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RJonWine.com
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By Richard Jennings
(Kent Rasmussen Viognier Esoterica - Late Harvest) Deep baked apricot, apricot pie nose; rich, tasty, apricot, apricot pie palate with a floral quality; long finish
8/23/2010, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 92 points
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Wine Definition
- Vintage2006
- TypeWhite - Sweet/Dessert
- ProducerKent Rasmussen
- VarietyViognier
- DesignationEsoterica - Late Harvest
- Vineyardn/a
- CountryUSA
- RegionCalifornia
- SubRegionNorth Coast
- AppellationNorth Coast
- Display optionsDefault
- UPC/EAN Code751116161696
7/27/2023 - robmatic wrote: 93 Points
Still going strong. Thick and luscious. I believe the "35g/l RS" on the label is a mistake, and it's much easier to believe this wine is 35% residual sugar, not 3.5%.
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12/5/2015 - HJImperial Likes this wine: 94 Points
My last bottle. Followed this wine since release. The 35 g/L residual sugar makes it viscous on the glass (probably better to taste it by the spoonful - a la Tokaji Essencia). Has evolved into medium reddish mahogany color. Taste of preserved apricot jelly, honey and caramelized raisin. The low alcohol (9.5%) and low acidity may make this cloyingly sweet to some tasters, but I like to drink wines like this once in a while. Expected of a viognier. If you like more acidity, try a Quartz de Chaume. If you prefer more alcohol, drink an Australian sticky. The last bottle I tasted had a slight bitter almond aftertaste, so I aerated/decanted this bottle for 5 minutes. It worked.
I love this wine even more today. I know of no other better-tasting late harvest viognier I could buy for this price.
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3/13/2014 - balkmr@hotmail.com wrote: 87 Points
This was pretty good, but a little too sticky sweet for my dessert wine tastes. Apricots and cinnamon dominate the nose and palate. Heavy viscosity.
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3/22/2013 - Phil M'Rear Likes this wine: 94 Points
Glorious. Honey-glazed apricots. Very sweet, but I like that sort of thing.
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1/26/2013 - d_chism wrote: 89 Points
Very nice dessert wine. Raisins and apricot. Great value? Perhaps a little too sweet
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8/3/2012 - PolarBear22 wrote: 92 Points
This time the bottle disappeared in one evening. The sweetness seems even better balanced and was easy to just keep sipping.
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7/15/2012 - jaybird1234 wrote: 92 Points
Love this wine. A great buy, and tastes much more expensive than the cost. Great hints of apricots and raisins. Smooth and luscious.
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5/26/2012 - Rich S wrote: 91 Points
Light amber color. This wine had candied apricots and honey for days on both the nose and palate. Sweet but not cloying with a long, persistent finish. Great pairing with cheesecake.
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5/20/2012 - Wicked Panda wrote: 90 Points
Amazing floral notes on the nose, tastes of honeysuckle and a hint of raisin. Just out standing dessert wine
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12/31/2011 - mtaczak wrote: 87 Points
a surprisingly brown-gold color since it's not that old, must be the accelerated aging in the 375ml bottle. still cloyingly sweet, even the sweet wine lovers found it over the top. apricots and maybe some caramel, really, but too much sugar. came out of the bottle like syrup. probably should leave stuff like this for 15+ years.
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12/25/2011 - richardhod Likes this wine: 89 Points
sweeet, but great with Christmas pudding, again. Family loves it. Seems to be less intense than last year, but I might be imagining it
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6/11/2011 - bundydavis wrote: 92 Points
Honey and sweet. Really enjoyable!
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4/24/2011 - oldsailor wrote: 91 Points
Apricot, definitely. Just delicious by itself, slightly chilled. Really wonderful following a nice dinner.
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2/13/2011 - vintage_whine wrote: 91 Points
Hard to believe that it comes in at under 40g/L residual sugar, which makes it equivalent to a demi-sec champagne. nose full of white flowers, candied pineapple and dried turkish apricots. true to form for viognier. on the palate the texture was indescribably dense, likechewing a thick persian rug. the length was comparatively short and simple for such an incredible wine. beautiful with cheesecake
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2/13/2011 - boatman72 wrote:
thick sweet honey-like nectar, light cedar, apricot - love it and I'm a dry red wine consumer.
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12/23/2010 - albrigsr wrote: 91 Points
WOW!!! I had read other reviews of this wine but wasn't sure whether to believe the hype. This was a balanced but beautiful Apricot Nectar from God! Just outstanding with a great finish.
