Aromas kicked off nicely with sweet oak, cassis, blueberry and spice. Palate seemed bland at first with sweet-cassis, spiced-licorice, and oak leading to a long finish of cedar and blueberry ... thankfully this wine had more under the hood (so to speak) with a little time in glass, and after 30 minutes things changed for the better offering up creme-de-cassis and smoky-blueberry into the mix.
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Not quite as good as the deep 2006 but good. Took about an hour to open up so give it some time. But after that lovely, open and flavorful. Not as deep as the 2006 which we had a few weeks ago and were blown away. But very nice. Unfortunately, so nice that we have none to taste tomorrow.
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This must have been an off bottle, not consistent with my earlier tastings. It had a sharp finish which persisted and overrode the rest of the palate. dumped it.
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bouquet is lovely and soft. lots of berries with a light floral touch. very malbec in some regards. the palate is rich. lots of fruit, a bit spikey on the midpalate and the finish is very deep, lots of coffee and other bitter elements. very interesting.
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wonderful jammy fruit forward with toasty spice finish - very long medium to full bodied, excellent with barbegue ribs. Ready to drink now. well structured and integrated. agree that it is very full in mid-palate.
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a refined and nicely constructed wine, dry to start with fruit coming toward the end and a toaty aspice finish. i think this wine needs some more time. soft tannins, and tightly wound.
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Fair amount of fruit up front, but a bit muddled--I didn't taste much of anything distinctive. Nice purple color and good mouth feel. Not much complexity, but what's there is well balanced.
12/27/10 Noted particularly some pomegranate and raspberry this time. Still didn't see much complexity or finish. Pleasant. Good for the price.
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Fabulous! Dark fruits, plum, blackberry, but with nice backbone - fruit forward but balanced. Little bit of dark chocolate or smooth irish coffee at the end. Very full in the mid palate, which surprised me. Finish falls off a bit, but a great wine, particularly at this price. Seems to be just at its peak. Yummy!
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Even better than the Cabernet as a personal preference due to the fruitier and more universal approachability. Hints of blueberry, black tea, ginger, anise. Quite velvety in texture with a respectably long finish. Drink now until 2014.
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Not very complex....But pretty darn good wine.....pop and pour and never disappoints....I know what I'm getting and always pretty excited about it....great QPR....
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QPR. QPR. For $20.00 and under this wine is hard to beat - I would love to throw this in a blind tasting of expensive wines. Good nose, dark fruits (plum, rasberry) and tobacco. 14.4% alchohol but you don't notice that given the balance of this wine. Smooth midpalate and long finish. I typically don't like Malbecs but this is an excellent wine. Tasted 2 bottles with similar results.
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Very round, full of flavor, some interesting chocolate-like overtones, nice finish. Opened for a couple of hours before drinking with lamb and cheeses. A bit more distinctive than the also very good Felino Cabernet.
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Another great wine from Paul Hobbs. Third bottle I have had from Vina Cabos and I have not been disappointed!! Dark Purple in color, cherries, plums, vanilla and signs of leather present. Very smooth to the palate and a finish that brings you back for more. IMO for under $20 I have not had a better bottle of wine than these from Vina Cobos.
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This is delicious. Rarely find something of this quality under $20. Definitely fruit forward, but not over the top and has just enough structure to hold it together. Full nose of dark cherries mixed with plums. Nice full mouth. Finishes smooth with fine tannins and a touch of acidity. Not very complex, but terrific none the less.
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I really dig this wine. Chocolate, toasty oak, spice and cassis on the nose. In the mouth, jammy, rich and smooth. Nice mouthfeel, incredible richness. This is a great qpr and to me tastes like wines that go for 2x to 2.5x the price. There is so much to like about this wine. I am surprised by the range in scores on here from 81 and up because even if its not your style - its clearly a well made wine, must be bottle variation.
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Bright purple in the glass, this wine shows jammy berry fruit, white pepper and spice on the nose. The palate shows earthy, capsicum characters. Perhaps a little too acidic on the finish.
