Friday night catchup. For fun I pulled this one just to see where it was. Although still a baby it has the makings of all things beautifully. Rich, opulent, beautiful, but not overly anything. Perfect balance. I want to revisit this one in a few years. — 10 months ago
Forgot I opened one of these earlier in the year. Whoops. Wish I had more.
Hour decant, then consumed from decanter over the next 3hrs.
My note here is fairly similar to the 2014 note, but there is more concentration and power going on. Dark purple in the glass, with aromatics of both sweet oak as well as a kiss of whole cluster stem inclusion. Loads of dark floral notes, ripe blackberries, and smoked jerky. Large-scaled mid palate depth and richness of blue and black fruits with plenty of herbal flair and spice but it’s more iron fist in a velvet glove style. There’s black peppercorn and iron, as well as big central coast Rhône style with its rich and textural palate.
I love Syrah in all expressions. It’s natural to compare these wines to SQN (and Andremily), and rightly so. These are dialed up to 9, but pull back, whereas the others aren’t afraid of going to 11. No right/wrong answer, just style preference. I happen to love both. — 3 months ago
Last of a 3-pack and another wine (and producer) that I always ask “why don’t I buy more of this?”, especially as prices climb for so many others, yet these stay fairly consistent. Consumed from bottle over the course of an afternoon.
Gold label (extended barrel age). It’s tempting to want to compare these to SQN (or Andremily) due to winemaker, and while they share many similarities, Lillian seems to have a more elegant and floral profile. Deep black/purple in the glass, immediately smells of green whole cluster spice, black peppercorn, lavender and black berry fruit. The palate is very spice driven (herbal, pepper), with ripe red and dark fruit (raspberries, blackberries), and potpurri. Nothing about this is rich or extracted. Still sports a grippy finish, but the acidity right now keeps this well balanced. May get a tiny bit better, but this seems to be in the zone at the moment. — a year ago
J/h. Decanted a few hrs. Wonderful — 2 months ago
My first time trying this wine after hearing about it for so long. Made by the vineyard manager of the famed Bien Nacido vineyard, Chris Hammell.
Clocking in at roughly 50 Grenache/25 Syrah/10 Mourvèdre/10 PS and the rest viognier, this toes the line between SQN/Andremily vibes and serious Paso (Saxum). It sports all of the luxurious fruit but no trace of stems or spice. From start to finish, this is a meaty wine, but not funky. Ripe dark fruits, smoked meat, bit of violets/floral tones. At almost 10yrs, it’s fairly integrated showing dark fig, roasted blackberries, spiced ripe black cherries toward the finish. Bull-in-the-china shop type GSM, but it meets you in the middle if you love big central coast style or Paso. Pop and enjoy. — a year ago
Steve Anderson
9.4 for the wine (post concert)
9.7 for U2
10.0 for The Sphere, Las Vegas — a month ago