Deep staining ruby.  Straight-outa-the-bottle the most opulent, intoxicating, exotic nose, ultra-ripe banana and chocolate being tempered and nutmeg and a spot of euc and briar, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I shouted, “Eureka!” and thrust it under the nose of anyone within arms reach.  I swirled it a few times and it opened into even more spice.  Then it started falling apart and OMG what a precipitous decline.

15 or 20 minutes in, tedious Sierra-Nevada over-wrought Madeira situations nosed up, terribly cloying cellar-floor issues became fore-front, and a hour later, all of the original spice had become fat, heady, obnoxious clatter indistinguishable from the now omni-present oak extract.  And then you taste it.

Thin and bitter, while maintaining the full round glycerol mouthfeel of something fully devoid of acid.  The alcohol burn–familiar from the nose–presents itself in entry, middle and finish, washing down the limpid black bug-juice.  A remarkable falling-apart which makes me sad for my beloved Alexander Valley.

2012 BLUE ROCK ‘Baby Blue’ Red Blend CAb/ME/CF/Bec/SY 45/26/18/6/5 Alexander Valley Sonoma County 14.1

http://www.bluerockvineyard.com/