Medium garnet color in the glass. No signs of bricking. Rich, round and robust. Some dark fruit evident but mostly savory flavors of tobacco box, coffee and saddle leather. Medium bodied and medium finish. Drinking very nicely right now.
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Hands down one of the best Cab Francs i've ever had. Cork disintegrated during the opening process, but was able to transfer the wine to a carafe with no problem. Initial taste out of the bottle was weak and unimpressive, but after time to open up (tastes at 15, 20, and 30 minutes), this wine blossomed into liquid gold. While the corks may not survive, this wine has plenty left to offer and should be excellent for a few years still.
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Dark Inky Purple in color. Blackberry, currants, with a small bit of cedar and granite on the nose. Lingering finish with well rounded tannins and the perfect hint of acidity.
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Wish I could score this properly, but it was a hot evening and had to return the decanter several times to the fridge. Nice dark fruit mixed with earth and underbrush type vegetal notes. Good acid/tannin with a nice finish although the heat from the high ABV didn't help the wine at all. Drink during the cooler months is my recommendation.
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Popped and poured. Medium-plus ruddy garnet hue. Fragrant, complex aromas of black raspberry, black currant, fresh mint, menthol, tobacco leaf, spice, and a touch of brown sugar. With air, the nose evolves to show more of a tertiary profile with quite a bit of earthiness complementing the fruit. Medium-plus body. On the palate, this shows a true Cabernet Franc expression of red and black fruits along with complex herbaceous flavors but in true Napa fashion is plush and seamless. As it develops, additional notes of tobacco and fresh cedar shavings emerge. Definitely of the 2005 mold as it highly structured yet also wonderfully finessed. The tannins are still slightly astringent on the lengthy close. A tremendous wine overall, this is drinking perfectly right now and is just approaching midlife in terms of development. Will undoubtedly continue in it's evolution for 2-4 more years but will most certainly hold for much longer.
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Decanted for a hour but probably could have used another hour. Alittle heat on the nose and the finish. Blueberry, raspberry, chocolate and pepper notes. Overall a nice effort.
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I really like what this brought. After an hour decant and aeration it started to lose it's edge and blend nicely. Great blueberry flavors I don't have alot of experience with 100% cab franc but I really liked this.
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Mega Slide (Waterford Wines Milwaukee): not so bellowing espresso. black raspberry fruit and the lightest element of gingerbread. wood shows lightly, but still youthfully.
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Mega-Slide! (Waterford Wine Co. Tasting Room): Intense nose of dusty, oaky fruits. Baked blueberries. Big tannins. Dusty, spicy fruit. Getting the oak. Touch light on the mid-palate. This really opened up after several hours, and smoothed out very nice into a rich blue fruits and a long, long spicy finish. Good stuff once it had time to open.
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Initially tannic, the tannin calmed a bit after decanting for an hour. This wine had bright cassis, plum and blackberry fruit supported by nice chocolate tones and a touch of spice. The wine worked lovely with the grilled ribeyes it was paired with. An outstanding wine. Wish I had purchased more when I last visited the winery.
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What a nose! Violets, honeysuckle, and then fierce grip. Now here is a cabernet franc worth of the name. Spice, game, and backbone. Grippy tannins but good god is that a wine. Actually, at just below $70 I can see it.
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Very young, high alcohol nose and taste that interfered with tasting the wine. We had a real concern that the wine started to open up with a classic CF taste and a couple of hours later closed back up into the high alcohol bust we started with after decanting it. It had plenty of tannins, but we wondered if the fruit would survive to a more drinkable state.
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7/22/2018 - wconnolly Likes this wine: 89 Points
Medium garnet color in the glass. No signs of bricking. Rich, round and robust. Some dark fruit evident but mostly savory flavors of tobacco box, coffee and saddle leather. Medium bodied and medium finish. Drinking very nicely right now.
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3/29/2018 - ivsimler Likes this wine: 92 Points
I think it got better with even more aging. Really outstanding!
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9/29/2016 - tgolden1983 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Hands down one of the best Cab Francs i've ever had. Cork disintegrated during the opening process, but was able to transfer the wine to a carafe with no problem. Initial taste out of the bottle was weak and unimpressive, but after time to open up (tastes at 15, 20, and 30 minutes), this wine blossomed into liquid gold. While the corks may not survive, this wine has plenty left to offer and should be excellent for a few years still.
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12/1/2013 - ivsimler Likes this wine: 91 Points
YEAH....HELL YEAH! Just drink me. Enjoy me.
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12/8/2012 - JDV.DDSPHD Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark Inky Purple in color. Blackberry, currants, with a small bit of cedar and granite on the nose. Lingering finish with well rounded tannins and the perfect hint of acidity.
