2005 Ovid Red Wine

Community Tasting Notes

Community Tasting Notes (66) Avg Score: 92.9 points

  • Popped and poured a magnum for Christmas Eve and shared it with 10 family members at a party. Initial funk on pnp scared me but it quickly blowed into something amazing. Refined velvet tannin paired with nice fruit.

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  • First impression - WOW! This wine is delicious.
    It's amazing how a wine with more than 15 years of bottle age could be both so youthful and complex at the same time. The vibrancy of black fruit and the development of secondary and tertiary characteristics come together beautifully, making it the best wine I've had this year.

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  • Recent one off ($150) from cellerage operation #3. Wow, what a crazy wine, from a producer I adore. On the palate, classic Ovid—I’m convinced I could recognize it blind—with anise, leather, forest spice, truffles, wildflowers, loam, espresso and dark chocolate—amazingly intense, beautiful notes. But unlike the ‘08 and ‘12, the other vintages I’ve tried, less even on the palate, with too prominent oak and alcohol off the pour, and, while excellent on the front palate, a falloff in delivery mid-palate. Beautiful deep purple with the slightest brown, medium body off the pour, filling out with air, thick legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity, some heat per the below. Excellent complexity and persistence, VG+ intensity. Not unlike the ‘12 but to an even greater extent, and far more surprising with the time from the vintage, this came out of the bottle big and unbalanced, but while the oak and alcohol integrated over the 3 hours I had it open on night #1, it never really hit optimal balance. Much like the recent Colgin ‘05 CIX, this balled back up again on night #2, then after an hour or so, hit its best glide, elegant, perfectly balanced, just not quite the structure (making it really good, but below the ‘08 and ‘12 with food, in this case, broiled lamb chops, etc.) and depth of the other vintages. I’d have struggled to grade this off the pour, put it at 93-94 at the end of night 1, 95-96+ at the end of night #2, outstanding, but not quite extraordinary like the other 2 vintages (I’ll have more data points soon, with bottles of the ‘10 and ‘14). I’d buy more at this price, but, are you listening CS, who’d probably have consumed this during the Bush presidency?, I’d hold for 3-5 years more. I don’t know how old AE was when he made this, but it was his second vintage here, I believe, and his later wines here and at Favia indicate that, while he may have been a talented young winemaker, he kept learning as he went along (I hope to have some Screagles one of these days to test out this hypothesis, are you reading this, my tasting friends? :) ). Lesson here: even an Ovid that’s not the best, not at its apogee, is pretty damned good. 94-95++

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  • Nose - Smokiness, dark deep red and black fruit, dark cranberry color. Full body. Smooth as silk. All the best red and black fruits are mirrored on the palate. Pairs very well with pork tamales, homemade by local Mexican family.
    6/2/23- Rest of the bottle tonight with mediterranean pizza, a shmear of pesto, with sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, sauteed onions, garlic and mushrooms. And salad of mixed greens. Heavenly!

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  • Aired it for 4 hours before a decant for 1 1/2. Medium bodied and agree with the previous notes of a Bordeaux comparison. This is what I am enjoying more off these days vs the typical bold Napa cabs. Searching for more Napa options of the same. Soft, round and darkish ruby coloured. We drank this before a Hundred Acre Cab over a steak dinner. Preferred this.

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  • Decanted for about 1 hour. Dark purple color. Lots of black fruit on the nose with blackberry, cassis, a bit of cigar box and just a touch of oak. Still very primary for a 16 year old wine. Very lush and pure black fruit on the palate with just the right amount of oak to frame things out. Medium+ acid and tannin. Silky smooth mouthfeel and long finish. This is extremely well crafted, delicious wine with room to grow. Questionable QPR though.

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  • Opened and decanted - huge body and fruit explosion ... decided to table for a few nights. TBD

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  • Decanted for 2 plus hours. Aromas of cherry, plum, chocolate, currant and cinnamon. Flavors of cherry, blackberry, cocoa, plum and touch of iron. Ends with a 40 second finish with blackberry and cocoa notes. Most fruit forward wine of the night so far but just a step behind the Abreau and Heitz.

