Similar to an earlier bottle. This seemed to have been stored wrong. Stewed fruit on the nose, palate is mostly acidic with little substance. Weird because all the wine can from the same source and two bottles have been completely off.
Knez winery is no longer. It' Cerese vineyards Pinot Noir vines were all purchased by Kosta Browne, and why not? It is a premium vineyard site in Anderson Valley where fog and cool nights, and sloping, difficult to farm vineyards 16 miles from the coast in hard to visit Anderson Valley has a history of producing some great Pinot Noir.
This wine is spectacular with bright red cherries and raspberries, cola, vanilla, earth, wet stone, and forrest floor.
Acid is very high, and tannins are medium.
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Very good. Still dark color, developing more complexity & pleasure with age. Not near end of drinking window. Prominent notes of sour cherries. Well balanced. Now I wish I had more.
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Consumed over 3 days (vacuvined and refrigerated), note from day 3. Two glasses consumed over 3 hours on day one found wine off, lacking fruit and astringent. Having had a similar experience with my previous bottle in late 2019, I decided to wait to write note - so from day 3. Appearance: Clear, medium ruby with just the slightest hint of edge bricking. Nose: Clean, medium intensity with fully developed aromas of dried cherry, rose petal, forest floor, cinnamon, and black olive. Palate: Dry, medium tannin, medium+ acid, medium body, 13.3% abv, medium intensity with developed flavors of dried cherry, dark earth, and spice with a medium+ finish. Overall a very good wine with great balance, very good length and complexity, and good intensity. Kind of an odd wine in that, while I believe it is at it's peak, still needs a fair amount of air to show it's goods. Drink now or over the next 2 years.
The last bottle must’ve been off because this wine was lovely. Dark fruited Pinot nose, quite consistent with my note from 2 years ago. Nice acidity with tart red berries, dark cherries, and good structure on the palate. Great finish.
One of the best Pinots I've had this year! Nice purple edge, fiarly dark fruit and nice earth on the nose. Really intense, spicy dark cherry on the palate with slightly sweet fruit and a bit of floral essence. Long, rich finish with enough acid to stand up to food, but not overdone. Almost a theoretical cross between a really good Cristom (Oregon) and a Premier Cru Burgundy from a fairly ripe vintage. Seems to be at peak now, but will likely hold a couple more years, Yum!
Consistent with my notes of October of 2017. I have one left from a winery that sadly, no longer exists. Dry, tart cherry. Slightly sour finish. I bought these for $30 each. Last I checked the new owners of this vineyard, Kosta Browne, are charging over $120 per bottle.
Opened this alongside the 2014 Knez Anderson Valley (general) bottling. Side by side, there are notable differences. While the Anderson Valley has a pronounced top and front of mouth acidity, the Cerise has more of a back of mouth depth, with somewhat darker fruit and more pronounced tannins - more likable IMO.
This is still a rather tart and cranberry-focused pinot, yet it has enough tannin and fruit to carry it through an evening with and without food, and the fruit component is deeper, darker and more interesting. It grows on you. The AG review on release is basically on track, although I take issue with the 95.
Consumed over 2 days (vacuvined), note from day 2. Nose: Medium expressiveness, rose bush, black cherry, black olives, and dark earth. Palate: Medium bodied, earthy dark cherry attack, great balance, up front flavors persist nicely thru the mid-palate where an Asian spice note appears, balanced flavors persist into the back-end where forest floor notes appear. Finish: Medium-plus length dominated by dark red fruit, spice, and dark earth. This is not your typical California pinot as it shows great depth and restraint - very Burgundian in style.
Completely different from the last bottle. This is just acidic with little fruit and no Pinot character. I suspect a bad bottle because we really enjoyed it last time...
Prior notes:" Darker ruby color. Expressive and perfumed nose, mostly floral notes with red fruits in the background. Palate was dark cherry, red berries, mint, baking spice, licorice and cola. Medium weight, layered and long finish..." Not as bright as prior bottles. Noting bad or off with the bottle, I recall a more high toned fruit profile with this wine on prior bottles. Still drinking well.
