Winery - Sunstone
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Scores high on the deliciousness scale, with melted chocolate, blackberry jam, red cherry pie and vanilla-coffee flavors. What’s not to like? This Merlot-based wine is soft and creamy and dry. It’s one of the best Bordeaux-style reds to come out of this valley.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A rough, common Pinot Noir. It’s all right for drinking now, with pleasant cherry, berry, cola and cedar flavors that have an edge of overripe raisins.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A dry, simple wine, with herbal raspberry and tea flavors.
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Sunstone Rosé - 2007
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tough and hard in tannins, with some green acids, this Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend is hard to appreciate now despite good blackberry and currant flavors. Would benefit from greater opulence and riper tannins.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Thin in fruit, with herb, mint and cherry flavors that have a Porty edge, and the lack of substance makes the oak stand out as caramelized. An awkward wine.
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Sunstone Merlot - 2006
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Too many California Sangiovese suffer from all sorts of problems, mainly unripeness. But this one is soft and smooth and juicy. It offers rich flavors of cherries, red currants, chocolate, anise and pepper, and will be fine with a grilled steak, or even tempura veggies dipped in soy sauce.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Just 6% Viognier makes all the difference in this Syrah-based blush. It adds a crisp, cutting edge of acidity and a lemony, wildflower brightness to the cherries and red currants the Syrah brings. Then there are the roses, lavender, tangerine zest and pepper that make this unoaked wine even more complex.
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Sunstone Rosé - 2006
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Fewer regions are more sensitive to site selection for Merlot than Santa Barbara County. Put it in a cool spot, and it turns vegetal. This wine has some of those notorious asparagus flavors that can plague South Coast Bordeaux varietals. It’s extremely well made, but can’t overcome this basic shortcoming.
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Sunstone Merlot - 2000
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Stash this in the cellar for a while, because even though it’s well over three years old, it’s still a big, immature wine. Dry and tannic, it explodes with jammy blackberries, cherries, chocolate, cola, licorice, orange zest and pepper flavors, wrapped into sweet, smoky oak. The parts should begin to come together by the end of 2009.
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Sunstone Syrah - 2005
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Sweet and sour, with cherry and raspberry jam flavors finished with acidity that stings the palate, like vinegar.
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Sunstone Rosé - 2007
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