very dense and dark. robust nose of tar, underbrush, and cherry. on the palate, i get dark fruit, mainly blackberry, dark cherry, and cassis. underlying tar, earth, and tobacco. moderate acidity and tannins. fairly good balance overall. will be interesting to see how this ages.
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Knew that we were drinking this wine young but wanted to see what we thought. It is a very dark, almost blackish purple. We smelled notes of tobacco, earth and soil, mushroom and herbal notes along with some very dark fruit, maybe black currant. It is a very dry wine with tannins that provide a lot of structure but are exceptionally smooth. It was not highly acidic upon first taste but did have relatively high alcohol and an exceptionally long finish. It came across as well balanced and complex. Will be adding bottles to cellar for later.
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Probably should have given it some more air. Showed well with food (chicken tagine), but not into the 90s like the recent scores. Still pretty tannic without food. I agree with a recent note that this is a good wine that non wine drinkers will not like.
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This needs a good while in decanter, but after about 2 hours its showing brilliantly! Creme de cassis, creosote, blackberry jam, wild blueberries, white pepper, flowers and oak. Medium-full bodied, this is tight on the palate. The class and breeding are obvious, but this needs a few years to show its best. Spicy with brooding black and blue fruits, oak and spice box. SO good! Drink 2026-2035 93+
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Aromas of warm garden soil, coffee, scorched earth, blackberry, black pepper and oak. Med-full bodied, this has a wonderful texture despite its high tannin load and flavors of blackberry, charred wood, wild blueberries, spring flowers and has a medium-long, salty, mineral and earth-filled finish. Excellent, this needs 3-4 years to soften. Drink 2027-2035 93
With extended (5+ hours) this is getting better and better with more blue and black fruits and a floral character emerging.
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Very, very dark opaque purple. Nose is very earthy with lots of crushed black pepper, black tea, dark cherries, tar, leather, allspice, ash, sulfur. Palate is firm, grippy, pronounced acidity with more of the tar/pepper/sulfur notes. But also now there is more dark red fruit, slightly tart cranberries, black cherries, and volcanic ash (because we all know what volcanic ash tastes like, right?) Finishes long, with very intense tannins.
This is an interesting wine of good quality. If you ever wanted a wine you could use to convince a non-wine drinker they do NOT like wine, this is it.
I like it.
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dark as night, youthful and extracted rim. on the nose subtle delivery of moderatley ripe dark fruits and minerals and mossy soil and stone, minimal if any new oak. on the palate moderate acids, a broad midpalate, lots of firm grape tannins, moderate alcohol. wine is appropriately firm varietal wise, ok length and intensity, good complexity. wine has fineese, a very fine texture and excellent expression of place. this is a very good, bordering on excellent wine. for the varietal/region is it friendly and polished in a good way. drinks well now but could improve with time.
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Benchmark stuff. A lot of wine for the money, and if you like this style of wine, it is a great value. Really comes alive with the right food pairing…quite tough on its own, as to be expected.
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Elena Fucci tasting at Renegade Wines in Santa Barbara: Deep black-ruby color. Aromas and flavors of black cherry, violets, leather, tea, iron. Succulent on the palate, firm and complex density, ample acid and full round tannins, plenty of depth and length. Seems like it will move in the direction of the 2017.
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Needs a couple more years to develop but it’s pretty nice right now after a long decant or on day two. Great fruit. Wonderful nose. Tannins are a bit too strong.
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Nose: lots going on. Red and black cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, pumice stone, spice, herbs, smoke. It seemed to keep changing every time I smelt it - sometimes more fruity, sometimes more mineral/volcanic.
Palate: bright red cherry, more herbs, meat, black pepper, mouthcoating tannins, long finish.
Decanted for 3 hours to give it the best chance. Really bright and fruity but also deep and mineral. Approachable now but definitely needs a long decant and some food. Had with a Ribeye steak with garlic & stilton mushrooms which was a perfect match. By the end of the meal I couldn’t tell where the steak ended and the wine began.
It probably was still a bit young for me, but it’s a great wine and no harm in drinking now. As the previous review said, it will age but what’s there at the moment is really enjoyable, and it’s worth experiencing that now!
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I only bought one bottle of this wine on Rimmerman’s prompting and opened with a Coravin. Eric Guido’s profile is spot on. One note dominating right now on opening: pumice. If I went south of Wailea and ground up black volcanic pumice, this is what I’d imagine it would smell like. Over a half hour, opens to top soil, dark fruit and violets. On the palate, the tannins are still tough enough to make the fruits interesting— starts out with blackberries, licorice and softens slightly to ripe black plums. One thing is clear: pair this with grilled beef— preferably bone in— as this wine needs animal fat and flavor (will leave it to someone else to fill in those details as we’re a pescatarian household). Will it age? Undoubtedly. But if you wait, you’ll miss out on what it’s got right now. Go ahead. Open a bottle and serve it with a grilled bone-in steak. It’s that good right now that you don’t want to tempt fate before trying the combination.
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5/4/2024 - vinus_operandi Likes this wine: 92 Points
very dense and dark. robust nose of tar, underbrush, and cherry. on the palate, i get dark fruit, mainly blackberry, dark cherry, and cassis. underlying tar, earth, and tobacco. moderate acidity and tannins. fairly good balance overall. will be interesting to see how this ages.
