6/3/2008 - PatrickFLL wrote:

If kept at 65 degrees, it is a pleasant discovery.
At 70, with an hour: it displays stupidity.
Keep cold, and drink fast: 30 minutes.
With grilled ribeye, kick ass, the first two glasses.
Retail should be 12.

11/3/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Delightful with Ny Strips grilled. However, the tannins were a bit muted, and the layers of fruit slightly dimmed.
Drink em' if you got em.
Patrick

5/19/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Wow, I am shocked at the length of fruit on this cab after a decade, and a few hours cork free. Add tannins, and you have a RP 90+. So close.......

4/11/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

This is a pretty damned good bottle of wine..................
buy it!

4/11/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Drank this old bottle with halibut in a blood orange reduction. Wonderful!

3/3/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

I do not rate wines on scores. Covey has a inexpensive, good quality riesling. I think of it as a soft one dimensional bottle. I taste ripe peach, a touch of tangerine, and honey. Good bottle to pair with a starter, and cheap enough to toss it in a picnic basket, tailgate, or give it to those dummies commonly drinking yellowtail, which tastes like bat urine.

2/28/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

I got peach and honey, and the finish is kind of lacking. I think it is a great deal pricewise, but I outgrew this one dimensional stuff long ago.

2/24/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Bat urine! Never buying it again.

2/12/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Wonderful. Balanced, refined, solid. Tannins tamed, fruit subtle, leather and earth. I was pleased as hell with this bottle celebrating the opening of Peju.
Drank it with a Red Car Syrah at the local churrascaria. The wine was great. The food was ok.

2/12/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Drank as apertif. Great bottle for the price.

2/12/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

You can actually taste the added sugar in the bottle..... very bad wine!

1/5/2007 - PatrickFLL wrote:

17.99 USD Publix Fort lauderdale.
Shit. Bordeaux should be a primal balance of more. Cheap sugary forward, bad wood, and short minty bad finish.
Shit. Lacks everything I expect. WS should be ashamed of calling this 90 pts, and you may note, I NEVER GIVE A POINT SCORE. That said, this is barely a D. It sucks. Don't buy it, and if you did, use it for cooking.
I sound bitter, but.... this is shit. Nuff said.

12/27/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

I, again, could not resist opening a bottle "to test" during the holidays. I am simply in love. This CDP is the best I have had to date, and will be so for years. My new years (survived x-mas) present to me: adding another case.
This time, I am sending it straight to warehouse in London. I will then not have immediate gratification, and maybe I will forget my new love for the needed years.
Yes, it is that good!

12/27/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

18.99 USD
Drank two more bottles during the season with seared duck breasts...... awesome bottles. Left one open an hour, and opened one three hours before dinner. Three hours won, and we waited for the second bottle to open. I tried again in five hours, and the window was gone.
Open two to three hours before dinner: watch your guest gasp!!!!!!!!!!

12/27/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Crisp, dry and straightforward. Crap for the price. Overpriced, as most S.M.'s are. 18.99 usd
I am sick of people liking Pinot Grigios, AA sparklers. They suck, okay?

12/27/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Wonderful simple pinot noir at 10.99 USD. Paired with Magret Duck Breast and Anduoille Sausage Kabobs with a fig preserve-creole mustard sauce. Lovely meal.

12/14/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Well, I have been a fan of cline zinfandels for years....... this bottle is a "go to" for just about anything and anyone. I am amzed they can produce this at low prices year after year.

12/14/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Crap Rose' Sparkler, but better than beer with my pepperoni and onion pizza, from the local joint down the street.

12/12/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

18.99 USD Wine Warehouse Fla
I thought I would give the two left feet a whirl after trying the boxer earlier in the week. Two left feet is also a buy.
Black Currant, Black Cherries, and Choc open on 15.5% Alcohol. You have a solid long finish, but it lacks the tannic strength of the boxer. Tonight we blackened some lamb shank, a quick wild mushroom rissoto, and some broccoli rabe to pair. It worked well.
I decanted about a half hour prior to dinner. I wish I had waited and hour and a half, as this is starting to open up a whole new flavor field. I am returning to buy "it all" in the morning..... this is one of those snooze you loose value buys. In fact, I am going to call the store now, and reserve the bottles prior to adding this tasting note.

12/11/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Fanatastic wine one and a half hours after decanting. Prior it is too hot. I tried it in Orlando, and I must say it is concentrated, and I promptly returned to my retailer picking up the remainder of his inventory. I am going to age this one a couple years, and I believe it will settle. I STRONGLY THINK THIS IS THE BEST AUSTRALIAN RED I HAVE TASTED.
Wow, what a bottle.

12/11/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

The Becketts still make a fine zin for almost nothing. I am giving the bottle out as gifts at the holidays........

12/11/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

ALERT< ALERT.....Drink this bottle in under one hour.
ALERT^ ALERT.....Open it NOW
It fades in one hour.... to undrinkable.
I have one bottle left.
I intend to drop it to Rose', or maybe even champagne temps, and open four dozen oysters saturday.
I am going to serve it to four people, and follow it with Chablis.
That said, the first fifteen minutes are splendid..............

