Cork disintegrated upon opening but I was able to remove it in pieces. Strained the rest with a few flecks of cork. Garnet color with slight bricking. Still with powerful dark fruit, black currant, black raspberry, just a hint of earthy tobacco. Secondary flavors really starting to shine. Tannins are soft and silky. In a good drinking window. Expect fruit to fade and secondary flavors to become more dominant in the next 2-3 years.
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Relative to my prior note from 2015, this has become more approachable but is still very much full of life. Benefited considerably from 2+ hours of decanting, with rich, dark fruit notes on the palate and, most remarkably, plenty of balanced acidity and strong but well integrated tannins. Moderate-to-long finish. Paired beautifully with short ribs cooked for eight hours in a slow-cooker.
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Once it opened up from decanting it became full bodied with berry, chocolate, and hints of leather. A delicious wine that went well with the pork filets I had for dinner.
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The previous notes are all pretty accurate. It's a smooth blend. Light. A little fruity. It most definitely needs a 2+ hour decant. Changes a lot from opening to the 4 hour time period. Have it with food. Not a sipping wine.
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Upon opening, very dark color, more like a young Brunello; on the palate, overextracted fruit bomb with too much heat (alcohol at 16.1%) and plenty of wood. After 3 hours of decanting, transformed considerably, gaining much more balance and joy, to my surprise. Paired nicely with a T-bone steak and grilled eggplants. Tannins are meaty for this age; can easily be cellared for additional 5, if not 10, years.
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Nice cork pull, stained just on the bottom, no infiltration, but ugh...the first sip was incredibly tannic. If I was a novice I would have poured this down the drain. But the key word is patience. this wince changed so much dung the time I opened it and pure into the glass. First thing it did was to lose all the tannic harshness, then the fruit came forwards and I became a beautiful and balanced wine. I feel this wine on the tip of the tongue and in the back of the throat. It's potent at 16+%. The reason I opened is CT indicated this only had one more year of life left. I don't think that's true but I can see why; the alcohol is high. This is not a PNP by no means. This wine needs time but I think it's at a good place right now given the fact that it took less that 1-2 hours to come around. I have more left in a corked bottle that I will taste tomorrow and I'm expecting it will be even smoother still. I can't place it as to where it might come from like I can with other regions, and that wasn't the case with my previous Delectus samplings. Those had a silkiness to them while this is balanced now
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Three hour Vinturi decant and rebottle for transit to restaurant with 45 minute slow-ox at table. Great smoky dark fruit nose; full bodied but not even a flash of heat despite the label's stated ABV. Palate is a well-balanced mix of dark berries, plum, fig and currant with a touch of minerality mid-palate. There was the faintest touch of anise on the medium finish. We've loved this since release, purchased more during their Black Friday sale, and thank Julia herself for signing our bottles on this repeat purchase. Seems to be at its apex...great stuff!
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50+5+14+18+8 What a nose! Decanted about 60 minutes, aromas were present from two feet away while decanting. Full bodied, high alcohol, M+ tannin, beautiful ruby day bright with slight rim variation. No flaws, no signs of gas. Light sediment. Nose of ripe juicy blackberry, ripe black plum, dried roasting herbs, vanilla extract, smoke, black licorice. Palate agrees with nose and adds ripe black cherry, shale, dill, black currant jam, some baking spice. There's a lot going on here, nice complexity, well balanced. Fruit appears as western or southern exposure (northern hemisphere) mountain grapes due to ripeness. Very expressive. Balanced despite the high ABV. Outstanding wine. Drink now or age another 2-5 years.
- Fast forming legs. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a long finish - Terrific Wine. Decanted for 90 minutes, well balanced with a great finish.
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red Bordeaux blend ruby in colour, massive. 16.1% ABV but not really noticeable plummy, with significant tannin surprisingly balanced, but with some heat on the back end can keep for fair few years yet
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Tasted blind at a party, I was not able to take my usual notes on this wine. However, it had classic Napa bright cherry fruit.
