I last had this two years ago. I feel like I should have last had this two years ago. Meaning.. Now, it's just.. two years less vibrant than it was before. Meaning.. Meh.
Barrel sample. Initial impressions focus on super impressive purity of fruit (muddled red raspberry) and an almost surprisingly elegant tannin structure for what one would expect from a thief from…
Though I was admittedly less drawn to the second vintage iterations of the Allbaer collection (they were not PS), I continue to love this inaugural representation of the brand, finding the Un Petit…
Yellow and green pear, lemon verbena, honeydew, cantaloupe rind, unripe mango, and white flowers all make for a refined attack that, especially with air, saunters across the palate with notable…
A penetrating and pungent candied red cherry fruit flavor dominates the profile in a frank delivery that pushes pronounced ripeness and alcohol to the forefront of the attack. It's a cocktail-driven…
Blackberries and cracked black peppercorns kick off a spicy profile that is laced with dark cassis and violet notes. Muscular but focused, and less of a bruiser than the initial unabashed hit of…
Big boned and beefy, with a bit of a grapey mid-palate that is luckily saved by some extra intensity and frame, the Honey Bunny is a predictable but pretty tasty Paso purple bumpkin. It's a bit…
At first shy on the nose but eventually presenting faint puffs of freshly washed plums, peonies, and hints of menthol, the aromas on this curious petite sirah signal a fragrantly lifted and refined…
Perfumed and floral, the front end of this purple popper follows up with notes of blackberry, blueberry, red/purple plum, and a hit of charcuterie. A Cote Rotie interpretation from the famed…
Showing the earthy side of Cabernet Sauvignon at this stage. Notes of wild and dust-covered plum, red and black cherry, and dry soil and sedimentary rock. The plum and cherry dominate throughout the…
Nearing almost a year since my last experience with this wine. It was in a "good not great" mood this go-around. The flavors were all there, but it took some serious coaxing and swirling to get them…
Black cherry, blackberry, deep/dark kirsch, rich cassis, and ripe purple plum round out the core fruit here. Additional notes of hoisin and clay make an appearance midway through the attack. There is…
So this dude acted like an adolescent 2013-year-old instead of a decade-old adult at first. Insert all the comic book quotes of "Pow," "Bam," and "Kablamiboom," all stampeding massive black fruit…
PnP was a bombastic booze blast of red and black raspberry liqueur, cassis, kirsch, cherry syrup, vanilla, and limestone. A massive attack, striking aggressively with big fruit and big alcohol. A…
PnP was fairly hot and cocktail-esque initially. After an hour in the decanter, some of the booze dissipated, but never fully ceased distracting a bit from the overall core fruit. Dark red and…
Previous notes from last year apply, except that this was showing quite a bit of hot alcohol on the finish, washing out the initial front-end attack of spicy blackberry core fruit out from underneath…
Two years ago to the day since I last had this wine; a wonderful progression since that time, with notes of blackberry compote, dark cassis, lower-toned dark cherry kirsch, Black Forest gateau, black…
Finished the bottle. Previous notes apply. It took about two hours of decanted air to blow off some heat that pulled away from the core fruit flavors. In the end, I would hold for another year+ on…
Another Coravin pour. Same as last week. Solid...but...in need of some oomph... I'll finish this bottle soon enough, but I'm not super confident I'll be chasing this wine down in the coming vintages.
Coravin pour. A little more subdued and "quieter" than the last time. Still, excellent purity of fruit, with a black, red, and purple core that delivered ripe but controlled levels of extraction.…
Black raspberry, cranberry, red and black currant, cassis, white pepper, and tart plum. A lot of unresolved flavors going on here. The stuffing is certainly there, but this needs more time. Give it…
PnP with tight, somewhat compacted notes of dark black raspberry and vanilla alcohol flavors. After two hours in the decanter, some of the "truer" flavors came out. Dark purple and dark red berry,…
Previous notes apply. This performed pretty well this time around. Delivered some nice fruit with decent drive. Still not a blockbuster, but drinking fine now. 93 points.
Similar to previous notes, except that I felt this was a little lacking in the depth department this go-around. It also didn't help that I had an awesome SQN In The Abstract a couple of days ago that…
