1/15/2011 - Davidliss wrote:

Pleasant, creamy, cherry-vanilla nose. Acidic wine with a deep berry core with notes of mineral, graphite, and something sort of like cough medicine, though not quite so unpleasant. Solid QPR.

12/23/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Weak and watery. Utterly forgettable.

12/19/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Kind of the fence with this one. Nice nose of cherry, vanilla, and citrus. There are hints of mineral, coffee and tobacco, but it is dominated by a muddle of thick, jammy fruit that requires more balance and structure. Drank over several hours, and it did not much settle down after the first. Might be worth cellaring for 2 – 3 years for another sampling.

12/6/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

One of my favorite Rhone producers. This is my last bottle of the 2006, and I"m sorry to see it go. A couple of years ago I thought it needed more time, and that time has paid off. Beautifully balanced right out of the bottle, nose of cherry, cream and strawberry jam. A bright wine of excellent acidity and firm tannins tasting of strawberry and raspberry, pepper and mineral. Excellent stuff.

11/26/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Upfront nose of cherry/vanilla, cream and candied fruit. Strong notes of mineral and currant, with lesser hints of cherry, parmesan rind and orange peel. Good structure and length, nice balance of tannins and acidity. By no means a stellar wine, but it drinks great, and it is a real winner for the price.

10/5/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Some nice red fruit and dominant pepper, but a bit thin in body and utterly forgettable. Still a good QPR, but given the awesome power and structure of some earlier vintages, this is very much a disappointment.

9/5/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

A brilliantly bright, acidic wine, dominated by sour cherry, raisin, and pepper, with notes of tar and cigar box. Light on the tannins, but still marvelously structured for a very full mouthfeel and an impressive finish.

8/25/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Very appealing nose of bright fruit, cream, mineral, and orange blossom. Taste dominated by sour cherry, but propped up with crushed stone, graphite, fig, and cedar. Tannins buried under the weight of a dominant acidity, but I like that, so put that in the plus column. This is an arresting and delightful example of a relatively obscure Tuscan region, and a total deal at under $20.

8/22/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Nice nose, decent fruit, but thin and unremarkable. I would not purchase again.

7/29/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Interesting blend of old world rusticity with new world bombast. Jammy cherry/vanilla on the nose. First taste slightly watery on the palate, but mouthfeel soon improves with excellent length. Dominated by dark, vivid fruit, but good structure with elements of spice and bramble keep it from descending into fruit-bomb insipidity

5/23/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Dense, dark fruit, some cherry, hints of fennel. Very tanic and rough, almost new worldy. Decanting for two hours did not soften. A bit too brash for me to rave, though time may soften.

4/21/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Decent, medium-bodied wine with a terrific nose, but it ultimately disappoints on the palate. Very little fruit – vague hints of cherry – but dominated by mineral, especially pencil lead and stone. Some lilac on the finish. Interesting, but not fully developed.

3/4/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Undrinkable grapey syrup. I can’t reconcile my experience with many of the reviews here.

2/19/2010 - Davidliss wrote:

Impressive QPR. Bright fruit, especially blackberry and blueberry, and notes of herb, cedar, tobacco. Bright acidity and pleasing tannins. A bit watery on the palate toward the finish, which diminishes the overall effect. Nevertheless, a delightful wine.

11/10/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Thin, metallic, unappealing.

10/29/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

A big, beautiful nose of blueberry, vanilla and cream. Blueberry also dominates the taste, with undertones of prune, black cherry, cedar and floral and mineral notes. I decanted for an hour before drinking, and at first sip I was impressed with great structure and balance. Medium-bodied, good length.

10/27/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Unbalanced and unappealing. Stewed fruit and tobacco, but buried underneath overpowering and unappealingly bitter tannins. I don’t recognize the wine from the reviews poster here. I tried two bottles – same result.

9/12/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Pleasant CC, dominated by cherry on the nose, and sour cherry flavors, with hints of prune, pepper, cigar box. Firm tannins, medium bodied, medium length. Nothing remarkable, and nothing remarkable for the price, but an enjoyable, everyday wine.

8/21/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Virtually no nose. Decent structure, with some dull flavors of dark cherry, prune and mineral. Very hard to tell it’s a pinot. Absolutely nothing unpleasant or wrong here, just nothing particularly good or right. It’s hard to have this little to say for yourself and yet not, somehow, be bad, and it is the lack of bitterness, or weak structure or a watery palate that is the most remarkable thing this wine has to offer.

