Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN): Dark red color. PNP, drank a glassover an hour. Well, I really liked this. Truffles, dark red fruit, perfumed, roses on the nose. The palate is simply juicy, with red cherry, dried earth, spice and wood notes on a medium body. This was bright and engaging.
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The nose was great - floral, but especially dark fruits, with quite rich blackcurrant and soya beans. The first sip on opening showed it was a bit tight, so I decanted it for four hours. The attack was full of blackcurrants, followed by a broad, quite rich wave of dark cherry and then some dark raspberry on the finish. The fruit was crunchy, as usual with these wines, but for once it was black fruit rather than red, and the colour was a lot deeper than usual. So far so good. The fruit sensations do, however, differ from other wines - they taste as if the sugar has been extracted. Therefore, the fruit tastes very sappy, but also quite astringent, leaving a lip-smacking feeling which is a bit odd. It was rich, but not sweetly rich, on the contrary, a strangely dry richness.
It was quite hard work to drink and at the moment, I admired it rather than liked it. There is a definite silky elegance and the way the quite deep richness is offset by crisp acidity bodes well.
Obviously the Echelier 15 was still very young and needs another five years at least, but I'm not sure where it is going. I really have no idea if this wine is an outstanding wine in the making or the Emperor's New Clothes.
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Aztec hot chocolate if it were reincarnated as red wine. Spicy, cocoa notes, virtually no fruit at this stage, but lots of pepper and gravel. Perhaps will appreciate this more a few years from now.
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nose quiet but floral with herbal green notes. palate is light to medium bodied with the interesting combination of bright acidity alongside a creamy texture. there are muted red fruits, dark raspberry and maybe a streak of tomato. major flavor that comes through is the pronounced heap of stony mineral. very dry and savory; this one really shows the earth. lengthy finish. expect this to age well due to the excellent balance. would hope more flavors will emerge and deepen with time.
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Loire Night (San Francisco): Bright medium ruby. Fresh red fruit with minimal herbaceousness. Medium weight, supple, tart red cherry, excellent acidity, fine soil. A cheery, more fruit forward wine for early drinking (the Beaujolais of the Loire?), very pure and clean.
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12/10/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 93 Points
Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (St. Genevieve, Mpls, MN): Dark red color. PNP, drank a glassover an hour. Well, I really liked this. Truffles, dark red fruit, perfumed, roses on the nose. The palate is simply juicy, with red cherry, dried earth, spice and wood notes on a medium body. This was bright and engaging.
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1/18/2022 - Julian Marshall wrote:
The nose was great - floral, but especially dark fruits, with quite rich blackcurrant and soya beans. The first sip on opening showed it was a bit tight, so I decanted it for four hours. The attack was full of blackcurrants, followed by a broad, quite rich wave of dark cherry and then some dark raspberry on the finish. The fruit was crunchy, as usual with these wines, but for once it was black fruit rather than red, and the colour was a lot deeper than usual. So far so good.
The fruit sensations do, however, differ from other wines - they taste as if the sugar has been extracted. Therefore, the fruit tastes very sappy, but also quite astringent, leaving a lip-smacking feeling which is a bit odd. It was rich, but not sweetly rich, on the contrary, a strangely dry richness.
It was quite hard work to drink and at the moment, I admired it rather than liked it. There is a definite silky elegance and the way the quite deep richness is offset by crisp acidity bodes well.
Obviously the Echelier 15 was still very young and needs another five years at least, but I'm not sure where it is going. I really have no idea if this wine is an outstanding wine in the making or the Emperor's New Clothes.
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10/9/2021 - timshel wrote:
very good. muted on the nose at first but opened up as the night went on. Such an elegant wine.
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8/15/2021 - JonBarnes1 wrote:
Aztec hot chocolate if it were reincarnated as red wine. Spicy, cocoa notes, virtually no fruit at this stage, but lots of pepper and gravel. Perhaps will appreciate this more a few years from now.
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9/24/2019 - jerhardt wrote:
Mid-weight, polished, and fairly ripe; overall, an elegant and pretty good cab franc.
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7/24/2019 - IJC Likes this wine:
Notes to follow
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5/31/2019 - The Guzz wrote:
Off Bottle
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1/9/2019 - bps2266 wrote: 91 Points
nose quiet but floral with herbal green notes. palate is light to medium bodied with the interesting combination of bright acidity alongside a creamy texture. there are muted red fruits, dark raspberry and maybe a streak of tomato. major flavor that comes through is the pronounced heap of stony mineral. very dry and savory; this one really shows the earth. lengthy finish. expect this to age well due to the excellent balance. would hope more flavors will emerge and deepen with time.
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1/8/2019 - Grand Cru Fr wrote:
Compares to Chambolle
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7/2/2017 - Zweder wrote: 87 Points
Retailer tasting; just short notes.: Primary red fruits like berries and cherries, a bit lactic and also some minerals. Good fresh acidity.
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1/30/2017 - drwine2001 wrote:
Loire Night (San Francisco): Bright medium ruby. Fresh red fruit with minimal herbaceousness. Medium weight, supple, tart red cherry, excellent acidity, fine soil. A cheery, more fruit forward wine for early drinking (the Beaujolais of the Loire?), very pure and clean.
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