet blue and black fruit, coffee, and chocolate. Deep on the palate and superbly balanced. I could drink this all day long.
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Big and deep, with an ethereal nose that kinda made me dizzy. Turpentine/ piney aromas followed by purple and black fruit, some minerals under there too. Glides in the mouth, but still sears with intensity.
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No formal notes taken, but this was spectacular, in a lush modern style. However, the clio is not that far behind for a fraction of the price... I know what I will buy. 94-96
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This is an absolutely incredible wine. Cali-style: oaky, with huge, sweet fruit; gorgeous inky purple color. Chocolate-y. Probably the best Spanish wine I've ever had.
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Decanted 12 hours. We had this side by side with the Alto Moncayo Aquilon and it was fun to see the similarities and experience their distinctiveness as well. This one was darker in both color and in the nature of the fruits and berries leaping from the glass along with licorice, chocolate, vanilla, and intoxicating asian spices. Extremely weighty fruit that spreads over the entire palate and sits there long after swallowing. The persistent flavors create an urge to return to the glass for more which should be resisted as the trailing off of the complex flavors is actually better than the new blast of fruit. Significant tannins are present but they balance with the fruit keeping the wine from feeling overly jammy. There is a lift from acidity, but the wine could use a bit more. Etoh fumes noticed, but heat not evident on the palate or finish.
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Crown Spring Upscale Tasting (Boca Raton, FL): Starts a little sweet, but incredibly smooth and lush at this stage. Big fruit and oak, but still well balanced. Truly outstanding wine. As it was at the end of the tasting, I had three glasses as the girl kept pouring saying she didn't want it to go to waste, nor did I.
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3/10/2023 - Topper wrote: 91 Points
Not getting better. The fruit is less sweet, the tannins are rough and the alcohol seems more prominent. These should be finished up.
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2/27/2023 - redknife Likes this wine: 93 Points
It’s been several months
Took it to Riviera for a large group wine dinner
No tasting notes
From memory Wine was enjoyable showing its age
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10/8/2022 - paul canet wrote: 92 Points
Difficile le jour 1, mis à part pour le nez qui est incroyable, en bouche c'est quand meme lourd, cerise, vanille, le bois est présent, tout d'un bloc malgré les 3 heures de carafe. Par contre le lendemain, vin resté en carafe, le vin se raffine, le bois s'assouplit, mieux intégré, cerises, mures, eucalyptus. Nette amélioration et pour le mieux
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5/28/2022 - ChrisR Likes this wine:
I have the same reaction to Chris Ringland wines, whether in Australia or, in this case, Spain: it's not that they are bad (although people who don't like big fruit would disagree), they are actually good to my palate, it's just that... there's no there there. I just don't get excited about them. Rich black fruit, good depth, length and balance, the oak present but well-integrated by this point. And not much else. It's odd that what is obviously a well-crafted wine seems so...meh.
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1/14/2022 - europat55 wrote: 92 Points
Juan Gil and El Nido Jumillas 2002-2012 (Tasted Blind) (Virtual Tasting): Nose: 92; Palate: 92+ (Tasted blind)
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10/17/2021 - rustyRudy wrote: 98 Points
Big and boisterous. Chocolate cherry, raspberry, oak spice with black tea, minerals. Many complex layers, all fruit oriented, and all balanced and beautifully done.
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10/17/2021 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Cedar, chocolate, brown sugar, vanilla. Dark blackberry and raspberry. Tannins have softened, at this is just firing on all cylinders. Nose is to die for. 2021-2030+
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4/3/2021 - CCGCCG Likes this wine: 96 Points
Slow ox for an hour or so. Should have decanted it. It stayed pretty hot with Alcohol for at least an hour after that. Still it's a great wine.
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3/19/2021 - Marc S wrote: 97 Points
- Brick color with medium forming legs. It's in total harmony and has flavours of black currant, blackberry, raspberry, chocolate and licorice anise with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - Unbelievably great wine. The nose is perfectly balanced. A lot of fruit. Blueberries predominate. Loaded wit a lot of deep red fruit.
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4/21/2020 - jonnyoro wrote:
Cellared since release and at an expensive price point back then ($120)- it tastes like a barrel sample... of American oak, big fruit and a bit of heat. I’m not really sure it’s American oak but it has the sour dill telltale signs for my palate. Has a distinct oak smell in the glass too... I’m going to reserve judgement for a couple of hours or so and see how it goes... p.s. the bottle must weigh 5 pounds...
