I'm not sure this bottle is really evolving much with time. It's always been tasty with overwhelming fruit and balanced oak and heat. But, in hindsight, I'm not sure what the benefit of cellaring has been. And I'm a big fan of aged bottles.
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ive had 3 or 4 bottles of this. it's showing better each time, but each time im becoming more bored with the style. just hate that powdered sugar initial attack. i do love the eucalyptus menthol thing though like chewing on a menthol cigarette. yum! good big purple monster.
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Ink with heavy viscosity in the glass. Explosive nose of black fruit, coffee and chocolate. Full body with monolithic black fruit, tobacco, pepper, coffee and cocoa on the palate. Noticeable heat. Superb, juicy, chewy and smokey texture. Mouth coating, chalky tannin. Long finish. Devine.
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The first thing you notice about this Washinton Syrah is the dark purple, almost black color. It also has a big nose, full of blackberries and lavender - pure Syrah in every way. Lots of pepper and spice on the palate and a decent finish. I liked the nose better than the taste, which didn't hold together as well as I'd hoped. Nice alternative to the Napa cabs I normally drink.
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This wine has a crazy incredible nose and initial palate, with a very Cayuse esque resemblance. Smoke, meat, game, earth ect. along with of course plenty of fruit. Just has a an intoxicating nose if you like a bit of funk with your fruit. That said the wine lost a couple of points for me because it seemed excessively sweet and candied on the finish. If it didn't have such interest at the attack it would be a loss, but I found the nose truly intoxicating here. If your averse to over the top though beware.
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Boerne Wine Club - CA Pinot Noir; 8/21/2011-8/22/2011 (Olmos Park Bistro): Served at cellar temp. This was much more together than the last bottle, but probably because it was not compared to bdx and served slightly colder. Big, sweet nose with wild berry, raspberry, currants and mocha and touch of ornage peel. Palate was smooth rich and round, with ripe fruit that added a sweetness to thier spice and pepper character. Finsihes with repeated pepper, toast and espresso. Has a rather smooth mouthfeel, with a slightly hollow bitterness that comes though when approaching room temp. Drink at cellar temp when in the mood for a "big" highly concentrated wine. Group WOTN
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Dinner w/Nutty. A rich nose of lavender, menthol, incense, and jam. Very sweet palate with some blue fruits, vanilla, spice, and hints of minerality. Finish quite long and persistent. If served blind, I would not have pegged as WA as the wine did not have the necessary red fruit tartness and earth notes. The wine does maintain a very layered fruit profile with enough acidity to qualify as an excellent wine. Just not my style. For hedonists.
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Big slightly sweet dense fruit nos of berries, currants and a grapefruit citrus quality. Fruit forward palate, viscus with a slightly syrupy mouthfeel (other wines at the table were bdx) with layers of dense ripe fruits. Nice finish with a little spice mixed in with some red fruit hanging on. A very forward sytle, but good complexity and just enough acidity to hold it together.
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This was as a pop-n-pour..... Hmmm, what is that smell? Unmistakable. It is in a salad. Oh, right. Red beets. This initially smelled like a big can of red beets. Pretty interesting. One hour later, the red beets are joined by wild flowers and earth with some green olive, and this seems more "perfumed". On the palate, the is foruntately not the vegetal delight, your nose would indicate. Dark blue and black fruits, all smooth and easy drinking. It is not that I did not enjoy it, I just wanted more from this wine. More complexity. More flavors. 50+5+14+15+5
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Hmmm. Not a big fan of WA Syrah but figured I would once again take a leap on something I found on sale from a winery that I was interested in. Have many WA syrahs (including the BETZ 07s... WAAAAY overrated and overpriced) to find one that I like and gotta say that so far this is my favorite. Popped and poured. A wild opening... almost fizzy it had so much acid. Kinda mellowed out after about 20 minutes in the glass. Drank over 2 days. Day one was kinda that whoa what just happened moment with a ton of acid, that typical WA gamey (is that really a word?) syrah thing going on, followed by some very enjoyable fruit, really picked up kinda of a dark cherry thing going on. Not overly gamey, smoky, and peppery like waaaaay too many WA syrahs. After a night in the fridge got COMPLETELY obliterated by the black olive nose and flavors going on this this wine. Dont know how I could have missed all of that on day 1. As the wine sits in the glass and warms up a little the olive is receding and the fruit is reemerging. However the olive is still there bigtime. A minimal amount of wood on day 1 and 2 which I really appreciate. Paid $30.00 with tax etc on this wine and overall if you held a gun to my head and made me drink WA syrah again that I had to pay for this would be the one that I would choose. Overall would still go with many of the 2 hands syrahs from Australia over anything from WA; as a major WA fan this pains me greatly to say.
