Opened a magnum tonight fearing it was past peak. Wrong. No signs of bricking, tons of fruit. This wine is holding up very well (at least in large format). I do not think it will get better, so drink up.
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Creamy black cherry and wild berry fruit. Notes of dark chocolate, subtle earth and cedar. Nice balance right now and in a perfect drinking window. Smooth tannins, good finish. Drink now or will certainly hold up for the next few years. Love me some Spring Mountain fruit.
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From magnum (etched bottle). Excellent with plenty of time left. Took to Capital Grille in CLT for our anniversary. The bottle got a lot of attention from the wait staff and sommelier as apparently Steve Sherwin had just had dinner here the week before - so they were all very familiar. Paired fantastic with our steaks. And yes, we killed the whole magnum between the 2 of us (OK, we left a little for the Som to taste). Isn't that why they invented Uber (for our wine habit)?
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good for its style but a little biggish for me, mountain fruit for sure, nice acidity, but just not enough grip / structure to carry the super heavy body / fruit... love these wines and a perfect bottle to open for guests who love the big, forward cali cabs, this vintage at this point is a little soft and therefore a little heavy
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this was good but seemed a bit over the top on richness and extraction... that has been the style in this wine before but it had the structure / acidity / tannin to balance it out and this one seemed a little less balanced... time to drink up... i am going to dig out two bottles I have deep in a stack of boxes cuz this seems to need to be finished this year for sure, btw purplish fruit, big and in your face
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An abundance of purple fruit and silky textured. I would have preferred a bit more complexity and acid. Should last through the end of the decade, but not certain it's going to improve any further.
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Outstanding!!! Had at Spencer's on a night out and the soma had issues with the cork but once opened it was everything expected out of a Speing Mountain cab.
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this bottle clearly needed more time, or perhaps a several hour decant would do the trick, the wine was big with loads of structure, just a little to intense to be pleasant... would be curious to drink in ten years, interestingly i've had several bottles of this that were totally ready (again no decant possible on this one so maybe that was all it needed), good news was the "big" part of this wine was clearly drive by the grapes and not at all by heavy-handed oak treatment
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Drank with the Miller's, decanted for 75 minutes at 11am, back in bottle, had with dinner at 6pm at cellar temp, unbelievably good, great red fruit without being cloying, great sweet yet with just the right amount if acid to balance (acid had settled vs at time of AM decant), a tiny bit of spice coming along, tannins are subdued… elegant and yet rich / big… feels like this could get better for 5-7 more years but WHY WAIT!?!… make sure to give this a couple hours in decanter if opened just prior to drinking
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Very deep dark crimson red. Outstanding nose with hints of black cherries, mint, chocolate and toast. Layers of casis, figs, cherries and toast. Wonderful wine, we liked this wine a lot.
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very nice wine tonight, decanted for an 90 mins before heading to Park Tavern, as usual nose was big and gorgeous with fruit and some florals/perfume, color was dark bordering on black-purple, palate was huge and fruit driven with some subtle tannin bite and nice acid, again it had that apricot / pit thing going on that i often see in shiraz
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this wine was awesome tonight, big nose that leapt out of the glass - cassis and apricot, palate was rich with great mouthfeel... plenty of acid to support the 'bigness', bright big cassis with real grip made up of some tannins and acids, the wickers loved it (and want to locate some), i did too
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lovely mountain fruit cab, opened for thanksgiving and was a bit big and rich after having Soldera BdM with turkey, night two it had settled a bit and was great, nose was full of rich caramel, palate was grippy with some tannin and plenty of acid, flavor profile with all fruit, cherry and apricots (like i get with many shiraz), plenty of grip to avoid this big flavor wine from being cloying
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Penetrating cassis with a touch of heat; dark and light fruit with palpable sense of sweetness, spicy oak, wonderful texture, nicely buttressed with lightly teeth coating tannins; extended finish.
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Allowed to breathe in the bottle for 3 hours. Classic Napa cabernet with lots of cassis on the nose with a little roasted cofee. On the palate there is a nice concentration of black and blue fruits. Well balanced with notes of cofee and cedar. I didn't pick up any heat at any stage. 25 second finish with smooth tannins. Very good effort which is in its' drinking window now and should remain there for several years.
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Dark fruit, tar and black licorice on nose after only 5 minutes in glass. Also a hint of spearmint. Absolutely ink black. Licorice and tar on palate with good long finish. Still a big, deep and brooding wine that needs plenty of time.
