Still rather drinkable, to my surprise, given the house style and the 15+ years of age, but this is a very ripe wine that is declining but not yet dead. Nose and palate of very ripe macerated strawberries, some cherry and sarsparilla, even some herbal notes, but not a cola bomb. Acidity is still decent, tannins are fully resolved, but the alcoholic warmth (at 14.9%) does stick out. Does not come across at this point as particularly balanced or complex, if it ever was.
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Last bottle and it was time. This still was a very good Cali pinot and went nicely with our grilled ribeyes, but not the stuffing it had 5 years ago when i last opened a bottle
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Still young, nice nose of cherries and cocoa. Lots of dark fruits, plums and blackberry. Not as candied as it was several years ago. I did not find it as hot as some others have found and it was a definite hit with my wife who hates "alcoholy" wines. Nice mouthfeel and finish. Probably on its downward slope so I'd drink what you have now.
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Surprisingly young. I could have easily guessed this to be a 2005 or so if tasted blind. Plenty of bright red fruit (raspberry and cherry) and some hard spice, a bit of earth, zingy acid, and enough oomph to make me think this has some life left.
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OK, I admit this is not my style of pinot. The alcohol, even after 7 years, stilll predominates. No fruit, only dark, brooding flavors. Fortunately I anticipated this and served it with Osso buco, and the wine went fine with the food. But, alone, the wine, whiile stilll not over the hill, still exhibits the same high alcohol that I do not prefer in pinots.
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Started with ripe plum, crushed blackberry, damp forest floor and lots of chocolate. Dense mouthfeel and a little hot on the finish. Over a couple of hours this added definition with more underbrush, pomegranate and violets. Not a subtle wine and perhaps a little heavy handed but better than my last bottle and the ‘02 Zio Tony from the weekend.
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Started with black fruits, lots of cola, resin and a touch of damp forest floor. There is the strong presence of alcohol - reminds me of a young vintage Port. Over an hour or so it settled down and added more red fruits, a touch of grilled meat and a citrusy edge. Admirable fruit density but just too hot.
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Haven't had one of these for over a year, anxious to see if it's showing better. Mature Pinot color, bricking at the rim...Hot on the nose and one dimensional in the mouth. Ripe cherries and strawberries with no complexity, no secondary flavors whatsoever, just a mouthful of alcoholic cough syrup. Kind of like their Zin's after two or three years - worse after you've layed them down hoping for some complexity down the road....this wine certainly says there's not much hope for 15% Pinots......
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Even after a couple of hours of decanting, the alcohol seemed pretty forward, and the friut seemed brash and sharp, not at all what I have come to expect from Martinelli's Pinots.
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Seattle Tasting Group does Pinot (Seattle, WA): Spicy with some heat. Woof, this is VERY sweet, not candied but not much personality here. Just sort of blah with a pine-cleaner edge. This improved in the glass but is not offering much love.
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Tasted 4/10/2005. At the recommendation of Board_O, decanted for one hour, enjoyed over the following three hours or so.
I cannot find my notes on this except for my score of 94 points. Over the last three years, this has been my favorite PN from Martinelli, and the only one that has no discernable heat. Now, if only I could say that about the zins.
And no, I have not tried the BSR.
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Brought this to Amsterdam to drink with the Dutch crew. Decanted for 2 hours before tasting. I was very pleased with how well this was drinking, as I felt it showed some of the best traits of a fine Martinelli pinot - terrific extraction of bright cherry/berry flavors, deft oak treatment, silky mouthfeel, and a whistling finish. Drink now through 2008.
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Medium dark, peppery and spice nose, huge, voluptuous, some thyme and faint sweet spices (allspice and cinnamon), some roasted meat and some cherries and blackberries. Rich and extracted. Great. 93pts
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Wow--back up the truck on this one! Color of black cherry soda. A cornucopia of olfactory pleasures, including raspberries, cherries, and strawberries with tar and bread dough notes. Mouthcoating entry, with loads of sweet, gushing fruit followed by a white pepper kick. Decanted for 2 hours beforehand. Absolutely wonderful accompanying broiled salmon with a mustard dill sauce on a bed of risotto Milanese. $50 from the Martinelli mailing list. Alcohol 14.9%.
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Had this last night. Tasted on opening and it was tight, tight and tasted like Everclear with a little cherry slurpee mixed in, although had a wonderful nose. Waited an hour. Better, but the flavors still had not fully integrated and the alcohol was still pretty much the dominant sensation. Waited another hour and my patience was rewarded. This is huge with a wonderful nose of cherry and honeysuckle. The taste was cherry mixed with brown suger with a hint of herbs on the finish. The alcohol was barely noticeable by this hour as the flavors seemed to integrate more fully, but it still detracted a little from an otherwise enjoyablel pinot. This needs to sit for a couple of years. 91-93 pts.
