1998 Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Community Tasting Notes (18) Avg Score: 88.5 points

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  4/2/2015 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Great wine, at no where near it's end of life- over the hill? Slightly. This wine probably would have been better with a little more fruit in it, but I really enjoyed it's tertiary character. There still was, however, a decent amount of fresh fruit left in the wine. Dominant flavors of fennel, black licorice, and mint, pair well with the tannins. Lean, black and purple fruit play up to the herbals. There is very little barrel character in this wine- any vanilla that was once there, is gone. We didn't finish the bottle all in one night so we poured into a 375ml, vacuumed and finished it the next day.
  
  The wine was noticeably easier to drink the second day and had not fallen off one bit; in fact, it seemed to have improved.
  
  A very well made wine.

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  1/28/2014 - skoppel Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Took awhile to open, second day really. Spice and chocolate with spice predominating. Drinking best now and just starting the downward turn.

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  6/17/2013 - Jgallup wrote: 91 Points

  I really liked this. Based on previous tasting notes I expected very little. Perhaps it had something to do with the perfect cork, but I found that it aged quite well. Aromas of plum and cassis. Tastes bring to mind black cherries, glove leather, rich fruit. Tannins were noticeable, which I liked. Finish was short and a touch musty, which leads me to believe it may be past its prime, but still very enjoyable.

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  12/16/2012 - KCBrian wrote: 86 Points

  Not sure how this ended up in my cellar but knew it was time to drink or late. First the cork disentegrated and I had to decant and filter the entire bottle. The first couple of tastes, in the first 30 min, we weak and was almost completely void of flavor. However, there was a hint of muted fruit. Over time those hints of muted fruite opened up a bit..... but there was little to no follow through. Not a bad wine.......just not that good.

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  10/14/2012 - Plunge the Worm wrote: 84 Points

  Lots of flavor but brett dominates. I wouldn't call it a brett bomb but it is rather old-worldly.

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