Wow, un vin de cette qualité à ce prix, mais pourquoi donc est-ce que la SAQ a cessé d'en tenir?! Je notais que je devrais en goûter une bouteille en 2013, finalement j'aurai attendu 4 ans de plus. Et je ne le regrette tellement pas! Contrairement à ce que je craignais, il n'a pas passé son heure. Il est en plein apogée avec encore du temps devant lui. La robe est d'un beau grenat foncé et profond, le pourtour laisse à peine voir un tournant briqué à l'extrémité du disque. Au nez, c'est complexe, fruité, le cassis et floral, la lavande, avec un beau boisé que je soupçonne être français avant de confirmer en lisant sur le site, des épices chaudes. En bouche, légèrement rafraichi, il ne laisse rien transparaître de ses 14% d'alcool, et ses tannins bien présent dans mon souvenir se sont vraiment bien assouplis et intégrés, il a un corps bien soutenu, une texture souple, une structure tannique qui se relâche et s'imprègne tout juste dans les muqueuses, des arômes puissants en rétro et une finale très longue. Il se présente avec l'allure d'un pinot musclé ou d'un nebbiolo. Excellent sur le filet de porc bien grillé, les poivron rouge grillé-brulé et patates fraiche. Franchement, un vin à son peak, on ne pourrait en demander plus à un vin de 25-30$. Donc à 20, wow!
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16,5/20 * * * 1/2 VISUEL : marron OLFACIF : doucement animal, fin et viandé à la fois GUSTATIF : bouche raçée, frutée et animale. Texturé avec une finesse de saveurs qui se prolonge ENSEMBLE : j'aime
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16,5/20 * * * 1/2 SAQ: 21$ VISUEL:rubis OLFACTIF:nez profond de fruits noir murs GUSTATIF:Mmmmm.... bons tanins avec un peu de rudesse. La bouche est riche, généreuse : notes de chocolat noir. Une excellente structure pour soutenir le tout. La finale est exquise ENSEMBLE: fort bien fait !
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Dark red fruit; completely open for business. Drink soon. After a bottle a few years ago plus others' notes, this surprised me by being more fruity and less acidic and earthy than I anticipated, to my mild disappointment. It was closer to a grenache-heavy southern Rhone than a Bojo. But very drinkable and enjoyable for the low price of entry, and fairly food-flexible. I recall it as having pretty well fallen apart by day 3.
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Similar to the the latest note on this wine. Earth and minerality are displayed on a medium body with a significant amount of acid. Unlike it's profile a year ago, it now does not stand alone well, but would pair well with food. I believe it is past its peak. It was a good QPR.
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The more acidic and linear of the two Mencias served. Not a great stand alone bottle but paired very nicely with the wide array of food that was available. Lots of minerals.
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Has definely improved over the last 18 months. The oak factor before has now slipped off to reveal red fruit, minerality, and some herbs. Medium body with good depth and medium length finish.
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Medium purple in the glass with a big nose of tart berries, earth, and spice. Notes of the same plus some floral elements, and a hint of bitterness on the finish that quickly dissipates with air. Well integrated tannins and nice structure. Excellent wine for $11.
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Slightly cloudy dark magenta. Strawberry, fence post, and pepper nose. Light bodied, tart plums, blackberries, drying tannins, good acid, chocolate, a touch of heat, and a medium length mouth puckering finish. Just OK.
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Deep, dark, rich without being oaky, and tannic, this is a great big food wine. Enough acidity to balance a saucier dish, this also has enough fruit to balance back some spice, like in the Pork Spine we had it with. Nice stuff.
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Violets and cherry on the nose. A pleasant surprise on the palette. I was expecting a strong old world Spanish note - dry, leather, tobacco, and a lot of earth. All of that is there, but it has a little New World red fruit forward and light tannins to round this out in to very pleasant drinking wine. Excellent QPR.
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Quite dense for Mencia, but not clumsy or unbalanced. Plums, cherry, smoke, soil and stoney notes. Nice structure. Seems to have the legs for medium term cellaring, at least.
