Maybe overly generous w score for a wine for everyday consumption. But, the masses are all of an accord. This is a great bottle of wine! Smooth, balanced, good fruit, great color, full bodied, and tasted good. Pretty sure this wine is bottled for immediate consumption but 8-9 years rest did not hurt at all. May have to try another later vintage for comparison. Find at costco.
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After an hour decant, the nose is multi-layered and dense. Predominantly pleasant vanilla toasty oak, followed by tobacco/leather. Secondary layer characteristics have black cherry, blackberry, plum. Third layer seems to have some baking spice, mint, possibly black licorice, and a small hint of capsaicin.
The palate was very balanced and followed the nose, medium plus acidity, and medium minus dusty tannins that seem to integrated nicely.
The finish is 30-45 seconds of dusty tannin, baking spices, and lingering black cherry.
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Stewed fruit compote and cedar on the nose, hint of minerals. Juicy and full bodied with bright flavors, dark chocolate, and hints of apple. Plesant finish that keeps going... soft tannins.
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This has moved up a click since we tried it a year and a half ago. Similar characteristics to what I described from 3/16 however the oak has subsided a bit and the fruit is showing more now. I'd still recommend holding for a year+ if you have this in your cellar. I think it is still on the upswing.
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Nice nose of black fruit, vanilla, cedar, Asian spice. Similar notes on the front end and back end of the palate. However this wine is slightly diluted on the palate and really falls short on mid-palate. It's undelivers on integration and is too light in comparison to the expectation coming from the nose. It's a pleasing wine, not badly made and has nice aromas and a balanced palate...but overall slightly underwhelming.
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This is much better than I expected, very nice blend with red fruit and cola aromas, well balanced and nice soft finish. And, under $25 it can't be beat.
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Decanted 2 hours, consumed over 6 hours. All I can say is Decant, Decant, Decant. Best between hour 3-5. Wow did this just blow up in the glass after a couple of hours. I forgot how much I just love the Truntina. Possibly even better than the amazing’08 vintage. Super full-bodied structure, rich boysenberry cobbler, vanilla, and a bit of dustiness to take it to the next level. This could stand up to almost any producer out of the Horse Haven Hills area. In fact, very reminiscent of some of the best $75 juice that I’ve ever had out of the Champoux vineyard. In fact, this may be the best cab-blend under $25 to come out of Washington in over 5 years; maybe ever. 93+ points
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Double blind. Aromas of incense, violets, blue fruit and spice. Flavors of chicolate, blue and black fruit and vanilla. To use one of Parker's favorite words, there's a "hedonistic" quality about this wine. It's also well-balanced, with plenty of fruit for the structure. Adds a peppery spice note in the finish.
My #3, Domino's #5 Group #1, 29 pts
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Very pleased. Opened this after a big WA syrah, thought to myself "bah, my palate is shot, I won't taste a thing..." and what a surprise. Lots of complexity on the nose, a fantastic "two level" mouthfeel that I've struggled to explain a couple times now, great structure, lots of fruit but with just a bit of the barnyard -- maybe that's where the 9% syrah went?
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1 hour decant. Somewhat disappointed, based on the other scores here... Okay for $24 bottle of U.S. Cab/merlot - fruit forward, but lacking the balancing structure that I would consider a 92. Can't see this improving, but decent for the price. I'm still new at this and don't claim to have the palate or ability to call out the flavors/ aromas that many on this site possess, but I try to call 'em as I taste 'em - regardless of price.
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This is a great wine especially for the price point. Medium-full bodied. Lots of fruit with blueberry and vanilla. Smooth well integrated tannins. I don't find it opens up much after decanting but this wine has surprising complexity nevertheless. If I had to guess I'd swear the dominat varietal is Merlot though in actuality it's Cabernet. This is a case buy for sure.
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Soft textures and complex flavors are the hallmarks of this opaque ruby wine. A blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 5% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot, it offers black currants, spicy black cherries, pipe tobacco, lavender and loamy earth on both the nose and palate. Medium-to-full-bodied, seamlessly alcoholic (13.8%) and with relatively low acidity, it wraps its flavors with silky tannins and stays impressively solid in the middle. Long and round on the back end, this is a hedonistic wine that is very easy to drink. Enjoy it over the next several years. Drink now-2022.
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Very soft and round on the palette. I think the merlot is in the driver's seat here, even though cab sauv is the larger percentage of this blend.
Overtones of blueberry, vanilla, & baking spices. Maybe just a tad heavy on the oak right now. Enjoyable if not quite on par with the outstanding 2010 Trutina. I'll hold my other bottle for a year or more to see if the oak backs off a bit.