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8/12/2012 - Champagneinhand wrote:
Wish I could score this properly, but it was a hot evening and had to return the decanter several times to the fridge. Nice dark fruit mixed with earth and underbrush type vegetal notes. Good acid/tannin with a nice finish although the heat from the high ABV didn't help the wine at all. Drink during the cooler months is my recommendation.
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4/29/2012 - WI WineLover wrote: 93 Points
Decanting for two hours improved our score for this one
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7/19/2011 - *Vine* wrote:
Popped and poured. Medium-plus ruddy garnet hue. Fragrant, complex aromas of black raspberry, black currant, fresh mint, menthol, tobacco leaf, spice, and a touch of brown sugar. With air, the nose evolves to show more of a tertiary profile with quite a bit of earthiness complementing the fruit. Medium-plus body. On the palate, this shows a true Cabernet Franc expression of red and black fruits along with complex herbaceous flavors but in true Napa fashion is plush and seamless. As it develops, additional notes of tobacco and fresh cedar shavings emerge. Definitely of the 2005 mold as it highly structured yet also wonderfully finessed. The tannins are still slightly astringent on the lengthy close. A tremendous wine overall, this is drinking perfectly right now and is just approaching midlife in terms of development. Will undoubtedly continue in it's evolution for 2-4 more years but will most certainly hold for much longer.
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4/3/2011 - WineGrotto wrote: 93 Points
This wine is developing nicely, and I'm looking forward to drinking more from the cellar.
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1/22/2011 - KeithSurg wrote: 91 Points
Nicely integrated flavors of blueberry, blackberry and chocolate. Full bodied with soft tannins. A bit jammy, but very nice.
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12/29/2010 - Fishboy wrote: 89 Points
Decanted for a hour but probably could have used another hour. Alittle heat on the nose and the finish. Blueberry, raspberry, chocolate and pepper notes. Overall a nice effort.
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11/27/2010 - tplskylrk wrote: 86 Points
Thanksgiving. Just a bit hot in the end and too monolithic. Nice juice and got some weight after a couple of hours, but just never balanced.
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11/21/2010 - Venezia wrote: 90 Points
Raspberry jam in a bottle. Tannins have mellowed. Drinking well now
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10/23/2010 - spretzer wrote: 91 Points
I really like what this brought. After an hour decant and aeration it started to lose it's edge and blend nicely. Great blueberry flavors I don't have alot of experience with 100% cab franc but I really liked this.
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4/18/2010 - Fishboy wrote: 90 Points
Very smooth with blueberry, blackberry, and cocoa notes.
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9/24/2009 - joshwoodward wrote: 89 Points
Yikes. Just yikes.; 9/24/2009-9/25/2009 (Bowling Green, OH): Has that Cab Franc green edge I'm not a fan of, but a decent quaffer.
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9/4/2009 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Mega Slide (Waterford Wines Milwaukee): not so bellowing espresso. black raspberry fruit and the lightest element of gingerbread. wood shows lightly, but still youthfully.
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9/4/2009 - Beavis77 wrote:
Mega-Slide! (Waterford Wine Co. Tasting Room): Intense nose of dusty, oaky fruits. Baked blueberries.
Big tannins. Dusty, spicy fruit. Getting the oak. Touch light on the mid-palate.
This really opened up after several hours, and smoothed out very nice into a rich blue fruits and a long, long spicy finish.
Good stuff once it had time to open.
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7/25/2009 - jnanz wrote: 93 Points
Initially tannic, the tannin calmed a bit after decanting for an hour. This wine had bright cassis, plum and blackberry fruit supported by nice chocolate tones and a touch of spice. The wine worked lovely with the grilled ribeyes it was paired with. An outstanding wine. Wish I had purchased more when I last visited the winery.
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10/11/2008 - mmurry wrote: 92 Points
Stealth Wines: Lesser-Known Varietals (Farpointe Cellar): A nice nose of berry, tea, chocolate, and plum. The palate was smooth, and had berry, tea, and plum, and finished with a little cocoa.
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6/20/2008 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
What a nose! Violets, honeysuckle, and then fierce grip. Now here is a cabernet franc worth of the name. Spice, game, and backbone. Grippy tannins but good god is that a wine. Actually, at just below $70 I can see it.
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4/12/2008 - vinole wrote: 91 Points
Crown Spring Upscale Tasting (Boca Raton, FL): Medium to full body. Nice cab franc with fruit to match the higher acidity of the wine.
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3/8/2008 - pizzler wrote: 86 Points
Very young, high alcohol nose and taste that interfered with tasting the wine. We had a real concern that the wine started to open up with a classic CF taste and a couple of hours later closed back up into the high alcohol bust we started with after decanting it. It had plenty of tannins, but we wondered if the fruit would survive to a more drinkable state.
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