BYO with friends - The 2000s (The Ranch by Aston's): Medium garnet. Rounded tannins, and having a juicy ripe black fruit character, as well as some savoury spices and slight minty. Pretty good length and complexity
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Complex, strawberry, raspberries, chocolate, earthy. drinking well but drink now or soon. The sweet character of the Grenache is not obvious at this stage, but it aged nicely, with nose and palate in harmony. Mellowed tannins, balanced, terrior minerals is very obvious. High dryness , Sharpness at the end.
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From Magnum. Double decanted for sediment and drunk over a few hours with braised lamb shanks
Saddlle leather, meaty, beef broth, black olives and thyme/ lavender. This is much more on the savory side of CdP. Mid plus weighted and for the most part resolved, fully mature. On the palate, again savory more than fruit driven with some dark berry fruits that add to the mostly meaty/ herbal notes that follow from the nose to the palate. A little rustic and feral, which I like, and that goes well with the comforting winter food. At the back side of peak in this format. Better with the food than by itself.
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Tasting my first of six. This wine is in a nice place. Showing classic brick red colors of a 20 year old wine. The secondary and tertiary aromas are suggestive of wet leaves, and cool red fruits. Taste of spices, herbs and cool, uplifting acidity. Bright and energetic. This could be confused for Burgundy because of the extremely light weight and mouth feel. I would bet some of my experienced blind tasting friends would mistake this for a jazzy Beaune wine.
The wine is bright, long and delicious. I'm not in a hurry. I think it's on a plateau and will be fine for a few more years. It's really a very interesting and beautiful wine. If you have some, try it.
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Nice, classic Chateauneuf-du-pape drinking extremely well right now. Color is starting to turn ever so slightly but not alarmingly. Aromas are both complex and intense, no need for decanting, alcohol not allowed to take over, not an over-extracted style. I plan to drink remaining bottles within 2-3 years
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This as at least very good and well paired with herbs de Provence lamb chops. Likely caught it between secondary and tertiary phases. Fruit has given way to earthy flavor. Still ample structure and some tannin. Lots of olive, garrigue and mint.
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Disappointing. Perhaps even flawed? Something funky and seemed a tad bit off too me but I can't pinpoint it. The cork was like brand new and no seepage whatsoever. Kind of miffed and interested to see what others thought last night.
Beautiful! Glad I still have one bottle left and it could still last a few more years (but I won't let that happen). Subtler on the nose than the mouth - full of blackberry, bramble and a little plum. Finished in day 2 and still holding its own.
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Transparent ruby. Smells of balsam and garrigue. Fully mature. At peak. Tastes of subtle red fruits, garrigue, balsam with a nice tannic grip. Acids are fairly soft and the finish is long. If you have this wine, I would start drinking them. I don't think it gets any better from here.
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Zesty and opulent; nose of raisin and cedar; initially broad and deep raspberry-raisin with earth and tar; later it lightened with more cedar than fruit; still young with tight tannins.
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I popped and poured this wine, and from the first sip it was singing. Lots of fruit left, with plenty of herbal and leathery character. Very fresh in palate feel, with no heaviness at all. This was a beautiful showing from a traditional Chateauneuf in the prime of its life.
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This was a late release bottle direct from the winery. Stunning wine! Gorgeous and delicious. Plenty of garrigue and balsam. Spicy, and long. This is the second time in 5 months that I have had this and both times it has been terrific.
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Popped and poured. Initially this showed some funk, leather, garrigue and herbs. As it opened the funk blew off leaving dried, slightly sweet red fruits, some herb and spice. This bottle showed nicely and better than the one I opened last month. This one had a little more depth and richness as well as tannin. It is not a big wine though and shows some elegance. I should have decanted this for an hour first as it improved over the course of dinner.
