In comparison to 2021 tasted blind to assess if fire smoke taint had occurred. We had 4 tasters and one non-taster but excellent nose and none noticed smoke. this is a well made Cabernet with no rough edges and well balanced. An excellent mid week drinker that is not cerebral
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Double decanted for a short 5 min and placed in the fridge for about 30 min. While you can sense the baby fat it's quite approachable right now. The nose is phenomenal, much better than the palate at this stage.
I had a total of 8 375mls (now 7) and I think for a glass of wine with lunch is a pretty good companion.
91+ HOLD. I see it at 92-93 in the next 2-3 years...
Pnp, waited an hour in glass and drank 2 glasses that evening. It was unimpressive - green vegetal taste with little to no discernible fruit. Recorked and refrigerated and then slow ox next day for 2 hours. That made a real difference. Integrated with dark fruit and fine tannins. Hint of green 2nd day. I only got 1 bottle due to the tough year and low expectations. Probably should have waited 5 years or let it breathe 8 hours..
Popcorn toast note I also noticed in the 2020 Estate chardonnay. Bright red fruit, lighter in depth, but still features some nice herbal aromatics. Gritty tannins with bright acidity. Quite frankly, a touch shrill. There is definitely some iodine on the finish, kind of like a Laphroaig. I'm not confident enough in my ability to avoid psychological bias to say this is definitively tainted, but I definitely enjoyed the '19 more, although this is still quite good.
Leaving the last few drops in the glass definitely reveals some ashtray / cigar butt smell, which makes me rethink my prior statement. This has smoke in it.
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Thought this would be undrinkable from the first sniff but turned out to be ok. Crazy vanilla and some nice fruit but definitely a fair amount of smoke too. Blew off a little with air but finishes with a gritty, ash, aftertaste. C doesn’t want to fight through it so getting her a different bottle and I’ll finish this it off (or most of it).
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Still quite young, but was quite enjoyable nonetheless. When the bottle is first opened the American Oak influence was quite strong, with sweet spice, coconut, and dill. Over time, the oak incorporated and revealed dark black fruit (blackberry, black cherry).
Palate has moderate high tannins and acidity. Finish is long and pretty intense once the wine had breathed for 1-2 hours. Fruit/oak flavors give it a high yum factor, but it is still fairly elegant (for California standards).
Update: 2 days later came back to the bottle and it was still quite good. Coconut and dill were much stronger on day 3. Still long, oak forward finish but very enjoyable.
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Dense blackberry fruit, with fresh acidity, tons of loamy / fresh rainwater notes (reminiscent of Heitz Martha's Vineyard!), with noticeable diacetyl esters notes as well (the toasted popcorn that I usually only find on chardonnay). All framed by cigar/tobacco American oak. Can't wait to see how this evolves over the next 5-10 years. (Have 2 more in the cellar!)
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From 1/2 bottle. Opened for 2.5 hours. Color is very deep purple/ruby. On the nose: Plums, graphite, baking spices, cassis, leather , dark chocolate, espresso and graphite. Very elegant nose IMO. On the palate: Cassis, plum , a bit of spice and leather. A bit closed down I think. Finish a a touch short as well. It has the makings of being very good I think, but needs time (3-5 years?). I think I will test again in a year.
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This is a nice Cabernet / Merlot, I appreciate there is not Perite Verdot in it. Opens a little bit hot but then there are lovely berries, coffee, and earth. Feels like this will be best in 2 - 3 years. A nice wine that’s built to age but falls a little flat and won’t.
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Deep ruby core with a subtle fade near the rim. Light intensity on the nose of black fruit, black currant and blackberry. On the palate, ripe black fruit fruit with the addition of plum and a medium to long finish. Subtle oak notes of vanilla and clove. Full body and soft medium tannins.
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Day 5. The nose is pretty good. With dark fruits - black currants, some pyrazines, mocha or coffee, some herbal notes and some sweet oak. The palate has similar flavors but the oak is more pronounced and it feels a little bitter and hot as the palate progresses. The finish is even worse oak wise. It was like this on day 1 and I hoped it would improve It didn’t. Disappointing. Nose - 5/6, palate - 4/6, finish - 3/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 0.5/2 = 12.5/20.
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Drank this without writing a tasting note, but I came here to see what other said, and I agree with @dera. Very young and fresh and delicious, but somewhat lacking in complexity and structure. I would probably would have gone for 90 or 91. Lovely with leftover porchetta.
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Very young and opaque ruby/purple. Very viscous in the glass. Nose is ripe with lots of plum, cassis, somewhat jammy blackcurrant and oak. Palate is medium+ bodied, medium- acidity and medium alcohol. Somewhat astringent with ripe but tart dark fruit and some dark chocolate and minty undernotes. Finishes medium, not very complex with very young tannins. This obviously is painfully young and needs more time, but I feel it lacks some structure of previous vintages. Time will tell.
edit: After about 2 hours, the little drop left behind in the glass smells like a dirty ashtray. Make of that what you will.
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7/31/2024 - VoteferPedro Likes this wine:
In comparison to 2021 tasted blind to assess if fire smoke taint had occurred. We had 4 tasters and one non-taster but excellent nose and none noticed smoke. this is a well made Cabernet with no rough edges and well balanced. An excellent mid week drinker that is not cerebral
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6/8/2024 - rtrush18@hotmail.com wrote: flawed
Definitely smelled and tasted that ashtray. Embarrassing they released this wine. Glad I didn’t get the MB.
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5/26/2024 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Double decanted for a short 5 min and placed in the fridge for about 30 min. While you can sense the baby fat it's quite approachable right now. The nose is phenomenal, much better than the palate at this stage.
