Last bottle. The nose was full of violet and berry fruit. Flavors of herbs d'provence, crystalized violets and raspberry are clinging to a tannic frame with notes of leather and stem. While this was very good upon opening, the tannin just does not surrender and turns dry. A portion saved for the following day confirmed that the tannins are drying and the fruit is probably breathing its last breaths.
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Outstanding, but STILL wound up. Stemmy earth tones, olive and flowers over a core of blackberry/raspberry/plum fruit. Leather and spice notes add complexity. Decent acidity and still a nice velvety tannin frame. Hold off 2 -5 years on remaining bottle.
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Upon opening it was clear this was still a baby, so let it sit in the glass for about an hour. The nose stayed closed, but, the flavor really opened up. Loads of tart cherry with lively tannins and acidity. This has the stuff to become something very special with a few more years on it. Glad I have another bottle to look forward to in the coming years.
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Compared to my previous tasting note, the appearance and aromatics were essentially unchanged, but the palate is now heavy on blackberries, and significantly more tart than I remember. Don't know if it's just this bottle, but my guess is that you probably ought to be drinking these sooner rather than later.
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Yum. Really enjoyable from the first pour. I detected red fruit, the wife said "spicy"...tannin were certainly present but seemed to integrate nicely as the bottle was poured.
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Distinctive, delicious wine. Aggressively tannic - I wonder if this will mellow out at some point. And stemmy. But I prefer stemmy tannins to new French Oak tannins, or G-- forbid, walnut shell tannins, any day. 16% alcohol, but the tannins so hide any hotness or overripeness that you'd never guess it. When I tasted this, which I served at a dinner party, I was worried my guests would not like it. But in fact, everybody loved it - it was the runaway WOTN among some high-scorgin competition.
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At first this seemed a little funky--not much nose to speak of, and the palate was really disjointed. However, after an hour or so, it started to really come together and ended up being very nice. Intense, ripe flavors, but not a hint of prune/raisin/sugar/etc. Very much a California wine, but with a bit of sensibility--structure, nice acidity, and a mouthfeel that walked the line between Old World and New. Will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next few years.
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This is really evolving into something special. The nose was fantastic: loaded with lavender, berries and a soft herb/earth note. The palate was still dominated by the clean raspberry / berry flavors backed by a leathery note and really fine tannin. Excellent balance. Some spicey elements played in the background, adding a pleasant dimension. This was a great bottle.
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tasted opposite a tablas creek 03 espirit de beaucastel, an 03 tablas panopile, an 89 pegau and a 05 saxum james berry. this wine outclased them all by a long ways. deep brooding fruit suggests that the best is yet to come. wonderful nose and as the wine opened with breathing the fruit was magnificant. only new world grenache that i liked better was the sine quonan 2000.
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Drank with friends. The nose of the wine was fantastic. Berry and spice were evident. The wine really opened up over the 2 hours while we drank this wine. Should have many more years to enjoy.
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Great pure berry flavors highlighted by spice and mineral notes. Great stuff, I really enjoyed this bottle. Some more floral notes are developing with time. Decanted for 2 hours and drank over the next 2. Very pretty wine/
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Grenache y Mas Grenache-The Great CA Grenache-off (Cafe Cortadito): A beautiful albeit, at this point, incomplete wine. It had just amazing florals aromas with the pure red fruit slowly racheting up to the fore. It picked up some interesting complexity with air, as someone else at the table spot on noted blood orange. The wine enters the mouth nice enough, with sweet and focused fruit, but it clamps down hard about 3/4 of the way through. It is like a vacuum sucking the fruit out of your mouth leaving some tea and leather. Still, I have high hopes for this one. It is a wine of great promise that begs for cooperative patience.
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Tasted blind. Bright red fruit, especially cherry, with white pepper spice and a touch of smoke. Lacks the depth and complexity of "great" wines but this was a lovely, well balanced wine that paired perfectly with food. I'd drink this daily if I could. Very enjoyable.
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In the glass, dark red shading to a faint purplish-orange at the rim. On the nose, currants and plums. On the palate, plums and stone fruit, with a musty leathery note that reminded me of a Crozes-Hermitage. I'm not sure this has much more to show, but I think it will stay at this level for a few years.
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Nice wine. Lots of mostly red fruit with some hints of spice and leather. Well balanced but for a touch of heat. Needs another year to really come together.
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Excellent grenache. Will add prpoer TN after next bottle as I didn't tke detailed notes this time around. Although a lot of big red fruit flavors stood out. There was also some earthy, stoney, leathery flavors evolving. A bit of spice also helped balance the fruit and earth flavors.
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9/30/2017 - pjhr Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasty raspberry, floral, and kirsch aromas and flavors with resolving tannins on the moderate finish.
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2/27/2017 - Mscruggs Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still seems to be holding strong. Slight bricking on the edge but still holding lots of red fruit with a long finish.
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12/7/2013 - jnanz wrote:
Last bottle. The nose was full of violet and berry fruit. Flavors of herbs d'provence, crystalized violets and raspberry are clinging to a tannic frame with notes of leather and stem. While this was very good upon opening, the tannin just does not surrender and turns dry. A portion saved for the following day confirmed that the tannins are drying and the fruit is probably breathing its last breaths.
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11/23/2012 - jnanz wrote:
Outstanding, but STILL wound up. Stemmy earth tones, olive and flowers over a core of blackberry/raspberry/plum fruit. Leather and spice notes add complexity. Decent acidity and still a nice velvety tannin frame. Hold off 2 -5 years on remaining bottle.
