Deep ruby purple color. Luxurious, complex nose of rich, spiced blackberries, smoky creosote (clay-ey, earthy), and stony minerals. Deep, forward flavors of blackberry, cassis, graphite, and metallic minerals. Long, powerful finish, with lots of very fine, soft, integrated tannins. A superb wine at a bargain price. Was $9.79 at Richard's on Shepherd, but I've seen this at other places too. 90.UPDATE (10/3/07): Whole Foods on Bellaire still has this for $9.88.
4 comments:
Creosote is a mixture of many chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenol, cresols created by high temperature treatment of beech and other woods, coal, or from the resin of the Creosote bush.....
Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is a prominent species in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of western North America, including portions of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and western Texas in the United States, and northern Chihuahua in Mexico. It is closely related to the South American Larrea divaricata, and was formerly treated as the same species.
It is an evergreen shrub growing to 1-3 m tall, rarely 4 m. The wand-like stems of the plant bear resinous, dark green leaves with two leaflets joined at the base, each leaflet 7-18 mm long and 4-8.5 mm broad. The flowers are up to 25 mm diameter, with five yellow petals. The whole plant exhibits a characteristic odor of creosote, from which the common name derives.
Couldn't agree more with your review, Tom. This is an outstanding wine at an absurdly low price. To anyone who hasn't picked up theirs yet, well . . . wait a week or so . . . until I have all mine. ;-)
Gerard
You can also find this great wine at Cost Plus World Market stores in the area.
Yes, the 2004 was fantastic; however,the 2005 vintage was a disappointment in comparison. I recently picked up the 2006 vintage and it is reminiscent of the 2004 (remains to be seen, but has potential). Cellaring for a short period has proven to improve this wine, so we'll see in the next year or two.
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