5/17/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Smoky plush sweet & sour black plum, coffee and wet earth, fabulous richness on the palate with tannins that were sharp, smart, aggressive and slatey. I love the obvious mineral complexity in these wines, they seem more brilliant and vibrant coupled with such rich fruit. Heavy cedar oak, needs a day air to relax.
The is a very sexy package, found here at 30$C, and I'd still consider this a remarkable value.

5/17/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Sweet tar and licorice, rich plum and coffee spice, I loved the earthy char and damp forest undergrowth that followed the nose to exhibit a warm juicy texture on the palate.
Delicious and well worth the price, can cellar for 2-4 more years, but delicious for every day !!

5/17/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

I really enjoyed this Shiraz, ripe and full with blueberry and blackberry fruit, white pepper. The soft oak opens up within an hour and caresses, with tannin structure and acid balance.
Worthy of the price-point.

5/17/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

14.5 % alc
Lush Cassis, soft and velvety tannins, smooth deep structure of earth, iron and mineral nuances. This wine was just released at this age so it shows the softness of tannin age and is very easy to drink, a very good wine but after factoring in the cost of cellar aging is likely why it's so pricey. I personally wouldn't lay it down more than two additional years, but it's a pretty nice drink now.

5/17/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Very forward fruit, this stiill needs additional cellar time. Great depth and structure, tight tannins but well supporting black fruits and plummy lushness, needed decanting and an hour to consume.
Hold for 2-3 years further.

3/24/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

This was infanticide !!
But it was sure good .
Big and well structured, not hard to drink this in spite of it's primary status though. I have a major obsession with these Priorat wines and this baby doesn't disappoint. My following Mogador's won't be even considered for consumption for 3-5 years.
This was all about floral, black fruits, asphalt, tar, rocky mineral, and well balanced acid to tannin structure. The palate gave a beautiful long and powerful finish, perfect and delicious.

3/24/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Amazing layers of dark mocha, coffee grounds, tar, raisin and pecan pie, Full and rich, yet gloriously silky on the palate with a fair balance of warmth from the alc fortification.
I'm a bit torn as to whether this is properly balanced as it seemed a bit too rich and may need more acidity.
I certainly wasn't expecting this to have so many rich, dark flavours, this wine would likely pair gloriously with chocolate and dark berries like Port, maybe even better than Port.
I loved the unique and prominent flavours and can see this singing with chocolate type desserts and soft especially stinky cheeses.

2/27/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Light to medium bodied with a tawnied brick rim. Nose of bing cherry, cedar, raisin, barn, decay, prune and some complex minerality of iron shavings.
Nice intensity of earthy cherry and raisin on the palate showing balance, and maturing age of a comfortable drinking window, but I doubt more time will improve this wines enjoyment.
Decent intensity of fruit, some sour fruit and acid on the finish, dry tannin on the mid-palate makes this a well structured wine, yet lacking some wow factor on the finish.
This is ready to drink and I suspect this is pretty close to peak, I'd encourage drinking this sooner rather than later.

2/27/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Slightly cloudy (unfiltered), orangy amber colour, I think this wine is made from Grenache blanc grapes.
Big gobs of rich, ripe apricot fruit, not much difference from this and apricot Smucker's marmalade, although complex with some earthy farm honey.
Very impressive intensity of fruit, well balanced although slightly rich, may need more acidity for long aging, but very delicious right now.
Interesting and fun little wine, I enjoyed it immensely.

1/24/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

I think this wine has a lot to offer the taster, yet not right now. It was very closed on the nose, taut and somewhat relentless tannin structure. The next day it was far more approachable yet still not entirely enjoyable due to fairly intensive tannic structure.
Black and very full tarry fruits, dry tight tannins, solid minerality coupled with a fair streak of acid. I had decanted a couple of hours but even then it was stern on the palate. Rustic but classic, older oak treatment was respectful of terrior, allowing black fruits the leverage.
I bet this will be great in five or so years, I'd call it a v. good QPR buy from a very decent vintage, it just needs time to develop more charm from it's austerity.