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Decanted for almost 3 hours prior to drinking and it could have used a couple more as this really only showed best about 4-1/2 hours in and started out rather scary. Color is a mature lighter red turning amber brown. Cork had barely any soak like a recently bottled wine. Funky nose from the get go mostly showing sulfur and barnyard mix for the first 2-1/2 hours. I was afraid to taste it but found the palate in relatively decent shape 2-1/2 hours in on first taste. Finally, about 3-1/2 hours in the nose cleaned up. The palate was old school and interesting but as others noted a bit short and slightly rustic. I liked this wine and happy I didn't have to dump but I would n't buy more. I have one more btl that I'll likely open soon as I see this having around 3yrs of life left before it gets really wierd and completely unfriendly. I'm guessing it really peaked about a yr or 2 ago.
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A wine with a light concentration, this 2001 is multidimensional and strongly evolved. However, every step of it has kept a great youthfulness, being fresh and lively. On the pallet, this gets very complex although this was a light to medium bodied wine. Here, thence, don’t look into the packed, concentrated, fruit basket you would have in most modern Chateauneuf-du-Papes. Instead, you get a unique Chateauneuf displaying some smashed dark berries under a well balanced structure; over which is a grandiose bouquet on secondary notes of humus, pine, incense, liquorice, dried garrigue and dried plum. A great showing, it shows the great potential of the wines from Clos Mt Olivet. 92 points
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Popped and poured. Aromatics of red fruits, blood, and herbs. Bright, ripe red fruits, strawberry, red raspberry with some herbs de provence, bloody notes, white pepper, and initially a faint bit of shit that did blow off after a half hour or so. I didn't find the acidity out of balance or overwhelming that some other tasters noted. The wine is soft and the tannins are pretty well resolved. Overall a nice wine with my only (slight) criticism being the finish is a bit short as others have noted. I will probably drink my last bottle in the next couple years.
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I have generally been avoiding the 2001 Chateauneufs in favor of the 1999 and 2000 lately, but this bottle caught my eye, so I figured no time like the present. In fact it's drinking reasonably well right now, though it shows more acid than I was expecting. There's plenty of herbal influence, and the fruit is ripe and dusty in character. Tannins are fairly soft, so there's a high drinkability level. The dinner food match wasn't so good, so I grabbed some olives, and that really worked well.
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- Ruby color with fast forming legs and aromas of strawberry, prune, tea and asparagus. It's overly acidic and has flavours of cloves, fig, prune and strawberry with a light/medium body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - Thin but good acidity. Slightly off balance but overall pleasing. Finish not as long as some of the great Chateauneuf, though for the price it was perfectly acceptable.
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Another great showing. Bright, red cherry fruit in a lighter style than usual for Mont Olivet but also some browner toned fruit, pepper, mint and spices. There is a sense of freshness here, very 2001 this wine. Good stuff.
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The best Mont-Olivet I've ever had and had I been served this blind, I would have guessed the vintage to be 1998. Medium red color, lighter than usual for Mont-Olivet. Fragrant nose of sweet cherries and spices, already here I'm positively surprised about how young this wine appears. Sweet and ripe Grenache in spades on the palate. Everything is well contained, good structure and balance (from that perspective very 2001ish). So elegant and refined with the red cherry fruit being supported by spices. I'm used to finding darker red fruit, black olives and tobacco in Mont-Olivet, but not here. This has a Rayas-like elegance and finesse to it. Outstanding wine that is not going anywhere anytime soon.
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Funky, barnyard nose, but with some very delicate floral aromas and solid cherry fruit on the nose. Fresh acidity on the palate, with flavors of brambly cherry and raspberry fruit. This seems like it has a long life ahead of it. Gotta get some more... 50+4+13+16+8=91
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$22 retail, after discount. Something a little unclean / volatile on the nose. In the mouth, it reminds me a bit of Les Cailloux - though the '00 and '01 Les Cailloux are more impressive wines than this, to be sure. Slightly sweet red fruit, spices, and an underlying thread of acid that throws this wine off balance for me. In fact it comes across as a little volatile. If this was a representative bottle (I hope this was merely an off bottle), I'd urge folks to drink this one young, while the fruit gives it the best chance of a balanced presentation... I'd expect this one to turn gamey fairly rapidly, and to come across as increasingly volatile as it spends more time in the bottle.
