Each time I taste a Cristom wine I think this is the finest Pinot noir being produced in the United States. I am a broad collector with a well represented US portion of my cellar. I have had the greats, but Cristom always outshines everything This wine tonight is perfect. Showing secondary development with a bit of barnyard on the nose and terrific complexity with aromas of blueberry pie, leather and wet leaves. The flavors are blue and black fruits with excellent length and spices. The wine has excellent acidity and is perfectly balanced.
This has all the complexity of the great wines of Europe. My sense is to drink another bottle in five and even ten years. I still have 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2008 Cristom in my cellar and I have yet to open a bottle that disappoints. Steve Doerner is a deity in my estimation.
As a matter of focus, I have mostly Burgundy wines in my cellar so I consider myself a knowledgeable drinker of this grape. This wine is stunning.
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Over 4 years after the end of Harvey Steiman's drinking window, this wine is just coming into its full potential! A fabulous wine with what I'm guessing is 3-5 more great drinking years. Still plenty of freshness and some nice red fruit flavors, tremendous length, softened tannins, and some earthy notes to round it out. I thought I wrote my tasting notes at the time we drank this wine but apparently I didn't, so am doing it from memory. Not a difficult job, when the wine was such a wonderful surprise - I thought it would be over the hill, but not even close.
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More black vs red cherry tonight with mostly savory spice. Good+ weight with a slightly firm finish, which makes it a little backward at the end. But still, there is a lot here. Not quite as complex or exciting as another bottle from the same case opened earlier this year.
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I seem to have a higher opinion of this wine than is the case with most ct.com reviewers. Still drinking well despite being long in the tooth according to others.
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Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind New World Pinot Noir (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL): Popped-and-poured, served blind to the tasting group, then final 1/4 bottle finished several hours later. Red and black berries richly spiced with the brightness of a well made whole cluster Pinot Noir. Hints of savory and sweetness combine for charm and complexity. Good now, and this will evolve in good ways over the next decade.
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Decanted for an hour. Medium-ruby color with clarity. Nicely secondary and complex aromatics of autumn foliage & soil, mushroom puree, allspice berries, cardamom, smoked paprika, highlighted with sweet fig fruit. Sumptuous and rich on the attack, with beautifully textured red fruit offset with savory secondary layers consistent with the nose. Medium-bodied, with a dense and broad middle, showing terrific flavor development with a masculine-elegant style. Acid and tannins are very well-integrated and finely polished. All this and more through the finish. Early secondary stage, still relatively youthful but very expressive and well-integrated.
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Bouteille couchée depuis 4 ans. Quelle richesse, quelle longueur. Équilibré avec beaucoup de matière. Beaucoup de fruits, alcool un peu présent au début mais l'ensemble est envoutant!
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This is a beautiful elegant Pinot. I love the way it is drinking now, a really nicely balanced harmony of lean but full fruit with a little wood in the early body and late nose followed by underbrush turning to underbrush and light chalk that lingers. Just delightful. Personally I think I will drink up as the balance is so nice right now. Age may reduce the fruit and leave the wine a bit finish focused.
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This Pinot comes with quite a bit of oak that eventually calms down and lets the fruit do the talking. The 2 hour decant seemed to help and let the wine even out before the tasting event. I sensed this to be a little richer and darker than a typical Oregon Pinot, but maybe my lack of experience in this part of the world is showing. I quite enjoyed this trip, but I think I still favor a good premier cru from Pommard or Beaune.
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From 375ml. Clear dark ruby color. Earthy turned earth and mushroom notes on the nose, with tea leaf, allspice, balsamic and fig aromas. The palate starts with fig jam fruit and finely laid spice, mineral and pine needle depth. Juicy ripeness along broad grainy tannins. Medium depth on the finish. Not as ready as the 2008 Sommers Reserve I had 6 mos ago. Needs time for the stem-notes to further integrate on the palate.
