Wine of the night. The only one that came close was the other Cirq (Treehouse), which was right up there with it. Sweet, savory and enchanting on every level.
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Double Decanted for 12 hours and taken to a restaurant. Stemware used was a thicker rimmed universal. The wine was paired with French Oinion Soup and duck.
The aromas were of potpourri, red fruits and earth. The palate was of raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry, sweet black cherry, minerality, baking spices and earthiness. There was a medicinal quality on the finish that became more pronounced over the course of dinner and actually became a bit distracting by the last glass. This may not have been as noticeable if drank out of a proper pinot stem and if poured into a decanter at the table. There was medium(+) acidity with delicate tannins. The wine was medium to medium full bodied. This wine maybe best prepared with 60-90 minutes of air in a decanter.
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Tongue coating plump dark cherries layered with spices, licorice and stoney minerality. The structure on this is excellent and it could definitely age another 5+ years without much problem.
Drank amazingly with a amberjack/yellowtail sashimi.
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My first bottle of the 2016 Bootleggers and wow what a nice Pinot.
Decanted for an hour and found the nose ample with Bing cherry, crabapple and red current. The palate was full and mouth coating with plenty of red fruits with cherry being in the forefront. Layers of fruits, cola and hints of smoke.
Drinking quite well now but can certainly be cellared for a while.
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Decanted for about an hour just to make sure this opened up sufficiently. Red fruit seemed to predominate with some floral and feminine notes. It seemed to deepen a bit in the glass. What I can say with certainty is I found this to be in perfect balance, like a perfectly tuned engine. Not one single characteristic standing out but a focus on the synergy of all parts. I think of subtle excellence. This is more of a streamlined sports performance car than a roaring muscle car ready to explode. It was extremely good, although it did not necessarily grab everyone’s attention as a couple of the other wines we enjoyed did. Clearly a price commitment to make to enjoy, both regarding my inventory in CIRQ as well as now the offerings by KB now for the Treehouse and Bootleggers. This bottle was excellent but there are other wines that grab my interest and passion to a greater extent.
Opened up after 1-2 hours. Juicy and sweet but not over the top. Very similar (at least from memory) to the Treehouse. Cool dark fruit complemented by syrupy red with all the anticipated accents of cloves, anise... I suppose the crispness/freshness of the fruit is what pushes this above the competition but at the end of the day lacks the savory elements to really bring it. Still really great and hard to put down.
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Paul brought this which quickly put a smile on my face because the gang had tasted this wine from a shiner at the winery. This is a big red wine, for pinot noir, but not overtly sweet. Yeah, it's ripe, fruity, and delicious with rounded tannins and light oak note. Difficult not to enjoy this wine while chatting away the evening with friends.
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I’ve been a fan of the Cirq label from its outset, since it offers a more restrained version of the Kosta Browne single vineyard wines - powerful, but not as sweet. Although Kosta Browne is taking over the Bootlegger’s Hill vineyard in 2017, I decided to taste these two 2016 versions side-by-side: one from Kosta Browne (the heir apparent) and one from Cirq (the departing winery). Given this brief intersection in time, were the wines that different?
Um, no - not really. They are each juicy, lively, and nuanced - right down the middle of the modern Pinot line, with ripeness but also typicity. I’ve lately found many KB wines to be rich and saccharine, but this was not the case here. I liked the Cirq better, since it had a more floral, intense, pure, and settled profile, but each is good - and hard to distinguish from each other. Onto the details:
- Color. Both offer bright cherry, almost translucent profiles, with the Cirq being slightly more dark.
- Body. Each had a similar mouthfeel, though the Cirq was the more heavy of the two. Each was medium in body, with few teardrops on the glass and a pleasant lift at the end. (The Cirq was 14.5% alcohol, the Kosta Browne 14.1%.)
- Nose. The Cirq was more reticent, with notes of cranberry, dried herbs, and gravel. The KB was more pungent and fruity, with notes of sour cherry and rosemary. Both have an herbal and gravy tilt, but the KB offers more fruit.