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Decanted. Dark in color and rich floral aromas. Cedar, dark fruits, black cherry, medium+ weight with a nice backbone but tanins don't scream through from overoaking the wine. Rich and definately a calicab, drinkable upon opening but approachable and showing great characteristics after2 hours in the decanter. This will mellow and soften further with a few more years of age, and should be good through 2016 at least. This is a great wine.
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Wonderful aromas of cedar, chocolate, and spice. Rich, vibrant cherry, cinnamon, dark fruit, cassis and mocha are concentrated and rich. The finish lasted 10 seconds and was "teeth staining". It just repeats itself over and over. This has the stuffing to improve over the next 5 to 7 years. Great fruit.
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So good. This cements for me that the bottle we had in Napa was an off bottle. Huge fruit with a backbone and balance. Great nose, drinking good now with years to go.
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Decanted two hours. Clean, pure boysenberry and black fruit flavors, very smooth yet bold at the same time, lively but not stunning, no heat or alcohol overtones despite 15.1%, which is a little high for my taste. A pleasure now, but sure to open more in a few years.
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Gorgeous napa cab. Nose of autumn leaves, cherry, and vanilla oak. Taste was front loaded with fruit, with supple tannin structure and a zip of acidity which suggests ageworthyness. Finish was long. Really good, too bad it came after a 98 pt velvet glove.
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This has matured very well and now just a splash decant opens this baby up for some serious black fruits, fine well integrated tannins and a looooong finish. This is getting better and better with age.
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My god this was excellent. Bordering on opulent, it was just shy of it, with minimally restrained bouquet of fruit, cassis, dark berry and plum, with fine, silky tannin structure, and sweet molassis and toasty oak as a finish. Might be a 97 in a year or two. OUTSTANDING.
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Sherwin really makes a nice bottle of wine. This is a dark ruby color with a nose of cassis, black fruit, and some vanilla. Very integrated and soft on the palate with a moderate finish. Fine but firm tannins. First vintage that was cold soaked and I expected more of a fruit bomb. Was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. Just a well balanced, fantastic cup of vino.
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I agree with WS notes but will add that it needs at least a couple of hours in a decanter to drink now. Time in the decanter smoothes out the hard edges and melds the flavors together into harmony.
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Not Rated - This had been bottled only a few weeks prior to our tasting and was just too disjointed to discern. VERY tannic - sucked your cheeks inside out, and as this was our last wine (Steve popped this open as we were ready to leave) it didn't have the oppty to really open. Wait and see, but their wines are typically quite enjoyable.
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1/28/2023 - bigdomer wrote:
Opened a magnum tonight fearing it was past peak. Wrong. No signs of bricking, tons of fruit. This wine is holding up very well (at least in large format). I do not think it will get better, so drink up.
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3/18/2021 - brianofthevine wrote: 93 Points
Creamy black cherry and wild berry fruit. Notes of dark chocolate, subtle earth and cedar. Nice balance right now and in a perfect drinking window. Smooth tannins, good finish. Drink now or will certainly hold up for the next few years. Love me some Spring Mountain fruit.
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1/17/2021 - Elkcims Likes this wine: 93 Points
A little tired, but tasty full bodied, fruit forward Spring Mtn fruit that went well with BBQ burgers.
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12/22/2019 - Finish Likes this wine:
Enjoyed even at end of expected range to drink
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12/2/2017 - grumi62 wrote: 93 Points
superb cab from 6L etched 9/11 commemorative bottle. was magnificent (bottle and wine!).
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7/22/2017 - TastesGoodToMe Likes this wine: 95 Points
From magnum (etched bottle). Excellent with plenty of time left. Took to Capital Grille in CLT for our anniversary. The bottle got a lot of attention from the wait staff and sommelier as apparently Steve Sherwin had just had dinner here the week before - so they were all very familiar. Paired fantastic with our steaks. And yes, we killed the whole magnum between the 2 of us (OK, we left a little for the Som to taste). Isn't that why they invented Uber (for our wine habit)?
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3/21/2017 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
good for its style but a little biggish for me, mountain fruit for sure, nice acidity, but just not enough grip / structure to carry the super heavy body / fruit... love these wines and a perfect bottle to open for guests who love the big, forward cali cabs, this vintage at this point is a little soft and therefore a little heavy
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12/25/2016 - brianofthevine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Big jammy wine here with black cherry and wild berry fruit along with dark chocolate and earth notes. Nice long finish with smooth tannins.
