March 2, 2022 - I last reviewed this wine in August 2020 and the wine has matured but deepened in its brooding structure. The violets I noted before were much more demure but the leathery aspect was still present. The wine was still wonderful on the third night open, yielding a tingly blackberry finish that lasted 20 second after each sip. This was a bargain and still has plenty of life ahead of it.
August 16, 2020 - Just a lovely wine from the opening to the finish. Initial nose of blackberry which developed into deep floral notes of violet after three hours. Matched well with an Italian style burger topped with mushrooms in a marinara sauce, a good tribute to its acidity. On night two it still had plenty of verve and the nose had evolved from violets to a brooding tobacco scented dark fruit and leather and the palate had a similar structure. This second night we had a grilled burger with a side of grilled sweet corn plus a cup of "frijoles a la charra" and the wine was up to it again. I did not realize this wine was 60% petit verdot but that certainly explains the violets. Loved it and happy to have a couple more in the cellar.
January 10, 2020 - Earthy nose. Pomegranate, raspberry, cedar on palate.
June 22, 2018 - Deep garnet and ruby red. Spicy, tobacco and cedar. Nice tannic structure, spiced berries, tart cherry, pomegranate and a touch of bitters. Drinking well now, but should hold up for years to come.
September 7, 2017 - Beautiful dark color, very slight bricking. Nice legs. Earthy nose of olives, moss and very dark red cherries. Lacks the depth to get an even higher score, but this is delicious.
May 19, 2017 - good with eggplant parm after 6 hour slow ox night one, fantastic with steak Florentine after another 24 hours slow ox. has more life but great now.
December 3, 2016 - Mocha and cassis with strong earth tones. This is an excellent hearty wine, and a very good value. Drinking very well now, and should have a few more years.
November 12, 2016 - Old world, earthy, smooth, but with intensity. Good with or without food. We enjoyed with filet mignon.
September 30, 2016 - Decanted about an hour. Smooth tannins, olive on the palate. A bit of menthol at the finish. Really enjoyed this. Drinking well now, and likely has a couple of more years.
February 7, 2016 - tasted the 10 anni that has recently been released by the estate, but I feel this was done too late, it was already completely in its tertiary phase and besides that there wasn't much there, what a difference with the 2008 I tasted recently