Hot on the nose. Cherries and raspberries underneath but disjointed now. Not as good as I remember. Bad bottle or has this wine fallen apart now? Will try another bottle soon
Dark berries, cherries, licorice, mocha, and orange notes on the nice and complex nose. Good acidity with soft, yet noticeable tannins. Flavors of tart rapsberfies, blood orange, and dark cherries on the palate. Long finish. This is beautiful and incredible value. Too bad, it’s no more...
Very pale in colour. Soft red fruit on the nose, quite youthful, spices, earthy notes. On the palate very precise and nicely structured. Very pure fruit, good acidity, mineral and spicy. Very good length. 92-93+
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First bottle from this purchase...they are getting out of the business so bought some from K&L at a very nice price. Last tasting at IPOB in SF 2 years ago...
From prior notes:"Darker ruby color. Expressive and perfumed nose, mostly floral notes with red fruits in the background. Palate was dark cherry, red berries, mint, baking spice, licorice and cola. Medium weight, layered and long finish..."
This tasting consistent - picking up tart red fruits. The "Cerise" vineyard showing signature cherry profile. Style is fruit forward, expressive, medium weight and finish. Really nice...given the style, I an guessing this is going to be best in its youth. Would drink over the next few years
"50% whole cluster fermentation. Native fermentations in 1-ton fermenters with extended maceration of 3 wks. Siphoned by gravity to 100% French, medium toast barrels (33% new, 67% neutral) where it aged for 1 yr. Racked 1x, prior to bottling. 13.3% ABV; Bottled unfined & unfiltered; 900 cs produced."
N: Closed; Straws & red rasps with notes of earth
P: LM body; Nice, almost swtish frt braced by some puckerish astringency which evolves into a LONG, somewhat acidic finish with notes of very, VERY slight spice & bitterswtness. Better on the front P than ff'ing. I'm thinking this is just TIGHT & *needs* more time. (Can't believe I missed the optimal window on this!) HOPE to hold my remaining bottle until mid '20. Currently only my VG/VG+. 95 pts Vinous (Galloni, 2/1/16). [As of late Mar '19, wine-searcher still shows 1 vendor @ $39.] // Day 3: Faded roses [1 of my FAV P.N. aromas ;) ] & some spice on N, neither of which showed on Day 1, lending me to believe this has PLENTY of life ahead of it -- maybe even SHOULD be held into '21? Throws sediment!
Good underneath but very tart right now. Hard to evaluate. Not sure how AG gets 95 points here but it will likely get better with age. But I wouldn’t drink for years
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Dry, tart, light cherry topnote and a very light body. K & L ran a close-out price of $30 on these recently and I’m happy I picked them up. I knew the points given by Galloni were too good to be true, but knowing the area and speaking to other winemakers in Anderson Valley I figured it was worth a shot. Really sad to see the tasting room close. It will be interesting to see how Kosta-Browne handles this estate now that they’ve bought it from the Knez Family
A high-acid pinot that is quite lovely. With bright red fruits and a candy-like entry, this is followed by a minerally tone and mouthwatering acidity that makes the violet/floral notes sing - I can see how this would stand out in a tasting. There is a noticeable lack of savory flavors, but I'd prefer this to Cali pinots that try too hard to introduce savory flavors only to wind up with bitter green vegetal notes - never the Burgundy loam. That said, 95 points is a bit much. The $30 price tag is far more fitting than the original $45.
N: SMOKY with undertones of RIPE cherries & flowers (roses?)
P: MF body; Nice, ALMOST swtish frt (approaching threshold R.S.?) met by an astringent pucker which slowly, SOMEWHAT resolves by the LONG, very slightly spicy finish. Deserves/NEEDS a yr or so, then a potential steal (@ the tasted $26.95) for drinking through '21? [As of mid Apr '20, wine-searcher shows no sources for this vintage].
Addendum:: Also tasted on 10/6/18.
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Uplifting wine with lovely acid structure making great tension and balance. The nose has a lightly toasted character upfront with a combination of sour cherry and raspberry with an underlying smokey element. Herbs, pine and white pepper is definitly present both on the nose and the palate. This wine has both elegance and concentration - a little bit of both worlds.
This didn't work for us. I don't understand the 95 points from Galloni. Overwhelming extremely tart cherry dominates. Makes you pucker. Little else happening here. Have to wonder if there's something off with the bottle, as Galloni's tastes in Pinots tend to align with mine -- but there is a review below that jives with my experience on this one.
