September 12, 2021 - disapointing
September 26, 2017 - 14%. Has aged well. Aromatic : roasted red pepper, tobacco, and dark chocolate. Still retains a solid structure. With air time the cab franc element gains prominence. I suggest air time or decanting.
June 21, 2016 - A rustic wine that is neither over the hill, nor will it get better. More than a whiff of VA upon opening. Saturated ripe fruit underlined by coarse tannins that intrude rather than adding balance. Except that the fruit was not cooked, reminded me of '03s.
It actually went fine with grilled beef fajitas, but not a wine for elegant meals.
September 6, 2015 - This wine was initially showing much like my prior, showing tons of rancid meat and plum funk that almost made me dump it. I decided to allow it to sit in the glass for a while and a lot of that has dissipated rather rapidly over an hour. From hour 1-3 it remains about the same... so there's certainly some reduction going on with these wines, but it doesn't seem to always resolve. Once this mostly resolved, it was actually tasting fairly good, and the lingering flavors on palate are very nice. Aromas are showing some sweet red apple skin and plum notes, some light graphite, and a spicy acidity that's nice. The palate is soft, but does show some of that stewed plummy note. As this is held in the mouth you begin to get really nice acidity and tannins dialing in. The tannins are firm but fairly fine grained. Spicy acid on the finish and again some of that rancid plum/meat flavor, but this time it fades after about 20 seconds leaving nice higher acidity and luscious red fruits that are very nice. So, a confusing, difficult wine to deal with. Perhaps I'll just decant the hell out of the next one and see if that makes it better. Due to the variability, though, I still think I'll drink the remaining two in the short term instead of allowing these tannins to soften. I honestly believe the fruit is only going to decline from here even if the structure is holding. Score is for peak enjoyment as the pop and pour was in the mid 70s.
September 2, 2015 - seems to have gone down hill
April 6, 2015 - Two years on since the previous bottle. Very dark color. Evolved notes on the nose, showing soft, rotting plum meat, forest floor, glue, and black pepper. Palate is fairly soft and smooth texturally, and it actually does show some nice acidity, however, the flavor profile is similar to the nose, showing these old fruit notes and funky glue and odd dirt. Finish is all meat stewed in plum sauce and soy sauce. This wine was so fantastic on release, but it really seems to have fallen off a cliff. Time to move my remaining bottles to the "pour for people who don't like wine" pile. What a bummer.
January 29, 2015 - This wine was so good. Do you know that feeling when you look at CT and see an 88 community rating and think it isn't going to be worth opening? Well, this one is in the zone now. Certainly Italian and a nice mix of new and old world. Cab Sauv and Franc. Good deep leather complexity. Drink em if you got em.
October 14, 2014 - As usual, Jon's hyperbole seems absurd in retrospect but this is a solid drink with a somewhat Bdx profile, but then there's something sweeter that must be the Alicante. Finish is a tad bitter and the wine has nice earthiness
The wine still tastes young or certainly not old
I'd score it in the 89-91 range
April 12, 2014 - Plenty of fruit, with a tarry, earthy, animal character. Tannic finish. A simple wine, not worth the $24 paid to Garagiste.
November 2, 2013 - Very good, had with pizza