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Motley Cru Wine Tasting 2004.4 (San Marcos, CA): Only got a sip of this one, but wow, what a wine. Spices, black cherry, and earth on the palate. As much as I like the "typical" Martinelli Pinots, this one seemed more restrained, yet at the same time was awesome in its power and forward fruit flavors. I think this one has several years left and will develop some nice secondary characteristics.
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1/3/2018 - ParisWino wrote: 86 Points
Still rather drinkable, to my surprise, given the house style and the 15+ years of age, but this is a very ripe wine that is declining but not yet dead. Nose and palate of very ripe macerated strawberries, some cherry and sarsparilla, even some herbal notes, but not a cola bomb. Acidity is still decent, tannins are fully resolved, but the alcoholic warmth (at 14.9%) does stick out. Does not come across at this point as particularly balanced or complex, if it ever was.
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8/15/2015 - mouton45 wrote: 90 Points
Last bottle and it was time. This still was a very good Cali pinot and went nicely with our grilled ribeyes, but not the stuffing it had 5 years ago when i last opened a bottle
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6/1/2012 - peterk wrote: 90 Points
I pulled this out of its rack blindly - it's my lucky day! Lively and loaded with fruit, this wine has heat at all.
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11/25/2011 - dinwiddie wrote: 90 Points
Still young, nice nose of cherries and cocoa. Lots of dark fruits, plums and blackberry. Not as candied as it was several years ago. I did not find it as hot as some others have found and it was a definite hit with my wife who hates "alcoholy" wines. Nice mouthfeel and finish. Probably on its downward slope so I'd drink what you have now.
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5/31/2011 - MarkC Likes this wine:
Surprisingly young. I could have easily guessed this to be a 2005 or so if tasted blind. Plenty of bright red fruit (raspberry and cherry) and some hard spice, a bit of earth, zingy acid, and enough oomph to make me think this has some life left.
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11/28/2010 - cmlee7 wrote:
Incredible aromas of dusty, dark cherries. Candied, dried fruit.
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11/14/2009 - Edclr wrote: 85 Points
OK, I admit this is not my style of pinot. The alcohol, even after 7 years, stilll predominates. No fruit, only dark, brooding flavors. Fortunately I anticipated this and served it with Osso buco, and the wine went fine with the food. But, alone, the wine, whiile stilll not over the hill, still exhibits the same high alcohol that I do not prefer in pinots.
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9/20/2009 - simba-mk@cox.net wrote:
with grilled veal chop and a cabernet demiglace, beet green gratin, roasted fingerlings. Very nice and complementary...
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6/1/2009 - matrask wrote: 94 Points
Very nice, oomph in the glass. Great to drink now, might not get much better
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10/9/2008 - pgordon62 wrote: 89 Points
Started with ripe plum, crushed blackberry, damp forest floor and lots of chocolate. Dense mouthfeel and a little hot on the finish. Over a couple of hours this added definition with more underbrush, pomegranate and violets. Not a subtle wine and perhaps a little heavy handed but better than my last bottle and the ‘02 Zio Tony from the weekend.
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9/25/2008 - samiamx_1999 wrote: 89 Points
not a $50 bottle but surely past it's prime as well...
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8/8/2008 - shaferguy91 wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 1 hour.
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4/23/2008 - lorenzo wrote: 88 Points
Dense and dark red fruit. Candied Orange peel. Bright, and hot on the finish. Heat keeps the score down pair wisely.
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1/13/2008 - pgordon62 wrote: 87 Points
Started with black fruits, lots of cola, resin and a touch of damp forest floor. There is the strong presence of alcohol - reminds me of a young vintage Port. Over an hour or so it settled down and added more red fruits, a touch of grilled meat and a citrusy edge. Admirable fruit density but just too hot.
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10/22/2007 - shaferguy91 wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 2 hours.
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9/30/2007 - twoamps wrote: flawed
just really not much to this bottle. Thin, watery, and really acidic. Maybe a bottle-specific problem, since it’s so far off the reviews...
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9/9/2007 - 2loyal wrote: 84 Points
Not up to par with Blue Slide or the other single vineyard Martinellis. Still more alchohol than fruit.
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4/23/2007 - ken-yyz wrote: 87 Points
Bright red with a deeper core. Almost no nose. Nice mid palate - slightly tart. Finishes short and a touch too warm. Nice but not great.
