Synthetic cork.. completely soaked and difficult to extract.. Intensely dark, blackish red color; no sign of bricking. Smell of violets, leather, dusty tannins and - as the wine opened up - crushed black pepper and some dark berry fruit. On the palate surprisingly suave and well integrated tannins, finishes with a peppery note. The wine was pleasant and improved once it opened up but did not offer any great complexity nor length once it went down the gullet. At more than 100$ the bottle when I originally bought it about 15 years ago, it was overvalued and underwhelming. New world style and, while not unattractive, I have moved past this style in the last 5 to 8 years.
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.
2/2/2020 - Bandreas wrote:
Synthetic cork.. completely soaked and difficult to extract..
Intensely dark, blackish red color; no sign of bricking.
Smell of violets, leather, dusty tannins and - as the wine opened up - crushed black pepper and some dark berry fruit.
On the palate surprisingly suave and well integrated tannins, finishes with a peppery note.
The wine was pleasant and improved once it opened up but did not offer any great complexity nor length once it went down the gullet.
At more than 100$ the bottle when I originally bought it about 15 years ago, it was overvalued and underwhelming.
New world style and, while not unattractive, I have moved past this style in the last 5 to 8 years.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
5/16/2019 - djs wrote: 90 Points
Has held up well but hasn't gained the hoped for complexity.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/3/2019 - Labrador Likes this wine: 86 Points
No formal notes but this was an enjoyable wine that went well with Chinese cuisine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/24/2018 - JGvine wrote:
No great beyond ideal drinking age
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/28/2015 - Minnesota wrote: 92 Points
Drinking lovely, well-rounded fruit to tannin balance. Showed much younger than its actual age. Cellar stored since purchase, nearly 13 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment