Montesquieu
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2018 Envinate Taganan Parcela Margalagua
4/26/2024 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 95 Points
Three years since my last bottle, and I continue to sing this wine's praises despite it's not appealing to everyone. What I love are the herbal notes. The potpourri of herbs add richness, complexity, and body to dried/dehydrated fruit flavors of raspberry and cranberry. One friend was ambivalent and called this a "food wine". That's not my take. I prefer the dry herbal notes without food, because food can mask or overwhelm the wine, and I enjoy the dry herbal notes unaccompanied. Another friend was more complimentary. I think the Envinate Canary Island reds are singular and fully worthy of the Wine Advocate praise. One friend liked this at cellar temperature upon pop and pour, but I preferred it with some warmth and air, which softened enhanced a round herbal mouthfeel.
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1984 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
4/26/2024 - Montesquieu Likes this wine:
I collect Dunn HM from the 1980s and early 1990s. It and Ridge Monte Bello, with 20+ years age, are my favorite American reds by far. This 1984 Dunn HM, with pristine wax cap and cork, was the first "past its peak, but still good" Dunn HM I've ever had. My many other Dunn HM's from 1985-1988 have shown extraordinary mushroom soup funk and glory - what I'd consider peak tertiary window. This 1984 was maybe 5 years past its tertiary peak. Some flavors of bandaid (bad), mint (surprised), tart cranberry, and funk mixed with still-solid dried fruit. For a 40 year old wine, it is a standout success for California, though below the other 1980s Dunns I've had. Would rate an 88 today. I'm not entering a score because its ratings past-prime shouldn't discount its ratings in peak.
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2020 Ridge Monte Bello
4/24/2024 - Montesquieu wrote: 92 Points
As a Monte Bello collector since 2001, I normally don't open bottles until they're mature - 15+ years in good vintages, 10+ in an off one. I made an exception in this case to assess the smoke presence and whether these should be consumed younger as a result. My palate isn't the most sensitive, but I do believe I detected smoke, which challenged the otherwise good MB core. The wine was still a good wine, though not for the price, for the first 60 minutes. After that, the smoke became more prominent relative to other notes. Consequently, I'll plan to consume these younger than normal and without long decants.
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