2020 Eminent Domaine Pinot Noir Estate

Community Tasting Notes (5) Median Score: 87 points

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  2/5/2024 - BoulderWine Does not like this wine: 70 Points

  Ugh, a real smoke bomb despite what they wrote in their wine club email, that they "were relieved afterward to find the wines taste and test clean and beautiful." Certainly not drinkable and I will have to toss my other bottle. Now will need to open the other 2020 vintage wines that they distributed to the club to see if they are similarly flawed.

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  10/8/2023 - sid_loves_wine wrote: 87 Points

  My wife has found she enjoys smoky wines, so she bought this one at their tasting, where they presented it in a really forthcoming sort of way; saying it was definitely smoke-affected, but that it's simply a reality of the vintage and the changing times, and so instead of skipping the vintage or doing something differently, they simply released the wine as normal, more or less.
  
  That's admirable in some ways and they're definitely right about the changing times/climate. That said, it wasn't any less expensive than their (really good) wines from normal vintages, and what's more, the smoke here was VERY powerful, mostly mesquite with only traces of fruit far in the background. Even the 2020 Evesham Wood Pinot we enjoyed, half the price, had more fruit present. This wasn't BAD in the abstract. The smoky tone reminded me of distant mezcal, and every so often I got a bit of faint raspberry or cherry. This was especially true on the palate, which showed the fruit much more clearly than the nose, basically like slightly smoky ripe red fruit and a very elegant, silky mouthfeel. The smoke relaxed a touch by the end of the bottle, but definitely never left.
  
  In the end I couldn't get past the intensity of the smoke, and I can't think of it as anything other than a flaw. Still rating it here as I would a normal wine, since the winery wanted it to be enjoyed on its own merits.

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  5/21/2023 - respieth@gmail.com Does not like this wine: 70 Points

  Smoke Taint.

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  8/29/2022 - Russ P Likes this wine: 90 Points

  No trace of any smoke influence, very pleasant and held nicely f9r 2nd day. Nevertheless I am consuming my 2020s to avoid any future degradation in profile due to any smoke exposure.

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  12/31/2021 - Senator503 wrote:

  Unfortunately, the smoke taint mars what would be an otherwise pleasant offering. I’m not sure how to score this… I would call it flawed, but I fear the entire vintage is flawed in the same way.

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