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8/9/2016 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 89 Points
this was good but seemed a bit over the top on richness and extraction... that has been the style in this wine before but it had the structure / acidity / tannin to balance it out and this one seemed a little less balanced... time to drink up... i am going to dig out two bottles I have deep in a stack of boxes cuz this seems to need to be finished this year for sure, btw purplish fruit, big and in your face
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8/2/2016 - CMN wrote:
An abundance of purple fruit and silky textured. I would have preferred a bit more complexity and acid. Should last through the end of the decade, but not certain it's going to improve any further.
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4/26/2016 - Rasmussenbrent wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding!!! Had at Spencer's on a night out and the soma had issues with the cork but once opened it was everything expected out of a Speing Mountain cab.
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6/7/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 91 Points
this bottle clearly needed more time, or perhaps a several hour decant would do the trick, the wine was big with loads of structure, just a little to intense to be pleasant... would be curious to drink in ten years, interestingly i've had several bottles of this that were totally ready (again no decant possible on this one so maybe that was all it needed), good news was the "big" part of this wine was clearly drive by the grapes and not at all by heavy-handed oak treatment
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5/30/2015 - bigdomer wrote: 92 Points
Still going strong. Agree with Yamadori that this is in the perfect drinking window right now and certainly has some time left. From 750ml.
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5/24/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote:
drank at Miller party so no notes, loved by all, rich and FB'd
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1/23/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 95 Points
Drank with the Miller's, decanted for 75 minutes at 11am, back in bottle, had with dinner at 6pm at cellar temp, unbelievably good, great red fruit without being cloying, great sweet yet with just the right amount if acid to balance (acid had settled vs at time of AM decant), a tiny bit of spice coming along, tannins are subdued… elegant and yet rich / big… feels like this could get better for 5-7 more years but WHY WAIT!?!… make sure to give this a couple hours in decanter if opened just prior to drinking
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11/7/2014 - Bandreas wrote:
This wine was not much my taste: Sweetish, innocuous, jammy.
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2/27/2014 - Snag One Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very deep dark crimson red. Outstanding nose with hints of black cherries, mint, chocolate and toast. Layers of casis, figs, cherries and toast. Wonderful wine, we liked this wine a lot.
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11/15/2013 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
very nice wine tonight, decanted for an 90 mins before heading to Park Tavern, as usual nose was big and gorgeous with fruit and some florals/perfume, color was dark bordering on black-purple, palate was huge and fruit driven with some subtle tannin bite and nice acid, again it had that apricot / pit thing going on that i often see in shiraz
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5/3/2013 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 94 Points
this wine was awesome tonight, big nose that leapt out of the glass - cassis and apricot, palate was rich with great mouthfeel... plenty of acid to support the 'bigness', bright big cassis with real grip made up of some tannins and acids, the wickers loved it (and want to locate some), i did too
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11/22/2012 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
lovely mountain fruit cab, opened for thanksgiving and was a bit big and rich after having Soldera BdM with turkey, night two it had settled a bit and was great, nose was full of rich caramel, palate was grippy with some tannin and plenty of acid, flavor profile with all fruit, cherry and apricots (like i get with many shiraz), plenty of grip to avoid this big flavor wine from being cloying
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11/17/2012 - dekay Likes this wine: 92 Points
Penetrating cassis with a touch of heat; dark and light fruit with palpable sense of sweetness, spicy oak, wonderful texture, nicely buttressed with lightly teeth coating tannins; extended finish.
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1/28/2012 - Yamadori wrote: 90 Points
Allowed to breathe in the bottle for 3 hours. Classic Napa cabernet with lots of cassis on the nose with a little roasted cofee. On the palate there is a nice concentration of black and blue fruits. Well balanced with notes of cofee and cedar. I didn't pick up any heat at any stage. 25 second finish with smooth tannins. Very good effort which is in its' drinking window now and should remain there for several years.
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1/23/2012 - dfresh wrote: 93 Points
Structured and crisp.
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12/28/2011 - bigdomer wrote: 92 Points
Excellent effort. Blue and black fruits. Some plum. A little alcohol burn. Smooth tannins with a long finish.
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11/27/2011 - brianofthevine wrote: 92 Points
Blackberry fruit and dark chocolate. Firm tannins, nice finish.
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8/22/2011 - nfafoglia wrote: 94 Points
Nose of cedar, sweet smoke and dried blueberries. Soft tannins, sweet, lush, black fruit. long finish.
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5/14/2011 - Ajnate wrote:
Dark fruit, tar and black licorice on nose after only 5 minutes in glass. Also a hint of spearmint. Absolutely ink black. Licorice and tar on palate with good long finish. Still a big, deep and brooding wine that needs plenty of time.
