Community Tasting Note

ianinvirginia wrote:

Friday, February 25, 2011 - Great wine opened too early - darn it! This bottle was listed incorrectly at auction and I didn't double-check, and entered it here as a 1997 Mondavi Napa, supposedly teetering on the edge of drinkability and thus opened on a whim. Started entering my notes in the appropriate place for that wine and was surprised at how much younger the wine I was tasting was compared with recent notes. And then it occurred to me. Below are the notes I just copied and pasted from that half-complete entry.

"Soy and pepper beef on the nose, no sign of decline, and in the mouth this is also still very much alive, with considerable tannin and meatiness actually begging the question of whether this should have been decanted."

At this point I said, wait a second. I looked at the label, saw the word "Kalon" and realized my error. This $25 ride-along auction bottle was a $125 bottle opened years too early. .. And it's been evolving in the glass for an hour since. Layers of blood and animale, really cool stuff, if a bit too much mocha sweetness. But hey, it's Cali, right?

Parker has this dying in 2030, so it's not like I'm a scientist to notice the difference between it and the Napa, but this is an excellent wine - my advice is do not open it, and if you do, give it a serious decant. This is being squandered on a solo drinking night... or is it? :)

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