1/12/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Figuring this wine would also be one that should be culled due to our recent discussions on weaker vintaged German Rieslings, I decided to sacrifice this bottle for my own science.
There is certainly some autohaus, not to the degree I sort of expected from this 9 year old bottle. There is still a radiant amount of bright young colour with green glinting on a palate of soft gold straw.
Medium bodied but still delicate, this wine has nice viscosity, the beauty was in the soft lacy acid following each sip, giving this quite lovely balance.
The wine is pleasantly sweet, a plethora of bright orange citrus and richer warm apricots and peaches, mineral, note of Vaseline or petrol, still very young in flavour profiles and secondary characteristics.
I confess, I liked this wine very much, in spite of it's not so stellar vintage. I still stand by my preferences to buy my wines in the best of vintages, but I'm thrilled at the result of this B rated vintage, at least at this stage of cellaring, it could easily go a few more years but was thoroughly enjoyed for it's vibrant ripe fruit now

1/10/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

A Caymus Pinot made by Joseph Wagner in Santa Maria Valley.
Firstly, I hate this melted rubber cap on the bottle top, 10 minutes to chisel this away made for an enormously frustrating start to drinking this wine. Chips of red shit all over my kitchen after it was opened required me to vacuum later, not to mention the blood I shed stabbing myself with the corkscrew blade attempting to remove. It looks great, but it's impossible. There's a little red tag one would think would help in removing this as it's more rubber than clay, forget it, you can pull on this tag until you cause a brain hemorrhage, it ain't coming off.
Ridiculous.
When I poured this it was fairly cloudy, it looked flawed or something. The nose was sulfuric, off. The palate would lend one to believe this could still be undergoing a fermentation of sorts, or a secondary ferment.
Aside from this, the palate was sweet and simple, actually the way I just wrote this gives the impression that it's not that bad, but it was.
I had to fight my way through a glass, I suppose I had hoped this would come around.
The next day it was just as gross, candy floss and fuzz.
Avoid !

1/1/2006 - Shiraziste wrote:

Solid and supple richness, deep core of black fruits, plum, black tar, smokey asphalt, wet earth and ripe currants. Mineral entwined with ripe yet black plummy Merlot added complexity of Bordeaux Cabernet mineral it could've easily been a Napa Cabernet blend of very good quality.
One thing is sure, it is a blend of exceptionally delicious quality, and I do indeed like it. I opened it two days ago but found I was too tired to drink more than a glass of it, and yesterday to tired to drink at all, so on day three it's just full fruit and dancing tannins, layers of black fruity aromas stonked with a bit of bitter acidity. One has to love it fullness, it's completeness, it's assertiveness.
It isn't perfect, but it's simply hedonistic in it's immaturity.
The nice thing about this wine is it was welcoming even on day one, of which my only complaint would've been it's overt oak. that oak become one with the fruit by day three.
This wine definitely has a rambunctious charm.

12/30/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

This is a stunning bottle of wine, seemingly consumed at it's most perfect stage of evolution. There is nothing but perfection exhibited in this 13 year old Shiraz, the nose is soft and layered with soft warm anise flavours, lightly soft and smoky, warm black pepper and tobacco spice, slightly slatey minerality and a touch of eucalyptus complexity.
The palate is pure silky perfection, with a long, warm evolution of tertiary black fruits, the acid balance is perfect showing no level of disjoint or aggression and the tannins are velvety and lavish on the palate.
Every sip gives the taster another level of satisfaction, one could only hope to experience a wine of this quality at such a perfect stage a couple of times a year if they are truly lucky. God blessed this bottle.

12/27/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Tightly wound nose not showing too much with sweetish black fruit, tannic to the point of discomfort on the palate, nothing pleasurable here in it as it hurts to sip. Hard as nails, mean and nasty at this point with a meaty blackberry texture, slight green note and cedar oak.
Showing no age or evolution, judging from this tasting this wine needs lots of time to resolve itself. Forget you own this for 5 more years.
Great potential but requires much patience.

12/23/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Nose was quite typical Mouvedre, a bit funky with decay, wet earth, dusty barn, old saddle leatherand a background bit of poo.
The fruit is cooked plum, a nice expression of fruit intensity on the palate balanced with a bit of zip in it's acidity.
A food wine that should be served with pepperoni and mushroom pizza.

