Oh baby. Lean, earthy, a bit dirty in the nose. Bright flavors of black cherry, rose potpourri, sandalwood, and salted plums, leather, etc... emanate. It's like a hug from an old friend you haven't seen in a while. In the mouth, the wine is med-full- tannins are still there, fruit acid is bright and crunchy- giving you a wine with plenty of verve, but starting to wane in fruit/body. Flavors of bing cherry, leather, bretty funk, blood, and pomegranate are dense and persistent. This seems to be teetering in the middle of the back of the slope, this bottle in particular, probably better a few years ago, but still has a few years of pleasure to give. Well made and I really appreciate these older wines out of California.
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Quite nice. Better than 1993 and 1994. Pretty nose of dark cherry with mineral notes. Palate shows nice balance with good acidity, some tannin and good finish. In a European rather than Napa style, but showing nice balance and finesse that makes it quite attractive.
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I was a bit sick, but the table loved it. People were describing the wine as cherry kirsch, matured, old wood, with resolved tannins. Too bad I couldn't smell or taste a thing...
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Popped and decanted a portion of the 3l a few hours prior to service.
Upon opening, the wine shows a linear sour red and black fruit with a decay vegetal finish. The wine itself is med-full bodied, has acid (sour), and soft silty tannins.
After a few hours, the sourness has begun to fade, the decay has evolved into an bretty character- this is getting interesting. The mid palate has begun to fill out with some woody/pencil shaving notes, this works well with that bretty note. Lots of cherry in the fruit department. The finish is long- with flavors of earth, forest floor, and eucalyptus/mint. Very good.
At the end of the night, the wine was finally open. We were on the last 750ml of the wine- the fruit began to soften up, showing more complexity without dissolving into incoherence. The mid palate was fully fleshed out, filling the mouth with some nice copycat Bordeaux flavors (pencil shavings, cassis, granite/minerality)- the finish was beautiful.
All in all, the wine was ready to be drunk- glad I popped it and shared it with some really good (after the bottle, also drunk) friends.
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A nice wine- in retrospect, nothing close to the 1993 Bernardus Marinus. However, Marinus hardly ever disappoints.
Full bodied, more acid than a usual California Cabernet (nice). I noticed more of a woodsy note in this bottle, cedar? More of a black fruit dominated wine than previous (and later years). A good wine and I would surely drink it again.
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From Magnum. Typical Bernardus. The Cab Franc adds plenty of veggie notes, and his wine has a overall Right Bank wonderfulness despite being 60% Cab Sauv. Good, slightly light ruby color but took an hour to open. Smooth with drying tannins.
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Popped and let breathe for 2 hours. Some funk at first, which blew off over the 2 hours that this sat. Nice nose of black cherry, cola, red plum, licorice, leather with some earthiness mixed in. On to the palate, this displayed a good amount of ripe red cherry and anise, along with espresso, blackberry, black plum, asphalt, along with some cigar leaf. Very Bordeaux like in style, albeit on the ripe and sweet end of the spectrum. A light dusting of chalky tannin remain, although mostly resolved, along with a touch of acidic bite towards the end. Medium finish, ending with black cherry jam and anise. While this bottle showed fairly well, it was fading at the 3hr mark. This will hold on a few more years, although it's probably best to drink these up. Good
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Medium red color. Very Bordeaux in style. Lost of Cassis and tobacco leaf with maybe just a hint of mint. Medium bodied and ready to drink but really enjoyable.
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with dinner to celebrate father in law 82nd b-day. with veal chop from bbq. very good mature nose, good fruit on the pallet finish ok. very elegant wne which probably would have been better with some milder meat. worth keeping the bottle though and haveing 12 yr old wine. family was impressed. indeed very bordeaux style, like bernardus promised.
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4/12/2024 - HandmadeHomemade wrote:
No formal notes. Past prime for this bottle, fell off after 40min open.
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4/24/2023 - cmranch Likes this wine:
Gogo’s bday with grilled leg of lamb, roasted baby potatoes and asparagaus.
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4/29/2022 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:
Similar to last note, less perceived crunchiness, more saline and sous bois notes. Wonderful wine.
