1/4/2014 - Vertical wrote:

Possible slight VA in the nose. Closed on opening, was able to coax out some interesting and broad dark fruit and not much else.

12/20/2013 - Vertical wrote:

Great richness cut just right by the firm acids. Apricot and hibiscus notes. Great stuff.

12/11/2013 - Vertical wrote:

Excellent baking spices, juniper, and rose petal on the nose. Enticing broad sour berry counter balanced by blue fruit and framed by tannins.

11/26/2013 - Vertical Likes this wine:

Opened, decanted, drank over 3 hours. Tight nose throughout, Expansive blue fruit, rhubarb, cured meats, and intriguing smokey deep goodness. Tannins standing proud, I'm in no hurry to drink the remaining 3 bottles, but it is excellent right now.

6/18/2013 - Vertical wrote:

Drank over 2 days. First one late in the night, but there was heavy VA and red notes on pop and pour. Day 2 acetone over blue fruit. Damn, no score.

1/10/2013 - Vertical wrote:

Pop&pour, 1hr in: Ruby red. Rose, currant, wet hay and granite on the nose. Bright red fruit, lightly grippy tannins and medium long finish of rhubarb, thyme and lavender.

12/20/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Subtle spicy strawberry, yet waxy nose. Broad & beautiful pallet: almond custard, rhubarb, tart honeysuckle finish.

12/7/2012 - Vertical Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Dusty rose and rhubarb on the nose. Great breadth on the satin smooth pallet..complemented by vanilla strawberry and rhubarb. only improved over 2 hours with more sandalwood and savory notes coming out later.

11/16/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Popped and poured: honeydew white pepper on the nose. very nice waxy breadth on the pallet with white flowers delight. Overdelivered!

11/9/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Decanted...but reserved some in the bottle. IMO at this age a little disappointing after decanting...too simplistic red fruit....but the remnants of the bottle (T=2 hrs) are what I will review: Cedar juniper mint subdued strawberry on the nose. Interesting savory notes on the pallet but nothing stands out. Very tannic on opening (hence the decant) but those stood the test of 2 hours. Will hold.

4/28/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Inky purple. Dusty rose, orange peal, just a hint of game on the nose. Big blue fruit, but with balance and some stone fruit pit, hint of meat, hoping for more. Uneven tannins.

4/18/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Deep dark fruit, sanguine, mineral, salty. Awesome, buy by the case.

2/26/2012 - Vertical wrote:

Pleasant, but medicinal and dark fruit nose. Deep juniper, underbrush, bramble on the pallet...very very interesting.

2/22/2012 - Vertical wrote:

#6wordsonawine N:Lilly rose earth P:cocoa dustyd depth

9/16/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Popped poured: Rose to brick fade evenly to the rim. nose: hibiscus and baking spice
Slight body, red fruits. 2 hours later, cola, cherry, strawberry, with a notable cornbread baseline flavor.

9/3/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Oak overwhelmed every sniff and sip. As if all the fruit had fallen out, leacing nothing but barrel-related structure. Nothing like the my previous bottle.

7/14/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Honeysuckle, sliced apple, pecan shell, and petrol on the nose. Creme brûlée with honey. Round mouth feel, slight bitterness, long finish.

3/26/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Chilled (to keep temp down after decanting) decanted, and started tasting...notes over time: Rose to the rim; rye bread, rose petal and straw on the nose; delicate in style, strawberry, rhubarb, light minerality Two hours in, layered elements surrounding a still strawberry core, with an increasing minerality.

3/13/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Syrah of the night by consensus

3/2/2011 - Vertical wrote:

Deep rose color, lavender, underbrush, granite and loam on the nose. Strawberry and rose with lavender and a slight savory nature with light dusty tannins

12/13/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Decanted 2 hours - faint cedar, underbrush and boysenberry on the nose. Shared wine with friends, which meant that my last sips were by far the best, and that was at about 2 hrs after opening. Deeply dark fruit, yet flavors with a delightful saline quality. Final sips are haunting as I write this 36 hours later. Will drink over the next 4 years, 7 bottles left, wish I had more.

10/15/2010 - Vertical wrote:

The wine changed quickly over 30 minutes, indicating to me it will only improve for about 12-16 months.

Red fruits, not typical dark black fruits, very fine tannins, some slight petrol with rose petal...lacking in savage, but good. You could tell it was Grenache based, but none of the plumb that is typical down in that region.

9/30/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Raving recommendation: Coconut limestone, pitfruit and spice, day 2 quite different: more savory and firm, granite backbone, equally enjoyable on day 1 and day 2...yes, shocking...(8.99, so value is off the charts...and does color my recommendation)

9/17/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Juniper berry and cedar on the nose. Silky tannins, faint strawberry attack truncated by layers of menthol, the underside of a eucaliptus leaf

9/7/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Perfume aromas, lusty and balanced mouth feel, current and cedar notes on the pallet.

5/10/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Burnt cedar, rose petal, raspberry nose, dark and brooding on the pallet. I wish I had more.

4/21/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Has improved in the last year since I last pulled a cork of this. Trying to pull out some notes to color this description, but too monolithic. Not unenjoyable, and, in the end, fairly typical of restaurant pinot.

