Still has a lot of fruit. Soft tannins. Medium finish. Dark berries, licorice, and tar. Better than we expected for a 17 year old wine from Washington.
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I "found" this in our cellar after downloading this app - didn't realize it was still in there. Although past its prime, it's well balanced having lost a lot of the fruit I remembered.
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A little disjointed, fruit not integrated well with alcohol. Smooth tanins(too smooth for me). Easy drinker, non wine drinkers seemed to enjoy the wine.
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Spicy, full fruit nose with a little heat; deep dark opaque purple color; disappointing taste, no structure, flat, with very little finish. Maybe past peak. I expected more from a signature Chateaus SM.
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Very nicely balanced bottle of wine. Good dose of alcohol, but didn't drink hot at all. Drank 1/2 the bottle after opening, second half the next day. As expected and little smoother and velvety the second day. I have another bottle to try.....good wine, looking forward to it.
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Drank with Chris and Anna. This wine was loved by all palates. It was amazingly well-balanced and shows the wine making abilities of CSM. Tannins have softened dramatically over the last year and are very well-rounded and hit the mid-palate just right. Hues of reddish-brown show a nice aged juice and the bouquet held some great dark fruit and toffee scents. Tastewise this wine delivers something to everyone's liking. None of the tastes are too overwhelming although light chocolate and tobacco shine through. Also apparent are vegetal shrub flavors mixed with a Chinese Five Spice undertone. Enjoy as this wine continues to impress.
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Decanted for 2 hours. Nice purple/red color. Good fruity nose and palate. Good acidity balanced with fine tannins. Overall very smooth and went well with strip steak and roasted mushrooms/asparagus drizzled with balasamic vinegar.
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Decanted for 30 minutes - good fruit aromas and flavor, medium tannins and finish. Went well with roasted lemon chicken and roasted cauliflower with parmesan. We drank the rest 24 hours later - the fruit aroma and flavors were more prounced and overall very smooth and it complimented the chicken portabello ravioli. Looking forward to another bottle.
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Amazing deep red / purple color with cherry and cassis integrated with a hint of cedar. Nice finish with refined acidity. 87-89. Drink within the next 2-3 years.
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Decent bottle of merlot for $13.99. Definltely upscale from the regular bottling. Good color, fruity nose, smooth on the palate. Not particularly complex (though more so than the regular CSM Merlot bottling), but an easy, balanced drinker. Had with steak, and it worked out great. <14% alcohol, which is always nice.
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As a general matter, I think Merlot is unfairly maligned. Wines like this, however, don't make that an easy argument to sell. As with many low-end Merlots, the most one can say about this wine is that it's inoffensive. But it's insipid as well. The fruit is broad plum, supported by a touch of oak and a distracting metallic note. There's not much focus, and the finish is short. CSM is a producer I normally like, but I won't be revisiting this one.
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5/19/2019 - bradfriedlander wrote: 89 Points
Still has a lot of fruit. Soft tannins. Medium finish. Dark berries, licorice, and tar. Better than we expected for a 17 year old wine from Washington.
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11/27/2011 - forcumba wrote: 84 Points
I "found" this in our cellar after downloading this app - didn't realize it was still in there. Although past its prime, it's well balanced having lost a lot of the fruit I remembered.
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5/31/2009 - dhw wrote: 86 Points
not as good as before, but okay
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1/2/2008 - w00dee wrote: 87 Points
A little disjointed, fruit not integrated well with alcohol. Smooth tanins(too smooth for me). Easy drinker, non wine drinkers seemed to enjoy the wine.
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11/20/2007 - DTWOB wrote: 84 Points
Spicy, full fruit nose with a little heat; deep dark opaque purple color; disappointing taste, no structure, flat, with very little finish. Maybe past peak. I expected more from a signature Chateaus SM.
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10/22/2007 - DTWOB wrote: 80 Points
Lacked any type of structure. Tooooo smooth. Past peak.
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6/1/2007 - CooGAR wrote: 87 Points
Very nicely balanced bottle of wine. Good dose of alcohol, but didn't drink hot at all. Drank 1/2 the bottle after opening, second half the next day. As expected and little smoother and velvety the second day. I have another bottle to try.....good wine, looking forward to it.
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5/26/2007 - jeffzanatta wrote: 90 Points
Drank with Chris and Anna. This wine was loved by all palates. It was amazingly well-balanced and shows the wine making abilities of CSM. Tannins have softened dramatically over the last year and are very well-rounded and hit the mid-palate just right. Hues of reddish-brown show a nice aged juice and the bouquet held some great dark fruit and toffee scents. Tastewise this wine delivers something to everyone's liking. None of the tastes are too overwhelming although light chocolate and tobacco shine through. Also apparent are vegetal shrub flavors mixed with a Chinese Five Spice undertone. Enjoy as this wine continues to impress.
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5/20/2007 - green-steve wrote: 85 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. Nice purple/red color. Good fruity nose and palate. Good acidity balanced with fine tannins. Overall very smooth and went well with strip steak and roasted mushrooms/asparagus drizzled with balasamic vinegar.
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2/9/2007 - green-steve wrote: 85 Points
Decanted for 30 minutes - good fruit aromas and flavor, medium tannins and finish. Went well with roasted lemon chicken and roasted cauliflower with parmesan. We drank the rest 24 hours later - the fruit aroma and flavors were more prounced and overall very smooth and it complimented the chicken portabello ravioli. Looking forward to another bottle.
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10/19/2006 - tigerpaw75 wrote: 86 Points
OK, nothing special.
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8/8/2006 - win wrote: 88 Points
Amazing deep red / purple color with cherry and cassis integrated with a hint of cedar. Nice finish with refined acidity. 87-89. Drink within the next 2-3 years.
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7/4/2006 - blaine wrote: 87 Points
Decent bottle of merlot for $13.99. Definltely upscale from the regular bottling. Good color, fruity nose, smooth on the palate. Not particularly complex (though more so than the regular CSM Merlot bottling), but an easy, balanced drinker. Had with steak, and it worked out great. <14% alcohol, which is always nice.
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12/9/2005 - Stephan O wrote: 81 Points
As a general matter, I think Merlot is unfairly maligned. Wines like this, however, don't make that an easy argument to sell. As with many low-end Merlots, the most one can say about this wine is that it's inoffensive. But it's insipid as well. The fruit is broad plum, supported by a touch of oak and a distracting metallic note. There's not much focus, and the finish is short. CSM is a producer I normally like, but I won't be revisiting this one.
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2/22/2005 - bigboyiroo wrote:
ripe ,rich fruit flavors-very nice
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