Community Tasting Note
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Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 97 points
November 8, 2019 - Super excited to try this wine after having it from barrel almost a year ago. It was so amazing back then, I really wondered how it would be from bottle. While not quite as open and insanely expressive as it was then (which was expected), this is still delivering the goods in spades. Distinguishes itself from the 2015 vintage with not as much chocolate and baking spices, but rather more tension, energy and complexity.
Somewhat similar tasting notes to MSUWRIGHT, who did a nice job capturing the experience. Creme de cassis, hints of boysenberry, embers, pencil lead, sweet tobacco and cedar on a really intoxicating nose. Palate is a bit tight, showing seamless freshness and tension, with pure fruit and wonderfully powerful yet integrated tannins. In the mid palate it gets a touch chalky, and tells you this is clearly a bit (or a lot) early to be popping the cork. Powerfully concentrated red and blue fruit predominate, backed up with loamy soil, crushed wet stone and lots of mineral driven elements. The finish is incredibly long and really amazing. A wonderfully focused wine. I think my 97 is probably selling it short, as the future is very bright.
Day 2: Little update. No falloff at all with 24 hours of air. The chalky qualities have mostly subsided, and the wine is taking on a more LPV like profile. Lots of burnt embers, scorched earth, deep mineral driven flavors and still insane length. Big time concentration persists.4 people found this helpful 3,354 views
4 Comments
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LiteItOnFire commented:
11/9/19, 9:24 AM - Thank you and MSU. Excited to jump in. How lon did you decant it for and how did it change over the course of the night? Also LOVE your battle of the Four. I was also surprised where absurd fell but maybe time will help fill it out?
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Cristal2000 commented:
11/9/19, 10:54 AM - Hi LOF - I PnP'd this wine and then followed over the course of the next three hours. It definitely got better and more expressive with more air. I still have half a bottle for tonight to see what comes of it. I am hoping some of the chalky-ness goes away.
I would most definitely expect the Absurd to get better. What was interesting about this blind tasting is each of us only knew the bottle we brought, and the rest were blind to us. The only criteria was 2016 vintage and at least $225. So it was kind of crazy to see the Absurd emerge from the brown bag. That said, I think at this point for my palate, the Realm Crane is the best wine made from that producer. Actually perhaps my overall favorite wine period. Otherwise, the MM SVD's from 2016 and also the 2016 VV Crane and BTK are hard to beat. -
LiteItOnFire commented:
11/9/19, 1:23 PM - Thanks Cristal. I am in love with the MM Dr Crane, which is probably my favorite 2016 as of today although I honestly have not gone too deep into them yet (many have not yet arrived due to weather). I know this sounds contrarian but I am shifting away from Realm as they might be less focused on quality than they used to (anecdotal, not fact) or at least that is my sense.
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Cristal2000 commented:
11/9/19, 2:34 PM - LOF: I think your point is valid with Realm, especially the blends as they have ramped up production by 4-5x in only a few years. I still feel the Crane is absolutely exceptional, and love the BTK as well. But the overall feel from them is a high production winery now, and it certainly does push the enthusiast away. What is good for business is not always good for the consumer. Certainly MM Crane/LPV are absolutely top notch.