Thaddeus says – and admits upfront he’s been a fan for a very long time – that he was hit with a bouquet of dark cherry and herbalness on the nose. We walked him through a number of spices but it was tough for him to tap it at such an early stage. He loved the taste: a sweet black cherry with good acidity and a solid tannin structure to finish.
Jennifer says (and she spent a little more time with the wine) that when it was first opened the spices were not only indistinguishable – it was a broad whiff of eucalyptus and really smoky – but overwhelming. But as the wine unwound, the spice took a subtle retreat and it turned into a smooth blackberry coating the tongue and laced with just a bit of chocolate licorice. The tannins were strong at the onset, but settled down too to mix extraordinarily well with the dark fruits and the coffee flavor that emerged. Since it was Halloween week and she had some candy (for the Trick or Treaters, of course) in the house, she couldn’t resist pairing it with a Reese’s peanut butter cup. The chocolate, not surprisingly, was intensified. And the peanut butter? Well, who knew faux pb could taste so good?