Opened as a cooking wine for coq au vin, which was a mistake, as this bottle was notably better than my last. No detailed noted, but we ended up enjoying the remainder of the bottle with the meal.
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Fine, but not exceptional. Tannic upon opening, but grew better with some air. Earthy on the nose, some unwelcome notes of iron or blood on the palate that brought it down a couple points for me.
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Last of the lot, and maybe the best? Opened for a hour but not decanted, it had terrific structure and excellent balance. Went v. well with boneless leg of lamb and was a delight to drink. V. sound purchase from Garagiste years ago at $14. Heftier than many of its brethren, but still feminine.
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The fruit was still very much alive -- although it was a little too much black fruit flavor for me -- but the finish was v. short. This bottle never turned into anything particularly noteworthy, but it's quite enjoyable. I don't see it going anyplace significantly different than where it is now.
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I was really down on this wine on earlier tastings (not all recorded) and summarily deleted it from my cellar to go in the 'whatever' rack. Grabbed it by accident. I have to admit I was wrong.
This has developed into a solid little wine. Definitely has the cherry cola elements mentioned by another, but really pretty acids lace through it and the fruit/bitter interplay is correct. Light in body and short on the finish. Still a solid basic wine.
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This bottle seemed a bit off initially, with a dullness to the fruit, but it (mostly) recovered with several hours of air. Funky, earthy nose with cherry cola. Cherry cola on the palate. Tart, with some noticeable tannin. Simple. Good.
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impression only, but wow, this is, for me, the perfect burgundy for daily drinking. It's rich enough for comfort, lean enough not to tire the palate, with great fruit and spice to mix it up. For those deeply into burgundy, it's probably too much new world, while for Cali PN enthusiasts, it might be too austere. Me, I'm like goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold - rich nose with some cherry coke that morphs into earth with some air, and a palate that zings while also giving some velvet love. For $14, a garagiste winner - wish I had more.
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What a world of difference a year of bottle age makes. (Either that or there's crazy bottle variation with this one.) The one I opened tonight is drinking beautifully--a classy old-world pinot, fragrant and smooth.
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This bottle was so much better than the last. Drunk with Christmas eve dinner, with ham and baked potatoes. Really good old world pinot noir. Enjoyed by all!
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Light-medium ruby. Cherry, anise, cola on the nose with a touch of funk. Tart cherry and strawberry palate. Fairly light bodied, little tannin but good acidity. Short-medium finish. Simple, but good, and not long-lived.
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This time it came across as a rough country wine; except for the faint pinot nose, I swear it would pass blind as an old-fashioned red sauce Chianti...
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Not terribly complex or interesting but nothing off here. Great bargain pinot and great with food. Good acid and just a touch of earth, not a lot of fruit.
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Enjoyed second bottle more than first. Decanted for several hours and recommend doing so in future. Good food wine though nothing earth-shattering, very good QPR.
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So, inspired by Vinsant's note, which popped up on the home page -- and, let's face it, that's one of the great things about this service -- I opened this with some salmon tonight, and it is a fine pairing.
This is a light, old-world pinot in the best senses of those terms, and while it has a short, dry finish, it's an accurate rendition of its type. Drinking well right now; hard to say where it will go.
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No over-bearing oak, no heat, it tastes like Pinot, and it was under $14! Wish I had more. Nothing real mind blowing but was exactly what we needed to accompany bacon wrapped Salmon and tarragon off the Traeger. Sour red fruit, tea, baking spices, and earth on the nose. A light but mouth-filling palate of strawberries, tart cherries, cinnamon, and tarragon. Medium finish and decent acidity. Really opened up and became more enjoyable once served with the food. Interested to see where this goes in a year or two.
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Nose of ripe black cherry with a tinge of licorice (reminiscent of Grenache). In the mouth, black cherries, sour cherries, raspberry-leaf tea, earth, with vibrant acidity and a fairly solid tannic structure and minerality. Quite a mounthful of Pinot to find at this price! I would guess needs 2-3 years to develop in the bottle.
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An excellent value ($14) for a Bourgogne, this delivers the typicity and terroir and a surprising amount of pleasure. (At this price point the wines tend to either taste like Burgundies or taste yummy, but rarely both!)