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2/4/2011 - davidandrose wrote: 94 Points
Decanted. Dark in color and rich floral aromas. Cedar, dark fruits, black cherry, medium+ weight with a nice backbone but tanins don't scream through from overoaking the wine. Rich and definately a calicab, drinkable upon opening but approachable and showing great characteristics after2 hours in the decanter. This will mellow and soften further with a few more years of age, and should be good through 2016 at least. This is a great wine.
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10/18/2010 - itsallgone wrote: flawed
Wicked corked.
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8/21/2010 - Clarkmeister wrote: 95 Points
Just so consistently amazing.
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7/14/2010 - Clarkmeister wrote: 94 Points
Never fails.
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4/11/2010 - drycab wrote:
Same notes as the last 2 bottles. Just terrific!
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1/3/2010 - Clarkmeister wrote: 93 Points
Consistently excellent.
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11/25/2009 - matthen wrote: 93 Points
Wonderful aromas of cedar, chocolate, and spice. Rich, vibrant cherry, cinnamon, dark fruit, cassis and mocha are concentrated and rich. The finish lasted 10 seconds and was "teeth staining". It just repeats itself over and over. This has the stuffing to improve over the next 5 to 7 years. Great fruit.
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11/22/2009 - drycab wrote: 95 Points
Same notes as before. Great Bottle!
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2/4/2009 - goofy Yno wrote: 94 Points
nice wine, pop and poured. nose of blackberry, coffee and Plum. great mouth feel- smooth and reined. good balance, medium finish.
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1/1/2009 - Clarkmeister wrote: 94 Points
Such sick value.
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11/15/2008 - Clarkmeister wrote: 95 Points
So good. This cements for me that the bottle we had in Napa was an off bottle. Huge fruit with a backbone and balance. Great nose, drinking good now with years to go.
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10/4/2008 - winejnky wrote: 91 Points
Decanted two hours. Clean, pure boysenberry and black fruit flavors, very smooth yet bold at the same time, lively but not stunning, no heat or alcohol overtones despite 15.1%, which is a little high for my taste. A pleasure now, but sure to open more in a few years.
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6/16/2008 - mmyette wrote: 94 Points
Gorgeous napa cab. Nose of autumn leaves, cherry, and vanilla oak. Taste was front loaded with fruit, with supple tannin structure and a zip of acidity which suggests ageworthyness. Finish was long. Really good, too bad it came after a 98 pt velvet glove.
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4/13/2008 - drycab wrote: 95 Points
This has matured very well and now just a splash decant opens this baby up for some serious black fruits, fine well integrated tannins and a looooong finish. This is getting better and better with age.
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4/9/2008 - mmyette wrote: 95 Points
See previous notes.
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3/14/2008 - WineBulldog wrote: 97 Points
Absolutely amazing. This wine is great on the nose and even better on the toungue. Wonderful right out of the bottle and even better as it opens.
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2/15/2008 - WineForRob wrote: 93 Points
Just a juicy delicious wine. All of there wines are intensely powerful but with an absolutely seemless finish. Great bottle as usual
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11/18/2007 - mmyette wrote: 95 Points
See previous notes.
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9/25/2007 - mmyette wrote: 96 Points
My god this was excellent. Bordering on opulent, it was just shy of it, with minimally restrained bouquet of fruit, cassis, dark berry and plum, with fine, silky tannin structure, and sweet molassis and toasty oak as a finish. Might be a 97 in a year or two. OUTSTANDING.
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8/15/2007 - J-Sho wrote: 93 Points
Sherwin really makes a nice bottle of wine. This is a dark ruby color with a nose of cassis, black fruit, and some vanilla. Very integrated and soft on the palate with a moderate finish. Fine but firm tannins. First vintage that was cold soaked and I expected more of a fruit bomb. Was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. Just a well balanced, fantastic cup of vino.
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6/2/2007 - drycab wrote: 94 Points
I agree with WS notes but will add that it needs at least a couple of hours in a decanter to drink now. Time in the decanter smoothes out the hard edges and melds the flavors together into harmony.
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7/30/2006 - davidandrose wrote:
Not Rated - This had been bottled only a few weeks prior to our tasting and was just too disjointed to discern. VERY tannic - sucked your cheeks inside out, and as this was our last wine (Steve popped this open as we were ready to leave) it didn't have the oppty to really open. Wait and see, but their wines are typically quite enjoyable.
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