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Spain vs. Latin America (Farpointe Cellar): The nose was a little tight, but I did get cherry and earth. The palate was rich, and had cherry, cedar, earth, raspberry, and black currant.
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I give it a 90 because it is flawless. But it is also not that interesting. It has deep dark fruit, firm minerality balanced by nice acidity. It's got a hot plummy fruit compote nose. Like spanish hot chocolate, with the hot peppers. A fresh, almost grassy, dry fruitiness. I'd pay $20 for this and bring it to a party, but I don't think this has an interesting life ahead. Glad I drank it. This is a big wine. Like linebacker big. Not defined, but not flabby.
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Opened and served immediately. Followed over about an hour and a half. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of blueberries, potpourri and jammy currants. Flavors of currants and berries. Light to medium acidity, medium to firm tannins, medium body. Drink or hold over the short term.
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Deep purple in the glass, this wine initially showed intense berry fruit and liquorice notes. The palate is medium to full bodied. It shows plum, tobacco and cigar box characters.
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Apple stems? Prune stems on the nose? Something nice and vegetal. Coconut and sawdust on the palate. Somewhat singluar across the palate. Simple palate but rich. Usesr friendly and quite good at its $18.99.
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Yowzaa what oak treatment on the nose. Lots of vanilla and blue black fruits. On the palate this is soft with just enough acid to balance a sweet palate of cherries and blueberries. Drink now. Yum.
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Was waiting for a Vina Cobos to appear - had an awesome, more expensive one in a restaurant 6-9 months ago. Drank this over 2 evenings. Put in the decanter for an hour on opening. Beautiful dark purple colouring. Nose of cherries, plums, currants, hint of leather. Very smooth on the palate, few tannins to speak of. A bit green on the first tasting, opened up in the glass over 10-15 minutes. Better on the second evening. This is as good as any Malbec out there at this price, and should be pretty awesome after a year or two in the cellar. May stock up on more than the 3 remaining bottles I picked up.
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A decent moderate value malbec. The rasberry fruit flavors that tended to dominate the wine in the beginning subsided after about an hour and allowed the recessed leather and oak flavors to emerge. A fairly smooth and well balanced wine. Wouldn't mind a few more bottles of this in my cellar.
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This wine is an excellent value. Dark red in color. Aromas of black fruits, violets, Asian spices and chocolate. Nicely extracted, ripe fruit in the mouth with ripe soft tannins and very good depth and length. While still young this is very enjoyable to drink now.
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decanted for about 45 minutes before first glass. On the nose, I got dark fruit. On the palate this wine is smooth, really smooth, especially for such a young wine. Nice fruit, good acidity, and really no tannins to speak of.
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a bit oaky on the nose, along with strawberries, and black currants. Blood oranges on the palate along with currants and other assorted black fruit. This could sleep for a good while, but will likely be sacrificed to appease the cat gods.
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7/22/2016 - owr Likes this wine: 88 Points
Aromas kicked off nicely with sweet oak, cassis, blueberry and spice. Palate seemed bland at first with sweet-cassis, spiced-licorice, and oak leading to a long finish of cedar and blueberry ... thankfully this wine had more under the hood (so to speak) with a little time in glass, and after 30 minutes things changed for the better offering up creme-de-cassis and smoky-blueberry into the mix.
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12/23/2015 - jakob.krummenacher@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
Great balance of fruit, body and oak. Drinking very nicely now but would last another 3-5 years.
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12/26/2014 - itsnotbob Likes this wine: 88 Points
Showed quite nicely for its age. Good acid & a nice chocolate note.
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7/15/2013 - hsacks Likes this wine: 90 Points
Same as the 1/19/09 bottle. Still not yet in peak drinking period.
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11/17/2012 - pmk wrote: 91 Points
This one returned to the high ratings of previous bottles. see previous notes. Alas my last one.
