Best of the half case I originally purchased. An exceptional bottle and sad that it is my last of these. O’Shaughnessy truly makes some of the best wines. See previous notes. If I had any, I would drink them soon to ensure you get it at or near peak.
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Last time I opened one of these was back in 2012....what a difference six years has made! This wine has come to full maturity. Drinking at the very top and showing everything it has. Dark black mulberry, balckberry, figs and sweet roasted plums. Middle goes dark and gritty. Espresso bean, while still retaining an overt sweetness. the finish of this has great balance, nice acidity, resolving tannin, roasted black fruits and black pepper. Dang. Happy 4th of July everyone!
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See previous notes. Another exceptional bottle of Oshaughnessy winery wine. Still have two more that I hope to polish off by years end. Great high end Mountain fruit merlot.
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Terrific bottle of Merlot from a top producer in Napa. The tannins were well integrated and this went quickly at a dinner I attended with some other wine aficionados. Highly recommended and glad I have three left to enjoy over the next year or two.
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Fruit forward, but just in the right way. Well balanced with enough tannin to hold it's own against a cab. Dark fruits, vanilla, baking spices, medium finish.
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Drank immediately after opening and pouring through a Vinturi. Opened up a little, but was even better after an hour. As others have said, the wine is midnight dark with a lot of dark blueberry, blackberry and black cherries. Dark is the theme. As with most O'Shaughnessy wines, this one was exceptionally silky smooth with a long finish. Also tried the second day and it held up. This wine is ready now.
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Drank with dinner of steak and shrimp. It was served along side a Pahlmayer Merlot of the same vintage. The Pahlmayer was a much bigger wine. Too bad, this is a great vineyard and I had high hopes, but the Pahlmeyer was just better.
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Decent bottle, but didn't live up to the hype - at least not now. I was expecting better based on price and reputation. The bottle was uncorked to a solid red stain on the cork, about 1mm of cork bleed. Cork intact. The wine was poured into a decanter with an almost black appearance with some purple, inky hue. In the decanter, this one had a nice blackberry, mulberry, plum,and toffee nose. The wine was allowed to sit for about 30 minutes. Was not Vinturi decanted or left more than an hour like I figured after the fact that it probably needed to have been. This wine had some acid up front, but there was some kind of sweet red fruit. I was getting plum and raisin and chocolate on the front, but there was something like a pomegranate flavor that carried through the mid-palate. The wine had some muted caramel spice in the middle, with some nice grit and rather stiff tannin on the backside. Wine was consumed very quickly. I think that the tannins needed more time to integrate and the acid needed perhaps a little more time to die off. I can see this bottle going to 92-94 but in all honesty I think that this one is too young. I can imagine this is good for another 7 years, although with the proper treatment it can be consumed now.
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14.8% ABV. Nearly opaque dark garnet in the glass. Ripe black fruit nose with strong, but pleasant and classy sweet oak, tinged with mocha and vanilla. Ripe and rather opulent on the palate with lots of sweet dark fruit. Crowd pleaser. Quite nice. Drinkable now. 93+
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4/10/2022 - Bluethunder wrote: 93 Points
same as previous note. Drinking great with lots of dark fruit, silky smooth with integrated tannins.
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1/1/2022 - Bluethunder wrote: 93 Points
Wow, what a beautiful merlot. Silky smooth with lots of dark fruit, cassis, coffee bean and pepper.
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5/24/2020 - travelme wrote: 93 Points
Best of the half case I originally purchased. An exceptional bottle and sad that it is my last of these. O’Shaughnessy truly makes some of the best wines. See previous notes. If I had any, I would drink them soon to ensure you get it at or near peak.
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2/11/2020 - drmarc61 Likes this wine: 95 Points
This was an extended barrel time release. Beautiful dark and blue fruit with violet notes and nicely integrated tannins.