3/31/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Nose of rose, vanilla cola and allspice
Perfect match between bouquet and pallet,

3/29/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Strawberry, boysenberry syrup and spice nose. High acidity, mild tannins, and faintly savory finish to accompany the strawberry and rhubarb notes. Great QPR, esp. for someone with such an interest in domestic Granache. Do not recommend a decant. Have several more bottles so I will track this last note to see if it relates to ageability.

3/29/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Some interesting layers of flavor developed, but too heavy on the oak treatment. I just couldn't get away from it, on the nose, on the pallet, and after.

3/8/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Decanted 1 hour, very enjoyable with cinnamon strawberry on the nose, lasting tannins dissipating with time, leather faint menthol

2/14/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Absolute cacophony of flavors, beyond any wine I've experienced. Fresh cut flowers, melon, tangerine on the nose. Layers of flavors to the end of time, the most memorable were of coconut butter, melon, vanilla bean and papaya. Honestly, perhaps too many flavors for my flavor pallet. I'd say one of the best bottles of my life, though not one of my favorites, came off too fruity. Very nice weight on the pallet

1/27/2010 - Vertical wrote:

Great balance of blue fruit, mineral, and a truely savory finish, almost gamey...all that with the weight of a Pinot. Real nice wine

12/31/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Achieved a great balance last in it's life. Favorite bottle of several eas the final bottlE

12/18/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Upon opening citus and cold steel. Way better on Day 2 (stored with cork only). Flinty, herbal, chicken fat, delightful and eye-opening.

11/27/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Ruby color. Spicy nose on opening, 40 min later rose and rhubarb. Light body yet peppery on opening but strawberry and rose petal later

9/11/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Pulled it out of my cellar and popped before checking cellartracker. Bright plumb fruit, heavy oak tannins, high alcohol...while I was drinking it I was thinking it was one of the under $10 wildcards in my cellar. $30? now I'm shocked. Deep color, significant fine sediment. Tart lingering finish on day 2, tannins nonexistant.

8/13/2009 - Vertical wrote:

popped, chilled to ~55F, 40 minutes later, decanted and served . Blueberry graphite on the nose. Boysenberry and tart cherries with several indescribable (to this pallet) layers.

5/31/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Stunning wine. Opened 1 hr, chilled to mid 50s, decanted and ENJOYED. Though not my ideal flavor profile, I prefer brighter red fruit notes, this wine continued to wow me over the next 2 hour, (just after dinner). Initial nose was not of note, but over time, I was able to pull out dark complexity along the lines of graphite, then...melon, then butterscotch (these are not the dominant tones, just the most memorable). Initial impressions were of a very refined wine, not even a hint of a sharp edge requiring further consternation. Darker and more dramatic on the pallet than one of my favorites, Gary Farrell Rochioli designates, but this wine continued to deliver layers of complexity that will stay with me for quite a while. The finish lasted more than 20 seconds. Perhaps my favorite pinot to date (so consider that when evaluating m 95 score)

5/10/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Balanced and barely bruding, all the essences of a good Oregon Pinot

4/3/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Chilled to ~55F, decanted: menthol, ripe cherries, maybe raspberry (at 1 hour) on the nose; delicate red fruit, white pepper and a backbone of unique minerality. There's a chance that since this was an unblinded tasting there is some reverence for this historic site going on. I'll buy a case and get back on that one. Finally, The wine was still developing 3:30 from pulling the cork.

4/1/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Better the next day.

3/18/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Decanted 30 minutes Started with dark cherries and rasberries, at that point about 91 points on my personal Pinot scale (I like Russian River pinots), then after 2 hours in the dacanter, the finish fell off to an offputing biterness. I expected more, and may give this one another chance, without the decanting.

2/15/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Seemed like it experienced proper aging, but it just felt flat, besides the big spike of fruit on the attack. Very simple finish.

1/24/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Opened 3+ hours prior. Deep rich nose with hints of smoke and leather. Over the course of the evening I must have sampled the bouquet 10 times for each time I took a sip. Amazing, time has passed since I tasted the wine (and my identification skills are "under development"), but I remember the deep rich nose fondly. Upon my first taste what instantly came to mind was that this wine was a case study in wine structure. Perfect balance over time of the tasting, no big spikes of flavors upon the attack, enjoyment, or the finish; moreover, it seemed perfectly balanced across the pallet. The taste showed hints of vanilla, distant rose, and layers upon layers of delightful sensations. Finish lingered ~45 seconds. One of the most memorable wines I've had the pleasure to taste.

2/13/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Popped and poured. Served as a dessert course with 3 types of cheeses. great balance of honey, ripe pear and stone fruit. Nice sweetness well balanced by perfectly sharp acidity. Very memorable wine. Will buy more while I still can.

2/4/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Decanted 30 minutes. Cherry, burnt rubber and stone fruit on the nose. Lacks acidity and tannins. Trite and sour.

2/3/2009 - Vertical wrote:

(magnum) Educational because it was interesting to taste a Margaux with some bottle age. Seemed one note and simple, but then it was paired with a magnum of 1986 Heitz Bella Oaks, which was complex and wonderful.

1/16/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Sharp, alcoholic nose with hints of rose petal. Berry fruit with an abbreviated and particularly verdant finish.

1/6/2009 - Vertical wrote:

Great mouthfeel