11/19/2022 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Translucent pale ruby-purple. Lifted aromas. Flowers. Precise red raspberry on the palate. Nice.

10/11/2019 - ND05 wrote:

PnP, beautiful for about an hour, then the cherries and roses disappeared. Never tasted oxidized but never opened back up. Strange.

11/21/2014 - ND05 wrote:

I'm deeply ambivalent. This is modern and massive and monolithic. Sweet oak and vanilla somewhat overpower the ripe red cherry and blueberry at this point. Cotton candy and sturdy tannins lead to a long, lingering finish hinting at a bit more. Could age into something a bit more graceful, perhaps, if the oak integrates more. This will be a polarizing wine, but I have to say the combination of concentration and value @ sub $40 is impressive. Complexity isn't the only virtue in wine, but this does tire the palate a bit. Not rating this, but mid 70s to mid 90s are theoretically appropriate, given one's preferences.

11/20/2014 - ND05 wrote:

Initially tight but opened up after a couple hours. Lovely classic rioja flavors of leather, cherries, earthy tobacco and spice. Paired well with a medium rare burger with manchego and grilled jalapenos. Awesome qpr at $15. Will continue to improve.

11/20/2014 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Black olives, violets and herbs carry through to the palate along with black fruits, crisp acidity and a silky texture. Very nice, good qpr.

10/24/2014 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Pours a translucent ruby with only a hint of bricking. Nose opens up to pungent herbal spicy vanilla. Burt's bees. Little bit of tar funk? On the palate it's balanced and smooth. Cherries and smoke and eucalyptus. Light savory flavors like beef broth, white chocolate. After some time in the bottle sweet fruit comes to the fore. Mocha. Medium plus finish. Still drinking very well. Fantastic value on aged Napa.

10/10/2014 - ND05 wrote:

Corked. Too bad; tasted on day 2 and there was some really interesting stuff going on behind the TCA.

10/10/2014 - ND05 wrote:

Cork fell apart but still drinking pretty well. Espresso , a little cocoa, black cherry and a bit of a herbal/eucalyptus note. Medium finish. Nice.

10/15/2014 - ND05 wrote:

Lively bright red with no signs of aging, surprisingly. Sweet red fruit combined with a little rubber funk.

10/15/2014 - ND05 wrote:

Corked

8/2/2014 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Rich, expressive nose. Everything open for business. Sweet cassis, earth, tobacco, a bit of citrus, milk chocolate. Reminds me a little bit of the Blankiet I had a month ago with Matt and Kate. Worked nicely with dry aged NY Strip. Interesting - herbs come on strong about 2 hours in -- no hint of them previously. Raspberry. Cocoa. Brown sugar. Long finish. Good structure. This is great.

4/17/2014 - ND05 Likes this wine:

My first thoughts are that this is very lively for a nearly 30 year old Chianti Classico. Pours a deep crimson with almost no hint of bricking. Huge sweet and sour cherry on the palate, with some iron that initially blows off and then comes back later . Clearly there's great structure here with vibrant, bracing acidity and dusty tannins still present. Juicy. Some secondary tobacco, herbal, spicy notes. Mid palate is a little light. Medium finish. Keep coming back for the beautiful cherries here.

12/6/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

One of these days I'll get around to writing a proper review of this. Exceptional balance and vibrancy; it has both finesse and structure. The way the flavors shift and evolve is pure magic. After four hours in the decanter the nose makes me giddy. Heaven.

11/9/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Had at the Chambers St tasting w/ Jon Bonne. This one stood out. A smoldering olive grove at midnight: dark fruits, black olives, some smoke. Smooth and evocative. Awesome.

11/1/2013 - ND05 wrote:

Crisp, lively acidity backing red fruits and spice. Got a strong red apple flavor, interestingly. Good qpr.

11/8/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Black raspberry, plum, cocoa, black pepper, pencil shavings, musky incense. Strong backbone of acidity, and slightly gritty tannins. Big, dark, young. Paired pretty well with lamb chops and mint sauce.

10/25/2013 - ND05 wrote:

Pretty nose of cherries, flowers, spice and tobacco, which follow through on the palate. Picked up orange/citrus too. Unfortunately, I think this is a little unbalanced now. The initial burst of fruit and flavor on the attack is followed by a lot of acidity which kind of interferes with the midpalate and finish. Still, enjoyable now, but I think this will be better with some age. (86-88+)

10/12/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Decanted. Pours dark purple with dark fruit, cedar, graphite, coffee, black olives and a touch of butterscotch on the nose. Cassis, blackberry, dark cherry and vanilla on the palate. Young tannins, good acidity, but it calms down a bit after an hour of air. Oak is nicely integrated. Big but elegant. After 24 hours in the decanter I noticed more of the minty/eucalyptus aromas. Tannins didn't seriously relax until 48 hours. Still drank nicely on day 4. Beautiful wine now and I can only imagine this getting better with age.

4/14/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Had two bottles a couple days apart -- first one was better than the second. Drinking nicely now. 91/88.