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I have to say this wine was pretty dull. It would be an okay vin de table, but I'm not very interested in drinking it. On initial pop and pour, there was some light aromas of ink, tart cherry, cranberry, and a little brine. Light tart cherry on the palate. Thin texture. Lots of acidity. Short finish (just a tiny bit of detectable wood). Air helped pull it together. Second day this was better -- a little more focus, better integrated acidity -- but still uninspiring. Not bad, just sort of dull. I think I might gift my last bottle...
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Rating this based on current enjoyment, not potential. Thin, tart and acidic, but it reminds me of some similar Oregon pinot from 2007 (Matello Souris), albeit a bit less juicy. That wine has just started to soften and blossom a bit, showing some early secondary characteristics. I'm betting that this wine will show more in about two years. It will never be a blockbuster but I think it could be a nice, lean interesting example of a simple burgundy. Enjoyable to drink and will get better.
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I liked this even more than my last two bottles. Tart cherry and a bit of earth on the nose. Nice mix of tart and sweet cherry on the palate, with great acidity. Best of 3 in a blind tasting comparing Burgundy, CA and OR pinots.
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Pinot noir is supposed to be light, but this is a thin cherry-purple in color, and looks weak even for pinot. On the pop-and-pour, the nose on this wine is positively scary. It is very metallic, almost like the Graveirette CdR, which I did not like at all. Similarly, the palate on the pop-and-pour is sharply acidic and almost carbonic or metallic. Fortunately, this gets a whole lot better with a couple hours of air time. The nose loses some potency, but also loses the metal and replaces it with a light sour cherry laced with black olives. There's a trace of sweet vanilla oak in the background. On the palate, the sour cherry continues and is joined by some raspberry. While it is still quite acidic, there is only a trace of the sharpness remaining. There is a notable secondary herbal flavor, as well, but no trace of the vanilla that appears on the nose. There is also no trace of sweetness, and the finish is medium-short. The strong acidity of this wine makes it better with food than it is alone. Personally, I think this wine delivers right about at its $14 price point, but it is worth noting that my wife likes this considerably more than I do. In any case, please don't drink this without decanting ahead. After a couple hours you'll have an acceptable budget Burgundy. This may round off and be a bit better in six months to a year, but it has no aging potential beyond that, in my opinion.
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Meh. This was pretty darn boring. Very light, very little fruit on the nose or palate. You had to really sit down concentrate and think about this wine to get anythign out of it. Tart cherries and a flower scent to it which followed thru in the mouth. It had a chalky baking soda type finish to it with a tad of heat. Sad to say I have to endure a couple more of these. Hoping the others are better.
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(3/5) Much better than the first bottle, which leads me to wonder if the first bottle might have been off. Not a huge nose but on the palate this is a very tasty Old World-styled Burgundy. A bit disjointed and obviously very young with nice, ripe (by Burgundy standards, not CA) fruit. This will improve with age though I doubt my bottles will see much. A Garagiste winner.
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Nose: closed, a bit alcoholic, wet earth, cherries
Palate :Cherries up front fading to a grainy, chalky minerality with slight floral notes in a 5 second finish. That's about it; relatively simple overalll.
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Light violet color, pink at the rim. Cranberry sauce on the nose with baking spices and gingerbread. Light-bodied, fresh and clean in the mouth with a nice spine of acidity and a mix of tart cranberry and black cherry fruit. Not much tannin, drinking well now. Big improvement over the '08 version of this wine and a nice QPR. This is getting me excited about '09 village wines.
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My first experience with the 2009 vintage - not sure it is very representitive as this was very much classic bourgogne, lean and elegant and doesn't have much of the ripeness that people are touting in the vintage. For an under $15 pinot, this has great balance and no off flavors, which is a great accomplishment, but in the end it is a touch boring and simple and it is just an OK QPR.
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2/5/2021 - C. Mucius Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very nice, balanced wine. Might be a little bit past its peak, but still very nice. Developed further over two hours.
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7/3/2019 - winoma wrote: 86 Points
Way past it’s prime but still some fruit
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2/24/2019 - JCGuthrie wrote:
Opened as a cooking wine for coq au vin, which was a mistake, as this bottle was notably better than my last. No detailed noted, but we ended up enjoying the remainder of the bottle with the meal.
