I was totally expecting a 100 point wine and only got a 98 pointer. Oh the humanity! Much like the 03 Bionic Frog I had last year, this wine is so close to perfection…
When I first put my nose into the glass of this wine, my brain immediately thought of a scene from Jerry Maguire. No you nimrods, not the infamous “You had me at hello” scene, but the shoplifting pooty from a single mom scene. I felt like I was shoplifting the pooty as I drank, yet again, someone else’s Cayuse. I felt sheepish at first just like Jerry Maguire, but then realized that no one was holding a gun to their head and if they wanted to share their pooty, who was I to turn them down! Deep purple with a ruby red rim, this screamed a Cayuse pedigree. Initial aromas of freshly paved road, gunpowder, restrained funk, pulverized black fruit, iron/blood, nicoise olives, and a healthy dose of rocks and minerality. Once I finally garnered enough courage to take a swig, my mouth was filled with the juice of blackberries and raspberries like they were ground down in a mortar and pestle releasing all of that love. Other flavors like charred meat and savoy cabbage kept flying at me that worked to balance out the juicy fruit. The intensity of the rocks/minerality was also apparent on the palate as that led to an extended finish that coated the inside of your mouth with goodness. Never once was I worried about the tannins or alcohol as this was a balanced and seamless wine. The wildness that one often finds in some Cayuse wines (En Chamberlin…everyone) is only hinted at here which makes this wine especially intriguing. It easily has 10 years of life still in it. Loved it! 98pts.
A friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Dale McClaran), drank this wine last weekend and even wrote a note on Cellartracker. When I asked him why he didn’t post it on Berserkers, he said that he didn’t feel his note was as well written as mine and that it didn’t add any value to my note. Now, the only time we like someone to possess low self-esteem are hot chicks so I’m going to post his note without permission (don’t worry, he just left for Alabama today so he won’t even know!). Here it is:
Decanted for 1 hr. A terrific showing, I think it’s safe to say the 05 BF is in the zone right now. Initially, the nose threw off some oaky scents, but this settled down after a half hour, into a structured, yet multifaceted freak of nature, as the Frog often is. Waves of smoke and crushed blackberry, some funk, cured meat, all packaged in a rather refined state of delivery. I especially enjoyed the green olive / mint component, the cool tones really acted as a balancing element to the more animalistic side of the wine. The finish was long, detailed, and focused, leaving quite the wake of very essence of Syrah. At peak, and I say drink sooner rather than later, maybe over the next 4 years or so. 95 pts.
)
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
As was the sarcastic response brotha…![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
![[drinkers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/82916bed5ad74ac8470bc04089d9758b0c80c9fa.gif "drinkers"){kind=small}