April 15, 2023 - Capable Bordeaux style red. Probably good for a few more years. Needs extra time to open.
January 11, 2023 - Dark color and aromas of grilled bread, cedar, and black currant. The tannins are soft and pillowy and the texture is thick. 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot, and 9% Cabernet Franc. I can taste the Petit Verdot in here, which is a nice touch. A little disjointed at first, but opened up nicely after about 45 minutes (though the drinking window was short as it started to diminish after about an hour and a half). Better on day 2.
Carob and espresso flavors mixed with dusty minerality (this reminds me of “Rutherford dust”) and intense blue fruits, like blueberry pie. There’s a lot of jalapeno pepper—which I often get in Wa State reds—in the midpalate and I’m not super pleased about that. Sweet licorice and vanilla on the finish. Also, 4.7 alcohol, which give it some brandy flavors. To me, the luxuriousness is in the texture and not so much the palate, which is not as interesting as I would like it to be for the price I paid. This was polished and nice, but it didn’t have that extra spark like the Col Solare did from last year. Good match with shug marinated lamb chops. Best in Riedel Bordeaux glass (also tried in Grassl Liberte and Zalto Bordeaux).
December 18, 2022 - Opened and poured into a decanter - with lots of sediment. With air the wine took on more tertiary elements leading me to believe it may be nearing the end of its "enjoyment window".
The color was a dark purple to a lighter rim. Lots of dark red fruits and a touch of black licorice on the nose. The palate showed dark red fruit, black fruit, cocoa, spice and earth, with a touch of black licorice on the finish. The acidity was fresh and balancing and all tannins were integrated. Decant for the sediment, but drink up soon.
July 2, 2022 - Popped and poured- a wine that is past its prime but still drinking good enough. Didn’t get better over a few hours. Lacking in fruit and a bit thin. Drink up.
April 18, 2022 - This bottle was showing signs of decline, but was still great and everyone loved it. I was just getting too much raisin/prune, which took away from the remaining fruit and tertiary notes.
March 29, 2022 - Delicious, opened quickly, great fruit and tannin. Good for several more years.
March 11, 2022 - Delicious, expansive claret. Went very well with braised lamb. Very enjoyable. Good for a few more years if you can stand to leave it alone that long.
July 26, 2021 - Decanted three hours and it kept improving over another hour. Delicious mature blue and black fruit with fine tannins and some spice. Going strong.
July 15, 2021 - Wow! This was quite the experience. I had initial concerns as I had this wine in a travel cooler in my car all day. When we got to the restaurant and I re moved the bottle from the travel cooler the bottle was warm and the cork was raised. I had the waiter give it a quick chill and then decant for about 30 minutes. Well.....I obviously got lucky as this bottle was absolutely amazing. I can't imagine what this wine was like when it was young. It had to be pretty massive
back in the day. Deep opaque crimson red in hue. The color really gave away its age. Jammy red and black fruit on the nose along with some floral hints. Pure unadulterated yumminess on the palate. A truly etherial experience when paired with a perfectly seared fillet mignon. The fruit was still huge at this age with perfect acidity and silky sumptuous tannins leading to an exquisite finish. I can't imagine this wine getting any better. Drink up and enjoy the experience.
January 20, 2021 - Bought on release, 1 hour decant, best about hour 2.
Full bodied, Blackberry, cherry cordial, creme de cassis, toasty oak.