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1/10/2019 - JCGuthrie wrote: 86 Points
Fine, but not exceptional. Tannic upon opening, but grew better with some air. Earthy on the nose, some unwelcome notes of iron or blood on the palate that brought it down a couple points for me.
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7/5/2018 - j.a.price.trucking wrote: 86 Points
This didn’t grab me the first night but perhaps I was expecting too much for $14. More enjoyable the second night. Good structure. Cherry cola.
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3/26/2017 - ctbob Likes this wine:
Last of the lot, and maybe the best? Opened for a hour but not decanted, it had terrific structure and excellent balance. Went v. well with boneless leg of lamb and was a delight to drink. V. sound purchase from Garagiste years ago at $14. Heftier than many of its brethren, but still feminine.
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10/8/2016 - ctbob Likes this wine:
Mid-weight, good acidic backbone, went well with chicken and rice; ready
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8/30/2016 - ctbob Likes this wine:
The fruit was still very much alive -- although it was a little too much black fruit flavor for me -- but the finish was v. short. This bottle never turned into anything particularly noteworthy, but it's quite enjoyable. I don't see it going anyplace significantly different than where it is now.
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8/25/2016 - jkwatson Likes this wine: 86 Points
This (my last) bottle was pretty understated and muted. I think probably a bit over the hill?
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8/5/2015 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 86 Points
Cherry cola, tart strawberries, and herbs. Fairly pronounced nose. Very little tannin, medium acid. Tart, with a short finish. Good, simple.
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5/1/2015 - Easter Everywhere Likes this wine:
tight d1, opens nicely d2, good fruit, earth, grip, simple but good
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3/23/2015 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
I was really down on this wine on earlier tastings (not all recorded) and summarily deleted it from my cellar to go in the 'whatever' rack. Grabbed it by accident. I have to admit I was wrong.
This has developed into a solid little wine. Definitely has the cherry cola elements mentioned by another, but really pretty acids lace through it and the fruit/bitter interplay is correct. Light in body and short on the finish. Still a solid basic wine.
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3/7/2015 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
This bottle seemed a bit off initially, with a dullness to the fruit, but it (mostly) recovered with several hours of air. Funky, earthy nose with cherry cola. Cherry cola on the palate. Tart, with some noticeable tannin. Simple. Good.
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2/11/2015 - stormygirl wrote: 85 Points
this is fine but a little thin and a tad tart at the end.
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12/19/2014 - ctbob Likes this wine:
Out-delivers for the price point. Ready but no rush.
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8/3/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
Consistent with previous note. Good. A crowd pleaser.
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3/12/2014 - Squirreljam wrote:
impression only, but wow, this is, for me, the perfect burgundy for daily drinking. It's rich enough for comfort, lean enough not to tire the palate, with great fruit and spice to mix it up. For those deeply into burgundy, it's probably too much new world, while for Cali PN enthusiasts, it might be too austere. Me, I'm like goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold - rich nose with some cherry coke that morphs into earth with some air, and a palate that zings while also giving some velvet love. For $14, a garagiste winner - wish I had more.
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2/22/2014 - cse Likes this wine: 89 Points
What a world of difference a year of bottle age makes. (Either that or there's crazy bottle variation with this one.) The one I opened tonight is drinking beautifully--a classy old-world pinot, fragrant and smooth.
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2/18/2014 - jkwatson wrote: 86 Points
A little flat. Pretty well degraded by day 2.
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12/24/2013 - jkwatson Likes this wine: 90 Points
This bottle was so much better than the last. Drunk with Christmas eve dinner, with ham and baked potatoes. Really good old world pinot noir. Enjoyed by all!
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12/20/2013 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
The episode in which I make a fool of myself with blind tasting: Yeasty and yammy on the nose. Big nose. Dark color. Medium acids, solid fruit though not very ripe or interesting. Little finish.
Guess: Cru Beaujolais 2007.
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9/12/2013 - aruddy wrote: 88 Points
Three hour decant gets this light red a couple more points. Very nice on an extremely hot day.
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8/18/2013 - ctbob wrote:
Drinking as before; no rush
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1/3/2013 - cse Does not like this wine:
offputting band-aid aromas. not pleasant on entry. i hope this was a bad bottle. judgment reserved.
