Community Tasting Note
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edwilley3 wrote: 96 points
September 2, 2013 - From a 750ml with evidence of minor seepage, although cork was 85% and holding quite well. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the high quality cork saved this wine as it was not corked at all. Perhaps excessive heat in transport? (I live in Texas after all.) Excellent fill level considering it was not cellar stored. On the open it was massive, broad-shouldered, fairly tannic, earthy, full of licorice and tobacco, and not unlike a big, powerful Bordeaux or, say, the 2004 Peter Michael Les Pavots which is pretty far on the muscular end of California wine. Time for major decanting, folks - I was glad that I opened it around lunch. Drank half the bottle after 8 hours in decanter and it was starting to show the fruit and finesse that I was hoping to find, but it still wasn't where I wanted it to be. At 11 PM the slightly more than half full bottle was recorked and put back in the Eurocave to slumber overnight. The next day around 1 PM I uncorked it again. Wow! Supple fruit, lovely mouthfeel (not heavy at all), and great balance were the reward for my patience. My mother and friends loved it. I loved it. In my view, many drinkers do not properly decant these huge wines (Saxum, PM Les Pavots, Verite, big zins, etc.). If you are going to drink this wine at all, I would recommend committing to at least 8 hours of decanting. I have one more to drink for Christmas and can hardly wait.
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