Even better than my previous bottle from 2021, this showed so much spice and floral allure that I could almost mistake this for a ripe Vosne. Almost. Without the textures. But with a great richness that is so New World. Very tasty, at a wonderful place now.
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We had a terrific visit to Antica Terra at Brick Hall in Dayton last week and sampled a number of the current releases. That prompted me to pull a 2006 Botanica when we returned home. Simply put, it was fabulous. Lovely and strong fruit. Seamless integration Drank over two hours and it stayed approachable and beautiful Reminded me of a Marcassin or even a SQN from when they were making big Pinots (Omega maybe?). What a treat have two left. Lucky us.
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A decade in the cellar has been very kind to this wine. Ripe red and black cherry with slightly sweet spice, but everything has come together into reasonable harmony, largely or mostly thanks to its sheer concentration keeping everything fresh and upright. Very fun now.
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A bit hot when served too warm, but when cooled down and given some time to breath, nice pinot notes emerged. yes, lots of blue fruits, but some spice and even mushroom type notes made it interesting.
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Discovered this wine only now on our wine rack after at least 1 year sitting there in suspect storage conditions. Initially there was sone barnyard funk/gamey aromas that were integrated into the wine but blew off after a while. The most obvious "aroma" was the excessive alcohol heat blowing off. Once that dissipated slightly I could make out intense dark chocolate, raspberries, violets/floral aromas and hints of lemongrass amongst a plonky background. The palate revealed the same flavours as the nose but intensified ten-fold. There was no mistaking the ultra ripeness of the fruit given the 14.6% alcohol, although it wasn't jammy it was certainly heading in that direction. It was full bodied, harsh edged with still relatively high acidity but long length. I just have to wonder if this is what the wine was meant to taste like or if the suspect storage conditions contributed somewhat. Either way, it definitely didn't taste like a Pinot - more like southern Rhone Grenache from a hot vintage. Tasted the wine the next day and it was somewhat different but definitely still un-Pinot like. The ultra ripe raspberry, dark choc was still there but the palate was more rounded and the acidity and alcohol had blown off. Also, it was taking on more of a Portugese vintage port-like flavour. Given the tasting notes above I think the storage conditions have influenced the wine somewhat, but I still think the extreme alcohol level is certainly playing its part.
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Nice fruit and spice, I would call some of the flavor mute, while I would call this enjoyable it doesn't seem to hold up. Is it because it 's a ok vintage or ?
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I agree with others tasting notes, this is a big bold dark fruited Oregon Pinot. It has a small amount of Oregon funk, barnyard that blew off over time. Nice long finish. Will buy again.
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I had this with leftover ham on Christmas night, 12/25/09. It was very atypical pinot noir (too big and bold). It had a great bouquet of black raspberry, black cherry, wood smoke, toast and baking spice aromas. The palate was lush, edgy and very unbalanced with raspberry, black cherry, burnt toast and spice flavors. There was also some obvious heat, which, exacerbated the other problems. I scored it 85 points
I retasted it 7 hours later and found my earlier objections resolved. It was much better...less fruit and aromatics, but balanced, less edgy and the heat was no longer offensive. It also had a long (50 second) lip smacking finish. My score changed to 90 points
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Unpinot, pinot. In the style of Sinnean Resonance. Huge, juicy, mouth-coating, multi-layered, dark fruit, chocolate, coffee. We were smoking chickens outside when we opened and drank this, so sniffer a little overwhelmed with cherry smoke, etc. Did manage to hold back a little in the decanter for a few hours, but too lazy and seduced by its tastiness to make formal notes. All in all, remarkable beverage that many will find irritatingly ripe and over-the-top and too syrah-like. I love it. Would probably score mid-90s.
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7/3/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Even better than my previous bottle from 2021, this showed so much spice and floral allure that I could almost mistake this for a ripe Vosne. Almost. Without the textures. But with a great richness that is so New World. Very tasty, at a wonderful place now.
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10/17/2022 - RAD2626 Likes this wine: 93 Points
We had a terrific visit to Antica Terra at Brick Hall in Dayton last week and sampled a number of the current releases. That prompted me to pull a 2006 Botanica when we returned home. Simply put, it was fabulous. Lovely and strong fruit. Seamless integration Drank over two hours and it stayed approachable and beautiful Reminded me of a Marcassin or even a SQN from when they were making big Pinots (Omega maybe?). What a treat have two left. Lucky us.
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12/9/2021 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
A decade in the cellar has been very kind to this wine. Ripe red and black cherry with slightly sweet spice, but everything has come together into reasonable harmony, largely or mostly thanks to its sheer concentration keeping everything fresh and upright. Very fun now.
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7/22/2013 - cadamson Likes this wine: 90 Points
A bit hot when served too warm, but when cooled down and given some time to breath, nice pinot notes emerged. yes, lots of blue fruits, but some spice and even mushroom type notes made it interesting.
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4/9/2013 - Pinot luva wrote: 85 Points
Discovered this wine only now on our wine rack after at least 1 year sitting there in suspect storage conditions.
Initially there was sone barnyard funk/gamey aromas that were integrated into the wine but blew off after a while. The most obvious "aroma" was the excessive alcohol heat blowing off.
Once that dissipated slightly I could make out intense dark chocolate, raspberries, violets/floral aromas and hints of lemongrass amongst a plonky background.
The palate revealed the same flavours as the nose but intensified ten-fold.
There was no mistaking the ultra ripeness of the fruit given the 14.6% alcohol, although it wasn't jammy it was certainly heading in that direction. It was full bodied, harsh edged with still relatively high acidity but long length. I just have to wonder if this is what the wine was meant to taste like or if the suspect storage conditions contributed somewhat.
Either way, it definitely didn't taste like a Pinot - more like southern Rhone Grenache from a hot vintage.
Tasted the wine the next day and it was somewhat different but definitely still un-Pinot like. The ultra ripe raspberry, dark choc was still there but the palate was more rounded and the acidity and alcohol had blown off. Also, it was taking on more of a Portugese vintage port-like flavour.
Given the tasting notes above I think the storage conditions have influenced the wine somewhat, but I still think the extreme alcohol level is certainly playing its part.
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8/26/2012 - SMZ wrote: 93 Points
My last bottle! This was phenomenal. Still very flavorful and rich. Even better than the previous bottle we drank.
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6/29/2012 - jlgnml wrote: 90 Points
Nice fruit and spice, I would call some of the flavor mute, while I would call this enjoyable it doesn't seem to hold up. Is it because it 's a ok vintage or ?
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1/28/2012 - Sundesertcactus wrote: 93 Points
I agree with others tasting notes, this is a big bold dark fruited Oregon Pinot. It has a small amount of Oregon funk, barnyard that blew off over time. Nice long finish. Will buy again.
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1/1/2012 - SMZ wrote: 91 Points
Still plenty of staying power... Lush and vibrant....what a great wine.
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12/1/2010 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Rich, fat and opulent, this needs time to lose its baby fat. 87 points now, but I am confident 88-89 point potential.
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12/25/2009 - garambler wrote: 90 Points
I had this with leftover ham on Christmas night, 12/25/09. It was very atypical pinot noir (too big and bold). It had a great bouquet of black raspberry, black cherry, wood smoke, toast and baking spice aromas. The palate was lush, edgy and very unbalanced with raspberry, black cherry, burnt toast and spice flavors. There was also some obvious heat, which, exacerbated the other problems. I scored it 85 points
I retasted it 7 hours later and found my earlier objections resolved. It was much better...less fruit and aromatics, but balanced, less edgy and the heat was no longer offensive. It also had a long (50 second) lip smacking finish. My score changed to 90 points
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5/25/2009 - pakabear wrote:
Wife drank but did not give me notes, only that she said it was yummy...
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4/27/2008 - swp3 wrote:
Unpinot, pinot. In the style of Sinnean Resonance. Huge, juicy, mouth-coating, multi-layered, dark fruit, chocolate, coffee. We were smoking chickens outside when we opened and drank this, so sniffer a little overwhelmed with cherry smoke, etc. Did manage to hold back a little in the decanter for a few hours, but too lazy and seduced by its tastiness to make formal notes. All in all, remarkable beverage that many will find irritatingly ripe and over-the-top and too syrah-like. I love it. Would probably score mid-90s.
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