John Bratincevic

9.5

Decanted for a couple hours. High expectations.

NOSE: branches and brambly fruit … raspberry … a little leather and shoe polish … cassis … blueberry … old book (but not must, mid-century) … minerals and earth … something very fresh … leaves …

TASTE: elegant and subtle. Smooth. Dark fruits and leaves and smooth tannins. Black raspberry. Distinct minerals - clay, stones. Something very fresh, like fresh cut herbs or spices - but not green ones. Turkish coffee? There’s some very complex range of spices I can’t quite get to … cardamom is in there. Burnt orange. A dash of rose petal. A real treat. Started subtle, then once I had a bit to eat, began to explode. 95

EDIT: I believe this is the highest rating I have handed out for a red wine. It’s good. — 14 hours ago

John Bratincevic

9.2

NOSE: plum, cherry, soft cassis, raspberry leaf, wet earth (mud!), a little fig, and a mild toffee/coffee note that I associate w/Bordeaux. All very restrained.

TASTE: well made. Leaves, earth, cherry, plum, smooth tannins with that nice toffee bordeaux taste. A little cassis on the finish. Good, grownup wine! Not worth the price to me - but good, grownup wine. 92. — 10 days ago

John Bratincevic

8.9

NOSE: slight initial whiff of vinegar … bright cherries, fresh herbs… tiny bit of (cigarette) tobacco. Nuts. Fresh figs.

TASTE: smooth, soft but not wimpy, medium weight, nice balancing acidity, straight red fruit with a bit of that fig finish. Pleasant. It’s not my preferred style, but I am starting to really appreciate montepulciano. 89. — 25 days ago

John Bratincevic

9.0

NOSE: my first whiff was apple-juicy, but that receded … now it’s triple creme cheese, apricot, pear, mild white toast, lemon. Some minerals. Smells good!

TASTE: immediately reminiscent of champagne - toasty. Bitter almond. Less fruit than the nose for sure. I prefer more citrus, but very good. 90-91. — 15 hours ago

John Bratincevic

8.8

NOSE: a little sharp and yeasty … cherry and plum in the background. A little fragrant wood. Not promising.

TASTE: good, but not as good as I hoped. Medium weight and a little thin, some red fruit and stone and that’s about it. Oh well. 88-89. — 3 days ago

John Bratincevic

9.1

NOSE: minerals, seawater, lemon, parsley. Smells well made.

TASTE: mild, pleasing, balanced. Melon and white flowers. Just enough acidity to make it taste like adult wine. A little tropical fruit (papaya and pineapple) and (mild) lime on the finish. But, all very restrained and elegant. This is excellent. 91. — 14 days ago

John Bratincevic

8.8

NOSE: yeast, leafy herbs, cocoa. All pretty restrained.

TASTE: mild earthy barnyard European quality (I always think Italian wine with this taste, though this isn’t Italian), red fruit. A little thin. Tobacco and savoury herbs (dried oregano?) finish. Pretty decent for $8!

EDIT: some darker fruit like cassis and blackberry came out the next day - much improved! Raising score from 86 to 88. Definitely going to try this again with a long decant. — a month ago

John Bratincevic

9.2

NOSE: Cassis! Elderberry, a little cinnamon, spice box, waxy raisin, a little orange peel. A bit of chocolate. Graphite. Subdued, but smells really good.

TASTE: excellent. Juicy cassis, pretty smooth for a baby wine, a little bit of those warm spices you get on the nose, bitter chocolate and espresso on the finish. Not super complex but really tasty. 92. Suckling was right about this one. — 2 days ago

John Bratincevic

9.0

NOSE: stone … red cherry … muted cinnamon/clove/nutmeg … not a lot going on, smells closed and thin.

TASTE: distinct bitter plum (the skin), very herbal, little tannin, good acidity. Light/medium weight juicy Italian wine with an herbal kick...clove on the finish. Simple but good! 90. — 9 days ago

John Bratincevic

9.0

NOSE: distinct black pepper! Maybe the clearest black pepper I’ve ever smelled in a wine. Other savoury spices also, both savoury and baking - I pick out cardomom. Also plum and muted blackberry. A dash of vanilla. Almost like fruity bitters. Hmm!

TASTE: VERY peppery, iron, leather -medium weight at most, not heavy or lush, but not thin either. Very dry black plum and spice [rosemary???], some dry wild berry. Bitter tea on the finish. I think this would go great with BBQ beef with a spicy dry rub. Well made. 90-91.
— 17 days ago