5/6/2009 - shudave wrote:

is this syrah really 13 years old? The acidity is bracing, and perfect for food. Fantastic green olive notes on the nose and a wonderful bright cherry and smoked meat element. I think on it's own the acidity is a bit overpowering.... This could go... 10 more years? Just my opinion...

5/1/2009 - shudave wrote:

brilliant 14 yr old CA Pinot! Dehlinger continues to amaze me with the aging potential of their wines. This wine had an ever so slight hint of bricking at the edges, and was a touch cloudy. Upon opening, i poured straight into the glass, and it had a wonderful nose of sweet dark cherries, rose petal, and a little bit of barnyard "funk" that I don't normally associate with CA pinot but more with Burgundy. The palate was smooth, with well integrated alcohol, tannins, and fruit. It did start to die after 3 hours, and it kind of turned into a pruney mess. With that said, drink these while you have them!!

3/26/2009 - shudave wrote:

Really impressed!

3/14/2009 - shudave wrote:

This is a huge, in your face, masculine monster of a pinot. Needs some time to settle down!

3/14/2009 - shudave wrote:

band-aids, cherry cough syrup and oh yes, band-aids. yuck.

3/14/2009 - shudave wrote:

amazing bottle of wine. second experience with this and it was just as good as the first.

3/14/2009 - shudave wrote:

This was drinking really well. Fantastic aromas of cherry and cinnamon.

3/9/2009 - shudave wrote:

amazing as usual... this pegau was hitting on all cylinders.... only 2 left...

12/6/2008 - shudave wrote:

sadly my last bottle. Such a great first effort for Jamie!

11/27/2008 - shudave wrote:

This wine evoked some very raw feelings about why I love wine so much when we drank it. The bottle was in pristine condition, and the cork was fully soaked when we removed it. I stood the wine up for several days to minimize the sediment. The nose on this was nothing short of magical...It reminded me of a well oiled piece of leather, and the smell of a orange that's been roasted with nutmeg, and maybe even some brown sugar. I was transfixed. There was still some tannin present, which tells me this wine has more time left in it, though they were fine, very smooth tannins. I'm not entirely sure how to explain the palate of the wine? It's my first experience with a bottle this old. I'm shattered!

11/29/2008 - shudave wrote:

this is really starting to sing. it's the perfect combination of oak, mineral, and bright fruit. Love it.

11/29/2008 - shudave wrote:

mildly corked, but still drinkable. kind of a disappointment on thanksgiving day!

11/27/2008 - shudave wrote:

Wild Strawberry overload. Wow this wine is sooo good! I wish i had more... 1 bottle left! Great acidity, bright flavors and seamless integration with no alcohol showing. Ed, you're the man!

11/16/2008 - shudave wrote:

Great value, and this wine has a fun story behind it

11/10/2008 - shudave wrote:

I can't give this 100 points, as it felt thin and not as rich as I would expect a 100pt SQN to be. However, the nose was amazing and is the primary driver for my high score.

11/10/2008 - shudave wrote:

consistent with previous notes.

11/10/2008 - shudave wrote:

This wine was a revelation. It was quite bretty upon opening, but revealed a classic aged rhone with aromas/flavors that i'm not able to even describe! I would consider this a perfect bottle, but I think there are wines out there that I will like more than this some day.

11/3/2008 - shudave wrote:

commited infanticide to see where this was/will go. Very primary right now, but shows incredible stuffing for down the road.

10/30/2008 - shudave wrote:

dusty and a little old, but still drinking nicely. still has good acitiy, but the fruit has softened and the wine is definitely on the decline. This is the oldest CA syrah I've tasted.

10/23/2008 - shudave wrote:

OMFG! this has to be one of the best values i've tasted all year. Is this really CA pinot noir?? I am suspect! :) totally incredible aromatics, wonderful acid lift, and smooth... not to mention low alcohol. I am bummed I only bought 3!

10/12/2008 - shudave wrote:

this is not very good. stewed plum, lack of acidity, and just plain old. I'm glad I only spent $16 on these but i'm disappointed in Garagiste.

9/20/2008 - shudave wrote:

unctuous, sweet, minerally, mouthfilling and just plain yummy. I could drink this all day... Went really well with a lemongrass beef salad.

9/20/2008 - shudave wrote:

I've not been super impressed with any of the bottles of this I've consumed. It doesn't feel as "fresh" to me as I would like it to. Tastes like an old, stale, unexciting Riesling. I've had much older bottles that were much better.

9/20/2008 - shudave wrote:

fresh, yeasty, well balanced bubbles. I'm starting to experiment much more with grower champange, and I like it!

9/18/2008 - shudave wrote:

Is this CdR really just $14?? What an amazing QPR. It's rich, brooding, and clearly 100% syrah. Very fruit forward, lush, and great acidity for near term drinking. I think this must be one of the greatest values I've had in a while!!!

9/11/2008 - shudave wrote:

nicely done. fragrant, great mouthfeel, and nice and thick through the midpalate. not much heat showing here, either. We enjoyed this with dinner.

8/27/2008 - shudave wrote:

First of 6... CORKED. hope this does not continue..

7/29/2008 - shudave wrote:

great QPR CdR. still a bit on the tannic side... give it a year and this will probably mellow out!

7/27/2008 - shudave wrote:

really nice crozes hermitage. not sure if the QPR is excellent at $25. Finish is slightly clipped, but I think that will flesh out with a bit of time. Drink or hold 3-5.

7/25/2008 - shudave wrote:

probably a bit early to drink this, but it was fantastic none the less. it was kind of a hybrid between a cali pinot and a great burgundy. It had the nice nose of mushrooms, earth, and even a little dustiness. I really enjoy this nose backed up by a core of dark red fruit, cinnamon, and cloves. Really nice effort.