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2006 Syrah The Deal – Sundance Vineyard Wahluke Slope – shows a meaty smoky wine with blackberries and tar. The refined tannis show notes of tangerine, and while it was a bit gamey at first int he glass, that soon blew off to a smooth long finish and nice mouth feel. The Deal is all about respect, integrity and doing what you want to do in the vineyard. The Sundance Vineyard has a slight northerly slope which creates a cooler site, in a very warm region. This wine tastes of cool climate syrah, and is grown in sadny loam over coarse sand which provides excellent drainage. Only two miles from Pheasant Vineyard, it was planted in 1997 and creates a very different wine profile.
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Wines of Washington State (Fort Collins): Popped and poured. Dense dark purple. Berries, meat, flowers, dense. Big bodied and some amount of oak. Consumed late in the evening - I know I'm not doing this justice. Sorry Charles.
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Wine E: Right back with another Syrah. Lots of spices and olives again. Not as much funk as the cayuse, but definitely the meat/game notes were present. Distinct contrast to the Cayuse, but it was obvious this was another Syrah. Not as wow, but still delicious at this price point.
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Nose of flowers, cloves and blackberries. the cloves and blackberries carry over to the palate and finish. the 15.5 percent alcohol was noticeable at first but faded away after the bottle was open for a half hour or so. nicely integrated oak. just a beautiful wine.
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Took to a tasting, no decant, from a magnum opened from 1 1/2 hours til 3 hours. Dark black/purple color. On the nose there was massive huckleberries, blackberry, violets, smoke, and some forest floor funk going on. On the palate there is lush pure fruit with huckleberry, blackberry, olive, tar, smoke, and a streak of minerality and a little tannin. The finish was way above average in length. The balance of this wine is amazing as the acidity and tannin keep the fruit in check. This was a great wine, that I should have waited a few years to pop, but is approachable now. I wish I had more. Drink or Hold. 50+5+13+18+7
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Spectacular Syrah Tasting at Dino's (Dino's - Washington, DC): tasted from a magnum. pitch colored. the nose is tremendous, with tones of blueberry jam, violets, cedar and some earth. on the palate, this is big, ripe and lush. so well-structured. i described this wine as the marilyn monroe of the evening. i mean, seriously, it was just so sexy. the fruit is so pure and seductive but the structure and balance are tremendous. blueberry pie, toast, pepper and earth flavors are so concentrated. i loved this wine.
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Just wonderful. Bursting with flavor from first pour. No time needed to let it open up and constantly entertaining flavor-wise. A bit spicy and with lots of big hits of fruit. Would love to have it again and again.
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Big wine with gobs of fruit but good structure. A bit too warm when first opened but after a couple of days under a vacuum top the alcohol was well under control. Delicious.
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Huge bouquet of fresh cut wild flowers, vanilla toast and freshly crushed raspberry. There is nothing subtle about the oak in this wine, but it's so well integrated into the fabric that it is not intrusive but a very positive thing. The fruit content is massive, and it's so jammy without being flabby or soft, an absoloutely delicious wine that got better with every sip. Drink now or hold.
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Delicious, new world ripe and heavy. Pretty high heat, but this may fade with few years of bottle age as the fruit is huge and delicious. Muddled black fruit, cream and vanilla along with spice. Nice medium-long finish. Yumm.
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Ann and I had the somelier pick a wine for us and serve it blind at Harry's Savoy. The wine was decanted. This was very big and fruity with some complexity. The wine was very hot which really hurt the score. We guessed california syrah and were surprised to find out it was from washington with so much fruit. The 15.5% alcohol was very noticible.
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shared this with 3 friends at noble rot in portland. this has a very extracted very well balanced (alcohol hardly noticeable) rich (but not overoaked or fake tasting) thing going on similar to the better sine qua nons ive had. outstanding value.
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Wow, I didn't realize how good the wines from Mr. Smith could get. This is amazing. Just full of smoke and funk and so many yummy fruit and non fruit flavors. Extremely gycerol. This wine toes the line on the edge but doesn't go past it. Awesome.
