Notes taken 1 hour after opening. Lots of sediment in the bottle. Opaque maroon color, ruby at the rim. Heady nose of dense black fruit, very jammy, but there's a touch of spice, oak and alcohol lurking in the background. Almost sweet on the front palate. The fruit is not just jammy, it's almost raisiny, similar to a port for a brief moment. Then it settles into a delicious concentrated black plum jam, blackberries, vanilla oak just coming through the back end. The alcohol is very well integrated at 15.6%. The fairly long finish leaves you with some very soft tannins and some spice (juniper?). Very easy to drink, paired well with pasta & vodka sauce.
Drink now, this is as good as it gets!
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Fantastic wine. Bright fruit, especially for a petite. Perfect time to drink this wine, Even though this is a 15.5% alcohol wine, you would never know it. Great for winter food (braised beef ribs, pork with port sauce). Again the fruit shines with a backbone of tannins
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Clear, deep purple. Clean, intense aromas of black and blue fruits. Medium acid, medium tannin, huge body. Flavors of black fruits, blueberry, vanilla. Some heat on the finish, but this is more integrated than past bottles.
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Very good PS with a pleasant nose and aftertaste. It seems to have faded in intensity since I last tasted it a couple of years ago. Very typical PS tastes and overall was a good wine.
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I've always enjoyed Michael and David's wines. This petite syrah is no exception. Each of their wines are consistent year to year and very unique. Of the three Earthquake bottlings, this is my least favorite. It is nevertheless a typical M&D wine with the omnipresent overtones of fruit and chocolate. Not typical of petite syrahs in general, and in fact not that big of a wine, so drink it young and enjoy the originality.
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Slightly smoky,very mild white pepper, intense blueberry nose and palate, soft tannins with a really nice mouth feel. Not an in your face Petite Syrah. Very enjoyable and a wine that you can easily "overserve" yourself on. I believe this was the Red wine of the year for the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition a year or so ago.
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Michael & David Phillips Tasting (Gibby's Wine Den, Geneva IL): 100% of the wine is aged in French oak barrels. Deep, inky wine, opaque almost to the rim. Fairly complex nose with blackberry, kirsch liqueur, blueberry, chocolate and maybe even violets. Chewy tannins on a drying finish, full of dark fruit. Long finish.
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Blind Syrah and Petites (Mercer Island): HoneySuckles and Ripe Fruit on the nose. Very big and ripe. Syrupy, but also some complexity. Impressive and I had it guessed as an Aussie Shiraz.[My WineOfFlight, The Groups WOF. Rec'd 2 1st place and 2 2nd place votes for Wine of the Night] Hmmm, this really surprised me. Never would've guessed this would've outperformed those in its flight. Some thought it was a Turley
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Hello! Floral, slight perfume, and spicy to the nose with candied fruit and brown sugar. Chewy but nice structure and balance for such a big boy. Nice rugged finish with bitter chocolate. Still young and has potential for short term 3-5 years.
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Much fruitier than I expected, but full and earthy. The next day, had opened up quite a bit. To be honest, the silly name made my wife think that this would be a good cheap wine to cook with, so I only got about half the bottle to drink - but the beef stew was terrific! :-)
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9/11/2020 - drhodous wrote:
ACU
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10/25/2013 - JoeGr Likes this wine:
Still drinking nice; was cellared properly
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9/22/2012 - jleonard711 wrote: 94 Points
WOW! Perfectly smooth, easy drinking for a petite sirah. This bottle is done aging and should be drunk NOW!
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9/20/2010 - brythephotoguy wrote: 90 Points
Notes taken 1 hour after opening. Lots of sediment in the bottle. Opaque maroon color, ruby at the rim. Heady nose of dense black fruit, very jammy, but there's a touch of spice, oak and alcohol lurking in the background. Almost sweet on the front palate. The fruit is not just jammy, it's almost raisiny, similar to a port for a brief moment. Then it settles into a delicious concentrated black plum jam, blackberries, vanilla oak just coming through the back end. The alcohol is very well integrated at 15.6%. The fairly long finish leaves you with some very soft tannins and some spice (juniper?). Very easy to drink, paired well with pasta & vodka sauce.
