2/5/2022 - m251runner wrote:

Interesting wine that I simply needed to drink and understand. The Prisoner from the Prisoner Wine Company is easy to find everywhere with its distinctive (and unsettling) sketch on its label. The wines produced are all blends and this 2019 The Prisoner, a Zinfandel-Cabernet Sauvignon-Petite Sirah-Syrah-Charbono, blend is arguably its most famous. The Prisoner Wine Company doesn’t own vineyards, rather they buy grapes from nearly 100 grape farmers. And, they make a lot of wine to satisfy the high demand. Some may call this a quirky wine because of its unique blend, and I paired it with an equally quirky dinner of spicy chicken wings, French fries, and ratatouille. The wine is packed with full flavor and brings loads of ripe black cherries, toasted cinnamon sugar, and spiced pomegranates, too. Yes, it is a little sweet and leaves pleasant heat on the finish. For me, this is not a go to wine or a even a special occasion wine. Honestly, this wine is a lot of everything and perhaps quirky good with quirky food.

1/19/2024 - Yohansmas Likes this wine:

미국 와인의 가장 큰 특징, 아니 정확히는 이 정도 가격대 미국 와인의 특징은 범용성과 대중성이다.
먼저 어떤 안주에도 밀리지 않는 강렬함이 범용적이고, 특별히 너무 좋다는 사람은 없어도 대충 마실만하다는 대중적인 힘도 좋다.

프리즈너 2019는 벌써 두번째 마셔보지만 역시나 좋은 술이다.
노즈에서는 초콜릿의 달달한 향이 바닐라의 오크향과 같이 피어오른다.
이어서 후추 비스무리한 스파이스도 꽤나 강렬한 편이고, 연필을 깍는듯한 흑연향도 좋다.

팔렛에서는 달달함이 먼저 느껴져서 그렇지 잘 느껴보면 산도도 나쁘지 않은 편이다.
탄닌은 제법 있는 편인 것 같긴 한데 벌써 꽤 자연스럽게 풀려있다.
다만, 바디감이 높은 편이라 약간 유질감마저 느껴져 이 부분은 호불호가 있을 수 있겠다.

이렇게 좋게 말했지만 문제는 가격이다.
현지에서는 50달러 대에서 구할 수 있다지만 한국에서는 10만원 정도 하니 이 가격을 낼만한가?
그 질문에 대한 답은 쉽지 않을 듯 싶다.

10/29/2023 - Jonnhy99 Likes this wine:

Nice Napa, no California fruit bomb here. A strong welcoming red fruit fills the air during the first pour. The red fruit follows through on the tongue with cherry, red currant, smoke, graham crackers, dried herbs, and blueberry. Medium plus finish, medium minus acidity to go with approachable tannins. No overbearing ripe fruits here at all just subtle and delicious stuff.

3/6/2023 - Vinnut Likes this wine:

Deep, dark garnet in color, slightly opaque in color. Full, fragrant & attractive nose of ripe fruits aromas of cherries, blackberries & plums with overtones of earthy/dusty & herbal notes, spices, minerals & a slight hint of oak/vanilla in the background. Medium-full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, ripe fruit flavors of cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, herbs, minerals & a touch of vanilla. Lingering finish. Drinks well at present with decanting & extended airing but it has the fruit & structure to develop further with additional aging.

4/10/2023 - SMZ wrote:

Some of the 89 ratings here seem very peculiar…this is a terrific plush and flavorful wine.

5/2/2023 - kkleg Likes this wine:

I’ve never opened one of these WS Sonoma Coast bottlings this young, but…wow. This one explodes in the glass and on the palate. Could easily be mistaken for their single vineyard Terra de Promissio wine with five or so years in bottle. (I just looked it up and some fruit from that vineyard is actually in the blend!)

Baking spice and cola on the nose. Great mix of fruit, nutmeg, and cola on the palate, with a surprisingly long finish.

Might be the best vintage of this one yet. Hard to call it a value at $65, but definitely drinks above its price.

Not sure what more time will do, but no reason to wait. Enjoy now!

10/16/2022 - AGELVIS Likes this wine:

Two hour slow ox. Deep dark electric magenta color. Herbal strawberry, cranberry, cherry, marzipan, and subtle coffee on the nose. Smooth, tongue drying palate. Firm tannins on the longish finish.

