12/26/2009 - pantisocrat wrote:

This champagne is absolutely delicious. Beautiful balance and delicate bubble, the wine keeps developing flavor as it sits in the glass. This is an amazing grower capable of walking the fine line between delicacy on the palate with intensity and power. Tasted this wine at the estate in August with Alexandre; it continues to improve and impress.

7/25/2009 - pantisocrat wrote:

This was an amazing bottle of wine. Beautiful seductive fruit with herbes de provence, roasted meat, dark blackberry, with seemless tannins. Was a clear winner in a tasting of '89 Papet and '89 Beaucastel. Again, very sexy bottle of wine.

7/20/2009 - pantisocrat wrote:

The bottle seems atypical of the vintage. Plush red and black fruit much more like '02 in Oregon. The finish is cinnamon/sweet oak spice. Actually, the wine seemed quite sweet and out of balance.

7/20/2009 - pantisocrat wrote:

I'm perplexed by Cameron wines. They usually taste great on release with beautiful fruit, but after a couple of years something strange happens. This bottle is no exception. The "Cameron funk" (reduction/sweet burnt rubber nose) was choking the fruit underneath. The funk didn't blow off even after a 2 hour decant. I want to like this wine, I just wish it was cleaner with the beautiful fruit shining through.

6/15/2009 - pantisocrat wrote:

This wine was very disappointing as is most of Ken Wright's wines with a little age on them. After about a 30 minute decant the nose was finally giving an impression that this was a pinot noir, but in the mouth the fruit was flat with almost no intensity or depth. The finish was strangely astringent. Is this the archtype of Ken's wines after a couple of years? I've had the same experience with Carter, Nyssa, and Abbot's Claim. Even after 2 hours in the decanter, the wine never came around. Happy this was the last Ken Wright wine in my cellar.

8/22/2008 - pantisocrat wrote:

Very disappointing. Big jammy with no structure and slight spicy oak. Overly extracted and highly alcoholic. I can see how some might like especially if a California cab. drinker or a Wine Specatator reviewer. After two or three tastes, poured it down the drain. Too big and too goopy.

6/30/2008 - pantisocrat wrote:

Beautiful wine; it's put on weight since the last bottle I drank last year. Reminds me of a volnay...beautiful elegant red and black fruit with turned earth and forest floor notes on the nose. Lovely intensity on mid-palate with a lingering finish. Outstanding quality for the price; wish I had more.

4/13/2008 - pantisocrat wrote:

Decanted for about an hour. Tasted very monolithic and reductive...dark plum and cola...that's about it. Drank for over and hour with no real change in the wine. Was expecting much more than an Oregon pinot masking itself as a mid-range Washington merlot.

4/13/2008 - pantisocrat wrote:

Disappointing bottle. Thin, insipid, with very little fruit. Seemed very old and tired. It seems as all the Autard wines I've tasted recently are just not very good.

1/30/2008 - pantisocrat wrote:

Very tight when opened. Decanted in glass while I cooked; after an hour the wine was stunning. If the '04 Barolo's are like this, it will be a great vintage. Wine had beautiful floral and plum notes on the nose with tar and cedar notes underneath. Great with bucatini all' alamatriciana.

8/9/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Beautiful fruit intensity with balanced acidity. Continues to evolve in the glass; truly outstanding rose. Stood up beautifully to grilled hanger steak. Dare I say, this seems a rose able to age a bit. I still have '05's that are still tasting fresh and vibrant. Suberb wine, reagardless of color.

7/25/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

This wine just sings. Beautiful high tone red-raspberry seamlessly merging to plum, spice and turned earth. Incredibly nuanced and sophisticated with a long finish. This is why I drink pinot...incredible.

7/23/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Beautiful high-tone red fruit with great acidity. A great volnay with a long seamless finish. Very good now, but has the stuffing to go a few more years. Very impressed with this wine. It blew away an '02 Freddy Magnien Clos de Beze.

7/17/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

The nose, when first opened, was promising...deep plum and boysenberry with a wisp of oak. On the palette the oak became much stronger and the fruit fell away. The longer the wine was open, the oakier it became until the wine was undrinkable. Maybe it's jumped the shark, I don't know...but the wine was very disappointing.

7/9/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Nice nose of lemon peel, white flower, with a wisp of petrol. Very dry on the palatte. Seems the fruit was dumbed down and superceeded by acid. Would benefit by decanting; it just seems shut down.

5/6/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Beautiful nose of spicy raspberry and cherry with just a hint of turned earth. Rich plum in the mid-palate, but the finish is somewhat short. Solid effort.

4/22/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Wow, what a wine. White peach and white flower with honey poured over stones. The longer in the the glass, the more complex this wine becomes. Beautiful, elegant, and cerebral...the more you think about the wine as you drink it the better it shows.

4/22/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Wine is still huge. Decanted for over two hours and still was tight not showing much fruit. That being said, this is a stunning wine and will reward another 5-7 years in the cellar.

4/8/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Lovely bing cherry and turned earth nose, but rather insipid on the palate. There is no there there. Mid-palate and finish is plain and prosiac. Drank over two hours and no real complexity developed. Started to get a little depth with darker cherry and cola notes, but disappointing overall.

3/19/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Disappointing wine. Nose was promising but then the carmel-like oak seemed to choke off the fruit; became much worse the longer it was open. Fortunate they didn't put this wine up against DRC.

1/18/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Lovely wild raspberry and cherry nose. Rustic juicy red raspberry on the palette. Very much fruit driven but nice balance. Went fantastic with a sausage, white bean, and escarole soup. Stood up to the richness quite well. Very nice wine.

1/1/2007 - pantisocrat wrote:

Beautiful complex nose of high tone red raspberry with a dark plum and turned earth. French elegance with ripe Oregon fruit; very similar to a Chambolle with a long luxurious finish. This is still a young wine and will improve with another 5-7 years in cellar.

6/4/2006 - pantisocrat wrote:

Nose of dark fruit (blackberry and cassis); hints of tobacco, sadle-leather, and coffee. Not very complex on the palatte, tends to drop off at the end. Solid wine to drink now, can't imagine it picking up much more complexity in bottle.

4/2/2005 - pantisocrat wrote:

Great nose of red fruit melding with black fruit and a touch of spice. Developed complexity the longer in the glass. Nicely balanced with a long finish. Superb with lamb.

3/23/2005 - pantisocrat wrote:

Amazing nose of cherry leading to blackberry leading to chocolate tempered by spice (cinnamon) and a whiff of oak. This is a big pinot with 15.5% alcohol, but with a little time in the decanter the alcohol blew off and the wine showed nice balance with a long satisfying finish. Will never be described as elegant, but more time in the bottle should reward patience and become a more complex wine.

3/24/2005 - pantisocrat wrote:

Dark and inky in the glass. Nice black fruit on the nose (blackberry, dark raspberry) with a touch of spice and oak. Nice balance and mouth feel. The longer in the glass, the more prominent the spice to a white pepper with undertones of cardaman. Interesting to see how it ages.

3/18/2005 - pantisocrat wrote:

This is a monster when first opened, but softened in the glass. The wine showed nice balance. Should improve with a couple more years in the bottle.