March 3, 2024 - Beautiful wine. Great nose with bright rich red fruit. Flavors of plum, dark fruit, leather, & earth. Enjoy!
November 19, 2023 - PnP at my sis’s, accompanying my brother in law’s boeuf bourgogne. On the nose and palate, the usual powerful and insistent TRB notes of sweet cassis, black cherries, mulberries, huckleberries, blueberries, anise, dark chocolate and, surprise, oak, vanilla and liquer. Deep magenta, full bodied, thick legs. Medium+ tannins which are very smooth, medium- acidity, slight touch of heat. VG complexity, VG++ intensity and persistence. The pendulum swings. After 10 days of Cabs and BDX blends skewing toward the strict (the Ovid aside), here comes TRB, surprisingly supplied my sis, Queen of the Old World—she blames her fondness for this on the gateway drug of RM pinots, also my first TRB wines—generous to the point of promiscuity. Singing off the pour, like so many TRB wines, this, for my palate, stays just on the right side of the luscious-cloying divide, the tannic structure in particular preventing too much leakage. The yum factor is dialed up to 11 on a 1-10 scale, the delivery accentuated by that classic TRB creaminess. If this didn’t hit the interest level of Materiums of Outpost Trues, my gold standard for his wines, albeit at more dizzying price points, it was plenty tasty and a far more appealing option for me in this genre than Silecieux or the NV Scarlett. Held pretty steady over the hour or so I had my glass and a half, so I think it will last a while but not decades, and I’m not sure aeration will add much to the drinking experience at this point. Worked well enough with the wine-laden beef, but if the evening’s entry is a less seasoned fatty piece of lamb or beef, then I’d recommend this more as a cocktail wine. At around to a bit more than this price point, I’d more often prefer wines like Forman or Mt. Brave (or finding something like the Hartwells or Riverains at auction when there are no other bidders), but I sure enjoy the TRB wines, this included, when I drink them. 93+
May 19, 2023 - Incredible concentration. Huckleberry, blackberry, licorice, sweet tar.Fig/prune on the finish. Amazing wine with 20 years left in the tank.
May 14, 2023 - Sweet and easy with currant, berry and cocoa
May 5, 2023 - PnP, no decant needed. aromas of blackfruit, cassis, anise and cedar, Loaded with flavor with red and black fruits, cedar. anise and plum. Soft tannis show up in the finish, but still smooth. Great balance.
February 25, 2023 - Opened, poured and had a quick sip: Reddish fruit on the nose; sweetish, reddish fruit taste; soft mouthfeel. Then let it sit about 1/2 hr: Next sip picked up where the initial sip left off: sweetish, reddish fruit; soft mouthfeel; tannins not noticeable; acidity OK; finish distinctively sweet. Continued this way for about 1/2 hr. Then: Changed to a darker fruit profile; not sweet; not much fruit to speak of; tannins getting a grip, although not too bad; much more structured; soft mouthfeel gone. The first 1/2 hour was pleasant, although not particularly cab-like. The 2nd 1/2 hr had more of the cab structure, but minimal fruit, and still not a cabernet profile. Not sure what to make of this. Liked it as a pop-n-pour. Extended air time hurt, rather than helped.
December 30, 2022 - Full throttle entry after a one hour decant. Smooth but powerful structure, with sweet, chewy and velvety tannins. Creamy blueberry, ripe plum/prune, concentrated licorice. Purity and depth, this is a turbocharged effort by TRB.
December 19, 2022 - Very nice pairing with rib eye roast
December 19, 2022 - rich, ripe, TRB style... nice qpr
December 11, 2022 - Went well with leg of lamb. A consistent cab.