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2006 Bent Creek Wines Zinfandel - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Livermore Valley (2/12/2011)
Pop & Pour, Ruby color hinting towards garnet. Nose shows red fruit and some dusty, slightly musty wood scents, like wood planks covered with dust and sitting in a humid basement. Reasonable red fruit, cranberry and raspberry on the palate but starting to dry out. American oak is present and competing with the fruit to see who’s got more staying power. Drinkable, but drink up. (83 pts.) -
2006 Robert Biale Zinfandel Black Chicken - USA, California, Napa Valley (2/13/2011)
Pop & Pour. Color is a dark ruby leaning towards violet. Nose is restrained but shows some purple fruits and wood. Palate starts with cherries and plums, then a wave of intense freshly cracked black pepper. Finish is tannic and drying. Within about an hour the pepper is starting to subside, leaving a simpler but still enjoyable profile with red fruits held up by a backbone of mouth-watering blood orange acidity. This was my last '06. Not much reason to leave any of these laying around my longer, if you have them. (89 pts.)
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2008 Bedrock Wine Co. Pinot Noir Rebecca’s Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (2/14/2011)
Double-decanted before bringing to a restaurant for Valentine’s Day dinner. Initial nose during decant was an incredible intense pomegranite and an odd smell I could only describe as burnt rubber. Color was a delicate light ruby. A little concerned about the nose, we decided if the wine didn’t show well at dinner we’d buy a bottle off the list.
Re-opened about 2 hours later, the burnt rubber smell was gone (and had me wondering if this was some interaction with something already on my palate). Nose is now showing cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, Christmas spice scents that threw my memory right back Frohes Fest in Heidelberg. Palate includes all that with some pomegranite and smoky herbal flavors, like sprigs of rosemary on a charcoal gril. Over the course of a couple hours tart cherry starts to come more to the forefront, and starts to come more in-line with my wife’s palate who prefers a riper, more friut-forward Pinot.
Overall, very young but promising. Not for those looking for very ripe, in-your-face fruit. There are some amazing building blocks here but they need some time to come together. (92 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker