2012 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Clark & Telephone Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (125) Avg Score: 91.0 points

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  8/21/2022 - Josch48 wrote: 90 Points

  The 90 rating is a concession to my wife and her niece who both enjoyed the wine with last night’s dinner. I would have rated the wine an 85 per my musings and recollections that follow.
  I remember the base line Caymus Cabernet of the early mid nineties as being flavorful (not made in the Robert Mondavi style in the 12.5% alcohol Cabs evocative to me as the classic California version of the Medoc, especially Pauillac), with luscious fruit, but also possessing a coexistent lean supportive structure of tannin and acidity, all well balanced, and even more attractively, priced in the low twenties.
  The Wagner family style of the expression of Cabernet Sauvignon then “evolved” into the heavily extracted, viscous, jammy compote, and as I experienced last night, the cloying dense fog of sweetness, overlying the almost nonexistent “structure occulta,” not unlike a severely osteoporotic skeletal system overlayed with heavy and flaccid musculature.
  I would never be judgmental of another wine lover’s stylistic proclivities. This review is not intended to be a steel booted criticism of the wine, only a personal stylistic assessment. The wine is a well made representation of a particular wine making style, from a vineyard located in an area of California known for weather reflecting the availability of well ripened grapes with high Brix.
  My rating relates only to my stylistic propensities, and I am appreciative that this wine is available to all who endorse and enjoy this genre of oenophilic expression.

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  5/31/2022 - NoWineWiz Likes this wine: 90 Points

  As expected, this was not an austere Pinot. Medium-full bodied with cherry & red raspberry, with a little spice and vanilla joining in.

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  1/28/2022 - ikkaariainen Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Easily 92+ points. This is the 16th of 17 bottles of this wine that we have had and the last 4-5 each in turn, including this one, have each been the best bottle thus far. Definitely recommend this wine right now and at our acquisition price this is a reasonable but not great QPR wine. This does have at least another 2-3 years to go under proper cellaring conditions but I am not sure that there is any further upside to continue cellaring - definitely drink not hold at this point. A very different wine and in my opinion a much better wine right now then in it's youth - at this point this is a softening and more complex Oregonian style pinot rather then a muscular more simplistic fruit forward typical CA style pinot but this is of course a personal stylistic preference. Dark purple, balanced, medium - full bodied, good surprisingly soft mouth feel, oak and tannins are present but well balanced with a nice long lingering flavor profile. Nose bolder then the flavor profile with dark cherry, cloves, black pepper and blueberry on the end. Very nice, soft, somewhat muted and balanced flavor profile of dark cherry, boysenberry and raspberry up front with darker earthier notes of tar and terroir on the mid-late palate.

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  7/3/2021 - crewald wrote:

  Ate with grilled flank steak. Not my cup of tea but with time it opened up and mellowed. Round mouthfeel, alcohol high but subdued.

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  6/25/2021 - wineshaman wrote: 87 Points

  Last bottle, cellared since January, 2013,
  
  This bottle was showing its age, though once a jammy fruit bomb now barely enough fruit to make it palatable.

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