Today was a busy one guys. First came the garden as my dog decided that the drip system was his and apparently he was very hungry and so needed to eat parts of it. After that issue was remedied, I had to replant some baby banana plants (pups) that come up around two older plants that unfortunately did not survive last Winter (I'm a little behind:) That was super easy and the whole area looks so much better now. It was then shower time and of course, relaxation time which brings me to this wine review. After recently watching some YouTube wine channels for a bit, I was happy to see that while their styles were all a bit different from one another, they all successfully put across useful information. While I do still think my wine YouTube channel review (https://www.youtube.com/@TheDesertWineGuy/videos) style is a just a little bit more down to Earth than theirs, I do like diversity... to an extent and I do think these channels provide that. Continuing on now with the thought of relaxation, I have a wine to review so let's get to it.
Today I will be taking a look at the 2021 Matt Parish - Petit Verdot - Special Bottling. I bought this wine off of the site Naked Wines and I paid $38.99 for it. 
The wine sat for 18 months in French oak and the grapes for it came from the Rutherford AVA of the Napa Valley. The wine comes in at 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is cork sealed. According to Matt himself "The
grapes were handpicked and fermented in small stainless-steel
fermenters. The wine was matured in French oak barrels (33% new) for 18
months." Matt goes on to say "Prior to bottling I select the best barrels and added a touch of
Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to elevate the style."
On the nose here I am getting some nice graphite as well as a bit of black spice. There is a sense of a very dark and deep blackberry note here that mixes in very well with a slight note of mocha the wine is also offering up. Topping the wines bouquet off is a bit of bell pepper that is coming through here as well. From my impression of the nose I am thinking this wine is going to be one powerhouse of a wine. All I have left to say is what a beautiful and expressive nose this wine has.
On the palate now, all those notes that I picked up on the nose translate right on over to here. Right off the bat I can tell you that this is a deep, complex and very serious wine folks as it seems all of Matts red wines are so get ready for this review. First of all, beautiful graphite does a nice job of leading off as the dominant note on this wine but just barely. While it is difficult to determine at first, the other notes follow up just behind the graphite but not much behind so you need to pay attention and be ready for them. A Green pepper note (pyrazine) is not shy here and is gently challenging the graphite note for dominance but eventually gives into its lead and is delicious guys. Black fruit is fresh and juicy without being sweet. The wine offers up a florality of sorts which takes a back seat yet finds a way to intermingle itself nicely throughout the wines entirety.
Acidity is on the higher side and helps as well in elevating everything the wine is trying to do. Plum is well represented here as well and it is on the deep, dark side. As a side note and getting back to the black fruit note, I need to let you guys know that the wine is not a sweet tasting, overly fruit forward one, as I previously said, this is a very serious and well controlled red wine. This is a wine that lives up to its varietal reputation. A well placed bit of sage is here in the background as well and it is indeed just a bit and not looking to do anything other then let you know it is present and help the wine continue its robustness. Rutherford dust. Okay guys, to me, when I taste this wine I am reminded of that Rutherford Dust type note that normally is spoken of in a great Cabernet Sauvignon. I have never experienced this dust element in reference to this particular varietal but it works. There are some say this note doesn't exist, I say drink this wine and you will have a great feel for what it tastes like and why I love it. As for any alcohol burn, there is none which is awesome as this is something no one wants but can happen with an alcohol percentage such as this wine packs. Blueberry is a note that is content to be in the background here and it is a great thing that it is not attempting to fight for control. On top of all of this, I am also getting a bit of licorice and let me tell you that it too is nice. Tannin's present themselves nicely and come across as lightly dusty providing a slight coating to the tongue as well. I enjoyed this expression tremendously as in ... like totally though it was great. One note that really sets this wine off to me and I just have to come back to it is the "greenish" note that the bell pepper puts out. This is a common note for the varietal but usually shows up in an older expressions of it. This greenish note is offered up very nicely here and is well done. The wine overall is in perfect balance and I think Matts greatness in wine making really shows itself off here. As a last note, I am getting a spice note that is delicious and just keeps the taste of this wine moving strongly along.
Well it's been a long review but here we are, the conclusion. Let me start off by cutting to the chase and giving you the Desert Wine Guy rating for this wine which is a very solid 96 points. Yeah guys, the wine very simply rocked. As I said earlier, what a powerhouse wine this is and one that I know you will love if you love the Petit Verdot varietal. My recommendation is for you to buy three bottles of this wine (I already have) as you will have one when you get it which will leave you very happy that you have two more in your cellar. So, that's about all I have to say guys, the wine was amazing.
THE NEXT DAY - So, it is the next day and I am back to see just how the wine handled the night. Yesterday I ended up enjoying a half a bottle of the wine and you already know that I loved it but the question now is how did it hold up over night? I couldn't see just throwing a half of a bottle of amazing wine down the drain guys so here we are again quickly, (yeah right) talking about it. I placed a stopper in the bottle and it sat on my desk all night. Having first opened the bottle to review at around 4 PM the evening prior, it is now 4:31 PM of the next day so what is going on with it? As I bring the glass to my nose now, I can tell you that the nose has died down a good bit but the same notes that I picked up yesterday are still present today. On the palate now, the wine has toned down a good bit as well and the wine is now what I would consider to be just decent... nothing special, nothing to write home about, just decent. There seems to have been a certain something lost overnight. If I were tasting this wine for the first time having just opened the bottle today I would not be too impressed. While the wine currently is simply okay, it is certainly not a 96 point wine by any means. There is now a flatness to it of sorts that comes into play on the finish, a bit of blandness and if I were to rate the wine today I would give it 92 points.
