Wonderful wine, amazing to have a granache at 20 years and still feel that it has more to give. Full bodied great length super fruit. Easily will last another 3 to 5 years but no reason to wait.
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I love this producer and this wine. Not an Aussie fruit bomb. Wonderful nose of cherry and minerals. Smooth and balanced palate of cherry, ash, minerals and licorice. No tannin. Strong but not over the top. Years to go in my humble opinion.
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Beautiful wine. Needed decanting at least an hour before consumption. Very long legs. Lots of raspberry, cassis and blackberry flavours both in the nose and palate. Almost syrup like levels. Very silky texture and a finish that lasts around half a minute. Consumed on it's own.
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Seriously good wine. Drinking very nicely now. Let it breathe and the rewards will come. Big blackberry fruit and a ton of raspberry too. Just delicious as to be expected from Clarendon Hills.
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Still excellent, consistent with previous tasting note. Lots of extracted fruit. New world style for sure, which is not my everyday preference, but I do enjoy that type on occasion and regret that this was my last bottle of this excellent offering.
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Needs 1.5 hours for this wine to shine; out of the bottle very alcoholic but it totally settles down. Pleasant and ripe, drinking nicely but can still evolve with another year or two. Blueberries, blackberries to me. A hint of smokiness on the finish. Good stuff.
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Whoa. Bottle variation was an issue in the last bottle, but this specific bottle rang bright and true like a clear bell. Opulent dark purple velevt in the glass with excellent viscosity. The nose is ripe blackberries, muddled with cedar and spice and all things nice!! The palate is rich with berry compote goodness, but not overly sweet. The mid-palate has multipe levels of flavor, and the finish sings on for 30-45 sec. Just a woonderful bottle of Grenache, and nice path change from Syrah, and in perfect form to drink right now.
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Pulled for the Dinner with Dan; to offer some new world rhone comparison to the syrah's opened for the occasion. Who doesn't like a little Grenache? Little concerned as we opened the capsule to some seepage around the edge of the cork. Cork pulled smartly, with a pop. Some notes of oxidation at first, but this did blow off. After 1-2 hours this opened, and offered much of what we experienced in our last tasting of this bottling from CH. In the glass, this is Red Opal dark, but not opaque. It offers some rich bramble berry fruit, spice, and eucalyptus action. This presents well on the palate, coating well with the fruit and a little Halls cough drop on the back end. This was not hot, and over 2 hours evolved quite nice. I still think the last bottle we had in Feb was better. Will chalk up to bottle variation, as we have one more bottle of this vintage to try later. The nice thing is that this bottle looses none of it's vigor. Like their Syrah, the old vine has some length to it. Still plan to drink this year. Salut!
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of tobacco, cocoa, black berries and plums. Flavors of berries, cherries and a hint of blueberries. Medium to bright acidity, medium to firm tannins, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
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More impressed than I expected, needs an hour plus to open up, the raspeberry liqueur is very present, but well balanced. Nice wine. Not crazy over the top as it was a couple years ago.
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This is an exceptional old-vine Grenache!! Over the course of 3+ hours, this became an amazing bottle of wine. We were fortunate enough to find this bottle on sale, and given the age it seems to be right in a prime drink window. The Dark and Red berry flavors were very rich. Nose had both fruit, spice, and sandlesoap. The color is ruby red, but somewhat cloudy. I will seek out more of this juice, because it's just that darn good!!!
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drank at grove park inn-horizons restaurant in asheville, nc. phenomenal concentration, ripe cherries/guava/candy/spice, but somehow not hot on the finish. not sure this is an easy food-pairing wine bc of inherent sweetness - but paired extremely well w/ grilled lamb and whole mint leaves (the mint somehow matched perfectly w/ the wine, and mad an exquisite combination!).
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Ah, this was very, very good. It was the perfect choice for what I wanted: a nice bottle to drink without food (after dinner) while watching a baseball game. This would undoubtedly be a nice wine with food but it was extremely easy to drink on its own as well. Opened and let stand on the counter for around 1:30 before pouring through an aerator.It was initially pretty tight in the glass but it opened up nicely after around a half an hour. Very full structure, extracted fruit, including some beautiful blackberries, and a lot of black pepper. It was surprisingly spicy, almost like a Gigondas in that regard. As the evening went along, the wine developed a really nice texture in the mouth... very smooth, almost like velvet. I'm glad I have two more bottles of this, though it will be a while before I open the next one as I think this wine will continue to improve.
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This is a great wine, and I really enjoyed the cabernet from this producer as well. Personally, I think it is a wine that could stand to age, although it is enjoyable to drink now, I don't think at this point it has reached it's full potential. I don't know that the taste is as full of fruit as most grenaches, not as light of a glass as you might expect. It has a lot of texture and I detect some blackberry and a little "earthiness" or spice to it. It's definitely full of flavor - there is no flatness in this wine. I felt a little burn on the tongue and going down my throat, which I don't mind. I think that it should be allowed to breathe a bit before drinking for optimal enjoyment. It really is a full bodied wine, would be great on Christmas Eve.
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Sweet jesus this wine rocks. Folks it's a big one. If you perceive grenache as an easy drinking fruit driven wine well than you have not drank a grenache from the big leagues. This is a unique drinking experience, one sniff of the nose and you know this means serious business. Let it open a little bit to tame some of the alcohol. What wins me over about this wine is the semi-sweet charcoal at the end of the mid palate. I found it quite stunning. Be happy if you have some.
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The nose blasts you with menthol, raspberry liquor, and spices. The palate has great length and texture, showing a touch of heat but the fruit balances it out for the most part. Great wine.
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A very focused wine, showing a tad more eucalyptus than the '03. Showing menthol, red fruits, cinnamon, and fresh herbs on the nose. The palate is very balanced and is all grenache.
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This wine kicked-butt. The more Grenache I drink, the more I love the grape and cannot help but wonder why it is not at the top of the list of many wine lists. The wine had a wonderful silky fullness, which brought out the grape in a perfect display. There was some great dust to the wine, which balanced perfectly with the plump fullness of the fruit. I think the best thing about the wine was its balance. A great balance between complexity and fruit. I really, really liked this wine. Thanks to James and Juli for sharing.
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What a great wine. Big, complex nose; exquisitely balanced on the palate. Not too young. Tannins have softened significantly. Go ahead and drink this now. I am becoming a bigger grenache fan all the time.
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Good purple color. The nose of this wine had raspberry, blackberry and strawberry aromas. The palate was consistent with the nose, but the intensity was even greater during the first glass. After 10 minutes of air time, some of the extreme brightness of the fruit had dulled a little, but a spicy nuance was becoming more noticable. This was a medium to full bodied wine, with excellent mouthfeel and a medium to long finish. What a great example of how sexy a nice bottle of Grenache can be. WOTN.
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4/13/2024 - RobertLA Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wonderful wine, amazing to have a granache at 20 years and still feel that it has more to give. Full bodied great length super fruit. Easily will last another 3 to 5 years but no reason to wait.
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7/15/2017 - cos82 Likes this wine: 92 Points
I love this producer and this wine. Not an Aussie fruit bomb. Wonderful nose of cherry and minerals. Smooth and balanced palate of cherry, ash, minerals and licorice. No tannin. Strong but not over the top. Years to go in my humble opinion.
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5/27/2017 - Gti2ton wrote: 93 Points
Needed a 2 hour decant to open up, but when it did, wow.
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4/24/2015 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 93 Points
old note. ripe, fleshy, fruity, little tannin. round, palate filling. did like
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11/4/2013 - Nicholas81 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful wine. Needed decanting at least an hour before consumption. Very long legs. Lots of raspberry, cassis and blackberry flavours both in the nose and palate. Almost syrup like levels. Very silky texture and a finish that lasts around half a minute. Consumed on it's own.
