While tasting in Paso yesterday … Apparently, a VIP (a guy who had won a private Tablas tasting at a charity auction) was supposed to come in for a tasting later that day with some of his friends; the TC crew opened this bottle for him and his party early in the morning and put it in a decanter to await his arrival later in the day. As it turned out, he ended up cancelling his appointment, which made me and the other three in my party the lucky recipients of a taste of this wine, which would under all other circumstances never be available for tasting.
as for the wine itself … Holy frickin’ smokes, Batman!!! D-d-d-dayum!! Parker actually nailed this one with his “96-98” rating. Easily, and I mean E-A-S-I-L-Y the best Paso wine I have ever had … hands down/no doubt/bar none/etc. etc. etc. …
Impeccably balanced; rich; complex; S. Rhone from Paso. Will last a loooong time in the cellar.
Real TN coming, but I just had to post this comment separately as I am simply ga-ga over this wine.
Brian,
I have some bottles of Panoplie from several vintages, but never tried it. The temptation is there to buy several of the 2007s given their potential. Maybe this is the sign! The 2007 Esprit is amazing and I’ve bought quite a bit of that wine.
Peter, I haven’t tasted any other vintages, either. I have a bottle each of the '04 and '06, but have no plans to drink them any time soon. The '07 is absurdly good – it’s a wine that gets my mind wondering just how long it could last. 20 years seems absolutely guaranteed to me. I find myself wondering into the 30 year - 40 year range. Are those figures accurate? Who the hell knows … all I really take from all that is that the wine impresses me enough where I I find myself not batting an eye at those thoughts.
I haven’t had the 07, but I have had a few previous vintages, outstanding juice. I have a bottle or two left in the cellar, but as you said, there is no rush on these guys.
Congrats on being in the right place at the right time. Love the TC wines.
Peter, the sample I tasted was from a wide-based decanter - the wine had been in the decanter “since that morning” and I tasted it at about 3:30 pm. I assume “since that morning” was somewhere around 10am because that’s when their tasting room opens. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable young wine so, if you’re not adverse to tasty baby-killing, I’m betting you will be pleased with your decision to pop and buy.
My situation, precisely, went like this: near the end of our tasting my wife asks me if I want to buy some Panoplie while we are there. I say “No. Too expensive.” She aptly pointed-out to me that the specific reason we joined their club was to gain access to this wine, so I start waffling on my stance – she really didn’t have to do much to get me off my position It was at that point that the guy doing our tasting brought-up the cancelling VIP and the decanted Panoplie. Even smelling the wine made me a buyer and sip #1 firmly clinched my change of mind.
I tried the '06 Panoplie around Christmas and found it soft and a little simple. I preferred the more peppery, effusive '07 Carlisle Two Acres sampled alongside the Panoplie. The Carlisle wasn’t as intense, but that’s a good thing, for me anyway. And for alcohol level types, the Carlisle was in the 13% range. Nice.
![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
It was at that point that the guy doing our tasting brought-up the cancelling VIP and the decanted Panoplie. Even smelling the wine made me a buyer and sip 