Whatever Bryant did wrong in 2001 they corrected in 2002. This is great, cult-level wine. Taste definitely stands out as unique, but in a good way. Not at all a tannin bomb (which you would hope after 20 years). Concur this is near the end of its peak, but great drinking now.
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On the nose some spice, lavender, maybe blue berries and a bit of tar/tobacco or old leather. In the mouth, fully integrated tannins (of course), spice, a Smokey essence that lingers for some time.
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This is one of those wines that has no technical flaws but just fails to impress. Nicely composed and mature. But fruit is slightly muddled and the wine lacks energy. You can drink all night long but you’ll struggle to remember it in the morning.
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nose - liqueur mouth - blackberry, boysenberry, serious berry fruit explosion with cocoa and chocolate intermixed. Still primary at age 20, has staying power. Punch you in the face wine.
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At home, with pork chops braised in red wine. Still garnet and opaque, with slight ruby edges. Opened at 5 PM, served at 8 PM, finished at 11 PM. The wine evolved. At dinner, after three hours in the decanter, it was nearly perfect...lots of fruit, almost pure cassis, with a slight dusty/earthy component. Very viscous fruit, tannin well in the background. 98-100 points at that time. At 11 PM the fruit had faded slightly and lost some complexity and the tannin was more noticeable. It was then a 94. So, this had a crescendo-decrescendo path over five hours. On balance a 97, but this says to me: open and decant a few hours ahead, then enjoy over a couple of hours before it starts to fade. In my opinion fully mature, drink over the next few years. Ric
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4/27/2024 - levinml wrote: 95 Points
Whatever Bryant did wrong in 2001 they corrected in 2002. This is great, cult-level wine. Taste definitely stands out as unique, but in a good way. Not at all a tannin bomb (which you would hope after 20 years). Concur this is near the end of its peak, but great drinking now.
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12/30/2023 - MLR Likes this wine: 95 Points
On the nose some spice, lavender, maybe blue berries and a bit of tar/tobacco or old leather. In the mouth, fully integrated tannins (of course), spice, a Smokey essence that lingers for some time.
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10/14/2023 - sdr wrote: 89 Points
This is one of those wines that has no technical flaws but just fails to impress. Nicely composed and mature. But fruit is slightly muddled and the wine lacks energy. You can drink all night long but you’ll struggle to remember it in the morning.
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6/16/2022 - soyhead wrote:
nose - liqueur
mouth - blackberry, boysenberry, serious berry fruit explosion with cocoa and chocolate intermixed. Still primary at age 20, has staying power. Punch you in the face wine.
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5/27/2022 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 97 Points
At home, with pork chops braised in red wine. Still garnet and opaque, with slight ruby edges. Opened at 5 PM, served at 8 PM, finished at 11 PM. The wine evolved. At dinner, after three hours in the decanter, it was nearly perfect...lots of fruit, almost pure cassis, with a slight dusty/earthy component. Very viscous fruit, tannin well in the background. 98-100 points at that time. At 11 PM the fruit had faded slightly and lost some complexity and the tannin was more noticeable. It was then a 94. So, this had a crescendo-decrescendo path over five hours. On balance a 97, but this says to me: open and decant a few hours ahead, then enjoy over a couple of hours before it starts to fade. In my opinion fully mature, drink over the next few years.
Ric
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