4/30/2016 - ajfranke wrote:

Past its prime. Dead.

6/12/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Not as oxidized and nutty as expected.

3/8/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Lots of sediment in the bottle. Deep color, almost purple. Dark cherry. Faded quite a bit after two days in the fridge.

2/25/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Good fruit, great QPR. Lots of cherries, but not overly tart.

2/26/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Honey, light apricots, caramel. Still has many years ahead of it.

3/1/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

So sad to see this go. More apples and pineapple than previous vintages, not quite as much acidity (perhaps due to holding it for a year). Have heard rumors that this is no longer imported: PLEASE let me know if you find it somewhere.

2/25/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Well-balanced, but perhaps a bit expensive at the $14 I paid for it.

2/28/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Hotter than I remember; would have benefited from decanting. Nice baking spices on the nose.

2/20/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

Was hoping to check out a new vintage of my familiar go-to good-QPR malbec. Unfortunately, corked just enough to make it less-than-pleasurable.

1/3/2010 - ajfranke wrote:

I can't add much to bevetroppo's flavor notes, except to say that I didn't get any mocha. Lots of red berry and smooth tannins, medium body. Very good QPR: it's not fantastically complex, but otherwise very well done.

12/21/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Golden color. Nice oxidized-style notes which are more prevalent on the nose than on the palate. A bit flabby in the mouth, but very interesting and worth a try at this price point.

12/20/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Either way past its prime, or just poor. Thin and watery body, light fruit, and just a hint of tannins. Almost left me thinking they had mistakenly bottled a cheap pinot noir and labeled it cab. But drinkable, unlike the merlot. I guess you could say it was OOOOKAAAAYYY!!!

12/20/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Crazy mix of semi-sweetness and acidity, almost apple cider notes. Color a bit like apple juice, with large bubbles. Not at all like the super-light style that's commonly imported to the US.

11/7/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Took some time to open up. After 30 minutes, there wasn't much of a nose, but an hour later the wine had changed dramatically. Solid fruit base, with typical Graves minerality.

11/7/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Very sweet, and a lighter nose. Lots of lychee and pineapple. Certainly a lighter style of Sauternes. Drink soon.

10/2/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Darker yellow color. Dried apricots, pistachio, sea salt, a little bit of petrol (?). Walnuts and pistachio came out as the bottle stayed open for a while. A bit thin on the mid-palate, but an intriguing example of the Jura style.

9/30/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Peaches, pineapple, and a bit of green apple. A bit thick on the tongue, and a slightly artificial-tasting sweetness.

9/11/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Nearly an off-dry wine. Lots of pineapple, even a bit of petrol on the nose. Fascinating.

9/9/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Died after 30 minutes of being open. After a night in the refrigerator, it was all bland fruit and alcohol. Before it disappeared, the palate was light-bodied, with some balanced but flabby old-world fruit.

8/16/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Decanted and sipped over the course of four hours. Was hot for at least three of the four. Some smokiness came through early, with floral components coming in at the very end. Lots of dark, albeit flabby, fruit.

8/3/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Strikingly-good QPR.

8/11/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Delicious tropical fruits.

7/28/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

See Nutty08's tasting note. Thinner body than expected, but very drinkable and held up well to food.

7/21/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Tasted over the course of two nights, kept overnight in the fridge. At 15.3%, it's not as hot as I expected. Color is inky purple. The flavors are flabby, not easily discerned. Some rubber/plastic, blackcurrant. Smoother on the second night, and more of the fruit comes out. There's better value had elsewhere.

7/16/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Light, refreshing, but not much complexity at all.

7/14/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Nice QPR. A bit of apple, soft lemon. Not nearly as extracted as an American chenin blanc. As said before, a great summer wine.

6/30/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Hot hot hot. Needs a bit of time.

6/11/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Heinously sweet.

6/12/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Delicious. This time around it was chilled better than my first tasting note, and much more enjoyable. The orange zest was right there on the nose, with the body more like ripe Bartlett pear.

6/12/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

May have been cooked. There was just nothing there; almost salty.

5/27/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Lots of Bing cherry and black raspberry. Very enjoyable, competes above its price point.

5/12/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

At first, classic muscat and a bit of green apple. But the zest of the apple skin fades after a bit to more like applesauce. The sweet syrup that comes with canned pineapples. Later on (hour or so) pear notes emerge, and a bit of elusive citrus. Finish gets a bit peach-ey, or like peach syrup. More viscous on the tongue than it looked in the glass, but smooth.

4/21/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Made in the oxidized style. A rich nose gives way to a flabby and light-bodied palate.

4/1/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Very fruity, plums and black currants. I thought decanting would be necessary, when in fact it lost flavor very quickly over the course of a few hours. Lighter-bodied than I expected.

3/25/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

It's rare to find wines from the Jura and of this style in the US, and this one nails it. Absolutely delicious. Herbal/medicinal and dandelions on the nose. The tip of the tongue's a little weak if the wine gets too warm, but there's enough acidity to balance the dried citrus, slightly salty body. The finish is the best part: first nuts, then vanilla that just won't quit for 15 or 20 seconds.

3/17/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Incredibly balanced for a $10 bottle. Good fruit, with a healthy amount of Bordeaux character and tannins. Very drinkable now. As they say, "big year, small Chateau."

3/14/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Decent value, but just borderline too jammy.

3/7/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Corked.

3/7/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

I'm not a new-world chardonnay guy, and this didn't help change my opinion at all. It was a bit crisp but very disjoint a few minutes after popping and pouring. Later in the night, that buttery oakiness grew the longer it sat.

3/5/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

A bit better than the previous year, but not by much. The price has gone up, so it's losing QPR in my book. Still nearly one-note and fruit-forward, with some hints of other layers staring to come through, but also still very drinkable. Loses a lot after a night in the fridge.

2/23/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

More tannic than the other JanKris offerings I've had. A color that's just a few shades towards red from purple. Nose is oak and some black pepper. On the palate, a hint of blueberry, a bit of black pepper, then a finish that tastes tannic and disjoint. I don't know if age would benefit this.

2/23/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Fruit-forward is an understatement. Javadrinker's review pretty much nails it.

2/20/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Fruit-forward as the label says. Nose of smoke and leather(?). Some basic oak on the finish. Not enough structure to make more time in the bottle worthwhile; drink up. I've had much worse for the price.

2/19/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Basic, tropical-leaning malbec rose. The pinot seemed to mellow things out a bit, and kept it from being overwhelmingly sweet.

2/13/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Corked.

2/8/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Decanted about 45 minutes. Color is just a few shades darker than cranberry juice. Nose is a bit herbal, with some oaky aromas coming through. On the tongue, medium to light body, lots of subdued young oak with very smooth tannins, and some of that dark ripe cab franc fruit. Only a bit of astringency hits a few seconds after swallowing. A little black pepper in the fleeting finish. Certainly not as bold as a California, but well put-together and balanced. I'd maybe give it another year to see if the somewhat-disjoint oak settles down and the fruit comes out to play, but it's very nice-drinking now. I do like this wine for an everyday-drinker, and the price is ok.

2/5/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Enjoyable. Sweet, but not artificially so. A very good wine to sip on a balmy summer night after dinner, but there are more complex/enjoyable dessert wines out there.

1/30/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Not nearly as dry as I had suspected, but still very good. The acidity and sweet fruit combined to make a layered character.

1/10/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

Tinges of purple getting into the color. Taste was much sweeter than before, hints of blueberry, tannins nearly all gone. Drink very soon, waiting until next holiday season might be too long.

1/6/2009 - ajfranke wrote:

With a spicy steak (mesquite and pepper rub) the fruit finally comes out.