(Re-Tasted April 2010) ... I opened this wine with some trepidation - not sure why, but the year two-thousand-four holds a certain amount of dread for me ... something in my psyche that makes me think twice, except when I am opening a Riesling. Thankfully, my dread of the vintage was ill-placed after sipping and sipping this wine, as it proved to be a real winner (still). The nose stayed pretty much constant trhough my hour-and-a-half tasting of it, but the palate swung wildly to and fro. At first sniff the nose was a little woody and a touch herbaeous (grassy), with a hint of fruit lingering in the background.
The taste was all over the map and yet proved to be very appealing at all stops along the way. At first it was sour cranberry and woodsy with sourish tannins and ballsy acidity, which really took over and became apparent on the finish; thankfully, some fruit did play a part at the end with cranberry and sour cherry coming along to linger in the mouth.
Twenty minutes on and the nose is getting more woodsy with ever passing minute, but the palate has begun to smooth out and develop woodsy-cherry and vanilla-spice. Another 20-minutes pass and the cherry-wood turns to a soft green pepper, while the palate is still fairly smooth with only hints of green pepper beginning to emerge there too. This wine is about a year or two passed its "peak", but it's still quite drinkable and a good example of a nice middle aged wine (6 years from Vintage date) from a so-so year.
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