September 30, 2023 - Deep red berry fruits. Cassis. Firm tannins. Super long finish. Some mid palate floral. These Januik wines really benefit from a few years in the bottle. This is simply outstanding and an excellent QPR.
August 13, 2022 - Far better than the last bottle. Not sure about that one. This bottle is outstanding. Tasted after 2 hours of air. Tasted against 3 other Bordeaux blends. The Weinbau blew them all away. Rich red berry fruit. Stewed fruit. Medium/dark ruby color. Medium plus acid. Excellent balance. Nice floral lift on the mid palate. Just goes on and on and doesn't fade. This wine doesn't get the exposure of Mike's other wines but still is just as good as the Cheval or Champoux.
February 1, 2022 - Tasted after 30 minutes of air. A heavy dose of oak on this. Second time in a week that I have had a Januik/Novelty Hill wine that was way too heavy on the oak treatment. The oak masks and dries out the fruit flavors on this. Some lift on the mid palate struggling to get out. Didn't like this as much as previous bottles.
August 17, 2021 - Popped and poured. Red berry fruits with some grippy tannins. I would suggest giving this a good hour or two decant. Plenty of structure here. Good lift on the midpalate. Excellent QPR.
May 28, 2021 - Day 1: Pop and pour and nice out of the gate. Oak, cherry, spices, coffee beans, minerals and graphite. Big wine up front but softens on the medium finish. Really young wine with plenty of aging potential. 90-92 points
Day 2: Spice, oak, minerals, cherry, coffee beans, graphite and plum. Medium plus finish. Holding strong on day 2. 91 points
Recommendation: Hold these until 2025 or later.
January 24, 2021 - Tasted on day 2. Some red berry fruit. Cherries? Plenty of lift on the mid palate. Some cassis. The tannins provide good grip and balance. Fruit just hangs on the palate.
September 13, 2020 - Tasted after several hours of air. Dark ruby color. Expressive red berry and current notes on the nose. On the palate. Round black currents and cassis. Fine grained dusty tannins. Good persistence. Excellent balance. Very nice.
July 26, 2020 - Tasted on day 2. Very dark purple color. Opaque. Smooth plum fruit on the front end. Some fine grained tannins kick in later to provide grip. Nicely balanced. Medium finish. Very nice.