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11/4/2021 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:
Oh baby. Lean, earthy, a bit dirty in the nose. Bright flavors of black cherry, rose potpourri, sandalwood, and salted plums, leather, etc... emanate. It's like a hug from an old friend you haven't seen in a while. In the mouth, the wine is med-full- tannins are still there, fruit acid is bright and crunchy- giving you a wine with plenty of verve, but starting to wane in fruit/body. Flavors of bing cherry, leather, bretty funk, blood, and pomegranate are dense and persistent. This seems to be teetering in the middle of the back of the slope, this bottle in particular, probably better a few years ago, but still has a few years of pleasure to give. Well made and I really appreciate these older wines out of California.
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7/30/2018 - Matthesen wrote: 90 Points
Quite nice. Better than 1993 and 1994. Pretty nose of dark cherry with mineral notes. Palate shows nice balance with good acidity, some tannin and good finish. In a European rather than Napa style, but showing nice balance and finesse that makes it quite attractive.
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1/22/2018 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:
I was a bit sick, but the table loved it. People were describing the wine as cherry kirsch, matured, old wood, with resolved tannins. Too bad I couldn't smell or taste a thing...
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6/21/2017 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:
Popped and decanted a portion of the 3l a few hours prior to service.
Upon opening, the wine shows a linear sour red and black fruit with a decay vegetal finish. The wine itself is med-full bodied, has acid (sour), and soft silty tannins.
After a few hours, the sourness has begun to fade, the decay has evolved into an bretty character- this is getting interesting. The mid palate has begun to fill out with some woody/pencil shaving notes, this works well with that bretty note. Lots of cherry in the fruit department. The finish is long- with flavors of earth, forest floor, and eucalyptus/mint. Very good.
At the end of the night, the wine was finally open. We were on the last 750ml of the wine- the fruit began to soften up, showing more complexity without dissolving into incoherence. The mid palate was fully fleshed out, filling the mouth with some nice copycat Bordeaux flavors (pencil shavings, cassis, granite/minerality)- the finish was beautiful.
All in all, the wine was ready to be drunk- glad I popped it and shared it with some really good (after the bottle, also drunk) friends.
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12/1/2014 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine: 89 Points
A nice wine- in retrospect, nothing close to the 1993 Bernardus Marinus. However, Marinus hardly ever disappoints.
Full bodied, more acid than a usual California Cabernet (nice). I noticed more of a woodsy note in this bottle, cedar? More of a black fruit dominated wine than previous (and later years). A good wine and I would surely drink it again.
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2/21/2014 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 90 Points
From Magnum. It took about 30 minutes for the funk to blow off. Veggies/sage and black and blue fruits, nicely layered. Very smooth.
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12/13/2013 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 89 Points
From Magnum. Typical Bernardus. The Cab Franc adds plenty of veggie notes, and his wine has a overall Right Bank wonderfulness despite being 60% Cab Sauv. Good, slightly light ruby color but took an hour to open. Smooth with drying tannins.
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9/6/2011 - MattTM wrote:
Popped and let breathe for 2 hours. Some funk at first, which blew off over the 2 hours that this sat. Nice nose of black cherry, cola, red plum, licorice, leather with some earthiness mixed in. On to the palate, this displayed a good amount of ripe red cherry and anise, along with espresso, blackberry, black plum, asphalt, along with some cigar leaf. Very Bordeaux like in style, albeit on the ripe and sweet end of the spectrum. A light dusting of chalky tannin remain, although mostly resolved, along with a touch of acidic bite towards the end. Medium finish, ending with black cherry jam and anise. While this bottle showed fairly well, it was fading at the 3hr mark. This will hold on a few more years, although it's probably best to drink these up. Good
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10/4/2008 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 90 Points
Medium red color. Very Bordeaux in style. Lost of Cassis and tobacco leaf with maybe just a hint of mint. Medium bodied and ready to drink but really enjoyable.
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11/23/2007 - MichielV wrote: 90 Points
with dinner to celebrate father in law 82nd b-day. with veal chop from bbq. very good mature nose, good fruit on the pallet finish ok. very elegant wne which probably would have been better with some milder meat. worth keeping the bottle though and haveing 12 yr old wine. family was impressed. indeed very bordeaux style, like bernardus promised.
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