12/23/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I found the doughy nutty nose rich with toast, and burnt oak. It was interesting as I wasn't expecting such aggressive burnt oak treatment. The palate was sweet with almonds, ripe bananas and sour with lime - clean and fresh citric acid.
There was a richness and full bodied nature to it on the palate, but well balanced and tightly wound with sharp acid and beady bubbles, an awesome contrast. This wine seems to still be a bit unresolved with the acid balance, it's seriously forefront on the palate with extreme zest, it obviously would benefit from cellar time......not that that's any surprise.
The finish was beautifully rich and long in spite it's acid, I love that about Dom.
This wine is inevitably much better than the '90 I had four years ago, much richer with a longer length of finish. This also had a much more aromatic nose than the '90 too, and more bracing acidity, it was definitely better in over all enjoyment.
Cellar for 10 more years for best tasting results, or drink one now if you have a 1/2 case. She's a beauty.
96 pnts now, could become 98 with a little patience.

12/16/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I found a couple more at Marquis, they had 10 cases come in the other day. Before I left some guy wheeled out 4 cases.
I had a couple from a previous purchase and decided to open one after my recent find.
When I opened this it was very fragrant and floral. Massive with bold black fruits, one could smell this around the room immediately upon opening. Cabernet cassis is dominant, leady, lifted phenolics of eye watering proportions.
The palate was painfully tight, the tannins hard and harsh, but the full fruit was balanced nicely.
I found it too hard to drink and only had one glass then pumped it for the following night.
The next night it was rather wide open but still very tightly wound structurally. the palate opened up quite a bit, the oak enveloped the fruit, something I hadn't noticed the night before. The oak was well balanced and softly stroked the massive fruit and tannins on the finish, it was nicely applied and added some softening on the palate which made this easier to drink.
Based upon this tasting I'd guess this wine won't enter a drinking window at least 5 more years in the future, I can see this wine going well beyond 10 years from vintage.
Quite impressive.

12/13/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Amazing, and a simply enormous smoked mocha coffee, spice, sour cherry nose. Rich, viscous, port-like palate of blueberries and currant - rich, sumptuous finish. Lavish fruit flavours, globby, almost slutty, raunchy - whoa !
Surpassed only by the '99 Pagos de los CAPELLANES in a "ridiculously priced" blind Spanish tasting.
I just wish I would've bought a case of the '01's

11/29/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

This was a wine I really enjoyed at the last IVSA, I thought the price-point was fair - for our market that is, and I've always been a big fan of their Rhone blends in the past.
The '02 is a medium bodied blueberry/blackberry fruited little monster, not huge on the palate but nicely concentrated. I found the wine did best with 1.5 hours of air, filling out some of the Grenache cranberries and spice.
Black licorice and pepper, dark fruits, some bramble, a background of light oak. The finish is full with blackberries, sweet tannins, sour acid, and shrill intensity.
I'd buy it again in a heartbeat!

11/29/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

90% Sangiovese/10% Merlot
Wow, what a beautiful wine. Deep dark intensity, a nose that just jumps out at you. The wine seems wide open at this point, barely needing air or decant time. The aromas are dark and intense, primary blackberries, plummy nuances with a complexity of loamy earth.
Sweet ripe dark flavours coat your mouth on entry, lush, deep concentrated intensity of fruit on the palate, wow, this is a big wine. Firm elegant tannins yet smooth and rich on the finish with a proper background of acid support giving this wine a very long finish.
Vannilin didn't become more obvious until a couple of hours of decant, but it does unveil in a scrumptious and silky way. When I read about the blend I was rather surprised, as this wine showed much more Merlot than Sangiovese.
Lay down for 3-5 more years easy, race you to the 2003's next year!

11/23/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

14% alc
33% Merlot/33% Cabernet/33% Sangiovese
Deep tar, ruby colour with a viscous edge and thick legging.
Nose of wet loam, supple black plum, and deep, rich earthy fungi. The oak is present on the nose, a nice soft warm new oak. Rich fullness on the palate, yet balanced with some tense dry dusty tannins.
The acid will really like food, the fruit will love red meat, this wine definitely shows the rich loveliness of a Merlot, with the structure of Sangio and Cabernet, it has a lot of charms at this price-point.
I could easily drink this on it's own, and did, the finish brigs many rewards for the individual attention it would receive, yet it can easily and fabulously accommodate some fatty, rich meat dishes - one could imagine Osso Bucco.
Cellar for3-6 more years.

11/22/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

35$
14.5% alc
I read somewhere (wine spectator) that this contains 10% Cabernet.
Lifted acidity makes this wine ripe and fresh with bright red cherry, soft plum, old wood, and sharp acid on the palate.
This Chianti is a bit nuclear at 14.5%, likely the result of such a high degree of lifted acidity, but the wine finishes clean and solid with some warmth. Sweetness on the palate from the concentrated bright cherry fruit, some softness on the finish with lightly applied oak, tightly tannic, sour hints on the mid-palate but finishes nicely with fruit and soft older oak.
Impressive structure, very well done, this wine should take you well into a 10 year drinking window, but it's brilliant and friendly to drink right now.
Quite delicious !