This was much tart than I would like in a Pinot, would not purchase again. It mellowed out a bit by the second day, but there's better stuff out there at this price range.
12/21/2023 - DanielJ Likes this wine: 89 Points
Ok. Pleasant but not great. Better 2nd day
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11/19/2023 - glou.sf Does not like this wine:
Similar to an earlier bottle. This seemed to have been stored wrong. Stewed fruit on the nose, palate is mostly acidic with little substance. Weird because all the wine can from the same source and two bottles have been completely off.
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7/8/2023 - WineAwayWhine wrote: 93 Points
Knez winery is no longer. It' Cerese vineyards Pinot Noir vines were all purchased by Kosta Browne, and why not? It is a premium vineyard site in Anderson Valley where fog and cool nights, and sloping, difficult to farm vineyards 16 miles from the coast in hard to visit Anderson Valley has a history of producing some great Pinot Noir.
This wine is spectacular with bright red cherries and raspberries, cola, vanilla, earth, wet stone, and forrest floor.
Acid is very high, and tannins are medium.
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8/13/2022 - mac-eye Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very good. Still dark color, developing more complexity & pleasure with age. Not near end of drinking window. Prominent notes of sour cherries. Well balanced. Now I wish I had more.
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5/7/2022 - prasm Likes this wine: 90 Points
Consumed over 3 days (vacuvined and refrigerated), note from day 3. Two glasses consumed over 3 hours on day one found wine off, lacking fruit and astringent. Having had a similar experience with my previous bottle in late 2019, I decided to wait to write note - so from day 3. Appearance: Clear, medium ruby with just the slightest hint of edge bricking. Nose: Clean, medium intensity with fully developed aromas of dried cherry, rose petal, forest floor, cinnamon, and black olive. Palate: Dry, medium tannin, medium+ acid, medium body, 13.3% abv, medium intensity with developed flavors of dried cherry, dark earth, and spice with a medium+ finish. Overall a very good wine with great balance, very good length and complexity, and good intensity. Kind of an odd wine in that, while I believe it is at it's peak, still needs a fair amount of air to show it's goods. Drink now or over the next 2 years.
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3/18/2022 - Kurswa Likes this wine: 87 Points
Soft, pleasant and Good aftertaste
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1/26/2022 - mac-eye Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice after decant and half an hour of air
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9/6/2021 - Kansas Rock Chalk wrote: 83 Points
From Butterfield’s
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9/6/2021 - Kansas Rock Chalk wrote: 83 Points
From California friends
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8/2/2021 - Jack wrote: 93 Points
Think cranberries and mint with just enough sweetness and acid to make things really interesting. Best on 2nd day.
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5/19/2021 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
The last bottle must’ve been off because this wine was lovely. Dark fruited Pinot nose, quite consistent with my note from 2 years ago. Nice acidity with tart red berries, dark cherries, and good structure on the palate. Great finish.
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8/28/2020 - Jack wrote:
Off
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8/26/2020 - beerenauslese wrote: 91 Points
Tart dark red cherry fruit with some spice, but lacks complexity. Purchased in a K&L closeout providing good QPR.
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5/8/2020 - BHRH Likes this wine: 92 Points
One of the best Pinots I've had this year! Nice purple edge, fiarly dark fruit and nice earth on the nose. Really intense, spicy dark cherry on the palate with slightly sweet fruit and a bit of floral essence. Long, rich finish with enough acid to stand up to food, but not overdone. Almost a theoretical cross between a really good Cristom (Oregon) and a Premier Cru Burgundy from a fairly ripe vintage. Seems to be at peak now, but will likely hold a couple more years, Yum!
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2/14/2020 - StraightnoChaser Likes this wine: 91 Points
Consistent with my notes of October of 2017.
I have one left from a winery that sadly, no longer exists.
Dry, tart cherry. Slightly sour finish.
I bought these for $30 each.
Last I checked the new owners of this vineyard, Kosta Browne, are charging over $120 per bottle.
