Really...all I need to say about this wine is wow. Qpr off the charts. Dare ya to walk away from this wine after 1 glass. Depth, balance and grace. Great with or without food.
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Here we are a year later, last bottle in the cellar! My, oh my, it does not disappoint. So glad I hung on to this wine until now. Kudos to Clark Smith for building a wine with depth and personality. The wine has a beautiful nose of dark berries and smoke. Perfect acidity and as before, demonstrates a CDP quality not so fruit forward as many California Cabernets. If you have a bottle, do yourself a favor and allow a decant of at least an hour. When I pull from my cellar 55F is too cool for this wine. Allowing the wine to come to room temp brings out its full flavor profile.
It's a shame it's my last bottle. When I think about what I paid for this, I'm tempted to bump the score higher, but I did not. Solid 92 and a rival to wines 2x to 3x more $$$.
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Upon opening I wasn't tasting any depth, beautiful smell of cherries and some oak. An hour later and I'm literally blown away! This is atypical California Cab, this reminds me of a cross between a sophisticated burgundy and a CDP. No fruit bomb here(thankfully). I bought these from Clark back in the days of Wine Woot. I've cellared for over 7 years awaiting this moment. It pairs nicely with ribeye, medium rare. Am I in Heaven?
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Tonight, I opened this for a rack of lamb. Excellent decision, since it went perfectly with it. If I encounter more of this particular wine, I'll have to remember that it's wasted on chicken. Lamb's my favorite in any case, and tonight just made me happy. :-}
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LOOK: Deep, dense ruby, almost purple in the glass. Good clarity with slow running legs and 1/16" translucent meniscus. SMELL: The nose changed over time with air. At first it was tart cherry with a hint of allspice. After some time in the glass, it evolved into a deeper cherry scent with a hint of menthol and light oak. TASTE: Initially tart with bright cherry and that buzzy minerality that is Clark’s trademark. The minerality carries through the mid-palate and leads to some light spice and mild tannins on the finish. Shouldered the bottle with that first taste and left it uncorked. Revisited an hour later to find that the tartness had dissipated to some extent, revealing a deeper, Bing cherry flavor profile. Also getting some currant and a general red fruit vibe. The minerality is still prominent and the spice is starting to show up in the mid-palate and carry through the finish which has gone from medium to medium+. I just cheated and looked at the pH. Surprised it’s as high as 3.73 as the wine seems fairly acidic but it’s that minerality at work. Got some skillet meatballs with pomodoro sauce, ricotta and parmesan cheese and toast points from room service. The meatballs brought out more of the spice and it was a very nice pairing. This wine was tasty on its own but really shined when paired with food. Having one last glass as I type this and the wine continues to evolve. The cherry notes deepen further, bordering on black cherry. The spice notes continue to show up sooner and last longer, while the minerality stays constant. This is not a typical CA Cabernet Sauvignon by any means but it is quite nice. Lighter and more nimble than the big bold fruit/oak bombs that are typical of New World style Cabs. The tannins have become more noticeable but are still relatively mild. OVERALL: I would say that this wine is still very primary and will no doubt change over time in the cellar seeing as how it changed so much over a few hours in one night once opened. It was bottled so recently that it has barely had a chance to stain the cork. Still, it is very approachable now and will likely cellar for many years as I have found that Clark’s special brand of winemaking magic imparts not only instant approachability, but also great longevity.
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P&P, swirled a bit for some air. Like many of Clark’s wines, this is extremely expressive on the nose, very aeromatic with ripe fruit, spice and a bit of oaky perfume that I would not mind just savoring indefinitely. This is a wine that I breathe in before I sip every time I lift the glass.
Color is dark purple but with some transparency. It looks a bit thin but doesn’t taste that way.
Wonderfully smooth and balanced, with a long finish that hangs on until it’s time for the next sip.
I really like this and can’t wait to see how it’s changed on night two. I think this will probably continue to evolve over the next couple of years but it’s drinking beautifully now in my book.
3/2/2024 - costacasa Likes this wine: 92 Points
Really...all I need to say about this wine is wow. Qpr off the charts. Dare ya to walk away from this wine after 1 glass. Depth, balance and grace. Great with or without food.
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2/3/2024 - deadlyapp Likes this wine: 90 Points
No detailed notes but drinking very nicely. Doesn't hold together quite as well on day 2.
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1/29/2024 - SawgrassSteve Likes this wine: 92 Points
Here we are a year later, last bottle in the cellar! My, oh my, it does not disappoint. So glad I hung on to this wine until now. Kudos to Clark Smith for building a wine with depth and personality. The wine has a beautiful nose of dark berries and smoke. Perfect acidity and as before, demonstrates a CDP quality not so fruit forward as many California Cabernets. If you have a bottle, do yourself a favor and allow a decant of at least an hour. When I pull from my cellar 55F is too cool for this wine. Allowing the wine to come to room temp brings out its full flavor profile.
It's a shame it's my last bottle. When I think about what I paid for this, I'm tempted to bump the score higher, but I did not. Solid 92 and a rival to wines 2x to 3x more $$$.
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2/4/2023 - SawgrassSteve Likes this wine: 92 Points
Upon opening I wasn't tasting any depth, beautiful smell of cherries and some oak. An hour later and I'm literally blown away! This is atypical California Cab, this reminds me of a cross between a sophisticated burgundy and a CDP. No fruit bomb here(thankfully). I bought these from Clark back in the days of Wine Woot. I've cellared for over 7 years awaiting this moment. It pairs nicely with ribeye, medium rare. Am I in Heaven?
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6/12/2020 - JustBS Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ph
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6/9/2020 - twich22 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fantastic. The rival of any $100 cab.
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12/8/2019 - qwerty2 wrote: 90 Points
Tonight, I opened this for a rack of lamb. Excellent decision, since it went perfectly with it. If I encounter more of this particular wine, I'll have to remember that it's wasted on chicken. Lamb's my favorite in any case, and tonight just made me happy. :-}
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7/28/2019 - deadlyapp Likes this wine: 87 Points
Still too early for this. Needs a lot of time to develop. Very complex but not very noteworthy yet. Will see if it matures.
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5/13/2019 - qwerty2 wrote: 88 Points
Lighter weight than I'd expected. It may open up by tomorrow night.
5/16/2019 I really should have returned to this note on the 14th. The wine opened up quite a bit on the second night, and was very pleasant.
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3/25/2019 - ChipGreen wrote:
LOOK: Deep, dense ruby, almost purple in the glass. Good clarity with slow running legs and 1/16" translucent meniscus.
SMELL: The nose changed over time with air. At first it was tart cherry with a hint of allspice. After some time in the glass, it evolved into a deeper cherry scent with a hint of menthol and light oak.
TASTE: Initially tart with bright cherry and that buzzy minerality that is Clark’s trademark. The minerality carries through the mid-palate and leads to some light spice and mild tannins on the finish. Shouldered the bottle with that first taste and left it uncorked. Revisited an hour later to find that the tartness had dissipated to some extent, revealing a deeper, Bing cherry flavor profile. Also getting some currant and a general red fruit vibe. The minerality is still prominent and the spice is starting to show up in the mid-palate and carry through the finish which has gone from medium to medium+. I just cheated and looked at the pH. Surprised it’s as high as 3.73 as the wine seems fairly acidic but it’s that minerality at work. Got some skillet meatballs with pomodoro sauce, ricotta and parmesan cheese and toast points from room service. The meatballs brought out more of the spice and it was a very nice pairing. This wine was tasty on its own but really shined when paired with food. Having one last glass as I type this and the wine continues to evolve. The cherry notes deepen further, bordering on black cherry. The spice notes continue to show up sooner and last longer, while the minerality stays constant. This is not a typical CA Cabernet Sauvignon by any means but it is quite nice. Lighter and more nimble than the big bold fruit/oak bombs that are typical of New World style Cabs. The tannins have become more noticeable but are still relatively mild.
OVERALL: I would say that this wine is still very primary and will no doubt change over time in the cellar seeing as how it changed so much over a few hours in one night once opened. It was bottled so recently that it has barely had a chance to stain the cork. Still, it is very approachable now and will likely cellar for many years as I have found that Clark’s special brand of winemaking magic imparts not only instant approachability, but also great longevity.
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3/21/2019 - Davetroup Likes this wine: 92 Points
P&P, swirled a bit for some air. Like many of Clark’s wines, this is extremely expressive on the nose, very aeromatic with ripe fruit, spice and a bit of oaky perfume that I would not mind just savoring indefinitely. This is a wine that I breathe in before I sip every time I lift the glass.
Color is dark purple but with some transparency. It looks a bit thin but doesn’t taste that way.
Wonderfully smooth and balanced, with a long finish that hangs on until it’s time for the next sip.
I really like this and can’t wait to see how it’s changed on night two. I think this will probably continue to evolve over the next couple of years but it’s drinking beautifully now in my book.
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