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So, a little bit disappointing. I expected more from the '08. Don't get me wrong, it's good. Just not great. The nose is enticing enough but it gets a bit flat on the palate. Fruit forward and well-balanced. Medium length finish. Don't know about much more longevity here; I think it's time to drink.
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Drank both bottles the same night. Nose is typical oregon, but with some darker characteristics showing. Dark fruits dominate the palate with a little acid to balance, but not much. I expected more earthiness, but the ripeness of the fruit i think took over. Overall a good wine, but drank more like a CA pinot to me.
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Decanted 3 hrs. This is by far the most open 08 pinot I have since release, and while nowhere near maturity or peak, there was a lot to enjoy last night with the 08 Jessie. Typical Cristom nose of dark fruits, cloves, and a touch of cured meat. I expected this to be shut down tight, but it was surprisingly open for business; dark themed fruit was generous, but with a sneaky structure and a solid back bone. Good persistence throughout, solid finish. Plenty of upside but go ahead and pull the cork today, it can be enjoyed without reservation.
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Decanted for about 20 minutes before first tasting and it needed a little swirling in the glass to open up. When it did, big red fruit flavors combined with earth came tumbling out. The tart cherry flavor is nicely balanced with the acid and a bit of tannins. This is followed by a long finish, a very tasty pinot.
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Quite a dark nose, with spice and savoury wood - resolved fruit, small acid tang with gives great length supported by fine crunchy tannins and then lingering fruit at the back - starting to fade but will still hold on for a couple of years 3.5 to 4 fingers
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Very good. For its first three fours, bright earth. Later with food, this same bright earthiness, and also pine, colorful and sweet peppery spices, and glimpses of red fruit. Toward the end of the day, however, it was all sweet black fruit, peripheral hints of rust.
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Really wonderful right now but I wish I had waited another couple of years. It shows all that tannic, funky Cristom stem inclusion but the fruit is redder and brighter than many Cristom wines I have tasted (and that is a LOT). There is some dark clove/baking spice blend, tart cranberry, red apple (?) and drying tannins on the finish. Nicely balanced and elegant. Spectacular with food (grilled spice-rubbed pork chop with mixed berry gastrique, melted leeks, roasted golden beets and sweet cress).
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Tobacco and cedar nose. Loved it. Tannins are basically resolved. This is drinking beautifully now and still has time. One person described cinnamon apple in the middle. Very smooth on the finish. Glad i have more bottles.
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Big nose - the savoriness reminded me of the Hamilton Russell. I thought this was showing nicely and was open for business. Tannins were mostly resolved and integrated. Will keep for a few more years I'm sure but no reason not to drink now.
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Definitely killed a youngster, but as the nose came roaring out of the gates, I had no regrets. Beautiful aromas of dark red fruit, violets, woodsmoke, and whole cluster spices. The palate felt like the wine was wrapping me on the knuckles for opening it too soon, as the fine-grained tannins gripped tight on the front-end. I still found the mix of sappy and savory (almost brothy) flavors to be really compelling and delicious, but I can only imagine how much more complete this wine will feel in a few (or several) years when the tannins have resolved themselves. Superb.
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Color: Dark ruby. Nose: Dark red fruits, spice and smoke. Palate: Again dark red fruits. Unmistakably pinot but it did not seem Burgundian, nor did it smack of a California pinot. The were some cinnamon spice notes and lovely rich, sappy sweetness in the mouth. Still singing the next day. I imagine this will be great for some time to come. 93+
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Cristom, Jessie; vertical ('01, '04,'05, and '08): Jessie vertical; ’01, ’04, ’05, and ’08. Trusted my notes from 2 years ago, and gave these babies their property breathing time. Decanted 4 hours, and consumed over 12 hours. All were fantastic between hours 4 – 6, but not much differentiation between them. Then between hours 6 - 12 the personalities began to reveal themselves; evermore as the evening progressed. Although there was some signature “Cristom-terroir” elements in the background, the ’08 seemed more classic-Oregon / new-world style; with an emphasis on ripe-blackberry, fruit-forward presentation. This one had the best nose intensity of the bunch, by far; and admittedly may have heavily influenced my ultimate score; 95 pts. Hold one until 2018 to see if the earthy elements ever come out from underneath the blanket of concentrated fruit; hopefully this will eventually shine like the superstar that this juice wants to be.
