"Odedi"

9.3

#AgedWineTuesday

Deep purple in color with a short, cloudy purple rim.

Strong nose of black currants, black plums, stewed cherries, dried figs, raisins, ginger, oak, eucalyptus, spices, green beans and peppercorn.

Full-bodied with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry and fruit forward on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, tobacco, licorice, peppercorn, chocolates, herbs, spices and coffee.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This 16 year old Grenache from California feels like it peaked a few years ago, but still drinking beautifully. Elegant and rich.

The Syrah notes are very dominant, especially right out of the bottle.

Complex and interesting, with a beautiful nose. Extracted and fruit forward.

Robert Parker 96 points.

Needed 2 hours to open up, and delicious by itself as a sipping wine.

A blend of 84% Grenache, 11% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre.

15.6% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$330. — 11 days ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Poured into a decanter about an hour prior to service; enjoyed over period that lasted a few hours. After removing the capsule, cork was revealed to be completely saturated and moldy at the top. It was positively nasty. After wiping it down, I was able to extract the cork intact, with the use of a Durand. The 1988 pours a deep garnet with near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some sediment even after decanting. On the nose, the wine is a vinous mix of ripe and desiccated black and red fruits: brambles and currants, with tobacco, bell pepper, leather, organic earth and gentle warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and so delicious. Brilliant. The ’88 is ready to drink now with a short decant but has plenty of stuffing to drink well for at least another 10+ years and well-stored examples will be alive for much longer. — a year ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Somewhat analogous with my 2013 Chave Blanc impression, this was more about peering into the bright future in store for this wine. The potential is simply buried deep beneath the surface. All the stuffing is there for a special wine down the road. While enjoyable now, patience will be handsomely rewarded. Personally, I wouldn’t touch well-cellared examples until much closer to 2030. — 3 years ago

Shay A

9.5

One of the wines I supplied for an annual lunch hosting (co-host this time). I was really hesitant to open this given the fanfare of this specific wine, but also how DrCrane can be an in-between wine for me (so explosive young, shut down at 5-10yrs, re-open 10+). Decanted two-three hours.

Classic deep purple-black DrCrane in the glass. Aromatics are immediate with ripe blue and black fruits, baking spices, mocha and graphite. Just a little bit of high-toned EA to make it pop, along with this roasted character I always get from DrCrane wines. Opulent and polished in every way on the palate, this is a tidal wave of flavor with no hard edges. It’s a towering wine in the sense of so much concentration and depth on the mid-palate, but it’s so incredibly polished at the finish…almost shockingly so. The ripe fruits and the dark chocolate linger longer than any Napa cab I can remember. Iron first in a velvet glove.

No need to worry, these are open for business. Plenty of structure to carry a while, but this window seems like it was made for how this wine is drinking now. — 7 months ago

Shay A

9.2

My first time with Dehlinger Syrah. I believe this ‘08 estate is all from their Altamont vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

Deep red/purple in the glass, hardly any bricking. Aromatics of ripe red and black berries, violets, and sweet spices. I don’t detect any savory notes and assuming no use of whole clusters as I don’t get any type of green/lifted profile. Even at 15-16yrs, this is deep with fruit…black raspberries, black currant, dark cocoa, fig, vein of sweetness down the middle, but with a coffee/mocha grippy finish. Followed over two days and, shockingly, held up just fine. Pop the corks and enjoy. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.4

The first of my small tranche of 2019 Cuvée Reservée’s and I figured it would be fun to share with the Tasting Group. Popped and poured and presented double-blind. The wine pours a translucent, deep ruby with magenta rim, near opaque core, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, the wine was clean with macerated raspberry, cranberry, and pomegranate fruits. There were purple flowers, some black pepper and rocky minerality along with a slightly gamey note which was quite charming. Both the fruit and non-fruit characteristics were confirmed on the palate. The wine finishes dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. There’s a compelling sense of power and energy in this wine. Everyone was in the Rhône but most were in the North; from Saint Joseph to Cornas, citing that they believed this was Syrah. However, two in the group called Châteauneuf du Pape and one actually called producer (!!) but missed on vintage (2016). Universally, the wine was fawned over and the dude who called Pagaü thought he actually favored the 2019 over the 2016 he had a while back. While I’m not sure I would go that far, the 2019 is truly quite stunning already and seems to have the guts to see a very long and wonderful life ahead. These are currently enjoying their customary early drinking window however, that window will likely close within a year or so and then I could see this shutting down pretty hard until 2025 — 3 years ago

Shay A

9.3

(Two previous 1983 vintage wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from CT).

My experiences with 1983s has been fairly positive, and this PL certainly is among the better I’ve had from the vintage. Holding color nicely with deep ruby and slight bricking around the rim. Started off a bit dense and muddled, but hit stride about 30mins later with a mix of red and black berry fruit, cassis, a streak of herbal green down the middle (something I always get with PL). Excellent example of the fruit showing lots of flavor without being overly ripe. Leather, sweet pipe tobacco, graphite, and still some vibrancy at the finish with tannin structure. Clean and elegant at this stage. Showed well over the course of two hours. Drink up and enjoy. — 8 months ago

Jerry Raphael

9.1

I thought I was drinking the estate bottling but it turns out to be the Altamont. Wow, what a big wine and super loaded with cola, deep dark berries and some more completely intergraded elements. It had a nice long finish. Overall it was quite different and a bit over the top, Not sure if it would calm down some with more age. Got a few more bottles so I guess I’ll find out. — a year ago

Shay A

9.3

Had this a few times, but I was finally able to sit down and analyze it over an evening. Their only cuvée produced in 2014.

Upfront, rollercoaster aromatics initially…rich, then mellowed out with an hour of air. After a few hours of air, a much more ripe CdP profile came out. Great bridge wine from Cali GSMs to bigger CdPs. Deep red in the glass with aromatics of fig, brambly red and black fruits. On the palate, big but not unbalanced. No trace of brett. Soft fig, muddled underripe black cherry, garrigue (smoked herbs); lengthy finish. Kiss of black pepper. Big Grenache vibe here. Lovely with air. Probably best in the near term based on the fruit forward structure. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Pop and poured; consumed over five days. Best on day three and four. The 2016 pours a deep garnet, bearing purple with a near opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with some fine sediment. On the nose, brambles, garrigue, lavender and borsellino. It sort of reminds me of a damp earthen basement in the most endearing of ways. On the palate, the wine the dry; medium+ tannins that build through day four before softening. Acid is medium. The fruit set from the nose is confirmed…it’s a lot of delicious fruit with some leather, black pepper and earth. Long finish. These needed some time and the rewards are beginning to show. I have another bottle left and I’ll save that for a few years down the road. — 4 years ago