I enjoy this more than I did last tasting 3 years ago. Smoother, more integrated. Lively on the palate, with a nice acidity and some remaining tannins to balance out a medium bodied fruit with cassis and a deft touch of oak. Relatively big in profile but remains light. If the fruit could ultimately win the battle, this could be even better in a couple years. I'm not convinced that will be the case. I've got a fair number of these, so may save one or two as a long-term experiment. Drinking quite well now, and I think a fair QPR at $25.
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Popped/poured. Lovely and extremely aromatic nose with deep red fruit against a very gamey backdrop (syrah-like). Full, rich, alluring....wicked good. 95 points on the nose alone. Reminds me of a Right Bank or a premium South African in style, but better executed. The palate doesn't live up to the promise of the nose. Medium-heavy in body, a pleasant and light touch of green, and in general lacks the richness suggested by the nose. Specifically, this seems to tighten on the finish. That said, there's a bit of structure here (tannins) that suggest another couple of years in the bottle could yield favorable results. With only one glass consumed Day 1, and with the caveat of a pop/pour, this show nicely after 30 minutes. Hoping for some more elegance with further time...and...time will tell.
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Color was light like a Pinot. Clarity was clear, no sediment. Hit of smoke in the aroma. Nice not overbearing flavor with good complexity. A rock solid wine.
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This wine was a bit one dimensional on the nose with a healthy dose of oak. Aromas of roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Although some people find this profile overbearing, I enjoy the smell of a good barrel coming through every so often. The oak was much more integrated on the palate with flavors leaning toward the red fruits. The finish didn't stick around long enough. Nice mid tier wine. Would purchase again.
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i think this was a little tight at first and not terribly nuanced but that said it was a very enjoyable wine to sit around the table and drink. definitely got better as it sat in the glass, made me sad that i drank the first glass before it really came into its own.
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Decanted about 30 minutes. The nose on this was nice from the get go. Good up front flavor, nice mid palate and decent finish. Very well made and very nice with NY Steaks off the grill tonight. Would buy again.
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Still loving this wine... A bit coquette-ish at first but a little time and some swirling finally got the tobacco and lead flowing... Nice aromatic nose and not too much in the way of tannins. Great heft on the bottle too... Really a well put together wine and marketing package for a $26 bottle of wine... how do these people make money? ;-)
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2005 Washington Cabernet Blind Tasting: Tasted blind as part of an 05 WA Cabernet tasting. The nose was not very expressive. Seemed fairly flat for about an hour after opening. The palate had red fruit and coffee flavors. It did open up a bit more with some time in the glass, but wasn't very complex. This did have a very smooth mouthfeel, but it showed some heat on the finish, and the acidity seemed a bit too high. This was a ringer in the 05 WA Cab tasting, and I have no doubt that it didn't show as well in part because of the great WA Cabs we tasted this next too. Still, not my favorite from Ross.
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Not super forward on the nose. Picking up a hint of meat/game that makes its way to the palate in a background sort of way. I like the flavor profile a lot. Some cassis, oak and cherried fruit with fine (but not drying) tannins on the finish. My only knock on this is that it is a bit linear / one-dimensional. This is a great wine for serving at dinner parties where some of the guests might not be so picky re: nuances. I would consider this to be short to midterm drinker. Drink over the next 2-4 years. At the $28 I paid at the winery, probably an "ok" QPR. Picked up another 6 via auction @ $15. A killer buy at that price.
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Very nice again. Tobacco and dirt, held my interest throughout the night. 2nd night got a lot more coffee in the bouquet (not my favorite), but the fruits were more prominent in the taste.
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Wow! Very pretty Bordeaux-esque nose (tobacco, dirt) with a nice floral waft in there too. This is the best Bordeaux (that's not a Bordeaux) I've had in a long time. Really delicious!
Mrs. GOLV adds, "This is Lewelling-good." We may have to break our wine-buying moratorium and get more of this.
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Very nice well balanced wine. Typical Washington oaked up nose, nice ripe red fruit on the front end with a beautiful mild smokey plummy mid palate and finish. Respectable QPR for this market ($25-$28) Impressive.
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1/14/2013 - vanpe003 wrote: 90 Points
I enjoy this more than I did last tasting 3 years ago. Smoother, more integrated. Lively on the palate, with a nice acidity and some remaining tannins to balance out a medium bodied fruit with cassis and a deft touch of oak. Relatively big in profile but remains light. If the fruit could ultimately win the battle, this could be even better in a couple years. I'm not convinced that will be the case. I've got a fair number of these, so may save one or two as a long-term experiment. Drinking quite well now, and I think a fair QPR at $25.
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2/16/2011 - vanpe003 wrote: 89 Points
Popped/poured. Lovely and extremely aromatic nose with deep red fruit against a very gamey backdrop (syrah-like). Full, rich, alluring....wicked good. 95 points on the nose alone. Reminds me of a Right Bank or a premium South African in style, but better executed. The palate doesn't live up to the promise of the nose. Medium-heavy in body, a pleasant and light touch of green, and in general lacks the richness suggested by the nose. Specifically, this seems to tighten on the finish. That said, there's a bit of structure here (tannins) that suggest another couple of years in the bottle could yield favorable results. With only one glass consumed Day 1, and with the caveat of a pop/pour, this show nicely after 30 minutes. Hoping for some more elegance with further time...and...time will tell.