The wine making was impressive as this bottle was quite well balanced with good length. Obviously, it was quite young and still a bit primary.
Overall, this was nice wine and seemed to have a bright future. However, given that there is not a long track record here, it is hard to say with confidence. It certainly could add a few points with time.
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Outstanding showing from Delectus (again). During a wild game dinner in Denver we opened several fantastic wines over the course of the evening; this was clearly the WOTN.
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Very dark purple all the way to the rim. The aromas are a wonderful mix of black currant, cherry and vanilla. Across the palate the fruit really shines with black cherry, plumb stew, and blackberry. There is a lot going on but everything in it's place and working very well together. Outstanding. More at http://encompasswine.wordpress.com/
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2009 California Barrel Tasting (Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington DC): Fruit forward nose and taste with pleasant caramel and vanilla ending notes. Someone also described it as "cocoa butter" which worked too. Very much in harmony now with plenty of aging potential. The was one of our WOTN. The 2007 could surpass it in time...
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11/3/2018 - Winepro7 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Cork disintegrated upon opening but I was able to remove it in pieces. Strained the rest with a few flecks of cork.
Garnet color with slight bricking. Still with powerful dark fruit, black currant, black raspberry, just a hint of earthy tobacco. Secondary flavors really starting to shine.
Tannins are soft and silky.
In a good drinking window. Expect fruit to fade and secondary flavors to become more dominant in the next 2-3 years.
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11/17/2017 - Boomer Sooner Likes this wine: 95 Points
Complex wine with dark fruit and chocolate. WOTN at a wine dinner. Drinking beautifully.
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9/18/2017 - doctorj1 wrote: 90 Points
Cork disintegrated upon opening and had to strain to remove. Not sure if that sucked the life out of the wine or what but not particularly impressed.
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3/18/2017 - Slaz Likes this wine: 93 Points
Relative to my prior note from 2015, this has become more approachable but is still very much full of life. Benefited considerably from 2+ hours of decanting, with rich, dark fruit notes on the palate and, most remarkably, plenty of balanced acidity and strong but well integrated tannins. Moderate-to-long finish. Paired beautifully with short ribs cooked for eight hours in a slow-cooker.
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8/28/2016 - thh18731 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Once it opened up from decanting it became full bodied with berry, chocolate, and hints of leather. A delicious wine that went well with the pork filets I had for dinner.
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7/29/2016 - ericshaun Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drinking in a wonderful place right now. Still has time left but it is gorgeous summer of '16.
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1/23/2016 - whybuyone Likes this wine: 89 Points
The previous notes are all pretty accurate. It's a smooth blend. Light. A little fruity. It most definitely needs a 2+ hour decant. Changes a lot from opening to the 4 hour time period. Have it with food. Not a sipping wine.
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7/18/2015 - Slaz wrote: 92 Points
Upon opening, very dark color, more like a young Brunello; on the palate, overextracted fruit bomb with too much heat (alcohol at 16.1%) and plenty of wood. After 3 hours of decanting, transformed considerably, gaining much more balance and joy, to my surprise. Paired nicely with a T-bone steak and grilled eggplants. Tannins are meaty for this age; can easily be cellared for additional 5, if not 10, years.
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6/26/2015 - mwinky Likes this wine: 95 Points
great wine, smooth, elegant, sumptuous on the mid palate and no after-taste.