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Go West! Tasting (The QEII Centre, Westminster, London): Big high intensity nose, fruity, full spicy, oak, toast, black berry and cherry. The palate is equally big, juicy, balanced, fruit, oak, toast again, same fruit with a few blackcurrants here and there, dense, nice structure, nice acidity and tannins, long finish. Outstanding
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Gave time for the wine to open up, but it just never did. Stayed very dense with earth and dark fruit notes. Mouth feel was slightly bitter and never improves throughout the bottle. I'm going to give this some time before I open another bottle. For whatever reason this wine didn't hit the mark for me.
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2nd bottle of this over about a month. Similar to how I recall the first bottle. P&P, clearly evolving in the glass as I write this. Helped one point by the price. 23.00 at Costco. This stuff is an absolute steal. Great Fruit/smoky/herbal tones on both the nose and the palate. The complexity is just awesome with several different layers going on. Very unusual for a wine at this pricepoint. I highly recommend this wine and will head back to costco to grab another half case.
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Young but shows tremendous promise. Fruit forward with generous oak on the nose, vanilla/coconut and dark fruits, some menthol. Very balanced with smooth tannins even at this age. Gonna get better, great QPR.
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Popped, drank over four hours. Tasting note written with final (3rd) glass. Dark red/purple. Sweet vanilla, black fruits and clove on the nose. Clearly a strong young wine, but with a soft and smooth palate texture which makes it very approachable. Boysenberry, prevalent oak (American?), but not overpowering. A great effort, good value for $23 (Costco). Very good now, with definite potential to improve over 3-4 years. This would be a good case buy. Try again in 2017.
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3/4/2021 - Teamrehfeld wrote: 90 Points
Maybe overly generous w score for a wine for everyday consumption. But, the masses are all of an accord. This is a great bottle of wine! Smooth, balanced, good fruit, great color, full bodied, and tasted good. Pretty sure this wine is bottled for immediate consumption but 8-9 years rest did not hurt at all. May have to try another later vintage for comparison. Find at costco.
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10/16/2020 - Bellalisa99 wrote: 91 Points
Drinking well.
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3/29/2020 - SparkyMI Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very new world wine. Drank immediatley after a nice 2010 bordeaux. Very different wine, but really nice.
Very lush fruit,
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10/25/2019 - JasonClapp Likes this wine: 90 Points
Oak, chocolate, blackberries, smoke. Enjoyable.
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10/17/2018 - AGELVIS wrote: 90 Points
Two hour decant. Deep dark ruby magenta color. Match stick and candied fruit on the nose. Super smooth palate. Medium short finish.
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6/24/2018 - mattboney Likes this wine: 91 Points
After an hour decant, the nose is multi-layered and dense. Predominantly pleasant vanilla toasty oak, followed by tobacco/leather. Secondary layer characteristics have black cherry, blackberry, plum. Third layer seems to have some baking spice, mint, possibly black licorice, and a small hint of capsaicin.
The palate was very balanced and followed the nose, medium plus acidity, and medium minus dusty tannins that seem to integrated nicely.
The finish is 30-45 seconds of dusty tannin, baking spices, and lingering black cherry.
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5/6/2018 - Angies Husband Likes this wine: 91 Points
Stewed fruit compote and cedar on the nose, hint of minerals. Juicy and full bodied with bright flavors, dark chocolate, and hints of apple. Plesant finish that keeps going... soft tannins.
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11/23/2017 - brown57 Likes this wine: 91 Points
This has moved up a click since we tried it a year and a half ago. Similar characteristics to what I described from 3/16 however the oak has subsided a bit and the fruit is showing more now. I'd still recommend holding for a year+ if you have this in your cellar. I think it is still on the upswing.
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5/8/2017 - bambinojw@yahoo.com Likes this wine: 85 Points
Nice nose of black fruit, vanilla, cedar, Asian spice. Similar notes on the front end and back end of the palate. However this wine is slightly diluted on the palate and really falls short on mid-palate. It's undelivers on integration and is too light in comparison to the expectation coming from the nose. It's a pleasing wine, not badly made and has nice aromas and a balanced palate...but overall slightly underwhelming.
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4/19/2017 - PMHouser Likes this wine: 90 Points
This is much better than I expected, very nice blend with red fruit and cola aromas, well balanced and nice soft finish. And, under $25 it can't be beat.
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4/7/2017 - pinothoarder wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 2 hours, consumed over 6 hours. All I can say is Decant, Decant, Decant.
Best between hour 3-5. Wow did this just blow up in the glass after a couple of hours.
I forgot how much I just love the Truntina. Possibly even better than the amazing’08 vintage. Super full-bodied structure, rich boysenberry cobbler, vanilla, and a bit of dustiness to take it to the next level. This could stand up to almost any producer out of the Horse Haven Hills area. In fact, very reminiscent of some of the best $75 juice that I’ve ever had out of the Champoux vineyard. In fact, this may be the best cab-blend under $25 to come out of Washington in over 5 years; maybe ever. 93+ points
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3/5/2017 - Fireman961 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Lots of fruit, then second stage depth. A great blend though. Something easily served at the dinner table to company.
