I guess this is a good example, in part, of why we have CellarTracker. Reviews here are all over the place, and I'm not sure why, but I have to suspect bottle variation. I cracked this in part just to see where my observations would fit on the spectrum. Interesting that it was only this vintage that seemed to be a significant outlier vs. earlier and subsequent vintages. If I understand correctly, this was the first vintage from its current/continuing single vineyard source of Powerline Vineyard.
Several people have cited "ashy" tastes, one person said it tasted (not smelled, but tasted) of manure. As someone who grew up on a farm and knows the smell of both ash and manure, I tasted neither of those. Not even a remote hint, nor did my wife who tasted without any context of reviews here. Didn't really get rubber band, either, as some have cited, though there was a touch of something that was a little unusual, but very slight. Not many green pepper notes, either, contrary to several tasters. Overall, the aroma and taste were consistent over three days.
23 ratings overall thus far. 5 ratings of 90pts or higher, 12 ratings 84 points or lower.
What I did get are candied cherry Lifesaver (edging towards, but not quite, cough syrup) notes and density in spades. Any obvious flaws? No. Did I love it? No, it's not really my style these days, and didn't have the complexity or elegance I'd prefer and seek out, but it was certainly drinkable and I know I could pour (or gift this) for others... assuming no bottle variation.
Again, I just have to suspect bottle variation here, of the sort where I guess I got lucky. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
As an admirer of this vintners output, I wanted reviews here not to be true. Alas, this was completely undrinkable. As a previous reviewer noted, tasted of elastic bands.
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Oh my...popped and poured. Nose is ok, but the taste, similar to what others say. Rubber band, green bitter peppers, ash. I'm going to give this a little time to warm up from my cellar, but if same, down the drain it goes. Not good, something is wrong with it, but it's not corked, which is weird.
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I was worried when I saw the negative reviews here, but I actually really enjoyed this one. Really nice Grenache character, reminded me of a good Vacqueyras.
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I have to say, when I read these reviews I thought, well, it can't be that bad. Alas, I have to agree. Undrinkable. While the nose showed some promise, the taste was significantly negatively affected by manure and overripe green peppers. Thinking that some additional time to open might be beneficial, I tried again the next day, but it was possibly even worse. Sorry to say as a fan of K Vintners.
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Similar notes to my last bottle a year or so ago. Pinot like translucent cranberry color. Heavy ash and sweet blackberry syrup mix. Still doesn’t work for me. A rare bad wine from an otherwise reliable Washington winery.
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This wine was a huge disappointment. It went down the drain. It had a strange end taste like a rubber band. Not at all like Grenache. I hope the 2016 bottle I have isn’t like this.
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Translucent purple. Nose is semi sweet blackberry and raspberry. Taste is similar but with very heavy ash flavor and sour cherry. Medium body to thin. Generally like K Vintage wines but this one is not my flavor profile. Pass on this one.
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Medium ruby red colour. Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, earth, green pepper, licorice, hay, asparagus and green bell pepper on the nose. Taste of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, earth, green pepper, hay and green bell pepper. Medium long and dry finish with hints of butter alcohol. Very green and young, needs to be decanted at least six hours before serving. Goes well with lamb, mushrooms and pork.
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Not a fan. Super funky nose. Body has some decent red berries to start, but the finish leaves a cough syrup note in your mouth. Wife actually spit it out. I finished my glass, but the rest of the bottle went down the sink. Very disappointed.
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The worst of the worst. Nothing but bitter and astringent. Dumped after the second sip. Typically good wines for K, but sours my view of them. Why bottle such a poor poor product. No excuse. Will stay away for awhile.
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This bottle was disappointing. I am a big Charles Smith fan and was seriously disappointed when I opened this wine. Actually, I didn't open it at first. I used a coravin to dispense a glass. I was confounded. Not the grenache I had expected. Did not seem flawed or defective... It was just not good juice....
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No!!! Near perfect color and nose. Absolutely horrendous taste. The finish might be the worst I have ever had. Tallmick’s note is spot on. Suffered through two glasses day one and then a half glass the next night. No improvement. Dumped the rest of the bottle. Now what to do with the second?
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Light I red fruits and a lot of green notes on the nose. Elegant and silky, but with some peppery bite on the finish. Really interesting wine, and shows off WA and a traditional Grenache styles.