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6/26/2011 - IAMVLAD wrote:
i wonder if this wine will ever open up.
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4/30/2011 - jjoyce wrote: 93 Points
Upon opening it was clear this was still a baby, so let it sit in the glass for about an hour. The nose stayed closed, but, the flavor really opened up. Loads of tart cherry with lively tannins and acidity. This has the stuff to become something very special with a few more years on it. Glad I have another bottle to look forward to in the coming years.
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6/26/2010 - Knicksfan wrote: 89 Points
Way different than I remember....not sure what was going on here tonight. Need to retry.
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1/17/2010 - jshufelt wrote: 88 Points
Compared to my previous tasting note, the appearance and aromatics were essentially unchanged, but the palate is now heavy on blackberries, and significantly more tart than I remember. Don't know if it's just this bottle, but my guess is that you probably ought to be drinking these sooner rather than later.
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11/27/2009 - Knicksfan wrote: 93 Points
Yum. Really enjoyable from the first pour. I detected red fruit, the wife said "spicy"...tannin were certainly present but seemed to integrate nicely as the bottle was poured.
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8/1/2009 - herberto wrote: 93 Points
Distinctive, delicious wine. Aggressively tannic - I wonder if this will mellow out at some point. And stemmy. But I prefer stemmy tannins to new French Oak tannins, or G-- forbid, walnut shell tannins, any day. 16% alcohol, but the tannins so hide any hotness or overripeness that you'd never guess it. When I tasted this, which I served at a dinner party, I was worried my guests would not like it. But in fact, everybody loved it - it was the runaway WOTN among some high-scorgin competition.
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6/13/2009 - MarkC wrote: 92 Points
At first this seemed a little funky--not much nose to speak of, and the palate was really disjointed. However, after an hour or so, it started to really come together and ended up being very nice. Intense, ripe flavors, but not a hint of prune/raisin/sugar/etc. Very much a California wine, but with a bit of sensibility--structure, nice acidity, and a mouthfeel that walked the line between Old World and New. Will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next few years.
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5/10/2009 - jnanz wrote: 93 Points
This is really evolving into something special. The nose was fantastic: loaded with lavender, berries and a soft herb/earth note. The palate was still dominated by the clean raspberry / berry flavors backed by a leathery note and really fine tannin. Excellent balance. Some spicey elements played in the background, adding a pleasant dimension. This was a great bottle.
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3/8/2009 - jnanz wrote: 92 Points
See previous notes. Developing beautifully.
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3/6/2009 - IAMVLAD wrote: 94 Points
tasted opposite a tablas creek 03 espirit de beaucastel, an 03 tablas panopile, an 89 pegau and a 05 saxum james berry. this wine outclased them all by a long ways. deep brooding fruit suggests that the best is yet to come. wonderful nose and as the wine opened with breathing the fruit was magnificant. only new world grenache that i liked better was the sine quonan 2000.
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2/16/2009 - SeaSmoke wrote: 92 Points
Drank with friends. The nose of the wine was fantastic. Berry and spice were evident. The wine really opened up over the 2 hours while we drank this wine. Should have many more years to enjoy.
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4/20/2008 - jnanz wrote: 93 Points
Great pure berry flavors highlighted by spice and mineral notes. Great stuff, I really enjoyed this bottle. Some more floral notes are developing with time. Decanted for 2 hours and drank over the next 2. Very pretty wine/
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3/13/2008 - bsherwin wrote:
Grenache y Mas Grenache-The Great CA Grenache-off (Cafe Cortadito): A beautiful albeit, at this point, incomplete wine. It had just amazing florals aromas with the pure red fruit slowly racheting up to the fore. It picked up some interesting complexity with air, as someone else at the table spot on noted blood orange. The wine enters the mouth nice enough, with sweet and focused fruit, but it clamps down hard about 3/4 of the way through. It is like a vacuum sucking the fruit out of your mouth leaving some tea and leather. Still, I have high hopes for this one. It is a wine of great promise that begs for cooperative patience.
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1/8/2008 - rsepulve wrote: 92 Points
Tasted blind. Bright red fruit, especially cherry, with white pepper spice and a touch of smoke. Lacks the depth and complexity of "great" wines but this was a lovely, well balanced wine that paired perfectly with food. I'd drink this daily if I could. Very enjoyable.
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12/30/2007 - crickdog25 wrote: 93 Points
Very jammy and earthy, ripe with strong tannins. Well-wrapped and brought together on the close.
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10/20/2007 - jshufelt wrote: 91 Points
In the glass, dark red shading to a faint purplish-orange at the rim. On the nose, currants and plums. On the palate, plums and stone fruit, with a musty leathery note that reminded me of a Crozes-Hermitage. I'm not sure this has much more to show, but I think it will stay at this level for a few years.
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4/4/2007 - rsepulve wrote: 91 Points
Nice wine. Lots of mostly red fruit with some hints of spice and leather. Well balanced but for a touch of heat. Needs another year to really come together.
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3/11/2007 - jnanz wrote: 93 Points
Excellent grenache. Will add prpoer TN after next bottle as I didn't tke detailed notes this time around. Although a lot of big red fruit flavors stood out. There was also some earthy, stoney, leathery flavors evolving. A bit of spice also helped balance the fruit and earth flavors.
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