Half bottle. Uncommonly saturated for Pinot. A bit of funk and a whiff of surmaturité. Sweet, creamy oak is deceptive since the mid-palate is not that concentrated. Black cherry, blueberry, and wood spice give the sense of a very modern wine, but there is a lot of soil on the back end to close things out. Unfortunately, there is also a ton of astringent oak which dries and shortens the finish. A strange, disjointed wine that I don't think time will help.
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Muted nose on opening. Within the first hour, ripe red berries and a slight gamey note emerge. Concentrated, ripe and forceful on the mid palate. Brambly with a hint of minerals on the finish. All of the stuffing is there. Just still very young.
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Half bottle. Deep, primary central color. Like a dark cherry liqueur at first, almost overripe, but this peeled back after an hour in the decanter to show less ripeness, some earth, and wintergreen elements. Very dense and compact upon first taste with a tannic bite but not particularly acidic. Over time, it began to develop some secondary aromatics, a pretty mix of red and blue fruits and a little spice. It seems pretty obvious that even out of this small format, this is nowhere near maturity, which is not to say that it does not have many enjoyable aspects now. However, I think that concentration rather than delicacy and power rather than refinement will always be its hallmarks. Certainly not a waste to try one now since the wine is very young but not as dumb as many other 2005s recently noted by others.
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3/29/2021 - Montyaloofah wrote: 77 Points
Well past prime. sat on it too long
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7/5/2016 - drwine2001 wrote:
Half bottle. Uncommonly saturated for Pinot. A bit of funk and a whiff of surmaturité. Sweet, creamy oak is deceptive since the mid-palate is not that concentrated. Black cherry, blueberry, and wood spice give the sense of a very modern wine, but there is a lot of soil on the back end to close things out. Unfortunately, there is also a ton of astringent oak which dries and shortens the finish. A strange, disjointed wine that I don't think time will help.
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3/13/2016 - maxfischer wrote: 91 Points
Muted nose on opening. Within the first hour, ripe red berries and a slight gamey note emerge. Concentrated, ripe and forceful on the mid palate. Brambly with a hint of minerals on the finish. All of the stuffing is there. Just still very young.
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12/31/2013 - RhoneG Likes this wine: 90 Points
New Year's 2013. Very earthy, muted fruit, mushrooms, forest floor and truffles on the nose.
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7/16/2013 - drwine2001 wrote:
Half bottle. Deep, primary central color. Like a dark cherry liqueur at first, almost overripe, but this peeled back after an hour in the decanter to show less ripeness, some earth, and wintergreen elements. Very dense and compact upon first taste with a tannic bite but not particularly acidic. Over time, it began to develop some secondary aromatics, a pretty mix of red and blue fruits and a little spice. It seems pretty obvious that even out of this small format, this is nowhere near maturity, which is not to say that it does not have many enjoyable aspects now. However, I think that concentration rather than delicacy and power rather than refinement will always be its hallmarks. Certainly not a waste to try one now since the wine is very young but not as dumb as many other 2005s recently noted by others.
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