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  • Drank this from a mago unreal after an hour decant. Nice hillside juice close to Melanson and Colgin. Very Bordeaux like characteristics. Winner!

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  • Strong alcoholic wine with a very bitter finish. Not corked just not good.

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  • I loved this wine. So bright and lively, I wish I would had waited another year or two, as the wine had enough acidity to hold at least another 5 years. First vintage for OVID, a winner no doubt.

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  • DIY BYO Dinner - Notes from another taster (Amali, NYC): This is still very youthful with black and red fruits and bramble. Definitely more new world in style with a full mouthful of fruit, yet it is still achieves a balance with the fruit, tannin and acid. Another lovely wine in a lineup tonight that just doesn't quit.

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  • DIY BYO Dinner II (Amali (115 E 60th Street, NY, NY)): Poured from a magnum. Opened and poured and let it sit in the glass for probably an hour before I got to it. Still going very strong. This was probably much too early to open it. Lots of fig and plum. A bit more muscular of a wine. Changed a lot in the glass. Definitely a very enjoyable wine on a night of a lot of very enjoyable wines.

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  • I thought this wine excellent. A bit closed on the nose. with subtle hints of leather and dark fruit. I thought it tasted youthful, with a bit of dark fruits. Tannins resolved. Extremely well balanced. Excellent finish. A long life ahead.

    A: 5 N: 3 B: 9 T: 17 F: 4

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  • Oentrians Holiday Dinner. This is a great Napa Cab with a long life ahead, but early in a good drinking window. Clearly well made serious stuff and very polished giving tremendous pleasure. Lovely aromas of dark red cherry, loamy earth, and baking spice. Rich and concentrated with layers of depth and complex flavors. Fruit forward style with very good brightness and solid frame of sweet tannins.

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  • Not my cup of tea but has a great nose and a long life ahead of it. A very well made wine that will be appreciated by the bordeaux drinkers

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  • Belated 50th Birthday Dinner w/Wendy and Joe (Princeton, NJ): Haven't had this vintage in some time, remembering how good but primary it was on last tasting I wanted to give it time. Great to visit it at 10 years...Decanted for close to 4 hours prior to drinking, last wine of the evening after an 08 Checkerboard.

    Dark crimson color. Nose was dark cherry, black tea, cedar and floral notes. Dark and red fruits, blackberry, blueberry, vanilla oak, a distinctive mid palate of raspberry liquor (Noted by other tasters), smoke...Tannins are sweet and resolved

    Ovid (IMO) is always a spectacular wine, this would be the most aged version I have had...the wine has retained the rich fruit profile while adding secondary and tertiary characteristics with age. Really impressive wine, was my WOTN against some strong competition...

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  • So, so ready to drink! Perfection! Enjoy!

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  • Decanted and consumed over a few hours. Beautiful floral aromas and well integrated oak is a hallmark of these wines. The high percentage of cab franc lends to some of the beautiful aromas of tea, cedar and tobacco. The fruit is plush with notes of dark stone fruit and a liqueur like raspberry. The finish is creamy and lasts well over a minute. This was a fabulous way for the wife and I to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Drink or hold this gem for ten or more years. Paired well with chateaubriand and bison carpaccio.

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  • Popped and poured from a magnum. Beautiful aromas of black fruits, tea and tobacco. Flavors of black cherry, vanilla and dark chocolate. Nicely integrated and drinking extremely well. Wish I had more.

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  • Beautiful. No flaws. No sediment. Mild to Moderate rim variation. Beautiful nose of dark fruits and flowers. Very burgundian. No tannin. No acid. Low to medium alcohol. Medium to long finish. Paired perfectly with Vicki's Van hamburger (sorry you'll have to come see us to enjoy one). Hard for me to judge, but I think it is at maturity (peak). Very, very drinkable.

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  • Hi class cabernet , great oak , great wine , toast , cigar box and smoke , pure and clean , elegant dark fruit. In mouth is show power with hi class and complex . Balance and fruit is great. Enjoy it with lamb rack. Yummy .