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10/15/2012 - Kraigers1 wrote: 93 Points
Seriously good wine. Drinking very nicely now. Let it breathe and the rewards will come. Big blackberry fruit and a ton of raspberry too. Just delicious as to be expected from Clarendon Hills.
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12/10/2011 - Chateaunole-du-Pape wrote: 92 Points
Still excellent, consistent with previous tasting note. Lots of extracted fruit. New world style for sure, which is not my everyday preference, but I do enjoy that type on occasion and regret that this was my last bottle of this excellent offering.
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10/1/2011 - Kraigers1 wrote: 92 Points
Needs 1.5 hours for this wine to shine; out of the bottle very alcoholic but it totally settles down. Pleasant and ripe, drinking nicely but can still evolve with another year or two. Blueberries, blackberries to me. A hint of smokiness on the finish. Good stuff.
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7/24/2011 - mpricher wrote: 93 Points
Whoa. Bottle variation was an issue in the last bottle, but this specific bottle rang bright and true like a clear bell. Opulent dark purple velevt in the glass with excellent viscosity. The nose is ripe blackberries, muddled with cedar and spice and all things nice!! The palate is rich with berry compote goodness, but not overly sweet. The mid-palate has multipe levels of flavor, and the finish sings on for 30-45 sec. Just a woonderful bottle of Grenache, and nice path change from Syrah, and in perfect form to drink right now.
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7/4/2011 - mpricher wrote: 91 Points
Pulled for the Dinner with Dan; to offer some new world rhone comparison to the syrah's opened for the occasion. Who doesn't like a little Grenache? Little concerned as we opened the capsule to some seepage around the edge of the cork. Cork pulled smartly, with a pop. Some notes of oxidation at first, but this did blow off. After 1-2 hours this opened, and offered much of what we experienced in our last tasting of this bottling from CH. In the glass, this is Red Opal dark, but not opaque. It offers some rich bramble berry fruit, spice, and eucalyptus action. This presents well on the palate, coating well with the fruit and a little Halls cough drop on the back end. This was not hot, and over 2 hours evolved quite nice. I still think the last bottle we had in Feb was better. Will chalk up to bottle variation, as we have one more bottle of this vintage to try later. The nice thing is that this bottle looses none of it's vigor. Like their Syrah, the old vine has some length to it. Still plan to drink this year. Salut!
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6/24/2011 - floydtp wrote: 88 Points
CellarTracker Wisconsin June 2011; 6/24/2011-6/25/2011 (Madison, WI- various venues): Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Big fruity nose. On the palate, it has a lot of fruit and sweetness but also some leather. The finish is a bit overshadowed by some looming heat.
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6/24/2011 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
CellarTracker Wisconsin Offline I - Part One (Madison, WI): WIML92+/-?
Tasted non blind at a wine dinner.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of tobacco, cocoa, black berries and plums. Flavors of berries, cherries and a hint of blueberries. Medium to bright acidity, medium to firm tannins, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
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6/24/2011 - petitblanc wrote:
CT Wisconsin Offline; 6/24/2011-6/25/2011 (Madison, WI): This seemed overly alcoholic, ripe and simple. Need to retaste. Not scored.
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3/27/2011 - Biskuit wrote: 92 Points
More impressed than I expected, needs an hour plus to open up, the raspeberry liqueur is very present, but well balanced. Nice wine. Not crazy over the top as it was a couple years ago.
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2/13/2011 - mpricher wrote: 93 Points
This is an exceptional old-vine Grenache!! Over the course of 3+ hours, this became an amazing bottle of wine. We were fortunate enough to find this bottle on sale, and given the age it seems to be right in a prime drink window. The Dark and Red berry flavors were very rich. Nose had both fruit, spice, and sandlesoap. The color is ruby red, but somewhat cloudy. I will seek out more of this juice, because it's just that darn good!!!
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11/18/2010 - huevosconvino Likes this wine: 93 Points
So juicy, lots of refined red and black fruit flavors, just an amazing wine...great with hearty foods!