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5/24/2015 - pmarlo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nice cork pull, stained just on the bottom, no infiltration, but ugh...the first sip was incredibly tannic. If I was a novice I would have poured this down the drain. But the key word is patience. this wince changed so much dung the time I opened it and pure into the glass. First thing it did was to lose all the tannic harshness, then the fruit came forwards and I became a beautiful and balanced wine. I feel this wine on the tip of the tongue and in the back of the throat. It's potent at 16+%. The reason I opened is CT indicated this only had one more year of life left. I don't think that's true but I can see why; the alcohol is high. This is not a PNP by no means. This wine needs time but I think it's at a good place right now given the fact that it took less that 1-2 hours to come around. I have more left in a corked bottle that I will taste tomorrow and I'm expecting it will be even smoother still. I can't place it as to where it might come from like I can with other regions, and that wasn't the case with my previous Delectus samplings. Those had a silkiness to them while this is balanced now
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5/22/2015 - Brownvino wrote: 93 Points
Decanted at restaurant and consumed over the next 2-3 hours. Drinking great right now. Taste and nose of dark fruit and tobacco. Medium finish.
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2/20/2015 - robertdtwo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Three hour Vinturi decant and rebottle for transit to restaurant with 45 minute slow-ox at table. Great smoky dark fruit nose; full bodied but not even a flash of heat despite the label's stated ABV. Palate is a well-balanced mix of dark berries, plum, fig and currant with a touch of minerality mid-palate. There was the faintest touch of anise on the medium finish. We've loved this since release, purchased more during their Black Friday sale, and thank Julia herself for signing our bottles on this repeat purchase. Seems to be at its apex...great stuff!
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1/26/2015 - annerk wrote: 95 Points
50+5+14+18+8 What a nose! Decanted about 60 minutes, aromas were present from two feet away while decanting.
Full bodied, high alcohol, M+ tannin, beautiful ruby day bright with slight rim variation. No flaws, no signs of gas. Light sediment. Nose of ripe juicy blackberry, ripe black plum, dried roasting herbs, vanilla extract, smoke, black licorice. Palate agrees with nose and adds ripe black cherry, shale, dill, black currant jam, some baking spice. There's a lot going on here, nice complexity, well balanced. Fruit appears as western or southern exposure (northern hemisphere) mountain grapes due to ripeness. Very expressive. Balanced despite the high ABV. Outstanding wine. Drink now or age another 2-5 years.
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6/28/2014 - Miller993 wrote: 94 Points
- Fast forming legs. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a long finish - Terrific Wine. Decanted for 90 minutes, well balanced with a great finish.
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4/8/2014 - michaelong wrote: 90 Points
red Bordeaux blend
ruby in colour, massive. 16.1% ABV but not really noticeable
plummy, with significant tannin
surprisingly balanced, but with some heat on the back end
can keep for fair few years yet
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10/29/2013 - srshane Likes this wine: 93 Points
At BCC with family. Aerated 60 minutes. Smooth, fruit forward, balanced.
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8/26/2012 - fclarity wrote: 91 Points
Tasted blind at a party, I was not able to take my usual notes on this wine. However, it had classic Napa bright cherry fruit.
The wine making was impressive as this bottle was quite well balanced with good length. Obviously, it was quite young and still a bit primary.
Overall, this was nice wine and seemed to have a bright future. However, given that there is not a long track record here, it is hard to say with confidence. It certainly could add a few points with time.
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9/30/2010 - Kssexton wrote: 96 Points
Wonderfully smooth
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4/28/2010 - Lenair wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding showing from Delectus (again). During a wild game dinner in Denver we opened several fantastic wines over the course of the evening; this was clearly the WOTN.
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5/26/2009 - whynblog wrote: 95 Points
Very dark purple all the way to the rim. The aromas are a wonderful mix of black currant, cherry and vanilla. Across the palate the fruit really shines with black cherry, plumb stew, and blackberry. There is a lot going on but everything in it's place and working very well together. Outstanding. More at http://encompasswine.wordpress.com/
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3/21/2009 - pizzler wrote: 95 Points
2009 California Barrel Tasting (Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington DC): Fruit forward nose and taste with pleasant caramel and vanilla ending notes. Someone also described it as "cocoa butter" which worked too. Very much in harmony now with plenty of aging potential. The was one of our WOTN. The 2007 could surpass it in time...
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