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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2009 and 2035 (based on 2 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.8 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 54 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by robmatic on 7/27/2023 & rated 93 points: Still going strong. Thick and luscious. I believe the "35g/l RS" on the label is a mistake, and it's much easier to believe this wine is 35% residual sugar, not 3.5%. (318 views) | | | Tasted by HJImperial on 12/5/2015 & rated 94 points: My last bottle. Followed this wine since release. The 35 g/L residual sugar makes it viscous on the glass (probably better to taste it by the spoonful - a la Tokaji Essencia). Has evolved into medium reddish mahogany color. Taste of preserved apricot jelly, honey and caramelized raisin. The low alcohol (9.5%) and low acidity may make this cloyingly sweet to some tasters, but I like to drink wines like this once in a while. Expected of a viognier. If you like more acidity, try a Quartz de Chaume. If you prefer more alcohol, drink an Australian sticky. The last bottle I tasted had a slight bitter almond aftertaste, so I aerated/decanted this bottle for 5 minutes. It worked.
I love this wine even more today. I know of no other better-tasting late harvest viognier I could buy for this price. (3560 views) | | | Tasted by balkmr@hotmail.com on 3/13/2014 & rated 87 points: This was pretty good, but a little too sticky sweet for my dessert wine tastes. Apricots and cinnamon dominate the nose and palate. Heavy viscosity. (5058 views) | | | Tasted by Phil M'Rear on 3/22/2013 & rated 94 points: Glorious. Honey-glazed apricots. Very sweet, but I like that sort of thing. (6184 views) | | | Tasted by d_chism on 1/26/2013 & rated 89 points: Very nice dessert wine. Raisins and apricot. Great value? Perhaps a little too sweet (6085 views) | | | Tasted by PolarBear22 on 8/3/2012 & rated 92 points: This time the bottle disappeared in one evening. The sweetness seems even better balanced and was easy to just keep sipping. (6873 views) | | | Tasted by jaybird1234 on 7/15/2012 & rated 92 points: Love this wine. A great buy, and tastes much more expensive than the cost. Great hints of apricots and raisins. Smooth and luscious. (4347 views) | | | Tasted by Rich S on 5/26/2012 & rated 91 points: Light amber color. This wine had candied apricots and honey for days on both the nose and palate. Sweet but not cloying with a long, persistent finish. Great pairing with cheesecake. (3269 views) | | | Tasted by Wicked Panda on 5/20/2012 & rated 90 points: Amazing floral notes on the nose, tastes of honeysuckle and a hint of raisin. Just out standing dessert wine (2707 views) | | | Tasted by mtaczak on 12/31/2011 & rated 87 points: a surprisingly brown-gold color since it's not that old, must be the accelerated aging in the 375ml bottle. still cloyingly sweet, even the sweet wine lovers found it over the top. apricots and maybe some caramel, really, but too much sugar. came out of the bottle like syrup. probably should leave stuff like this for 15+ years. (3574 views) | | | Tasted by richardhod on 12/25/2011 & rated 89 points: sweeet, but great with Christmas pudding, again. Family loves it. Seems to be less intense than last year, but I might be imagining it (3306 views) | | | Tasted by bundydavis on 6/11/2011 & rated 92 points: Honey and sweet. Really enjoyable! (4226 views) | | | Tasted by oldsailor on 4/24/2011 & rated 91 points: Apricot, definitely. Just delicious by itself, slightly chilled. Really wonderful following a nice dinner. (3903 views) | | | Tasted by vintage_whine on 2/13/2011 & rated 91 points: Hard to believe that it comes in at under 40g/L residual sugar, which makes it equivalent to a demi-sec champagne. nose full of white flowers, candied pineapple and dried turkish apricots. true to form for viognier. on the palate the texture was indescribably dense, likechewing a thick persian rug. the length was comparatively short and simple for such an incredible wine. beautiful with cheesecake (4263 views) | | | Tasted by boatman72 on 2/13/2011: thick sweet honey-like nectar, light cedar, apricot - love it and I'm a dry red wine consumer. (3954 views) | | | Tasted by albrigsr on 12/23/2010 & rated 91 points: WOW!!! I had read other reviews of this wine but wasn't sure whether to believe the hype. This was a balanced but beautiful Apricot Nectar from God! Just outstanding with a great