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11/29/2019 - Topper wrote: 93 Points
I enjoyed this wine. Even though the international style of the era is very much in evidence and finesse is not its middle name, the red and blue fruits and subtle secondary flavors are very appealing. Glad I have more to watch develop over time.
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9/3/2019 - maxima wrote: 89 Points
Super riche, extrait et concentré...plusieurs ont mentionné
bombe de fruit. Hyper long avec une pointe de chauffe vers la fin.
Assez unidimensionel certe mais
c'est pas méchant au gout....une fois de temps en temps
et pour accompagner des plats relevés...un verre fut suffisant.
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4/25/2019 - Oeno_PHIL Likes this wine: 95 Points
On ne fait pas dans la dentelle ici. C'est riche, concentré, enveloppant. Ne montre pas une ride malgré ses 14 ans. Torréfaction, café, confiture de bleuets. Les tannins sont bien intégrés et une pointe d'acidité, qui s'avère essentielle, le rend accessible. Il saura plaire aux amateurs de vins de facture moderne. Pourra tenir encore 10 ans.
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4/13/2019 - Whisky&Wine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Big, round, rich and concentrated, this monastrell blend is a teeth staining red. This is drinking very well right now and has settled down considerably over the past few years. Tannins are more integrated now.
Style can be quite polarizing. The Bordeaux drinkers in the crowd found it to be too concentrated and monolithic. The napa and aussie fans thought it was fun and a bit different. All agreed it had lots of sweet berry fruit and grenache-y roundness with a well integrated finish.
I found it enjoyable. It goes well with sharp cheeses.
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2/3/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Good Wine with a Boring Super Bowl (Chez Kailin - Northbrook IL): Social walk-around tasting, brief note. Borderline monstrous for my palate.
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8/26/2017 - bobadopolis Likes this wine: 95 Points
Slow-oxed for 3 hours, in decanter for another 3. Huge wine, fruit forward, high alcohol, but well balanced. This is not generally my style of wine but was absolutely spectacular with ribs. Loved it. Happy to have more. Think this will glide along for at least a decade, but sure is delicious now with extended air.
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5/13/2017 - FreddieMoose Likes this wine: 90 Points
Last of three bottles purchased after first tasting of the wine at a Jorge Ordonez hosted dinner in conjunction with the Nantucket Wine Festival circa 2008. Still deep reddish-purple color. Enticing on the nose - cassis, mint with a little earthiness. Black fruits dominate on the palate with medium tannins and good finish. A little monolithic and not really my preferred style with ABV of 15.5%. I understand why others will rate it higher.
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1/14/2017 - Mr.Overhill Likes this wine: 94 Points
Starting to come along nicely, with softer tannins and fruit that is controlled. Still could use another 5+ years to really show its stuffing. For now, rich dark fruit, some rock and lavender, but as the detractors like to point out, its primarily a monolith. Not that there's anything wrong with that....
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11/2/2016 - BaroloRob wrote: 93 Points
Massive.
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9/28/2016 - bonedoc wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely delicious, fruit fading a little bit in favor of secondaries, a bit oakey , but works for the style. I would drink this over the next few years, not sure of the style is intended for long-term aging.
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8/15/2016 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 94 Points
This has improved a lot since I last tried a bottle 5-6 years ago and has really come into its own. Still a big fruit bomb, but more polished and restrained than their second wine, Clio. This could go head to head with a lot of the big boy Can blends from Napa.
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8/11/2016 - Lobonick Likes this wine: 93 Points
Big and powerful. Port-like. Strong black fruit and spices. Tannins grab you and remind you that this wine, at 11 years, still has a lot of growing to do. Loooong finish. Menthol, cigar box, and earth. Amazing. The really amazing part is how easy it is to drink this powerful and serious wine. There's talent here.
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5/22/2016 - MoreWinePlease Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big purple fruit bomb, from nose to tail, better by itself than with anything other than grilled/flame broiled beef but still satisfying. Not a big value wine but you could use the bottle as a club to subdue rowdy wine bibbers into submission.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are slow. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry and blueberry. It tastes like blackberry, blueberry, black currant (cassis) and medium toast. The body is full. The wine has fleshy texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity.
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3/3/2016 - Knicksfan wrote: 93 Points
Nido has lost a little bit of its "flamboyant" personality but has become a delightful well integrated blend. Great mouthfeel, long finish and still the heaviest bottle I own!
.
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2/14/2016 - Sethbo11 wrote: 97 Points
Simply outstanding. Purple to the core. It's the best of a Napa Cabernet with a slightly vegetal finish on the back end.