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Beautiful medium ruby color. Very earthy aroma that’s strongly barnyard and olives. Light tannins. Immediate note of pomegranate quickly moves aside to grassy herbal, green olive, and grapefruit notes. The finish is complex with a spiciness in the back of the throat. Mellows out after an hour whereupon the herbal qualities diminish to expose berry and chocolate notes.
This is a very unique wine and I love it. Very enjoyable adventure. The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like green olive, hay/straw, black pepper and mineral. It tastes like mineral, hay/straw and green olive. The body is medium/full. The wine has smooth texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
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Really not sure what to do with this wine. I love Charles Smith wines, and The Boy is usually one of our favorites, but this 2015 release was nearly undrinkable at the spring wine release, and it wasn't just a corked bottle. Really strong smokey notes with a finish like a raw radish that bit at the side of the tongue reminiscent of drinking something spoiled --instant recoil. Apparently, they did a bit of char an the barrels they used rather than a typical toasting and I can say it picked up ALL of that smoke and carbon. If this mellows out like the 2015 Motor City Kitty has, then this could be a gem in the long-term, but if you are expecting immediate gratification you will be sorely disappointed.
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9/17/2023 - jonLiechty wrote:
Waited too long, this one is past its prime.
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3/17/2023 - slabslovin wrote: 89 Points
Average wine. The 2016 is excellent, this not so much. It was not flawed as others have sometimes experienced but was flat and lacked expression.
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9/11/2022 - SeaWine wrote:
I guess this is a good example, in part, of why we have CellarTracker. Reviews here are all over the place, and I'm not sure why, but I have to suspect bottle variation. I cracked this in part just to see where my observations would fit on the spectrum. Interesting that it was only this vintage that seemed to be a significant outlier vs. earlier and subsequent vintages. If I understand correctly, this was the first vintage from its current/continuing single vineyard source of Powerline Vineyard.
Several people have cited "ashy" tastes, one person said it tasted (not smelled, but tasted) of manure. As someone who grew up on a farm and knows the smell of both ash and manure, I tasted neither of those. Not even a remote hint, nor did my wife who tasted without any context of reviews here. Didn't really get rubber band, either, as some have cited, though there was a touch of something that was a little unusual, but very slight. Not many green pepper notes, either, contrary to several tasters. Overall, the aroma and taste were consistent over three days.
23 ratings overall thus far. 5 ratings of 90pts or higher, 12 ratings 84 points or lower.
What I did get are candied cherry Lifesaver (edging towards, but not quite, cough syrup) notes and density in spades. Any obvious flaws? No. Did I love it? No, it's not really my style these days, and didn't have the complexity or elegance I'd prefer and seek out, but it was certainly drinkable and I know I could pour (or gift this) for others... assuming no bottle variation.
Again, I just have to suspect bottle variation here, of the sort where I guess I got lucky. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
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5/27/2022 - tjross Does not like this wine: 78 Points
Still horrible
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11/27/2021 - Drbobo Does not like this wine: 60 Points
initial chocolate gives way to bitterness. perhaps this is not meant to age this long.
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11/21/2021 - mlburditt wrote: flawed
As an admirer of this vintners output, I wanted reviews here not to be true. Alas, this was completely undrinkable. As a previous reviewer noted, tasted of elastic bands.
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4/3/2021 - W2WineGuy Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Oh my...popped and poured. Nose is ok, but the taste, similar to what others say. Rubber band, green bitter peppers, ash. I'm going to give this a little time to warm up from my cellar, but if same, down the drain it goes. Not good, something is wrong with it, but it's not corked, which is weird.
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1/4/2021 - beerwineben Likes this wine: 91 Points
I was worried when I saw the negative reviews here, but I actually really enjoyed this one. Really nice Grenache character, reminded me of a good Vacqueyras.
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11/13/2020 - TGOT Does not like this wine: 80 Points
I have to say, when I read these reviews I thought, well, it can't be that bad. Alas, I have to agree. Undrinkable. While the nose showed some promise, the taste was significantly negatively affected by manure and overripe green peppers. Thinking that some additional time to open might be beneficial, I tried again the next day, but it was possibly even worse. Sorry to say as a fan of K Vintners.