11/21/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

13.5% alc
60% Cabernet/40% Sangiovese
18 months in French oak
Nice looking wine, big and black tar colour with ruby rim.
Deep, full stately blackcurrant old world fruit, statuesque dusty tannin and a softer background shrill of acid.
Needs time but has good promise. Tar and smoky road, black coffee, dry, masculine black fruit, a bit too tight on the palate but pretty nicely structured Cabernet blend. The oak is neither prominent nor forward, I almost search for it although the smoky nuances indicate it's there, but the wine finishes lightly with it at this point. Serious but not overt length, this wine needs 3-4 years of further cellar time to be fully enjoyed, may go fairly far with a likely 6-8 year drinking window.
This wine needs a roast of cow or lamb, I had it with a spicy beef Shawarma with hot peppers, which seemed rather silly at the time but worked so bloody well I couldn't believe it.

11/21/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Much enjoyed with Pizza Huts Canadian pizza conmsumed while watching the Oilers lose to the Black Hawks and finished with the Eskimos heading to the Grey Cup.
Soft medium bodied, warm cooked red plummy fruit and soft wet loam earth in the background. The acid is a bit prominant, it tasted a bit better and more integrated the next day with dry tannin grip. Touch of sweet raison on the nose and finish the following day, this added complexity and gave the wine a bit of Amarone profile, the acid seemed better integrated.
A good drinking wine but I'm hesitant to keep much longer.

11/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

First day it's super oaky, cedar and milk chocolate oak, a bit over-constructed and manipulated. Second day it's sweet with black plummy fruit, tannic and full on entry but smoothed with choco-cedar oak and a bit of stem on the finish. Nice length, solidly structured, a hint of nutmeg spice, I actually liked this wine more today.
I'd also consider it a pretty good valued local red wine readily available here.

11/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Cabernet Sauvignon 72% Cabernet Franc 23% Merlot 5% - 13.5% VOL
Medium bodied,
Nose of earthy barn leather, notes of sweetish black fruits, dusty cedar and damp earthy loam. The palate brings about a good effort of fruit, yet I can't help but find this slightly disjointed with acid. There is a softening of tannin, smooth on the palate in that way, but then there's this slight awkward streak that ruins the balance.
I'm not confident this wine will improve, it's not a bad wine by any means, it's just rather lackluster

11/8/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

14.5% alc
I was thoroughly impressed with this wine, and I didn't expect to be. I read a few TNs on this wine 2 years ago when I bought it and they seemed acceptable but quite a bit short of impressive.
The nose was very up-front, some lifted acidity carries this well with black fruits and Malbec traits of tar, rubber, stony mineral and black cherry.
The intensity on the palate was extremely exciting, as was the incredible length of finish. Not a BIG wine by any means, but not lacking in tannin structure and acidity, although the tannins are more approachable at this stage.
The fruit was more restrained and old world in style and body, restrained but intense full concentration of fruit and minerality on the palate, very stunning.
I bought the '02s which I think will bring even more rewards in time.
Great for the price (40$C)

11/7/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Drank it, it was good enough.
A bit disjointed with tannins, the cherry/raspberry fruit was nice, as was the acid.

11/7/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

A light bodied wine filled with spice, violet florals and cherry fruit. It's easily approachable with subtle mint (caught by Jenise). I thought more complexity shown by this bottle than the following one, yet entirely differing styles. I haven't as much faith in it's longevity as some others, but it does exude some charm and old world Sangiovese acid.

8/24/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Cedar sweet cherry fruit, funky earthy decay, forest floor. Interesting and lush, solid tannins but a bit hot from what I thought was alcohol. This wine has likely just opened up from a bit of a slumber about a year or so ago, as I read many TNs that indicated this over the years. It still seems a little tight but did open up with some air time, although not much time was given to all the wines with our 2 glass limit.