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12/21/2015 - bonedoc wrote: 96 Points
Ditto last note
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8/2/2015 - RussK wrote: 92 Points
Russk. Wiz Spanish tasting at Adena at Gulfstream. Easier to enjoy after 10 yrs. 92-
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3/28/2015 - froussel1 Likes this wine: 99 Points
superbe nez, long en bouche, alcool 15,5%,
Fruite
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1/25/2015 - galewskj wrote: 90 Points
Spanish (Kevin's house): A 3 hour decant, and followed a small glass over about 1.5 hours. Fruit all over - blueberry, boysenberry, wild raspberry. There is also earth and loam. I thought the flavor profile was more balanced than the 2003, but it was also a bit more alcoholic. I would like to try one of these in 5-10 years.
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1/24/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Minneapolis Wine Club - Spain (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Purple color. Decanted for 3 hours, drank 1 glass over an hour plus. The nose was very nice and similar to the '03 with blueberry, blackberry, dried earth, and some heat. The palate is disjointed right now, hot, oak, spicy, blackberry liqueur, black cherry, glycerin, full bodied though thinner than the '03. The nose is far better than the palate currently. I'd let this sit for 3 years and revisit then. 91(+?)pts.
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1/24/2015 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 93 Points
Big style and loved the nose. Palate showed a bit more heat than the 03. Cherry, spices, jam and earth. Oak is there and needs time to develop. 93+
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10/4/2014 - Tim Heaton wrote:
Ten or fifteen years ago, I may have actually enjoyed this, but on the night, I was bored after the first sip. Full ruby color with no sign of age. Aromas of blackberry, coriander, black licorice, vanilla bean, mulberry and cassis. Presents as monolithic, linear, with the only real complexity on the palate, where some really pretty cardamom shows up on the medium(-) finish. It manages enough acidity to keep it from being sappy, but the blueberry-vanilla smoothie flavors are like a broken record, repeating over and over again. Full-bodied, thick and rich; and boring. Unwelcome random heat spikes; glossy, chewy tannins. 15,5% abv. (yet to be resolved)
Slow-O 4 hours, served non-blind. Really quite good with a grilled ribeye with gorgonzola butter.
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8/29/2014 - bonedoc wrote: 95 Points
Purple, black. Unbelievable fruit, Vanilla Oak and buttered popcorn. This is a fruit bomb, but does have good acidity. One might argue that a Fruitbomb wine could never be balanced, but this wine comes pretty close. Hedonistic, and extremely enjoyable. Drink now right out of the bottle, or over the next 5+ years.
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6/27/2014 - ReedC wrote: 94 Points
A little hot upon first tasting. Decanted for ~2 hours. Smells of dark fruit, spice box. Tastes of raspberry, anise, spices. Long tasty wine.
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3/27/2014 - Knicksfan wrote: 91 Points
Beginning to mellow out/integrate. Nice drinking. Still a fruit "bomb" but a touch more "refined"
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12/14/2013 - bablues wrote: 96 Points
2013 Christmas Wine Dinner (Naperville, IL): Had many Clio's and a few El Nido's. First time with the 05. Didn't not disappoint at all. No detailed notes but just remember thinking "Wow".
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11/4/2013 - prufrocksabogado wrote: 90 Points
crowd pleaser but not complex and no sense that time is this wine's friend.
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10/17/2013 - ReedC wrote: 89 Points
A good bottle. Not superb. It may benefit from a little more age.
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7/20/2013 - dedalover Likes this wine: 96 Points
Rouge rubis opaque. Nez de liqueur de cerises et épices douces. En bouche , excellente acidité et fruits rouges sures. panoplie de saveurs et tres longue finale. peut evoluer et tenir la route encore bien des années . Encore une fois , coup de coeur. 96+
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5/5/2013 - dedalover Likes this wine: 97 Points
Rouge grenat foncé. Nez très complexe de liqueure de baies noires , sirop de bleuet , graphite, 5 épices chinoises. En bouche, explosion de saveurs de fruits noirs écrasés et même confits, ressemblant a du porto. Balancé avec précision et le 15.5% d'alcool n'est pas ressenti. Finale 60 secondes +. Peu maturer encore 5 ans et se boire pour les prochains 10-15 ans . Un chef-d'oeuvre. Coup de coeur. 97+
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3/22/2013 - UROMD Likes this wine: 94 Points
smooth but missing something for my tastes
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2/5/2013 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs Double Blind; 2/5/2013-2/6/2013 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): The wine looks Purple colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like Blackberry, Black currant (cassis), Strawberry, Vanilla, Eucalyptus, and Lavender. The body is Full. The wine has Juicy texture. The wine finishes Long. Mark's wine me. Decanted in am and tasted unaerated and aerated. Decided to use Vinturi on half and rebottled. A tad better than Clio, but not worth the differential.
