3/7/2012 - AzorianMatador wrote:

I might have a bad batch. This is my 2nd bottle in a row that came across acidic, acrid, lacking fruit; past its window. Drinkable but not good. 85 is being kind and taking into consideration my high expectations.
I have two bottles left, will drink another soon. Decanted with the Venturi an hour or so before drinking.

10/13/2009 - AzorianMatador wrote:

I liked this. Black cherry, leather and a little crushed stone. I agree with THaas below, this is a food wine and needs time to breath. Nice QPR.

11/8/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Just ok, grapey and simple on day one, slightly more complex on day two but nothing special.

10/31/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Nothing special, tannins a bit rough. below average QPR.

10/27/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Well rounded but rough tannins; not much improvement on day 2--dissapointing.

10/26/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Sour tannins, no fruit, very little secondary character; just not a very good wine. Sampled upon opening and various points over a 5 hour period of time.
85 is generous based on previous ratings--my unbiased opinion would bring it in closer to 75.

10/6/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Took some time to get going and never fully opened up I suspect. Thick, heady wine of toasted vanilla, damp earth, barnyard, cedar; good length and structure.
At this price I will buy a couple more and let them sit for a few years. 90+

10/4/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Not bad. Good balance, nice little blend, but it did not change much over the course of the evening; never really filled out.
I liked it but nothing special. Will not buy again at $27.

10/1/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Nothing special here. Typical Cali-Cab profile but a bit thin and acidic--not much depth; poor QPR.

9/19/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Decent Aussie cab, came across a bit dusty and thin; I caught this sample on the down slide for sure.
If you have a few give one a try to see how they are evolving.

9/19/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Closed but heavy on the tobacco, cola, medium long finish. Will sit on my other holdings for a while. Good value.

9/19/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Decent fruit but overall a pretty rough wine; came across like a cheap aussie.

9/12/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Still has some life. Very smooth at this stage, drinking like an aged zin; drink up and enjoy with medium fare. Good QPR.

9/12/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Excellent QPR.
Decent weight, structure and fruit on day one but a bit rough and angular; reminded me of a cheap Aussie.
Day two was much, much better. I agree with most previous tasters in general accept that the wine reminds me of a good Portuguese blend more so then a BDX.
But I can relate to the French connection as well. I will buy more this for sure.

9/9/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Not bad; medium body, medium finish, medium degree of balance. Graphiite and dark fruit on the palate but it does not really scream terroir.
Its a decent wine but nothing special on its own. Its an average QPR with respect to the world market and at the same time not a good representation of bordeaux.

9/8/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Solid bdx, classic St. Julien profile and typical structure for 04. This wine improved greatly by day two and was going strong to the last drop.
I would give it a 5-10 year drinking window--average QPR.

9/5/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Pop, decant and Pour--wine was balanced and surprisingly accessible right from the start. Typical St. Julien characteristics of black currant and smoke with a hint of cedar and tobacco.
It drank like a friendly zin with tasty fruit and smooth structure but not a lot of depth; a bit hollow in the mid palate and a medium finish.
Day two however this wine fell apart; tannins roughed up, balance was gone and the fruit went acidic. I poured the glass back into the decanter and will try again tonight.
88 right now for day one, could go up a bit if it shows better tonight (day 3.)

9/4/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Tasty, needs time for sure as it came accross a bit rough when opened but smoothed out after a couple of hours.
Could be a 91--excellent QPR.

9/3/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Drinking much better than the 04 (dead) but nothing special here, I expected more depth--drink-up.

9/3/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

See my previous tasting notes.
Last tasted in March and has improved since then. This is an excellent QPR and will get even better--buying more.

9/3/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Solid, classic bdx; if you like Bordeaux you will appreciate this wine. Pretty good value if you bought it when released.
Nice balance, medium long finish, typical St. Julien flavor profile. Drining well now but should continue to improve a bit--drink or hold for 5 more years.

9/3/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

I realize this is a young wine and we are talking about a very warm vintage but, based on the ratings, I expected more balance.
Its heavy and thick with ample tannin and glycerin but a bit light on acidity--comes across flabby right now.
Tastes of smoke, chocolate, black currant, melted licorice, and the nose is all over the place.
I really regret drinking this now and will hold onto my last bottle for at least 5 more years. Have some left to try tonight, hope it balances out.

8/24/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Tired, dusty, a bit thin -- drink em up.

8/2/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Consumed too quickly. But what I did get was a long finish, good balance of acidity and tannin, with dark fruit notes, coffee and leather.
Good wine at a fair price. Will buy some more.

7/2/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Clean and well made but nothing special here, will wait at least 2 years to try again.

7/2/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Simply delicious, gained speed by the sip. Wet stone, tobacco, heavy black fruit and a long finish. The structure of this wine combined with the way it continued to evolve in the decanter over the course of 5 hours tells me that is has a long life ahead. Great now given time to open but should be fine for the next 15 or so. Better balance than most 03's I have had.92+

6/21/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Solid. This wine is really beginning to flesh out with age. Coats the mouth with cassis, dark fruit, with a touch of smoke and green herbs.
Consumed with grilled pork loin and didn't last long. 92+

6/12/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Copied this from last years notes "hollow in the mid-palate with a muted finish and a simple overall character"; I could not have said it better myself--wait, I did say it.
Still holds true, pretty disappointing for the $$ and the vintage. It did hold together on day two but did not gain in complexity or weight. This will hold for a while so one may as well wait and hope it snaps out of its dull drum.

