Fabulous Beautiful nose of black fruit preserves immediate after pouring into aerator. Glycerin legs on the glass. Perfect balance of soft tannins and blackberry/fig/black plums carried by structured acidity for over a minute. Mostly midpalate.
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Clear deep garnet; clean medium plus nose of damp cellar, fig jam, slight balsamic and jammy cassis; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is slightly tarter with addition of tar, leather and butter cocoa; long finish; drink now or in 10 years; dormant upon opening - needed about an hour to come to life; when it did, it was fantastic!
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1. Neighbor tasting night. Deep ruby color. Deep aroma of ripe black fruit, oak, meat, mushroom. Dry, high acidity, right tannins, deep taste of blackberry, black plums, vanilla, oak, meat and mushroom. Long finish, lush full bodied. Great balance. Thought it was a 08 Bordeaux left bank. Outstanding.
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Opened (perfect cork) at a restaurant which was temporarily out of decanters. At first (without decanting) the wine was tight and had a slightly bitter funk. However, once our waiter finally secured a decanter for us, this wine really blossomed. After 45+ minutes of air, this blend of 65% Merlot, 30% Cab Franc, 5% Petit Verdot really opened up. A hint of sweet and ripe black fruit comprised the attack, with a savory note of grilled herbes de Provence (decidedly not a green / methoxypyrazine note, which would have been a negative) on the mid-palate. The finish was moderately long, with a hint of baking spices and chocolate. Summary: An outstanding right-bank style Bordeaux blend that, based upon our decanting experience, still has aging potential...so if you want to drink in 2019 or 2020, I strongly recommend a healthy decant.
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Pulled this out of the cellar on a whim, definitely normally wouldn’t drink something like this so young. I tasted a splash when I opened the bottle and decanted half the bottle for 2.5 hours. The first splash was vibrant and fruit forward, well balanced and truly a head turner. Coiled dark fruit led into a lengthy finish; I was simply shocked by how fresh and inviting this was right out of the bottle. After the decant the wine was tighter and a bit more disjointed. The heady fruit gave way to tannins and the wine beckoned for food to be paired with. This wine is fantastic with food, the fruit is a bit secretive once decanted but with ribeye, this is stunning. I will be drinking the second half of the bottle tomorrow so will update then.
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A wonderfully composed central coast red blend. The richness from the Merlot melds well with the Cabernet franc. A nice bouquet of dark fruit, rose, birch, and some underbrush. Great salinity on the palate with expressive and refined fruit. This should flesh out further with time.
I have not been a big fan of the Fenix in past bottlings, but the 2013 really expresses itself nicely.
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2/24/2024 - MarkRichards Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fabulous
Beautiful nose of black fruit preserves immediate after pouring into aerator. Glycerin legs on the glass. Perfect balance of soft tannins and blackberry/fig/black plums carried by structured acidity for over a minute. Mostly midpalate.
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3/25/2023 - commissaire_aux_vins Likes this wine: 93 Points
From a magnum, short decant. Beautiful. Blackberry jam with herbal notes.
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7/17/2022 - ClaytonDave Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium-full bodied. Soft tannins that fade with a decant. Needed about 2 hours. On the palate, blackberry and plum. Great food wine.
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6/4/2021 - Shep LA Likes this wine:
.
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10/3/2020 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Clear deep garnet; clean medium plus nose of damp cellar, fig jam, slight balsamic and jammy cassis; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is slightly tarter with addition of tar, leather and butter cocoa; long finish; drink now or in 10 years; dormant upon opening - needed about an hour to come to life; when it did, it was fantastic!
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4/11/2020 - Costes76 Likes this wine: 95 Points
1. Neighbor tasting night. Deep ruby color. Deep aroma of ripe black fruit, oak, meat, mushroom. Dry, high acidity, right tannins, deep taste of blackberry, black plums, vanilla, oak, meat and mushroom. Long finish, lush full bodied. Great balance. Thought it was a 08 Bordeaux left bank. Outstanding.
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3/24/2020 - HorstPeak Likes this wine: 93 Points
Outstanding, decant for 2 hours, black fruit and long lingering finish, have 1 more will wait 5 more years
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12/15/2019 - aidyl Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasting Notes match those from March 2019
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12/3/2019 - aidyl Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened (perfect cork) at a restaurant which was temporarily out of decanters. At first (without decanting) the wine was tight and had a slightly bitter funk. However, once our waiter finally secured a decanter for us, this wine really blossomed. After 45+ minutes of air, this blend of 65% Merlot, 30% Cab Franc, 5% Petit Verdot really opened up. A hint of sweet and ripe black fruit comprised the attack, with a savory note of grilled herbes de Provence (decidedly not a green / methoxypyrazine note, which would have been a negative) on the mid-palate. The finish was moderately long, with a hint of baking spices and chocolate. Summary: An outstanding right-bank style Bordeaux blend that, based upon our decanting experience, still has aging potential...so if you want to drink in 2019 or 2020, I strongly recommend a healthy decant.
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2/9/2019 - kdart000 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pulled this out of the cellar on a whim, definitely normally wouldn’t drink something like this so young. I tasted a splash when I opened the bottle and decanted half the bottle for 2.5 hours. The first splash was vibrant and fruit forward, well balanced and truly a head turner. Coiled dark fruit led into a lengthy finish; I was simply shocked by how fresh and inviting this was right out of the bottle. After the decant the wine was tighter and a bit more disjointed. The heady fruit gave way to tannins and the wine beckoned for food to be paired with. This wine is fantastic with food, the fruit is a bit secretive once decanted but with ribeye, this is stunning. I will be drinking the second half of the bottle tomorrow so will update then.
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3/8/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sauv. Blanc and Merlot Night (Bear and Star, Los Olivos, CA): Opened too young, as this was very primary, with the components not well integrated. To revisit in a few years.
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8/15/2017 - drdan8 Likes this wine: 93 Points
A wonderfully composed central coast red blend. The richness from the Merlot melds well with the Cabernet franc. A nice bouquet of dark fruit, rose, birch, and some underbrush. Great salinity on the palate with expressive and refined fruit. This should flesh out further with time.
I have not been a big fan of the Fenix in past bottlings, but the 2013 really expresses itself nicely.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment