Community Tasting Note

• kevinpatrick wrote: 91 points

  March 1, 2012 - Decanted to filter the expected sediment and surprised by the subdued nose on the open. Recent mid-90s Mondavis have exploded on the open and this bottle reveals a deep and concentrated though muted purple fruit nose. Rich cassis and currants are deep down in there but it will take some time. Clearly this is not a pop and pour wine and the first taste (~10-15 min after opening) confirms a nicely constructed though tight wine. Hopefully with some time the fruit will blossom through the readily evident alcohol (14.6% alcohol versus 13.5% for the 1995) on both the nose and palate. 30 min update: opening and showing signs of softening alcohol and ripening fruit. 90 min update: still slowly opening. Needs time. 120 min update: Here’s the wine we’re hoping for. Soft tannins, medium granularity, nice dark cherries. It has a certain angularity that reminds me of the 94 which for 94 fans is great, however, I am decidedly partial to the 95s versus the 94s. The nose never blossomed like the 95s but this is still a fine wine. Have been worried about the 01s (generally feel they are overrated) but given some time this wine has blossomed into a very nice wine. Not an overwhelming joy like the 94-97s but an excellent wine you can readily find in the $80 range.

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