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4/22/2007 - Nevin wrote: 85 Points
Haven't had one of these for over a year, anxious to see if it's showing better. Mature Pinot color, bricking at the rim...Hot on the nose and one dimensional in the mouth. Ripe cherries and strawberries with no complexity, no secondary flavors whatsoever, just a mouthful of alcoholic cough syrup. Kind of like their Zin's after two or three years - worse after you've layed them down hoping for some complexity down the road....this wine certainly says there's not much hope for 15% Pinots......
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2/1/2007 - simba-mk@cox.net wrote: 88 Points
A little too over the top, spicy, heavy, one dimensional...With Seared Alaskan Wild Slamon, lemongrass-coconut milk sauce and braised baby bokchoy.
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1/7/2007 - Bob & Sue Atlanta wrote: flawed
This smelled like wet cardboard - it must have been a flawed bottle. I hope the others I have are not this bad
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12/25/2006 - Pearls_b4Swine wrote: 84 Points
Even after a couple of hours of decanting, the alcohol seemed pretty forward, and the friut seemed brash and sharp, not at all what I have come to expect from Martinelli's Pinots.
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11/24/2006 - AZ Wine Lover wrote: 94 Points
stevie ann loved this wine = yummy
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11/23/2006 - buckeye76 wrote: 93 Points
CHERRIES, LICORICE AND SPICE IN THE NOSE. BLACK CHERRIES IN THE FLAVOR. MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.
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6/20/2006 - sbeeks wrote: 87 Points
Fruit a bit too "on the nose", no real depth.
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5/21/2006 - Eric wrote: 84 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does Pinot (Seattle, WA): Spicy with some heat. Woof, this is VERY sweet, not candied but not much personality here. Just sort of blah with a pine-cleaner edge. This improved in the glass but is not offering much love.
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11/20/2005 - Pool Boy wrote: 92 Points
Absolutely delicious. 92pts.
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5/4/2005 - Josh Piestrup wrote: 93 Points
Drank with Jill at Cab's. Get on the list.
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4/10/2005 - SacredCow wrote: 94 Points
Tasted 4/10/2005. At the recommendation of Board_O, decanted for one hour, enjoyed over the following three hours or so.
I cannot find my notes on this except for my score of 94 points. Over the last three years, this has been my favorite PN from Martinelli, and the only one that has no discernable heat. Now, if only I could say that about the zins.
And no, I have not tried the BSR.
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2/13/2005 - otisabdul wrote: 93 Points
Brought this to Amsterdam to drink with the Dutch crew. Decanted for 2 hours before tasting. I was very pleased with how well this was drinking, as I felt it showed some of the best traits of a fine Martinelli pinot - terrific extraction of bright cherry/berry flavors, deft oak treatment, silky mouthfeel, and a whistling finish. Drink now through 2008.
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1/21/2005 - Pool Boy wrote: 93 Points
Medium dark, peppery and spice nose, huge, voluptuous, some thyme and faint sweet spices (allspice and cinnamon), some roasted meat and some cherries and blackberries. Rich and extracted. Great. 93pts
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1/16/2005 - RAD wrote: 95 Points
Wow--back up the truck on this one! Color of black cherry soda. A cornucopia of olfactory pleasures, including raspberries, cherries, and strawberries with tar and bread dough notes. Mouthcoating entry, with loads of sweet, gushing fruit followed by a white pepper kick. Decanted for 2 hours beforehand. Absolutely wonderful accompanying broiled salmon with a mustard dill sauce on a bed of risotto Milanese. $50 from the Martinelli mailing list. Alcohol 14.9%.
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1/9/2005 - TomTom wrote: 92 Points
Had this last night. Tasted on opening and it was tight, tight and tasted like Everclear with a little cherry slurpee mixed in, although had a wonderful nose. Waited an hour. Better, but the flavors still had not fully integrated and the alcohol was still pretty much the dominant sensation. Waited another hour and my patience was rewarded. This is huge with a wonderful nose of cherry and honeysuckle. The taste was cherry mixed with brown suger with a hint of herbs on the finish. The alcohol was barely noticeable by this hour as the flavors seemed to integrate more fully, but it still detracted a little from an otherwise enjoyablel pinot. This needs to sit for a couple of years. 91-93 pts.
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11/13/2004 - MarkC wrote: 94 Points
Motley Cru Wine Tasting 2004.4 (San Marcos, CA): Only got a sip of this one, but wow, what a wine. Spices, black cherry, and earth on the palate. As much as I like the "typical" Martinelli Pinots, this one seemed more restrained, yet at the same time was awesome in its power and forward fruit flavors. I think this one has several years left and will develop some nice secondary characteristics.
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6/4/2004 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Napa-Noma Trip: Seems tight and more oak-driven. I don't have anything else in my notes.
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