Community Tasting Note
-
rocknroller wrote: 87 points
September 8, 2013 - Dark red color. PNP, followed 1 glass plus over 2-3 hours. To call this an utter disappointment would be a gross understatement. Upon opening this was an alcoholic nightmare. The nose reeked of alcohol and the palate was alcohol, oak and more oak. Placed in decanter and checked at various points over the next 2 plus hours in addition to the original glass. After about 40 minutes this improved to the point where the nose became better, somewhat Port-like with raisin, plum, kirsch and some earth with oak and spices. The palate became marginally better, thin on the palate, medium body at best, heat, pepper, black raspberry, red plum, oak, firm tannins. Day 2 was mildly better, the nose improved, showing cedar, tobacco, red plum, spice, oak. The palate was still thin but had a bit nicer mouthfeel, pepper, heat, kirsch, plum, oak. 87 may be pushing it. not quite sure what to make of this, hopefully an aberration with this bottle, we shall as there are more to come.
2 people found this helpful 5,926 views
7 Comments
-
tarheel17 commented:
9/11/13, 9:38 PM - wow. that does sound dissappointing. I'm very sensitive to alc so this sounds like a lot of experiences I have had with other wines, but never geyserville. I haven't tasted the 09 yet, though. Do you mind if I ask at what temperature you drank it? I find that high alc wines I have to drink at well below 'ambient' temp (75-77 F) or the alcohol takes over.
In any case, appreciate the warning. -
rocknroller commented:
9/11/13, 10:53 PM - This bottle was startling given my previous experience with the '09 Geyserville (and Ridge in general). There have been several recent CT notes referencing alcohol as well. This bottle came straight out of the cellar and was at 63 degrees when opened. I have several more bottles and am hoping this proves to be a bad bottle. This had good provenance and was bought on release so unless it was shipped under particularly adverse conditions, that should not be the problem. The other concern is that while it did improve on day 2, it never made great strides, including days 3 and 4.
-
tarheel17 commented:
9/12/13, 8:01 AM - really great to know, thanks. I hope for both our sakes it proves to be an outlier! (I have 6 bottles somewhere....)
-
StefanAkiko commented:
9/12/13, 5:08 PM - We've enjoyed 6 btls of this beauty and have (only) 6 more to go. It sounds as if you got an off or broken btl. On the other hand, as we enjoy whiskey, cognac, shouchu etc, we don't hold a grudge for the oily, aromatic taste of alcohol.
Wishing you a better experience with the next one. -
JRDillon commented:
9/15/13, 5:29 PM - I bought eight of these based on the initial glowing reviews I read. I'm three bottles in and have to agree with Rocknroller that this is a big disappointment. In fact, I would have to say the last several vintages of the Geyserville have been disappointing. This used to be one of my favorite wines, and the late '90s and early 2000s vintages were sublime. At some point, something changed. Can't remember the last time I caught a whiff of the Draper perfume, a quintessential component of the best Ridge wines. It's just not there anymore. I also had a bottle of the 2011 Three Valleys at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and it was just a mess. Not enjoyable at all, and the Three Valleys used to be one of the best values around. Maybe it's me, I don't know – I guess it is possible my palate and olfactory senses have changed – but I just don't enjoy Ridge nearly as much as I once did. That makes me sad, because Ridge used to be near the top of my list.
-
StefanAkiko commented:
9/15/13, 9:32 PM - JRD: fwiw, in our book, the 2009 is just as promising and compelling as the 2001 Geyserville ever was (but we prefer the 2009 Lytton Spring). Let's hope that your next encounter is magnificent.
-
JRDillon commented:
9/16/13, 8:36 PM - Glad you think so.