9/15/2023 - kevinleeht wrote:

Sep 2023 -100 Pointer Tasters showdown (10 wines)

This was something I really wanted to like, beautiful label, name and given the rave reviews was almost too excited to try it I left it almost till the end to even nose it.
Off the bat I noticed some funk/barnyard on the nose which I thought was strange since it wasn't bordeaux but the host said was typical of Galatrona. To me it could have been an off-bottle but I'm really not sure since was my first time. Was quite tannic on the palate though with good mouth feel, rustic and savoury. Felt more like a food wine. But really nothing spectacular and my opinion didnt change after 2hr of letting it sit in the glass hints of barnyard were still there. Given the high reviews I'm withholding my score until I've tasted another bottle from another source to be sure mine wasn't an off-bottle.

12/7/2023 - Huh wrote:

I'm sorry but I went into this with an open mind but the acid never relented after 3 days. I paid some good money for this and I wanted to love it and see its "potential". There should be some hedonism in a 15 year-old white wine. Not here. The acid was so cutting that any sense of "body" was masked. I tasted and drank several bottles of 1990 Krug, one at this stage and the other 2 in later stages. That wine never cleaned my teeth like this. OK, so yeh 1990 is more opulent, but 15 years, this is not in my value system. Would I have been successful if I waited until 2035 to open, maybe. But I don't drink wine to win longevity awards. 15 years I should get some hedonism. I gave it 92 because I'd rather drink this than standard crap because there is complexity present. But I, next time, will have some turkey gravy in my mouth as I swig this.

5/5/2020 - jshufelt wrote:

Decanted one hour before service; throwing very fine sediment at the end of the decant. In the glass, already showing a light auburn color at the rim, and a deeper, darker auburn at the core. On the nose, roses, orange peel, and damp cedar. On the palate, at first a head fake towards structured and tannic, which then melts away on the mid-palate to reveal the blend of complexity, hedonistic sweet fruit, and ripe tangy stone fruit that makes Cerbaiona so special, with a long, high-toned finish redolent of cedar, fennel, and sherry.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy the '93 Cerbaiona a few years ago. This is reminiscent of that experience, but it's delivering the goods at the leading edge of its aging curve, if it's even reached that plateau yet. Sure, I'm biased - as I've stated here in several tasting notes over the years, Cerbaiona is my desert island producer. And let's be honest...with the world situation as chaotic and frightening as it is right now, wine's simple pleasures are ampiified even further, so it's reasonable to question the objectivity of any tasting note right now.

But if this bottle is representative, this really lives up to the hype: it represents that next step above, with upside potential in reserve.
Riveting, outstanding wine.

11/20/2018 - Huh wrote:

Many notes are spot on here. Primary fruit for me is raspberry with smoke and herbs and that syrah iron mineral note. As many have said this was tight and unyielding upon opening to the point where I was disappointed with the score and hype this was given.

BUT on day 2 I started to get the "Rhone" flavor, the ripeness and the fruit. I don't get the "sweetness" or "fakeness" others have spoken about. It is modern but I don't get fakeness or overt sweetness.

Tonight on day 3 it is balanced with raspberry flavors, smoke, mild pepper, medium body and a finish that has strong grip and length.

I'm drinking it colder say around 57 degrees and I like it this way. RP mentioned Sine Qua Non and I think he stretched it there. When I taste Sine Qua Non there is deep Ca ripeness, bigger alcohol and sweetness of fruit. Big full body and mouth filling sweet fruit. If there is a parallel it is the "heady", "seamless", "ever changing" quality of this wine to Sine Qua Non.

If I worked in a liquor store I would introduce a wine drinker who likes Ca Syrah Grenache type wines to the French style with this wine...

2/9/2018 - Huh wrote:

After my wife went hog wild for Brunellos last February (prior to her birthday) I searched until at some point in September the right deal came along and grabbed 2 of these. I had to wait until this February to wrap it and present it to her. I gave her the print outs of all the accolades/scores from AG and ML including the TN's and scores from below.

I told her it was way young but she made the choice to crack it. So funny thing when I decanted it I poured from the bottle and nothing came out. I looked in the bottle and thought something was weird. I poured again - nothing. I looked again - there was a nickel size piece of sediment in the neck blocking the wine from flowing. Finally I got it decanted and I am drinking the dregs. Fair amount of sediment which is always a good sign.

First thing my wife said was, "tastes like we are in Italy". I can put that into wine flavors. It's got cherry, leather, ever so slight raisin (young raisin) and all kinds of complexities that add up to complete wine. I will add a note in an hour from the decanted non dregs...

4/25/2016 - Huh wrote:

I can't see how anyone could rate a wine this sweet and syrupy anything higher than 89. Scroll down and look for the 85 point rating and that is the exact description of this wine. It was tagged in the store of having a 94 point rating. So I grabbed it expecting a structured quality wine. This is marginally better than menage a tou (sorry about spelling but that wine does not deserve me looking up how to spell it) because the flavors are on a higher level of quality but I can't get past the soupy tomato juice type feel. Maybe there's some weird acid profile that is happening here but the acids are messed up. Maybe you could serve this to friends that aren't wine savvy and tell them this is a great wine. I also don't see how previous tasters could say this is young. If you are a serious wine aficionado who likes sweet syrupy wines then this is your wine. I'm assuming you have Caymus Cabernet in your collection. The flavors are passable but this has no structure. If you feel this is a structured wine then you and I have drank different bottles. How the critics got this wine around 94 points is beyond me.

EDIT: Tasted a 2nd bottle and fared better - it was still the sweet type wine but at it's core there is "drippy" Cabernet flavors. I guess it was better because I had it with food which mitigated the sweetness. In between sips were pleasurable but in the end I can't take the sweetness. The texture is weird - kind of like a watery texture but the concentration and sweetness is there. ie. - no structure but enough acid to hold it together. I am going 89pts. now based on the fact that there are plenty of 89 pointers that let me down. If this was $20 then I'd buy more for pouring for guests to give them something decent tasting but also the sweetness that party goers like...