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  • This wine was consumed over 3 days ( a glass each day). The 2005 still has plenty of life in it. Thus the reason I didn't consume it all in one night. I wanted to see where it would go and it didn't disappoint. This was the only vintage that I purchased from the winery. It was a shame that they raised the price $75 a bottle. I will hold my last bottle for 2 years minimum. Dark fruit, oak was well integrated on the first and second night but showed itself on night 3.

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  • WS Offline (Pastis - Vancouver, BC): Super rich and concentrated on the nose with tons of ripe blackberries and blueberries, along with some spicy black pepper and a touch of menthol. The richness carries through onto the palate flashing more rich blackberry jam and a core of black pepper spice. Along comes some fresh mint, raspberry liquor, and charred oak. This is an absolute monster of a wine showing a touch of heat on the finish. There is no doubt this is well made wine, but not for everyone nor is it necessarily my style. No shortage of fruit here, a bit too sweet and cloying for me. Very good-

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  • Jill's 31st celebration with EVERYONE at the crib! (Talman Avenue): Fantastic. Extremely elegant and well layered purple fruit, flowers and some touches of smoke.
    Limited notes but lived up to the reputation and Pritchard Hill elegance.

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  • Consumed against '05 Cos d'Estournel. Great nose, however, could definitely detect the heat and alcohol compared to the Cos. Overall, the group preferred the Cos.

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  • My what a difference a few years makes. I tried this right after release and was not impressed. Fast forward a few years and this has evolved into a remarkable wine. Beautiful aromas of camphor, purple flowers and meat. This has sensational purity of fruit and a fine texture, well balanced on a dense yet nimble frame. Really enjoyed this classy wine!

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  • deep dartk sexy, inky, nose does not transcend to palate well, long finish decanted for 1.5 hours, could use more. smooth big, well made and balanced. wait if perfectly stored till '15 should be a bingo by then! every sip getting more pronounced

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  • First cab of the night on New Year's Eve (12/31/12). A bit tannic, but great fruit showing through. Probabyyl should have had this with the steaks at dinner instead of before. Was really good but was blown away by the second cab of the night (2007 Chappellet Pritchard Hill in magnum).

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  • Cassis, blueberry, raspberry on the nose. Was soft on the nose at opening and tannic on the palate. after 5 hours in a decanter this wine started to shine. Absolutely awesome.

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  • Sweet, sweet. Not expecting that. Will keep the other one for a few more years...perhaps that will tame the sugars.

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  • The dutchman turns 30; 3/2/2012-3/3/2012 (Chicago IL): nose: beautiful and savory nose filled with tones of black olives, herbs, dill, dark red cherries, cranberries and a touch of purple florals. Very good depth with a real class to it.

    taste: very well balanced with a real classy medium/full feel. Good firm tannins that are more silky than chewy along with polished tones of dark red cherries, herbs, cranberries, red currants and some dill tones too.

    overall: This came off as young even though it was showing wonderfully. Didn't seem that extracted at all blind and it was a surprise to see this as #5 given all of the notes.

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  • Acker auction tasting (Chicago, IL): Really inky. Very concentrated nose, with some soy sauce notes as well as notes of sour cherry and other red fruits. Very big and ripe on the palate as well. It's enjoyable but there just anything else to keep interest. Gets cloying.

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  • At "An Afternoon of Ovid" burger grill
    Graphite, graphite, graphite on the nose. Obvious step-up in quality from the experiments. Dry tannins with more sweet oak evident. Really dark fruits evident, especially the cassis and blackberry but a little dark red cherry note on the finish. I little caramel and toasted cedar (like a cedar plank) after a few hours. This was decanted for about 4 hours. It needs more time.

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  • Wheat a difference a day makes! Open in the decanter overnight - now I have a perfectly balanced wine, with a very nice combination of black and red fruit with tannin and some earthiness. I will wait 4-5 years before I open the next bottle with great anticipation, and I am not selling my remaining ones any longer...

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  • Huge disappointment! Someone had mentioned Bordeaux-like qualities, I am thinkings sweet Aussie jam, oak, alcohol burn, vanilla, strong black fruit. Maybe it will be better tomorrow, I will set the rest of the bottle aside and re-taste then.
    Now, down to the cellar to open something else.