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9/22/2010 - foobarski wrote: 92 Points
Apricots. Best consumed (by itself) about two shots worth at a time. Need to try doing something else (e.g., topping ice cream) with it.
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7/1/2010 - ssoard wrote:
thick, syrupy apricots - delish! drank a shot at a time over several days
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6/12/2010 - mtaczak wrote: 91 Points
Like last time, not a wine I can especially enjoy on its own due to the sugary sweetness without a balancing bite of acidity. Poured over vanilla ice cream, however ... oh boy. Even the non-dessert-eaters came back for seconds. Worth keeping around just for this.
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5/4/2010 - richardhod Likes this wine: 90 Points
Unique. Don't treat it ike it's a sauternes, or Riesling late harvest. It is sui generis. I've never had anything like it, but it did great with our Christmas pudding. I bet we were the first family in Europe to drink it too.
Very sweet (I personally could only manage a small glass, though y family had two glasses), and a little syrupy. Yet though it's a bit much , I savoured it and loved the plummy, raisiny, muscovado darkness. It also has a touch of lightness from the Botrytis, so has a bit of an edge too, though it doesn't cut through the heavy sweetness.
Even if you don't like sweet wines, try it, as nobody's ever made anything like this before. Kent Rasmussen is an innovator, and this one is so well made it may well keep longer than you or your children!
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4/28/2010 - factotum wrote: 95 Points
Apple, citrus, sugary. Slightly syrupy.
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4/18/2010 - ckeilah wrote: 95 Points
Lively aromas of apricots. Strong flavors of raisins. Very sweet but not cloying. Excellent.
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4/17/2010 - oog wrote: 92 Points
Pop and pour. Taste: apricot and honey. This tastes like it is getting even better. Nice, slightly viscous mouthfeel. It is just a really tasty desert wine.
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4/11/2010 - aagrawal wrote: 80 Points
Vintners Wine Market (Fort Mason, San Francisco): I don't understand how so many previous notes are so laudatory about this wine. It's one strength is the nose: It's amazing. Very fruity, not floral, but certainly makes me want to try it. The palate is FAR too sweet and sugary, as if someone literally dissolved as much sugar as they could into this wine. The excessive sweetness takes 10 points away from the nose, and it makes it borderline undrinkable after the first 2-3 sips. Find a nice sauternes instead.
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3/19/2010 - aharrover wrote: 88 Points
Really good. Vanilla and some spice on the nose. Color is very nearly that of bourbon. The acid is not quite enough to cut the sugar but it is close. A great after dinner wine. Will age well for some time to come.
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3/18/2010 - 10centpower Likes this wine: 91 Points
Notes consistent with last time. For a desert wine this has a fantastic QPR at ~16/bottle.
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3/9/2010 - oog wrote: 92 Points
Nose: Apricots. Maybe a little honeycomb and apple. But apricot is definitely the big note. Taste: Big honey finish. Apricot as well. Maybe a hint of peach on the back of the palate as well as a little rose/rosewater on the approach.
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2/28/2010 - Otolith wrote:
Pure liquid gold and a pleasure on the palate.
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2/27/2010 - tf wrote: 93 Points
This wine is wonderful. It has an aroma of brandy but drinks like honey. I wish I had more.
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1/31/2010 - 10centpower wrote: 89 Points
Very sweet and syruppy. Nice citrus fruit. Smooth honey finish. If you don't mind the sweetness, it's a nice little dessert wine.
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1/30/2010 - Rich S wrote:
Won't score because the wine was possibly slightly oxidized. Amber color in the glass with some viscosity to the pour. Raisins and honey on the nose but with a hint of bruised apple as well which led me to believe it was slightly oxidized. More of the same on the palate with a sweet, palate coating mouthfeel. Still drinkable but curious as to how good this wine could have been.
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1/25/2010 - marekny7 wrote:
Medium amber in the glass. Wonderful nose of honey and apricot. Thick and sweet but not cloying. Predominantly honey on the palate with apricot and some raisins. There is some heat there as well. Rich, moderately long finish.
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1/18/2010 - PolarBear22 wrote: 92 Points
Started this bottle about a week ago. Corked in the fridge since last week. Still wonderful. An one ounce pour is still all I want. Great nose and wonderful palate. Mouth coating, so the finish is long and pleasant.