8/10/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

What a delightful surprise. I bought this mainly on a lark, thinking “how good could a Costco brand CdP be?” Turns out pretty good. I cellared this for about a year and a half. It drank beautifully on opening and continued to develop over two hours. Rich, forward fruit, especially cherry, blueberry and cranberry, with notes of pepper, coffee and tobacco. Good length, and balanced all the way around. Very possibly the best value I’ve ever come across in a CdP.

8/1/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Give this one an hour in the decanter. Beautiful nose of dark fruit, vanilla, & cream. Wonderfully textured velvety mouthfeel, strong flavors of blueberry, blackberry and black cherry, with an undercurrent of rose and tobacco. Perfectly balanced tannins and acidity and solid length. A gem of a classico.

7/24/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Gorgeous floral nose, full bodied, very tannic, impressive length. An undercoat of grass, mineral and copper gives way to blueberry, blackberry and fig. I plan to buy a few bottles to cellar, as this one is very young, so if you don’t have storage facilities, or you cannot wait, I’d decant the crap out of it. I’d say it took about three hours to open up

7/24/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

A bright nose of red fruit, loam and French oak. The acidity here really shines, hoisting up notes of cherry, cranberry, raspberry, cedar and a hint of coffee. Ready to go now with decanting, but I plan to sit on a few bottles for 2 – 4 years just to see what happens.

7/7/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Nose of cherry, vanilla, mint and sea foam. This is a rich wine that benefited form an hour of decanting. Dark dry fruit predominate – prune and raisin, with notes of tar, mineral, and milk chocolate. Very chewy tannins, good length and mouthfeel. A bit too acidic for my taste, and I like acidic wines, and a somewhat humorless quality, but this nevertheless had a big, bold profile, which I dig.

7/6/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Muted nose suggestive of berries and tobacco. Despite decanting, I found this wine a bit closed. Flavor dominated by black fruit and graphite, and while pleasing, it was all far too restrained.

6/30/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

A very muted nose, though effort will yield berry, date, a touch of cream and a blast of vanilla. Medium bodied on the palate, sometimes almost watery, but with balanced tannins and acidity. I’m not getting any of the jamminess that several reviewers mention, though there is dark fruit, especially blackberry, fig, and prune with a hint of thin latte. Make no mistake, this is a very enjoyable wine, but I was expecting something bigger and bolder.

6/5/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Good wine for the price. Bright nose of grape Kook-Aid. Taste dominated by black cherry and prune, with hints of berry, and additional tones of lead, stone and metal. The fruit tastes slightly over-extracted, but the wine still has a pleasant balance even if there is a wateriness in the mid-to-late palate.

4/29/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

10 months after my initial tasting, this wine has drastically improved. Alcohol on nose is gone -- now cherry, loam, cedar, cream, and a hint of cotton candy. Mouth feel much improved, bigger fruit, especially cherry, sour cherry, and something almost like mango, in addition to spice and cigar box. Significantly better length. Last year I wished I hadn't bought three bottles, now I wish I'd bought more.

4/23/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Beautiful rich nose of cherry, loam, mushroom. Cherry dominates for fruit, though with hints of strawberry and fig. Other elements might overpower the fruit, however, especially copper, tobacco, and dark chocolate. Great mouth feel and good finish. I prefer slightly more upfront fruit, but this is a fine example of a less effusive CdR.

3/28/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

A real gem for the money. Nose of cherry, vanilla and pepper. Tastes of rich kirsch, with some tobacco and tar. Very full, well balanced, good tannins and acidity. Nice length.

3/24/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Slightly hot, dominated by unsubtle candied cherry, with lesser tones of spice, cigar box, coffee. Fruit feels over extracted like a lesser new world wine. Not bad for the price, but not worth seeking out again.

3/7/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Apparently I forgot my earlier review and bought another bottle, and this time at a much better price. Perhaps coincidentally, I enjoyed this much more this time around, making me wonder if I had a bad bottle last time. Dark fruits, some dried fruit flavors, mineral, cedar and tobacco. Strong tannins and good acidity. Much more of what I had expected.

2/20/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

Dark and dense, dominated by black fruit and prune with hints of smoke and tobacco. It has a lopsided structure, however, and came across to me too much like an over-built Aussie wine.

