Big, in your face Syrahs don't score well with me; not a style I enjoy. This bottle, although not in the class of world class, was still in the category of very good and quite enjoyable. Even keeled, with enough tannins and acid to match well with food.
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nose: cherries, anise, cherry cola, dried red fruits, some vanilla flavor: great balanced aged tannins, some oak sweetness but nothing overly so, sour cherries, strawberries, currants but not as much spice as i had expected from RRV. I think this wine is peaking right now so drink up. It has a few more years left in it before it takes a turn but it's fine right now. Day one 91
Update: Day 2: nose about the same but the flavors are MUCH more well integrated and balanced. It's a big luscious fruit, spice, and cherry cola classic RRV wine perfectly complementing the spaghetti amatriciana's spice. I'd put this at a 94 today while yesterday it was a bit closed and one dimensional.
it was stored overnight in a eurocav wine preserver.
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Quick 30 minute decant. Deep, dark purple color. Fresh cracked black pepper, blackberries, licorice, fresh ground coffee, and a touch of chocolate on the nose. Medium body with ripe, chewy tannins and good acidity. Nice mouth filling flavors on the palate. Decent length on the finish with spicy pepper dominating with black fruit and a touch of stems and oak. Very nice syrah if you like the big pepper element, which I do.
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Thick and Jammy with strong fruit flavors and nose. A bit opaque in the midpalate, lacking some definition, chocolate and smoke finish that does not linger but satisfies none the less. Straight ahead with no nuance or nonsense, a great every day medium weight pour.
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Popped and poured making dinner. Smoke and bacon notes on the nose. Some fruit on the finish. Not a substantial finish. A little disappointed although it worked well enough with dinner/food.
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Nose: Bright, coffee, cherry, chocolate and a touch of oak. Noticeably nice mouthfeel, silky and rich. Good acidity, cherry cough drops in a good way. A bit of citrus (?) and then some sweet violet flavors. Very nice.
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Dark violet color, dusty, but restrained nose; tastes like a syrah, solid, fruity, but with rough tannins and not a ton of complexity. Fine for the price, but not a wow wine.
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No nose to speak of, good fruit on the front of the palate but a slight bitter bite on the mid, this bite seems to cut the finish a little short. Pretty good but not great.
After some air time the alcohol heat started to come through in the finish, not enough to change my rating however since the bitter bite in the mid palate faded somewhat as well.
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Young, not terrifically profound, but solid, meaty syrah with light tannin and light-medium acid. Longish. I like this but doubt it's a 50% improvement on the Sonoma County.
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7/1/2012 - Brsed wrote: 87 Points
Very easy going, pleasant, quaffable wine. Very expressive nose. Luscious deep layers of black fruit.
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4/12/2012 - up4wine wrote: 87 Points
Big, in your face Syrahs don't score well with me; not a style I enjoy. This bottle, although not in the class of world class, was still in the category of very good and quite enjoyable. Even keeled, with enough tannins and acid to match well with food.
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12/2/2011 - Nedder_travels_the_world wrote: 94 Points
nose: cherries, anise, cherry cola, dried red fruits, some vanilla
flavor: great balanced aged tannins, some oak sweetness but nothing overly so, sour cherries, strawberries, currants but not as much spice as i had expected from RRV. I think this wine is peaking right now so drink up. It has a few more years left in it before it takes a turn but it's fine right now. Day one 91
Update: Day 2: nose about the same but the flavors are MUCH more well integrated and balanced. It's a big luscious fruit, spice, and cherry cola classic RRV wine perfectly complementing the spaghetti amatriciana's spice. I'd put this at a 94 today while yesterday it was a bit closed and one dimensional.
it was stored overnight in a eurocav wine preserver.
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12/17/2010 - cbbrown3 wrote: 91 Points
Quick 30 minute decant. Deep, dark purple color. Fresh cracked black pepper, blackberries, licorice, fresh ground coffee, and a touch of chocolate on the nose. Medium body with ripe, chewy tannins and good acidity. Nice mouth filling flavors on the palate. Decent length on the finish with spicy pepper dominating with black fruit and a touch of stems and oak. Very nice syrah if you like the big pepper element, which I do.
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4/1/2010 - Blcmdpa@gmail.com wrote: 89 Points
Thick and Jammy with strong fruit flavors and nose. A bit opaque in the midpalate, lacking some definition, chocolate and smoke finish that does not linger but satisfies none the less. Straight ahead with no nuance or nonsense, a great every day medium weight pour.
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3/29/2010 - garetjax_kison wrote: 84 Points
Popped and poured making dinner. Smoke and bacon notes on the nose. Some fruit on the finish. Not a substantial finish. A little disappointed although it worked well enough with dinner/food.
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7/12/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 87 Points
Taste from bottle at Cafe Bionda.
Raisinated fruit. Highly extracted but out of balance.
Tons of heat on the finish, though served a bit warm.
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8/25/2008 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Family Winemakers San Francisco; 8/24/2008-8/25/2008 (Fort Mason, San Francisco): Pepper and black fruit nose and palate; medium finish
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7/14/2008 - dfeiner wrote: 91 Points
Nose: Bright, coffee, cherry, chocolate and a touch of oak. Noticeably nice mouthfeel, silky and rich. Good acidity, cherry cough drops in a good way. A bit of citrus (?) and then some sweet violet flavors. Very nice.
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7/1/2008 - sdatl wrote: 85 Points
Dark violet color, dusty, but restrained nose; tastes like a syrah, solid, fruity, but with rough tannins and not a ton of complexity. Fine for the price, but not a wow wine.
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2/21/2008 - kschriner wrote: 85 Points
A very good syrah but not as good as the Santa Lucia syrah.
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1/25/2008 - D.Callahan wrote: 85 Points
No nose to speak of, good fruit on the front of the palate but a slight bitter bite on the mid, this bite seems to cut the finish a little short. Pretty good but not great.
After some air time the alcohol heat started to come through in the finish, not enough to change my rating however since the bitter bite in the mid palate faded somewhat as well.
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12/21/2007 - conform wrote:
Young, not terrifically profound, but solid, meaty syrah with light tannin and light-medium acid. Longish. I like this but doubt it's a 50% improvement on the Sonoma County.
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3/21/2007 - drdebs wrote: 89 Points
FamilyWinemakers of California; 3/20/2007-3/21/2007 (Pasadena, CA): Very good wine with excellent value. Soft plum aromas and flavors, complemented by warm spice notes.
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