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  • Out of magnum. Decanted for a couple of hours and followed over several more. Still young, but showing well with some air. Red fruit, cassis. Nice and I think it will continue to develop positively for some time. That said, for my tastes there are better at this price.

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  • Football and Cabs from around the world @ Howards (Old Greenwich, CT): Cheese, leather, earth; some volatile acidity. Ripe cherry; somewhat hot and alcoholic.

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  • Secondary flavors are coming in...drinking pretty well though I am concerned about ageability.

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  • Showing well, very refined, with a smoky, earthy edge to the cool cassis and currant fruit and mineral and tobacco notes. In the mouth, refined, very well balanced, and beautifully focused. A wine of terrific balance and sensibility, with a classy mouth feel, plush but not over the top. The fruit and earth notes marry very well with the tobacco and leather edge. Long finish shows plenty of tannins. A-

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  • Really exotic and floral nose and taste. Would never guess cab. Drinking great.

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  • Dissapointing for such an expensive wine -- nothing special and one list I won't have a problem dropping off.

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  • One More Time: This bottle was decanted for about 8 hours before the tasting. It was very smooth and approachable, but it was just lacking depth in the mid-palate. It didn't help that this bottle followed the Hourglass. It was still a very nice wine, but it just didn't deliver as expected.

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  • Showed much better than the last bottle I had. Complex nose of vanilla and spice. On the palate tannins are still very noticeable, but they are softening. This is more Bordeaux-like than most of the Napa "Cult" Cabs and, given the structure, I expect it to continue to improve. I'll hold my remaining bottle for at least a couple of years.

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  • Popped and poured. Muted bouquet, but opened at cellar temperature. Smooth, cab flavors, with clear hints of oak, chocolate, licorice and a slight vanilla sweetness. Very smooth given the lack of time, and fine tannins, although midpalate was a bit empty. Finish was moderate. Bet it gets better over time.

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  • I decanted this about two hours before we went to the restaurant. When I poured it the nose was just unbelievable. Just brimming with dark fruits although I must say that it wasn't as powerful once we got to the restaurant and wine still had some tightness to it. This is a flashy wine with blackberry, current, mocha, and some well-integrated oak.

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  • Black fruits. Flashy, with lots of vanilla oak and liqueur-like fruit. High alcohol. Fine tannins. Very young. Enjoyable.

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  • Tightly wound. Decanted for 2 hours, rebottled, and consumed the following night. Firm tannins. This wine will still be fresh in 20 years. A spectacular effort.

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  • Takes a while to open up. Muted nose but mouthful of dark fruit, some spice. Quite smooth but still a few jagged edges. Very well made cabernet and enjoyable today but give it time for optimum results. Decanted for 4 hours and could have done with more.

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  • Great Grapes for a Great Cause SQN Tasting -- 3rd Annual; 5/7/2010-5/8/2010 (Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC): powerful dark fruit profile. really enjoyed this.

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  • This was a stellar bottle. Blackberry, spice licorice chocolate... continually evolving. Plenty of structure with silky smooth balance and enough acid to stave off any California Cab too-sweet-itis. Fun to drink now but personally I'm going to wait at least 5 years before popping another.

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  • New Year's Eve 2009-2010 (Our House (2033 Brandywine St., Philadelphia)): Remarkable. Blackberry, spice box and dark fruit on a dense and pungent nose. The spice is amazing. It dominates the palate with outstanding milk chocolate that keeps building. Almost painfully intense. The tannins are so refined and so well structured. Among best I've ever experienced. A minor nit here is a small gap in the back of the palate or right at the start of the finish -- it tails off for a second before coming back and finishing exceptionally well.

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  • New Years Eve (Collingswood and Philadelphia): The class of the cabernets, this was a really delicious wine. tons of black berry fruit, with spicebox on the nose. a chocolately mouthfeel from really quite fine tannins that coat the entire inside of your mouth. The long finish disappears for a moment on the midpalate, but then fully returns and then some.

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  • Big wine - meaty, Rhoney feel with some tarry dark fruit notes. Full-bodied, with medium-grain structure peaking through on the finish. Very modern wine.

