2008 Barnard Griffin Merlot Ciel du Cheval Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89.8 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View bjamesclark's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/28/2013 - bjamesclark wrote: 89 Points

  Opened and let sit for 6 hours.
  Viscosity is on the high side of moderate, taking the legs a moments to form and fall. Dark red/garnet color with little to no variation on the rim and day bright reflections.
  
  On the nose aromas of plum, wild red berries, cherry, tomato leaf and forest floor are marked with hints of chocolate, thyme, wood and wild flowers.
  The palate is focused with great medium-plus acidity, full bodied texture that has medium weight and mid-palate density, with refined moderate tannins. Flavors cherry and mocha upfront that bring in notes of fresh picked bramble berry, plum, wood and tomato stems in the back. The finish is short with medium-minus intensity. Could use more time to develop

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Motz's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/10/2013 - Motz wrote: 90 Points

  A wine that shows Red Mountain terroir and almost dazzles, but not quite. It seems this suffered a bit from the spotty vintage; it's a little light and shows a hit of green peppers, as in under ripe. Still, a fine example of Red Mountain Merlot at a reasonable price.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Wine Sparty's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/14/2011 - Wine Sparty wrote: 88 Points

  Blueberry and dark chocolate aroma. The chocolate comes through in the taste, as well as a hint of green pepper. Fell kinda flat after the initial taste, though. Would have been better to decant for at least an hour, rather than the pop & pour.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.