Brad Jensen

9.5

Bought this as a birthday wine and paired it with some Chinese food lamb and eggplant. It’s impressive how much energy and life is still in this, with the color still a clear deep rose, with the bricking amber colors only showing under sharp lighting on the medium body. The nose is like meaty blueberries and mashed strawberries, maybe even a little plum, with musty bookcase and black olive notes with maybe a hint of blood orange as well. It blends perfectly with food, with deep ripe jammy blueberries and black berries, more black olives, a hint of tar, driftwood, barbecue burnt ends and tannin that’s still very much gripping at the end of the palate. The flavor lingers for a looong time, with hints of celery salt and a kind of inky black saucy flavor, like a dark soy sauce but more vinegary towards the end. Damn fine wine. — 5 days ago

Brad Jensen

9.0

Strong sharpie, polyester gym back and cherry on the nose, with notes of brandy, blackberry and a hint of brown sugar at the back end. The body is light to medium, with pale purple and slight amber notes intermingled within. The palate has lots of acidity and tartness, with some more tart cherry juice, and almost citrus flavors. There’s a little tannin, but not much, well integrated and a long fresh finish, — a month ago

Brad Jensen

9.3

Surprisingly ready nose, like fresh crust of a sourdough, with Buddha’s hand or star fruit dry citrus merged with some dry mineral freshness. There’s actually a hint of band aid in there as well, though not off putting. The bubbles dissipate relatively quickly, but the palate is long and lingering, with tons of acidity, some slight baking notes, and a nice dry, energetic finish that keeps the dry citrus at the forefront. — 2 months ago

Brad Jensen

9.4

A lot of wood, vanilla and leather on the nose, with notes of black cherry preserves and musty book binding interspersed within. Color reflects only hints of the age with mostly cherry red depth with hints of orange to the edges of the medium to full body. Palate is leaner than you’d expect, right a lot of acid and energy still cooled after a 3hr decant. The cherry fruit seems to come forth first, with some slate like chalky minerality pushed forth between still-slightly grippy tannin. The flavor pushes further into leather, cedar wood, VERY dark butter chocolate, pickled root vegetables and a tingling, slightly tarry like flavor that persists to the end. Incredible value and man does it deliver, ESPECIALLY with food. — 6 days ago

Brad Jensen

9.4

Tons of minerality, acidity and energy. Really the best I’ve had from Sky — 13 days ago

Brad Jensen

9.4

A spicy, herbal nose with notes of tar, bay leaves, overripe blueberry, meaty notes like iron, a nose that smells of pine, with an underlying freshness that’s welcoming, cutting through the heavily perfumed nose. The body is medium, with prominent grippy tannins that show the youth, with prominent blueberry, a little black cherry, with spicy energy, tar, underripe balsamic, herbs de Provence, graphite and a looong finish. I really enjoyed this, and a great first step for St. Estephe. — a month ago

Brad Jensen

9.3

Nose is very unique: Latex gloves and cognac, Tiva said a gas fire, coffee or fresh coca, dark chocolate covered raspberries, wet moss, leather and velvet. It takes one to a Brookstone Store in NYC in the early 00s. Medium bodied, with the amber color visibly impacted by the age. It took a while to open up, with the tannins still very present and grippy at the end, with notes of coca chocolate, brandy, dark ripe plum, fig, coffee, wood chips, ground beef and a slightly sour malolactic element, though the energy and alcohol freshness still remains, along with a slightly mulchy finish. — 2 months ago

Brad Jensen

9.0

Nose has a lot of fresh picked berry and bramble, forest floor, nail polish and a little wild blueberry as well. Light to medium bodied with a pale purple hue and amber flecks, nothing gives away the lower 11% ABV. The palate is lean, restrained, but with a long flavor that lingers and bristles with energy for a LONG while. Breathy and fresh, nothing gives away a lot of depth, but a fair amount of light red berries and a kind of slight vegetal freshness that keeps tingling for a while after the first sip. For my first Champenois, very interesting. — 12 days ago

Brad Jensen

8.7

Cherry cola, ripe dark plum, a little charcoal and spice. The body is medium but also creamy, with little to no tannin, with the same dark cherry, a bit of balsamic glaze, somewhat wet undergrowth notes, with an emerging energy and tightness that shows to the end. It’s good, but somewhat one dimensional. — a month ago

Brad Jensen

9.5

At first glance this exhibits a lot of characteristics like cabernet. Medium to full bodied. Deep red to rose colored hues, with a fruit heavy nose of dark red fruits… but this is its own animal. Dig a little deeper on the nose and you get sharpie marker, much more floral than a cab, with none of the wood and notes of green pepper, a slight menthol freshness, and fresh cut grass beginning to peek forth. The tannins took a while to emerge, but when they did they felt like the hit all angles, never too much but just enough. The palate after some serious decanting has prominent notes of beef jerky, iron, smokey bbq, jammy plums, cranberry, black olives and maybe even soy sauce with serious energy, bramble and a hint of tar. The finish is long and fresh, with a lot of energy, and when paired with a perfectly marbled ribeye it SINGS. Bought in Berlin, absolutely worth it. — 2 months ago