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11/21/2012 - hdchappy wrote: 88 Points
OK, nothing special.
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10/26/2012 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
Light-medium ruby. Cherry, anise, cola on the nose with a touch of funk. Tart cherry and strawberry palate. Fairly light bodied, little tannin but good acidity. Short-medium finish. Simple, but good, and not long-lived.
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9/24/2012 - ctbob wrote:
Drank better than previous bottles; solid little wine with good structure; have no clue where it will go from here, but it's v. enjoyable now
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6/16/2012 - ctbob wrote:
This time it came across as a rough country wine; except for the faint pinot nose, I swear it would pass blind as an old-fashioned red sauce Chianti...
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4/29/2012 - Ron Felthoven wrote: 86 Points
Not terribly complex or interesting but nothing off here. Great bargain pinot and great with food. Good acid and just a touch of earth, not a lot of fruit.
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3/17/2012 - ctbob wrote:
Alongside mushroom-farro soup, this showed more heft than it previously did -- which speaks well of the wine's breeding, IMO; glad I have more left
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2/27/2012 - ctbob wrote:
Again true to its type, and still unsure where it will go, although it's drinking well now
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6/17/2011 - rjm_va wrote: 89 Points
Enjoyed second bottle more than first. Decanted for several hours and recommend doing so in future. Good food wine though nothing earth-shattering, very good QPR.
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6/11/2011 - ctbob wrote:
Seems to me to be prototypical inexp. and light Burg; ready, for those who run from pinot syrah
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6/9/2011 - luchavino wrote: 85 Points
The nose is light mineral and strawberry with a hint of pepper. The palate is strawberry and stone with a sour red berry finish.
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6/7/2011 - ctbob wrote:
So, inspired by Vinsant's note, which popped up on the home page -- and, let's face it, that's one of the great things about this service -- I opened this with some salmon tonight, and it is a fine pairing.
This is a light, old-world pinot in the best senses of those terms, and while it has a short, dry finish, it's an accurate rendition of its type. Drinking well right now; hard to say where it will go.
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6/6/2011 - Vinsant wrote: 88 Points
No over-bearing oak, no heat, it tastes like Pinot, and it was under $14! Wish I had more. Nothing real mind blowing but was exactly what we needed to accompany bacon wrapped Salmon and tarragon off the Traeger. Sour red fruit, tea, baking spices, and earth on the nose. A light but mouth-filling palate of strawberries, tart cherries, cinnamon, and tarragon. Medium finish and decent acidity. Really opened up and became more enjoyable once served with the food. Interested to see where this goes in a year or two.
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5/29/2011 - graphite wrote: 87 Points
Nose of ripe black cherry with a tinge of licorice (reminiscent of Grenache). In the mouth, black cherries, sour cherries, raspberry-leaf tea, earth, with vibrant acidity and a fairly solid tannic structure and minerality. Quite a mounthful of Pinot to find at this price! I would guess needs 2-3 years to develop in the bottle.
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4/22/2011 - rjm_va Likes this wine: 88 Points
TN's indicate this needs air so I decanted two hours. Good, not great. A little thin and a little metallic but with food, does just fine.
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4/11/2011 - jim dixon wrote: 89 Points
An excellent value ($14) for a Bourgogne, this delivers the typicity and terroir and a surprising amount of pleasure. (At this price point the wines tend to either taste like Burgundies or taste yummy, but rarely both!)
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3/26/2011 - AZ Cat wrote:
(2/5) Similar notes to last bottle, although this one seemed a bit hotter and slightly disjointed.
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3/24/2011 - rmh66 wrote: 84 Points
I have to say this wine was pretty dull. It would be an okay vin de table, but I'm not very interested in drinking it. On initial pop and pour, there was some light aromas of ink, tart cherry, cranberry, and a little brine. Light tart cherry on the palate. Thin texture. Lots of acidity. Short finish (just a tiny bit of detectable wood). Air helped pull it together. Second day this was better -- a little more focus, better integrated acidity -- but still uninspiring. Not bad, just sort of dull. I think I might gift my last bottle...
