This was a bit disappointing given the reputation and high scores from critics. Possibly an off bottle or poorly handled at some point prior to being opened (the owner of the bottle has a great cellar and takes great care of his bottles). Purple in color, opaque but flat. The nose was marred by a couple of issues. First, there was brettanomyces on the nose. Not the worst "Merde", but very off putting to many at the tasting. Then it also had the "burnt rubber" notes often found in Washington Syrahs. Not sure if that was reduction of something else. There were some black cherry notes lurking but difficult to find. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, just a hint of fruit with drying, barnyardy notes. Bitter finish. Hard to really say what was going here. i don't mind Bret and would have drunk a couple of glasses and likely scored it around 88 but others at the table didn't finish their pours. Either way, I suspect a good bottle might be different so no score given.