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6/13/2012 - robnmo wrote: 89 Points
got better with age and air. lots of setiment in this bottle, should have filtered.
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4/9/2012 - rojoloco wrote: 91 Points
Not quite as good as the deep 2006 but good. Took about an hour to open up so give it some time. But after that lovely, open and flavorful. Not as deep as the 2006 which we had a few weeks ago and were blown away. But very nice. Unfortunately, so nice that we have none to taste tomorrow.
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3/24/2012 - Hoyoymac wrote: 90 Points
Delicious. Bursting with berries. Dark red opaque with a chewy mouth feel. Wanted the bottle not to end.
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3/10/2012 - pmk wrote: flawed
This must have been an off bottle, not consistent with my earlier tastings. It had a sharp finish which persisted and overrode the rest of the palate. dumped it.
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7/16/2011 - jtt300 wrote: 89 Points
Jammy dark fruit.
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6/27/2011 - fatherdamo wrote: 88 Points
bouquet is lovely and soft. lots of berries with a light floral touch. very malbec in some regards.
the palate is rich. lots of fruit, a bit spikey on the midpalate and the finish is very deep, lots of coffee and other bitter elements. very interesting.
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6/20/2011 - pmk wrote: 91 Points
consistent with notes from 6/11/11
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6/11/2011 - pmk wrote: 91 Points
wonderful jammy fruit forward with toasty spice finish - very long medium to full bodied, excellent with barbegue ribs. Ready to drink now. well structured and integrated. agree that it is very full in mid-palate.
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4/29/2011 - hsacks wrote: 90 Points
Same as the 1/19/09 bottle.
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2/22/2011 - yotaiwan Likes this wine: 90 Points
fruity and smooth with good depth.
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12/25/2010 - pmk wrote: 90 Points
a refined and nicely constructed wine, dry to start with fruit coming toward the end and a toaty aspice finish. i think this wine needs some more time. soft tannins, and tightly wound.
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11/1/2010 - underwds wrote: 86 Points
Fair amount of fruit up front, but a bit muddled--I didn't taste much of anything distinctive. Nice purple color and good mouth feel. Not much complexity, but what's there is well balanced.
12/27/10 Noted particularly some pomegranate and raspberry this time. Still didn't see much complexity or finish. Pleasant. Good for the price.
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10/31/2010 - jimkay21 wrote: 88 Points
Enjoyable. simple
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9/18/2010 - pdh9 wrote: 90 Points
dark fruit foreward with a touch of spice on the back end. balanced very well.
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2/7/2010 - europat55 wrote: 89 Points
Nice aromatics. Smooth. Drinking very well right now.
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1/18/2010 - wineywhites wrote: 89 Points
Fabulous! Dark fruits, plum, blackberry, but with nice backbone - fruit forward but balanced. Little bit of dark chocolate or smooth irish coffee at the end. Very full in the mid palate, which surprised me. Finish falls off a bit, but a great wine, particularly at this price. Seems to be just at its peak. Yummy!
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12/25/2009 - Kevin_C wrote: 85 Points
Drank as a prelude to the 2002 Vina Cobos Malbec Marchiori. The score reflects the contrast but it's still a nice glass of wine.
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12/12/2009 - Life At Your Leisure 🍷 wrote: 91 Points
Even better than the Cabernet as a personal preference due to the fruitier and more universal approachability. Hints of blueberry, black tea, ginger, anise. Quite velvety in texture with a respectably long finish. Drink now until 2014.
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11/11/2009 - TrevorCandelino wrote:
Not very complex....But pretty darn good wine.....pop and pour and never disappoints....I know what I'm getting and always pretty excited about it....great QPR....
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9/7/2009 - CWilliam wrote: 91 Points
QPR. QPR. For $20.00 and under this wine is hard to beat - I would love to throw this in a blind tasting of expensive wines. Good nose, dark fruits (plum, rasberry) and tobacco. 14.4% alchohol but you don't notice that given the balance of this wine. Smooth midpalate and long finish. I typically don't like Malbecs but this is an excellent wine. Tasted 2 bottles with similar results.
