Winery - Spring Mountain Vineyard
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in the winery’s estate vineyard, this is an immaturely tough, hard wine, even at the age of 4-plus years. The rugged mountain tannins are drily intrusive, but the vast core of black currants strongly suggests aging. Already throwing some sediment, it should be better after 2009 and beyond.
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Spring Mountain Vineyard Bordeaux-style Red Blend - 2004
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Pours dark as a graveyard, and one whiff tells you it’s lavishly oaked in fine, charred barrels. You have to taste it to find what the vineyard brings, namely, black cherry fruit. Then those mountain tannins kick in, and wham! Everything stops. An obvious cellar candidate through 2006, when you try again.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Will appeal to those who like a drier, leaner Cabernet, with slightly green herb flavors of blackberries, cassis and minerals. The sweet finish is a good indication of ageability, but its a hard wine to predict.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Co-fermented with Viognier, this is a softer, fruitier, less tannic and less complex and impressive wine than Spring Mountain's Miravelle bottling. The idea seems to have been to make it more accessible, but the flavors clash and don't fully resolve.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Gorgeous and lush, another beautiful ’99 that impresses with its ripeness and balance. The blackcurrant and cassis flavors are perfectly offset with toasty oak, and the sweet tannins of the vintage are amply in evidence. Made in a feminine style, not a blockbuster, but controlled and elegant.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tastes like it benefited from being held back for a while, because the tannins are beginning to melt, although they’re still dusty and strong. The oak is strong, too, framing red stone fruit and cassis flavors. Fully dry, this mountain wine needs a little time. Give it at least until 2008, or decant for several hours.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is a big, dark, tannic, dry wine. But the tannins are rich and sweet in the modern Napa style, and the flavors are enormous. Blackberries, black cherries and new oak unroll in waves through a long finish. Good now, but should have a fine future through 2010 as those tannins fall out.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is serious Syrah. It shows mountain intensity, with potent cassis, licorice, grilled meat, cocoa and gingersnap cookie flavors, enhanced by all the loveliness that fine new oak contributes to a full-bodied red wine. The tannins are strong and thick, but of the sweetly ripe type. Just lovely. Drink now and for the next few years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This bottling definitely needs a warmer vintage to fully ripen, because this ’05 is aggressive in cat pee aromas. Everything else in the wine is good.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is a big, lushly textured wine that has the intensity of mountain fruit without the hard tannins. Blackberry and vanilla coat the palate, followed by lingering notes of plum, cassis and sweet oak.
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Spring Mountain Vineyard Bordeaux-style Red Blend - 2001
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