Community Tasting Note
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rockthomii@gmail.com Likes this wine: 94 points
September 3, 2019 - So I know this is still a youngster but the 2017 allocations are coming out and I wanted to give this a try. One hour decant in the glass thru a power aerator. Dense eggplant to red in color. Nose is sweet of cocoa, plum and black cherry with notes of oak. Taste is similar with some raspberry, full flavored but already with well integrated silky tannins and medium acidity. A little pepper spice notes on the finish. Full bodied. I'm impressed and will buy more. About 94-95 and likely to improve with age.
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10 Comments
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Mark1npt commented:
9/3/19, 5:20 PM - Agree completely, we did the same thing last night! Hope we can still find some of these '16s around.
I'm very worried about the '17s out of Napa....lower scores all around for a good 80-90% of the wines out there and having real trouble trusting any JDunnick scores. He is still scoring everything very high which makes me immediately doubt his motives, or his ability. -
rockthomii@gmail.com commented:
9/3/19, 6:30 PM - Your note helped prompt me along to drink one Mark. Haven't heard much about the 2017 Napa/Sonoma vintage yet but don't think I realized until the buying season was over just how good and approachable the 2016s are.
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Mark1npt commented:
9/3/19, 6:59 PM - Glad I could help with my notes. That's why we're here, right Rock?
Yes, the '16s across the board were killer in Cali cab world. Some are now closing down a little to a lot and will for probably a year or two. The Bard has not entered that phase as of yet though. Like I noted with the '17s, I'm worried. May not be buying many of them but the '18 vintage may yet be the best of our lifetimes from Napa. Longest, easiest, cleanest most drawn out growing season yet. Some guys were still picking near Dec 1st and fermenting til Jan 1st. Fruit ripened extra slowly and extra long. Those wines may be absolutely stunning in layers and depth. Can't wait til next fall to do some barrel tastings of them. Start saving your wine money now! Lol......
ps...the '17 vintage was so bad because of flooding in the winter/spring, a record number of days over 100 degrees in the summer heat and then the fires in the fall before a lot of the red was picked. A very challenging year and some vineyards were hit hard. Half of To Kalon was lost to smoke damage so many many wineries that use their fruit did not get any and could not make their normal wines. Others were picked earlier and not fully ripe because of the fires. Scores are way down across the board for the '17 vintage. Hold your money and buy '18s next year for the reason above! Cheers! Mark -
markcic commented:
9/4/19, 7:29 AM - Thank both of you for your comments - they are very much appreciated and I will use them to guide my acquisitions.
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Mark1npt commented:
9/4/19, 8:21 AM - You are most welcome. Glad to be of any help I can. So great to get tips/heads ups on wines here from fellow members!
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rockthomii@gmail.com commented:
9/4/19, 9:41 AM - Very helpful info on the vintages, Mark. Marc, nice meeting you. Lots of good information on this site thanks to people like Mark sharing their experiences and knowledge. Cheers
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Mark1npt commented:
9/4/19, 11:18 AM - You're most welcome, Rocky, glad to help out!
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markcic commented:
9/5/19, 12:40 PM - If either of you Floridians happen to come North (like trying to escape a hurricane) to the great State of New Jersey - give me a ring and we can have a glass of wine together.
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Mark1npt commented:
9/5/19, 1:57 PM - Hey, thanks for the offer Mark. Was just in Sewell last week visiting my brother. Where are you?
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rockthomii@gmail.com commented:
9/5/19, 6:06 PM - Thank you Mark. I may take you up on that one day. Same if you find yourself in South Florida (little more common in the winter months ;)). I see we have a fair amount of common wines in our cellars. Looks like you are also one of the few who gets an allocation from Saxum. Lucky you!