morellyn
Member #170,252 signed up 3/30/2011
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1996 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut
7/31/2015 - morellyn Likes this wine: 95 Points
An excellent, quintessentially French champagne with spring left in its step. Lively acidity paired well with its mellowed fruit profile to highlight a wine that is drinking in its prime, particularly if you appreciate champagnes with a little age. Has a slight bitterness that is actually enjoyable, and offsets the booziness some aged sparklers succumb to. A really, really enjoyable bottle, particularly as it warms, bringing out caramel tones and a lingering finish. Recommended!
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2011 Gundlach Bundschu Mountain Cuvée
7/30/2015 - morellyn wrote: 87 Points
Typical of many 2011s, this starts out a bit thin and acidic for my tastes. The flavor I get most is blueberry, I agree with the earlier reviewer, though not the rounded, full bodied blue fruits of better years. Time and air definitely helps soften things, and by the 2nd hour this was drinking better. Less sharp tones were apparent and the wine was more enjoyable. $15-$20 is a tough price point to find great value in Napa or Sonoma, especially in subpar vintages like '11. I think they do a fair job with this wine, but unless you are decanting for awhile and keep your expectations low, you should probably pass on this and pick a similarly priced 2012 blend.
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2012 Odette Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
7/26/2015 - morellyn Likes this wine: 96 Points
This wine is a consistent crowd pleaser, and should be at nearly $100 per bottle. I popped and poured this, by popular demand, but it really didn't suffer for that as many younger Cabs do. This is accessible from the beginning, smooth and silky with a terrific balance of fruit (I get a mix of black and blue fruits mainly), with enough tannins to give it some stuffing, and everything really in balance right now. Great mouthfeel (some body but not viscous), and finish lasts a good 30 seconds if you can hold off on your next sip that long. I'm not sure how this will age for 10 or 20 years, but at the rate I'm consuming my stash, I'm doubtful it will be a problem. This wine has consistently outperformed just about every other Cali Cab blend in its price range that I've tried against it. A couple of months ago, it beat out Continuum, TreasuRed, and Mercury Head as co-wine of the night with La Sirena (which was just a wholly different bottle of high end Cab). Kudos to Plumpjack for a real winner here. I am getting on the mailing list today.
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