A very interesting wine. I had been meaning to try this wine given I had not seen a single vineyard designate from this vineyard outside of the Purlieu bottling. I found a decent deal on Benchmark for this during a recent bin sale and for a 2012, I figured why not take a flyer on it at $120. The 2018 vintage is now at $225 a bottle so let's check out what all the hype is about.
First impressions: Heavy, heavy sediment. Painstaking process of double decanting this back into the bottle. For those drinking now, recommend standing this upright 24+ hours prior to drinking which hopefully improves this issue.
OK, so once that was done - the nose: thought this was flawed. It smelled old, a bit burnt, medicinal that was rather unpleasant. However upon tasting this was better than the nose led on. It continued to improve over 3+ hours, and the last sips were the best. 15% alcohol and needed some time to settle down. Dark ruby red, bit of cinnamon / nutmeg spice. Well integrated tannins, left me wanting more. If this was 10 years old, makes me wonder how a 2013 / 2016 / 2018 will drink? It was an intriguing, if not puzzling bottle after all the sediment and the nose, but ended up really impressing.
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Out with friends and we had: Fait Main Sleeping Lady 2015, Chateau Potelle Fourmeaux 2013, and, Purlieu Teucer Vineyard 2012. The wines were very different and all solid. Fourmeaux was ready so we started with that and no decant (based on CT reviews) was needed. I think the blend is Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and Merlot, which a friend of mine nailed. This red blend was open for business. Purlieu Teucer was a slight step up in flavor and it was also open for business. I pulled the cork at 5pm and we started consuming this at around 8pm.
The WOTN was Fait Main's Sleeping Lady Vineyard. It too was open for business; it just had more going on; multi-dimensional with black fruit, signature chocolate, and mineral notes on the mid-palate and finish.
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Dark opaque purple color, concentrated blackberries and cassis with a velvety mouthfeel finishing structured tannins, chocolate, vanilla and oak. Paired well with the main filet and lava cake from Fleming’s!
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The nose reveals dark ruby, ripe, fruits of; blackberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries & plum. Nicely layered and soft baking spices; vanilla, cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark medium intensity spice, star anise, volcanic minerals, soft leather, underbrush, violets, lavender and very dark fresh floral bouquets.
The body is full. The tannins are round, tarry and sticky. Their wines drink so easily young. Dark ruby, ripe fruits of; blackberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries, plum, nicely layered and soft baking spices; vanilla, cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark medium intensity spice, anise, volcanic minerals, crushed dry rocks, some mint & dry herbs, soft leather, underbrush, violets, lavender and very dark fresh floral bouquets. The acidy round & beautiful. The long finish is ripe fruit with balanced earth, elegant, juicy and lasts minutes.
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4/15/2022 - sean7711 Likes this wine: 95 Points
A very interesting wine. I had been meaning to try this wine given I had not seen a single vineyard designate from this vineyard outside of the Purlieu bottling. I found a decent deal on Benchmark for this during a recent bin sale and for a 2012, I figured why not take a flyer on it at $120. The 2018 vintage is now at $225 a bottle so let's check out what all the hype is about.
First impressions: Heavy, heavy sediment. Painstaking process of double decanting this back into the bottle. For those drinking now, recommend standing this upright 24+ hours prior to drinking which hopefully improves this issue.
OK, so once that was done - the nose: thought this was flawed. It smelled old, a bit burnt, medicinal that was rather unpleasant. However upon tasting this was better than the nose led on. It continued to improve over 3+ hours, and the last sips were the best. 15% alcohol and needed some time to settle down. Dark ruby red, bit of cinnamon / nutmeg spice. Well integrated tannins, left me wanting more. If this was 10 years old, makes me wonder how a 2013 / 2016 / 2018 will drink? It was an intriguing, if not puzzling bottle after all the sediment and the nose, but ended up really impressing.
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4/11/2021 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 95 Points
Out with friends and we had: Fait Main Sleeping Lady 2015, Chateau Potelle Fourmeaux 2013, and, Purlieu Teucer Vineyard 2012. The wines were very different and all solid. Fourmeaux was ready so we started with that and no decant (based on CT reviews) was needed. I think the blend is Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and Merlot, which a friend of mine nailed. This red blend was open for business. Purlieu Teucer was a slight step up in flavor and it was also open for business. I pulled the cork at 5pm and we started consuming this at around 8pm.
The WOTN was Fait Main's Sleeping Lady Vineyard. It too was open for business; it just had more going on; multi-dimensional with black fruit, signature chocolate, and mineral notes on the mid-palate and finish.
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1/26/2020 - Randito Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark opaque purple color, concentrated blackberries and cassis with a velvety mouthfeel finishing structured tannins, chocolate, vanilla and oak. Paired well with the main filet and lava cake from Fleming’s!
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10/8/2018 - Somm David T Likes this wine: 94 Points
The nose reveals dark ruby, ripe, fruits of; blackberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries & plum. Nicely layered and soft baking spices; vanilla, cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark medium intensity spice, star anise, volcanic minerals, soft leather, underbrush, violets, lavender and very dark fresh floral bouquets.
The body is full. The tannins are round, tarry and sticky. Their wines drink so easily young. Dark ruby, ripe fruits of; blackberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries, plum, nicely layered and soft baking spices; vanilla, cinnamon, clove & nutmeg. Dark medium intensity spice, anise, volcanic minerals, crushed dry rocks, some mint & dry herbs, soft leather, underbrush, violets, lavender and very dark fresh floral bouquets. The acidy round & beautiful. The long finish is ripe fruit with balanced earth, elegant, juicy and lasts minutes.
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