9/29/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

14% alc
Saturated, deep dark opaque core with a violet rim. The nose almost makes my eyes water when I pour, I can smell red iodine and blackberry cassis, tar, leaf and licorice in a wallop.
Wide open for business - hooray !!
Black peppery tannins are nasty harsh, extremely aggressive - I don't enjoy being slapped around like that. Somewhat bitter in the finish with sour acid iodine but surrounded with sweet currant fruit at the same time - Well dressed, immature, not much personality unless you like dating hockey coaches and WWF wrestlers.
New oak is well managed and only slightly present on the finish, modestly masked by that great big black fruit and tannin wall. Pinch me hard with every sip.
Bitchen but scary
It's tight as hell now, I won't drink another for a year as it's a bit painful and rather mean on only our second date.
My mom warned me about guys like this !

11/7/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Decanted for 1 hour
Nice deep blueberry colour, medium bodied with black core fruits. Nose is typical from this producer, purple florals, blackberries, tar, anise and leady nuances. Tight tannins and sour black fruit acid, the tart bitterness is noticed on the mid-palate - cool climate.
Easy on the oak treatment, noticed only moderately in the finish after an hour or two, this wine needed time to unveil but showed some amazing black/blue fruit concentration and solid intensity on the finish.
Quite loverly, drank with a duck casserole I actually made myself that was surprisingly good.
I'd wait 3 years for this wine to ground itself, maybe five from now to peak.

11/7/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Decanted for 1 hour
Nice deep blueberry colour, medium bodied with black core fruits. Nose is typical from this producer, purple florals, blackberries, tar, anise and leady nuances. Tight tannins and sour black fruit acid, the tart bitterness is noticed on the mid-palate - cool climate.
Easy on the oak treatment, noticed only moderately in the finish after an hour or two, this wine needed time to unveil but showed some amazing black/blue fruit concentration and solid intensity on the finish.
Quite loverly, drank with a duck casserole I actually made myself that was surprisingly good.
I'd wait 3 years for this wine to ground itself, maybe five from now to peak.

9/18/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I bought this from the 1/2 price S. Africa sale after the wine festival. I had kept my noted guide from the festival and had this one marked as good so I happily sprung for the 20$ price tag.
Nice full deep colour, almost tar black, the nose was all black fruits, tar and ash. The palate was deep, edgy with drying tannins and a nice little streak of acidity. Soft use of French oak is integrating well,
The full finish was a bit short, I suspect this wine will be much improved with a couple more years in cellar.

9/18/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

When I first tasted this wine back in the fall '02, I remember thinking to myself this was a very new-world style of Gigondas, and I liked the rich mouth-coating fruits. There seemed to be an unusual heavy use of oak considering this was a Gigondas, and I had hoped this would shed some of that baby fat with some cellar time.
Anyhow, for 40$ I sprung and stuffed a couple away.
Well now it has come around a bit and certainly closely profiling it's region much more so. The sweet cherry and peppery spice and floral nose is refreshing and bright, and gone is that envelope of new oak. Young bright red field fruits and spice, medium bodied with delicious acidity it was very enjoyable at this point but still very primary, and only slightly veiled by a soft dry wood background.
I'm always amazed when a wine that originally shows such distinct profiles becomes something completely new and different in a couple of years. Although I wondered if this wine had much promise with it's style, I believed in it's solid richness of concentrated fruit and acidity.
I guess I just lucked-out in my palate this time.

8/12/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

In contrast to the Wiengut we opened a bottle of Dr. Pauly, one of my personal favourites from the Mosel. I've always known these wines to be on the richer end of the scale in Mosel, but never have I had such and amazing Riesling experience.
I really enjoyed this wine, I wish I had many more bottles as this is one of the more incredible Rieslings I have ever tasted. It is a touch sweeter than the Wiengut we had prior, much more intensity of tropical fruit on the palate in an aggressive and forceful nature. If this was blind I'd totally guess Alsace in texture and fruit profile.
Raw ripe Hawaiian fruits of mango's, papaya, pineapple, it was Maui in a glass. Big and unctuous, I taste such a rich silky viscous on my tongue, a buttery like a white Burg, I'd almost swear it was lees aged for a period of time . Now I can't recall this as a practice in Germany with the Rieslings, but since it is in Alsace, it's very possible.
It's 'that' very element of this wine that grabs you.
This is an extremely stylish Riesling, but the doughy flavours and aftertaste in the finish is what moves this wine up a big notch in complexity.
Very little autohaus garrigue, mostly found deep on the back palate, and in a earthy oily of it.
It's really all about that nice ripe Hawaiian punch.
Complexity-plus here, what a fabulous wine.
I've always believed '99 was such an unappreciated vintage in Germany........... sadly I didn't buy many and I'm certainly regretting it.
I'll likely always love Dr. Pauly, and will remember to return to him when I need another German Riesling reality check again in the future :)

8/12/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Christian Moreau, one of the leading figures in Chablis, is producing the wines he loves under his own name. Free of any personal involvement with the negociant company that his family founded and sold, with his son Fabien they founded Domaine Christian Moreau Pére et Fils in 2001 and set up their winemaking operation in the very heart of the Chablis country, at the foot of its famous Grands Cru vineyards.

