I would suggest that anybody holding this wine drink it immediately. I think it's on it's way down. It was great upon release and even last year, with candied cherry and root beer flavors, 92 pts. The fruit has begun to dissipate, the root beer is still there, but not much else. Kind of chalky. A bit faded. 88 pts. Drink now through last year.
'Nice to see you've got a good sense of humor about this, but I'm still sorry to hear it. I've found that the "Boy, this should be great in another three years" sentiment is far better than the "Boy, I bet this was great three years ago."
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Posts: 1220 | Location: Denver, CO | Registered: Jan 02, 2003
I was a little surprised with this one, many of my '04 CA and OR PN's I find to just be hitting their stride. And this wine was so so good just last year. Tired, "off" bottle? Can't say, it was my last one, but it didn't feel that way.
I chose to pass on their mailing list offering last year after having been on the waiting list for many moons. Hence, I haven't really gotten an opportunity to try Martinelli's "top" bottlings (Blue Slide, Three Sisters, etc). Maybe I'm not patient enough with what is available to me from the winery (hitting that dead zone between youth and maturity?), but I've always found their pinots and chards to "undevelop" rather quickly. Love em young, though.
Originally posted by chum lee: I've always found their pinots and chards to "undevelop" rather quickly. Love em young, though.
'Funny you should say that. I had two bottles of the '02 Blue Slide Ridge, tasted in '05 (amazing, luxurious, deep fruit - I gave it a classic score) and in '07 (still rich, but not even in the same class). When you've got a sample of two, it's probably not wise to draw hard, fast conclusions, but I had a similar experience with their '02 Seven Mules as well. Combine that with the 'hostage bottle' marketing practice, and they became one of the mailing lists I dropped. I can still buy their Zins and the occasional PN from the internet or at auction, because I too love 'em young.
[In all fairness, I should add that I have experienced some notable exceptions, such as a '99 Reserve PN that was lovely in '05 and a few G&L Zins that tasted as fresh at 5-6 years old as they did on release.]
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Posts: 1220 | Location: Denver, CO | Registered: Jan 02, 2003
Combine that with the 'hostage bottle' marketing practice, and they became one of the mailing lists I dropped..
I haven't had a chance to try the BSR bottling. I've heard similar sentiments about its' greatness in the past. Like I mentioned earlier, I waited forever to be on their mailing list, and finally my turn was up. The amount of expensive, potentially marginal wine you have to purchase in order to get a singe bottle of something like the BSR is ridiculous. I turned the opportunity down. You can still get a lot of good chard and PN from their tasting room. It has been my experience in the past that these "lesser" offerings, generally speaking, fall apart relatively early and quickly. I like to drink them within three years of release. I was reminded of this again with the 04 ZTRPN the other night, prompted me to post my thoughts.
'Nice to see you've got a good sense of humor about this, but I'm still sorry to hear it. I've found that the "Boy, this should be great in another three years" sentiment is far better than the "Boy, I bet this was great three years ago."
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