whiner
Second star to the right, and straight on till morning
Wine Thief
Posts:2875
 | | 04/21/2005 10:00 AM |
| | Much better than the other Harris with some minerality and a hint of mint leaf on the nose and palate. Good structure and admirable finish. A very nice wine, but not distinctive enough or great enough to be a special wine. I don't think this will be particularly long lived -- it seemd low acid. 91.5. | |
I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.
-- Woody Allen | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12501
| | 04/21/2005 11:25 AM |
| Interesting, whiner. How much time did you give it in the decanter? I remember that this needs LOTS of time. LOTS. By lots, I mean a day or more. And, Mike said the same thing: either day or more in the decanter or lots of ageing...
I had it once & felt that it was very young, & needed time. But, even @ that time, I liked it more than a 91 pointer.
Won't touch any of mine until the next mailer. Would probably even hold longer than that, but would like to taste before the next mailer. | | | |
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whiner
Second star to the right, and straight on till morning
Wine Thief
Posts:2875
| | 04/21/2005 11:03 PM |
| LCC,
It was decanted for 3 hours then consumed over the following 3 hours. Perhaps I underestimated the wine, but I did not get the sense that the wine was especially tight or closed down nor that it would benifit, appreciably, from more time in the decanter.
a | |
I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.
-- Woody Allen | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 04/22/2005 5:38 AM |
| | Tried this against 02 Merus last weekend. Nice bordeaux-like nose on the Harris, somewhat structured, medium density. Didn't blow me away, but a very nice wine (as whiner says, it's not terribly exotic or distinctive, just very nice). Let's say 92 pts now with potential in 3-5 years to reach 94-95 pts. The Merus was presently less enjoyable, a big, grapey, syrupy, barrel-samply monster of a wine with a big blast of fruit but not much discernable structure or delineation. A little much now, and I preferred the Harris in this showing, but the Merus probably has the potential to outstrip the Harris in a couple years. Both interesting wines, and I'm glad to be on both lists. | | | |
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Vitis Vinifera
Grape Sorter
Posts:322
| | 04/23/2005 12:21 AM |
| | One thing I forgot to mention in my Thrill of the Hunt thread, is that I believe this is the first harvested from this vineyard, so give these vines a few years, and you know the rest.......anyways I'm staying on their list as I believe there's great upside ahead, and the 03 and 04 barrel samples were stunning | | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 10/15/2005 8:28 PM |
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Posted from CellarTracker | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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Greg Beall
Grape Sorter
Posts:263
| | 11/07/2005 1:21 AM |
| | Haven't opened mine yet but wanted to let people know that customer service is awesome. My order was messed up by the shipping company and Mike Harris went out of his way to square everything. I will be a future buyer. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 01/21/2006 4:02 AM |
| Just popped a bottle. On decanting it shows mint, cheery and a bit of nail polish on the nose. In the mouth this stuff is BIG but disappoints with a very short finish (wham, bam, thank you mam). I tasted lots of cola berry. It has lots of acid and almost no tannins to speak of.
I'll add to this note as the night goes on. | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 01/21/2006 4:58 AM |
| | davidn -- I think (hope) it's just going through a phase. We opened a bottle a week ago and our experience was very similar to yours (including some nail polish and a short finish). I've had this 3 or 4 times now, and this was the worst showing. I'm a big fan based on previous bottles, so I hope this comes back around. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 01/21/2006 5:17 AM |
| Three hours later it hasn't changed much. Ignore the nail polish (actually it is nail polish remover) on the nose and it is a pleasant wine.
Like Pizinah says, I hope this comes back around... and shows me something more in six months. 87 points.
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 01/21/2006 12:57 PM |
| | Acetone? | | | |
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Blair Ridley
Wine Labeler
Posts:3980
| | 01/21/2006 1:25 PM |
| | Isn't nail polish remover typically associated with VA (which usually does not dissipate with time)? | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12501
| | 01/21/2006 6:00 PM |
| | I've had this wine 2X now. Both times, it was really good though a youngster. | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4864
| | 01/21/2006 6:03 PM |
| IIRC, VA is based more on acedic acid and is bacteriological in origin. A wine with a lot of VA can also develop the ethyl acetate properties.
This often happens when you really push the ripeness envelope and tends to get worse in the bottle. | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12501
| | 01/21/2006 6:10 PM |
| | ...or, bottle variation, or one of those stages?!? I will consider then opening one in the next few months (before the next mailer). | | | |
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Dave
Wine Thief
Posts:2899
| | 01/21/2006 8:36 PM |
| | We had this last September at a DC Cru tasting and didn't rate it. I am putting my down and hoping for the best. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 01/23/2006 1:11 AM |
| Quote:
IIRC, VA is based more on acedic acid and is bacteriological in origin. A wine with a lot of VA can also develop the ethyl acetate properties.
This often happens when you really push the ripeness envelope and tends to get worse in the bottle.
I thought it was brett but I've had this wine before and never noticed it before. I mean this was "big time" vinagary. And I wasn't aware that VA can develop that much after bottling.
Volatile Acidity (VA) is in all wines. It is just a matter of how much VA is in a particular bottle. A wine withexcessive VA the regular acetic acid turns more toethyl acetate which is where the nail polish remover come in.
I thought the main contributor of VA to wine is caused by just plain dirty equipment or unsterile conditions during winemaking. I didn't know that it could also be caused by pushing the ripeness envelope. | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 01/23/2006 2:22 AM |
| Quote:
A wine withexcessive VA the regular acetic acid turns more toethyl acetate which is where the nail polish remover come in
This is what I got -- a nail polish remover/solvent/glue quality. Was thinking it might be ethyl acetate but wasn't sure. Can an under-sulphured wine retain too much acetic bacteria which then develop in bottle? Exposure to too much air prior to bottling? Not really an area I'm very convversant in.
Bressler -- can you go into a little more detail on how (not so much with any particular wine but generally) pushing the ripeness envelope factors into this? | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4864
| | 01/28/2006 8:49 PM |
| Quote:
can you go into a little more detail on how (not so much with any particular wine but generally) pushing the ripeness envelope factors into this?
there are many dozens of factors, but some key ones are:
- as the grapes get past what the plant would consider ripe, they begin to break down. this allows stuff to begin to grow in the grape even before it is picked
- picking at a very ripe point frequently results in a high Ph (i.e. low acid) juice, which is more susceptible to stuff growing in it.
- high sugars lead to high alcohols, again which can be a friendly environment for some bacteria | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 01/29/2006 7:06 AM |
| | Thanks for your further thoughts. I had gathered as a general matter that the higher the Ph the more SO2 one would use, but I don't really know all the details and technicalities. The technical side of winemaking is fascinating to me but I'm still learning... Appreciate your taking the time to comment. | | | |
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