4/23/2017 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This wine is a fruit forward red blend with a beautiful bouquet. The wine opened up quickly, really needing only about 5 minutes. The color seemed a combination of ruby and purple. It is a somewhat soft and easy drinking wine. I discerned a tiny bit of heat, although the alcohol is really not that high at somewhere in the low to mid 14% range. The bouquet carried a lot of fruit. On the palate I noted cherries and well...apple. This wine is absolutely ready to drink now if you have it.

4/16/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Drank a Magnum with family for Easter. Agree with several others comments that the wine does not have a lot of depth, but is nevertheless an enjoyable cab. Young purple color.

4/9/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Popped and decanted with a sip before, after and in between. Highly tannic, and needs lots of time to open. There are nice dark fruits hiding behind the tannins. I drank it at about the 24 and 48 hour mark and they had settled nicely by then.

4/9/2017 - Aideng12 Does not like this wine:

Interesting and enjoyable bouquet consisting of various herbs, like thyme, and strawberries. On the palate there was an unexpected tartness, or sourness, which was too overpowering to me. There were one or two sips where I felt like my palate transcended the tartness, and flavors similar to the bouquet. Perhaps a long decanting will diminish the tartness, but I don't see it going away entirely.

4/3/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Opened and drank with family. I had recently tried the 02' and 96', and my experience with these was the wine absolutely needs time to open. Gave it 3 hours in a decanter, and tried it before and after. It opened up a little, but not as much as the 96' and nowhere near as much as the 02'. There is very little tannin in the wine. Some cherries on the palate.

4/2/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Tried this after being impressed by the 02'. Opened, decanted and drank over 3 days. This bottle was likely past its prime. Very light tannins. Cherries on the palate. It did open up over time, but not as much as the 02'.

4/1/2017 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Wow, this was an interesting wine. However, my first thought upon opening was it was a dud. To begin with there is very little tannin in the wine. Upon opening and sipping the wine seemed dull with little fruit present. But the color is a nice pure ruby. Over about 3 hours it opened up substantially bringing out a flavor of dark cherry. What surprised me the most was the next day, after abut 24 hours, the wine had continued to improve. It had been in a decanter since opening. The cherry was now ever more present. When the wine was finished around 48 hours after opening it had not yet begun to deteriorate.

I subsequently opened a 96' and then a 00', and while similar in style, they don't touch the 02'.

3/25/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Opened and drank over just over 24 hours. This is a blend of syrah and petite syrah. It is a full bodied wine, obviously young, and deep purple. When popped the cork carried a wet dark residue, very inky. The initial bouquet was of vanilla and blueberry. The tannins were moderate to above moderate, and generally not overbearing. This is a rich wine, which initially carried flavors of dark fruits with a slight smokiness. The flavor reached a pinnacle after about 3 hours decanting and stayed in that zone for several more. At its peak, the taste was like a dessert consisting of dark fruits and granola, but with a touch of brown sugar, perhaps like a cobbler. The flavor attributes described relate to taste, and not sweetness. After about 24 hours some dissipation occurred in both the flavor and bouquet. Overall a rich enjoyable quality wine, and likely in line with current market standards priced at $50 a bottle.

3/19/2017 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Gave it about an hour to decant and drank over 3 days. Appears well refined. Initially perceived strawberries and raspberries on the nose. Subsequently noted chocolate and other darker notes on the palate. Lots of fruit here and better than anticipated.

3/12/2017 - Aideng12 wrote:

Drank over 3 days. Initially the syrah was most pronounced. I has a somewhat desert like aspect to it, similar but not quite as intense as a particular bottle of Mollydooker Carnival of Love I had in the past. Enjoyable overall.

5/31/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Needed time to open, but once it did some nice fruit came out.

5/24/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Surprise favorite of the 2015 Memorial Day weekend. Truthfully I did not know what to expect from this wine. I did think it might be past its prime. However, it was exactly where it needed to be. The wine color was ruby red with only a hint of brown. Upon opening, it did not need to breath. Beautiful herbal notes that evolved into more of a plum. Great complexity.

4/19/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Seemed light but lacking in depth to me. This could be good given the right occasion. Probably pairs well with buttery seafood.

3/29/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Classic pinot noir. Light bodied with red fruits. The balance was excellent. It got better over the first several sips. Enjoyed with Caribbean jerk pork chops.

3/28/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This wine was even better than I had expected. The bouquet was deeply floral, and the wine a medium bodied ruby. It carried strawberry / raspberry and pepper. The pepper seemed to have dissipated on the 2nd day. There was good depth to the wine. For such a high alcohol content (16.1%) it was well hidden.

3/21/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

I'm not accustomed to drinking much white wine, or dessert wine, but found this at a local market for a great price and always wanted to try it. Not a disappointment! The flavor mostly reminded me of pear, and secondly summer melon. As I sipped it over time I though to myself 'how similar is this to mead'? Well, according to my mead brewing aficionado brother, it did not taste of honey and was quite smooth, and in fact better than mead...smoother. Well I have to disagree, it did seem to have a slight honey element to it. We both agreed, as well as others, it was delicious.

3/20/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

The aroma carries dark cherries and blueberries. On the palate I tasted more of a slightly tart raspberry. I drank this over 3 days. On the 3rd day, an oaky taste seemed to stand out. Ruby red in color.

3/1/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

The wine had a beautiful floral aspect swirling in the glass. It was likely well past its prime, as its taste was about half way between a well structured wine and a glass of water. There was very little in flavor. Giving its age, I'm going to pass on a rating as that would not be fair.

2/28/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Deep dark and chewy, with a chocolate undertone.

1/31/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Ruby and marginally purple, and crystal clear. Nose of vanilla upon opening, and predominantly dark cherry on the palate. That was my read anyway. Excellent wine.

1/24/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

"The Boxer" is an apt name as this wine seemed strong and hard hitting. Resting the wine for a while brought out some of its fruitiness, but the alcohol content is high and this was apparent in the aroma.

1/25/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Moderate to strong tannins dissipated over 24 hours leaving a sweet wine with Port like character.

1/10/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Sometimes one or another particular element of a wine stands out, and in this case it was a tobacco and red berry bouquet. The tobacco note really stood out to me though. It did dissipate by the 2nd day. With the bouquet I wondered if the tannins would be too heavy, but as it turned out they were not.

Something else that stood out about his wine, by the second day it was definitively sweeter. While this may turn off a more traditional crowd, I highly suspect a lot of people will really like this wine. Lots of strawberry and red raspberry fruit in it. At around $25.00 a bottle, this is very much bargain priced, IMO.

1/10/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Very floral initially. I drank it over 5 days, and it seemed to hold up fairly well. A decent bottle for $29 at Costco.

1/1/2015 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Well it wasn't as sweet as Moscato. Really though this was a mammoth fruit bomb both on the bouquet and palate. The wine was thick and purple. Perhaps remove half the flavor and three-quarters the sweetness of prune juice, and this is what you get.

It was interesting to note the color of the glass utilized for the bottle. Normally a darker glass color is used, but in this case the glass is clear and nearly colorless (perhaps marginally green). This presents the wine, while still in the bottle, as though in a decanter. After opening the wine, and pouring a couple glasses, the bottle was appealing. That's very subjective of course, but at least I have my reasoning.

1/1/2015 - Aideng12 wrote:

Definitely a soft and easy drinking wine. Not too sweet nor highly complex, just a nice light wine. A little pepper to start, with some slightly tart strawberry in the background.

12/30/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Upon opening and without decanting, this wine was just dessert. Really though, it struck me as brown sugar. The dessert aspect dissipated to some degree over 3 days, but the wine retained a refined complexity and mouthfeel.

12/29/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This is the 5th bottle of this vintage I've had, but the first time I'm rating it. I've also resisted to temptation to allow other rating to influence me. That said, this wine is drinking beautifully right now. It did not need much time to open up. Drinking it over the course of 3 days, I found it was best on the first night. Nice ruby red. Fruit forward. Well refined. What stood out the most to me was a menthol aspect, which perhaps falls in line with a previous comment regarding "eucalyptus on the nose".

12/25/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This one was a bit past its prime, but still a decent bottle. There were some red fruits on palate. There was also something like a carbonated element. A couple family members who don't drink wine that often thought it tasted as though it was high in alcohol content, but I didn't feel that way. The bottle noted 13.4%.

12/23/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Let me begin by saying I bought this based on the CT rated and the great price I found it for ($36). I think it may have been mispriced. In any regard, I cut the capsule to find there had been leakage. The wine crept up much of the cork on all sides. Seeing this I was concerned, and upon opening a whiff of funk found my nose. A scent of barnyard or bad cork.

Giving the wine a chance, I continued to sip. Over the course of the next hour it changed more than I've ever experienced a wine change before, at least that I can remember.

The color is of a slight ruby. Highly fragrant, with notes of strawberries and raspberries. Something about it reminds me of Alban Vineyards Pandora 2005. On the palate there is a mix of both red and dark berries. The best I could come up with on the red notes is something like a tomato, but that does not do it justice. As I tried to hone in on the red notes I only noted stronger dark notes of plum, prune and perhaps a hint of licorice.