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1/8/2017 - AllRed wrote: 90 Points
Double blind. Aromas of incense, violets, blue fruit and spice. Flavors of chicolate, blue and black fruit and vanilla. To use one of Parker's favorite words, there's a "hedonistic" quality about this wine. It's also well-balanced, with plenty of fruit for the structure. Adds a peppery spice note in the finish.
My #3, Domino's #5
Group #1, 29 pts
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8/16/2016 - JeffnCin Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very pleased. Opened this after a big WA syrah, thought to myself "bah, my palate is shot, I won't taste a thing..." and what a surprise. Lots of complexity on the nose, a fantastic "two level" mouthfeel that I've struggled to explain a couple times now, great structure, lots of fruit but with just a bit of the barnyard -- maybe that's where the 9% syrah went?
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6/18/2016 - pbard wrote: 92 Points
Intoxicating nose, solid on the palate.
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5/20/2016 - Intellectual Sasquatch wrote: 89 Points
1 hour decant. Somewhat disappointed, based on the other scores here... Okay for $24 bottle of U.S. Cab/merlot - fruit forward, but lacking the balancing structure that I would consider a 92. Can't see this improving, but decent for the price. I'm still new at this and don't claim to have the palate or ability to call out the flavors/ aromas that many on this site possess, but I try to call 'em as I taste 'em - regardless of price.
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4/2/2016 - pbard Likes this wine: 92 Points
Aging nicely...
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3/22/2016 - Morrad Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is a great wine especially for the price point. Medium-full bodied. Lots of fruit with blueberry and vanilla. Smooth well integrated tannins. I don't find it opens up much after decanting but this wine has surprising complexity nevertheless. If I had to guess I'd swear the dominat varietal is Merlot though in actuality it's Cabernet. This is a case buy for sure.
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3/14/2016 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 92 Points
Soft textures and complex flavors are the hallmarks of this opaque ruby wine. A blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 5% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot, it offers black currants, spicy black cherries, pipe tobacco, lavender and loamy earth on both the nose and palate. Medium-to-full-bodied, seamlessly alcoholic (13.8%) and with relatively low acidity, it wraps its flavors with silky tannins and stays impressively solid in the middle. Long and round on the back end, this is a hedonistic wine that is very easy to drink. Enjoy it over the next several years. Drink now-2022.
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3/11/2016 - brown57 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very soft and round on the palette. I think the merlot is in the driver's seat here, even though cab sauv is the larger percentage of this blend.
Overtones of blueberry, vanilla, & baking spices. Maybe just a tad heavy on the oak right now. Enjoyable if not quite on par with the outstanding 2010 Trutina. I'll hold my other bottle for a year or more to see if the oak backs off a bit.
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3/10/2016 - kostaslonis Likes this wine: 92 Points
Go West! Tasting (The QEII Centre, Westminster, London): Big high intensity nose, fruity, full spicy, oak, toast, black berry and cherry. The palate is equally big, juicy, balanced, fruit, oak, toast again, same fruit with a few blackcurrants here and there, dense, nice structure, nice acidity and tannins, long finish. Outstanding
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12/7/2015 - vgeoffs wrote: 88 Points
Good balance, fine tannins, ripe red fruit, vanilla, quite enjoyable.
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11/14/2015 - DViz Does not like this wine: 82 Points
Gave time for the wine to open up, but it just never did. Stayed very dense with earth and dark fruit notes. Mouth feel was slightly bitter and never improves throughout the bottle. I'm going to give this some time before I open another bottle. For whatever reason this wine didn't hit the mark for me.
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11/5/2015 - WaWineFan in TX Likes this wine: 92 Points
2nd bottle of this over about a month. Similar to how I recall the first bottle. P&P, clearly evolving in the glass as I write this. Helped one point by the price. 23.00 at Costco. This stuff is an absolute steal. Great Fruit/smoky/herbal tones on both the nose and the palate. The complexity is just awesome with several different layers going on. Very unusual for a wine at this pricepoint. I highly recommend this wine and will head back to costco to grab another half case.
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5/11/2015 - pbard wrote: 91 Points
Young but shows tremendous promise. Fruit forward with generous oak on the nose, vanilla/coconut and dark fruits, some menthol. Very balanced with smooth tannins even at this age. Gonna get better, great QPR.
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5/3/2015 - Airstream Winos wrote:
Drink between 2018 and 2019
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4/24/2015 - GA_Seattle Likes this wine: 90 Points
Popped, drank over four hours. Tasting note written with final (3rd) glass. Dark red/purple. Sweet vanilla, black fruits and clove on the nose. Clearly a strong young wine, but with a soft and smooth palate texture which makes it very approachable. Boysenberry, prevalent oak (American?), but not overpowering. A great effort, good value for $23 (Costco). Very good now, with definite potential to improve over 3-4 years. This would be a good case buy. Try again in 2017.
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