Community Tasting Note

• WineKnut Likes this wine: 94 points

  August 21, 2020 - This bottle is challenging me. It is taunts me about my lack of words. It mocks my repetitious use of descriptors. It outpaces my ability to adapt to changing situations. It effortlessly demonstrates far more sophistication and heritage than I could ever hope to possess. It is better than I am quite frankly, and it knows it.
  
  The cork sat down below the top of the bottle a good 1/8". That's right, it wanted to prove to me that it wasn't cooked. The cork was firm and came out with ease and was perfect. Very little sediment was left in the bottle after decanting, not wanting to waste a drop if it's own greatness. Deep perfectly clear garnet color.
  
  The nose was shy on opening and the humble wine held back a little at first, not wanting to boast about the incredible aromas that it would reveal just a couple of hours after my first meeting it. The Mo Hopper fruit on Oakville soils are no match for me. The deep dark cherries, black currants, fennel, tar, marjoram, pepper all hit my nose at once, making me decipher the nuances as quickly as I could, but letting me know that I can never fully understand them all.
  
  The mouthfeel, though thin on opening, showed the same consideration as the nose. This wine just didn't dare overwhelm a simpleton like me all at once with what is has to offer, it took it's time to get to know me before fully revealing itself. At first, the taste was very precise. All the wine's flavors hitting me simultaneously so I might think it was simple and youthful. Tickling all my taste buds at once, but somehow not overwhelming me. As the wine and I caught our breath, the flavors of mineral soil, abundant black fruit, sweet vanilla, leather, licorice and toasted wood came in multiple waves.
  
  This wine is adept sliding over my tongue. Slippery glycerin and super fine tannin offering an incredibly pleasant mouthfeel leading up to the long and graceful finish. As the acids clean the fruit from my pallet, the woody tannins are left to remind me of how I wished there was more. The entire experience proving to me that there is so much more that I can learn.
  
  90 on opening and 94 at about 3 hours decant time.

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2 Comments

• A L P commented:

  2/26/22, 6:01 PM - You took the words (which I hadn’t yet found) out of my mouth. Thank you for this rhapsody.

• WineKnut commented:

  2/26/22, 8:04 PM - :)

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