Wet good wine. Lighter tannins than other of their reds and probably lighter than it used to be. Good berry fruit and some earthiness on the backend. Decanted an hour before drinking.
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Possibly “slightly” corked. Can wine be just a little corked? It definitely has a slight mustyness, however it wasn’t so bad that it was undrinkable. In fact the actual flavor of the wine was fine, the nose was what was off.
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Better than the last bottle which was corked. Enjoyed from the cellar without decanting. This was full bodied & tannins have smoothed over the years since I opened the first bottle when it was younger. Much more enjoyable today than two years ago. Drink now!
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Decanted for an hour. Bold, soft dark fruit, leather, mocha. Dry, complex and interesting - in a good way. Soft feeling in the mouth from start to its long finish. Enjoying it as an evening sipper - no food required.
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Nice easy drinking Cabernet blend. Smooth mouthfeel and no flaws to speak of, but not as complex as we remembered from the initial tasting a few years ago. Perhaps past prime or just at an awkward stage in its maturing life.
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Have to say, this bottle was the worse of all the ‘12s I had. Is this vintage’s best days behind it? All of the previous bottles had been spectacular and the last one I had was only 4 months ago. This bottle just seemed a bit discombobulated and out of balance. Very unlike the other bottles.
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Another excellent bottle. I filtered and they decanted it for an hour and then chilled it slightly. As it warmed back up, it just got better and better and better.
Paired this with a nice bone-in New York steak, baked potato and salad. A very simple meal, but a great pairing.
Like every bottle of Fraternity, this bottle was just as excellent.
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Coravined a glass two nights in a row. Absolutely big and bold. Plum, prune, tobacco, and a bit of mint/eucalyptus. As others have said, sediment is there but doesn’t get in the way. Solid QPR.
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Wow, this stuff just gets better and better. Still drinking fantastically. I’d guess another 5+ years? As with every bottle, there is absolutely tons of sediment, plan accordingly and filter!!! Color is still super dark with a purple rim. Aroma is big & strong, lots of black & blue fruit with Earth and oak. Taste, as always, a spectacular beast with a big and powerful blast of black fruit and oak. Full bodied (probably guessed that from the use of “big” & “powerful”) with a great balance, with smooth tannins and a med-low acidity.
A solid 90 Pointer and an Excellent QPR! This really is not a wimpy wine at all and not for the weak of heart, but probably one of my favorites. Every time I have a bottle, I wonder why I don’t keep a case+ on hand. Only have 2 bottles left on hand... time to get more!
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This wine is passing its prime, still good, medium acidity medium+ body and medium finish. This may go for another 3-5 years but it won’t get better that what it’s is now.
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Nice bottle. Had this out in Lake Havasu. Opened and had a glass in the late afternoon and let it sit open (in the bottle - which admittedly doesn’t do much, but I had to deal with what I had ) and finished it later that night with the spectacular Rosati’s Deep Dish Pizza!
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Wow, a solid 90 Point bottle. Big, dark and powerful. But still easy to drink on it’s own. Lots of dark (black & blue) fruit, earth, leather, cedar and oak. Everything I love in a wine!!! The Syrah is very much out in front on this bottle. More than I remember in the other bottles, but that’s not a bad thing as I Love Syrah.
Note: EVERY bottle has tons of Sediment. Not a bad thing... just pointing it out to those who are uninitiated with Fraternity.
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Yep, this is just another terrific wine. Still need to find and get some of the 2013 and 2014 vintages. My local store still has 2011 and (lots) 2012 available. Yummy!
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Wonderful full bodied fruit forward wine. Opens up beautifully with a two hour splash decant. Awesome QPR @ $25/bottle. If you see it, buy it, you won't be disappointed.
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Like others, I agree this is a great wine for the money. We had this with a grilled flank steak and asparagus. Wow, highly recommended. We will be purchasing more of this wine.
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OK, let's get this out-of-the-way right now. This is superb, a solid 91 Point (which is a very high score for me) wine! Now, to be fair I had this at a restaurant that served a superb Allen Brothers Filet Mignon, that was perfectly grilled. You get my drift here? This was just plain awesome, all the way around. Each item made the other better!
To tell you how awesome this was, I brought this Fraternity to the restaurant, but I wound up buying a bottle from the restaurant. When I tried their selection (a Martin Ray 2014 Sonoma Cab), I said, "OK this MR is fine. Please re-cork (twistie actually) it, as I will be taking it home. Please open this (the '12 Fraternity) as THIS is what an Alan Brothers steak deserves!" Superb together!
My local Total Wine has about 3 cases of this on hand. I'm going to go buy more tomorrow. Typically, I've been liking the '13 vintages more than the '12s, but this was just really something special. I'll get some '13 as well when I see them though!