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11/30/2012 - morpheusrising wrote: 97 Points
Really good. Aging well. Has developed a lot of vegetation and floral nose and flavors since the last tasting, 3 years ago. Much more complete an experience.
Still has dark fruit, almost a motor-shop nose (that's a good thing). Lots of leather and smoke. Eucalyptus, mossy, forest floor. Spice and a bit of pepper early on. Evened out and leveling of acid in about 1.5 hours of decanting.
Great stuff!
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11/23/2012 - mygrogro wrote: 94 Points
needed 1/2 hour to open up
mineral and spice bouquet
oak and coffee
big hearty cherry finish
love this wine!
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7/21/2012 - TwoSmoochies wrote: 91 Points
A food pairing wine. I expected more. We decanted after tasting and finding too much wood. It had structure but was a bit unbalanced? Better after 2 hours than when first opened
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1/15/2012 - saxual wrote: 95 Points
Filled with refined characteristics not found on wines this young. I loved the casis and complexities of spice and long finish. Looking forward to the next 4.
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11/18/2011 - mygrogro wrote: 94 Points
big juicy black berry treat! drinking well now,
needed very little decanting, pour and enjoy!
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8/23/2011 - coremill wrote: flawed
Had about 3 sips of this from the same bottle as cooberp below, out of a paper cup after the bottle had been open about 24 hours. It was terrible. I didn't even notice much alcoholic heat, but it didn't matter. There's a distinctive and off-putting turpentine/paint-thinner aroma that I think is ethyl acetate, with maybe a hint of liquerish sweet black fruit hiding in the background. This shows up a bit on the palate as well, where the fruit is so overripe that the whole thing tastes bitter, like when fresh fruit gets too ripe and starts to spoil. There's a big round smooth mouthfeel but hardly any tannin and the only structure here comes from oak in the background. It finishes sweet and bitter at the same time, like a fruity cocktail made with cheap well vodka.
This was almost certainly a flawed bottle, but my sense is that the underlying material wouldn't have been particularly enjoyable even without the turpentine.
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8/22/2011 - cooberp wrote: 76 Points
By way of a disclaimer, I'm about as far from the anti-flavor wine elite as you can get. I often enjoy modern, high-alcohol, hot-climate wines, like my oak plenty, and have no problem with "manipulative" winemaking techniques. I paid triple digits for this wine hoping to rave about it, not trash it. Furthermore, I don't get any kick out of ripping wines I don't like. Normally if a wine isn't at least near 85 points for me (the "happy enough to drink it" level), I just don't bother reviewing it.
That said, this wine is just beyond-the-pale bad. I'm looking for any excuse to check the "flaw" box--corked, oxidized, heat damaged, brett, VA, you name it--but there is none. I slow-oxed it all day, then let it sit in a glass for three hours, sipping at regular intervals, and it didn't get any better. This is by far the most alcoholic wine I've ever come across. It smells like hard liquor--from across the room. It's abrasively, burningly hot. There's anonymous/blurry dark fruit, but nothing else, and even that takes a back seat to the alcohol. One taster mentioned turpentine. I get that in spades, but don't consider it a good thing. I'm not picking up the tannin other tasters perceived--I don't see this aging into anything better. Maybe this was just a bad bottle. But if it's at all representative, I think I'd rather drink Yellow Tail.
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3/3/2011 - ksmith wrote: 94 Points
Brought this to a tasting of Spanish wines, which turned out to be (in part) an El Nido vertical. This was the groups favorite, out of an '02, '03 the '05 and a '07 Clio. Very fruit forward, lots of blueberry, blackberry and spice. Nose almost sweet, but on the palate, very well balanced and clearly a stunning wine. I downgraded this wine because it though it was way too young. To me it was still very primary and tannic, but with enormous potential. I will keep my remaining bottle a long time, as I expect it will get better and better. I liked the '03 the best of these now.
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12/18/2010 - Knicksfan wrote: 94 Points
6-hr decant. What a difference a few hours make. Upon opening tannic and overwhelming (although delicious)...6 hours later almost grenache like flavors (butterscotch) and sooth and inte3grated flavors. Really fabulous.
