The nose smells lean, giving forth aromas of mineral, oceanic saline, brioche, talc, and almonds. It enters the palate so softly, super fine and luxurious mousse with a persistent finish. The palate reveals brioche, honey and toasted almonds with a saline mineral finish. The nose is much more expressive than the palate at this juncture, but the texture of this wine is outstanding.
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Gorgeous and elegant like an old Baby Krug style champagne at it's peak at present. Nice yeasty toffee/carmel flavors wrapped around buttery apple and toasted nutty hint. Very evolved with long finish and good acidic cut carried 2ndary and tertiary levels that develop in glass and palate. Shared with WWS Pete & Heidi on Christmas Eve.
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Dinner with James Mead (Taste Paradise, Ion Orchard): Took awhile to get going when first poured, but when it did, it was really solid. Guessed it as a 1998 on the palate, but the yellow gold colour really suggested more age than the wine actually carried. Lovely nose also seemed rather developed. Just that slightly oxidative hint on the edges, so that flowery tones and sweetish apple fruit was paired with a white meat component, some slightly browning fruit and some yeasty, nutty notes. Very expressive, and really nice - this more or less just bloomed out of the glass on first pour. The palate was a little less "together" at first, but it slowly knitted together with time in the glass. It was really nice when it did. Consistent gentle beading gave the wine a nice velveteen texture, which framed lovely flavours of flowers, with some toffee nut, lots of Brands chicken essence, along with some sweet apples and rather fleshy cherry fruit, so that the wine from attack to mid-palate was all friendly and charming. Past that though, this just zoomed into lime and lemon territory, with a really dry, minerally finish. Respectably long here, and it blossomed with time in the glass to show a whole panoply of new flavours, with some white plums and kumquats nestling amongst the minerally notes. Very nice - lots of character on this wine. I thought it was starting to drink really nicely, with the acidity nicely integrated into the body of the wine and secondary flavours starting to emerge. However, one or two more years of bottle age certainly would have pushed it up a notch higher.
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4/7/2020 - christyler wrote:
Holding up at 22 but not at peak. Nice acidity, brassy and deep. Not bad, but also not that good.
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3/29/2014 - PDX-S wrote:
The nose smells lean, giving forth aromas of mineral, oceanic saline, brioche, talc, and almonds. It enters the palate so softly, super fine and luxurious mousse with a persistent finish. The palate reveals brioche, honey and toasted almonds with a saline mineral finish. The nose is much more expressive than the palate at this juncture, but the texture of this wine is outstanding.
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12/24/2012 - Vinomark wrote: 92 Points
Gorgeous and elegant like an old Baby Krug style champagne at it's peak at present. Nice yeasty toffee/carmel flavors wrapped around buttery apple and toasted nutty hint. Very evolved with long finish and good acidic cut carried 2ndary and tertiary levels that develop in glass and palate. Shared with WWS Pete & Heidi on Christmas Eve.
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9/17/2012 - BobJohnson1 wrote:
Golden color. Nose of butter cake. Fully mature. Really nice, but time to drink up.
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11/18/2010 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points
Dinner with James Mead (Taste Paradise, Ion Orchard): Took awhile to get going when first poured, but when it did, it was really solid. Guessed it as a 1998 on the palate, but the yellow gold colour really suggested more age than the wine actually carried. Lovely nose also seemed rather developed. Just that slightly oxidative hint on the edges, so that flowery tones and sweetish apple fruit was paired with a white meat component, some slightly browning fruit and some yeasty, nutty notes. Very expressive, and really nice - this more or less just bloomed out of the glass on first pour. The palate was a little less "together" at first, but it slowly knitted together with time in the glass. It was really nice when it did. Consistent gentle beading gave the wine a nice velveteen texture, which framed lovely flavours of flowers, with some toffee nut, lots of Brands chicken essence, along with some sweet apples and rather fleshy cherry fruit, so that the wine from attack to mid-palate was all friendly and charming. Past that though, this just zoomed into lime and lemon territory, with a really dry, minerally finish. Respectably long here, and it blossomed with time in the glass to show a whole panoply of new flavours, with some white plums and kumquats nestling amongst the minerally notes. Very nice - lots of character on this wine. I thought it was starting to drink really nicely, with the acidity nicely integrated into the body of the wine and secondary flavours starting to emerge. However, one or two more years of bottle age certainly would have pushed it up a notch higher.
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