12/25/2022 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Required six hours of air to blossom into a beautiful Barolo.

12/30/2021 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Grapefruit flavors have dominated previous bottles of this wine and detracted from my enjoyment. Not so with this bottle. The cranberry and rhubarb flavors that I love in cool vintages of Eola-Amity wines were more apparent and the grapefruit flavor was more subtle. This wine is definitely on the tart end of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir spectrum, and this bottle was a good expression of it.

6/8/2021 - Wiltse wrote:

Purchased from Garagiste. Badly corked. Undrinkable.

11/28/2020 - Wiltse wrote:

Decanted for 1.5 hours and then consumed over an hour with friends. Dark fruited and structured. Excellent match with pasta Bolognese. Drinking well but many years of life ahead.

10/27/2017 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Medium-to-light bodied. Menthol and floral aromas. Bright candied cherries, finely grained tannins, and medium acidity. This is ready to drink now and quite delicious. I like this a lot. Wish I had bought many more bottles.

6/7/2017 - Wiltse wrote:

Not sure what to make of this. I like that it is very distinctive. I could pick this out in any blind tasting, I think. But, it is dominated by blond orange flavors and aromas. In previous bottles, this is had been one component, but, in this bottle, blond orange is dominant.

5/14/2017 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Medium to light bodied. Pretty Ruby red. Menthol and spice nose. Medium-plus acidy. A slightly sour finish but in a pleasant refreshing way. No obvious fruit. Drank with a cheese plate and braised lamb shoulder--complemented both very well. Certainly not a wow wine but interesting and pleasing.

10/20/2015 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Bought a bottle on a whim due to a close out price of $8 at a local grocery store. The oak is a bit heavy, but it does not taste like an industrially produced wine. The flavor profile is identifiably Washington. It is quite pleasant to drink, which, for the price point, is far more than I expected. It is even worth the $14 retail price.

4/4/2014 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Great mid-level OR Pinot--vibrant red berry flavors and smooth mouthfeel. Despite being from 2012, the wine is medium bodied, mid-13 percent alcohol, and finishes with refreshing acidity.

5/4/2013 - Wiltse wrote:

More full-bodied than I expected. Very aromatic--plums. Tastes very balanced--powerful acidity and tannin. Noticeable oak but not overdone. Long finish. Still several years away from maturity but should pair beautifully tonight with juicy cheeseburgers. This was better than I expected.

2/5/2013 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This was surprisingly good. Decanted for four hours. Beautiful aromas of licorice and strawberry. Medium-to-light bodied and really well-balanced. Everything I look for in Barolo. Never would have guessed this was an '03 if tasted blind. This was only half a step below a 1999 Monprivato.

12/20/2011 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Really nice showing for this wine. Decanted for four hours. Very aromatic. Deep blueberry and cassis aromas. Velvety mouthfeel. Nicely balanced. Drank alongside a 2003 Leoville Barton and 1996 Dominus, and this was the wine of the night.

12/20/2011 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Decanted for four hours. Spice, pencil shavings, and high-toned cherry aromas. Open and accessible. Noticeable tannins on the finish. It seemed pretty characteristic of Leoville Barton.

10/1/2011 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Previous bottles suffered from unpleasant vegetal aromas and flavors. Not so with this one. Strong acidity but balanced well with the fruit. Finishes with tart rhubarb flavors, which I enjoy in red Burgundies. Not sure if this is just a better bottle or if over the two years since I drank my previous bottle, this wine has shed the greenness. The improvement in this bottle has raised my hopes for the '05, which I have several bottles of.

6/16/2011 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This was closed behind a wall of tannin when I first opened the bottle. An hour later I drank it with a well-marbled rib-eye steak. The fat helped tame the tannin, and the pairing brought the best out of both steak and wine. After dinner, the wine was more open and showed excellent concentration and balance. This wine will improve in bottle for several years, but it is not as good as Adams Bench's Red Willow Cabernet bottling.

2/4/2011 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine but smelled and tasted more like a Brunello than a Barolo. It did not taste overly ripe but did lack typicity. I have not drunk enough bottles of Scavino Barolo to know if the lack of typicity resulted from the vintage or the vinification and wine making. It was well worth the $50 I paid for the bottle, but I would not pay the normal $100 price for this vintage of Bric del Fiasc. It paired really well with pork roast smothered in brown sauce.

1/27/2011 - Wiltse wrote:

Light bodied with brickish orange glow on the rim. Oregon Pinot-like nose of strawberries and raspberries. With time, I smelled a hint of toast and chalkiness (maybe limestone). Firm acidity but not overbearing, hint of pleasant tartness and rhubarb. Good food wine.

12/11/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

I really like this producer, but this was a disppointment. Most off-putting was the metallic aftertaste. It also had a pronounced grassy aroma, which I enjoy in sauvignon blanc but not in chardonnay.

10/5/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Well balanced but tightly wound at this point. Will be fantastic in 10 years or so.

8/26/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Wow. Really nice. This wine shows how good mid-priced red Burgundy can be. Very precise flavors that kept making me think of soil. Perfume was the word that came to mind when smelling this wine. Complex, earthy, a touch of cherry.

8/12/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Room-filling aromas of flowers, herbs, and a hint of caramel. Tasted balanced and precise. Re-entering a very nice drinking phase.

7/10/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Opened on a whim at a dinner to celebrate a friend's wedding. Drank at cellar temp (57) without any decanting. It was a good way to end the evening, but I did not allow it to show its best.

7/17/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Pleasant aromas of rhubarb--which I like very much--and a touch of petrol--which a friend found off-putting but I enjoyed. Well-integrated flavors of tart red fruits. This wine is as good as it is going to get, in my opinion.

7/5/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This wine seems a bit understated compared to other vintages of QC, especially 2002 and 2003. Rich dark berry flavors nicely balanced with remaining tannin.

7/9/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Not showing much on night one. A bit more approachable on day two but still not nearly as good as a recently consumed bottle of 2004 Cavallotto Bricco Boshis.

7/6/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Absolutely gorgeous young Barolo. Flowers and tar on the nose. Excellent structure and yet still approachable.

7/19/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This bottle seemed closed to me--especially on the palate--at least more closed than a bottle I drank two years ago. I did not decant it as long this time, which may explain the difference.

5/15/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This wine needs a couple years before it will show its best.

5/29/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

I did not like this nearly as much as the Evesham Wood 2008 Eola Amity Hills. The Eola Amity Hills is definitely worth the extra two dollars I paid for it.

5/29/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

This was the best showing for this wine so far. Didn't pay close attention to the nose, but the wine was nicely fragrant. Tasted of plums, blackberry, and pepper. I detected a note of soy on the aftertaste, but no one else agreed with me. Paired well with bbq ribs.

4/3/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Too much oak at this point for my tastes. Softened a bit overnight.

4/2/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Decanted for two hours and was still opening up at the end of dinner. Nice aromatics.

3/19/2010 - Wiltse Likes this wine:

Slow o'ed for 6 hours and then double-decanted an hour before dinner. This wine was well integrated and showed the characteristics that I love so much in Bordeaux: good fruit combined with earthy, herbal aromas and flavors. And, low-enough alcohol to make it easy to drink. Just a great food wine. I'm sure it will last many more years, but it is in a good place right now.

2/28/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Wow. This is really good, but I could not have picked it out as Brunello if tasted blind. The nose was sweet and floral. The mid-palate was very rich, in a good way but not characteristic of Brunello. Overall, it was well balanced and beginning to become integrated.

2/27/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

This was quite good: well integrated, balanced, and tasty. I've had a few other '02 Bordeaux recently, and all have been in a good place.

2/21/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Nice aromatics and good flavors. Not a spectacular wine, but excellent for an entry level Pinot Noir. Paired well with cedar plank smoked salmon. I will definitely be buying some '08s of this bottling.

2/21/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

By far the best Revello Barolo I've tasted. Earlier bottles were mute on the nose and too lush on the palate. This bottle, however, had typical Barolo aromas of sweetness, tar, and flowers. And, it had become more lean and better balanced, with more noticable acidity. Very nice.

2/11/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Much better than the last bottle. It was definitely on the ripe side for Sangiovese, but this bottle did not remind me of Amarone.

2/9/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Has considerable upside potential. The nose was clearly Barolo. On the palate, the wine was quite young and not revealing much. And yet, it showed good structure and had restrained tannins. Hold off for a few years.

2/9/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Nice wine. Fruity but with good acidity. Paired well with mushroom and sausage pasta. I don't drink much Barbera so have very little frame of reference for evaluating it vis-a-vis peer group wines. Definitely worth the $16 I paid for it.

2/9/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Smooth, integrated, mature wine. Don't suspect it will get any better than it is now. Paired well with homemade mushroom and saugage pasta.

2/9/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

A bit disappointing. Nice noise but was quite austere tasting. I should not have decanted. Tasted best upon first opening. Next time, I will pop and pour.

2/1/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Tasted very young and a bit disjointed. Nice fruit, but I could not detect a lot of underlying structure.

2/1/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Nice wine. Decanted for two hours, which may not have been enough. The first few glasses tasted a bit austere--very little fruit. The last glass showed more fruit.

1/31/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

This bottle was tasty but a bit flabby. Blueberry flavors dominated. I expected more from this wine.

1/23/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

This wine did not smell or taste at all like Sangiovese Grosso. It had a stewed plum nose, similar to Amarone, and tasted flabby and unfocused. I had another bottle of this several months ago (from the same source), and it was completely different: much better and much more typical.

1/23/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Very nice wine, especially the nose. Aromas of flowers, cigar box, and pencil shavings. Tasted lean and focused, with tart cherry flavors. Paired well with New York steak. I suspect it is in its plateau of maturity now. A relatively low alcohol wine like this (listed at 12.5) is such a pleasure to drink over the course on an evening in comparision to 15-16 percent Syrah monsters. I continue to believe (I know I'm not the only one) that 2001 Bordeaux is an underrated vintage. 91

1/16/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Previous bottles were more enjoyable than this one. Not an off-bottle, just on the downward slide. Paired well enough with the pasta, but relatively simple and one diminsional. No point in saving these. Drink up now.

1/15/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Very nice herbal aromas. A bit lean having lost some of the fruit that previoius bottles showed. Paired well with grilled lamb loin chops, baba ghanoush, and pita bread. Should drink last two bottles over the next year or so.

1/9/2010 - Wiltse wrote:

Wow, what a beautiful young wine. The initial aromas were floral, reminding me of a good wine from Margaux (such as a 2000 Malescot). Over time, plums and sweet black licorice emerged in the nose. The smell reminded me of sticks of black licorice left out in the summer sun. On the palate, the wine was well balanced with perfect portions of fruit, acid, and tannin, although these components were not integrated. It tasted primarily of black berries and cassis. The finish was a bit tannic and lasted for at least 45 seconds. Right now, I would rate this wine at 92 or 93 points, but the potential with bottle age is 96 or 97. I don't have a lot of experience with aged Washington reds, but I would bet this will improve in bottle for at leat ten years and drink very well for at least another dedace.