Initially this comes across as a hot year Left Bank, as it opens more the Bordeaux funk blows off and the lush black and blue fruits comes out, some tea, clove and cedar, velvety texture with chewy mouth coating tannins. Really nice wine, worth the money at around 30.
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Yummy, just another great example! Love this wine and I've had several vintages! When I see this, if I don't have a few bottles in the cellar, I always pick some up... Superb QPR!
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Very solid wine; not elegant but deeply flavored; chocolate, plum on the nose and in the full body; deepened after 3 hour decant; long rich finish with slight tannin. Bought on sale for $36; decent value.
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Oh boy, this is really great stuff. I have to admit I'm a fan of great wineries with a "second label". More often than not, the second label is 85+% as good, at 50% the price. This is an excellent example of that.
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Color: Medium Purple Nose: Smells of a Right Bank Bordeaux; Mineral and Earthy Taste: Fruit Upfront with Velvety Tannins like a Margaux; Dark Chocolate and Tabacco Linger Comp's: Stag's Leap Artemis and Chimney Rock Tomahawk are a bit more Balanced but Close; Margaux are Close, too
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drinks like a bargain bin nickel nickel, similar characteristics of a napa cab but not as refined or mature. It's lacks the finesse & elegance of the higher ticket flagship napa cabs. The bordeaux style blend is its saving grace as the contributory grapes tighten it up its finish nicely. PnP its a bit of an oak jam party, but after a bit of time to decant and open in the glass it really gets into its groove with dark fruit, full body.
It is beautiful in the glass with an inky purple appearance. Tons of sediment as it left the decanter coated. Look forward to drinking again, nice QPR.
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Dark color with great aroma. Flavors of dark fruit and chocolate. A really solid bottle of wine and will definitely buy more. Like others have noted, a good value.
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Red ink black big legs nose screams drink me now. Sweet chocolate blackberry raisins hint of mushroom and mulch. This is smooth on on the palette the chocolate comes through nice dark sweet fruit and a hint of cigar box Tannins are perfect I would drink this baby now. This at the sub 40 price is a real value
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Consistent with my previous tasting, smells like a hot year left bank and similar flavor profile as well, dark red/black fruits, cassis, some integrated oak and background licorice. Really nice wine and on sale was 33 dollars, hard to beat it at this price.
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Smells like a left bank strangely enough, great fruit and earth, terrific balance! Not the most complex wine but drinks really well young. Very good value.
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8/26/2022 - tjtrot Likes this wine: 90 Points
tjt mellow maybe slightly past peak; balanced with balanced tannins; nice dark fruit on the palate; probably a killer smooth blend 2 years ago. 90
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6/22/2022 - thunderfly wrote: 89 Points
Wet good wine. Lighter tannins than other of their reds and probably lighter than it used to be. Good berry fruit and some earthiness on the backend. Decanted an hour before drinking.
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3/7/2021 - thunderfly wrote: 82 Points
Possibly “slightly” corked. Can wine be just a little corked? It definitely has a slight mustyness, however it wasn’t so bad that it was undrinkable. In fact the actual flavor of the wine was fine, the nose was what was off.
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11/29/2020 - vincemcd61 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice wine
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7/13/2020 - WineJ2019 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ready now
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5/15/2020 - Bordeaux Lady Likes this wine: 91 Points
Better than the last bottle which was corked. Enjoyed from the cellar without decanting. This was full bodied & tannins have smoothed over the years since I opened the first bottle when it was younger. Much more enjoyable today than two years ago. Drink now!
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5/7/2020 - bcahlbrandt Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bold dark fruit and complex earthy notes. Solid QPR. Quite enjoyable.
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2/7/2020 - tominasia Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for an hour. Bold, soft dark fruit, leather, mocha. Dry, complex and interesting - in a good way. Soft feeling in the mouth from start to its long finish. Enjoying it as an evening sipper - no food required.
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12/22/2019 - cos65 Likes this wine:
Modern styled, very tasty Napa cab
Ends on a slightly oaky note.
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12/15/2019 - vincemcd61 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Delicious. Had with leftover Prima’s Bella pizza
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12/31/2018 - Luvtexwine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Nice easy drinking Cabernet blend. Smooth mouthfeel and no flaws to speak of, but not as complex as we remembered from the initial tasting a few years ago. Perhaps past prime or just at an awkward stage in its maturing life.
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11/29/2018 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Found a bottle. From where, I have no idea. LOL
Have to say, this bottle was the worse of all the ‘12s I had. Is this vintage’s best days behind it? All of the previous bottles had been spectacular and the last one I had was only 4 months ago. This bottle just seemed a bit discombobulated and out of balance. Very unlike the other bottles.