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Dinner with Friends (Steve & Julie's): Nice wine. Purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, slightly jammy. On the palate, this is upfront and fruit forward. not much complexity at this stage but very easy to drink and enjoyable. Black raspberries. Nice balance.
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Nose of blackberry, leather, rum, clove and orange. Taste is much more high pitched with raspberry, sandalwood and Manzanilla olives but even a bit of mulled flavor as well. Light yet satisfying.
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Dark inky color. Aromatics leapt out of the glass. Black and blue fruit with a little heat on the palate. Lots of fruit and spicy oak. Stronger fruit on the nose than the palate.
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Dark blue, roasted yet acidic dark blue fruit; also vanilla and some smoke. Finish lighter than Napa Cab, but still complex, layered, acidic, and enough tanginess to pair extremely well with meat sauces and medium bodied dishes.
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Some dirt and plum on the nose. Palate of muted dark berries, a mild leather component and some more plum. Mid palate is weak, but has a more robust finish. Good food wine as it is not too tannic or overpowering.
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No formal note. Full bodied red with a black fruit emphasis and pretty good secondary flavors, it is good, but not earth-shattering. However, I paid only $12 as part of a WL/DG deal, and at that price, it represents an excellent QPR. I wish I'd tasted it before the deal died. Nice wine.
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Very very nice QPR, and recognizably the little brother of Luna Beberide's magnificent "Art" but lacking its intensity and indolic complexity. Priced like and vaguely comparable to a cheap and cheerful well-made CDR. Easy to imagine it might be even better in a few years, if my other bottle doesn't get drunk before then.
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Nose of red and dark fruit, earth and funk. The funk blew over quickly and some dried herbs and pepper came through. Just hair of gaminess or teriyaki like thing going on, but different than a syrah. Oak is apparent but not offensive. Tastes mostly of red and black fruit with heavy doses of earthiness and some chocolate and creamy oak on the backend. Big drying tannins. I paid $11.11 for this wine. Awesome QPR. I love that despite how big it there is still some good acidity to bring this wine back into balance. People are being too hard on this wine I think. Needs some air time.
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I enjoyed this a lot - better than other mencia, I've had, which I haven't been impressed with to date. The nose was not impressive - stewed prune often implying heavy handed wine making. Much better in the mouth - a strawberry tinge, with the strange hollowed out mid-palate of mencia. The fruit is sharpened up and the acid is strong and light tannins. Fairly long finish. Enjoyable drinking. For QPR this is great. I'm surprised by the low marks from other tasters.
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Sort of a dark but dull ruby red. Raspberry and blueberry mashup, oak, and a slight tinge of funk. Medium bodied, cherries with some sharp cheddar cheese mixed in, aged nutmeg, soft grainy tannins, good acid, some heat, and a medium finish. Not bad, not great.
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The nose can be best described as dark, showing brooding tones of dark fruit, pepper, and vegetal components with undertones of topsoil/barnyard and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine opens with cherry and berries, each more tart then would be suggested by the nose. The mid-palate is underwhelming in strength, but interesting in its black olive and coffee components. Earth fills the transition to a medium length finish of charred oak, oregano, dried red fruit, and aggressive tannins. Though enjoyable, the wine is somewhat thinner in texture and disjointed in its transitions than is expected.
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Dark garnet core with a deep ruby rim. Interesting nose: Plum, black cherry, chamomile, green peppers, menthol, a smoky quality as well. Dry, medium+ acidity, the tannins are medium+ also, plum, and peppermint on the palate The alcohol spikes up a bit on the finish. Good wine, but not very exciting.
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Accidentally left the unfinished half bottle from last night open in the cellar. So after a 24 hour decent I figured this wine would be dead but it wasn't. Some of the acidic sharp edges from last night had rounded out. Still had lots of the blackberry and gripping tannin. Actually even darker fruits today. Just amazing. Look to drink this for some time yet.
