Nose: mostly red with some black fruits. Ripe raspberry, strawberry, bramble, hints of mint and clove, cinnamon. Taste: red and black currants, plum, clove, vanilla, oak Notes: bigger and more acid than expected 15 years in, strong backbone and structure, not sure this will improve, but it will last a while longer. Sonoma red fruits shine through a decent amount of French oak.
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A balanced and textured wine still alive with sweet tannins. Lots of black currant and black berry flavors with hints of cocoa and cedar. Very layered and dense.
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Previous bottle had a bad nose, but tasted okay. It also had a lot of sediment. This bottle had a wonderful bouquet and no sediment. This was a very nice bottle of Cabernet.
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Good cork. Decanted for about 3 hours before dinner. Nose had slight vinegar smell. However, wine was great on the palette. Would have given higher rating, but for the nose. I have two more bottles. Don't think I want to keep much longer...and maybe not decant for so long. By the way, need to decant; quite a bit of very fine sediment.
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Opened and had with some very sharp cheddar cheese. Very smooth on finish. Nice bouquet. This is a wine that one can drink by itself, or paired with food. It is comparable to bottles 2 times the price; excellent value for the price. Glad I have more bottles in my cellar.
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Opened this tonight and truly enjoyed it. The nose impressed immediately with deep fruit. The tannins, present early on, have smoothed nicely. We now have dark berries dipped in silky tannins. A pleasure with a steak.
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I continue to be amazed at how much I like this wine. It's pretty simple, but very delicious. The fruit is riper than I remember, typical cassis flavors, smoky, a little spicy. Smooth.
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Agreed with this review: Good, but not worth it at this price point. Lacks complexity and that wow factor. Decent taste, solid, but there are others (e.g. Phelps) much better for this price.
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Surprisingly good. Gorgeous nose of cassis, dark fruit, black cherries and underlying mocha. Med-full bodied on the palate and flat out juicy. Nice grip on the back-end with some great acidity balancing it all out on the long wonderful finish. Well done.
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Delicious wine. Cassis and some other dark fruit, a little bit smoky and a little bit of christmas spice. Mostly smooth but a little bit of gritty tannin on the end. Couldn't get enough.
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Dinner at Fogo de Chao, Washington D.C. 14.2% alcohol
Initially fruity without much oak/tannins. The smell and flavor profile were both fruity without being overwhelming. A decent dinner wine but lacking acidity and complexity.
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7/31/2022 - Ted_P Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose: mostly red with some black fruits. Ripe raspberry, strawberry, bramble, hints of mint and clove, cinnamon.
Taste: red and black currants, plum, clove, vanilla, oak
Notes: bigger and more acid than expected 15 years in, strong backbone and structure, not sure this will improve, but it will last a while longer. Sonoma red fruits shine through a decent amount of French oak.
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5/29/2021 - Terroirdoc Likes this wine: 92 Points
Rich, smooth California cabernet. Opened it one hour before and was very enjoyable. Well balanced.
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7/11/2019 - tom_wine Likes this wine: 90 Points
A balanced and textured wine still alive with sweet tannins. Lots of black currant and black berry flavors with hints of cocoa and cedar. Very layered and dense.
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12/20/2018 - MBgaia Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lovely and much bigger and fruit forward than expected.... secondary flavors coming through cedar and graphite but still plenty of life left.
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3/13/2016 - leachriscellar wrote: 87 Points
A little over the hill but still nice currant and graphite notes
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9/3/2015 - Charlie.Gail Likes this wine: 92 Points
Previous bottle had a bad nose, but tasted okay. It also had a lot of sediment. This bottle had a wonderful bouquet and no sediment. This was a very nice bottle of Cabernet.
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8/2/2015 - Charlie.Gail Likes this wine: 90 Points
Good cork. Decanted for about 3 hours before dinner. Nose had slight vinegar smell. However, wine was great on the palette. Would have given higher rating, but for the nose. I have two more bottles. Don't think I want to keep much longer...and maybe not decant for so long. By the way, need to decant; quite a bit of very fine sediment.
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3/14/2014 - Charlie.Gail Likes this wine: 92 Points
Opened and had with some very sharp cheddar cheese. Very smooth on finish. Nice bouquet. This is a wine that one can drink by itself, or paired with food. It is comparable to bottles 2 times the price; excellent value for the price. Glad I have more bottles in my cellar.
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9/26/2013 - Swetro Likes this wine: 88 Points
Was a good bottle and drinking well now. Had with fire grilled pork tenderloin and potatoes along with a pan seared bass filet.
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4/20/2013 - Kahnru12 wrote:
Opened this tonight and truly enjoyed it. The nose impressed immediately with deep fruit. The tannins, present early on, have smoothed nicely. We now have dark berries dipped in silky tannins. A pleasure with a steak.
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10/8/2012 - chitowncdpguy wrote:
I continue to be amazed at how much I like this wine. It's pretty simple, but very delicious. The fruit is riper than I remember, typical cassis flavors, smoky, a little spicy. Smooth.
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9/28/2012 - Luribe wrote: 90 Points
Smooth nice level of tannins very soft bouqut
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4/7/2012 - moega wrote: 87 Points
Agreed with this review: Good, but not worth it at this price point. Lacks complexity and that wow factor. Decent taste, solid, but there are others (e.g. Phelps) much better for this price.
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9/7/2011 - kuwayen wrote:
Probably one of the best RS value wines. Nice tannins and flavor. Getting one of their more prestigious wines at half the price.
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8/1/2011 - yonster24 wrote:
Surprisingly good. Gorgeous nose of cassis, dark fruit, black cherries and underlying mocha. Med-full bodied on the palate and flat out juicy. Nice grip on the back-end with some great acidity balancing it all out on the long wonderful finish. Well done.
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6/11/2011 - chitowncdpguy wrote:
Delicious wine. Cassis and some other dark fruit, a little bit smoky and a little bit of christmas spice. Mostly smooth but a little bit of gritty tannin on the end. Couldn't get enough.
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3/5/2011 - Decanthor wrote: 86 Points
Tried at tasting. Good, but not worth it at this price point. Lacks complexity and that wow factor.
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12/21/2010 - mcreager wrote: 80 Points
2005 much better
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10/24/2010 - slywka7 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Even better than the regular bottling, this had a much fuller body and coated the mouth. Fruit was more intense.
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9/25/2010 - DuaneT wrote: 88 Points
Dinner at Fogo de Chao, Washington D.C.
14.2% alcohol
Initially fruity without much oak/tannins. The smell and flavor profile were both fruity without being overwhelming. A decent dinner wine but lacking acidity and complexity.
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