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8/24/2009 - Kevin_C wrote: 87 Points
This showed very nice again. Thick and creamy palate. [87-88]
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8/23/2009 - wbq8f wrote: 89 Points
Very round, full of flavor, some interesting chocolate-like overtones, nice finish. Opened for a couple of hours before drinking with lamb and cheeses. A bit more distinctive than the also very good Felino Cabernet.
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8/10/2009 - piyeh wrote: 89 Points
櫻桃, 李子, 巧克力, 香料和橡木的香氣, 口感頗為豐腴, 有明顯的土壤, 黑醋栗的氣息, 而且還有些許的辣椒味. 酒體中等, 單寧平滑而柔順, 且尾韻帶點酸的感受,
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8/1/2009 - jagangjee wrote: 91 Points
Another great wine from Paul Hobbs. Third bottle I have had from Vina Cabos and I have not been disappointed!! Dark Purple in color, cherries, plums, vanilla and signs of leather present. Very smooth to the palate and a finish that brings you back for more. IMO for under $20 I have not had a better bottle of wine than these from Vina Cobos.
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7/21/2009 - popquizkid wrote: 91 Points
This is delicious. Rarely find something of this quality under $20. Definitely fruit forward, but not over the top and has just enough structure to hold it together. Full nose of dark cherries mixed with plums. Nice full mouth. Finishes smooth with fine tannins and a touch of acidity. Not very complex, but terrific none the less.
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7/21/2009 - bubbachumps wrote: 92 Points
I really dig this wine. Chocolate, toasty oak, spice and cassis on the nose. In the mouth, jammy, rich and smooth. Nice mouthfeel, incredible richness. This is a great qpr and to me tastes like wines that go for 2x to 2.5x the price. There is so much to like about this wine. I am surprised by the range in scores on here from 81 and up because even if its not your style - its clearly a well made wine, must be bottle variation.
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5/18/2009 - sumlinant wrote: 89 Points
Hint of blueberry, strong finish.
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5/6/2009 - jamieirving wrote: 84 Points
Bright purple in the glass, this wine shows jammy berry fruit, white pepper and spice on the nose. The palate shows earthy, capsicum characters. Perhaps a little too acidic on the finish.
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5/2/2009 - mmurry wrote: 90 Points
Spain vs. Latin America (Farpointe Cellar): The nose was a little tight, but I did get cherry and earth. The palate was rich, and had cherry, cedar, earth, raspberry, and black currant.
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4/29/2009 - cmclean wrote: 90 Points
I give it a 90 because it is flawless. But it is also not that interesting. It has deep dark fruit, firm minerality balanced by nice acidity. It's got a hot plummy fruit compote nose. Like spanish hot chocolate, with the hot peppers.
A fresh, almost grassy, dry fruitiness.
I'd pay $20 for this and bring it to a party, but I don't think this has an interesting life ahead. Glad I drank it.
This is a big wine. Like linebacker big. Not defined, but not flabby.
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4/21/2009 - wineismylife wrote: 88 Points
WIML88
Tasted April 21, 2009.
Opened and served immediately. Followed over about an hour and a half. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of blueberries, potpourri and jammy currants. Flavors of currants and berries. Light to medium acidity, medium to firm tannins, medium body. Drink or hold over the short term.
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4/7/2009 - jamieirving wrote: 89 Points
Deep purple in the glass, this wine initially showed intense berry fruit and liquorice notes. The palate is medium to full bodied. It shows plum, tobacco and cigar box characters.
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3/31/2009 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Apple stems? Prune stems on the nose? Something nice and vegetal. Coconut and sawdust on the palate. Somewhat singluar across the palate. Simple palate but rich. Usesr friendly and quite good at its $18.99.