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first off I only paid $12 and change for the bottle, which in itself felt like it was a decent deal. Nice color - dark and inky. Nose was dark red fruit but rather simple. Tannic wine but somewhat enjoyable for what it was - not memorable but interesting to have tried mencia varietal. A fair amount of oak but not overpowering. I've got another bottle I will try in a few years.
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Very dark, inky purple color. Red and black fruits on the nose, particularly black cherry and blackberry, along with some lead, tar, black pepper, and oak—the latter of which making me a little nervous. Fortunately, this did not carry through on the palate, and instead I'm getting the black cherry and graphite/lead, black pepper, some minerality, and strong, but integrated, tannins on the backend. I like this wine, but it's not changing my life or anything, and considering the $20 price tag, I find it hard not to consider some of the banging Monastrell-based wines from Jumilla at about half that. I would probably buy it again if on sale, though. It seems to have the stuffing for aging, so maybe it will develop even further in a few years.
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{ST} Poured to decanter and served. Color dark in the glass, inky. Aromas and flavors of blackberries, bramble, spices, and smoke. Forward and tasty black fruits, spice, and herbs. Moderate acid and structure. Short finish with a twang of minerals and graphite. Pleasant but quite simple. To say that it performs at its price point may be generous.
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No formal notes. I remember it being quite out of balance, though. I'm a fan of minerality in wine, but this bottle just had too much and not much of anything else except wood. I did sense a hint of potential so I'm hoping my other bottle just needs some time.
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Aromas of red berries, a little oak, and a creamy vanilla thing. Similar flavors on the palate. Feels kinda flabby from too much oak. I guess I thought there would be more minerality to this. Some acidity brightens the finish. If the oak blows off in 12-18 months, this might get a little better.
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Not special. Non-expressive nose, mild, non-distinct, fruit on the front end, with tannins masking the finish. In fairness, the tannis were very soft/not offensive, but as they coated the mouth it kept any distinct flavors from coming through on the back end. For me this fell into the there-are-a-million-wines-similar-to-this category. Not terrible, but not unique. At $20, this is not well priced. Tasted blind, I would place this in the $15 range.
I was disappointed in this as I have really been enjoying working my way through a case of 2005 Bodega del Abad Bierzo Abad Dom Bueno Roble (not getting great reviews on CT), made with the same varietal (Mencia) which has been a pure joy with an amazing and distinct flavor profile and make me long to try another Mencia.
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{ST} From decanter, 30+ min. Color red with a few black tones, medium-plus body. Reticent bouquet of berries and smoke. On the palate, the herbs, sticks and earth show more on the attack and then blackberry, sour cherry, and oak. Relatively low acid, moderate tannins, fairly short finish. OK overall but seemingly lean and not my cup of tea. Once again the standard subtraction of five points from JM's score equals my impression anyway. Pass for me, especially at 20.
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Yesterday, at the wine shop, we had the opportunity to try the new vintage, 2008, of the Finca la Cuesta. I was an ardent fan of the 2007 vintage with it's robust nose of smoky coffee, sour cherry, and blackberry, and its palate that boasted great depth with its spiced boysenberry and chocolate flavors. But, 2008 didn't stand up to its 2007 brother. Perhaps it's still too young; it was just released! In comparison, the 2008 vintage was quite lean on the palate, lacking that broad structure that 07' had; the finish was quite dry, too. Similar flavor and aroma profile with blackberry, cherry, meat and minerality on the nose taking on a roasted coffee bean and grilled herb characteristic on the palate. I think with a little more bottle age it will grow into itself.
I Give It: 87 +
www.mypurpleteeth.com
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10/12/2022 - Winevestor wrote:
Definitely kept this too long. It dead.
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9/23/2017 - Petit amateur Likes this wine:
Wow, un vin de cette qualité à ce prix, mais pourquoi donc est-ce que la SAQ a cessé d'en tenir?!
