Drank xmas eve at the Pollacks. Age showing in the glass, leather and coffee aromas on the nose. Still some red and black fruit here, aromas of tar and coffee, mostly at a tertiary level now. Finish was medium length. A bit past its prime
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Found one more bottle in my cellar. Far better than I would have thought at this point. Fruit is fading but some nice coffee and cedar(?) tastes. Fine bottle, good price, wouldn't hold longer (on purpose).
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Big, lush wine with lots of chocolate and dark fruit. The '02 was very good, but in a vertical with an '04 it really did not taste aged at all. So - I would say hold on to the '02 for another 3-5 years.
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Great color of deep ruby red, nose of flint, black cherry and oak. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Initial taste was of cherry and spice box, then some wood, and raisin. Loved the structure, tannic backbone and great aftertaste. Great wine for the price.
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Color: dark, purple core, garnet/ruby on rim. Nose: nice, licorice, red fruit, little jammy, spice. Palate: cellar temp, nice than last bottle, big red fruit, predominant cherry, spiciness. Rich, round mouth feel. Long.
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Color was really dark. Nose at first was simple, plain and didn't offer much. It did open with time with some black fruit. Palate also was simple to start, but again opened with time. Some black fruit, but still didn't amount to what I thought it would. Have more, so will taste again and post.
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Perhaps not quite as rich as an earlier bottle I had, this still has plenty of ripe black cherry fruit, along with some leather, smoke, and oak aromas. Still some tannin. Has it along a $50 Cal syrah, and this bottle was not as good, but certainly comparable and a much better value.
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Crunchy red cherries - blind, I would have guessed this was mostly Grenache -- with some darker plum and raisin flavors and nice complexity. Tannins a bit firm on the finish, becoming more wooly and mouth-numbing with additional time in the decanter. However there is enough fruit to make this tolerable. Biggest problem is the clipped finish. Still, this is an overperformer at $12.
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Deep garnet to ruby; pretty interesting nose of berry jam and rubber tire – a cool cobbler dessert smell; very upfront, cough syrup palate. Fun and fleshy, but nothing to back up the initial attack. I like but don’t love. (12.5)
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Brilliant garnet – very appealing – sturdy mouvadre color – shows great depth of color for such a reasonably price wine. Strong red plum and shoe polish nose. Very pronounced licorice note emerges with time. Feels a little superficial and man-made. Medium / full bodied – hefty weight and very solid structure is a bit of a surprise. There is some lovely fruit in the background. Again, seems a bit medicinal and forced. Needs a couple of years to settle down. I can go either way on the potential of this wine. Could be very, very good if the fruit holds up. Try again 2007. Potentially outstanding value – time will tell. (12.5 +?)
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Marqués Phillipsena? Hot, jammy-to-rotten fruit, prickly. Ringer for the MP style of wine. No balance, no finesse. Nearly tolerable while grilling some steak, awful with the food itself.
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<Kathy, Brian, Jill, Chris> Opened after the Castano looking for solid QPR quaffers. Blew doors on the Castano. This wine had great depth and purity of fruit (blueberries and blackberries) and some wood.
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Color is inky purple to the rim. On the nose it shows that familiar smoky blueberry Mourvedre aroma. Also a hint of licorice. The palate attacks with creosote streaked dark berry flavors, pepper, and has a bit of a short finish whit a touch of heat. Intense and enjoyable, but not profound.
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<Nardone Family> Last time out we clearly had a flawed bottle of this wine. This was alot closer to my original experience. Largely positive. Pared well enough with the rustic Italian food flowing to the table. Rich fruit and some tannins.
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This wine benefited with some air. First few sips out of the bottle were a bit harsh. It opened nicely after 15-20 minutes and showed strong red cherry and mineral components. Not the best Spanish value I've had, but very good for the $12.
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This had a lovely nose, but the taste of this particular bottle didn't measure up to it (or the wine score hype). We found some fruit, raisins, black cherry and flowers, but it was short on the finish. Does it just need more time?? Will Mr. Parker be ultimately vindicated? Who knows. But, this didn't meet our cut to buy a case. Still a nice wine for $13 ... We will try again in 6 months.
