Badass. I won't give this a number rating, as I don't generally drink a lot of quality vermouth, and don't review them on here. But as with all her wines, this is very nuanced, with a lot of beautiful complexity. It's certainly the best use of the infamous smoke-damaged 2020 Willamette Pinot I've seen. The way the dark raspberry/black cherry Pinot fruit blends with the wild herbs, spices, and leathery, slightly nutty accents is really awesome. It's intense on its own, but very drinkable and balanced, especially with the high ABV, and in a cocktail (manhattan with Bulleit 12 yr rye and angostura, made a couple at the end of the bottle) it shines even more, lending an austere leather armchair note with a cool, earthy bitterness rather than the "sweet" vermouth tone more typical for the drink.
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17% ABV Really interesting project by Kelley Fox & Stephanie Sprinkle. Kelley produced the base Pinot Noir wine, and Stephanie sourced and prepared the botanicals by hand. Has Absinthe like quality! Smoky. Amaro, orange peel.
I concur with the other notes - this is delightful. Personally I thought it overpowered the cocktails I tried it with, but it made for a really nice after dinner sipper by itself, with almost impossibly deep and rich layers of Christmas spices.
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4/17/2024 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine:
Badass. I won't give this a number rating, as I don't generally drink a lot of quality vermouth, and don't review them on here. But as with all her wines, this is very nuanced, with a lot of beautiful complexity. It's certainly the best use of the infamous smoke-damaged 2020 Willamette Pinot I've seen. The way the dark raspberry/black cherry Pinot fruit blends with the wild herbs, spices, and leathery, slightly nutty accents is really awesome. It's intense on its own, but very drinkable and balanced, especially with the high ABV, and in a cocktail (manhattan with Bulleit 12 yr rye and angostura, made a couple at the end of the bottle) it shines even more, lending an austere leather armchair note with a cool, earthy bitterness rather than the "sweet" vermouth tone more typical for the drink.
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3/10/2024 - gbanks Likes this wine:
My last bottle of this, consistent with previous. The best vermouth I’ve ever had.
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11/21/2023 - KC Wine Enthusiast Likes this wine: 90 Points
17% ABV Really interesting project by Kelley Fox & Stephanie Sprinkle. Kelley produced the base Pinot Noir wine, and Stephanie sourced and prepared the botanicals by hand.
Has Absinthe like quality! Smoky. Amaro, orange peel.
https://www.kelleyfoxwines.com/product/2020-vermouth/
https://www.erwineshop.com/here-and-now/kelley-fox-oregon-vermouth-2020
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10/27/2023 - JCGuthrie wrote:
I concur with the other notes - this is delightful. Personally I thought it overpowered the cocktails I tried it with, but it made for a really nice after dinner sipper by itself, with almost impossibly deep and rich layers of Christmas spices.
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12/19/2022 - Maphill01 wrote:
Very unique, vinous from the Pinot, with nice herbal elements from the bitters. Not more than a glass, but what an interesting glass.
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