8/30/2010 - troutmonster wrote:

2010 Institute of Masters of Wine Annual Champagne Tasting; 8/30/2010-8/31/2010 (Christie's Auction House, NYC): Candied granny smith apple nose - almost reminds me of jolly rancher, with a touch of sea salt. The palate has these same candied apple flavors with a bit of yeastiness. Very ripe fruits, and while it's of course a completely dry wine, it almost comes across as sweet.

6/4/2010 - Phredd wrote:

NC Cindy tasting, notes from memory. Much better than the Les Cretes Syrah, this wine was darker, more structured, and just more syrah-like. However, I could still get some grapefruit notes, and can see how the two wines are related. Still, Il Bosco was very clearly surperior to Les Cretes, with a good, solid plum base, and grapefruit acting as accent instead of the main flavor profile. Sorry I don't have better notes on this one, which I regarded as a very good wine. Might even edge into the 90-point range, but really needs more time. Contrast with the Les Cretes, which is probably needs to be consumed within the next year, at most.

4/12/2010 - DRod wrote:

No notes, just from memory. I had a fairly rich and weighty Roter Veltliner before this, so my palate wasn't in the right place to give it a fair shake. But this was a good deal more green than I expected, almost Malborough, NZ-like. That's good or bad depending on what you're into. I'll put a real TN on next tasting. 5 more to go.

4/16/2010 - Kirk Grant wrote:

Shared with a friend today and was not dissapointed.

Color: Pale yellow almost onion skin in color.

Smell: Petrol, pear, green apple, and lime

Taste: Lemon, quince, pineapple, white peach and a melange of tart fresh fruits.

Overall: I'm quite pleased and impressed by this wine. While I would not pay over $20 for it I am glad that I secured a half case of it at $17.

4/12/2010 - DRod wrote:

Opened this and decanted for 1.5hrs, but it was literally tight as a rock and not at all pleasurable. Put it back in the bottle, jammed the cork back in and into the 55F wine fridge. Tried again following night. A wee bit more open but not all that much, put it back in the wine fridge. Third night the thing was singing. Of course I was having spicy stir-fry for dinner and I thought, well maybe I'll put it in the ~40 degree refrigerator and it'll hold one more night. Poor move. It's still not half bad tonight, but clearly showing signs of oxidation. This has nothing to do with the wine, just poor timing on my part.

Regardless, will hold off on opening any more for a long while. Just way too young to really enjoy.

3/26/2010 - Phredd Likes this wine:

Pop and pour on a Friday. I'm looking for a pick-me-up, and hoping this wine delivers. Very inky purple color and thick and viscous in the glass - it almost looks like a dessert wine. The nose is fairly tight, but still complex and with good typicity: dark plum reduction, kirsch, black licorice, cement dust, and lilac. Some port-like character there. I wish this were more aromatic, because although the aroma profile is really exciting, there just isn't enough of it. On the palate, this is a very big, tannic wine. We're almost certainly a year or two too soon on this one. On the attack, lots of plum and port character, but without any sweetness. Dark, black fruit flavors, but also layered with sharp Granny Smith apples and nutmeg. The finish is still pretty bitter, a sign of youth, and the 14.5% alcohol (labeled) is not particularly well-contained. This ends up quite hot on the finish. It is a bit unbalanced now, but it is tremendously bold and ripe. I think this has the potential to mellow out a little and be very, very good for a $26 bottle of wine. I gave it a 91 now, but I think in two or three years this is likely to be closer to 93. Lots of potential here.

Edit: After 48 hours under Vacu-Vin, this really did smooth out a lot. Tempted to even bump up the score by a point, but I think I'll let it age before I revisit that. I am very enthusiastic about this one, though. The only real downside is the very high alcohol. The finish is still hot, and I don't think that's going to change with time. Even when mature, this will probably still need a decant and remain better with food. Really liking it, though, and look forward to popping another one in a year or so.

3/16/2010 - DRod Likes this wine:

Another stellar experience with this wine. Paired it with spicy thai, which seems risky given the high alcohol/no residual sugar. But it went famously. I think it's important to keep it at perhaps a cooler-than-normal temperature to lower the sensation of alcohol on the palate. It does have an alcoholic bite to it, but that same alcohol gives it a more full-bodied and oily sensation on the palate that I very much enjoy.

3/15/2010 - jpdel wrote:

The nose is just amazing, layer of perfumed fruit and spice, can't get enough. Tropical fruits, spice, touch of pepper attack the tongue, surprisingly viscous, almost like a dessert wine in mouth feel, extremely dry, no sweetness, finishes with a waxy greenness and some bitterness. Unlike any other gewurz I've had. Unfortunately, the alcohol is out of control on this one, it was really noticeable. I would gladly trade a little RS to have a little lower abv on this one. I really alternated between loving this and hating it because of the high alcohol.

3/2/2010 - amgryger Likes this wine:

NY/NJ WLTV Offline (Fabio's NYC): Dark fruit, blueberry, vanilla on the nose along with a really interesting not of freshly baked "yellow cake." Similar notes on the palate along with a really nice raspberry component. I had some of this sitting in a glass off to the side and kept going back to it. Very nice.