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8/20/2023 - Harry Cantrell Likes this wine: 93 Points
Garnet with tinted orange rim. Nose with garrigue and hint of raspberry. Taste of garrigue herbs, hint of raspberry. Drink now.
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12/3/2022 - Joelene wrote: 91 Points
Delicious mature cdp, had @Biba with grilled salmon
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10/18/2020 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 91 Points
BYO with friends - The 2000s (The Ranch by Aston's): Medium garnet. Rounded tannins, and having a juicy ripe black fruit character, as well as some savoury spices and slight minty. Pretty good length and complexity
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10/18/2020 - Gemofwine wrote: 95 Points
Complex, strawberry, raspberries, chocolate, earthy.
drinking well but drink now or soon. The sweet character of the Grenache is not obvious at this stage, but it aged nicely, with nose and palate in harmony.
Mellowed tannins, balanced, terrior minerals is very obvious. High dryness , Sharpness at the end.
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3/15/2020 - Axone wrote: flawed
Vin imbuvable du fait d'une acidité totalement excessive.
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12/25/2019 - cct wrote: 90 Points
From Magnum. Double decanted for sediment and drunk over a few hours with braised lamb shanks
Saddlle leather, meaty, beef broth, black olives and thyme/ lavender. This is much more on the savory side of CdP. Mid plus weighted and for the most part resolved, fully mature. On the palate, again savory more than fruit driven with some dark berry fruits that add to the mostly meaty/ herbal notes that follow from the nose to the palate. A little rustic and feral, which I like, and that goes well with the comforting winter food. At the back side of peak in this format. Better with the food than by itself.
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11/24/2019 - Axone wrote: flawed
Demie-bouteille.
Le vin est trop évolué et a basculé du mauvais côté du vieux vin, sur des arômes de madérisation.
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10/14/2018 - Mr Pinot Noir Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasting my first of six. This wine is in a nice place. Showing classic brick red colors of a 20 year old wine. The secondary and tertiary aromas are suggestive of wet leaves, and cool red fruits. Taste of spices, herbs and cool, uplifting acidity. Bright and energetic. This could be confused for Burgundy because of the extremely light weight and mouth feel. I would bet some of my experienced blind tasting friends would mistake this for a jazzy Beaune wine.
The wine is bright, long and delicious. I'm not in a hurry. I think it's on a plateau and will be fine for a few more years. It's really a very interesting and beautiful wine. If you have some, try it.
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12/3/2016 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nice, classic Chateauneuf-du-pape drinking extremely well right now. Color is starting to turn ever so slightly but not alarmingly. Aromas are both complex and intense, no need for decanting, alcohol not allowed to take over, not an over-extracted style. I plan to drink remaining bottles within 2-3 years
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6/18/2016 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:
This as at least very good and well paired with herbs de Provence lamb chops. Likely caught it between secondary and tertiary phases. Fruit has given way to earthy flavor. Still ample structure and some tannin. Lots of olive, garrigue and mint.
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2/28/2016 - chablis28 wrote:
Disappointing. Perhaps even flawed? Something funky and seemed a tad bit off too me but I can't pinpoint it. The cork was like brand new and no seepage whatsoever. Kind of miffed and interested to see what others thought last night.
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2/12/2016 - pbaek wrote:
Classic Mont-Olivet flavors of dark olives and spices in a light, elegant style, the way Chateauneuf can and should be made.
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5/15/2015 - Thomas B wrote: 91 Points
Beautiful! Glad I still have one bottle left and it could still last a few more years (but I won't let that happen).
Subtler on the nose than the mouth - full of blackberry, bramble and a little plum. Finished in day 2 and still holding its own.
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3/20/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 88 Points
Seems tired; earthy herbaceous blackberry; nice finish.
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2/7/2015 - Mr T wrote:
Still pretty good but showing its age
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1/18/2015 - paulst Likes this wine: 89 Points
Light fruity nose; licorice, raisen and raspberry; moderate finish.
