The winery's website lists this at $18 and this is a half bottle.Peach and some floral notes on the nose. On first pour, there was an odd, almost turpentine quality but it blew off after an hour or so. Still....strange.
No turpentine here - peach, pear, nectarine, apricot, orange blossom, and apple liqueur all blend together on the palate. By all means, this is a dessert wine - it's quite sweet - but there's also a huge amount of acid which give this a very interesting balance.
Orange blossom, peach, chamomile, and apricot linger for an impressive length - the floral notes linger for almost a minute.
Tasty overall with very nice depth - I enjoy this quite a bit.
Score: 93
Sounds like something I should try. On a side note, I see that you went to a 100 point system. How do you tell the difference between an 89 point wine and a 90 point wine? I really struggle with this and that is why I have not gotten into scoring wines. I know that I am in the minority on this one, as most people use a 100 point system.
ReplyDeleteThat, my friend, is the question. 89/90 is tough, but think about 83/84!
ReplyDeleteI've read a bit here and there about how different people come up with their numbers, and the answer is unsatisfying - "you just know" is basically it. Some people have elaborate scorecards, but I don't buy into that.
Dvorark has a great - and rather scathing - take on the 100 point scale.
Mouthfeel and taste are most important, finish slightly less so, and nose slightly less than that - but each category doesn't have an assigned value.
The entire scale - with me and with anyone else - is basically nonsense, but I enjoy having a shorthand. The number means nothing without the accompanying review to explain it.
I can easily see giving a Riesling that I like an 80 because it's tasty, but one dimensional. I can also see giving a Chardonnay that I hate a 90 because it's undeniably a good wine.
In a couple months (I have a bunch of reviews in the pipeline), reviews will be written in a semi-blind environment - a process I'll explain when it starts.
I just bought this wine from Binnys for $6. I am glad to hear that you gave it a thumbs up so to speak. I bought the Elysium on sale at Binnys for $6 also, they were having quite a good sale on dessert wines.
ReplyDeleteI picked this up at Binny's too, but it must've been before the sale.
ReplyDeleteThey have some amazing deals at their winter sale now, but I didn't see much in terms of dessert wines when I was there the other day.
That was a good review of the wine. It sounds intriguing, and I'll have to look for it.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Binny's, anyone know if the sale of Sam's to Binny's has closed, and if Sam's has been brought back up to its prior level of greatness?
Thanks for the comment Bill!
ReplyDeleteThe deal closed not too long ago and the "Sam's" brand is gone. Some of the stores closed and some were converted into Binny's.
The other day I was at Binny's and found a few "Made exclusively for Sam's" wines on clearance. Hopefully Binny's doesn't start slipping now that their major competition is gone.