From magnum. Cherry, brick/terra cotta, prime rib, soil, and some wood. A decent attack on the front end energy-wise; medium weight mid palate, with the flavors watering-out to a more lithe and short…
From magnum. After about 4-5 hours of decanted air, this wine blossomed into a massively concentrated beast, with sexy, deep kirsch, ripe raspberry, bruised strawberry, soft-warm leather, garrigue,…
From Magnum. Not surprisingly, the initial pull was pretty tight and linear, with higher register funky plum popping out in the front end. Finish was clipped and somewhat bitter. It essentially took…
From magnum. Funky purple plum, asphalt, mulch, licorice, and some blueberry. Slightly bitter on the finish, which made for a somewhat clipped experience insofar as the display of fruit was…
From magnum. Dried strawberry, bitter plum, kirsch, cherry water, and some underbrush. Strawberry and blackberry seeds on the finish, making it bitter on the back end. Purity of fruit was notable,…
From magnum. One of my favorite wines of the night. Off-the-charts intensity, concentration, and power (especially for a decade-old wine). Unbelievably complex. Notes of wild blackberry, camphor,…
From magnum. Purple/red plum, deep kirsch, raspberry, strawberry, and wild red and black cherry. Some garrigue and underbrush on the finish. Seemingly higher on the acid spectrum, with a formidable…
From magnum. Butterscotch, lamp oil, grilled peach, bruised pear, bronze/copper, and some brown pineapple. Fairly oxidized, but still maintaining its intensity of flavors (though overly-matured) and…
From magnum. An extraordinary wine whose distribution of flavor had so much to do with temperature control. When I first tasted it on PnP, it was operating in that 94-ish point range. The bottle was…
From magnum. Purple/blue/black core fruit, with specific notes of purple plum, blackberry liqueur, blueberry, blue river rock, asphalt, black peppercorn, saline, purple licorice (whatever that is…
From magnum. Moving from the 2000, 2001, and 2002 SQNs and skipping a few years to embark on the 2007s and 2008s in the lineup, this is where I really started to find pleasure and excitement. Though…
From magnum. This was a fascinating wine indeed. Some were very drawn to it; others thought its flavor profile was almost too unique and a greater departure from its intended varietal makeup to be…
From magnum. Kirsch, over-ripe strawberry, red cherry, bruised/brown red raspberry, tobacco leaf, warm leather, and some incense. A ton of energy here, with the spicy over-ripe strawberry note…
From magnum. Plum, kirsch, brick, tobacco leaf, leather, wood, and some red/black cherry. Missing some seamless as far as flavor delivery and an overall smoothness/glide, but otherwise an array of…
From magnum. Strawberry seed, red dirt, orange rind, and terra cotta. The least expressive when compared to the '00 Flagrante and '00 Incignito. Some interesting flavors, but overshadowed by a…
From magnum. Kirsch/cherry water, strawberry seed, red brick, Kauai red dirt, prosciutto, and hints of wet wood. Similar flavor profile to the '00 Flagrante and '01 Ventriloquist, but with more…
An absolute monster of a Grenache-dominated blend, with viscous and deeply pitched black raspberry, red/black licorice, Amarema black cherry syrup, black and blue river rock, and subtle incense…
Served side-by-side with the '12 SQN Stein. Not surprisingly, the Touché was one of the wines of the night, and especially unfortunate for the 2012 SQN Stein, which received a serving up of a good…
Served side-by-side with the '12 SQN Touché. Decanted over the course of 5 hours, and followed throughout the night. PnP displayed a dark red and black core fruit profile. A little higher-toned black…
Notes of blackberry, funky earth, wet hay, limestone, black pepper, hard salami, campfire, and garrigue. A little furry on the palate, with the flavors finishing a bit gritty and fuzzy. Some air…
Rich and viscous, with a deep amber/gold hue. On the palate, heavier notes of honey, barbecue lemon, burnt citrus peel, lamp oil, and some dried apricot. A bit reductive and overall displaying past…
What better way to finish off an evening of tasting with over a dozen Mike Smith wines than by popping a SQN for dessert?! An incredible specimen, with dried apricot, honeysuckle, and candied lemon…
From Magnum. On the nose, a nice funky, pepper aroma with some saddle leather and stewed plum. Same on the attack, with ripe purple plum, dusty blackberries, leather, railroad tie, camphor, incense,…
After about 2 hours of being open and with the opportunity to warm up above refrigerator temperature (actually, it was in an ice bucket), this white displayed absolutely beautiful notes of yellow and…
I quite liked this wine for the totality of what it delivered during consumption. I found that if I tried to make it into a cerebral experiment, I was just over-intellectualizing the pleasure right…
