2008 Garbarino Estate Raffaele Cinque Terra Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89 points

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  5/27/2015 - DKHaus Likes this wine: 91 Points

  No detailed notes. Good, complex wine, very enjoyable.

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  3/25/2015 - Wine.woot_taster wrote: flawed

  Good morning from So Cal:
  Last Friday I got a visit from my “little Pal” all deck out in a top hat and tails, he handed me a bottle of Raffaele Garbarino and scurried away. Oh man I was pumped.
  1st off being full blooded Italian I loved this label, reminds me of my Grandfather Sebastiano Montalto who immigrated from Sicily around 1910.
  
  Knowing it was up for sale Wednesday, I sat down to open this “bad boy” yesterday, 1st of all it’s cool looking with the wax “foil” but is a real pain in the rear to open, after about 3 or 4 minutes I finally got the wax removed, shavings all over the counter and floor. Cork looked fine at the top, but completely fell apart as I tried to remove it, In fact my auto corkscrew couldn’t eject the cork so I had to dig it out, Hum not a good sign.
  
  1 st taste direct pour from the bottle, real nice deep red color, but appeared a little “dirty” not as clear as I expected. Lovely Bouquet, swirl produced some decent legs I expected more than I saw. On the palate very dry wine with some tobacco, smoke and Blackberries flavors. But a definite bitter after taste, a familiar after taste couldn’t quite place it. Expected a more robust body from the deep color.
  
  2nd taste ran through my Vinturi, major change to the wine, much, much smoother and drinkable, but that familiar after taste still exist. Had the wife try both glasses, she though the 1st pour was just awful, agreed 2nd pour was much more mellow but still didn’t like at all.
  
  That after taste………. A “bad bottle”??? or has the drinking window passed on this vintage?? Not really sure.
  
  Couldn’t drink anymore and left about 2/3’s of the bottle and re corked to maybe try another day.
  Rjquillin mentioned a review from 2011 where this wine got an 87 rating, at the price point I expected a heck of a lot more from this wine. He also said “a lot can happen in four years” and sdfreedive’s comment on the iodine rang true. I’m no connoisseur of wines like many on here, I’m just an average Joe who knows what I like.
  
  Seeing prices from $75 to $110 for this wine on line I expected something at least on par with Ardente, if not a step above, not even close.
  
  This is a definite pass for me, not worth the risk of getting 2 bottles at $86 and having them both like the rattage bottle I received.
  Truly bummed

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