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3/23/2011 - Ron Felthoven wrote: 86 Points
Rating this based on current enjoyment, not potential. Thin, tart and acidic, but it reminds me of some similar Oregon pinot from 2007 (Matello Souris), albeit a bit less juicy. That wine has just started to soften and blossom a bit, showing some early secondary characteristics. I'm betting that this wine will show more in about two years. It will never be a blockbuster but I think it could be a nice, lean interesting example of a simple burgundy. Enjoyable to drink and will get better.
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3/20/2011 - zscheiner Likes this wine: 90 Points
I liked this even more than my last two bottles. Tart cherry and a bit of earth on the nose. Nice mix of tart and sweet cherry on the palate, with great acidity. Best of 3 in a blind tasting comparing Burgundy, CA and OR pinots.
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3/18/2011 - Phredd wrote: 86 Points
Pinot noir is supposed to be light, but this is a thin cherry-purple in color, and looks weak even for pinot. On the pop-and-pour, the nose on this wine is positively scary. It is very metallic, almost like the Graveirette CdR, which I did not like at all. Similarly, the palate on the pop-and-pour is sharply acidic and almost carbonic or metallic. Fortunately, this gets a whole lot better with a couple hours of air time. The nose loses some potency, but also loses the metal and replaces it with a light sour cherry laced with black olives. There's a trace of sweet vanilla oak in the background. On the palate, the sour cherry continues and is joined by some raspberry. While it is still quite acidic, there is only a trace of the sharpness remaining. There is a notable secondary herbal flavor, as well, but no trace of the vanilla that appears on the nose. There is also no trace of sweetness, and the finish is medium-short. The strong acidity of this wine makes it better with food than it is alone. Personally, I think this wine delivers right about at its $14 price point, but it is worth noting that my wife likes this considerably more than I do. In any case, please don't drink this without decanting ahead. After a couple hours you'll have an acceptable budget Burgundy. This may round off and be a bit better in six months to a year, but it has no aging potential beyond that, in my opinion.
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2/25/2011 - hankj wrote:
this needs time -- it will put on weight in the bottle and be decent in 5-8 years
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2/9/2011 - Snookboy wrote: 86 Points
Clean and bright. Pure fruit with what is there. But thin and unimpressive. Nothing wrong, but nothing exciting.
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2/4/2011 - pxstone Likes this wine: 86 Points
Thin but balanced. Bright fruit, good acidity.
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1/27/2011 - twelch wrote: 82 Points
Meh. This was pretty darn boring. Very light, very little fruit on the nose or palate. You had to really sit down concentrate and think about this wine to get anythign out of it. Tart cherries and a flower scent to it which followed thru in the mouth. It had a chalky baking soda type finish to it with a tad of heat. Sad to say I have to endure a couple more of these. Hoping the others are better.
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1/18/2011 - AZ Cat wrote:
(3/5) Much better than the first bottle, which leads me to wonder if the first bottle might have been off. Not a huge nose but on the palate this is a very tasty Old World-styled Burgundy. A bit disjointed and obviously very young with nice, ripe (by Burgundy standards, not CA) fruit. This will improve with age though I doubt my bottles will see much. A Garagiste winner.
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1/13/2011 - elise wrote: 85 Points
Color: Medium dark garnet
Nose: closed, a bit alcoholic, wet earth, cherries
Palate :Cherries up front fading to a grainy, chalky minerality with slight floral notes in a 5 second finish. That's about it; relatively simple overalll.
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1/8/2011 - AZ Cat wrote:
(2/5) Simple but enjoyable. Fairly one-dimensional but a nice, easy-drinking QPR.
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12/21/2010 - zscheiner Likes this wine: 88 Points
Light violet color, pink at the rim. Cranberry sauce on the nose with baking spices and gingerbread. Light-bodied, fresh and clean in the mouth with a nice spine of acidity and a mix of tart cranberry and black cherry fruit. Not much tannin, drinking well now. Big improvement over the '08 version of this wine and a nice QPR. This is getting me excited about '09 village wines.
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11/1/2010 - pifcho wrote: 85 Points
My first experience with the 2009 vintage - not sure it is very representitive as this was very much classic bourgogne, lean and elegant and doesn't have much of the ripeness that people are touting in the vintage. For an under $15 pinot, this has great balance and no off flavors, which is a great accomplishment, but in the end it is a touch boring and simple and it is just an OK QPR.
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