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<Sal/Greg/Rjb> Very impressive QPR. Rasiny sweet and concentrated rich, dark fruit. Mineral flavors add some complexity. Finish was a tad clipped otherwise all the elements here for GREAT wine experience. at $14 this is silly value IMHO.
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($15) Alsace and S&D: Blind Red 1 - Aussie-like nose of sweet oak and crème brulee. Not much structure. John pegged it as a Spanish wine right off the bat.
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12/26/2023 - cephomer Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drank xmas eve at the Pollacks. Age showing in the glass, leather and coffee aromas on the nose. Still some red and black fruit here, aromas of tar and coffee, mostly at a tertiary level now. Finish was medium length. A bit past its prime
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11/22/2015 - donnylad wrote:
Great
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7/9/2011 - bdeblank wrote: 88 Points
Found one more bottle in my cellar. Far better than I would have thought at this point. Fruit is fading but some nice coffee and cedar(?) tastes. Fine bottle, good price, wouldn't hold longer (on purpose).
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7/25/2009 - Bchimenti wrote: 88 Points
Not bad for the price. Very drinkable.
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1/6/2008 - pezzed58@gmail.com wrote: 90 Points
Amazing for the price, has at least 5 years left.
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10/7/2007 - dfeiner wrote: 90 Points
Jammy. Black and blueberries, chocolate. A bit of coffee on the taste. Nice for the price
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9/8/2007 - PDD wrote: 90 Points
Big, lush wine with lots of chocolate and dark fruit. The '02 was very good, but in a vertical with an '04 it really did not taste aged at all. So - I would say hold on to the '02 for another 3-5 years.
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7/22/2007 - jbshows wrote: 86 Points
Emjoyed at the beach
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7/16/2007 - jbshows wrote: 87 Points
Cherries and spice. Good value.
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7/15/2007 - gschneider wrote: 92 Points
Great color of deep ruby red, nose of flint, black cherry and oak. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Initial taste was of cherry and spice box, then some wood, and raisin. Loved the structure, tannic backbone and great aftertaste. Great wine for the price.
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4/7/2007 - caboychuck wrote: 90 Points
Color: dark, purple core, garnet/ruby on rim. Nose: nice, licorice, red fruit, little jammy, spice. Palate: cellar temp, nice than last bottle, big red fruit, predominant cherry, spiciness. Rich, round mouth feel. Long.
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10/22/2006 - PDD wrote: 89 Points
Very big wine with dark fruits and even some hints of grilled meat on the pallette. Outstanding for it's price range.
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10/21/2006 - caboychuck wrote:
Color was really dark. Nose at first was simple, plain and didn't offer much. It did open with time with some black fruit. Palate also was simple to start, but again opened with time. Some black fruit, but still didn't amount to what I thought it would. Have more, so will taste again and post.
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8/17/2006 - tmay wrote: 88 Points
Cherry and raisin. Jammy. Short finish.
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8/12/2006 - MJHDC wrote:
Perhaps not quite as rich as an earlier bottle I had, this still has plenty of ripe black cherry fruit, along with some leather, smoke, and oak aromas. Still some tannin. Has it along a $50 Cal syrah, and this bottle was not as good, but certainly comparable and a much better value.
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7/12/2006 - 5laton wrote: 87 Points
Crunchy red cherries - blind, I would have guessed this was mostly Grenache -- with some darker plum and raisin flavors and nice complexity. Tannins a bit firm on the finish, becoming more wooly and mouth-numbing with additional time in the decanter. However there is enough fruit to make this tolerable. Biggest problem is the clipped finish. Still, this is an overperformer at $12.
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1/1/2006 - dbkitc wrote:
Deep, full and chunky (a bit weedy) - OK, but no more. (11)
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12/3/2005 - AlpharettaWine wrote: 92 Points
Excelllent - Another great value from Spain.