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  • The nose on this wine is so polished I could smell it for hours, consisting of currant, black cherry, vanilla, sandalwood, crushed rocks, and a great edge of herbs, probably due to the cab franc content in here. I have a feeling some will hate the slight "green" character, but I personally love Cab Franc and think it adds a lot in complexity here. The nose was very polished, but a bit subdued, although it did open up further after about 6 hours. The nose is a little deceiving, because the real power here is in the palate, which is explosive. I imagine the nose will blossom in time. Vivid and intense flavors of currant, black cherry, vanilla and spice box all flow with good acidity and a luscious texture framed by grippy and firm tannin. Sporting a long finish, this is a stunning and classy Napa blend that looks to need time, but should be even better in the years to come. 95+

    Drank next to the 06 Buccella I found this to have much more finesse and complexity than it seems other drinkers here have... Drank over about 7 hrs, this is pretty tight, but all the raw material is there.

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  • Good, but way short of outstanding. Unremarkable bouquet of cassis and graphite typifies the variety, but fails to really engage the senses. Good concentration for its medium weight. Angular and hot the first couple of hours, but smoothes out a bit with enough air. Made in a style demanding time to come together. In desperate need of layers and complexity today.

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  • Overpriced Cabs (Houston's): This wine is bright and lively. Bright fruits and acid were made even more apparent when drank next to the Futo. Very tasty in a flashy sort of way.

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  • Big Cabs With The Boys (Houston's): Sharp Zin like ripe nose. Tight palate with lots of grip. On the leaner side and soft. Needs some time to unwind but the ripeness says not a lot of time. Brutal for $175+.

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  • Decanted 3 hours, consumed over 6. Deep ruby red, almost purple. Pure expression of currant and blackberry liqueur complemented by vanilla, smoke, violets and oak spice. Aromatic and expressive on the nose. Lush, dense and ripe on the palate -- unmistakeably Californian -- but maintains an excellent balance and elegance that I often don't find in CA cults. Youthfully tannic; needs several years before entering its drinking window and it ought to last a very long time. Stunningly good wine! 96+.

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  • Long decant as necessary as this is in it's infancy. Very aromatic. Tannic structure is huge. Ripe plum and currant. Tons of layers with a long finish that is a touch tainted by it's youth.

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  • Popped and poured into a decanter. Initial aromas of pepper which at this point I could have confused with spice from the wood. My first sip was a complete surprise - a very faint white pepper on the finish. Over time, (one hour) this wine evolved into a smooth, well made table wine with flavors of currant and black berry. There is a sublte spicyness to this wine. We served this with food: Spring Lamb and a cheese course. Although drinkable now, I will wait a few years and see how this evolves.

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  • I just don't see this wine as over-oaked. This is a sophisticated, restrained, complex wine that was so unlike my expectation for a big-time Cali Cab-based wine I don't know where to start. Terroir is the story of this wine and I think we are on the way to greatness. Lots of layers in this wine.

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  • Although not bad, this is not what I wanted from this wine. Harsh and perhaps a little over-oaked. Too tannic. Hard to tell if my disappointment is a result of the wine being too young or if they just over did it. 90?

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  • Great wine, but needs more time in bottle for sure. Decanted 2 hours and seemed to only begin to show what this wine has to offer. The nose is simply amazing: rich fruit and violet aromas; this is where the wine excelled. On the palate, the fruit did not come through quite as strong as other 2005 California Cabs (and had a bit too much of the alcohol coming through), and the finish was a bit short. Looking forward to trying this in a few years.

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  • Deep color. Young wine. Decanted 2 hrs. prior to tasting, at Manresa, Los Gatos, CA. Youthful and tannic at first. Sensuous mouthfeel. Ripe plums, currants, leather, stones, forest floor. Long finish. A great wine, but will improve with at least 2-3 years aging.

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  • This was purple in color if not quite opaque. The aromatics were incredible (100 points). The wine fllled the air with flowers, stones, dark berries, kirsch, cedar, oak, sandalwood, and a bit of iron and blood. All the components of the aroma were mimicked on the palate, but the layers were very tightly spaced. The alcohol was a bit elevated and the tannins were present but ripe. The wine was also very finely balanced between acid and body. The length was good but not great, and this is were the Ovid lost points. For it to trully become a great wine, I would like to see more length.

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