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Better and more complex compared to the 2008 Louise, this effort has more minerals, oyster shells and a slightly young greenish tone. Bright tannins and a lovely acidity. Still I do not understand all the different bottlings from different vineyards from this producer. (score is 90+)
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Wonderful wine. Drank in the Calif Red woods camping. No notes taken. finished the next day in Napa. Opened up nicely. Rich deep fruits with nice finish and mid palate.
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Quick note. Color dark ruby. Sowing dense fruit on nose, with similar density on the palate. Like the other 2008s this has it's share of structure that sets up a long finish. Well done and should last quite awhile.
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3/14/2023 - Mr Pinot Noir Likes this wine: 96 Points
Each time I taste a Cristom wine I think this is the finest Pinot noir being produced in the United States. I am a broad collector with a well represented US portion of my cellar. I have had the greats, but Cristom always outshines everything This wine tonight is perfect. Showing secondary development with a bit of barnyard on the nose and terrific complexity with aromas of blueberry pie, leather and wet leaves. The flavors are blue and black fruits with excellent length and spices. The wine has excellent acidity and is perfectly balanced.
This has all the complexity of the great wines of Europe. My sense is to drink another bottle in five and even ten years. I still have 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2008 Cristom in my cellar and I have yet to open a bottle that disappoints. Steve Doerner is a deity in my estimation.
As a matter of focus, I have mostly Burgundy wines in my cellar so I consider myself a knowledgeable drinker of this grape. This wine is stunning.
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8/1/2021 - bear Likes this wine: 94 Points
Over 4 years after the end of Harvey Steiman's drinking window, this wine is just coming into its full potential! A fabulous wine with what I'm guessing is 3-5 more great drinking years. Still plenty of freshness and some nice red fruit flavors, tremendous length, softened tannins, and some earthy notes to round it out. I thought I wrote my tasting notes at the time we drank this wine but apparently I didn't, so am doing it from memory. Not a difficult job, when the wine was such a wonderful surprise - I thought it would be over the hill, but not even close.
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11/30/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
More black vs red cherry tonight with mostly savory spice. Good+ weight with a slightly firm finish, which makes it a little backward at the end. But still, there is a lot here. Not quite as complex or exciting as another bottle from the same case opened earlier this year.
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8/25/2019 - tomandlu wrote:
No detailed notes. Good, complete and balanced yet I recall its seeming clumsy and obvious. A delicious wine.
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5/17/2019 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 93 Points
I seem to have a higher opinion of this wine than is the case with most ct.com reviewers. Still drinking well despite being long in the tooth according to others.
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3/2/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind New World Pinot Noir (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL): Popped-and-poured, served blind to the tasting group, then final 1/4 bottle finished several hours later. Red and black berries richly spiced with the brightness of a well made whole cluster Pinot Noir. Hints of savory and sweetness combine for charm and complexity. Good now, and this will evolve in good ways over the next decade.
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11/30/2018 - MattMauldin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for an hour. Medium-ruby color with clarity. Nicely secondary and complex aromatics of autumn foliage & soil, mushroom puree, allspice berries, cardamom, smoked paprika, highlighted with sweet fig fruit. Sumptuous and rich on the attack, with beautifully textured red fruit offset with savory secondary layers consistent with the nose. Medium-bodied, with a dense and broad middle, showing terrific flavor development with a masculine-elegant style. Acid and tannins are very well-integrated and finely polished. All this and more through the finish. Early secondary stage, still relatively youthful but very expressive and well-integrated.
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5/8/2018 - Balthasar wrote: 91 Points
Nose offers dark cherries, cola and earthy notes. Round and balanced palate with good structure, length and persistence. Mature.
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2/19/2017 - DougLee wrote: 90 Points
deeply rooted brooding dark plum notes on the palate. Needs time.