2/15/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

On first opening the nose was cream and alcohol, the flavor muted but inoffensive. After about an hour, black fruit begins to emerge, along with tar and tobacco notes, becoming a much bigger and more satisfying wine.

1/24/2009 - Davidliss wrote:

A rich nose of cream, vanilla, and roses. Thin on the palate, flavors of plum and sour cherry dominating. Decent finish, and some rugged tannins help to prop it over. Overall, a pleasant wine, but not remarkable.

12/29/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Medium bodied, pale in color, flavors of berries and oak and mineral. Great finish.

12/21/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Very appealing nose of cherry, pepper and sweet cream. This is a bold wine, that begins with a blast of sweet candied cherry, followed by a flavors of less sweet cherry, raisin, prune, pepper and tar. Strong, and well integrated tannins go well with balanced acidity. Good finish. This is a robust winner.

12/20/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

A bright nose with good amounts of cherry, a heavy dose of vanilla, and a somewhat unpleasing alcohol odor. Good fruit presence, especially cherry and raspberry, also with mineral tones and pencil lead on the finish. Medium bodied and somewhat watery on the mid-palate. Nicely balanced tannins. This comes from a gift sent though the Wall Street Journal wine club, and it is the most expressive of the lot, but still an under-performing Bordeaux for so great a year.

12/18/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Very meager nose, though what there is hints of cherry/vanilla, coal and wet flour. The wine is medium bodied, very watery on the palate, mild tannins, low acidity. Some moderate cherry and raisin flavors, mineral and stone. An inoffensive Bordeaux, but certainly nothing remarkable.

12/16/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Very bright nose of red fruit and mineral. Flavors of candied cherry, cranberry, pepper and earth. A lovely wine and a great QPR.

12/5/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Tawny in color, nose of muishroom, earth and cherry. Muted fruit flavors, leather, and oak. Rustic and inviting at first, but watery on the mid palate. I’d had a bottle a year earlier and loved it, but this was a disappointment.

11/27/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

A bright acidity buoys up a medium bodied wine dominated by sprightly red fruit, especially cherry and cranberry flavors with hints of tobacco, oak vanilla, and stone. A bit watery on the mid palate, but a very pleasing wine overall.

11/26/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

A very bright and pleasing wine with a good amount of acidity buoying up flavors of sour cherry, cranberry, anise, vanilla and a hint of something almost apple-like. A good length and mouthfeel round things out very nicely. A very enjoyable wine.

11/25/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Dark ruby in color. A little hot on the nose, but with scents of raisin, and dry leaf dominating. Bright tannins and acidity, good mouthfeel, flavors of prune, tobacco, blackberry, and spice. Drops out slightly in mid-palate, but has a very pleasing finish. There is something simplistic and rugged, but this is a very aggressive, old world sort of wine, the kind I am inclined to like.

11/20/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

I agree with the other reviewers who say this needs serious decanting. After two hours, things begin to come together. This is a good QPR wine, with lots of dark flavors – stewed fruit, coffee, chocolate, and hints of hops. Beautiful nose, good length, but slightly tannic.

11/7/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

This is a very impressive wine, ruby in color, a full nose dominated by cherry, leaves and some alcohol. Strong flavors of spice, pepper, cherry and cola. An almost exuberant acidity and fleshy tannins round things out. It has an impressive length. A great bargain.

11/3/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

It takes a while to open up, and the final results may not be worth the wait. Thin and watery on the palate, with interesting flavors of stewed fruit, blackberry, tar, pepper and spice, with a hint of candied raspberry on the finish. The flavors are nice, but the weak structure fails to provide adequate support.

10/19/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

A pleasing if unremarkable CdR. Medium bodied with impressive length and good mouth feel and acidity, dominated by cherry and hints of raspberry, chocolate, licorice and a hint of cinnamon.

10/11/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Pleasing wine, medium bodied, bright with strawberry and cranberry dominating. Good acidity and tannin balance, offering a very impressive fruit experience that never threatens to lean toward jamminess. I’m inclined to think it overpriced for what it is, but while it is not dynamic, it is also very well structured, and had a strong and very pleasing presence throughout the tasting.

10/10/2008 - Davidliss wrote:

Very acidic, but the tannins balance it nicely. Medium bodied, dominated by flavors of candied cherry, fruit punch, and a hint of raisin. Pleasing, if not spectacular.