pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
 | | 09/16/2005 5:32 PM |
| This is a big, flabby gob of one-dimensional fruit with virtually no verve, lift, acidity or complexity. Not bitter, vegetal or undrinkable, but simple, ponderous, boring and thoroughly pedestrian. Imagine an unremarkable bottle of recent-vintage Martinelli pinot with a lot less complexity and acidity.
James Laube awarded this wine his highest scoreever for a pinot noir (97 points). His description and rating are in some ways even more bizarre and inexplicable than his recent California cabernet debacle. Simply astonishing that he is the CA wine critic for the most widely read consumer wine magazine in the world. | | | |
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wineismylife
Arlington, TX
Master of Wine
Posts:12265
| | 09/16/2005 6:00 PM |
| OK, but did you like it?    | |
Joe
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Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone. | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 09/16/2005 6:07 PM |
| Hey, I said it wasn't undrinkable, what more do you want? If it were $15/bottle and readily available I'd buy a case or two for everyday drinking or a large party. It's certainly as good as most Castle Rock pinots I've tried. | | | |
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Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11879
| | 09/16/2005 6:44 PM |
| ... a bad bottle, maybe??  | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 09/16/2005 7:13 PM |
| The retailer I bought it from told me he wasn't very impressed with the bottle he'd tried. I bought a bottle anyway b/c my palate is somewhat different from his and I was curious because of the huge WS score. FWIW Tanzer wasn't crazy about the wine either (85 pts).
Anyone who has some of this coming shouldn't lose any sleep, though. If you don't like it you can presumably sell it for what you paid (or more) because of the WS score. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Sorter
Posts:267
| | 09/16/2005 10:02 PM |
| | Basedon other bottles of WH Smith, my guess that this bottle needs a couple of years to show its stuff. I think it just might be closed down for the time being. | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 09/17/2005 12:50 AM |
| | It certainly didn't seem closed or shut down, and the wine didn't show any of the usual signs of a corked, tainted or otherwise "off" bottle. Again, though, to avoid any misconstrual of my initial comments (which probably appear harsher than I intended), this is not a terrible or undrinkable wine. It's not bitter, astringent, vegetal, overly acidic or otherwise flawed in a way that made me not want to finish the bottle. It's just not an exciting, complex, interesting or elegant wine, and certainly not a 90+ drink in my opinion. Maybe it will improve with bottle age, but I wouldn't count on it. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 09/18/2005 9:08 AM |
| J.L.
I just don't see eye to eye with his ratings on the extreme numbers. What's good is bad; What's bad is good. Just blows my mind! I really don't get it. | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 09/18/2005 8:18 PM |
| | It's certainly a head-scratcher (J.L.). He's not even a useful negative weather vane. Total stone palate imo. Truly bizarre. | | | |
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GreenDrazi
Atlanta, GA
Grape Puncher
Posts:938
| | 09/28/2005 2:11 AM |
| 2003 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir Maritime Ridge – Sonoma, California $46/$46
Decanted ½ hr. Rich and racy at the start, but came together much better after an hour and was very polished. Strong dark cherry flavor with some cinnamon and plum notes along with faint notes of white pepper and anise. A supple texture with a palate that starts open and plum like with a good mouth filling middle and nice anise infused, long, & smooth finish. S94 9/27/2005 | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:76
| | 02/23/2006 6:40 AM |
| | I'd like to see someone do a blind with Marcassin, Kistler, Maritime and see what the deal is. Throw Kosta Kanzer and Sea Smoke in that mix too. Those wines with 10-15 pinot lovers would find out who's smoke and mirrors and who's lagit. | | | |
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 02/23/2006 7:39 AM |
| | An '03 K-B single vineyard would smoke WH Smith and Sea Smoke, no question. As to whether it would best Kistler or Marcassin, I suppose it would depend on the vintage/vineyard of either of the latter... | | | |
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wineismylife
Arlington, TX
Master of Wine
Posts:12265
| | 04/02/2008 11:48 AM |
| 2003 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir Maritime Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (4/1/2008)
WIML91,PURPLE90
Tasted April 1, 2008. Opened and decanted about 90 minutes before serving. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Huge almost jammy nose of currants, plums and berries. Once again big and bold fruit flavors centered on currants, plums and berries. Medium acidity and tannins, definitely full bodied and then some. Drink or hold.
PURPLE adds "Seems to me to be a big extracted wine, vanilla, oakiness, dark plums and cherries. A little big for my personal taste." (91 pts.) | |
Joe
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Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone. | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10802
| | 04/02/2008 12:08 PM |
| | Hmm, not 97 points? LOL | | | |
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