1/19/2016 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Opened and drank over several nights. It wasn't until the third night that the wined opened up with a nose of lavender, smoke and jammy red fruit. The fruit came out on the palate with a nice blend of tannins. I wasn't very interested in the wine the first couple of nights but after the third night, I wish I had more bottles.

12/26/2015 - cat butt wrote:

3hr decant. Not impressed for a 500 series. Light red fruit, heat from the alcohol, still harsh after the decant.

12/18/2015 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Took 3 to 4 hours to open up, red fruit, jammy, pepper

12/18/2015 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Took 3 to 4 hours to open up

5/31/2015 - cat butt wrote:

Drank half bottle one night and finished the next night.it was better the second day. Seems a bit young still.

11/8/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Still seems young, needed a long decant

11/2/2014 - cat butt wrote:

After a 30min decant it tasted ok but needed more time. Around 3 hours was the best but we'd already drunk most of the bottle by then. :) Next time we'll start the decant much earlier.

11/1/2014 - cat butt wrote:

A little past it's prime but opened nicely after 30 minutes in the glass.

8/30/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Very fruity, strong grape juice flavor. After taste of green grass. Great nose.

8/10/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Strong tannins but not overbearing. Rich, dark purple fruit flavor. Had thick viscosity to this wine. Drank with steaks and it was an excellent pairing. Wish I had more in my cellar.

8/9/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Getting to the end of its window. 1 hour of decant helped,but still a little on the harsh side. Better drink the remaining 2007s quickly.

7/21/2014 - cat butt wrote:

2 hour decant. Past it's prime but still very drinkable

6/9/2014 - cat butt wrote:

decanted 30 minutes - wine was disjointed - fruit, then tannins, the pinot muck. funneled back into the bottle and drank something else. Tried the wine the next day and it was much better, more integrated. Needs more bottle time.

6/1/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Delicious wine but didn't have that "Bordeaux" quality we were expecting.

5/26/2014 - cat butt Likes this wine:

decanted for 4 hours - juicy, cherry, red fruit. good tannin balance, lots of pepper

5/26/2014 - cat butt wrote:

On the sweet side. Didn't pair well with roasted chicken but opened up after the meal. Citrus and grapefruit came out. Nice bottle for summer.

4/26/2014 - cat butt Likes this wine:

decanted for 3 hours, tannins up front with a bit of green vine to them. Mid-palate, short sour cherry that turns to thyme, then sweet tobacco but the tobacco turns into a bit of an off flavor. The right food cleaned up the tail.

4/12/2014 - cat butt Likes this wine:

decanted for 2 hours - probably needs 4 -6 hours. dusty tannins right up front with a weak black fruit on the back of the palate. noticeable cab sav in the blend.

4/12/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Seems a bit past it's prime...disappointing, we expected it to cellar longer.

4/6/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Very disappointed. I think this was past it's prime like it was starting the turn...or it's a very harsh vintage.

3/29/2014 - cat butt Likes this wine:

This wine seemed closed up the other week so this time we decanted for 4 hours and some of the fruit (sour cherry) came back.

3/29/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Decanted for 2 hrs. Definitely picked up the raspberry cream but not the lavender. We started to get a hint of the lavender at the very end of our dinner so it might have needed a longer decant.

3/23/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Decanted for 4 hrs...well worth the time. Red fruit immediately followed by pepper flavor. Hint of lavender in mid-palate, oak on the finish. Very smooth drinking wine. Well worth the price.

3/22/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Had one of these before and was disappointed this time. Wasn't as fruity as expected but we may have paired it poorly (pork and kraut dinner). We'll definitely be trying again with a different food profile.

3/17/2014 - cat butt wrote:

Decanted 4 hours. Smoke on the nose, sweet cherry on the tongue. Very smooth, non existent tannin. Had with spicy food which brought out pepper in the wine. Definitely need to filter...a lot of sediment at the end.

2/4/2014 - cat butt Likes this wine:

The nose was tight w/ metabisulfite - decanted for several hours and it started to open up. Sweet cherry, red fruit on the front. Good level of tannins on the mid palate but some roughness. Back end was hot mixed with pepper. Good but needs time in the rack....

12/25/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Took about 30 minutes to open up. Nose of cherry and wisteria Cherry and dark fruit on the palate with a touch of leather. Great nose on this wine.

12/24/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Good juicy black cherry flavor, mild earth...