It's drinking pretty well right now and not as tight as I would've suspected, so not a problem to consume the entire bottle on a nice summer evening with some rich chevre.
Pale gold, green glinting, a soft viscous cling. The nose is bright and light, nothing slamming out at you just some pears, nuts and limes. On the palate was where I really enjoyed this, lots of chalky and flinty minerals, sleek acid and a nice full finish of leesy body and complexity.
Nice classic Chablis finesse, very delightful to drink.

8/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Last night I was talking to some of the attendees at the Society of Wine Educators Conference. At some point yesterday they had a Canadian (BC) wine tasting guided by Harry McWatters, and they were quite pumped up about the wines they tasted from all the top Bc producers. I asked them which was their favourite and they seemed most excited about this wine.
I hadn't tasted the Meritage yet, so I decided to see what all the buzz was about and opened one last night.
Sadly now I only bought only 3 Meritage, 3 Merlot and 6 PN from the Platinum line this spring. Well, I'm about to make a very lofty statement and declare this wine the best BC red wine I have ever had.
Totally saturated in richness and silk, this wine was about concentration, complexity and structure in sycronisity in a very sexy package.
Big ripe blackberry fruit, some cocoa oak char, rich with currant, tannin and amazing length on the finish.
It's big, beautiful and blousy, but no slouch in layers and serious complexity. I love how this wine feels as it slides down my tongue, the cocoa and blackberry it leaves behind for several minutes in the finish.
A class act, I am officially amazed and impressed.

8/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot. Interestingly, the blend occurs before racking into barrels, of which 40% are new (10% American oak and 90% French oak).
This is a medium bodied and sweetly floral little wine with plenty of big city attitude. Lavender fields, black licorice, raspberry candy floss and a minerally slate acid zip.
Sweetly styled ripe red berry fruit with interesting floral and herbal complexities. Tannic on the core yet a soft approachable sweet mid-palate. Quite good, gained structure and layers the next two days.
A good drink now and will possibly gain some interesting characteristics over the next 3 or so years.

8/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

14% alc
Think Napa without all that coconut gooey oak.
Powerful in structure yet rich with ripe on the palate, deep dark and serious with dense grippy tannins that were as aggressive as any and similar to napa's young Cabs.
Classic currants, black plums and dry cocoa. This took some time to open up so we decanted and sipped slowly. Within and hour this really opened up and revealed a more seamless complexity. The tannins remained pretty tight over the following two hours.
This wine is obviously very young but it shows so much promise for a 5-8 year drinking window.
Pretty mega....and an excellent purchase.

8/11/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I don't know what the varietal blend is here in percentages, but I'm guessing a great deal of Merlot is involved.
All the wine is free run and French oak aged, but no mention of how long.
I can barely find a label image on-line, never mind any tastings done in the 182 case-lot, and no web-page.
When I went to Seattle Pike Place last, I asked the manager which would be the Washington wine in his shop he would buy a case of - he chose this first and to me that spoke volumes.
He was sooo, right .
This is simply stunning, I almost feel dirty drinking it alone.
Rich and extremely intense black raspberry, black cherry, current.......I don't even really know how the describe it except that it's dense and lush yet classic.
It's not sweet - it shows the age of a barrel sample.
I wish I knew.........it needs 10 years longer..............
It's silky and sumptuous, yet the tannins are secure and standing tall. There is oak, and it's really nicely applied, it's almost as if this wine is ready to be approached, but still a bit of a virgin and prone to immature attitude, yet not embarrassing.
Good thing she's a beauty.
Looooong finish of cashmere.
This is rather amazing.

7/31/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

The grapes for this 2002 Pinot Noir came from CedarCreek Vineyards and Greata Ranch. The fermentation occurred in small stainless steel tanks and was turned using pneumatage. Following fermentation, the wine was transferred to the finest new French oak barrels where it was allowed to age with minimal intervention for 14 months, then rack and bottled.