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1/15/2020 - madalyn Likes this wine: 92 Points
the cork was bad but the wine was still good, Im glad a drank this now
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7/4/2019 - mflesh wrote: 94 Points
Last time I opened one of these was back in 2012....what a difference six years has made! This wine has come to full maturity. Drinking at the very top and showing everything it has. Dark black mulberry, balckberry, figs and sweet roasted plums. Middle goes dark and gritty. Espresso bean, while still retaining an overt sweetness. the finish of this has great balance, nice acidity, resolving tannin, roasted black fruits and black pepper. Dang. Happy 4th of July everyone!
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6/22/2019 - jimyeni wrote: 91 Points
Found the oak a bit overwhelming and the wine needed a bit of time to open up. We love oshauhnessy cabs but this was just ok
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12/31/2018 - travelme Likes this wine: 93 Points
See previous notes. Another great bottle of Merlot. Highly recommended. Sad that I have just one left in cellar.
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6/8/2018 - travelme Likes this wine: 93 Points
See previous notes. Another exceptional bottle of Oshaughnessy winery wine. Still have two more that I hope to polish off by years end. Great high end Mountain fruit merlot.
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3/10/2018 - travelme wrote: 93 Points
Terrific bottle of Merlot from a top producer in Napa. The tannins were well integrated and this went quickly at a dinner I attended with some other wine aficionados. Highly recommended and glad I have three left to enjoy over the next year or two.
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3/8/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sauv. Blanc and Merlot Night (Bear and Star, Los Olivos, CA): A bit too over-the-top for me, though clearly good fruit here. Oak-dominated nose, a bit more muted on the palate. Somewhat monolithic.
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9/23/2017 - dsabolish Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking very nicely, still has some life.
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5/2/2016 - cawineaux wrote: 92 Points
Fruit forward, but just in the right way. Well balanced with enough tannin to hold it's own against a cab. Dark fruits, vanilla, baking spices, medium finish.
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10/11/2015 - pvewino Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank immediately after opening and pouring through a Vinturi. Opened up a little, but was even better after an hour. As others have said, the wine is midnight dark with a lot of dark blueberry, blackberry and black cherries. Dark is the theme. As with most O'Shaughnessy wines, this one was exceptionally silky smooth with a long finish. Also tried the second day and it held up. This wine is ready now.
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9/11/2014 - Bakeman Likes this wine: 89 Points
Drank with dinner of steak and shrimp. It was served along side a Pahlmayer Merlot of the same vintage. The Pahlmayer was a much bigger wine. Too bad, this is a great vineyard and I had high hopes, but the Pahlmeyer was just better.
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6/10/2013 - drmarc61 wrote: 92 Points
Unfortunately, had this after an '02 seavey merlot.....
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5/27/2012 - mflesh wrote: 90 Points
Decent bottle, but didn't live up to the hype - at least not now. I was expecting better based on price and reputation. The bottle was uncorked to a solid red stain on the cork, about 1mm of cork bleed. Cork intact. The wine was poured into a decanter with an almost black appearance with some purple, inky hue. In the decanter, this one had a nice blackberry, mulberry, plum,and toffee nose. The wine was allowed to sit for about 30 minutes. Was not Vinturi decanted or left more than an hour like I figured after the fact that it probably needed to have been. This wine had some acid up front, but there was some kind of sweet red fruit. I was getting plum and raisin and chocolate on the front, but there was something like a pomegranate flavor that carried through the mid-palate. The wine had some muted caramel spice in the middle, with some nice grit and rather stiff tannin on the backside. Wine was consumed very quickly. I think that the tannins needed more time to integrate and the acid needed perhaps a little more time to die off. I can see this bottle going to 92-94 but in all honesty I think that this one is too young. I can imagine this is good for another 7 years, although with the proper treatment it can be consumed now.
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4/20/2012 - OneLastSyrah Likes this wine: 93 Points
14.8% ABV. Nearly opaque dark garnet in the glass. Ripe black fruit nose with strong, but pleasant and classy sweet oak, tinged with mocha and vanilla. Ripe and rather opulent on the palate with lots of sweet dark fruit. Crowd pleaser. Quite nice. Drinkable now. 93+
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