12/14/2014 - Aideng12 wrote:

Popped and poured. Pleasantly sweet on the nose. Moderately thick purple. High alcohol content of 16.5%. Initially hot and heavy, but smoothed out a little after a bit. Probably could use some time aging. My palate first registered something dessert like. Later I noted a slight note of prune and/or black licorice. Finally a very slight herb note popped out.

12/13/2014 - Aideng12 wrote:

Sour cherries to start. Once my palate absorbed it the sour note dissipated. The wine opened up a little after about half an hour.

5/4/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Very pleasant bouquet consisting lightly of prune / fig, currant, an pencil lead. Similar on palate. Red with a very slight brown in the color, indicative of the age.

4/20/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Pleasant bouquet upon popping. The bottle and cork were beautiful and added to the tasting experience. As we drank this, plum and fig on the palate became more and more prevalent, until it seemed almost like Port wine. Lots of fruit.

4/19/2014 - Aideng12 wrote:

Reminded me of Orin Swift's The Prisoner. Really not my style. That said it still had some depth, but by the 2nd day much of that had faded. On the 1st day, would you believe something about it brought to mind cigarette smoke. Not in an unpleasant way. I later found that it seemed to have a very smoked element, like one would find with smoked salmon.

4/12/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Interesting wine. A lot of fruit and tannins. As far as bouquet, I noted black licorice. The flavor was like a lightly sour candy. The tannins were so strong it felt as if my mouth went slightly numb, but the fruit seemed to balance it out well enough. At $20 this was a great value.

4/6/2014 - Aideng12 wrote:

Had a slight bitterness like that of cranberry. Looking over past reviews I'm glad someone else mentioned cranberry.

4/7/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Seemed to me a very young wine yet. Drank over 3 days. It did open up a bit after an hour or so of placing in the decanter. Cherries in the bouquet were the defining element to me.

3/29/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Popped and drank among family. Would liked to have been able to let it decant for a while, but no time. Fortunately I have others to do that with. Definitive well refined Syrah.

3/28/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This wine was in its prime. The greatest aspect in my mind was the floral bouquet. The wine could probably be enjoyed on its own given the fairly low alcohol content, and low tannin remaining or present. Drink up if you have it.

3/22/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Clearly a well refined wine with lots of fruit. Drank it over 3 days, and I thought it could use a little more cellaring time.

1/18/2014 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

This wine was clear and well refined.

12/28/2013 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Very strong anise.

11/22/2013 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Popped and drank over 4 days. Initially noted red berries, most notably strawberry. The tannins all but disappeared on the 3rd day, but the flavor remained delicious. Although the high alcohol content was high at 15.4%, it wasn't overbearing. This was my first bottle of Sineann, and it was a good experience. As an interesting side note, the bottle comes with a glass cork.

11/24/2013 - Aideng12 wrote:

Nice floral notes and definitely refined.

11/24/2013 - Aideng12 wrote:

I agree with some other comments made here. This wine was heavy on the tannins. On Day 3 they subsided and the wine maintained itself.

11/9/2013 - Aideng12 wrote:

This was my 2nd bottle. My experience this time around was much better, leading me to question the solidity of my subjective judgement. That said, I noted this time around a refined quality in the mouthfeel of this wine. After a day, I noted a slight blueberry on the nose. Classic California cabernet. Nothing so out of the ordinary.

11/3/2013 - Aideng12 wrote:

Popped and drank over 2 days. To be honest I was disappointed on the first day. There just didn't seem to be any depth. Day 2 and it opened substantially. Still a bit tannic for my taste, but enjoyable nonetheless. The problem is I'm not discerning distinct flavours to note here, but the overall quality feels beyond your average $30 bottle.

11/2/2013 - Aideng12 Likes this wine:

Absolutely fantastic wine. Whereas some of the great wines I've had in the past had a beautiful floral bouquet, this wine actually carried it to the palate. I also picked up a strong vanilla note. Excellent value on this wine.

10/25/2013 - Aideng12 wrote:

Opened and drank over 3 days with goat milk brie, slow-cooked lamb and various vegetables. Nice floral notes on the cork. This is my second time trying this wine, and both were very similar in experience and result. The color was a deep purple, and body slightly inky. Thumbs up for its distinctive taste. Very heavy, and good with a meal or for sampling comparison, but not necessarily drinking on its own. Very tannic, which suggests to me it has a lot of aging yet to do. I picked up on almost a mixed smoky and peppery flavor, although it was admittedly hard to place. I bounced back between grading a 92 and 93, but settled at a 93 due to the uniqueness and fact that this is still a very young wine.