Three hour decant. Deep dark ruby magenta color. Black cherry, blackberry, orange rind, chocolate, pistachio, strawberry gummy, and slate. Super smooth, dry palate, with fine, tongue coating acidity. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish.
This is very early in it’s drinking window. Can easily handle a 6+ hour decant. Still holding something back. I’ll try to wait at least a year before the next bottle.
On average, the improvement in Napa CS with price diminishes dramatically beyond $200 - 250/bottle. There are more than a few $200ish bottles that would beat $500+ cult wines every time in a blind tasting. Aurora is terrific and likely to reach 98 points in two years, but there are many bottles at half the price I can say the same about. I’ll enjoy the bottles I have, but won’t be buying more.
Two hour decant. Very deep dark magenta color. Cocoa nib, black walnut, blackberry, black cherry, and stale graham cracker on the nose. Firm tannins on the long finish.
This was my favorite wine at my first ever Checkerboard tasting. There’s some potential in my score, but this is already quite expressive. I’d certainly wait a year and do a three hour decant before tackling a full bottle.
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7/3/2023 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 95 Points
Three hour decant. Deep dark ruby magenta color. Black cherry, blackberry, orange rind, chocolate, pistachio, strawberry gummy, and slate. Super smooth, dry palate, with fine, tongue coating acidity. Firm, full tannins on the longish finish.
This is very early in it’s drinking window. Can easily handle a 6+ hour decant. Still holding something back. I’ll try to wait at least a year before the next bottle.
On average, the improvement in Napa CS with price diminishes dramatically beyond $200 - 250/bottle. There are more than a few $200ish bottles that would beat $500+ cult wines every time in a blind tasting. Aurora is terrific and likely to reach 98 points in two years, but there are many bottles at half the price I can say the same about. I’ll enjoy the bottles I have, but won’t be buying more.
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7/27/2022 - greg@newsomehh.com Likes this wine:
Opened for the Raid the cellar night Love it
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6/2/2022 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 98 Points
Two hour decant. Very deep dark magenta color. Cocoa nib, black walnut, blackberry, black cherry, and stale graham cracker on the nose. Firm tannins on the long finish.
This was my favorite wine at my first ever Checkerboard tasting. There’s some potential in my score, but this is already quite expressive. I’d certainly wait a year and do a three hour decant before tackling a full bottle.
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1/12/2022 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 94 Points
No notes. Wine needs a ton of time before trying again but this wine will grow up to be a beauty. 94+
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