Je notais que je devrais en goûter une bouteille en 2013, finalement j'aurai attendu 4 ans de plus. Et je ne le regrette tellement pas! Contrairement à ce que je craignais, il n'a pas passé son heure. Il est en plein apogée avec encore du temps devant lui. La robe est d'un beau grenat foncé et profond, le pourtour laisse à peine voir un tournant briqué à l'extrémité du disque. Au nez, c'est complexe, fruité, le cassis et floral, la lavande, avec un beau boisé que je soupçonne être français avant de confirmer en lisant sur le site, des épices chaudes. En bouche, légèrement rafraichi, il ne laisse rien transparaître de ses 14% d'alcool, et ses tannins bien présent dans mon souvenir se sont vraiment bien assouplis et intégrés, il a un corps bien soutenu, une texture souple, une structure tannique qui se relâche et s'imprègne tout juste dans les muqueuses, des arômes puissants en rétro et une finale très longue. Il se présente avec l'allure d'un pinot musclé ou d'un nebbiolo. Excellent sur le filet de porc bien grillé, les poivron rouge grillé-brulé et patates fraiche. Franchement, un vin à son peak, on ne pourrait en demander plus à un vin de 25-30$. Donc à 20, wow!
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7/3/2017 - gajalaa Likes this wine: 88 Points
Last bottle and is past its prime
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12/29/2016 - Halfeel Likes this wine: 89 Points
Great pizza wine - Liked it better than I expected.
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1/8/2016 - gajalaa wrote: 88 Points
purple with nose of berries, some bitterness on finish
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1/29/2015 - scott w wrote: 85 Points
Funky olives smoke good acid, not much in the way of tannin. Just o.k.
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11/14/2014 - BoireBio wrote: flawed
16,5/20 * * * 1/2
VISUEL : marron
OLFACIF : doucement animal, fin et viandé à la fois
GUSTATIF : bouche raçée, frutée et animale. Texturé avec une finesse de saveurs qui se prolonge
ENSEMBLE : j'aime
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11/2/2014 - jadi Likes this wine: 89 Points
Accompanied pasta with tomates confites, sausages, a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with fresh parmesan
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1/17/2014 - jadi Likes this wine: 88 Points
Perfect wine with fresh raviolis and homemade tomato sauce
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10/11/2013 - BoireBio wrote: 87 Points
16,5/20 * * * 1/2 SAQ: 21$
VISUEL:rubis
OLFACTIF:nez profond de fruits noir murs
GUSTATIF:Mmmmm.... bons tanins avec un peu de rudesse. La bouche est riche, généreuse : notes de chocolat noir. Une excellente structure pour soutenir le tout. La finale est exquise
ENSEMBLE: fort bien fait !
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5/30/2013 - Charlie Pendejo wrote:
Dark red fruit; completely open for business. Drink soon. After a bottle a few years ago plus others' notes, this surprised me by being more fruity and less acidic and earthy than I anticipated, to my mild disappointment. It was closer to a grenache-heavy southern Rhone than a Bojo. But very drinkable and enjoyable for the low price of entry, and fairly food-flexible. I recall it as having pretty well fallen apart by day 3.
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2/17/2013 - flgman Likes this wine: 86 Points
Similar to the the latest note on this wine. Earth and minerality are displayed on a medium body with a significant amount of acid. Unlike it's profile a year ago, it now does not stand alone well, but would pair well with food. I believe it is past its peak. It was a good QPR.
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1/19/2013 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 88 Points
Tasted at the Viva Espana tasting.
The more acidic and linear of the two Mencias served. Not a great stand alone bottle but paired very nicely with the wide array of food that was available. Lots of minerals.
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12/2/2012 - rouge vin wrote: 82 Points
Sur le fruit, encore jeune, sans boisé donc vraiment étrange pour un espagnol. Tannins discrets mais présents. Un peu vert sur le gout.
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10/4/2012 - ecola Likes this wine: 89 Points
Has definely improved over the last 18 months. The oak factor before has now slipped off to reveal red fruit, minerality, and some herbs. Medium body with good depth and medium length finish.
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9/22/2012 - morf wrote: 80 Points
This is past it's prime. Wine almost through the cork. Terrible nose.
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9/6/2012 - corkscrews wrote: 87 Points
Similiar to last notes.