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11/12/2016 - Mennotas wrote: 90 Points
Less fruit than the 07 we had the night before. Earthy, leathery.
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10/31/2016 - Tige Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bouteille couchée depuis 4 ans. Quelle richesse, quelle longueur. Équilibré avec beaucoup de matière. Beaucoup de fruits, alcool un peu présent au début mais l'ensemble est envoutant!
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9/8/2015 - Rick 4 Wine Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is a beautiful elegant Pinot. I love the way it is drinking now, a really nicely balanced harmony of lean but full fruit with a little wood in the early body and late nose followed by underbrush turning to underbrush and light chalk that lingers. Just delightful. Personally I think I will drink up as the balance is so nice right now. Age may reduce the fruit and leave the wine a bit finish focused.
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7/18/2015 - up4wine wrote: 90 Points
This Pinot comes with quite a bit of oak that eventually calms down and lets the fruit do the talking. The 2 hour decant seemed to help and let the wine even out before the tasting event. I sensed this to be a little richer and darker than a typical Oregon Pinot, but maybe my lack of experience in this part of the world is showing. I quite enjoyed this trip, but I think I still favor a good premier cru from Pommard or Beaune.
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7/10/2015 - MattMauldin wrote: 89 Points
From 375ml. Clear dark ruby color. Earthy turned earth and mushroom notes on the nose, with tea leaf, allspice, balsamic and fig aromas. The palate starts with fig jam fruit and finely laid spice, mineral and pine needle depth. Juicy ripeness along broad grainy tannins. Medium depth on the finish. Not as ready as the 2008 Sommers Reserve I had 6 mos ago. Needs time for the stem-notes to further integrate on the palate.
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7/4/2015 - Portland Pinot Pigs Likes this wine: 82 Points
So, a little bit disappointing. I expected more from the '08. Don't get me wrong, it's good. Just not great. The nose is enticing enough but it gets a bit flat on the palate. Fruit forward and well-balanced. Medium length finish. Don't know about much more longevity here; I think it's time to drink.
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11/17/2014 - JackieTreehorn wrote: 90 Points
Drank both bottles the same night. Nose is typical oregon, but with some darker characteristics showing. Dark fruits dominate the palate with a little acid to balance, but not much. I expected more earthiness, but the ripeness of the fruit i think took over. Overall a good wine, but drank more like a CA pinot to me.
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8/24/2014 - Dale M wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 3 hrs. This is by far the most open 08 pinot I have since release, and while nowhere near maturity or peak, there was a lot to enjoy last night with the 08 Jessie. Typical Cristom nose of dark fruits, cloves, and a touch of cured meat. I expected this to be shut down tight, but it was surprisingly open for business; dark themed fruit was generous, but with a sneaky structure and a solid back bone. Good persistence throughout, solid finish. Plenty of upside but go ahead and pull the cork today, it can be enjoyed without reservation.
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7/8/2014 - blabbott Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for about 20 minutes before first tasting and it needed a little swirling in the glass to open up. When it did, big red fruit flavors combined with earth came tumbling out. The tart cherry flavor is nicely balanced with the acid and a bit of tannins. This is followed by a long finish, a very tasty pinot.
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5/24/2014 - Venturifan Likes this wine: 91 Points
Too young. Took 1 hour to start opening up.
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5/17/2014 - rednick@internode.on.net wrote:
Quite a dark nose, with spice and savoury wood - resolved fruit, small acid tang with gives great length supported by fine crunchy tannins and then lingering fruit at the back - starting to fade but will still hold on for a couple of years 3.5 to 4 fingers
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4/26/2014 - Necowine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very good. For its first three fours, bright earth. Later with food, this same bright earthiness, and also pine, colorful and sweet peppery spices, and glimpses of red fruit. Toward the end of the day, however, it was all sweet black fruit, peripheral hints of rust.
