3/9/2015 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Excellent all around, fantastic floral notes, dark cherry aroma. No loss of fruit, some hints of vanilla with cherry and blackberry fruit.

4/20/2014 - Heart Plumber wrote:

This bottle was kept at best storage as possible since purchased on release, moved very little. There was some, but not too much sediment, decanted with a filter. The aroma was more earthy, some leather, pencil shaving, licorice. The predominate fruit was currant, maybe a little cranberry. Also had some vegetal/herb qualities, more basil -like. Overall quite happy with this bottle, but think it is on the decline slope.

3/5/2014 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I had to look back at notes made from a 1999 trip to Umbria/Tuscany when I had this wine on a bus going from Florence to somewhere cool. I wasn't too kind then, thought it was like berry juice with licorice and "Italian Dust", guess I was tired of the bus ride.
Fast forward to 2014 and a bottle tucked away in the cellar emerged, man this was good. Very fruity, almost jam like, clearly no "dust". Fine tannins, quite silk like.

12/21/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Opened this wine along with the 1976 BV reserve I had to celebrate the upcoming Mayan apocalypse, you should go out in style. Perfect bottle condition, excellent cork. This wine was also decanted around 2 hours before trying. Initially this wine had a very weak aroma by comparison, some gravel/mineral component mixed with Mission fig, cherry, and currant. To taste there are silky tannins, a richness of ruby port, a slight acidic quality, and medium dark fruits. The finish was good leaving mostly the port-like taste on the tongue

12/21/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I acquired this wine on release and have cellared appropriately all these years. No wine loss, full neck. The cork was a little dry but removed easily without cracking. I decanted once and let stand in a balloon decanter with a small neck for almost 2 hours before trying. Initially there is the lead pencil, mineral hint mixed with heavy dark cherry, plum, and blackberry aromas, very amazing, too bad someone cannot make a perfume like this. On the palate there are very fine tannins, lush fruit, and a pleasant smokiness that carries through on the after taste. Highly recommended if you can find it, hard to believe this bottle only cost me 18 dollars in the 70's.

9/15/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Heavy sediment, no evaporation at mid neck. Good liquorice, lead, gravel, and plum aromas. Closed at first, open at 1 hour post decanting. Mostly plum and cherry flavors, some faint herbal thing also going on too.

7/27/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Earth, spice, cherry aromas, good cherry and raspberry fruit to taste, basically no tannic grit for a young wine. Following vineyard recommendations to drink in next 2-3 years, they think most 2009's will fade after that.

7/27/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Outstanding bottle, nice plum and dark cherry with a faint cinnamon like perfume. Was more of a tart cherry to taste, very fine tannins from the oak, maybe a little peppery-allspice on the finish.

7/9/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I bought this wine after release and kept in near perfect storage conditions. It had darkened to a rich golden hue and looked somewhat viscous. Excellent fruit aroma, almost sweet. Lush fruit, soft and mellow, unexpected long finish.

3/21/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Cloudy, even after a coffee filter decanting. Blueberry, dust, spice on aroma, pleasant blueberry and plum to taste. Surprisingly not tannic, medium length finish.

3/12/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Powerful, fruit forward Shiraz, lots of blackberry, blueberry and ripe dark cherry. While some sediment in the bottle did not need to decant. Long finish, silky tannins.

3/5/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Dark ruby red. Excellent fruit, cassis, cedar, smoke and Earth. Silky tannins, long finish, very elegant wine drinking great now.

2/26/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Fabulous Zin, powerful jammy fruit with some Earthy quality. While not a late harvest this is a heavy, sweeter wine. Would liken the taste to an Amaretto soaked dark cherry rolled in chocolate powder. Buy it if you can find it, will not disappoint!

2/26/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Tasted while in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and was able to get a bottle back unscathed in luggage. Outstanding CDP, lush blueberry and blackberry, hint of tarragon, and faint Earthiness. Very long finish, tannins are fine without gritty mouth feel, would recommend decanting.

2/14/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Excellent fruit but was masked by very dry fine tannin, almost bordering on astringent. I decanted, then ended up shaking the flask to aerate, which helped. Likely will benefit from 10+ years in the bottle.

2/10/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

My first experience with the varietal and producer. I likened this more to better Nero D'Avola like Trancredi rather than Sangiovese wines. A little cherry tartness along with a more lush ripe dark cherry and Mission fig taste. Smooth tannins, long finish.

2/13/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Adequate fruit, mostly tart cherry which was not too pleasant.

2/5/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Hard to describe wine, not the easy to drink Argentinian Malbec , very " European" in nature, if given in a blind tasting would have a hard time not saying this was a Rhone styled wine. I noticed an initial blackberry , ripe lush dark cherry and licorice taste, but soon was hit with a green pepper and spice note. Loved this wine, could not recommend more highly.

2/5/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Of all the Mourvedre's I've tried this had none of the expected pepper bite , little mineral and chile nose, and no floral notes. The fruit was ok, but somewhat "canned", lacking depth and expression. The finish left one asking "what did I just drink" and what was so memorable about this wine? Hope I'm not off on this offering, but cannot agree with the higher ratings.

2/2/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Outstanding wine, lush blackberry and sweet dark cherry flavors. Not tannic at all, long pleasant finish.

1/26/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Remains fruit forward with lots of dark cherry and blackberry. Good smoke, oak and bourbon aromas. Definitely not past its prime.

1/16/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Acidic and short lived, but did express nice tart cherry fruit. A little Earthiness and mineral, not as much as expected.

1/15/2012 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Excellent plum, anise, old leather. Soft mouth feel, basically no tannin. Wonderful alone, compliments most any non-acidic food.

12/29/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Some concern initially the bottle was corked, very mossy and Earth aromas before any hint of fruit. Definitely some oxidization at this age. Fruit was sour cherry and tart cranberry with some mineral/chalk. On second thought I'm rating this 75.

12/25/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Nice aroma of strawberry/ chambord. Soft and delicate, not alcoholic, adequate fruit and Earthiness to taste, but very short finish. Good but clearly not a memorable bottle.

12/15/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Very Bordeaux in style, no heavy fruit like a lot of Australian wines. Leather, mineral, lead pencil and currant on the aroma, Cherry, currant, fig and pepper to taste. Long finish, fine tannins.

12/13/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

This bottle was basically two different wines. On the first night I noticed a wonderful fresh grape taste reminiscent of plucking fruit from the vine while visiting the vineyard in Montalcino. Excellent herbal aromas of basil and tarragon with a little mineral quality. A little tartness noted, but not distracting.
As this was a 1.5L bottle we had ample for night two. The grape - like taste had transformed to currant, plum, and anise. A rich coco and leather aroma was present along with the same tarragon.

11/27/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Little fruit, very vegetal (broccoli / shallot), lime dust taste. Avoid the 98, but I'll have to say the 2000 isn't too bad.

11/24/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Earthy and vegetal with moderate plum and tart cherry taste. Balanced with little tannin

11/20/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Nice fruit, mineral, and Earthy components in both aroma and taste.

11/15/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Initially nice leather, smoke, chocolate, and Bing cherry to both aroma and taste. Smooth, no alcoholic heat, and nice finish. After an hour or so open a lot of the initial characteristics has faded to more mineral and slightly sour cherry. While good, not great.

11/14/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Age did not hurt this Merlot. Still lush and thick fruit, fine to no tannin, elegant all around. Decant or get some sludge in the last glass.

11/10/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Day 1 was highlighted by the wine's allspice and cinnamon aroma as well as the Bing cherry coated in dark chocolate powder taste. Very smooth, long finish. Got busy, had to do some work.
Day 2 the spice took back seat to the coco and super-ripe dark cherry, again very silky.
Amazing as a young wine at the vineyard tasting, even better as the maturing /older offering.

11/5/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Nice coco aroma and taste, concentrated berry, not too heavy for a dessert wine

11/5/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

cassis, leather, and cherry aroma. Nice cherry fruit to taste, soft tannins

11/4/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Little experience with Italian Cab wines, definitely nothing like a California offering or Bordeaux. Fruit not very powerful or open, tannins soft, heavy mineral and vegetal aroma and taste. Good with food, not a drink alone offering.

11/3/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Good, not great. Aroma of currant, blackberry, and grilled meat. No tannins, ok fruit, but after its prime.

10/29/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Maybe I'm being a bit hard on this wine, just expected a bit more Bam in your face fruit than delivered. Nice plum and vanilla on nose and palette, long finish, very smooth wine.

10/30/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Aroma easily a 95, cherry, wet animal but in a good way, old tanned leather, and a bag of cedar chips just opened. 82 on the palette, very acidic, somewhat alcoholic hot, then you get sour cherry, basil, licorice, and grass. Might not sound all that good, but kind of grows on you mid glass. Definitely has some tannins, the teeth feel like they are coated in a plastic sand mixture.

10/29/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Outstanding bottle, lush dark cherry, light peat smokiness and very soft mouth feel. No alcoholic heat to distract. Highly recommended.

10/21/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Cellared well since 1995, no loss of fruit. Big Chardonnay taste, no too oak-buttery like the typical California Chard.

10/20/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

black cherry, mineral and smoke on the aroma, well balanced with no tannic mouth feel

10/16/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I liked this wine a lot, powerful fruit, peppery, pleasant vegetal aroma and taste, but was just "too much" and overpowered everything we had for dinner.

9/30/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I agree with other reviewers, sour at first, but mellowed once opened. past its peak.

9/26/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Big wine, lots of blackberry and dried prune. A bit of alcohol heat on first sip, mellowed quickly.

9/25/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Soapy, pale and weak. On the good side it boiled down and added a sweetness to an acidic tomato sauce.

9/24/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Outstanding wine, very powerful aroma of leather, blackberry, cassis, and herbs(tarragon). Long complex finish, buy it if you can find it!

9/14/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Very nice, fruit forward wine that has held up well, no flaws

9/15/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

I did not decant, very little sedimentation in the last bit not drank. Allowed to warm up to room temp opened for several hours before trying a glass and was impressed by the lead pencil shaving/ coffee ground/ coco/ current nose. Very elegant ripe cherry and pleasant vegetal taste, basically no appreciable tannins and quite smooth. Long fruit aftertaste that faded to dark chocolate. Sorry to read so many had a bad bottle in the reviews, I can't wait for another big event to open another.

8/28/2011 - Heart Plumber wrote:

Not a flaw, strong, ripe fruit, leather and bourbon aromas.