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1/17/2020 - mac-eye Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opened this alongside the 2014 Knez Anderson Valley (general) bottling. Side by side, there are notable differences. While the Anderson Valley has a pronounced top and front of mouth acidity, the Cerise has more of a back of mouth depth, with somewhat darker fruit and more pronounced tannins - more likable IMO.
This is still a rather tart and cranberry-focused pinot, yet it has enough tannin and fruit to carry it through an evening with and without food, and the fruit component is deeper, darker and more interesting. It grows on you. The AG review on release is basically on track, although I take issue with the 95.
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12/12/2019 - prasm Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consumed over 2 days (vacuvined), note from day 2. Nose: Medium expressiveness, rose bush, black cherry, black olives, and dark earth. Palate: Medium bodied, earthy dark cherry attack, great balance, up front flavors persist nicely thru the mid-palate where an Asian spice note appears, balanced flavors persist into the back-end where forest floor notes appear. Finish: Medium-plus length dominated by dark red fruit, spice, and dark earth. This is not your typical California pinot as it shows great depth and restraint - very Burgundian in style.
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11/9/2019 - acidqueen wrote: 84 Points
Had this again about 4 months ago (summer 2019), and still way too tart to drink. Really not pleasant. Not sure what to think. We dumped the bottle.
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10/25/2019 - Mascarello59 wrote:
Dark color and light and elegant nose. Bright almost sharp acidity. Whole clusters? Seemed unbalanced in the mouth.
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8/6/2019 - glou.sf Does not like this wine:
Completely different from the last bottle. This is just acidic with little fruit and no Pinot character. I suspect a bad bottle because we really enjoyed it last time...
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7/16/2019 - walkerjfw wrote: 92 Points
Drank over 2 nights.
Prior notes:" Darker ruby color. Expressive and perfumed nose, mostly floral notes with red fruits in the background. Palate was dark cherry, red berries, mint, baking spice, licorice and cola. Medium weight, layered and long finish..." Not as bright as prior bottles. Noting bad or off with the bottle, I recall a more high toned fruit profile with this wine on prior bottles. Still drinking well.
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6/30/2019 - CelebrateLife! Does not like this wine: 85 Points
Hot on the nose. Cherries and raspberries underneath but disjointed now. Not as good as I remember. Bad bottle or has this wine fallen apart now? Will try another bottle soon
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4/9/2019 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark berries, cherries, licorice, mocha, and orange notes on the nice and complex nose. Good acidity with soft, yet noticeable tannins. Flavors of tart rapsberfies, blood orange, and dark cherries on the palate. Long finish. This is beautiful and incredible value. Too bad, it’s no more...
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3/18/2019 - rossi.wine wrote: 93 Points
Very pale in colour. Soft red fruit on the nose, quite youthful, spices, earthy notes. On the palate very precise and nicely structured. Very pure fruit, good acidity, mineral and spicy. Very good length. 92-93+
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10/21/2018 - walkerjfw wrote:
First bottle from this purchase...they are getting out of the business so bought some from K&L at a very nice price. Last tasting at IPOB in SF 2 years ago...
From prior notes:"Darker ruby color. Expressive and perfumed nose, mostly floral notes with red fruits in the background. Palate was dark cherry, red berries, mint, baking spice, licorice and cola. Medium weight, layered and long finish..."
This tasting consistent - picking up tart red fruits. The "Cerise" vineyard showing signature cherry profile. Style is fruit forward, expressive, medium weight and finish. Really nice...given the style, I an guessing this is going to be best in its youth. Would drink over the next few years
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10/6/2018 - srh Likes this wine:
Private Preserve after Day 1
"50% whole cluster fermentation. Native fermentations in 1-ton fermenters with extended maceration of 3 wks. Siphoned by gravity to 100% French, medium toast barrels (33% new, 67% neutral) where it aged for 1 yr. Racked 1x, prior to bottling. 13.3% ABV; Bottled unfined & unfiltered; 900 cs produced."