I had a total of 8 375mls (now 7) and I think for a glass of wine with lunch is a pretty good companion.
91+ HOLD. I see it at 92-93 in the next 2-3 years...
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5/14/2024 - Elkcims wrote: 93 Points
Pnp, waited an hour in glass and drank 2 glasses that evening. It was unimpressive - green vegetal taste with little to no discernible fruit. Recorked and refrigerated and then slow ox next day for 2 hours. That made a real difference. Integrated with dark fruit and fine tannins. Hint of green 2nd day. I only got 1 bottle due to the tough year and low expectations. Probably should have waited 5 years or let it breathe 8 hours..
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3/29/2024 - JLCFan wrote: 87 Points
Popcorn toast note I also noticed in the 2020 Estate chardonnay. Bright red fruit, lighter in depth, but still features some nice herbal aromatics. Gritty tannins with bright acidity. Quite frankly, a touch shrill. There is definitely some iodine on the finish, kind of like a Laphroaig. I'm not confident enough in my ability to avoid psychological bias to say this is definitively tainted, but I definitely enjoyed the '19 more, although this is still quite good.
Leaving the last few drops in the glass definitely reveals some ashtray / cigar butt smell, which makes me rethink my prior statement. This has smoke in it.
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3/15/2024 - domco wrote:
Thought this would be undrinkable from the first sniff but turned out to be ok. Crazy vanilla and some nice fruit but definitely a fair amount of smoke too. Blew off a little with air but finishes with a gritty, ash, aftertaste. C doesn’t want to fight through it so getting her a different bottle and I’ll finish this it off (or most of it).
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12/25/2023 - MikeDB Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still quite young, but was quite enjoyable nonetheless. When the bottle is first opened the American Oak influence was quite strong, with sweet spice, coconut, and dill. Over time, the oak incorporated and revealed dark black fruit (blackberry, black cherry).
Palate has moderate high tannins and acidity. Finish is long and pretty intense once the wine had breathed for 1-2 hours. Fruit/oak flavors give it a high yum factor, but it is still fairly elegant (for California standards).
Update: 2 days later came back to the bottle and it was still quite good. Coconut and dill were much stronger on day 3. Still long, oak forward finish but very enjoyable.
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12/24/2023 - pkouchu wrote: flawed
Heavy oak and dark fruits but it doesn’t mask the campfire flavor on the back palate. For sure smoke tainted, pretty bad too. Disappointing
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10/29/2023 - derrock Likes this wine: 93 Points
Needs time.
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9/8/2023 - yaanik Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dense blackberry fruit, with fresh acidity, tons of loamy / fresh rainwater notes (reminiscent of Heitz Martha's Vineyard!), with noticeable diacetyl esters notes as well (the toasted popcorn that I usually only find on chardonnay). All framed by cigar/tobacco American oak. Can't wait to see how this evolves over the next 5-10 years. (Have 2 more in the cellar!)
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6/30/2023 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 92 Points
From 1/2 bottle. Opened for 2.5 hours. Color is very deep purple/ruby. On the nose: Plums, graphite, baking spices, cassis, leather , dark chocolate, espresso and graphite. Very elegant nose IMO. On the palate: Cassis, plum , a bit of spice and leather. A bit closed down I think. Finish a a touch short as well. It has the makings of being very good I think, but needs time (3-5 years?). I think I will test again in a year.
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5/21/2023 - Burgundeez wrote: 91 Points
This is a nice Cabernet / Merlot, I appreciate there is not Perite Verdot in it. Opens a little bit hot but then there are lovely berries, coffee, and earth. Feels like this will be best in 2 - 3 years. A nice wine that’s built to age but falls a little flat and won’t.
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5/16/2023 - novicemike Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep ruby core with a subtle fade near the rim. Light intensity on the nose of black fruit, black currant and blackberry. On the palate, ripe black fruit fruit with the addition of plum and a medium to long finish. Subtle oak notes of vanilla and clove. Full body and soft medium tannins.
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4/26/2023 - BrendanMcS wrote: 94 Points
Nose of blackberry and black cherry. Savory. Pallet of bright cherry, and blackberry. earthy flavors. Dark soil and mushroom. Good tenant structure.
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4/10/2023 - Seth Rosenberg Does not like this wine: 85 Points
Day 5. The nose is pretty good. With dark fruits - black currants, some pyrazines, mocha or coffee, some herbal notes and some sweet oak. The palate has similar flavors but the oak is more pronounced and it feels a little bitter and hot as the palate progresses. The finish is even worse oak wise. It was like this on day 1 and I hoped it would improve It didn’t. Disappointing. Nose - 5/6, palate - 4/6, finish - 3/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 0.5/2 = 12.5/20.
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3/27/2023 - wgmccallum Likes this wine:
Drank this without writing a tasting note, but I came here to see what other said, and I agree with @dera. Very young and fresh and delicious, but somewhat lacking in complexity and structure. I would probably would have gone for 90 or 91. Lovely with leftover porchetta.
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3/26/2023 - dera Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very young and opaque ruby/purple. Very viscous in the glass. Nose is ripe with lots of plum, cassis, somewhat jammy blackcurrant and oak. Palate is medium+ bodied, medium- acidity and medium alcohol. Somewhat astringent with ripe but tart dark fruit and some dark chocolate and minty undernotes. Finishes medium, not very complex with very young tannins. This obviously is painfully young and needs more time, but I feel it lacks some structure of previous vintages. Time will tell.
edit: After about 2 hours, the little drop left behind in the glass smells like a dirty ashtray. Make of that what you will.
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