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

34.99 USD Wine Warehouse
Buy, Buy, Buy.
The singular best CDP, I tasted, of the 2003. (Better than two dozen total.)
Drinkable now, and it screams value, but I am planning enjoy some age on this one.
Balanced fruit, and tannins. Medium body, long solid finish.
I could just sit and inhale the wine, and not even drink it to be happy.
Lovely find.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

19.99 USD Wine Warehouse
Bought three for immediate consumption. Good ptv ratio, and a fresh drinkable cdp for almost nothing.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

USD 29.99 Wine Warehouse
Incredible long finish, but I just did not like the taste of Chapotier Barbe Rac at 80 or this at 30USD.
It lacked the notable, but understated. I wanted more. I am not buying it.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

USD 79.99 Wine warehouse.
I was awed by the lengthy finish, but underwhelmed by the general bang for the buck. I would rather by two bottles of Telegraphe.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Wine Warehouse 34.99 USD
Wow, I loved this bottle, and rated it second only to the Telegraphe "La Crau" Rouge with ten bottles opened between 25 and 90 dollars. (All 2003) Tremendous dark fruit, some tobacco, some earth. Generally, a wonderful nose, with a stong tannic structure that I bet will age better than most expect. I could cook a grand meal around this, and thats what I need. Buy a case: I did. It was the lighter version of the Telegraphe that I am going to buy LOTS of. This is my number two CDP of the year........2003

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

39.99 Wine Warehouse
Needs aging to break the tannins, and there is not enough fruit to balance this effort or expense.
Poor price to value ratio.
I expected more.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

x

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Wine warehouse tasting of CDP 2003. 29.99USD.
I beleive this CDP has the tannic fruit balance that will roll out to a beautiful wine years from now. Currently, it is a huge tannic beast. That said, I am going to buy a little, and wait. It needs age.

10/2/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

Just wrong, and I hated it. 29.99 Wine warehouse tasting of CDP.
Not something to stock.
I spit it out.
Ill yellow color, with medium body, and short short finish. It taste like a wax banana in au jus on a pear.
Crap: I hated it.

8/19/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

19.99 USD Retail. Bought after passing the bottle because of the gold flakes, but gave in after reading a few adds and reviews. I get loads of peach, and a nice zippy finish. It almost satiates alone, and colder, I think it can be used with food to delight a guest. We New Englanded up some florida lobsters, with red potatoes, sweet white corn, and french bread. I think it was a poor choice, and the wine was too sweet. I think some kind of asian orange salad/ blood orange laced appetizer with a cheese hint might make it a first course wine to reach for. I will not forget the flavor: I am getting a few more bottles, and I am going to think about the matter further. The gold flakes make it visually different, and the three wine blend is elegant. The flakes just push it over the top. Good marketing, and very good wine to back it. I am impressed. Even if I do not know what to do foodwise. Anybody got a thought?

8/17/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

9.99 USD Retail. Order moo shu pork delivered for dinner. Add Srirachi to your chinese burrito, and drink a cold bottle of this. You get the play of the scallions, ginger, and hoisin lime sauce (in the pork) playing off the chiles in the srirachi, dancing with the literal explosions of grapefruit, lime, and zingy peach/melon flavors........ Quite delightful in August in Florida on the patio.

8/10/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

10.99 USD Retail. I would like to qualify this as "the best" Rose I have enjoyed beyond Bandol Rose'. That I think is the highest compliment I can pay a Rose'. Cold & perfect in August.........

8/7/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

9.99 USD Retail Florida. Opened this thirty minutes prior to pairing with a roasted chicken, and emptied it between 55 - 68 F. I got a lot of value for the dollar here in this domaine bottling. I taste tart apple, ripe pear, and soft lemon in a medium body with a slightly acidic, long, crisp finish. I can see this paired with all kinds of chicken, scallops, and crab. Maybe a vegetable primavera too. I am buying a half case. Good stuff.

8/3/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

8.99 USD Retail. I get cherry, a bit of spice, and eucalyptis. The dry, medium body is well made, and I enjoy the zing of the taste early and late... but the end is too hot. The alcohol is severe, and needs food to contain it. I would not drink this as a summer refreshment without food again.

7/30/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

10.00 Retail. I got a strong passion fruit, apple, and some citrus notes in this Sauv Blanc. I would buy it again, but in limited quantities. The finish is clean, but short. I think my money goes further in New Zealand SB's. That said, it did pair well with a goat cheese canape appetizer.

7/29/2006 - PatrickFLL wrote:

24.99 retail. Pulled from the cellar, and opened while I lit up the weber with hardwood charcoal. Pan roasted some red potatoes with rosemary, and dropped a couple of New York Boneless Strips on the grill. I get huge cherry, a bit of rasberry, some fresh herbal tones, a full body. The tannic structure perfectly matched the steaks, and showed off the rosemary. Then I had a few olives, and a few more minutes... I get the wine opening up. I am going to buy a case of the 2001, 2002, and 2003. I want to taste this age, and I may have found a new 25 dollar favorite. Very special. Thank you Kermit Lynch: this one you nailed. I have some stilton around here somewhere....