- Taste. The KB was more candied, though only slightly moreso. Each offered lovely notes of dried cranberry, sour cherry, menthol, and herbs. This was the hardest metric on which to tell them apart.
- Finish. The Cirq was a little lighter in the exit, with a more lifted tone. The KB, in contrast, was a bit more sweet.
These wines are virtually identical, so to taste one is to taste both (and don't buy both! ... like, um, a friend of mine). I opened each too early, but I think they will be plenty impressive in 2021 or later. In the interest of splitting no further hairs, I’d put the KB as a 93 and the Cirq as a 93+ at the moment. Both have real upside, though, so give them some time and see what happens.
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July 2018 Cirq Visit (Cirq Winery In Windsor): From shiner, with only a silver marker imprint on the outside to label the wine. Crunchy with raspberry and cherry, along with a nice plushness. Finishes with a light cedar, dark raspberry, spicy and lively acid. There is length and balance here. Excellent.
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These bottles had no labels, Michael pulled them out for us to dig into.
Very good clarity, nice dark maroon color. The aromas are beautiful and lots of baking spice. The palate is spicy cherry and like many of his wines a strong Raspberry note. This is "crunchy red fruit" pure and focused. Tangy and ridiculously long finish, 30 plus seconds.
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2/25/2024 - SMZ wrote: 95 Points
Drinking beautifully….in its sweet spot
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10/13/2023 - dafmd Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decant 1 hour; ruby, tight nose, some pinote notes emerging, medium bodied, sweet mid-palate, red berry dominant, strawberry, cranberry, silky smooth, savory finish. Really excellent with grilled salmon.
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7/13/2023 - brasstab Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wine of the night. The only one that came close was the other Cirq (Treehouse), which was right up there with it. Sweet, savory and enchanting on every level.
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3/10/2023 - JustBreathe680 wrote: 93 Points
Double Decanted for 12 hours and taken to a restaurant. Stemware used was a thicker rimmed universal. The wine was paired with French Oinion Soup and duck.
The aromas were of potpourri, red fruits and earth. The palate was of raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry, sweet black cherry, minerality, baking spices and earthiness. There was a medicinal quality on the finish that became more pronounced over the course of dinner and actually became a bit distracting by the last glass. This may not have been as noticeable if drank out of a proper pinot stem and if poured into a decanter at the table. There was medium(+) acidity with delicate tannins. The wine was medium to medium full bodied. This wine maybe best prepared with 60-90 minutes of air in a decanter.
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2/12/2022 - SH Wu wrote: 93 Points
Tongue coating plump dark cherries layered with spices, licorice and stoney minerality. The structure on this is excellent and it could definitely age another 5+ years without much problem.
Drank amazingly with a amberjack/yellowtail sashimi.
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11/28/2021 - CASEBIER KENNETH Likes this wine: 97 Points
Absolutely a perfect wine. Rich, balanced, delicious. We all loved it.
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2/28/2021 - brouigu1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
My first bottle of the 2016 Bootleggers and wow what a nice Pinot.
Decanted for an hour and found the nose ample with Bing cherry, crabapple and red current. The palate was full and mouth coating with plenty of red fruits with cherry being in the forefront. Layers of fruits, cola and hints of smoke.
Drinking quite well now but can certainly be cellared for a while.
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2/23/2021 - EM_MB Likes this wine: 94 Points
2 hour decant. Textbook Cirq. Lovely PN and bottle was gone in no time. Drink or hold, plenty of life left in this bottle.
