9/2/2023 - thalver wrote:

This bottle did not show the ash-taste (smoke taint I presume) that an earlier bottle showed....a quite nice quaff

3/11/2023 - beef1020 wrote:

Fundamentally flawed wine, smoke taint is overwhelmingly evident on the nose and palate. Undrinkable, supremely disappointed in Franny Beck for putting this out in the market. 2019 opened to replace is very, very nice. The 2020 should not have been released. Simply terrible wine.

10/4/2022 - Aravind Asok wrote:

Unscrew and pour. Waited 10 years from vintage. Absolutely stunning now. On the nose: vanilla, bramble, pomegranate, molasses, medicinal herbs...not all at once but flits among these notes. On the palate: lovely acidity, soft coffee, dark herbs and earth, attenuated tannin. Very well put-together. Not nearly as fruit/oak driven as Furst's Hundsruck, but a very interesting interpretation and fantastically food-friendly to boot. Complex and very drinkable. What more can one ask for?

5/4/2022 - 3daywinereview.com wrote:

Day 1: My new everyday wine and need to get more before it gets to hot to ship from the east coast. This has that funk! Raspberries, minerals, dust, cherry, pepper and wood. As complex of a wine under $30 (retail $75) as you will ever find. Amazing. 94 points
Neighbors came over and this bottle out!

11/19/2021 - mercurius Likes this wine:

Bit too much of an oak monster at this point. Think it needs at least five years to integrate.

Edit: this needed a day to open and integrate. Hide these away. Tasted great on day two.

9/11/2020 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine:

Bought one again to see if my second experience could live up to the first (see my prior tasting note.) It came close! Although it was a little less memorable and engaging this time, with somewhat less harmonious and powerful structure. It was still super beautiful and I think excellent QPR. There could be some bottle variation - I'm not sure it was only the novelty of it that amazed me more last time, but that could easily play a part too.

Still a very powerfully savory nose - less of the gorgeous forest floor/musty cellar/damp leaves from last time, but plenty of killer meaty, stemmy, almost peppery tones at the fore that were highly evocative of pastrami or even smoked meat. Beneath was a fantastic, deeply-pitched core of fruit, a sort of highly spearmint-and-mineral-laced black cherry, almost like cherry cola, lurking deep down but showing real beauty and even better with a tiny kiss of vanilla oak.

Palate was also a touch less sappy, firm, and electric compared to last time, but still had nice, gently chalky tannins and medium+ acidity, a lot of earthy cherry and high-toned strawberry, fairly tart, but ultimately elegant and enjoyable, even if the slight tartness called out for a good food pairing.

Night 2 was an interesting change, and held up super well over 24 hours - like the first time it got sweeter/less savory, but showed a VERY dark fruit/oak combination that was even closer to warmer-climate new world Pinot, spiced blueberry pie with mint and sweet vanilla oak that tiptoed toward cotton candy (?!) Completely different wine from the stemmy/meaty tones of night 1, but beautiful in its own way. Friendlier tannins and higher minerality but somewhat more tartness. In general this feels higher than 13% ABV, but certainly not overdone.

A damned delicious and complex wine that I'd recommend for slow/contemplative drinking or confident cellaring.

5/25/2021 - mercurius wrote:

At peak now. Drink up.

11/9/2020 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:

{organically grown} PnP, served double-blind to my mates; was only my second time with this since release. One taster nailed this as Sangiovese straightaway (impressive, if you ask me) but then, after living with the wine for some 15 minutes, guesses ranged from Aglianico to Syrah, more or less. That said, while the wine did change a good amount during the 45 minutes we were tasting it, it eventually circled back with and was even more convincingly Sangiovese. Medium>full body, with a thick vein of fresh acidity, and bright, well-delineated fed/dark red fruits, etc.

On the first night, this was, I believe among the top-tier wines of the dinner I hosted, including B. Mascarello, Cappellano, etc. However, based on the 200ml I had saved for night #2, I'd put this above those, and frankly all the other wines (~ 20) I opened this past weekend. This is, iirc, Casa Emma's first 100% Sangiovese wine raised totally in amphora, and wow is it ever a thrilling success. 14,0% abv, natural cork, drink thru 2034+. If opening any time soo, I suggest at least 90 minutes of air in decanter as the tannins are quite firm upon opening; excellent with a pan seared steak. A rare experience, and rating for me - very highly recommended+

http://www.italianwine.blog

7/26/2019 - mercurius Likes this wine:

It seems like this has a bit more acid and than the 2009. The 2009 was one of my favorite wines of the year but this just doesn't seem as opulent. I hope it's just closed down and needs time--but it didn't have the nose, mouthfeel, nor finish of the 2009.

3/31/2020 - mercurius wrote:

Great acid and more on the pinot side than grenache. Whole bunch stems were nice. Built to age.

6/3/2019 - prasm Likes this wine:

Popped and poured, consumed over 4 hours. Nose: Medium expressiveness, blue and red fruit - blueberry & cranberry, shoe polish undertones, licorice, and allspice. Palate: Medium bodied, perfectly ripe blue and black fruit attack, graphite and camphor appear through the mid-palate, very interesting complexity on the palate, graphite and dark fruit dominate the back-end and persist through a 45-60 second finish. This wine definitely punches well above it's weight class, seriously good juice for $28.

4/16/2019 - mercurius Likes this wine:

It needed an hour decant. More translucent than average for Oregon but still a dark, almost a mahogany red. Wonderful nose with a top note of macerated strawberries and candied orange peel, and middle note of citrus blossoms, and a base note of galangal root and cinnamon. Nice acid spine and long lingering finish. Some unresolved tannins--but that should be expected with a baby. While this isn't their top bottling, I believe it has the balance, fruit, and structure to age. I'd imagine tertiary development notes of coffee and even more orange peel are waiting to come out to play in 10, or so, years--but wonderful now.

4/8/2019 - mercurius wrote:

It tastes as if this was exposed to too much oxygen by the vintners. I feel like it's one step away from turning into vinegar. This makes it interesting now--but kills all chances of it being able to age. Drink up.

12/24/2018 - scorrea Likes this wine:

On the way down. Great bottle variability in this vintage. Light red fruit with some oak still poking its head.

11/2/2017 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine:

Assessing Bordeaux 2015 from bottle, part I; 11/2/2017-11/3/2017 (Bordeaux): When I wrote a story about this estate for Decanter last year, I was impressed with the steps being taken to improve quality. For example, their 2014 is more interesting than the 2010, as the selection process has been improved and the vinification is better. From barrel, I liked the sumptuousness, which shows through again in bottle: A lovely, fruit driven nose. Smooth and refined on the palate with a hint of oak.

8/28/2017 - mercurius Likes this wine:

On the nose I get a top note of asters like echinacea or sunflower and a good helping of fresh strawberries. Right when I opened it I thought I smelled some dill but that subsided into light fennel and smoke and a rock collection in the middle with lots of feldspar. Strong acid and still a bit too much tannin but nice balance. Lots of red fruit and medium finish. I think ideally I'll wait 'til '22 or '23 to open my next bottle. Good QPR!

8/21/2017 - vinorsk Likes this wine:

Delicious as always. Rich red fruit, bright acidity medium tannin, and a vegetal under current. Had with grilled salmon. More fruit than usual but it not sappy (close) Fantastic!

4/3/2017 - mercurius Does not like this wine:

Red fruit, mostly cherry, on the nose. A little bit of barnyard funk. Pretty balanced wine but semi-carbonic. Nice finish of soft tannins. Drinking well now. Good QPR.