Folks, today I want......no, today I need to tell you about a wine that I simply HAD to write an article about. Did I say HAD? yeah, I sure did. Let me begin this review by telling you a story. I had originally began to do a review of another wine, the 2016 Le Charmel Sauvignon Blanc but when I took my first two sips of the wine I became aware of one thing and that one thing was, the wine absolutely had to be dumped down the Kitchen sink. The wine was disgusting! I then opened the 2008 Bella Vista Gewertzraminer and it too was really bad but at least that wine had an excuse, it was a white wine from 2008 and was not meant to be around that long. The wine which had no excuse was the 2016 Le Charmel as it was just made. By now I am done thinking about any review and I just want to relax with a decent wine. I opened yet another wine, this time the wine was the 2006 Firestone Merlot which was produced and bottled by Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos, California (
https://www.firestonewine.com/Visit/Visit-Us).
Now, you are probably saying, where? Well that is what my reaction was. The fact that I had never heard of the Vineyard and the fact that the wine was so old and yet held up so well is why I absolutely had to break out the Computer again and do a review on this wine. Aside from that, after raving to my 8 year old Daughters (the bosses) about the wine and telling them that I wish I did a review on the wine and that the Winery deserved so much credit for making a wine that held up this long they finally said "why don't you do a review"? You know what? They are right and so here is that review.
Today's review as I said is on the 2006 Firestone Vineyards Merlot from the Central Coast. This another in a series of wines that I bought the wine from the Wine of The Month Club (
https://www.wineofthemonthclub.com/) and as it turns out (and you will see) I am very glad I did. After doing some research on the Internet, I can find nothing out concerning this wine and so I will be E-Mailing them today to see if I can find out any more information. What I can tell you about the wine is that it comes in at 13.5% on the Alcohol percentage and that the Cork held up without issues. Let me begin this review by briefly talking about the one disappointing factor that I came across in relation to the wine.
I am a wine label person as I believe the wines label is so important. On this wine I am feeling sort of neutral however concerning the label as it is neither one which would attract me or grab my attention and check out the wine nor was it one that would repel me. The label was simply okay.
On the Nose now the wine was very proud of the Cocoa and the decent bit of Oak that it happily put out. Both of these notes were rather noticeable and impressive impressively inviting as well. There was a peppery spice as well which I thought was truly impressive and was surprised about. This peppery spice I thought really added a nice twist from the Cocoa & Oak. In actuality, I am truly impressed that this wine had anything at all left to present whether it be on the Nose and I thought it was a pleasant surprise.
Before I start off here I need to let you guys know something. I am not in any way shape or form a lover at all of an overly fruit
forward and sugary red wine. Yes, some fruit forwardness and sugar on
the Palate is perfectly acceptable but a sugar or fruit bomb is not to my liking.
Having said this, please keep it in mind as you read on.
Moving to the Palate now......ahhh.....wow. Let's start off right away with a super nice note of a Baked Cocoa that is certainly up front, it is not overpowering but so incredibly nice. This Baked Cocoa is so smooth on the Palate yet also as I said is so forward that I just couldn't believe what I was tasting. I truly wish you could be here to taste this note right along with me. The Cocoa note is joined by a note of Oak that simply meshes in so perfectly withe Baked Cocoa that I am........amazed. Folks,The Cocoa note sort of takes on a bit of the Oak and amazingly that adds a sort of softness to the wine yet not a softness which kills or deadens it but one that simply elevates the Oak while keeping the sugar of the Baked Cocoa to a level where it is just perfect. Wine lovers, I am not done by any means so hold onto your seats because here it comes. Let's talk for just a minute about a Plum note that is simply straight up front on the Palate.
The Plum note which by the way, is not full of sugar presents itself in such an
incredible way and with a perfectly controlled level of sugar/fruit that
it is just a touch more then efficient yet truly not anywhere near coming
close to being a sugar bomb. As the wine stands right now and I'm talking about 45 minutes into it, I cannot express how impressed I am with it. This is a low priced red wine from 2006, I'm in awe. Let's move along now and talk about a Black Pepper spice that is on the Finish. This Black Pepper note is way in the back of the Palate
and adds incredible life to the wine.Yes, even though it appears toward the back of the Palate this note makes it's presence well known and that presence does create a difference in how the wine comes across in the mouth. Without this note the wine would be missing a certain something. All this while this Black Pepper note sits so far in the back on the Finish that it is
almost as if the wine says "don't forget what you are drinking", you certainly wont. Let me talk about a fruit forwardness that the wine presents on the Palate. Is this a fruit forward wine? That is the question that I can hear you asking. The answer to that
question is.......yes, it is BUT it is fruit forward only because of that Plum
note and nothing more. While that may sound weird I would like to explain. The Plum is while not full of sugar certainly sugary enough to pull this wine up front with fruit. Yes, it is that powerful and remember the Baked Cocoa also adds to that feeling of sugar on the Palate. I need to repeat here that the wine held it's own in the Palate presentation of sweetness. The wine presents a perfect amount of fruit forwardness and sugar to carry every note to it's fullest I promise you. Let me re-group here for a minute. So I sat back in my chair and looked over this wine bottle and the wine itself once again. I took a decent sip in my mouth and this is
what I am thinking right now.......Cocoa, dark fruit, Pepper, Plum.....oh and
Tannins.....yes, I said Tannins dear readers.
Now hold on a second there Desert Wine Guy, do you mean that after all these years, the wine still can maintain itself so well AND present Tannins? In short, Yeah, that's what I am saying. Let's talk about these Tannin's for a minute. Around mid to just after mid Palate there are some really nice Tannins that coat the Tongue. Yes, after all these years this wine can still present Tannins that are something to be reckoned with, how amazing is that? One final note here wine lovers. Can you believe that in this old wine there still is a nice note of Tobacco on the Palate? Well, believe it or not this wine did put forward a note of Tobacco that
still was able to make you sit up and take note of it. Did I say that
Tobacco was the final note? Well.....I was mistaken as there is a note that I should tell you about and that is a note of red wine acidity. What? This wine is from 2006 Desert Wine Guy, what are you talking about? Folks, the last note or taste on the Palate that this wine talks about is indeed one of Acidity. How can all of this be you ask? That is a great question but and the only answer that I have for you is that the Winemaker was just simply that good. Folks, it is that time. I have to end this review guys because it is 6:18 PM right now and I
must do the Father / Husband thing so let me move to the closing chapter of this
review.
This is a wine from 2006 folks and I don't believe that the wine was created with the intent of aging like this. From the very little that I can see this wine sold for around $15 when
it was released. I guess in 2006 this was a decent bit of money for a
wine (I will avoid delving into politics here) so I guess I shouldn't be
surprised that the wine held up like it did. Folks, this wine is simply ...... outstanding and on The Desert Wine Guy
rating scale I am giving it a straight, no doubt 93 AWESOME points. While this wine is a fruit forward wine it stops short of being a Sugar Bomb or an overly fruity wine. Believe it not, this wine still had to Decant for around a half hour but once it did it did it held strong and did not change any further. Readers this wine is indeed beyond belief. I don't know how else to say it, the wine exceed all of my expectations. Now, I know that you can't buy the wine anymore but I want you to check into Firestone Vineyards (see link above) and give their wine a shot. I can almost guarantee that the Winemaker never thought that his wine would being enjoyed in 2019 when he created it. Whatever the Winemaker thought, I can tell you that if you give this wine a half hour to Decant it will certainly impress you.
The Desert Wine Guy
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