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12/7/2014 - winemaker Likes this wine: 92 Points
Transparent ruby. Smells of balsam and garrigue. Fully mature. At peak. Tastes of subtle red fruits, garrigue, balsam with a nice tannic grip. Acids are fairly soft and the finish is long. If you have this wine, I would start drinking them. I don't think it gets any better from here.
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4/19/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 90 Points
Light with cedar and some blueberry-blackberry; decent finish.
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2/16/2014 - Marcus Vin Rouge wrote: 86 Points
Lean and nice, flesh and pepper, licorice. Low in the fruit, probably past peak.
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1/24/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 89 Points
Cedar and tobacco; more like a pinot noir than granache; decent texture and length but still green.
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1/12/2014 - paulst Likes this wine: 92 Points
Zesty and opulent; nose of raisin and cedar; initially broad and deep raspberry-raisin with earth and tar; later it lightened with more cedar than fruit; still young with tight tannins.
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12/11/2013 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nice texture with silky tannins; tobacco and leather with an earthy backbone; raisen; balanced and a nice coarseness; complex finish.
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10/14/2013 - Rieslingfan wrote: 92 Points
I popped and poured this wine, and from the first sip it was singing. Lots of fruit left, with plenty of herbal and leathery character. Very fresh in palate feel, with no heaviness at all. This was a beautiful showing from a traditional Chateauneuf in the prime of its life.
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9/30/2013 - winemaker Likes this wine: 94 Points
This was a late release bottle direct from the winery. Stunning wine! Gorgeous and delicious. Plenty of garrigue and balsam. Spicy, and long. This is the second time in 5 months that I have had this and both times it has been terrific.
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6/22/2013 - Outplaying wrote:
Popped and poured. Initially this showed some funk, leather, garrigue and herbs. As it opened the funk blew off leaving dried, slightly sweet red fruits, some herb and spice. This bottle showed nicely and better than the one I opened last month. This one had a little more depth and richness as well as tannin. It is not a big wine though and shows some elegance. I should have decanted this for an hour first as it improved over the course of dinner.
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5/25/2013 - chablis28 wrote: 88 Points
Decanted for almost 3 hours prior to drinking and it could have used a couple more as this really only showed best about 4-1/2 hours in and started out rather scary. Color is a mature lighter red turning amber brown. Cork had barely any soak like a recently bottled wine. Funky nose from the get go mostly showing sulfur and barnyard mix for the first 2-1/2 hours. I was afraid to taste it but found the palate in relatively decent shape 2-1/2 hours in on first taste. Finally, about 3-1/2 hours in the nose cleaned up. The palate was old school and interesting but as others noted a bit short and slightly rustic. I liked this wine and happy I didn't have to dump but I would n't buy more. I have one more btl that I'll likely open soon as I see this having around 3yrs of life left before it gets really wierd and completely unfriendly. I'm guessing it really peaked about a yr or 2 ago.
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5/20/2013 - cr84 wrote: 92 Points
A wine with a light concentration, this 2001 is multidimensional and strongly evolved. However, every step of it has kept a great youthfulness, being fresh and lively. On the pallet, this gets very complex although this was a light to medium bodied wine. Here, thence, don’t look into the packed, concentrated, fruit basket you would have in most modern Chateauneuf-du-Papes. Instead, you get a unique Chateauneuf displaying some smashed dark berries under a well balanced structure; over which is a grandiose bouquet on secondary notes of humus, pine, incense, liquorice, dried garrigue and dried plum. A great showing, it shows the great potential of the wines from Clos Mt Olivet. 92 points
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5/4/2013 - Outplaying Likes this wine:
Popped and poured. Aromatics of red fruits, blood, and herbs. Bright, ripe red fruits, strawberry, red raspberry with some herbs de provence, bloody notes, white pepper, and initially a faint bit of shit that did blow off after a half hour or so. I didn't find the acidity out of balance or overwhelming that some other tasters noted. The wine is soft and the tannins are pretty well resolved. Overall a nice wine with my only (slight) criticism being the finish is a bit short as others have noted. I will probably drink my last bottle in the next couple years.
