Nov 10th 2008
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Mar 1st 2008
Price: $24.00
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Tasting Notes:
This is a wonderful cabernet franc. It might not be the best value, as similar examples from the Loire can often be found for less money, but I like to support my local wine makers. This is a bright garnet color, but translucent. There is tons of black raspberry flavor, with a hint of bitter greeness on the back end that I like. There also is an aroma of fresh pencil shavings.
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Apr 13th 2007
Price: $16.99
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Tasting Notes:
This might be the first purchase from Gargiste that I just didn't like. Or it could be that I just opened it at the wrong time. On opening it the nose was super muted. Over a few hours it opened up slightly, revealing sour cherry and cedar notes. But the fruit and other flavors were just done in by the high acidity. Not a very enjoyable bottle.
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: May 30th 2007
Price: $18.73
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Tasting Notes:
Like the previous Burgundy I tasted, this one was all out of wack with a repressed nose. I double decanted it, and it improved somewhat; but it still wasn't enjoyable. After about four days, I decided to revisit and it was about 100 times better. You could now smell the sour cherry, earth, and minerals in it. The acidity was muted and the tannins much improved. It still tasted a little out of whack, but it was very interesting. I think I opened both of these bottles of wine at a bad time.
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Oct 28th 2008
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Vintage: 2000
Purchased: Jun 2nd 2008
Price: $29.96
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Tasting Notes:
This is easily one of the best wines I've had in a long time. It is nice garnet color with hints of brown around the edges, and a nose that just punches you in the face (but in a good way). I could detect tar, rose petals, and very bright cherry juice on the nose. And I would have been content to just smell it. In the mouth, it is very full bodied with the cherry juice component coming out first. That leads into a smokey component before a long finish of fennel and licorice. The tannins are still quite strong but very well integrated and not out of balance. I'd say that this wine has plenty of good years left in it, and might be even better as it softens more.
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Oct 21st 2008
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: May 31st 2008
Price: $9.25
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Tasting Notes:
This is a simple mid week wine. I find it has a nice purple color and a grapey taste with a lot of pepper on the midpalate. There is quite a bit of herbal bitter greenness on the finish, which some may not like, but I do. For under $10 how can you complain?
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Feb 1st 2008
Price: $18.99
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Tasting Notes:
This wine was a winner. I knew the second I took a whiff of the nose that I was going to be very happy drinking this. The nose was very intense with tons of red fruit, minerals, and smoke. When you tasted it, you were surprised at how light it seemed to be. I'm sure you've heard of pinot as syrah from California. Well, this is syrah as pinot! The texture is silky smooth with an insane amount of bright red fruit that is joined mid way through with a black pepper and bacon component that just drove me wild. The finish is quite good with licorice and mint making an appearance. The more the wine breathed the more the strawberry and raspberry flavors came out. That combination with the great acidity made me want to keep drinking and drinking.
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: May 31st 2008
Price: $26.00
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Tasting Notes:
I served this with a spicy jambalaya that I was preparing. It was a deep purple in the glass and very very dark. The nose was pretty good with lots of dark berry fruit, vanilla, and cedar. In the mouth this was a thick heavy wine. I noticed that the temperature of the wine had to be right, if you let it get to warm the heat from the high alcohol became a bit distracting. The texture and flavor of this wine actually reminded me of a berry milkshake. I could taste a vanilla creaminess beneath the fruit flavors. There was a bit of cedar, but it was not in the forefront at all. About halfway through the taste the pepper started to crop up, and then a minty type flavor on the finish. I liked this wine even if it wasn't my normal style. It was a nice change of pace and it worked quite well with the spicy food.
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Oct 7th 2008
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Vintage: 1990
Purchased: Feb 29th 2008
Price: $38.74
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Tasting Notes:
For Kathrine's birthday we brought this along with us to eat at a local French restaurant,
Cremant. The wine was a light red in the glass and completely transparent. Darker than a rose, but much lighter than most red wine produced today. The nose was complete barnyard and manure. It was not unpleasant, but was strikingly strong. As the night wore on, the barnyard started to blow off and fade to the background leaving scents of smoke, cedar, and bright tart cherries. The wine was extremely tasty. The first flavors were of cherries and bright red fruit. On the midpalate I found a slight green vegetal character and notes of sun dried tomato. Kathrine detected more of a tin/metallic flavor. The finish was quite long with the soft tannins fading away to the great acidity and lingering smokey and cedar flavors. As the night wore on, it opened up even more with the cherry flavor brightening up; and it even started gaining a cherry pit flavor as well. This was not the best wine I've ever had, but it was one of the most interesting.
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Feb 8th 2008
Price: $13.96
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Tasting Notes:
Kathrine made a pot roast that had an entire bottle of Cotes du Rhone in the gravy, which made me think a Cotes du Rhone would be a good pairing. This wine had an inky black color, totally opaque in the glass. The nose was a mixture of red and black fruits, pepper, and herbs. In the mouth it was quite heavy with thick tannins (although not harsh). Initially I got the flavors of raspberry and blackberry with a nice acid streak. Then a peppery and almost meaty bacon flavor carried the wine to the finish which was like an herb garden in the mouth.
This wine was super at this price. I can't find a real fault with it, and I wouldn't have complained if I had payed $25+ for it. If I had to make a complaint, it would be that I have no more.
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Sep 29th 2008
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Jul 21st 2007
Price: $40.00
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Tasting Notes:
This was not as good as the previous Grand Cru Burgundy that we had, but this was probably the second best pinot noir I've drunk. I decanted for a few hours before drinking, and I probably should have opened it even earlier.
The original nose contained black cherry, cloves, and a strong cola aroma. There was a slight sense of wood, mainly sandalwood, but there was also a not so nice alcoholic smell. The alcohol soon blew off and the nose became much more balanced, if a little less fruity.
It was a wonderful wine in the mouth with just the right amount of black cherry cola to go with the clove and nutmeg notes. I would have liked slightly more earthiness, but I can't really complain. The acidity and tannins were perfect and the finish was quite long. Was it worth $40? I don't really know. But I did greatly enjoy this.
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