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3/27/2009 - PJHaveron wrote: 88 Points
Very good - could use a bit more time but it was enjoyable - not as bold as I anticipated but a solid effort
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3/21/2009 - LPskeleton wrote: 90 Points
Yowzaa what oak treatment on the nose. Lots of vanilla and blue black fruits. On the palate this is soft with just enough acid to balance a sweet palate of cherries and blueberries. Drink now. Yum.
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3/21/2009 - wabi47 wrote: 87 Points
dense dark plum fruit with a lush mouth feel; lower acidity than i like but good (slightly green) tannins also coat the mouth;
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3/19/2009 - incident wrote: 87 Points
Perhaps too young still. Not quite up to the level of the 2006.
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3/19/2009 - toontune wrote: 87 Points
Promising at first but didn't develop much. 2nd day after vacuum sealed lost some body.
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3/8/2009 - davo22 wrote: 90 Points
Was waiting for a Vina Cobos to appear - had an awesome, more expensive one in a restaurant 6-9 months ago. Drank this over 2 evenings. Put in the decanter for an hour on opening. Beautiful dark purple colouring. Nose of cherries, plums, currants, hint of leather. Very smooth on the palate, few tannins to speak of. A bit green on the first tasting, opened up in the glass over 10-15 minutes. Better on the second evening. This is as good as any Malbec out there at this price, and should be pretty awesome after a year or two in the cellar. May stock up on more than the 3 remaining bottles I picked up.
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2/22/2009 - VinoGreenBay wrote: 90 Points
Used to braise short ribs and make a quick "demi". Awesome fruit with an earthy finish. Happy I bought another 1/2 case.
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2/21/2009 - jandmike wrote: 88 Points
Full body, carmel notes. Will definitely benefit from more time.
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2/20/2009 - wbq8f wrote: 90 Points
Rich, deep complex. Great value.
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1/25/2009 - Elkiholic wrote: 90 Points
Right in my malbec wheelhouse. This one will benefit from 6-12 months in the bottle.
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1/24/2009 - mmurry wrote: 89 Points
Wines from the Southern Hemisphere (Farpointe Cellar): The nose had leather, cherry, and black currant. The palate was slightly sweet, and had black currant, earth, and cherry.
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1/24/2009 - Bob in NC wrote: 88 Points
A decent moderate value malbec. The rasberry fruit flavors that tended to dominate the wine in the beginning subsided after about an hour and allowed the recessed leather and oak flavors to emerge. A fairly smooth and well balanced wine. Wouldn't mind a few more bottles of this in my cellar.
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1/21/2009 - J Dogg wrote:
Very nice. This was a bit short on fruit, but had an earthy and pencil shaving-like complexity to it. Soft tannins.
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1/19/2009 - hsacks wrote: 90 Points
This wine is an excellent value. Dark red in color. Aromas of black fruits, violets, Asian spices and chocolate. Nicely extracted, ripe fruit in the mouth with ripe soft tannins and very good depth and length. While still young this is very enjoyable to drink now.
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1/16/2009 - robnmo wrote: 87 Points
decanted for about 45 minutes before first glass. On the nose, I got dark fruit. On the palate this wine is smooth, really smooth, especially for such a young wine. Nice fruit, good acidity, and really no tannins to speak of.
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1/9/2009 - ptelgenh wrote: 88 Points
Pretty good QPR. Ripe raspberries with a hint of violet on the nose. Low tannins with a bit of a short finish. enjoyable.
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11/26/2008 - Kevin_C wrote: 88 Points
Quite nice right now and may even improve in another year or two. [88]
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11/25/2008 - chapel hill wino wrote: 89 Points
a bit oaky on the nose, along with strawberries, and black currants. Blood oranges on the palate along with currants and other assorted black fruit. This could sleep for a good while, but will likely be sacrificed to appease the cat gods.
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10/13/2008 - rcasaw wrote: 90 Points
good value...smooth tannins...broad pallet and medium long finish
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9/30/2008 - JonnyB wrote: 90 Points
deep dark inky in the glass, dark fruits on the nose, tobacco and chocolate, medium finish, let them sleep!
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