This was WS's #13 wine of the year in 2001 and got a 94 rating. I can buy it for $26. Has anyone had it? Is it worthy of the hype?

VM

Opening one tonight. Will let you know...

i'm also interested at this TN.

i have some at my cellar.

i haven't been able to find this VM, i trust you'll lead me to this tomorrow.

Piu vino reporting from home:

Well, I wish I knew what to tell you. We opened this wine and tasted it and then decanted it for three hours and tasted again. Softer after time in decanter but similar pallet.

It has lots of fruit. Black brambles (see thread) and maybe strawberries. Licorice or some sort of undefineable spice. Pepper and tar, but still too much bitter tannin for my taste.

As I said elsewhere, I'm a Washington state wine lover and I struggle to enjoy some of the "better" French wines. So maybe this is just too sophisticated for me??? Thought maybe the steak would soften it up. Didn't.

Bottom line: there were two other couples with us and we all agreed that this was a well made wine, worth a try again in three to five years, but none of us would rush out a buy a case.

88 points on the plusvini/piu vino scale.

PS It's $35 up here in BC - the province of the overtaxed - so it might be cheaper in Ontario with your US dollars.

Plusvini,

Is that $35 Canadian?

VM

Yup

Anyone else have anything good to add about this wine? My local retailer now has it for $24 or $26, and after seeing it on the Top 100 list and 94 pts, I'm intrigued, but not after reading this thread!

RRV

red, at $24, what've you got to lose? buy it and drink it tonight and post some tn's!

RRV,

Buy it. I bought 3 but haven't cracked one yet. However, Frankie opened one and really liked it or so he told me.

VM

I bought 7 bottles of this about a month ago, based on the rating, our general enjoyment of Gigondas, and that both Stef and I really liked the 98 (which was rated at 86, but I think I had at 88-90).

We opened one bottle that week, I don't have detailed tasting notes, but we both loved it. I poured it blind for Stef and she actually came in my room looking for me and said "This is great what did you pour me?".

I think we both would have said 94-96. One of the best wines we've had in months.

My disclaimer though is I'm partial to Rhone and Rhone style wines, and the more Mourvedre something has in it, the more I'm likely to enjoy it (This one is 80% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre I believe).

Did you get it at Binny's? I had a bottle a couple weeks ago over two days. I drank half the bottle the first day. It was very spicy. And much more tannic than I expected based on what I had read about it. I did not detect any of the sweet tannins I had read in the review.

By the next day it had settled down quite a bit tanninwise, but was still spicy. Overall I would give it an 89. Maybe better if left to age in the bottle a little while?

TBird-

I picked up 2 btls, but you will have to wait until I get back from my wedding/honeymoon before I crack one open and post TN's!

Tonight was the time to break into another Leasingham Bin 61 '98. Not the fruit bomb I remember from this wine 6 months ago....
I hope it comes back to me....I'll wait another 3-4 months before opening another one.

RRV

JC,

Binny's in Chicago had it and still might.

VM