April 5, 2024 - This was an amazing bottle. Thinking there could be some bottle variation here because this bottle was marvelous.
February 7, 2024 - Opened and poured over three plus hours. Upon open, there were dark fruits on the nose and at first taste. The mid was flat, with a non-existent finish. After three hours, the tanins are really well integrated, but this wine is really flat. There is just a hint of fruits on the start and then nothing but warm tasteless alcohol. It may just be in a dormant period, so I’ll look to open others between now and ‘33. Falling from the Realm realm, but hoping what I have is worth keeping.
January 25, 2024 - PnP tasted non-blind over two hours. A chocolate Hostess cake is ready to go once opened, so is processed chocolate pudding, and so was this Bard. This is a big pool of chocolatey, over-ripe black and blue fruit, with a thick coat of vanilla, some carob, and molten Nestle's morsels - for good measure, I assume. Not having had tried this vintage before, I gave it a go; I'm always willing to see what's new, what may have changed. After four sips over forty minutes, I rinsed my (half-full) glass and moved on to the next wine in the lineup. No doubt this is a great cocktail, to some, but I can't think that this was meant to go with food (no doubt I'll get a lot of "with steak" comments), or at least not the type of food I prefer. And since I never have wine without food, The Bard and I aren't likely to cross paths again anytime soon. I reckon some twenty five+ years ago, in a social setting of some sort, I'd have actually finished that first glass, perhaps to fit in. Or for a quick sugar fix. So fast forward, and it's clear that's no longer a worry. I don't. Fit in. With the Realm crew, at least. If this is your jam, then this is another great vintage of the Bard, enjoy.
fwiw, the chocolate can be found under all the vanilla
January 12, 2024 - Awesome
January 10, 2024 - See prior notes. Been almost 2.5 years since last bottle. This one had nice fruit at the onset but then after open about 30 minutes got a little raisin toast to it. Ill see how next bottle is before I say drink now so stay tuned
January 1, 2024 - Inviting entry showing multiple levels of depth right off the bat. Settled but present tannins. Muddled blueberries, mulberry, huckleberry, concentrated sweet fennel, licorice, leather. Profound wine with 25 years ahead of it.
November 11, 2023 - Well this was a completely different wine. The last one came from a different shipment, so maybe those are flawed or left in a hot truck before being delivered???
Nose was eucalyptus and heath bar candy. Dark berries, touch of mint. Ever so slightly more tannic that we like, but nicely softened. Excellent hang time in the mouth.
Totally different from the last bottle, phew!!
November 10, 2023 - This has come a long way in six years. Initially very tight and backwards, it has unwound very nicely. Still needing a few more years of cellaring, unripe fig, blackberry, plum, blueberry pipe tobacco, licorice. Very nice wine.
October 10, 2023 - Nearly two hour decant. Very very deep ruby magenta color. Underripe blackberry, plum, vanilla pudding, pistachio, and date-infused chocolate. Dry palate, with zesty acidity. Firm, medium intensity tannins on the longish finish.
This is solid, but clearly different (and a step down) from neighboring vintages. Enjoyable nonetheless.
October 5, 2023 - HUGE disappointment! I'm writing this review over a month since we drank the bottle, so I'm not going to try to come up with all of the flavor characteristics (which were terribly muted). I decanted this bottle for roughly 4 hours before taking it to an outstanding Italian restaurant. I didn't find the wine to be flavorful at all - no where's near as good as prior vintages of The Bard. This bottle, after a 4 hour decant, was a tannin bomb! Whatever flavors the wine possessed, was ruined by the excessive tannins. I have a couple more bottles of this wine, and will wait at least 5 more years before opening the next...