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Dark thick purple, looks like shiraz (but smells better). Rich aromas of cassis, blackberry (that occasionally seem mentholated), dried herbs, a burnt mocha and a touch of milk chocolate. Nose seemed to carry a bit of tart acid with it, that carried over on the palate, but this settled down over time (no decanting, but bottle was opened an hour before dinner and drunk over 4 or 5 hours), resulting in the chocolate - tannins were soft from the get go. Very yummy. I don't think I understand the drinking window running out to 15 years, but I am willing to be convinced.
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4/2/2016 - Don and Pam wrote: flawed
2nd bottle that was bad. Wrote K Vintners on the first and never got response. Totally undrinkable after years of cellaring at 55 degrees. Very sad
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5/14/2015 - Napacablover Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nice spicy Shiraz. Great value
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3/20/2015 - Thief Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious, black inky, complex chocolatey notes, pencil shavings, layered and long finish with still abundant dark fruit.
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2/5/2015 - Don and Pam Likes this wine: 91 Points
still has lot's of time remaining. very smooth after decant for an hour
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10/31/2014 - mike l. Likes this wine: 92 Points
Here we go again...
I'm not sure this bottle is really evolving much with time. It's always been tasty with overwhelming fruit and balanced oak and heat. But, in hindsight, I'm not sure what the benefit of cellaring has been. And I'm a big fan of aged bottles.
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2/2/2014 - Napacablover Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bold delicious Syrah - really enjoyed it!
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8/17/2013 - Napacablover Likes this wine: 92 Points
A delicious Syrah - Beautiful nose and very smooth on the palate.
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12/16/2012 - Napacablover wrote: 93 Points
Great nose and smooth on the palate. An excellent Syrah
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5/20/2012 - mike l. wrote: 91 Points
ive had 3 or 4 bottles of this. it's showing better each time, but each time im becoming more bored with the style. just hate that powdered sugar initial attack. i do love the eucalyptus menthol thing though like chewing on a menthol cigarette. yum! good big purple monster.
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5/19/2012 - christophee Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ink with heavy viscosity in the glass. Explosive nose of black fruit, coffee and chocolate. Full body with monolithic black fruit, tobacco, pepper, coffee and cocoa on the palate. Noticeable heat. Superb, juicy, chewy and smokey texture. Mouth coating, chalky tannin. Long finish. Devine.
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1/29/2012 - Napacablover wrote: 91 Points
The first thing you notice about this Washinton Syrah is the dark purple, almost black color. It also has a big nose, full of blackberries and lavender - pure Syrah in every way. Lots of pepper and spice on the palate and a decent finish. I liked the nose better than the taste, which didn't hold together as well as I'd hoped. Nice alternative to the Napa cabs I normally drink.
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11/12/2011 - Ekoostik wrote: 92 Points
This wine has a crazy incredible nose and initial palate, with a very Cayuse esque resemblance. Smoke, meat, game, earth ect. along with of course plenty of fruit. Just has a an intoxicating nose if you like a bit of funk with your fruit. That said the wine lost a couple of points for me because it seemed excessively sweet and candied on the finish. If it didn't have such interest at the attack it would be a loss, but I found the nose truly intoxicating here. If your averse to over the top though beware.
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8/22/2011 - macker100 wrote: 90 Points
At BWC tasting. Same as Feb. note, although wine slightly more muted in profile. My #5
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8/22/2011 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Boerne Wine Club - CA Pinot Noir; 8/21/2011-8/22/2011 (Olmos Park Bistro): Served at cellar temp. This was much more together than the last bottle, but probably because it was not compared to bdx and served slightly colder. Big, sweet nose with wild berry, raspberry, currants and mocha and touch of ornage peel. Palate was smooth rich and round, with ripe fruit that added a sweetness to thier spice and pepper character. Finsihes with repeated pepper, toast and espresso. Has a rather smooth mouthfeel, with a slightly hollow bitterness that comes though when approaching room temp. Drink at cellar temp when in the mood for a "big" highly concentrated wine. Group WOTN
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2/9/2011 - macker100 wrote: 90 Points
Dinner w/Nutty. A rich nose of lavender, menthol, incense, and jam. Very sweet palate with some blue fruits, vanilla, spice, and hints of minerality. Finish quite long and persistent. If served blind, I would not have pegged as WA as the wine did not have the necessary red fruit tartness and earth notes. The wine does maintain a very layered fruit profile with enough acidity to qualify as an excellent wine. Just not my style. For hedonists.