12/23/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

decanted the wine for ~ 30 minutes. It tasted like they just pulled it from the barrel, young and fumy. Poured it back into the bottle and tried a day later. Strong fruit, cherry and raspberry jam with a touch of pepper on the back.

12/23/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Gave a -4 hour decant... Nice Bordeaux. Blackberry and minerality....

12/23/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Cherry, raspberry on the front. lots of pepper on the back. Smooth to drink, not overwhelming tannins. Paired well with spicy tacos.

12/20/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

This bottle seemed a little closed up (possibly from shipping) even after a ~ 3 hour decant. Surprised by the sweetness of the wine on the front palate with subtle red fruit, earthy mid palate, and lingering finish on the green side. Similar to green tea...

12/14/2013 - cat butt wrote:

After a 2 hour decant...very dominant musky/"forest floor" flavor. Light cherry flavor, but overall a thin and musky wine. Would open another in a few months to see if it improved.

10/19/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Bad cork

9/8/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Let decant 2 hours and its fantastic. Sweet cherry flavor, very smooth.

8/3/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Very strong apple. Not sharp or acidic. Almost like spiked apple juice.

7/16/2013 - cat butt wrote:

Smooth, lemon and mineral, no acidic bite

7/14/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Gave it a 30 minute decant and found it to be harsh up front with some fruit on the back. Kalamata olives helped with the harshness but I put the cork back in it and drank something else more enjoyable. I tried it again the next day and it was a different wine. The harshness was gone, replaced with good tannins followed by cherry with blueberry on the tail / linger.

7/4/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

decanted for 4 hours - good red fruit, cherry flavors with oak followed by pepper. The oak, at this sitting, was a touch heavy but this was a great bottle of zin....

4/19/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

I think the CH description is well done. As usual for CH, this wine took 4 -5 hours to open up. It is a slightly thin but the tannins have a black tea taste and there is good dark fruit, slightly sweet on the back end. I also at times picked up prominent vanilla flavor when tasted with steak. On the second day, the black tea really stood out. Decant this one....

4/14/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

Needed about a 4 -6 hour decant to open up... good blueberry with thyme / sage on the back end as described by CH. The tannins were slightly too heavy but will hopefully mellow with time.

3/22/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

I found this wine to be extremely young - it tasted like they pulled it out of the barrel last week. The day after I opened the bottle, it came together and opened up a bit with red fruit on the nose and dark fruit on the palate. I think this will be a good QPR in a few months w/ a long decant...

1/17/2013 - cat butt Likes this wine:

drank over two nights, first night decanted for an hour but the wine seemed young and closed. Put the rest off for a second night and it was dramatically different, good fruit, good pepper. So it needs a good decant.

12/27/2012 - cat butt Likes this wine:

1st night - decanted for a couple of hours. good tannins and red fruit (cassis /cherry) and a little acid. 2nd night - opened up to great fruit - straight cassis. I'll have to decant the next bottle a little longer....

12/24/2012 - cat butt Likes this wine:

drank over two nights - musky oak and cassis / current on the nose. good tannins, oak, and fruit. slightly thin on the mid palate w/ a touch of lavender on the back-end. More fruit, cassis and lavender came out on the second day so it would probably still benefit from a decant. Happy with this as the last few VJBs have had a shellac odor and flavor and I've been less than interested in trying VJB again.

12/23/2012 - cat butt wrote:

This isn't really wine... severed hot, its sweet and spiced. Picked out clove and cinnamon with a almost a effervescent feel on the palate. Took to a holiday party, kept warm in a crock pot - non wine drinkers loved it. Good alternative to a hot spiced cider.... more in the wine cooler category, open to suggestions on how to score. :-)

11/28/2012 - cat butt wrote:

this has aged nicely - still a slight amount of heat on the front end but not as much bitterness on the back-end. Good wine for the price (qpr)

11/24/2012 - cat butt wrote:

A little disappointed with this one, hopefully its just a stage. Decanted for an hour, re-bottled for 10 hours. Not much fruit, good smooth tannins, dry finish. Last tasted this a year ago and I recall much more fruit, looking forward for that to come back in the future...

11/24/2012 - cat butt wrote:

a little dark fruit and violet on the nose. good tannins with a touch of sweetness on the backend w/ red fruit - maybe cherry.

11/23/2012 - cat butt wrote:

Drank over a couple of nights... a little bit too much oak right now, round tannins and fruit. It opened up over night and had that classic lavender/violet mid pallet. QPR fantastic ($10.50)....