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6/26/2020 - air guitar & pinot noir Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for about an hour just to make sure this opened up sufficiently. Red fruit seemed to predominate with some floral and feminine notes. It seemed to deepen a bit in the glass. What I can say with certainty is I found this to be in perfect balance, like a perfectly tuned engine. Not one single characteristic standing out but a focus on the synergy of all parts. I think of subtle excellence. This is more of a streamlined sports performance car than a roaring muscle car ready to explode. It was extremely good, although it did not necessarily grab everyone’s attention as a couple of the other wines we enjoyed did. Clearly a price commitment to make to enjoy, both regarding my inventory in CIRQ as well as now the offerings by KB now for the Treehouse and Bootleggers.
This bottle was excellent but there are other wines that grab my interest and passion to a greater extent.
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1/9/2020 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 94 Points
Opened up after 1-2 hours. Juicy and sweet but not over the top. Very similar (at least from memory) to the Treehouse. Cool dark fruit complemented by syrupy red with all the anticipated accents of cloves, anise... I suppose the crispness/freshness of the fruit is what pushes this above the competition but at the end of the day lacks the savory elements to really bring it. Still really great and hard to put down.
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1/2/2020 - brigcampbell wrote:
Paul brought this which quickly put a smile on my face because the gang had tasted this wine from a shiner at the winery. This is a big red wine, for pinot noir, but not overtly sweet. Yeah, it's ripe, fruity, and delicious with rounded tannins and light oak note. Difficult not to enjoy this wine while chatting away the evening with friends.
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11/4/2019 - msuwine wrote: 93 Points
I’ve been a fan of the Cirq label from its outset, since it offers a more restrained version of the Kosta Browne single vineyard wines - powerful, but not as sweet. Although Kosta Browne is taking over the Bootlegger’s Hill vineyard in 2017, I decided to taste these two 2016 versions side-by-side: one from Kosta Browne (the heir apparent) and one from Cirq (the departing winery). Given this brief intersection in time, were the wines that different?
Um, no - not really. They are each juicy, lively, and nuanced - right down the middle of the modern Pinot line, with ripeness but also typicity. I’ve lately found many KB wines to be rich and saccharine, but this was not the case here. I liked the Cirq better, since it had a more floral, intense, pure, and settled profile, but each is good - and hard to distinguish from each other. Onto the details:
- Color. Both offer bright cherry, almost translucent profiles, with the Cirq being slightly more dark.
- Body. Each had a similar mouthfeel, though the Cirq was the more heavy of the two. Each was medium in body, with few teardrops on the glass and a pleasant lift at the end. (The Cirq was 14.5% alcohol, the Kosta Browne 14.1%.)
- Nose. The Cirq was more reticent, with notes of cranberry, dried herbs, and gravel. The KB was more pungent and fruity, with notes of sour cherry and rosemary. Both have an herbal and gravy tilt, but the KB offers more fruit.
- Taste. The KB was more candied, though only slightly moreso. Each offered lovely notes of dried cranberry, sour cherry, menthol, and herbs. This was the hardest metric on which to tell them apart.
- Finish. The Cirq was a little lighter in the exit, with a more lifted tone. The KB, in contrast, was a bit more sweet.
These wines are virtually identical, so to taste one is to taste both (and don't buy both! ... like, um, a friend of mine). I opened each too early, but I think they will be plenty impressive in 2021 or later. In the interest of splitting no further hairs, I’d put the KB as a 93 and the Cirq as a 93+ at the moment. Both have real upside, though, so give them some time and see what happens.
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7/28/2018 - Frank Murray III wrote:
July 2018 Cirq Visit (Cirq Winery In Windsor): From shiner, with only a silver marker imprint on the outside to label the wine. Crunchy with raspberry and cherry, along with a nice plushness. Finishes with a light cedar, dark raspberry, spicy and lively acid. There is length and balance here. Excellent.
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7/28/2018 - brigcampbell wrote:
These bottles had no labels, Michael pulled them out for us to dig into.
Very good clarity, nice dark maroon color. The aromas are beautiful and lots of baking spice. The palate is spicy cherry and like many of his wines a strong Raspberry note. This is "crunchy red fruit" pure and focused. Tangy and ridiculously long finish, 30 plus seconds.
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