1998 Martinelli Pinot Noir Reserve Martinelli Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (12) Median Score: 86 points

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  2/6/2016 - up4wine wrote: 87 Points

  French Bourgogne needs to age a long time before one can really get it. I wanted to see if maybe the same was true of CA Pinot. At least with one, I did not see the value of aging it for a long time. This wine still had a great deal of fruit, leading me to believe it might have been a real fruit bomb in its younger days. The wine was very well balanced and fully integrated. I don't think it was on a downward slope, so it seems to not be suffering from overlong aging. At the same time, it has not evolved into a wine of great interest or stature.

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  1/3/2015 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Absolutely amazed at how well this wine held up. It still had some sweet red fruit left, strawberries and cherries. And enough acid to cleanse the palate of the salami and cheese plate that I had it with. I would have rated it higher, except for occasional tastes of oxidation. Not much, but enough to dock it a few points. Clearly this wine is on its final legs. But its been stored perfectly all these years. So that may have helped keep it well past the original Robert Parker drink by dates.
  The wine looks rosy colored.

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  3/10/2013 - Brookner1 wrote: 60 Points

  Stay away. Does not age gracefully.

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  10/24/2012 - Tgood wrote: 90 Points

  Cloudy dull ruby red; dutifully stored since purchase from winery; wildly perfumed w/ tart strawberries, cranberry-pomegranite, and beguiling notes of orange oil and black tea. Crisp and tart on palate which made for a great partner to sherry braised bird and roasted veggies. Last glass after dinner revealed the depth of the sharp acids which would serve to limit this wine's appeal away from the dinner table.

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  3/5/2010 - peterk wrote: 80 Points

  Mediocre. Will use my last bottle for the pot (despite culinary guidance)

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View all 12 Community Tasting Notes

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