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7/24/2018 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Another excellent bottle. I filtered and they decanted it for an hour and then chilled it slightly. As it warmed back up, it just got better and better and better.
Paired this with a nice bone-in New York steak, baked potato and salad. A very simple meal, but a great pairing.
Like every bottle of Fraternity, this bottle was just as excellent.
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5/1/2018 - bambie321 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Coravined a glass two nights in a row. Absolutely big and bold. Plum, prune, tobacco, and a bit of mint/eucalyptus. As others have said, sediment is there but doesn’t get in the way. Solid QPR.
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4/11/2018 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wow, this stuff just gets better and better. Still drinking fantastically. I’d guess another 5+ years? As with every bottle, there is absolutely tons of sediment, plan accordingly and filter!!! Color is still super dark with a purple rim. Aroma is big & strong, lots of black & blue fruit with Earth and oak. Taste, as always, a spectacular beast with a big and powerful blast of black fruit and oak. Full bodied (probably guessed that from the use of “big” & “powerful”) with a great balance, with smooth tannins and a med-low acidity.
A solid 90 Pointer and an Excellent QPR! This really is not a wimpy wine at all and not for the weak of heart, but probably one of my favorites. Every time I have a bottle, I wonder why I don’t keep a case+ on hand. Only have 2 bottles left on hand... time to get more!
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3/25/2018 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 89 Points
This wine is passing its prime, still good, medium acidity medium+ body and medium finish. This may go for another 3-5 years but it won’t get better that what it’s is now.
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1/19/2018 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Nice bottle. Had this out in Lake Havasu. Opened and had a glass in the late afternoon and let it sit open (in the bottle - which admittedly doesn’t do much, but I had to deal with what I had ) and finished it later that night with the spectacular Rosati’s Deep Dish Pizza!
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12/28/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wow, a solid 90 Point bottle. Big, dark and powerful. But still easy to drink on it’s own. Lots of dark (black & blue) fruit, earth, leather, cedar and oak. Everything I love in a wine!!! The Syrah is very much out in front on this bottle. More than I remember in the other bottles, but that’s not a bad thing as I Love Syrah.
Note: EVERY bottle has tons of Sediment. Not a bad thing... just pointing it out to those who are uninitiated with Fraternity.
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12/13/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Another yummy bottle. Had this with a homemade grilled cheeseburger combined with a big baked russet and asparagus!
This one seemed a little bit more tart not quite as open. I will update this note if things change.
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11/3/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Yep, this is just another terrific wine. Still need to find and get some of the 2013 and 2014 vintages. My local store still has 2011 and (lots) 2012 available. Yummy!
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10/27/2017 - bubbachumps wrote: 90 Points
Old work nose, notes of earth, leather, blackberry and spice. Well integrated in the mouth, medium bodied. Nice wine
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10/2/2017 - NCWino1 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Wonderful full bodied fruit forward wine. Opens up beautifully with a two hour splash decant. Awesome QPR @ $25/bottle. If you see it, buy it, you won't be disappointed.
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9/24/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wow, just another lovely bottle. Time to get more!!!
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9/12/2017 - millerarner Likes this wine: 91 Points
Surprised by how good this was.
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8/30/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Yummy... just terrific.
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7/15/2017 - Jwmumm Likes this wine: 92 Points
Like others, I agree this is a great wine for the money. We had this with a grilled flank steak and asparagus. Wow, highly recommended. We will be purchasing more of this wine.
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6/24/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 91 Points
OK, let's get this out-of-the-way right now. This is superb, a solid 91 Point (which is a very high score for me) wine! Now, to be fair I had this at a restaurant that served a superb Allen Brothers Filet Mignon, that was perfectly grilled. You get my drift here? This was just plain awesome, all the way around. Each item made the other better!
To tell you how awesome this was, I brought this Fraternity to the restaurant, but I wound up buying a bottle from the restaurant. When I tried their selection (a Martin Ray 2014 Sonoma Cab), I said, "OK this MR is fine. Please re-cork (twistie actually) it, as I will be taking it home. Please open this (the '12 Fraternity) as THIS is what an Alan Brothers steak deserves!" Superb together!
My local Total Wine has about 3 cases of this on hand. I'm going to go buy more tomorrow. Typically, I've been liking the '13 vintages more than the '12s, but this was just really something special. I'll get some '13 as well when I see them though!
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6/20/2017 - pakabear Likes this wine: 92 Points
Initially this comes across as a hot year Left Bank, as it opens more the Bordeaux funk blows off and the lush black and blue fruits comes out, some tea, clove and cedar, velvety texture with chewy mouth coating tannins. Really nice wine, worth the money at around 30.