7/16/2008 - shudave wrote:

certainly not the RRV. more tart cherry, less sweet, and more acid. definitely the more food friendly of the two. I found the alcohol offputting, else I would have scored this higher. I had to have the waiter at Zoe cool it in ice to make it more approachable. I don't see this getting any better... drink up and enjoy with FOOD.

7/1/2008 - shudave wrote:

This was drinking much better tonight than on previous occasions. sweet, brambly, with some coffee and cinnamon notes. Not a bad effort, but nothing like the Pinot.

6/22/2008 - shudave wrote:

this still has years ahead, but it was fantastic. What a wonderful food wine paired with wild salmon. fantastic fruit profile and racy acidity. yum.

6/22/2008 - shudave wrote:

spectacular as usual..this wine is hitting on all cylinders. Keep it on the cooler side, around ~55-60. Bravo!

6/18/2008 - shudave wrote:

very nice bottle of syrah. Dark as night, with graphite, bbq, and black fruits abound. A little rich and high on the booze for my taste, but still nice.

6/18/2008 - shudave wrote:

Really a fantastic value from Chateauneuf. Of course this was complete infanticide, but I was low on bottles at home so I went for it anyway. First glass was tight, reticient, and tannic...but clearly had the stuffing to be an amazing wine. I splash decanted the rest and put it in the fridge overnight. 24 hours later, POW! this one is hitting on all cylinders. Still very primary at this point, but it reminds me of a less intense Pegau. Really fantastic.

6/10/2008 - shudave wrote:

This is only my second experience with any Beaucastel... First time was the 1996. This wine is stunning! It started of a bit soft and flabby, but picked up acid VERY quickly over the course of a two hour meal with Eric. Wonderful red fruits, anise, tar, and olives. Of course, this being Beaucastel, it was a little "funky". Bravo!

6/10/2008 - shudave wrote:

Brought this to dinner with Eric last night. Really a fantastic bottle of bubbles. Fresh, citrusy, leesy, and all around good. Had some beginnings of a nice nutty/bread note as well. Very pleasant and just plain yummy.

5/30/2008 - shudave wrote:

decent, if rather primary. Nice dark fruits, smoke, and a burnt olive note. This definitely needs some time to develop. really dark purple in the glass.

5/26/2008 - shudave wrote:

vile bottle of cote-rotie. seems this is common with this bottling/vintage. totally spoiled.

5/19/2008 - shudave wrote:

This was the other bottle we had for dinner at MIX in Vegas. At first, i was VERY put off by the booze factor in this wine. It was decanted probably 60 minutes prior to first taste, and the alcohol was so overwhelming it made my tongue sting. This was marked 14.9% and the Against the wall is marked 14.5%. This is AT LEAST 1-2% higher without a doubt. There's some great new world syrah fruit in this wine, and it started to show itself at about the 3 hour mark of being open. I would highly advise giving this a minimum of 3 hours decanting if not 5 or 6. I liked it, but I prefer older world styles of syrah more than new world, so the Against the wall was the clear winner of the two.

5/19/2008 - shudave wrote:

Hmm.. are we in the US here or in CdP? The nose on this wine was fantastic right out of the bottle. I brought this with me to Vegas and had it at MIX with some friends along with some other SQN's... Only way to do it in Vegas, right?

This wine was fantastic with food and to me at least, had a fantastic briney olive character, bbq ribs, and the minerality you get from sucking on a cherry pit. Definitely one of the crowning experiences of SQN for me. I don't know if there is much of this wine left in existence, which is a shame because its clearly at it's peak right now. Schweet!

4/19/2008 - shudave wrote:

booze, booze, and oh yeah, syrupy booze. I did not care for this at all. I took 4 or 5 sips from the bottle and dumped it. I don't know if it was off, but it was terrible. It was metallic, weird, and just plain yucky. boo.

4/14/2008 - shudave wrote:

Yes, thats right... I am giving this wine a 90. For less than $20, I thought this was an extreme value bourgogne. Day one it was rather closed, showing mostly red cherry and alcohol. Fear not though, because I put it in the fridge under cork and drank the rest two days later. WOW! It had evolved into one of the better burgs i have tasted, which is not saying much because burgundy is new to me. It had this really nice pine-sap quality intermixed with the red fruit and sweet, smooth tannins. really a lovely wine.

4/13/2008 - shudave wrote:

though nowhere near as good as the 05, I found this perfectly drinkable on a warm spring afternoon. nice pinot funky nose, strawberry, and watermelon. slight heat, but i kept it cool enough to suppress most of it.

4/3/2008 - shudave wrote:

A great value at $21, i've been holding this for a year or two before drinking it to give it some time to evolve. Dark as night in the glass...Fantastic mocha, boysenberry, and spice on this one. Slightly tannic, but clearly made for drinking early rather than some of the beasty petit's of Turley and Dunn. Jeff Runquist consistently produces great value wines that are made for near term drinking.

3/30/2008 - shudave wrote:

good, but certainly not ready to go yet. Served this at a party and it was gone before i had to chance to have a second taste. Needs more time.

3/27/2008 - shudave wrote:

boring. medocire. VA. Reduction. Sulfer. Blech.

3/22/2008 - shudave wrote:

This wine is amazing. It took a good 1-2 hours to start opening up, and by that point the bottle was nearly drained. This wine has so many beautiful layers to it and wonderful pinot purity. Give it 5+ years...

3/22/2008 - shudave wrote:

I think this wine may be closed down right now. It took a LOT of coaxing to even get a little bit of fruit and black tea notes out of the nose, and the fruit was just not as prominent as it has been in past bottles of this wine. I'll try again in a year or two...