This is nice, but not as good as usual. The fruit was picked earlier due to fires, which results in more herbal and red fruit notes. It’s better than expected, but I won’t be buying. There’s a decent chance some not so nice notes will present more strongly in a year or two.

7/19/2023 - Robwild Likes this wine:

Fruit forward with cherries and dark berries and well balanced. A consistently good, go to wine at a relatively good QPR.

5/21/2023 - UFGators Likes this wine:

The wine was overly tannic and tight. This needs 3-5 years of bottle age and I am not sure it will ever get to the 97 James Suckling claims this wine merits.

3/7/2003 - Eric wrote:

I brought this to Etta's for dinner with Suzi (mini-crabcakes followed by the spice-rubbed salmon & cornbread pudding). On opening it was dark, brooding and tannic unlike almost any Pinot I have ever tasted. A bit of barnyard seems evident. At first it showed loads of tannin and acid, but the fruit was hiding. With time in the glass (NOTE: Etta's has *really* crappy restaurant glasses. Will Tom Douglas restaurants drive me to BYO glasses?) it starts to open up and expand, lengthening on the palate. Finally by the time the salmon entrees arrived we were dealing with pure MAGIC! The acid gets along SOOOO well with the fat of the salmon, the finish showing power and grace. Deep cherry, powerful and intense on the palate yet very smooth.

One troubing sign is that the finish seemed to tighten up by the end of the meal, but I also think that had to do with a clash with the sweet creme brulee dessert. Gorgeous bottle!

12/3/2022 - Twopawsup Likes this wine:

Bright purple color with slow legs. Toasted oak, cassis, blackberry and a hint of tobacco on the nose. Plum, black cherry, clove and tea on the palate. Nice velvety finish.

10/22/2022 - Decanting Queen wrote:

This was ok but not a huge fan. Fairly thin, not very complex. It was not unpleasant but not a wine I would seek out.

Backstory for anyone who wants to keep reading. This was about the 7th try at ordering a wine at a local (and esteemed) steakhouse. The first 5 we’re out of stock. The 6th they brought up the wrong vintage (an ‘18 instead of a ‘16). At one point I switched my food order to go with a white, but all the white burgundies were out of stock. Finally settled on this, the only ‘16 cab in the house (the rest were ‘17s or four digit price tag if they even had them who knows). So I have to say, I was a little annoyed for this to then be soooooo mediocre. It took nearly an hour of back and forth to get this wine, so it didn’t get the benefit of the decant that it probably needed. I scored a point higher than I was feeling for that reason.
This restaurant does not allow corkage which I think is pretty lame under the circumstances. Great food, so I will stick to cocktails next time.
(Sorry if I have annoyed those who hate when ppl use CT as a blog, not my intention, just trying to give the mindset that went with the tasting. AND I gave you fair warning to scroll on if you didn’t like the backstory 😂 )

8/4/2021 - sfwinelover1 wrote:

Second of 2 ($11.99@; first given to a friend, per the below!) from a recent Costco purchase. On the nose and palate, cherries, plums, and lesser notes of mixed dark berries and cassis, anise, leather, dark florals, ground spice, vanilla, oak, and dark roast coffee. Dark purplish brown, light to medium bodied, light legs. Medium acidity and tannins, no heat. Medium complexity, medium- persistence and intensity. I used to be a semi-regular drinker of this bottling before the wine spend went up a number of years ago, and am still a semi-regular buyer, but mostly as something to bring to friends who aren't wine people who are likely to serve it to people who, when asked what they'd like to drink, say "something red", or who will leave it sitting next to the hot water heater for a few years (for those of you in comparable economic circumstances to mine who'd bring an Abreu Thor or a Colgin Cariad, I say, bless your little hearts, and you're welcome at my house any time! And btw, CT friends, don't fear that this is something I'd bring to one of our tastings!); still, I wanted to make sure that this was still no worse than quaffable so any invites where I bring this won't be my last. Reasonably well-balanced between sweet and savory (with a tilt toward to the sweet), fruit and structure (with a tilt toward the fruit) and power and subtlety (although neither word would leap to mind), this pleasant, easy-drinking cab blend is much as I remember it. Good with food (burgers and pasta) and as a standalone, ready to go as a PnP (also part of the reason I'm drinking it, as I needed something after finishing the Arcanum with friend Steve), surprisingly well-delineated in its notes, and likely to hang in there for another 2-4+ years, this wine is a good choice in its price range, and while I'm not going to spend the rest of my winedrinking life checking this, I suspect it's better than 90+% of the Napa/Sonoma cabs among its competitors. About the worst things I can find to say about this is that it suffers against what I usually drink, is a bit boring (or to use an even deadlier CT epithet, corporate), and the acidity on the tail became much more pronounced on night 3. This will live on for another day for my purposes and keep its place in the cheapo HoF, and if, heaven help me, my fortunes reverse markedly, I'd certainly drink it with more regularity before I'd subsidize my nagging if occasional habit of HSS's, Abreus, Ovids, Spottswoodes, Dominuses (Domini?), etc. by selling pencils, apples, or whatnot on street corners (I know: that's a lot of pencils). 88+