6/10/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

A bit thin on day one and pretty much dead on day two. Could have been a slightly flawed bottle but I have my doubts about the long term potential here.
What was there: cigar box, crushed stone and a touch green. Medium finish.

6/10/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Well made wine. Clean lines, full finish coats the pallette. Cigar box, tobacco, black fruit.
Took a few hours to open up and went fast after that. Will continue to evolve for at least a decade but drinking great now.

6/2/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Well made wine, good balance, full mouth feel and medium long finish with a slightly hollow mid-palate.
White pepper, shoe polish, plum, black cherry; oak was not too bad IMO.
I liked it but do not think it will get much better,something missing here that time cannot replace. Good wine but poor QPR.

6/2/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Drank with friends over roasted Goat. Delicious wine, very well balanced with a solid core of black fruit, cassis, graphite and coffee; medium long finish that never quite fills the back of the palate.
I enjoyed this but its no powerhouse; hopefully there is more to come with time--wait 3-5 years.

5/27/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

This will never be outstanding but it is starting to balance out into a respectable little Chianti.
Well made wine, decent value for the region. Better day two so it should hold for a few more years easy.

5/22/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Day one was not very good; barnyard on the nose, acidic and thin on the palate with a medium finish and hollow mid-palate.
Cork looked great and its not cooked so I shelved it for day 2.
Day two was better for sure but still not very impressive. Heavy herbal notes with some crushed stone and leather but still a bit thin overall.
I will hold the rest for day three and report back if it improves. If I had more I would wait a few years in the hope that I just caught it in a bad phase.
However, this and the 03 I had recently were both very disappointing overall.

5/21/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Day 1: Loads of vanilla and dark berries with good concentration and medium length.
Day 2: Fleshed out more, providing a fuller mouth feel and more complex notes of coffee, black berry, pepper and mocha.
This picked up speed on day two suggesting it still has some aging in it; 3-5 years easy. Great QPR.

5/18/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Graphite, crushed stone, damp earth. Smooth, well integrated. A bit hollow on the mid palate and did not hold together well on day two.
Drink in the first 10 years or so I think. This could gain some complexity with a few years but will never be stellar IMO. 89-91.

5/15/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

I dont know what happened here; the 04 was outstanding (92+) but the 05 (good year in PT) is not nearly as good.
Opened, decanted and consumed over 6 hours. Comes across very primary on the nose and the palate--just not a lot going on here. Its definitely Portuguese, I guess thats a compliment..
No front or mid palate, just some dark fruit around the edges.
I could not pick this out from a blind flight of sub 8 Euro Douro's. -- Not recommended.

5/15/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Day one: loving this bdx--bacon fat, wet earth, cassis, oak, wet stones, good balance and decent structure; nice silky mouth feel with a medium body and finish-92
Day two: showing a bit more minerality but otherwise considerably faded from day one; its all just 'fuzzy' somehow-88.
This did not hold together on day two the way I would have expected it to; very delicious on day one, faded hard on day two. Probably one to drink in its first 10 years.

5/11/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

5 hour decant: This is a big wine. Classic Barossa profile with a medium-long finish and decent structure. A touch green and not very complex.
This will hold for 5-10 more years easy, hopefully we see some added complexity. 90+ - the plus is for potential.

5/11/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Not sure whats going on but not a great showing this time; shorter finish then i remember and a bit hollow in the middle.
Great nose though.

4/30/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

High expectation leeds to big dissapointment.
Very attractive packaging here; nice bottle, big name appellation, big name consultant--bad wine!
Flabby, short, lack of depth, simple finish, hot--reminds me of a heavy Aussie shiraz that has been cellared way too long. For 50+, I want my $ back.

4/29/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Delicious; more like a Douro then Alentejo. Still improving-92+

4/27/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Very, very young; took 3 hours in to show anything and was subsequently consumed before reaching full potential.
Great bottle of wine--hold for 5 years or decant for 5 hours. 92+.

4/12/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

WS (91) described this a friendly; I dont know about that...
Day one: nose of crushed rock, cedar and cassis; very dry mouth-feel with very little fruit--unyielding.
Day two: Similar crushed limestone, wild berries and cedar; still pretty hard on the palate -- not rough or angular just very dry.
This needs at least 5 years to develop and when/if the fruit lets go it could score 2/3 points higher.

4/8/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Depth greatly improved on day two; this will age well for at least 5 years.

3/31/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Pulled this out, dusted it off and pulled the cork (cork was in excellent shape), allowed it to sit upright for 2 hours then decanted. Medium body, medium finish nice complexity.
Cedar, black currant, white pepper, chocolate, tobacco, and berries (no tar for me) on the nose and palate. This had the stuffing to easily go for another 5 years or so. It should gain in complexity and garner another point or two 92-94.

3/31/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Dry, acidic, very little fruit, some white and green pepper on the nose and palate. Medium finish, hollow mid palate. Consumed over two day period.
Don't know if this was a bad bottle, a bad time to drink it or just a bad wine--disappointing!

3/25/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

This has improved since my last bottle. Good example of Douro table wine. Dark, complex fruit profile, medium to full bodied with good structure.
Excellent value, good luck finding it though. I have one bottle left; I should wait a year or two but I probably wont.

3/25/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

Very tasty wine. A cross between a cali zin and an aussie shiraz; fruity, spicy and thick with a touch of heat.
A lot going on here but it is a bit sweet. The heavy fruit is not supported with much acidity so this is not a candidate for long term aging.
If you have them drink them now with something juicy off the grill. Good QPR.

3/22/2008 - AzorianMatador wrote:

To me; just an average St. Emillion table wine; nothing special, consumed over 2 day period--fair QPR.