Drink now, this is as good as it gets!
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12/5/2008 - biggwater wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic wine. Bright fruit, especially for a petite. Perfect time to drink this wine, Even though this is a 15.5% alcohol wine, you would never know it. Great for winter food (braised beef ribs, pork with port sauce). Again the fruit shines with a backbone of tannins
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8/27/2008 - biggwater wrote: 88 Points
bigg wine, softened after opening a few hours, even better the second day,
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8/23/2008 - biggwater wrote: 88 Points
mild pepper, soft tannins, drinking well, blueberry
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6/7/2008 - jbehrendt wrote: 88 Points
An interesting Zinfandel. Very ripe fruit taste. Not particulary food friendly.
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4/23/2008 - incident wrote: 88 Points
Clear, deep purple. Clean, intense aromas of black and blue fruits. Medium acid, medium tannin, huge body. Flavors of black fruits, blueberry, vanilla. Some heat on the finish, but this is more integrated than past bottles.
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1/8/2008 - pizzler wrote: 90 Points
Very good PS with a pleasant nose and aftertaste. It seems to have faded in intensity since I last tasted it a couple of years ago. Very typical PS tastes and overall was a good wine.
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5/12/2007 - incident wrote: 88 Points
Still huge. A bit of heat up until the wine sat in the decanter for about 30 minutes.
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10/9/2006 - jwjon1 wrote: 86 Points
I've always enjoyed Michael and David's wines. This petite syrah is no exception. Each of their wines are consistent year to year and very unique. Of the three Earthquake bottlings, this is my least favorite. It is nevertheless a typical M&D wine with the omnipresent overtones of fruit and chocolate. Not typical of petite syrahs in general, and in fact not that big of a wine, so drink it young and enjoy the originality.
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9/24/2006 - cadillac doc wrote: 90 Points
Slightly smoky,very mild white pepper, intense blueberry nose and palate, soft tannins with a really nice mouth feel. Not an in your face Petite Syrah. Very enjoyable and a wine that you can easily "overserve" yourself on. I believe this was the Red wine of the year for the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition a year or so ago.
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3/17/2006 - Salvatore wrote: 89 Points
Had this fine wine at Syd and Mari's houses. Everyone enjoyed it.
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2/13/2006 - AllRed wrote: 88 Points
Michael & David Phillips Tasting (Gibby's Wine Den, Geneva IL): 100% of the wine is aged in French oak barrels. Deep, inky wine, opaque almost to the rim. Fairly complex nose with blackberry, kirsch liqueur, blueberry, chocolate and maybe even violets. Chewy tannins on a drying finish, full of dark fruit. Long finish.
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11/26/2005 - lorenzo wrote: 92 Points
Blind Syrah and Petites (Mercer Island): HoneySuckles and Ripe Fruit on the nose. Very big and ripe. Syrupy, but also some complexity. Impressive and I had it guessed as an Aussie Shiraz.[My WineOfFlight, The Groups WOF. Rec'd 2 1st place and 2 2nd place votes for Wine of the Night] Hmmm, this really surprised me. Never would've guessed this would've outperformed those in its flight. Some thought it was a Turley
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8/20/2005 - dcjenner wrote: 88 Points
Village Wine Cellars tasting 08/20/05
Lodi appellation - very heavy, wait, complex structure - dark - cigar box cedar and vanilla
$24.99
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5/22/2005 - jimmythesaint wrote: 90 Points
Hello! Floral, slight perfume, and spicy to the nose with candied fruit and brown sugar. Chewy but nice structure and balance for such a big boy. Nice rugged finish with bitter chocolate. Still young and has potential for short term 3-5 years.
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4/21/2005 - tshields wrote: 85 Points
Much fruitier than I expected, but full and earthy. The next day, had opened up quite a bit. To be honest, the silly name made my wife think that this would be a good cheap wine to cook with, so I only got about half the bottle to drink - but the beef stew was terrific! :-)
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