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7/30/2020 - RockyII Does not like this wine: 76 Points
Similar notes to my last bottle a year or so ago. Pinot like translucent cranberry color. Heavy ash and sweet blackberry syrup mix. Still doesn’t work for me. A rare bad wine from an otherwise reliable Washington winery.
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2/21/2020 - Wldshopper Does not like this wine:
This wine was a huge disappointment. It went down the drain. It had a strange end taste like a rubber band. Not at all like Grenache. I hope the 2016 bottle I have isn’t like this.
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10/27/2019 - RockyII wrote: 80 Points
Translucent purple. Nose is semi sweet blackberry and raspberry. Taste is similar but with very heavy ash flavor and sour cherry. Medium body to thin. Generally like K Vintage wines but this one is not my flavor profile. Pass on this one.
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10/7/2019 - SuperSomm wrote:
Medium ruby red colour. Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, earth, green pepper, licorice, hay, asparagus and green bell pepper on the nose. Taste of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, earth, green pepper, hay and green bell pepper. Medium long and dry finish with hints of butter alcohol. Very green and young, needs to be decanted at least six hours before serving. Goes well with lamb, mushrooms and pork.
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9/5/2019 - Rhiannonprim1 Does not like this wine: 79 Points
Undrinkable.
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8/19/2019 - bplant13 Does not like this wine: 81 Points
Not a fan. Super funky nose. Body has some decent red berries to start, but the finish leaves a cough syrup note in your mouth. Wife actually spit it out. I finished my glass, but the rest of the bottle went down the sink. Very disappointed.
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8/11/2019 - cheech862 wrote:
The worst of the worst. Nothing but bitter and astringent. Dumped after the second sip. Typically good wines for K, but sours my view of them. Why bottle such a poor poor product. No excuse. Will stay away for awhile.
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3/11/2019 - Haroldz7 wrote: 84 Points
This bottle was disappointing. I am a big Charles Smith fan and was seriously disappointed when I opened this wine. Actually, I didn't open it at first. I used a coravin to dispense a glass. I was confounded. Not the grenache I had expected. Did not seem flawed or defective... It was just not good juice....
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1/13/2019 - Singulatarian Does not like this wine:
Similar to ESZENCIA. Doesn’t taste flawed, just awful. Not like what I remember the 2014 being like...
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12/9/2018 - eszencia Does not like this wine:
Like biting into a charred green pepper, only more astringent. I’m not sure if this is a hold or dump.
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11/30/2018 - tjross Does not like this wine: 80 Points
No!!! Near perfect color and nose. Absolutely horrendous taste. The finish might be the worst I have ever had. Tallmick’s note is spot on. Suffered through two glasses day one and then a half glass the next night. No improvement. Dumped the rest of the bottle. Now what to do with the second?
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10/8/2018 - RPerro Likes this wine: 91 Points
Rocks funk, raspberry fruit, serious earthy flavors. Drink now - 2024.
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6/16/2018 - bplant13 wrote: 90 Points
Light I red fruits and a lot of green notes on the nose. Elegant and silky, but with some peppery bite on the finish. Really interesting wine, and shows off WA and a traditional Grenache styles.
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4/18/2018 - RegNullify Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful medium ruby color. Very earthy aroma that’s strongly barnyard and olives. Light tannins. Immediate note of pomegranate quickly moves aside to grassy herbal, green olive, and grapefruit notes. The finish is complex with a spiciness in the back of the throat. Mellows out after an hour whereupon the herbal qualities diminish to expose berry and chocolate notes.
This is a very unique wine and I love it. Very enjoyable adventure.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like green olive, hay/straw, black pepper and mineral. It tastes like mineral, hay/straw and green olive. The body is medium/full. The wine has smooth texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.
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4/13/2018 - tallmick Does not like this wine: 81 Points
Really not sure what to do with this wine. I love Charles Smith wines, and The Boy is usually one of our favorites, but this 2015 release was nearly undrinkable at the spring wine release, and it wasn't just a corked bottle. Really strong smokey notes with a finish like a raw radish that bit at the side of the tongue reminiscent of drinking something spoiled --instant recoil. Apparently, they did a bit of char an the barrels they used rather than a typical toasting and I can say it picked up ALL of that smoke and carbon. If this mellows out like the 2015 Motor City Kitty has, then this could be a gem in the long-term, but if you are expecting immediate gratification you will be sorely disappointed.
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