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5/27/2017 - Tim & Kathy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Aromas of black cherry, vanilla, tobacco, and herbs. Tastes of blackberry, tobacco, mineral and earth. Very nice cab, smooth tannins.
5,22,8,4,4;50=93
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5/8/2017 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Yummy, just another great example! Love this wine and I've had several vintages! When I see this, if I don't have a few bottles in the cellar, I always pick some up... Superb QPR!
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4/25/2017 - vincemcd61 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wonderful had with pizza
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3/31/2017 - Chateau g2pa Likes this wine: 90 Points
Jammy, plums and blueberry. Mild tannins. Medium finish. Not to complex. Opened up more after venturi. Was easy to drink.
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2/25/2017 - Edzo1969 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Big full bodied, nice fruit, tastes better with long decant. Slight tannin and. Very good wine, worth the $$$.
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1/15/2017 - tjtrot Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very solid wine; not elegant but deeply flavored; chocolate, plum on the nose and in the full body; deepened after 3 hour decant; long rich finish with slight tannin. Bought on sale for $36; decent value.
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1/9/2017 - BrunelloBob wrote: 90 Points
Called this as a cab blend but was thinking petit sirah. Looks like it'smerlot and syrah. Big, strong wine. Good juice.
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12/31/2016 - cbrad1713 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very tannin oriented. Strong dark fruit without much minerality. Gteat when decanted, a little sediment to the bottle.
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12/25/2016 - Moxiewine1990 wrote:
Heavy out the bottle, jammy notes enhanced as it opened up.
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12/22/2016 - adrenalin112 Likes this wine: 91 Points
another bottle of this vintage and it continues to be consistently impressive with outstanding QPR
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12/21/2016 - kevrob822 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Oh boy, this is really great stuff. I have to admit I'm a fan of great wineries with a "second label". More often than not, the second label is 85+% as good, at 50% the price. This is an excellent example of that.
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11/25/2016 - kvd2 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Color: Medium Purple
Nose: Smells of a Right Bank Bordeaux; Mineral and Earthy
Taste: Fruit Upfront with Velvety Tannins like a Margaux; Dark Chocolate and Tabacco Linger
Comp's: Stag's Leap Artemis and Chimney Rock Tomahawk are a bit more Balanced but Close; Margaux are Close, too
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11/25/2016 - adrenalin112 Likes this wine: 90 Points
drinks like a bargain bin nickel nickel, similar characteristics of a napa cab but not as refined or mature. It's lacks the finesse & elegance of the higher ticket flagship napa cabs. The bordeaux style blend is its saving grace as the contributory grapes tighten it up its finish nicely. PnP its a bit of an oak jam party, but after a bit of time to decant and open in the glass it really gets into its groove with dark fruit, full body.
It is beautiful in the glass with an inky purple appearance.
Tons of sediment as it left the decanter coated. Look forward to drinking again, nice QPR.
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10/22/2016 - The Swet Man Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark color with great aroma. Flavors of dark fruit and chocolate. A really solid bottle of wine and will definitely buy more. Like others have noted, a good value.
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9/10/2016 - pakabear Likes this wine: 91 Points
Not quite as good as I remember it previously but it still didn't disappoint, this is a very good wine and worth the low-30 price tag.
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8/6/2016 - RockyII Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark cherry and chocolate notes with a tart then acidic finish. Medium bodied with a dark complexion. Good value.
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7/18/2016 - Baronfreya wrote: 93 Points
Red ink black big legs nose screams drink me now. Sweet chocolate blackberry raisins hint of mushroom and mulch. This is smooth on on the palette the chocolate comes through nice dark sweet fruit and a hint of cigar box Tannins are perfect I would drink this baby now. This at the sub 40 price is a real value
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7/17/2016 - pakabear Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consistent with my previous tasting, smells like a hot year left bank and similar flavor profile as well, dark red/black fruits, cassis, some integrated oak and background licorice. Really nice wine and on sale was 33 dollars, hard to beat it at this price.
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7/15/2016 - pakabear Likes this wine: 92 Points
Smells like a left bank strangely enough, great fruit and earth, terrific balance! Not the most complex wine but drinks really well young. Very good value.
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4/2/2016 - vincemcd61 Likes this wine: 90 Points
had with leftover pizza
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3/9/2016 - theoz wrote: 91 Points
Shoulda' bought more. Good value.
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2/21/2016 - Luvtexwine Likes this wine: 91 Points
Excellent nose and complexity. Great balance.
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2/18/2016 - theoz wrote: 91 Points
Quite impressed. Very nice. Good value.
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