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4/13/2024 - screwtop12 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Knew that we were drinking this wine young but wanted to see what we thought. It is a very dark, almost blackish purple. We smelled notes of tobacco, earth and soil, mushroom and herbal notes along with some very dark fruit, maybe black currant. It is a very dry wine with tannins that provide a lot of structure but are exceptionally smooth. It was not highly acidic upon first taste but did have relatively high alcohol and an exceptionally long finish. It came across as well balanced and complex. Will be adding bottles to cellar for later.
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3/9/2024 - Jake112380 Likes this wine:
Probably should have given it some more air. Showed well with food (chicken tagine), but not into the 90s like the recent scores. Still pretty tannic without food. I agree with a recent note that this is a good wine that non wine drinkers will not like.
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2/26/2024 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 93 Points
This needs a good while in decanter, but after about 2 hours its showing brilliantly! Creme de cassis, creosote, blackberry jam, wild blueberries, white pepper, flowers and oak. Medium-full bodied, this is tight on the palate. The class and breeding are obvious, but this needs a few years to show its best. Spicy with brooding black and blue fruits, oak and spice box. SO good! Drink 2026-2035 93+
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2/3/2024 - WineGuyX Likes this wine: 93 Points
Aromas of warm garden soil, coffee, scorched earth, blackberry, black pepper and oak. Med-full bodied, this has a wonderful texture despite its high tannin load and flavors of blackberry, charred wood, wild blueberries, spring flowers and has a medium-long, salty, mineral and earth-filled finish. Excellent, this needs 3-4 years to soften. Drink 2027-2035 93
With extended (5+ hours) this is getting better and better with more blue and black fruits and a floral character emerging.
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1/10/2024 - dera Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very, very dark opaque purple. Nose is very earthy with lots of crushed black pepper, black tea, dark cherries, tar, leather, allspice, ash, sulfur.
Palate is firm, grippy, pronounced acidity with more of the tar/pepper/sulfur notes. But also now there is more dark red fruit, slightly tart cranberries, black cherries, and volcanic ash (because we all know what volcanic ash tastes like, right?)
Finishes long, with very intense tannins.
This is an interesting wine of good quality. If you ever wanted a wine you could use to convince a non-wine drinker they do NOT like wine, this is it.
I like it.
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12/7/2023 - markjanes wrote: 89 Points
dark as night, youthful and extracted rim. on the nose subtle delivery of moderatley ripe dark fruits and minerals and mossy soil and stone, minimal if any new oak. on the palate moderate acids, a broad midpalate, lots of firm grape tannins, moderate alcohol. wine is appropriately firm varietal wise, ok length and intensity, good complexity. wine has fineese, a very fine texture and excellent expression of place. this is a very good, bordering on excellent wine. for the varietal/region is it friendly and polished in a good way. drinks well now but could improve with time.
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10/28/2023 - Nojomoschwa Likes this wine: 91 Points
Benchmark stuff. A lot of wine for the money, and if you like this style of wine, it is a great value. Really comes alive with the right food pairing…quite tough on its own, as to be expected.
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9/28/2023 - MattMauldin Likes this wine:
Elena Fucci tasting at Renegade Wines in Santa Barbara: Deep black-ruby color. Aromas and flavors of black cherry, violets, leather, tea, iron. Succulent on the palate, firm and complex density, ample acid and full round tannins, plenty of depth and length. Seems like it will move in the direction of the 2017.
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9/16/2023 - webreg wrote: 89 Points
Needs a couple more years to develop but it’s pretty nice right now after a long decant or on day two. Great fruit. Wonderful nose. Tannins are a bit too strong.
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7/8/2023 - mikelikewine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Colour: deep garnet, basically black.
Nose: lots going on. Red and black cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, pumice stone, spice, herbs, smoke. It seemed to keep changing every time I smelt it - sometimes more fruity, sometimes more mineral/volcanic.
Palate: bright red cherry, more herbs, meat, black pepper, mouthcoating tannins, long finish.
Decanted for 3 hours to give it the best chance. Really bright and fruity but also deep and mineral. Approachable now but definitely needs a long decant and some food. Had with a Ribeye steak with garlic & stilton mushrooms which was a perfect match. By the end of the meal I couldn’t tell where the steak ended and the wine began.
It probably was still a bit young for me, but it’s a great wine and no harm in drinking now. As the previous review said, it will age but what’s there at the moment is really enjoyable, and it’s worth experiencing that now!
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5/13/2023 - SeattleKen Likes this wine:
I only bought one bottle of this wine on Rimmerman’s prompting and opened with a Coravin. Eric Guido’s profile is spot on. One note dominating right now on opening: pumice. If I went south of Wailea and ground up black volcanic pumice, this is what I’d imagine it would smell like. Over a half hour, opens to top soil, dark fruit and violets. On the palate, the tannins are still tough enough to make the fruits interesting— starts out with blackberries, licorice and softens slightly to ripe black plums. One thing is clear: pair this with grilled beef— preferably bone in— as this wine needs animal fat and flavor (will leave it to someone else to fill in those details as we’re a pescatarian household). Will it age? Undoubtedly. But if you wait, you’ll miss out on what it’s got right now. Go ahead. Open a bottle and serve it with a grilled bone-in steak. It’s that good right now that you don’t want to tempt fate before trying the combination.
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