N: Closed; Straws & red rasps with notes of earth
P: LM body; Nice, almost swtish frt braced by some puckerish astringency which evolves into a LONG, somewhat acidic finish with notes of very, VERY slight spice & bitterswtness. Better on the front P than ff'ing. I'm thinking this is just TIGHT & *needs* more time. (Can't believe I missed the optimal window on this!) HOPE to hold my remaining bottle until mid '20. Currently only my VG/VG+. 95 pts Vinous (Galloni, 2/1/16). [As of late Mar '19, wine-searcher still shows 1 vendor @ $39.] // Day 3: Faded roses [1 of my FAV P.N. aromas ;) ] & some spice on N, neither of which showed on Day 1, lending me to believe this has PLENTY of life ahead of it -- maybe even SHOULD be held into '21? Throws sediment!
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5/5/2018 - DanielJ Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still bright and tart. Nice flavor. Dark cherry. Good complexity.
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1/20/2018 - acidqueen wrote: 85 Points
Good underneath but very tart right now. Hard to evaluate. Not sure how AG gets 95 points here but it will likely get better with age. But I wouldn’t drink for years
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11/26/2017 - keskenazi Likes this wine:
Perfectly fine with traditional Thanksgiving dinner (although I liked the 2013 Baxter Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir better).
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11/6/2017 - KJD45$ Likes this wine: 91 Points
Light fragrant scents that lead to nice light cherry and florals with
Good acidity and light tannins... Very nice Pinot for the $30 price...
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10/1/2017 - StraightnoChaser Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dry, tart, light cherry topnote and a very light body. K & L ran a close-out price of $30 on these recently and I’m happy I picked them up.
I knew the points given by Galloni were too good to be true, but knowing the area and speaking to other winemakers in Anderson Valley I figured it was worth a shot. Really sad to see the tasting room close. It will be interesting to see how Kosta-Browne handles this estate now that they’ve bought it from the Knez Family
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7/17/2017 - DanielJ Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nice bright Pinot. Tart cherry flavor. I think this has the potential to get better after a few years.
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7/14/2017 - BadOyster wrote: 91 Points
A high-acid pinot that is quite lovely. With bright red fruits and a candy-like entry, this is followed by a minerally tone and mouthwatering acidity that makes the violet/floral notes sing - I can see how this would stand out in a tasting. There is a noticeable lack of savory flavors, but I'd prefer this to Cali pinots that try too hard to introduce savory flavors only to wind up with bitter green vegetal notes - never the Burgundy loam. That said, 95 points is a bit much. The $30 price tag is far more fitting than the original $45.
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4/22/2017 - srh Likes this wine:
Winebar [1 Wht & 8 Reds] from 4/21/17 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Cf. the CellarTracker Article link [lower lft] to get specific info for this vintage, including acclaim.
N: SMOKY with undertones of RIPE cherries & flowers (roses?)
P: MF body; Nice, ALMOST swtish frt (approaching threshold R.S.?) met by an astringent pucker which slowly, SOMEWHAT resolves by the LONG, very slightly spicy finish. Deserves/NEEDS a yr or so, then a potential steal (@ the tasted $26.95) for drinking through '21? [As of mid Apr '20, wine-searcher shows no sources for this vintage].
Addendum:: Also tasted on 10/6/18.
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2/24/2017 - Bobhelge wrote: 92 Points
Uplifting wine with lovely acid structure making great tension and balance. The nose has a lightly toasted character upfront with a combination of sour cherry and raspberry with an underlying smokey element. Herbs, pine and white pepper is definitly present both on the nose and the palate. This wine has both elegance and concentration - a little bit of both worlds.
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2/12/2017 - WineGold wrote:
This didn't work for us. I don't understand the 95 points from Galloni. Overwhelming extremely tart cherry dominates. Makes you pucker. Little else happening here. Have to wonder if there's something off with the bottle, as Galloni's tastes in Pinots tend to align with mine -- but there is a review below that jives with my experience on this one.
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11/14/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 93 Points
IPOB San Francisco...final event...lots of great wines, short notes... (San Francisco, RN74): This wine the best of the fight (IMO). Darker ruby color. Expressive and perfumed nose, mostly floral notes with red fruits in the background. Palate was dark cherry, red berries, mint, baking spice, licorice and cola. Medium weight, layered and long finish.
Really focused fruit, showing well now and should continue to improve over next 3-5 years. Great now, long term winner...94+
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9/30/2016 - Edwin Li Does not like this wine: 88 Points
This was much tart than I would like in a Pinot, would not purchase again. It mellowed out a bit by the second day, but there's better stuff out there at this price range.
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