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12/3/2005 - dbkitc wrote:
Deep garnet to ruby; pretty interesting nose of berry jam and rubber tire – a cool cobbler dessert smell; very upfront, cough syrup palate. Fun and fleshy, but nothing to back up the initial attack. I like but don’t love. (12.5)
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10/28/2005 - dbkitc wrote:
Brilliant garnet – very appealing – sturdy mouvadre color – shows great depth of color for such a reasonably price wine. Strong red plum and shoe polish nose. Very pronounced licorice note emerges with time. Feels a little superficial and man-made. Medium / full bodied – hefty weight and very solid structure is a bit of a surprise. There is some lovely fruit in the background. Again, seems a bit medicinal and forced. Needs a couple of years to settle down. I can go either way on the potential of this wine. Could be very, very good if the fruit holds up. Try again 2007. Potentially outstanding value – time will tell. (12.5 +?)
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10/25/2005 - indy715 wrote: 87 Points
Good wine for the price. Jammy with slight hints of vanilla to soften the fruit.
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10/22/2005 - mitchmiller wrote: 86 Points
Great but get the 2003.
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9/8/2005 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Marqués Phillipsena? Hot, jammy-to-rotten fruit, prickly. Ringer for the MP style of wine. No balance, no finesse. Nearly tolerable while grilling some steak, awful with the food itself.
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9/1/2005 - SeaBud wrote: 88 Points
Dark fruits and big tannins. However, the balance was off. Good QPR, but did not have complexity or the balance of fruits/tannins I enjoy.
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8/31/2005 - Bellaire Wino wrote: 90 Points
Fairly strong tannins and alcohol... nice dark fruit taste...good finish; will buy more @ this price!
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8/14/2005 - lorenzo wrote: 89 Points
<Kathy, Brian, Jill, Chris>
Opened after the Castano looking for solid QPR quaffers. Blew doors on the Castano. This wine had great depth and purity of fruit (blueberries and blackberries) and some wood.
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8/4/2005 - Thilo wrote: 87 Points
Color is inky purple to the rim. On the nose it shows that familiar smoky blueberry Mourvedre aroma. Also a hint of licorice. The palate attacks with creosote streaked dark berry flavors, pepper, and has a bit of a short finish whit a touch of heat. Intense and enjoyable, but not profound.
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8/3/2005 - lorenzo wrote: 88 Points
<Nardone Family>
Last time out we clearly had a flawed bottle of this wine. This was alot closer to my original experience. Largely positive. Pared well enough with the rustic Italian food flowing to the table. Rich fruit and some tannins.
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8/1/2005 - CooGAR wrote: 93 Points
Excellent wine! Find all you can!
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8/1/2005 - lorenzo wrote:
Not nearly the same bottle that I tried previously. Found no evidence of taint, but this clearly was an off or flawed bottle. Fruit way dumbed down.
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7/26/2005 - cck wrote: 88 Points
This wine benefited with some air. First few sips out of the bottle were a bit harsh. It opened nicely after 15-20 minutes and showed strong red cherry and mineral components. Not the best Spanish value I've had, but very good for the $12.
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7/17/2005 - TashNYC wrote: 87 Points
This had a lovely nose, but the taste of this particular bottle didn't measure up to it (or the wine score hype).
We found some fruit, raisins, black cherry and flowers, but it was short on the finish.
Does it just need more time?? Will Mr. Parker be ultimately vindicated? Who knows.
But, this didn't meet our cut to buy a case. Still a nice wine for $13 ...
We will try again in 6 months.
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7/9/2005 - lorenzo wrote: 90 Points
<Sal/Greg/Rjb>
Very impressive QPR. Rasiny sweet and concentrated rich, dark fruit. Mineral flavors add some complexity.
Finish was a tad clipped otherwise all the elements here for GREAT wine experience.
at $14 this is silly value IMHO.
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3/5/2005 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($15) Alsace and S&D: Blind Red 1 - Aussie-like nose of sweet oak and crème brulee. Not much structure. John pegged it as a Spanish wine right off the bat.
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