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10/8/2010 - bonedoc wrote: 94 Points
drank at grove park inn-horizons restaurant in asheville, nc. phenomenal concentration, ripe cherries/guava/candy/spice, but somehow not hot on the finish. not sure this is an easy food-pairing wine bc of inherent sweetness - but paired extremely well w/ grilled lamb and whole mint leaves (the mint somehow matched perfectly w/ the wine, and mad an exquisite combination!).
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5/12/2010 - lushlife wrote: 93 Points
a derby day delight
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8/20/2009 - Chateaunole-du-Pape wrote: 92 Points
Ah, this was very, very good. It was the perfect choice for what I wanted: a nice bottle to drink without food (after dinner) while watching a baseball game. This would undoubtedly be a nice wine with food but it was extremely easy to drink on its own as well. Opened and let stand on the counter for around 1:30 before pouring through an aerator.It was initially pretty tight in the glass but it opened up nicely after around a half an hour. Very full structure, extracted fruit, including some beautiful blackberries, and a lot of black pepper. It was surprisingly spicy, almost like a Gigondas in that regard. As the evening went along, the wine developed a really nice texture in the mouth... very smooth, almost like velvet. I'm glad I have two more bottles of this, though it will be a while before I open the next one as I think this wine will continue to improve.
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7/8/2009 - Jfarris02 wrote: 93 Points
This is a great wine, and I really enjoyed the cabernet from this producer as well. Personally, I think it is a wine that could stand to age, although it is enjoyable to drink now, I don't think at this point it has reached it's full potential. I don't know that the taste is as full of fruit as most grenaches, not as light of a glass as you might expect. It has a lot of texture and I detect some blackberry and a little "earthiness" or spice to it. It's definitely full of flavor - there is no flatness in this wine. I felt a little burn on the tongue and going down my throat, which I don't mind. I think that it should be allowed to breathe a bit before drinking for optimal enjoyment. It really is a full bodied wine, would be great on Christmas Eve.
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1/3/2009 - robertgoulet wrote: 94 Points
Sweet jesus this wine rocks. Folks it's a big one. If you perceive grenache as an easy drinking fruit driven wine well than you have not drank a grenache from the big leagues. This is a unique drinking experience, one sniff of the nose and you know this means serious business. Let it open a little bit to tame some of the alcohol. What wins me over about this wine is the semi-sweet charcoal at the end of the mid palate. I found it quite stunning. Be happy if you have some.
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7/22/2008 - winelovr2001 wrote: 93 Points
The nose blasts you with menthol, raspberry liquor, and spices. The palate has great length and texture, showing a touch of heat but the fruit balances it out for the most part. Great wine.
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5/24/2008 - winelovr2001 wrote: 94 Points
A very focused wine, showing a tad more eucalyptus than the '03. Showing menthol, red fruits, cinnamon, and fresh herbs on the nose. The palate is very balanced and is all grenache.
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3/29/2008 - A&C wrote: 93 Points
This wine kicked-butt. The more Grenache I drink, the more I love the grape and cannot help but wonder why it is not at the top of the list of many wine lists. The wine had a wonderful silky fullness, which brought out the grape in a perfect display. There was some great dust to the wine, which balanced perfectly with the plump fullness of the fruit. I think the best thing about the wine was its balance. A great balance between complexity and fruit. I really, really liked this wine. Thanks to James and Juli for sharing.
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3/29/2008 - James B wrote: 93 Points
What a great wine. Big, complex nose; exquisitely balanced on the palate. Not too young. Tannins have softened significantly. Go ahead and drink this now. I am becoming a bigger grenache fan all the time.
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6/29/2007 - last chance wrote: 92 Points
Good purple color. The nose of this wine had raspberry, blackberry and strawberry aromas. The palate was consistent with the nose, but the intensity was even greater during the first glass. After 10 minutes of air time, some of the extreme brightness of the fruit had dulled a little, but a spicy nuance was becoming more noticable. This was a medium to full bodied wine, with excellent mouthfeel and a medium to long finish. What a great example of how sexy a nice bottle of Grenache can be. WOTN.
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