Nose: Beautiful black cherry, cedar, cocoa, mineral and bell pepper. Has an old school napa sensibility with richness of some more modern wines. Palalte: Broad entry that coats the palate with dark berries, cedar, tobacco and eucalyptus. More bell pepper and leather notes on the palate. Finish: Good length and you can see the oak polish here as the tannin sets in.
Really well made wine with a bit of Classic Napa in its DNA. Great site that gives a nice profile.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Tasting notes from the winery, “candied” - yes, absolutely. The fruit has a faux, jammy sweetness to it. “Brambleberry”, damn, I was thinking “blackberry” but ah yes, now I get the Anglo cousin was clearly more apt. ;-) And tobacco box? YES LOADS of it.
On Day 1, this wine came across as a heavily manipulated jammy wine like a Cabernet sister to a Turkey Zin. Definitely not my speed. Cooperage was all over the nose and lingered heavily on the palate. Fruit was saturated and heavy. Day 2 things had integrated a bit and the cooperage died down from more forward oak to kind of a burnt vanilla reminiscent of all those Wagner wines. This came to me via Acme’s wine club, but this is not Napa’s best foot forward. I’m withholding any scoring because I recognize this is not my ball of wax, but I would go so far as to say that the QPR is quite poor.
WINEMAKER TASTING NOTES: Vibrant aromas of candied cherry, brambleberry, sweet mint and black licorice intertwine seamlessly with aromas of toasted almond, cinnamon spice, and tobacco box
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for an hour prior to first tasting. Bottle is drinking beautifully right now. Great color in the glass. Clean, long finish with great balance of fruit and tannins. I have liked this bottle previously but really enjoyed it at this time. We have one bottle left that I'm really going to look forward to opening.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
6/14/2023 - RockinCabs wrote: 93 Points
Nose: Beautiful black cherry, cedar, cocoa, mineral and bell pepper. Has an old school napa sensibility with richness of some more modern wines. Palalte: Broad entry that coats the palate with dark berries, cedar, tobacco and eucalyptus. More bell pepper and leather notes on the palate. Finish: Good length and you can see the oak polish here as the tannin sets in.
Really well made wine with a bit of Classic Napa in its DNA.
Great site that gives a nice profile.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/23/2019 - Rick 4 Wine wrote: 91 Points
Tasting notes from the winery, “candied” - yes, absolutely. The fruit has a faux, jammy sweetness to it. “Brambleberry”, damn, I was thinking “blackberry” but ah yes, now I get the Anglo cousin was clearly more apt. ;-) And tobacco box? YES LOADS of it.
On Day 1, this wine came across as a heavily manipulated jammy wine like a Cabernet sister to a Turkey Zin. Definitely not my speed. Cooperage was all over the nose and lingered heavily on the palate. Fruit was saturated and heavy. Day 2 things had integrated a bit and the cooperage died down from more forward oak to kind of a burnt vanilla reminiscent of all those Wagner wines. This came to me via Acme’s wine club, but this is not Napa’s best foot forward. I’m withholding any scoring because I recognize this is not my ball of wax, but I would go so far as to say that the QPR is quite poor.
WINEMAKER TASTING NOTES: Vibrant aromas of candied cherry, brambleberry, sweet mint and black licorice intertwine seamlessly with aromas of toasted almond, cinnamon spice, and tobacco box
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
3/14/2017 - Hill of Grace wrote: 90 Points
stewed fruit, little veggie, creme de cassis. pleasant mouth highlighted by nice baked strawberry with a little chop suey and vanilla bean.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/18/2016 - Encinitas_Joe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for an hour prior to first tasting. Bottle is drinking beautifully right now. Great color in the glass. Clean, long finish with great balance of fruit and tannins. I have liked this bottle previously but really enjoyed it at this time. We have one bottle left that I'm really going to look forward to opening.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/31/2016 - Charlie.Gail Likes this wine: 95 Points
Last bottle of 2010. Absolutely wonderful. Did not need to decant. Great bouquet, smooth, and nice finish. Wish I had another 6 bottles.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment