Community Tasting Note

• JLuch1 Likes this wine: 94 points

  December 22, 2019 - Gave this similar treatment to the 17 Dr. Crane I had last week. Half bottle poured for later with the other half in to the decanter for a couple hours. Priliminary sample right off the cork pop was very boozy so the decant seemed necessary.
  
  After two hours it was more approachable. As Csimm and Badmonkey noted, more of a red cherry fruit profile, cocoa, earthy notes. Relatively decent finish. When comparing to the Dr. Crane this was a bit tighter and there was more of that tannic grip after the decant.
  
  Day two was best for this wine as it was still vibrant but the tart cherry profile subdued in to a richer profile which I enjoyed more. This wine seems to need some time and it feels like it will be better in a year or two. 93 pts today but can see it being 94+ based on how it behaved day 2.
  
  Side note, the 17 Dr. Crane is operating at a higher level at this stage. Richer profile, more complex. Overall a better drinking experience, especially if embarking while they are young. Looking forward to trying the 17 Elysian.

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3 Comments

• DrBad commented:

  12/22/19, 1:58 PM - You guys are killing me! I'm trying my best to hold off on the '16s and you're all plowing into the '17s! I taste vicariously through you :-)

• JLuch1 commented:

  12/22/19, 2:49 PM - Sorry to deliver bad news. Was trying my best to give an assessment on where these wines are. On a positive note, I have found the 17s to be enjoyable so far, but my experience has been limited to wines produced by Mike Smith and TRB. At least when compared to the last “bad” vintage of Napa can (2011), these are superbly better. Hopefully you have some 2012 or 2014s laying around that you can kill off while waiting on the rest.

• DrBad commented:

  12/22/19, 5:33 PM - Not bad news at all. Thanks for leading the charge on these. The '17s sounds like they are solid wines for the most part and will give us something else to drink if we want the '16s to sit for a while.

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