Pop and pour. Still very youthful, the Optimist shows a bright citrus note on the palate above more mature dark fruit and soft, comforting body. Still showing well and may last for years but no reason to hold longer.
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Decanted for one hour - with hindsight, three would have been much better. In the glass, clear, dark red, shading to magenta at the rim. On the nose, crushed blackberries and violets. On the palate, initially disjointed blackberry liqueur and some slightly offputting funk. However, over the course of a couple hours, the palate shifted substantially, to a smooth and appealing mixture of dark fruit, ground pepper, grilled meat, and mellow oak. One more bottle in the cellar - hopefully I will heed my own advice when the time comes, as the transformation here was quite dramatic!
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6/7/2021 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pop and pour. Still very youthful, the Optimist shows a bright citrus note on the palate above more mature dark fruit and soft, comforting body. Still showing well and may last for years but no reason to hold longer.
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12/3/2018 - jshufelt wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with our previous tasting note - or at least the second half of that note!
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12/30/2017 - jshufelt wrote: 90 Points
Decanted for one hour - with hindsight, three would have been much better. In the glass, clear, dark red, shading to magenta at the rim. On the nose, crushed blackberries and violets. On the palate, initially disjointed blackberry liqueur and some slightly offputting funk. However, over the course of a couple hours, the palate shifted substantially, to a smooth and appealing mixture of dark fruit, ground pepper, grilled meat, and mellow oak. One more bottle in the cellar - hopefully I will heed my own advice when the time comes, as the transformation here was quite dramatic!
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7/31/2015 - PBR wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for two hours.
Lovely black fruit and not nearly as tannic as I would have thought.
Quite mellow and smooth for a 2005 Syrah...
Loved it.
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11/19/2013 - timdrex wrote: 89 Points
Nice bright flavors after a 1 hr decant, but it fell apart shortly after that. I think it's past it's prime.
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