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8/24/2012 - bechi wrote: 89 Points
Medium purple in the glass with a big nose of tart berries, earth, and spice. Notes of the same plus some floral elements, and a hint of bitterness on the finish that quickly dissipates with air. Well integrated tannins and nice structure. Excellent wine for $11.
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6/21/2012 - Suss wrote: 88 Points
Nice value at $11. Would buy again.
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6/15/2012 - mwneil wrote: 88 Points
Nice wine, mencia grape gave it a different taste that was good, nice fruit, ok bouquet
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4/25/2012 - merryberry wrote: 86 Points
Slightly cloudy dark magenta. Strawberry, fence post, and pepper nose. Light bodied, tart plums, blackberries, drying tannins, good acid, chocolate, a touch of heat, and a medium length mouth puckering finish. Just OK.
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4/22/2012 - BradboBaggins Likes this wine: 90 Points
Deep, dark, rich without being oaky, and tannic, this is a great big food wine. Enough acidity to balance a saucier dish, this also has enough fruit to balance back some spice, like in the Pork Spine we had it with. Nice stuff.
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3/31/2012 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
RussK Sp tasting at WWATCH. 91- top tier. Not as nice as the other Lunas I have had.
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2/25/2012 - flgman wrote: 90 Points
Violets and cherry on the nose. A pleasant surprise on the palette. I was expecting a strong old world Spanish note - dry, leather, tobacco, and a lot of earth. All of that is there, but it has a little New World red fruit forward and light tannins to round this out in to very pleasant drinking wine. Excellent QPR.
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2/20/2012 - Georgenenni wrote: 86 Points
Great wine, very drinkable, great fruit/acid balance, yet no strong tannins. Very good value for the price.
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2/18/2012 - mdefreitas wrote: 89 Points
Quite dense for Mencia, but not clumsy or unbalanced. Plums, cherry, smoke, soil and stoney notes. Nice structure. Seems to have the legs for medium term cellaring, at least.
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1/30/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 88 Points
Dinner with Friends (Steve & Julie's): Nice wine. Purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, slightly jammy. On the palate, this is upfront and fruit forward. not much complexity at this stage but very easy to drink and enjoyable. Black raspberries. Nice balance.
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1/29/2012 - crux wrote: 90 Points
Nose of blackberry, leather, rum, clove and orange. Taste is much more high pitched with raspberry, sandalwood and Manzanilla olives but even a bit of mulled flavor as well. Light yet satisfying.
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12/30/2011 - atrox wrote: 87 Points
Dark inky color. Aromatics leapt out of the glass. Black and blue fruit with a little heat on the palate. Lots of fruit and spicy oak. Stronger fruit on the nose than the palate.
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12/1/2011 - Phillyjk wrote: 89 Points
Decent with food and good value
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11/26/2011 - winetennis wrote:
Dark blue, roasted yet acidic dark blue fruit; also vanilla and some smoke. Finish lighter than Napa Cab, but still complex, layered, acidic, and enough tanginess to pair extremely well with meat sauces and medium bodied dishes.
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10/29/2011 - TheMarshall wrote: 90 Points
very impressed with wine. Wouldnt have fgured it to be Spanish. Some nice mineral taste and very well balanced
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9/5/2011 - jfarley3 wrote: 88 Points
Some dirt and plum on the nose. Palate of muted dark berries, a mild leather component and some more plum. Mid palate is weak, but has a more robust finish. Good food wine as it is not too tannic or overpowering.
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8/25/2011 - Phredd wrote: 88 Points
No formal note. Full bodied red with a black fruit emphasis and pretty good secondary flavors, it is good, but not earth-shattering. However, I paid only $12 as part of a WL/DG deal, and at that price, it represents an excellent QPR. I wish I'd tasted it before the deal died. Nice wine.
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8/12/2011 - Charlie Pendejo wrote: 88 Points
Very very nice QPR, and recognizably the little brother of Luna Beberide's magnificent "Art" but lacking its intensity and indolic complexity. Priced like and vaguely comparable to a cheap and cheerful well-made CDR. Easy to imagine it might be even better in a few years, if my other bottle doesn't get drunk before then.
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8/10/2011 - NJ BIG CHRIS wrote: 89 Points
Nose of red and dark fruit, earth and funk. The funk blew over quickly and some dried herbs and pepper came through. Just hair of gaminess or teriyaki like thing going on, but different than a syrah. Oak is apparent but not offensive. Tastes mostly of red and black fruit with heavy doses of earthiness and some chocolate and creamy oak on the backend. Big drying tannins. I paid $11.11 for this wine. Awesome QPR. I love that despite how big it there is still some good acidity to bring this wine back into balance. People are being too hard on this wine I think. Needs some air time.
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7/18/2011 - Winevestor wrote: 90 Points
I enjoyed this a lot - better than other mencia, I've had, which I haven't been impressed with to date. The nose was not impressive - stewed prune often implying heavy handed wine making. Much better in the mouth - a strawberry tinge, with the strange hollowed out mid-palate of mencia. The fruit is sharpened up and the acid is strong and light tannins. Fairly long finish. Enjoyable drinking. For QPR this is great. I'm surprised by the low marks from other tasters.
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7/7/2011 - merryberry wrote: 87 Points
Sort of a dark but dull ruby red. Raspberry and blueberry mashup, oak, and a slight tinge of funk. Medium bodied, cherries with some sharp cheddar cheese mixed in, aged nutmeg, soft grainy tannins, good acid, some heat, and a medium finish. Not bad, not great.
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6/28/2011 - Rob and Meg wrote: 84 Points
The nose can be best described as dark, showing brooding tones of dark fruit, pepper, and vegetal components with undertones of topsoil/barnyard and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine opens with cherry and berries, each more tart then would be suggested by the nose. The mid-palate is underwhelming in strength, but interesting in its black olive and coffee components. Earth fills the transition to a medium length finish of charred oak, oregano, dried red fruit, and aggressive tannins. Though enjoyable, the wine is somewhat thinner in texture and disjointed in its transitions than is expected.
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6/18/2011 - Dapz wrote: 84 Points
Dark garnet core with a deep ruby rim. Interesting nose: Plum, black cherry, chamomile, green peppers, menthol, a smoky quality as well. Dry, medium+ acidity, the tannins are medium+ also, plum, and peppermint on the palate The alcohol spikes up a bit on the finish. Good wine, but not very exciting.
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6/8/2011 - cadams wrote: 89 Points
Accidentally left the unfinished half bottle from last night open in the cellar. So after a 24 hour decent I figured this wine would be dead but it wasn't. Some of the acidic sharp edges from last night had rounded out. Still had lots of the blackberry and gripping tannin. Actually even darker fruits today. Just amazing. Look to drink this for some time yet.
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6/7/2011 - cadams wrote: 87 Points
Dark red color, nose of blackberries and dark cherries, on the palate a little black pepper, blackberry, med finish. Fairly simple but tasty.
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6/1/2011 - jpakma wrote: 87 Points
first off I only paid $12 and change for the bottle, which in itself felt like it was a decent deal. Nice color - dark and inky. Nose was dark red fruit but rather simple. Tannic wine but somewhat enjoyable for what it was - not memorable but interesting to have tried mencia varietal. A fair amount of oak but not overpowering. I've got another bottle I will try in a few years.
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5/30/2011 - studleytrey wrote: 88 Points
Very dark, inky purple color. Red and black fruits on the nose, particularly black cherry and blackberry, along with some lead, tar, black pepper, and oak—the latter of which making me a little nervous. Fortunately, this did not carry through on the palate, and instead I'm getting the black cherry and graphite/lead, black pepper, some minerality, and strong, but integrated, tannins on the backend. I like this wine, but it's not changing my life or anything, and considering the $20 price tag, I find it hard not to consider some of the banging Monastrell-based wines from Jumilla at about half that. I would probably buy it again if on sale, though. It seems to have the stuffing for aging, so maybe it will develop even further in a few years.