Fair schwack of coffee & mocha French oak, black bing cherry and spicy pepper on the nose. Excellent intensity of fruit but seems to prefer an hour of decant to fully open the primary fruit. I think the oak is a bit too prominent and no mistaking this for New World, but it is still very exciting with juicy cherry fruits and spice in the fore. I love this wine and have several more bottles so hopefully that oak will integrate over the next few years.

7/31/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Wow, I really liked this wine in contrast to the Cedar Creek Platinum Pinot., this is where the rubber meets the road in stylistic differences and overall tasting pleasure.
We've been so hard on Blue Mountain due to their jackass customer service skills that we/me only perhaps forgot they make a pretty sexy little wine in a Burgundian way. On the nose it is all about earthy mushrooms and red cherry, delicate light florals and smokey soy sauce and asian spice. The palate has a lovely intensity and slick or perhaps more sleek acid, and a bit of background oak that seemed carefully executed packed with a sensuous and delicate classic Pinot finish.
Right out of the bottle this was tasting pretty fine, this is a wine that deserves a summer seafood grill which is exactly what I chose to highlight it. It's definitely a food wine.
I think I gave up on this wine a couple of years ago and stuffed it on the top shelf of the cellar under various wines that I should just forget about but it's quickly come around to display some serious class and complexity.
Beside the Cedar Creek Platinum it was apples to oranges, very little in common, but I think I actually preferred the Blue Mountain by a considerable margin.
Ready to enjoy now, I have enough to try it yearly over the next 5 years or so, should be interesting to follow.

10/10/2004 - Shiraziste wrote:

14.5% Alc.
Definitely not a stunner.
I don't dislike this wine, but I just can't say I'm really enjoying it. The profile is rather classic McLaren with blackberries, iron, tar and a slight hint of vanillin. The body is fairly lean - not in the nice McL 'elegant' way either, the acid and alc makes this wine overly astringent. The tannins are dry and somewhat sharp on the finish, which ends abruptly with a scratch.
I'm beginning to think my '01s are mostly crap at this level, and I certainly didn't buy enough of the higher-end '99s .
Kack

9/23/2004 - Shiraziste wrote:

DO NOT OPEN or GIFT TO FRIEND?
This is so tight it's hard to enjoy. I opened it on Monday and it's still hard as nails on Wednesday. The nose has become more spirity over the cellar time as the fruit has dropped somewhat considerably, I'm wondering if there isn't a balance issue. It still shows a deep colour through, and a ruby-violet rim, so it's hardly budged, not that this is unusual at 4 years age. There's some tarry black fruit, a bit of searing alcohol and raisin on the finish. The toilsome stone-like tannins of a nasty degree are a bit offensive and crude - not the kind of bad-boys I like.
The acid is starting to kick on it's own, in the groin no doubt.
I would say this is starting to suck, and I doubt it's going to get better with time, unless you like your wines to suck harder than this.
I know someone with a birthday coming up......
Let's just call it crap, could be cooked.....

7/10/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

15.1% alc
Quite forceful pruney fruit, raisin, deep dark wet earth, 'shrooms, leather, raw meat and a phenol of nail polish.
The acid is way too prominent here, and a hollow middle with some decent strength of fruit on the finish.
I wouldn't age it, it's likely as good as it ever will be.
Decent and only slightly above average.

It's quite pathetic and insulting the dregs California sends us most of the time

6/26/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I don't know what I paid for it but I don't think it was much over 30$. I'm not that impressed with it and I think 25$ would be a much more fair price, but ce la vie, shit happens, life is like a box of chocolates.....
Last night it was tannic as all hell, but it did have some nice tarry blackberry fruits, yet it seemed disjointed and awkward.
Today it's smooth and plushy, it lacks any interesting character or personality except that it's fairly easy to drink, sans the concentration it's very one-dimensional and cheap tasting.
Funny, the tannins have almost totally dropped off, but it's boring and lacks any character and holds little of my interest.
I've had as much enjoyment from the 555 and Rosemount Shiraz's, for almost half the cost.

5/18/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

I brought this and tasted another bottle earlier in the week. There was some leakage from the cork, huge sediment. Big and stinky barn nose, just as I recall from the last bottle, although it seemed a bit thinner than the last bottle, perhaps there was some slight oxidization from the leakage.

7/10/2005 - Shiraziste wrote:

Toast, hard to consume, filled with acid and very little fruit.