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WS 93, WA 93
This is very alluring, with warm raspberry confiture gliding over
incense, spice bread and fig sauce notes. The long, silky finish has
nice dark licorice and black tea notes. Fine-grained and persistent.
Drink now through 2028.
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100% Syrah. Approachable already, this is perfumy up front, with black tea and
mulled spice notes fronting for black cherry, plum cake and coffee
notes. Shades of cedar and roasted vanilla frame the finish.
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WA 94
The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape is the most widely available (nearly
30,000+ bottles produced even in a small vintage such as 2010) of
Janasse’s Chateauneufs. It exhibits a dense purple color along with a
glorious perfume of blackberries, creosote, scorched earth, smoked
herbs, cassis and kirsch. Full-bodied with impressive purity, structure
and precision, this is a more reserved, backward and structured effort
than its 2009 and 2007 counterparts.
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WA 95, IWC 94
Interestingly enough, even though many of the 2010 Perrin et Fils
selections from the southern Rhone were scheduled to be bottled right
after my visit, the 2010 Beaucastel had already been put in bottle. This
is a gorgeous wine, a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10%
Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance the other permitted varietals in
the appellation. Deep purple, with loads of bouquet garni, beef blood,
blackberry, kirsch, smoke and truffle, this wine is full-bodied, rich
and showing even better than it did last year. I still think it needs
3-5 years of cellaring, and it should last for 25-30 years, as most of
the top vintages of Beaucastel do.
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WA 95, IWC 94
Interestingly enough, even though many of the 2010 Perrin et Fils
selections from the southern Rhone were scheduled to be bottled right
after my visit, the 2010 Beaucastel had already been put in bottle. This
is a gorgeous wine, a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10%
Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance the other permitted varietals in
the appellation. Deep purple, with loads of bouquet garni, beef blood,
blackberry, kirsch, smoke and truffle, this wine is full-bodied, rich
and showing even better than it did last year. I still think it needs
3-5 years of cellaring, and it should last for 25-30 years, as most of
the top vintages of Beaucastel do.
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Best Price In The United States
WS 89
A rather dark, loamy style, with roasted fig, coffee, braised beef and
licorice root notes. Dark and smoky through the finish, with a slightly
grainy feel. More guts than polish. Drink now through 2019.
Only 359 cases
made.
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WA (91-93), WS 91
Not as grippy as most 2005s, but wonderfully ripe and balanced, with
dark plum, fig and blackberry fruit laid over suave black tea and melted
licorice hints. The lingering, toasty finish is well-integrated. Drink
now through 2035.
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WS 92, WA 90+
The backward, full-bodied, concentrated, dense, tannic, structured and mineral-laced 2010 St.-Joseph Les Coteaux offers up a liqueur of rocks intermixed with black cherries, oak, lavender and black as well as red fruits. This is a long-term proposition, so forget it until 2015 and drink it over the next 15 or so.
This up-and-coming small estate is run by brothers Eric and Joel Durand, who made terrific wines in 2009, top-class 2010s and impressively strong efforts from the more challenging 2011 vintage. All three Cornas cuvees are noteworthy. The Durands have also been successful in St.-Joseph.
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WA 93+
The 2007 Hermitage Ex-Voto Blanc enjoys the same 100% new oak treatment
and 30 months aging in barrel (an uncommonly long time for a dry white
wine, but these wines are so concentrated and full, they can easily
handle their long aging). The 2007 is more closed than the 2006,
revealing a light gold color along with hints of crushed rocks, white
currants, quince, hazelnut and marmalade, excellent acidity and super
intensity but much less evolution, which is atypical for this vintage.
Cellar it for several years and consume it over the following two
decades.
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WS 95, WA 93
ery dense, with espresso, maduro tobacco and a strong tarry edge leading
the way for now, while a core of plum cake, hoisin sauce and steeped
black currant broods in the background. The dense, ganache-filled finish
demands cellaring. This is just a half step behind the La La bottlings
now. Very impressive. Best from 2013 through 2024.
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Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre. Densely packed with some grip still to shed, this has lightly firm
layers of crushed fig, plum and macerated black currant fruit, laced
with graphite, roasted cedar, tobacco and hot stone notes. The finish is
long and muscular, but driving acidity runs underneath it all.
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WS 93, WA 93
Autard’s quasi-modern-styled offering is the dense plum/purple-colored
2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde, a blend of equal parts
Grenache and Syrah from relatively old vines (60 plus years) that sees
some new oak barrels. However, the 2009 shows only subtle evidence of
vanillin and toast. It is a seductive, full-bodied, opulent effort
displaying notes of caramelized red and black fruits, herbs, licorice
and a hint of ink. This full-bodied, rich 2009 is ideal for drinking
over the next 12+ years.
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WS 93
Lots of roasted mesquite and apple wood notes jump to the fore,
with bay leaf, chestnut leaf, dark fig and blackberry fruit and a long
finish tinged with wood spice and brick dust. A rock-solid, old-school
version, with the tannic spine of the vintage. Best from 2014 through
2025.
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WA 96, WS 96, IWC 96
The stunning 2007 Cote Rotie La Mouline boasts notes of sweet lychee
nuts, licorice, black raspberries, kirsch and a floral/honeysuckle
character that one associates with white wines. Full-bodied and
voluptuously textured with silky tannin, this beauty is reminiscent of
the 1997 and 1991 La Mouline. Enjoy it now through 2031.
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WS 93, IWC 91
This is rock-solid, with crushed raspberry, kirsch, juniper and smoked
apple wood notes, backed by a broad, plush, spice- and anise-filled
finish. Nicely rounded and integrated for the vintage. Drink now through
2021.
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*Important:
- Please allow at least 24 hours for a Black Bear representative to confirm your order.
- Closeout wines are sold by the whole case only. No mixed cases with closeout wines.
- We also offer free local delivery.
Black Bear Wines & Spirits 221 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06880 | 203.227.2468 |
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