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5/15/2011 - pete s. wrote: 86 Points
Good deal the present price of $12. Meat, earth, and spice notes dominate both the nose and palate. Needs some time but just don't have the space.
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3/24/2011 - TheSohs wrote: 84 Points
Tight on the nose with dark berries, bark, earth and a touch of bitterness on the finish. Medium tannins and pretty straight forward.
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3/11/2011 - Vinacull wrote: 87 Points
{ST} Poured to decanter and served. Color dark in the glass, inky. Aromas and flavors of blackberries, bramble, spices, and smoke. Forward and tasty black fruits, spice, and herbs. Moderate acid and structure. Short finish with a twang of minerals and graphite. Pleasant but quite simple. To say that it performs at its price point may be generous.
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3/5/2011 - corkscrews wrote: 87 Points
A nose of dark fruit and spice, dark black in color. A full bodied dry red, with cherry, plum, cola and spice, was decent but a bit sour and chunky.
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2/14/2011 - rlawrentz wrote: 87 Points
Good wine earthy
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2/9/2011 - BrunelloBob wrote: 85 Points
All mineral and drying oak, just starting to show a bit of red/black fruit on day 2.
Hold a year or two, but don't expect great things.
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2/5/2011 - winetennis wrote:
took some time to open up, some fig and dark red fruit on the nose, good acidity and tannin balance on finish
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2/4/2011 - bottomrock wrote:
Very good. Vinturi and short decant
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1/31/2011 - pete s. wrote: 85 Points
No formal notes. I remember it being quite out of balance, though. I'm a fan of minerality in wine, but this bottle just had too much and not much of anything else except wood. I did sense a hint of potential so I'm hoping my other bottle just needs some time.
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1/17/2011 - ecola wrote: 87 Points
Aromas of red berries, a little oak, and a creamy vanilla thing. Similar flavors on the palate. Feels kinda flabby from too much oak. I guess I thought there would be more minerality to this. Some acidity brightens the finish. If the oak blows off in 12-18 months, this might get a little better.
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1/16/2011 - laxman wrote: 87 Points
Not special. Non-expressive nose, mild, non-distinct, fruit on the front end, with tannins masking the finish. In fairness, the tannis were very soft/not offensive, but as they coated the mouth it kept any distinct flavors from coming through on the back end. For me this fell into the there-are-a-million-wines-similar-to-this category. Not terrible, but not unique. At $20, this is not well priced. Tasted blind, I would place this in the $15 range.
I was disappointed in this as I have really been enjoying working my way through a case of 2005 Bodega del Abad Bierzo Abad Dom Bueno Roble (not getting great reviews on CT), made with the same varietal (Mencia) which has been a pure joy with an amazing and distinct flavor profile and make me long to try another Mencia.
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1/15/2011 - Vinacull wrote: 86 Points
{ST} From decanter, 30+ min. Color red with a few black tones, medium-plus body. Reticent bouquet of berries and smoke. On the palate, the herbs, sticks and earth show more on the attack and then blackberry, sour cherry, and oak. Relatively low acid, moderate tannins, fairly short finish. OK overall but seemingly lean and not my cup of tea. Once again the standard subtraction of five points from JM's score equals my impression anyway. Pass for me, especially at 20.
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11/14/2010 - MyPurpleTeeth.net wrote: 87 Points
Yesterday, at the wine shop, we had the opportunity to try the new vintage, 2008, of the Finca la Cuesta. I was an ardent fan of the 2007 vintage with it's robust nose of smoky coffee, sour cherry, and blackberry, and its palate that boasted great depth with its spiced boysenberry and chocolate flavors. But, 2008 didn't stand up to its 2007 brother. Perhaps it's still too young; it was just released! In comparison, the 2008 vintage was quite lean on the palate, lacking that broad structure that 07' had; the finish was quite dry, too. Similar flavor and aroma profile with blackberry, cherry, meat and minerality on the nose taking on a roasted coffee bean and grilled herb characteristic on the palate. I think with a little more bottle age it will grow into itself.
I Give It: 87 +
www.mypurpleteeth.com
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