6/21/2022 - finlero Likes this wine:

I mean this as a sincere, non-backhanded compliment: this is about as good a supermarket $20 red as you're likely to find. Drinks well young, notes of blackberry, vanilla, and pepper. Somewhat smoldering 15% heat, but it works. Great with grilled anything.

10/14/2021 - Vino Loco Does not like this wine:

Unmemorable nose - no distinguishable notes. Still quite tannic and has a burn on the finish - the alcohol dominates the palette. At the price point, it lacks complexity and depth of fruit. I don't think cellaring is going to fix it.

Day 2 - wine still underwhelms, bitter, acidic, no bueno.

8/10/2019 - schnurbie Likes this wine:

Very nice wine for a Saturday afternoon in the garage working on my table for the Big Green Egg.

4/9/2021 - dbermanmd wrote:

Don't hold this against me,
Important to manage expectations,
Really delicious for what it is
Hugs,

12/22/2020 - Robwild Likes this wine:

A truly exceptional Cab. Always consistent and the value as compared to the flagship label from this wine maker can't be beat. Ruby color. Great balance with medium tannin, soft and supple. Raspberries, cherries, blueberries, vanilla and oak. Still can't believe this wine comes from Washington State.

2/13/2021 - Robwild wrote:

This is past its prime, but in its heyday, this was a wonderful wine. Decanted and left to breathe about 45 minutes. Light, brown edges and over the hill. Alas, this has seen better days.

2/13/2021 - TXRDW wrote:

What a great moderately priced wine! It’s so easy to rate the widely acclaimed expensive wines, but more often than not I’m on a quest at the supermarket for a solid $30 or so bottle with an exceptional QPR. This is that wine. Very well balanced, noticeable structure and fine tannins this is one of best 2018 wines out there at this price point. The 14.5% ABV keeps this from being a fruit bomb and the notes of raspberry, plumb and cassis allow for a wine that is very versatile in pairing with a wide variety of foods, or enjoyed on its own. The next time you’re in search of solid wine and you’re perplexed with what to pick up at the last second, this is your wine

4/4/2020 - Rupesh wrote:

Expected more from this winery relative to their cab’s - which are rockstar. Oaky, vanilla, and some citrus on first taste.

4/26/2020 - levinml wrote:

My first underwhelming Carlisle. Not sure what was going on (with me or the wine), but this seemed like an ordinary weeknight wine. Kind of muted, nothing standing out, nothing bad. Not what I've been experiencing with any Carlisle for last five years.

12/4/2018 - sailincarib wrote:

Not to our taste. Got it for $99, but too much tannin and a slight unpleasant after taste. Prefer Bel Glos, for example

4/14/2018 - KenK Likes this wine:

Popped and poured, but would have been so much better with a decant as this was a bruiser. Loads of big dark fruits with a sense of classic scorched earthy flavors. A dense chewy structured wine yet still plenty of black dried fruits to create a nice sense of balance. In a very good place, but some time in the glass needed to smooth out the brawny texture.

11/4/2017 - peteramartens Likes this wine:

Dark purple colour. Pleasant red fruit and tobacco aromas. Taste was peppery with cherry. Nice acidity and very little tannins. Alcohol was a little too noticeable. Paired well with pasta and tomato/beef sauce.

8/12/2016 - Robwild Likes this wine:

Deep purple color. Nose of cassias and black current. Full bodied with well balanced tannin. Blackberries, and cherries with some oak and leather. A solid Napa cab and excellent value.