finish. (4749 views) | | | Tasted by foobarski on 9/22/2010 & rated 92 points: Apricots. Best consumed (by itself) about two shots worth at a time. Need to try doing something else (e.g., topping ice cream) with it. (4441 views) | | | Tasted by rjonwine@gmail.com on 8/23/2010 & rated 92 points: 2010 Family Winemakers Tasting San Francisco; 8/22/2010-8/23/2010 (Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California): Deep baked apricot, apricot pie nose; rich, tasty, apricot, apricot pie palate with a floral quality; long finish (7133 views) | | | Tasted by ssoard on 7/1/2010: thick, syrupy apricots - delish! drank a shot at a time over several days (4674 views) | | | Tasted by mtaczak on 6/12/2010 & rated 91 points: Like last time, not a wine I can especially enjoy on its own due to the sugary sweetness without a balancing bite of acidity. Poured over vanilla ice cream, however ... oh boy. Even the non-dessert-eaters came back for seconds. Worth keeping around just for this. (5253 views) | | | Tasted by richardhod on 5/4/2010 & rated 90 points: Unique. Don't treat it ike it's a sauternes, or Riesling late harvest. It is sui generis. I've never had anything like it, but it did great with our Christmas pudding. I bet we were the first family in Europe to drink it too.
Very sweet (I personally could only manage a small glass, though y family had two glasses), and a little syrupy. Yet though it's a bit much , I savoured it and loved the plummy, raisiny, muscovado darkness. It also has a touch of lightness from the Botrytis, so has a bit of an edge too, though it doesn't cut through the heavy sweetness.
Even if you don't like sweet wines, try it, as nobody's ever made anything like this before. Kent Rasmussen is an innovator, and this one is so well made it may well keep longer than you or your children! (6097 views) | | | Tasted by factotum on 4/28/2010 & rated 95 points: Apple, citrus, sugary. Slightly syrupy. (5105 views) | | | Tasted by ckeilah on 4/18/2010 & rated 95 points: Lively aromas of apricots. Strong flavors of raisins. Very sweet but not cloying. Excellent. (5162 views) | | | Tasted by oog on 4/17/2010 & rated 92 points: Pop and pour. Taste: apricot and honey. This tastes like it is getting even better. Nice, slightly viscous mouthfeel. It is just a really tasty desert wine. (4940 views) | | | Tasted by aagrawal on 4/11/2010 & rated 80 points: Vintners Wine Market (Fort Mason, San Francisco): I don't understand how so many previous notes are so laudatory about this wine. It's one strength is the nose: It's amazing. Very fruity, not floral, but certainly makes me want to try it. The palate is FAR too sweet and sugary, as if someone literally dissolved as much sugar as they could into this wine. The excessive sweetness takes 10 points away from the nose, and it makes it borderline undrinkable after the first 2-3 sips. Find a nice sauternes instead. (6343 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (8/23/2010)
(Kent Rasmussen Viognier Esoterica - Late Harvest) Deep baked apricot, apricot pie nose; rich, tasty, apricot, apricot pie palate with a floral quality; long finish 92 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Kent Rasmussen Producer website
Kent Rasmussen Winery
Founded: 1986
Owner: Kent Rasmussen
Location: St. Helena, CA
Since its modest beginnings, the Kent Rasmussen Winery has evolved into one of the most important producers in the Napa region. The winery outgrew its tractor shed barrel room on Cuttings Wharf Road in the Napa Carneros long ago. In 1995, Kent and Celia established a new winemaking facility in a turn of the century slaughterhouse, on the Silverado Trail in St. Helena. Refined over the years, it now houses business offices, an oenology lab and lab tasting room, a wine library and upgraded production equipment. The modern crusher, press, tanks, catwalks, refrigeration systems, pumps, forklift and fruit sorter have greatly enhanced winemaking options. Grapes are either estate grown or under long term contract with reliable growers.ViognierViogner is wrong wine
This is nonsense.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson North CoastThe North Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA) in California, covering more than three million acres, includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, and portions of Marin and Solano counties. (see The Wine Institute for more information)North CoastLodi |
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