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8/8/2010 - ehy2005 wrote: 86 Points
Nose had an earthy quality. Pleasant mouth feel but lacked structure. Easy drinking. Not worth $30.
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5/1/2010 - awoerman Likes this wine: 93 Points
Color was light like a Pinot. Clarity was clear, no sediment. Hit of smoke in the aroma. Nice not overbearing flavor with good complexity. A rock solid wine.
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2/12/2010 - MagnumGourmet wrote:
This wine was a bit one dimensional on the nose with a healthy dose of oak. Aromas of roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Although some people find this profile overbearing, I enjoy the smell of a good barrel coming through every so often. The oak was much more integrated on the palate with flavors leaning toward the red fruits. The finish didn't stick around long enough. Nice mid tier wine. Would purchase again.
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1/15/2010 - MagnumGourmet wrote: flawed
Bottle was corked. Brought back to the winery and the owner replaced the bottle.
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11/5/2009 - cjames wrote: 88 Points
i think this was a little tight at first and not terribly nuanced but that said it was a very enjoyable wine to sit around the table and drink. definitely got better as it sat in the glass, made me sad that i drank the first glass before it really came into its own.
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8/23/2009 - hiker_guy wrote:
Decanted about 30 minutes. The nose on this was nice from the get go. Good up front flavor, nice mid palate and decent finish. Very well made and very nice with NY Steaks off the grill tonight. Would buy again.
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8/7/2009 - raddoc71 wrote:
Well done. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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8/4/2009 - rjonas wrote: 89 Points
Still loving this wine... A bit coquette-ish at first but a little time and some swirling finally got the tobacco and lead flowing... Nice aromatic nose and not too much in the way of tannins. Great heft on the bottle too... Really a well put together wine and marketing package for a $26 bottle of wine... how do these people make money? ;-)
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4/4/2009 - last chance wrote: 89 Points
2005 Washington Cabernet Blind Tasting: Tasted blind as part of an 05 WA Cabernet tasting. The nose was not very expressive. Seemed fairly flat for about an hour after opening. The palate had red fruit and coffee flavors. It did open up a bit more with some time in the glass, but wasn't very complex. This did have a very smooth mouthfeel, but it showed some heat on the finish, and the acidity seemed a bit too high. This was a ringer in the 05 WA Cab tasting, and I have no doubt that it didn't show as well in part because of the great WA Cabs we tasted this next too. Still, not my favorite from Ross.
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3/21/2009 - johnnyo wrote: 88 Points
reasonably well balanced but tannins a ltttle to astringent.
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1/25/2009 - vanpe003 wrote: 88 Points
Not super forward on the nose. Picking up a hint of meat/game that makes its way to the palate in a background sort of way. I like the flavor profile a lot. Some cassis, oak and cherried fruit with fine (but not drying) tannins on the finish. My only knock on this is that it is a bit linear / one-dimensional. This is a great wine for serving at dinner parties where some of the guests might not be so picky re: nuances. I would consider this to be short to midterm drinker. Drink over the next 2-4 years. At the $28 I paid at the winery, probably an "ok" QPR. Picked up another 6 via auction @ $15. A killer buy at that price.
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1/14/2009 - good old ludwig van wrote: 91 Points
Very nice again. Tobacco and dirt, held my interest throughout the night. 2nd night got a lot more coffee in the bouquet (not my favorite), but the fruits were more prominent in the taste.
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11/23/2008 - rjonas wrote: 90 Points
Love the tobacco on the nose... Very bordeaux-esque.. Great QPR
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7/19/2008 - good old ludwig van wrote: 93 Points
Didn't decant.
Wow! Very pretty Bordeaux-esque nose (tobacco, dirt) with a nice floral waft in there too. This is the best Bordeaux (that's not a Bordeaux) I've had in a long time. Really delicious!
Mrs. GOLV adds, "This is Lewelling-good." We may have to break our wine-buying moratorium and get more of this.
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5/22/2008 - offtwofish wrote: 87 Points
needs another year to mellow
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5/12/2008 - rjonas wrote: 89 Points
Wonderful wine... Very well balanced.. a nice smoky fruit on the tongue and a very nice finish... Definitely a keeper...
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3/23/2008 - NO SPIT wrote:
Very nice well balanced wine. Typical Washington oaked up nose, nice ripe red fruit on the front end with a beautiful mild smokey plummy mid palate and finish. Respectable QPR for this market ($25-$28) Impressive.
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2/6/2008 - good old ludwig van wrote: 89 Points
Strong coffee nose at first, which isn't my favorite. Later this seemed to come across more as smoke, then later back to coffee.
Nice weight. This could easily be mistaken for a quality Bordeaux--tart red fruits and tobacco. With more air, I also got raspberry.
I'm quite pleased with this, as it held my interest throughout the night.
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