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12/2/2010 - Sotto325 wrote: 94 Points
A winner. Better than the 2002. New world yes, but NOT CA like oak and out of balance alcohol. Despite some alcoholic tinge throughout, the wine from first sip to 3 1/2 of decanting. garnet red in the glass, absolutely explosive nose of blueberry, mint and clay with some alcohol; on the palate rich, new world fruit with rich viscous center of sweet mint from the cabernet, almost candied fruit and briary monastrel notes and long finish, albeit with alcohol emerging, fading and re emerging. Tough to say how this will age since it is full of delicious baby fat and real data on wines from this region since improved. So drink now and save one bottle for the long term.
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11/16/2010 - DaddyO Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fantastic! Refined tannis (on the heavy side) with pleasing blueberry earth/leather mouth feel. Somewhat of a brutish elegance. I would want to reconsider pairings for next bottles...I envision an elk backstrap possibly.
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10/24/2010 - huntly wrote: 97 Points
The deep purple is surprisingly bright and lively and the nose has very serious coffee and herbs together with highly extracted black fruit. The style is clearly modern and fruit forward, but not at all in the california style. the integration of herbs, mocha and expresso is palpable and intense. This, together with the cab fruit, and a sweet firm set of tannins make this a truly unique wine. the finish is 90 seconds, and the memory stays much longer. Just outstanding and truly different.
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3/30/2010 - TMacpherson wrote: 94 Points
Tasted at our wine tasting. Nose was deep yet not overwhelming. Had strong scents of chocolate/mocha, blueberrys, and fresh cut flowers (?). Taste was a blast of blueberry liqueur, more chocolate, and stone flavors similar to a riesling. The tannins I don't think had fully integrated and I got the impression this might need several more years before it really struts its stuff.
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1/29/2010 - phenricsson wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 1 1/2 hrs. Very impressive. Huge nose and flavors. Very dark notes. It did lose some of the intensity and fruit after 3 hours. Still good but not quite as impressive later. Don't decant next time.
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12/12/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 94 Points
Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Massive perfume of fruit forward New World styled Cabernet from a fantastic cult producer in Jumilla.
Heavy black truffle and pepper aromas and flavors as well as a large dose of baking spice, vanilla and oak.
Lovely long finish. Quite feminine and flamboyant in nature.
Awesome.
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5/28/2009 - kanab ram wrote:
One of those WOW wines. Intoxicating nose with tons of sweet blue and black fruit, coffee, and chocolate. Deep on the palate and superbly balanced. I could drink this all day long.
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2/24/2009 - Phin wrote: 93 Points
Super juicy good depth. Raspberry and blackberry. A little too sweet and jammy for me.
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1/24/2009 - nectar14 wrote: 96 Points
Big and deep, with an ethereal nose that kinda made me dizzy. Turpentine/ piney aromas followed by purple and black fruit, some minerals under there too. Glides in the mouth, but still sears with intensity.
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12/13/2008 - the godfather wrote: 96 Points
not really my style but clearly an excellent wine, huge fruit with some detectable earthy notes
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11/30/2008 - Roughl wrote: 94 Points
No formal notes taken, but this was spectacular, in a lush modern style. However, the clio is not that far behind for a fraction of the price... I know what I will buy. 94-96
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11/1/2008 - dmbaggett wrote: 99 Points
This is an absolutely incredible wine. Cali-style: oaky, with huge, sweet fruit; gorgeous inky purple color. Chocolate-y. Probably the best Spanish wine I've ever had.
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5/4/2008 - thomaskeil wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 12 hours. We had this side by side with the Alto Moncayo Aquilon and it was fun to see the similarities and experience their distinctiveness as well. This one was darker in both color and in the nature of the fruits and berries leaping from the glass along with licorice, chocolate, vanilla, and intoxicating asian spices. Extremely weighty fruit that spreads over the entire palate and sits there long after swallowing. The persistent flavors create an urge to return to the glass for more which should be resisted as the trailing off of the complex flavors is actually better than the new blast of fruit. Significant tannins are present but they balance with the fruit keeping the wine from feeling overly jammy. There is a lift from acidity, but the wine could use a bit more. Etoh fumes noticed, but heat not evident on the palate or finish.
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4/12/2008 - vinole wrote: 96 Points
Crown Spring Upscale Tasting (Boca Raton, FL): Starts a little sweet, but incredibly smooth and lush at this stage. Big fruit and oak, but still well balanced. Truly outstanding wine. As it was at the end of the tasting, I had three glasses as the girl kept pouring saying she didn't want it to go to waste, nor did I.
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3/7/2008 - EMichels wrote: 93 Points
Red Carpet Wine Tasting: Long and deep; A bit dark; Sweet
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