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2/9/2011 - Nutty08 wrote: 91 Points
Big slightly sweet dense fruit nos of berries, currants and a grapefruit citrus quality. Fruit forward palate, viscus with a slightly syrupy mouthfeel (other wines at the table were bdx) with layers of dense ripe fruits. Nice finish with a little spice mixed in with some red fruit hanging on. A very forward sytle, but good complexity and just enough acidity to hold it together.
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12/12/2010 - mreinitz wrote: 91 Points
Everyone liked it. Very smooth with light tannins. Rich dark berry fruit with streaks of blueberry, meat, and smoke. Goes down very easily.
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9/5/2010 - psirah wrote: 89 Points
This was as a pop-n-pour..... Hmmm, what is that smell? Unmistakable. It is in a salad. Oh, right. Red beets. This initially smelled like a big can of red beets. Pretty interesting. One hour later, the red beets are joined by wild flowers and earth with some green olive, and this seems more "perfumed". On the palate, the is foruntately not the vegetal delight, your nose would indicate. Dark blue and black fruits, all smooth and easy drinking. It is not that I did not enjoy it, I just wanted more from this wine. More complexity. More flavors.
50+5+14+15+5
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7/28/2010 - WaWineFan in TX wrote: 90 Points
Hmmm. Not a big fan of WA Syrah but figured I would once again take a leap on something I found on sale from a winery that I was interested in. Have many WA syrahs (including the BETZ 07s... WAAAAY overrated and overpriced) to find one that I like and gotta say that so far this is my favorite. Popped and poured. A wild opening... almost fizzy it had so much acid. Kinda mellowed out after about 20 minutes in the glass. Drank over 2 days. Day one was kinda that whoa what just happened moment with a ton of acid, that typical WA gamey (is that really a word?) syrah thing going on, followed by some very enjoyable fruit, really picked up kinda of a dark cherry thing going on. Not overly gamey, smoky, and peppery like waaaaay too many WA syrahs. After a night in the fridge got COMPLETELY obliterated by the black olive nose and flavors going on this this wine. Dont know how I could have missed all of that on day 1. As the wine sits in the glass and warms up a little the olive is receding and the fruit is reemerging. However the olive is still there bigtime. A minimal amount of wood on day 1 and 2 which I really appreciate. Paid $30.00 with tax etc on this wine and overall if you held a gun to my head and made me drink WA syrah again that I had to pay for this would be the one that I would choose. Overall would still go with many of the 2 hands syrahs from Australia over anything from WA; as a major WA fan this pains me greatly to say.
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6/4/2010 - winebratsf wrote:
2006 Syrah The Deal – Sundance Vineyard Wahluke Slope – shows a meaty smoky wine with blackberries and tar. The refined tannis show notes of tangerine, and while it was a bit gamey at first int he glass, that soon blew off to a smooth long finish and nice mouth feel. The Deal is all about respect, integrity and doing what you want to do in the vineyard. The Sundance Vineyard has a slight northerly slope which creates a cooler site, in a very warm region. This wine tastes of cool climate syrah, and is grown in sadny loam over coarse sand which provides excellent drainage. Only two miles from Pheasant Vineyard, it was planted in 1997 and creates a very different wine profile.
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5/4/2010 - mmurmac wrote: 91 Points
A lot of fruit. A little nice perfume and vanilla on the nose.
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3/5/2010 - capnkirk wrote: 83 Points
started out nicely but fell apart a little after opened for a few hours
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2/17/2010 - andtheodor wrote:
Wines of Washington State (Fort Collins): Popped and poured. Dense dark purple. Berries, meat, flowers, dense. Big bodied and some amount of oak. Consumed late in the evening - I know I'm not doing this justice. Sorry Charles.
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10/18/2009 - fcs wrote: 93 Points
Perfection
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7/25/2009 - mye wrote: 90 Points
Wine E:
Right back with another Syrah. Lots of spices and olives again. Not as much funk as the cayuse, but definitely the meat/game notes were present. Distinct contrast to the Cayuse, but it was obvious this was another Syrah.
Not as wow, but still delicious at this price point.