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1/28/2013 - Rieslingfan Likes this wine:
I have generally been avoiding the 2001 Chateauneufs in favor of the 1999 and 2000 lately, but this bottle caught my eye, so I figured no time like the present. In fact it's drinking reasonably well right now, though it shows more acid than I was expecting. There's plenty of herbal influence, and the fruit is ripe and dusty in character. Tannins are fairly soft, so there's a high drinkability level. The dinner food match wasn't so good, so I grabbed some olives, and that really worked well.
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7/4/2012 - George.Stewart wrote:
- Ruby color with fast forming legs and aromas of strawberry, prune, tea and asparagus. It's overly acidic and has flavours of cloves, fig, prune and strawberry with a light/medium body. Smooth texture with a medium finish - Thin but good acidity. Slightly off balance but overall pleasing. Finish not as long as some of the great Chateauneuf, though for the price it was perfectly acceptable.
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3/28/2012 - pbaek wrote:
Another great showing. Bright, red cherry fruit in a lighter style than usual for Mont Olivet but also some browner toned fruit, pepper, mint and spices. There is a sense of freshness here, very 2001 this wine. Good stuff.
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8/2/2011 - AndersThoresson wrote: 86 Points
Wide open, but a little thin.
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7/17/2011 - Blauweiss wrote: 91 Points
Needs some decanting (2 hours) but then it´s a beauty!
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5/22/2011 - edman wrote: 90 Points
Nice red fruit and liquorice on the nose, day 2 more chocolate and coffee. Not the longest but still very nice.
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5/12/2011 - Finare Vinare wrote: 90 Points
A beauty. So smooth and harmonious, with lovely complexity. Great with lambchops provençale.
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10/3/2010 - pbaek wrote:
The best Mont-Olivet I've ever had and had I been served this blind, I would have guessed the vintage to be 1998. Medium red color, lighter than usual for Mont-Olivet. Fragrant nose of sweet cherries and spices, already here I'm positively surprised about how young this wine appears. Sweet and ripe Grenache in spades on the palate. Everything is well contained, good structure and balance (from that perspective very 2001ish). So elegant and refined with the red cherry fruit being supported by spices. I'm used to finding darker red fruit, black olives and tobacco in Mont-Olivet, but not here. This has a Rayas-like elegance and finesse to it. Outstanding wine that is not going anywhere anytime soon.
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2/14/2010 - Dingo wrote: 70 Points
Past it.
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2/6/2010 - rottcodd wrote: 85 Points
Garnet colour, mature, and yet acidic, slightly oxidised. Not great, and worse the second day.
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6/2/2009 - 97mjr wrote:
[ClB] Licorice, wax notes. Sweet tannins. Not profound but nice drinker.
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12/14/2006 - TGHaddon wrote:
Poor wine, tired nose and palate, really quite oxidised - resinous flavours and little in the way of interest.
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7/16/2006 - paulst wrote: 88 Points
Smooth berry with an acidic finish.
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5/28/2006 - burningstarIV wrote: 91 Points
Funky, barnyard nose, but with some very delicate floral aromas and solid cherry fruit on the nose. Fresh acidity on the palate, with flavors of brambly cherry and raspberry fruit. This seems like it has a long life ahead of it. Gotta get some more... 50+4+13+16+8=91
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1/16/2005 - Ben Andersen wrote:
$22 retail, after discount. Something a little unclean / volatile on the nose. In the mouth, it reminds me a bit of Les Cailloux - though the '00 and '01 Les Cailloux are more impressive wines than this, to be sure. Slightly sweet red fruit, spices, and an underlying thread of acid that throws this wine off balance for me. In fact it comes across as a little volatile. If this was a representative bottle (I hope this was merely an off bottle), I'd urge folks to drink this one young, while the fruit gives it the best chance of a balanced presentation... I'd expect this one to turn gamey fairly rapidly, and to come across as increasingly volatile as it spends more time in the bottle.
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