A monster, and a baby. Costco had a case of these, and I was a sucker and I took one. This is a huge wine in the style of the 2005 SQN Atlantis Grenache, yet it doesn’t go over the top. Opening the bottle, you get a beautiful aroma of violets that literally fills the room. Looks like Port in the glass and at 16% ETOH on the label, it’s creeping up there into Port territory. Despite the high alcohol, the wine isn’t hot at all. On the contrary, I would have guessed much lower percentage. On the palate it is kirsch liquer with vanilla and oak…not El Nido oak mind you, but rather a nice integrated oak that is a compliment rather than detractant. The finish goes on and on for at least a full minute. We enjoyed this with a seared bone-off rack of lamb that was marinated in EVOO, garlic, rosemary and Telicherry Pepper and herbed couscous. Absolute perfect match.
This is not an inexpensive bottle of wine by any stretch, but I would recommend getting a bottle that delivers a pure hedonistic experience of old vine grenache. At about half to a third the cost of SQN on the secondary market, I think this might blow away the competetion.