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6/23/2009 - CDStrombom wrote: 93 Points
Nose of flowers, cloves and blackberries. the cloves and blackberries carry over to the palate and finish. the 15.5 percent alcohol was noticeable at first but faded away after the bottle was open for a half hour or so. nicely integrated oak. just a beautiful wine.
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6/21/2009 - manonthemoon wrote: 93 Points
Took to a tasting, no decant, from a magnum opened from 1 1/2 hours til 3 hours. Dark black/purple color. On the nose there was massive huckleberries, blackberry, violets, smoke, and some forest floor funk going on. On the palate there is lush pure fruit with huckleberry, blackberry, olive, tar, smoke, and a streak of minerality and a little tannin. The finish was way above average in length. The balance of this wine is amazing as the acidity and tannin keep the fruit in check. This was a great wine, that I should have waited a few years to pop, but is approachable now. I wish I had more. Drink or Hold. 50+5+13+18+7
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6/18/2009 - isaacjamesbaker wrote:
Spectacular Syrah Tasting at Dino's (Dino's - Washington, DC): tasted from a magnum. pitch colored. the nose is tremendous, with tones of blueberry jam, violets, cedar and some earth. on the palate, this is big, ripe and lush. so well-structured. i described this wine as the marilyn monroe of the evening. i mean, seriously, it was just so sexy. the fruit is so pure and seductive but the structure and balance are tremendous. blueberry pie, toast, pepper and earth flavors are so concentrated. i loved this wine.
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5/29/2009 - elevatoro wrote:
Just wonderful. Bursting with flavor from first pour. No time needed to let it open up and constantly entertaining flavor-wise. A bit spicy and with lots of big hits of fruit. Would love to have it again and again.
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2/18/2009 - D.Callahan wrote: 91 Points
Big wine with gobs of fruit but good structure. A bit too warm when first opened but after a couple of days under a vacuum top the alcohol was well under control. Delicious.
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1/6/2009 - Vinomarcus wrote: 93 Points
Huge bouquet of fresh cut wild flowers, vanilla toast and freshly crushed raspberry. There is nothing subtle about the oak in this wine, but it's so well integrated into the fabric that it is not intrusive but a very positive thing. The fruit content is massive, and it's so jammy without being flabby or soft, an absoloutely delicious wine that got better with every sip. Drink now or hold.
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11/26/2008 - Grape Stuff wrote: 93 Points
Delicious, new world ripe and heavy. Pretty high heat, but this may fade with few years of bottle age as the fruit is huge and delicious. Muddled black fruit, cream and vanilla along with spice. Nice medium-long finish. Yumm.
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11/13/2008 - Outplaying wrote: 87 Points
Ann and I had the somelier pick a wine for us and serve it blind at Harry's Savoy. The wine was decanted. This was very big and fruity with some complexity. The wine was very hot which really hurt the score. We guessed california syrah and were surprised to find out it was from washington with so much fruit. The 15.5% alcohol was very noticible.
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11/5/2008 - mike l. wrote: 93 Points
shared this with 3 friends at noble rot in portland. this has a very extracted very well balanced (alcohol hardly noticeable) rich (but not overoaked or fake tasting) thing going on similar to the better sine qua nons ive had. outstanding value.
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10/24/2008 - ScottG wrote: 87 Points
Just OK. Big and monolithic- not as interesting as I remembered.
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10/19/2008 - hutch wrote: 94 Points
Wow, I didn't realize how good the wines from Mr. Smith could get. This is amazing. Just full of smoke and funk and so many yummy fruit and non fruit flavors. Extremely gycerol. This wine toes the line on the edge but doesn't go past it. Awesome.
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10/4/2008 - Cahill wrote: 92 Points
Dark thick purple, looks like shiraz (but smells better). Rich aromas of cassis, blackberry (that occasionally seem mentholated), dried herbs, a burnt mocha and a touch of milk chocolate. Nose seemed to carry a bit of tart acid with it, that carried over on the palate, but this settled down over time (no decanting, but bottle was opened an hour before dinner and drunk over 4 or 5 hours), resulting in the chocolate - tannins were soft from the get go. Very yummy. I don't think I understand the drinking window running out to 15 years, but I am willing to be convinced.
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9/17/2008 - Traxx wrote: 92 Points
Nice rich dark color, wonderful nose, very balanced overall. Great bottle of wine, I understand what the hype is about.
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