May 6, 2024 - Young but delicious
May 4, 2024 - Herbal, red fruit nose. The palate features elevated red fruit, amply acidity, and medium to firm tannins. Seems to lack the kind of integration one expects from a good Southern Rhone wine but that is probably due to opening it too early. Frankly, I was a little disappointed but willing to wait. Holding the rest until 2026 at least.
April 2, 2024 - Red Rhone Blend more
Options4/1/2024 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 92 points (Edit)
Darkly translucent black cherry color, with a smokey scent of baked lamb, black cherry, and sweet dried flowers.
The medium light mouthfeel, in spite of the 15.5% ABV, is supported by a sparkling acidity and an aggressive mouth coating tannic presence.
Sans food the wine conveys flavors of sweetly tart cherry and raspberry, and although having a lesser overall rating than the previous vintage, the wine at once possesses the seductive presentation evocative of the shared Chateauneuf du Pape Grenache area identity, merged with the physicality of an inferred higher presence of Syrah (although not found in this blend), seen used farther North up river.
This wine is very elegant and approachable, with tannin encased sweet fruit that rushes to the finish as tannins cling cloyingly to the teeth.
The wine should be enjoyed while the fruit sings, disregarding the tannin’s persistence, which should not detract from the overall tasting experience.
March 30, 2024 - Added too many bottles
March 23, 2024 - Highly expressive perfume of purple fruits, with red fruit accents, cut tobacco, cigar, pepper, espresso grounds, root vegetables, mineral ores, and black earth. The wine tastes like it smells, presented in inflection changing layers. Commanding presence and structure, complemented by harmonious presentation. Gripping finish of considerable length.
Featuring medium plus acid and sophisticated tannins, it should age well for a decade+. The tannin initiated might find tasting a bottle now informative. Others might consider burying these for no less than five years. Improvement possible...if not likely. 93-94.
December 26, 2023 - Christmas Eve paired with a traditional Ukrainian feast of 12 dishes that can have no meat or dairy products!!!! went very well with everything - including the fishes, cabbage rolls, borscht, and pyrohy (both potato and cabbage...) and the mushroom dumplings....
December 21, 2023 - A little brighter and fresher than I thought. Smokey. Oddly tastes a little bit like smoke taint, which makes no sense at all. Alexandra feels like this has more going on today than yesterday. So on day two as it goes.
December 4, 2023 - A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault with 70% aged for 12 months in a combination of old barrels ranging from 1-4 years old and 30% of the wine is aged in concrete.
Decanted about 30m. Dark fruits, violets, white pepper, dried herbs, hint of smoked meat.
October 20, 2023 - Medium ruby. Ripe red fruit and flowers on the nose. Very powerful finish—a lot of grip. Tobacco, smoke, and oak notes.
July 24, 2023 - Pronounced on the nose with great complexity. And lots of depth on the palate. Its big, its powerful, and its still really pretty. Very good wine indeed. So much going on.