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2/22/2014 - S1 Likes this wine:
Really wonderful right now but I wish I had waited another couple of years. It shows all that tannic, funky Cristom stem inclusion but the fruit is redder and brighter than many Cristom wines I have tasted (and that is a LOT). There is some dark clove/baking spice blend, tart cranberry, red apple (?) and drying tannins on the finish. Nicely balanced and elegant.
Spectacular with food (grilled spice-rubbed pork chop with mixed berry gastrique, melted leeks, roasted golden beets and sweet cress).
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1/26/2014 - randyjc wrote:
This wine is just beautiful.
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1/10/2014 - sja61 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tobacco and cedar nose. Loved it. Tannins are basically resolved. This is drinking beautifully now and still has time. One person described cinnamon apple in the middle. Very smooth on the finish. Glad i have more bottles.
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12/29/2013 - David_K Likes this wine: 91 Points
Big nose - the savoriness reminded me of the Hamilton Russell. I thought this was showing nicely and was open for business. Tannins were mostly resolved and integrated. Will keep for a few more years I'm sure but no reason not to drink now.
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8/2/2013 - WineGuyFL Likes this wine: 94 Points
Spectacular wine. Might be a little young, but still great. Might add a point of two over the next couple of years. An elegant Pinot.
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7/6/2013 - Mark216 wrote: 94 Points
Agree with Mooreb's notes. With proper breathing time this wine was exquisite
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5/21/2013 - Billigan Likes this wine: 94 Points
Definitely killed a youngster, but as the nose came roaring out of the gates, I had no regrets. Beautiful aromas of dark red fruit, violets, woodsmoke, and whole cluster spices. The palate felt like the wine was wrapping me on the knuckles for opening it too soon, as the fine-grained tannins gripped tight on the front-end. I still found the mix of sappy and savory (almost brothy) flavors to be really compelling and delicious, but I can only imagine how much more complete this wine will feel in a few (or several) years when the tannins have resolved themselves. Superb.
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3/11/2013 - short and confused wrote: 93 Points
Color: Dark ruby. Nose: Dark red fruits, spice and smoke. Palate: Again dark red fruits. Unmistakably pinot but it did not seem Burgundian, nor did it smack of a California pinot. The were some cinnamon spice notes and lovely rich, sappy sweetness in the mouth. Still singing the next day. I imagine this will be great for some time to come. 93+
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10/13/2012 - pinothoarder wrote: 95 Points
Cristom, Jessie; vertical ('01, '04,'05, and '08): Jessie vertical; ’01, ’04, ’05, and ’08. Trusted my notes from 2 years ago, and gave these babies their property breathing time. Decanted 4 hours, and consumed over 12 hours. All were fantastic between hours 4 – 6, but not much differentiation between them. Then between hours 6 - 12 the personalities began to reveal themselves; evermore as the evening progressed. Although there was some signature “Cristom-terroir” elements in the background, the ’08 seemed more classic-Oregon / new-world style; with an emphasis on ripe-blackberry, fruit-forward presentation. This one had the best nose intensity of the bunch, by far; and admittedly may have heavily influenced my ultimate score; 95 pts. Hold one until 2018 to see if the earthy elements ever come out from underneath the blanket of concentrated fruit; hopefully this will eventually shine like the superstar that this juice wants to be.
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5/25/2012 - Christoffer78 wrote: 90 Points
Better and more complex compared to the 2008 Louise, this effort has more minerals, oyster shells and a slightly young greenish tone. Bright tannins and a lovely acidity. Still I do not understand all the different bottlings from different vineyards from this producer. (score is 90+)
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10/7/2011 - Bearbus wrote:
GrapeMates Pinot - see notes
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8/31/2011 - JAZZYJEZZY wrote: 93 Points
Wonderful wine. Drank in the Calif Red woods camping. No notes taken. finished the next day in Napa. Opened up nicely. Rich deep fruits with nice finish and mid palate.
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7/28/2011 - chcook wrote: 93 Points
Quick note. Color dark ruby. Sowing dense fruit on nose, with similar density on the palate. Like the other 2008s this has it's share of structure that sets up a long finish. Well done and should last quite awhile.
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