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1/8/2010 - woodwardcellar wrote: 83 Points
I knew was going to be very sweet, but it's almost too much- I found it impossible to drink more than an ounce or so, definitely not a second pour. Still enjoyable but I ended up using most of this as the backbone of some spritzers, mixing it with ice and soda water. Those were actually really outstanding :)
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1/6/2010 - jdick17 wrote: 93 Points
The initial noise is off-putting--smelled rotten and a little foul. The first sip, however, makes all good. A powerful, peachy fruit that is very powerful and clean. For the strong, sweet taste, I expected a thicker wine, but not at all. Should be served on its own; far too rich to be served with any kind of food.
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1/1/2010 - wirelesswine wrote: 92 Points
Super sweet and concentrated, with big time honey and apricot.
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12/31/2009 - discombobulated wrote:
very, very sweet - can't drink much. Sugar crystals present in the bottle. Apricot and caramel. Very thick. Some alcohol on nose, but none on taste. Very good stuff; I'm interested to see what happens to such a sweet wine with age.
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12/27/2009 - oog wrote: 92 Points
Nose: apple juice, apricot, honeysuckle. Viscous mouthfeel. Taste: honey is the big note. This is sweet. Definitely apricot, maybe a prune note? Delicious, but very sweet.
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12/26/2009 - mtaczak wrote: 89 Points
Thought I could handle sweet wine, but this made Sauternes taste like water. Deep, rich golden color, mouth-coating and unctuous with a long, lingering finish of honey and apricots. A dessert on its own, open this with plenty of company (5+ people).
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12/24/2009 - desertbaker wrote:
Went very well with the New York style cheesecake from Sherman's deli. I passed on the cherry topping, so I can't report on how something that sweet would do, but it was just perfect with the plain cheesecake. Not exactly a surprise, since it's a dessert wine.
Incidentally, it's exactly the same color as Marker's Mark bourbon.
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12/23/2009 - K is for Kate wrote: 75 Points
This may not have been sufficiently chilled when I had it, so I will give my last bottle another chance at a colder temperature (I gave the second bottle away to a friend who only likes sweet wine). I have had other late harvest sweet dessert wines that I've enjoyed, but this was too cloying for me and just tasted like overripe grapes with no noticeable acid to cut that. Lovely amber colour and felt wonderfully syrupy in my mouth, but caught in my throat on the way down in a way I didn't enjoy at all. A bit of a musty taste as well, so maybe I just got a bad bottle, but I don't think so. We tried drinking this on its own as dessert as the description suggested, but maybe it would do better if paired with something else sweet.
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12/23/2009 - oog wrote: 92 Points
I'm new to dessert wines and I cant really pinpoint notes but this is delicious. Sweet, viscous, complex. Honeysuckle? Something with some acid on the finish (apricot? plum?)
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12/17/2009 - desertbaker wrote:
Very good wine. Rich but not raisin-ish, which can happen with late-harvest wines. Very good with smoked salmon and garnishes, as well as brie, although we were eating to go with the wine, not drinking to go with the food.
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12/12/2009 - RossR wrote: 92 Points
I received this as a lab rat bottle from wine.woot.com
Drinker profile: Partial to big bad cabs, PS, & meaty pinots with strong tannins. I have recently started to buy & am developing a greater appreciation for the sweeter side of life, as that's all the GF likes to drink.
Onto the wine at hand...
The cork was wet about a 3rd of the way up, which surprised me. The wine poured with a slight viscosity, but was not as thick as I was expecting.
Color: A beautiful glowing amber... I almost wanted to look for a fossil so I could extract some DNA and... oops, sorry, started into my world domination fantasy.
Nose: Upon opening, I got that classic Sauterne diesel hint but it blew off rather quickly and from that point on all I got was apricots, a hint of kiwi & melons... all of it drizzled with a toasty warm caramel.
Taste: Noticeable but not overwhelming alcohol on the palate. The sweetness is strong but not cloying. This reminds me of the thin remains of an apricot / brandy reduction served over french vanilla ice cream. The flavors coat the palate and linger for a good 15-20 seconds... which becomes more pronounced as the wine warms slightly in the glass. There is a definite hint of acidity that prevents this from going over the top.
Overall: A very enjoyable wine. Wonderful to hold in the glass and sip over time. Not too sweet so that a second glass is a consideration for me... which I usually find unthinkable.
GF's 2 word summary: MMMMMMMMM, Yummy! (Sssssshhhhhhhh nobody tell her I got 3 orders)
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