4/17/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Raspberries, blueberries turn to roses, smoke, meat, leather, cheese, grass. Nicely structured with good acidity; big but smooth tannins and a nice mineral finish. Somehow both rustic and elegant at the same time. Delicious. Would love to taste this again in a couple years to see how the tannins resolve.

4/6/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Intensely perfumed nose of underbrush, roses, incense, clove, leather, olive, watermelon jolly ranchers. Raspberry on the palate. Nice body, medium finish. I like this wine. Complex but quaffable.

4/6/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Rich vanilla and dark fruit nose. Well integrated palate. This is probably at its peak drinking now. Nicely balanced flavors. Medium plus finish. Cocoa, blackberry compote. Deep, intense, silky.

12/25/2012 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Big nose of apricots, honey, tropical fruits and green tea. Mouth coating, rich taste echoing the nose with a finish that lasts forever. Pear. Nuts. Flowers. Sweet but crisp enough to avoid cloying. Great now, will be fantastic in the future. Delicious.

3/30/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Pours clear brick red. First nose/taste right out of the bottle is minty, balsamic. Tight, with strong acidity and tannins. Decanted. After 30 minutes, picked up iodinie, iron/blood, cherries. 2 hours: some forest floor funk, meaty taste -- bacon, caramelized onion? Black olive. Coming together. Flowers. Around 4 hours this is really starting to come alive with fruit and spice, tannins getting better integrated. Nose opening up to more fruit, dark licorice. Near the 6 hour point, tannins are still mouth-coating, but the wine has come together very nicely. Black truffles make their first appearance @6+. Campfire. Quite lovely. If the finish were a little longer, this would be great. Thinking about 90-91 right now. Could get better with a bit more age.

3/26/2013 - ND05 wrote:

Popped and poured a couple weeks ago. Was pleasantly surprised - nice wine for the money. Opened up dark with ripe fruits, vanilla and wood. Developed more with air. Ended up getting a really distinct sticky toffee pudding note. Nice finish. Pretty good.

3/24/2013 - ND05 wrote:

First pour: red fruits pop up after a few swirls, along with some spice and cedar. Medium dark purple, tinged by red at the edge. Initial palate gets hit with raspberries, on the front. Light mid-palate. Some minerality and acidity gives a little structure. The finish kind of slowly eases its way out the back door. Not big or terribly persistent. Got a few hints of cake frosting. Leather snuck up on the nose. Got some herbal flavors. Berries bouncing off spicy wood, hint of creme de menthe. Decanted. Little underbrush funk lingers on finish. Vanilla and ripe plum develop after 20 minutes. Blackberry, stone, spice. Flowers. Got a bit of unbalanced cranberry/grapefruit flavors/acidity which clashed (like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth), so I'm going to let this sit for a bit. Cocoa powder. Remains light on the mid-palate and finish. Alright.

3/18/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Pours a bright, clear ruby red. First nose opens up with pure red fruits: raspberry and strawbery. Then blueberry and cherry. Light/medium bodied with smooth, juicy flavors echoing the nose. With some air, I start picking up some wood, flowers, cinnamon, clove. Bit of leather, maybe. Fair amount of acidity at this point. Tannins light and fine grained. Medium-ish/short finish, where it turns a bit watery. Fruit punch. Pepperoni. Cedar. Apple juice. Paint brush. Light raspberry soda. Continues to pick up wood/spice on the nose, going on hour 4. Still has basic light fruit taste. Pretty wine. Nice to drink.

3/17/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:

Flowers, red cherry, minerals, then cola, vanilla on the nose. Smooth tannins but big with long finish. Nice mouth feel and well balanced. Got buttered croissant for a sip or two. Licorice/super rope/fruit snacks. Little toasty oaky spiciness and minerals crushed. Graham cracker crust. Can't ID the flowers but they're present. Violets? Some nice spices on the nose. Sexy. Lingers in the empty glass. Amazed at this finish. Cherry cola. Gets more integrated with air. After 3 hours decanting, this really starts to show. Still getting some blackberry aftertaste 2 minutes after last sip. One of my favorite every day wines -- at less than $20 the price is right too.

3/16/2013 - ND05 wrote:

Great fill - into the neck. Cork crumbled so pushed it into the bottle and strained/decanted. Still pours dark but with noticeable bricking. Initial nose: raisins & prunes. Light bodied now but still has quite a bit of acidity. Very, very slight hint of tannins for a bit, surprisingly. Iron, coffee and soy sauce develop after 15 minutes. Mushrooms, leather. Blackberry is there in the empty glass. Strawberries and some mustiness. Tried to find little hints of the classic Neb tar/roses, but they're slight if they exist at all. Caramel. Grilled meat. Maple syrup. Vanillin. A little red fruit builds after an hour or two. Caramel really picked up at the end. Great nose, short on the finish and light on the palate but still drinks nicely given its age. Great deal on an ancient wine for 50 bucks. Grading on a bit of a curve.