3/18/2020 - hawkeye54 wrote:

This was I'd say aggressively decanted several times by myself in celebration of my restaurant being shut down for Corona virus. Huge wine. Took several hours to become what I'd describe as Pinot like IMO. A very good wine indeed even though not in my wheelhouse.

12/26/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over three days. Decanted for three hours. Day one was still pretty tight. Day two was a little better. Day three was great. Beautiful aromatics and fruit to go along with. Long life ahead! The score reflects the current drinking experience. I would expect some improvement in 2-4 years time.

12/26/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over three days. Day one was ok. Very tannic and a little acidity. Day two was a bit disjointed and fruity. Day three was lush and a very nice drink with enough structure to make it all work. Probably not worth cellaring for eight years, but it was one of the first 20-30 bottles I added to my cellar so it was fun to finally open up.

10/27/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Delicious right out of the bottle. Medium bodied, nice balance. Would buy again.

10/21/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over two days. Still huge and monolithic, but excellent in it's style.

10/20/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Just a huge wine. Not my style of Pinot noir at this point. Hopefully it will improve in the bottle. I've had several other vintages of Pisoni and this one seems very heavy handed.

10/20/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Cork was starting to fall apart. Rich and lush all the way around. No real tanniic structure left. This never felt heavy or cloying however. Still enjoyable, but on the decline.

9/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Beautiful Ruby color, medium body. Strawberry, pomegranate nose. Extremely aromatic. Medium dry. Everyone loved this. Much conversation ensued. Delicious.

9/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Same notes as last time. Opened up beautifully after 45-1 hour in the glass. No change since last tasted a couple years ago.

7/1/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Smoky, savory and a little bit of stone fruit. Beautifully complex and a pleasure to drink.

7/1/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Holding up very nicely. Rich fruit and nice acidity to go with it. Glad I waited.

7/1/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted for one hour. It needed a decant but this absolutely beautiful. Medium to full bodied. Rich fruit on the nose and palate, but not over done at all. Intense fruit, expansive on the palate and beautful acidity/tannic structure to finish, which went on for over a minute. This is my forth time tasting the Pisoni Estate bottling and the first time I've had the Wow experience many describe. Beautifully balanced and the WOTN for evryone.

2010 Antica Terra Botanica
2002 Beringer Private Reserve Cab
2004 Dom Perignon
2008 Clape Cornas
2007 Drinkward Peschon Cab
2011 Pisoni Estate

7/1/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted for three hours. Still very tight on the nose and palate. Started to show nice aromas and a little fruit on the palate after five hours being open. Seems to have a long way to go.

7/1/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Pnp. Nice right out of the bottle. Opened up nicely over an hour or so then started to fade a little. Drink up!

5/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

No real notes here, except that it was delicious right out of the bottle. Some definite tannic structure showed up with extended airation.

5/17/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

30 minute decant. This was a big Napa cab in a great way. Not over the top in my opinion like Caymus or others in that category. Probably could have used an hour decant as the secondary flavors and a nice acidic backbone really started to show after a couple hours. Just a pleasure to drink right now.

4/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Great drinking window currently. Ready to go out of the bottle. This was a crowd favorite of course. Typical Cali cab flavors but not overdone.

4/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Stunning wine. Never had a Pinot like this. Beautiful aromas of red cherry, smoke and rose. Sweet oranges and red cherry dominate the palate. Beautiful balance with a good tannic finish. Absolute pleasure to drink. I don't know what 5-10 years bring to this wine, but there's no reason to feel bad about drinking now. Wow.

4/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Drinking great. Typical Cali bdx blend with excellent balance of fruit, tannin and acidity. Seems to have many years of excellent drinking ahead of it. No hurry to drink, but no need to wait any longer in my opinion.

4/29/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Consistent trajectory from my previous experience. This is a secondary stage to a down hill stage. The nose is absolutely beautiful. I could smell this wine all day. Palate was ok, except the mid palate was missing a bit. Started to flesh out and develop nicely after an hour. Drink up.

2/14/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Super bowl wine. Shared at Cellar 626 with friends. Opened up nicely over two hours. Nicely balanced fruit and structure. Drinking great now, seems to be in peak drinking condition.

2/5/2019 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over two days. Initially closed on the nose but nice fruit on the palate. Opened up over the first few hours to give up nice aromas, many mentioned in the notes before mine. The second day this is nicely aromatic and we'll balanced with a bit of the heat showing on the finish. Drinking fine, but I don't see it lasting for more than a couple years before a serious decline.

12/29/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Holding strong. This was the best showing I've had so far. Decanted for two hours. Never really fell off over three hour drinking window. Shared with many friends over Christmas Eve. Everyone commented on how nuanced the flavors were. Delicious!

12/29/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

First time with Cristal. Delicious in every way. Sweet honey, round and just a pleasure to drink.

12/2/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Wife opened and drank without me. Which is totally fine, except she has no idea what Clape is. F$?k!!!

11/28/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted for 45 minutes. Still very acidic, but it settled in the glass quickly. Fantastically aromatic with red berries, flowers and a touch of pepper. Strawberries, tart cherries, licorice and pepper on the palate. Structured like a fine burgundy with fantastic balance of fruit , acidity and tannin.

11/26/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Drank over three hours. Fruit forward and straddling the line of being over extracted. However I believe it's pretty well balanced with nice acidity and integrated tannins. Tastes good on it's own, but better with my NY strip. Unfortunately I have to say it was not worth the money paid or the Ten years in my cellar.

11/23/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Nice wine with food. A little over ripe for my palate to enjoy more than a glass on it's own.

11/22/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Love this wine for cocktail or with food. So easy.

11/22/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Nice cocktail wine, but a bit too oaky and buttery today for me to get excited about it.

9/7/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Muted aromas initially. Nice medium bodied palate with loads of acidity and medium tannin. Aromas changed to become a little funky and typical of Burgundy after two hours. Continued to hold onto the acidity however. Well balanced wine that seems to have the stuffing to go for a few more years, but I'm not sure how long the fruit holds on.

9/7/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Huge nose of oak and rich dark fruits. Palate followed with much of the same accopmanied by loads of acidity and tannin. Opened up a little over three hours, but this needs a lot of air or more time in bottle to reward full enjoyment.

9/7/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted for 30 minutes. Beautiful blue fruits and a little oak on the nose. Very expressive and full bodied without being over the top sweet or jammy. Nicely balanced acidity and tannin. Probably could last several more years, or a longer decant would help.

9/6/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted one hour. Initially a little hesitant, but then exploded out of the glass. Beautiful fruit and acidic balance. Drank beautifully for three hours. Second day was a big drop off. Ready to drink.

7/14/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Similar to previous bottles. Good but not great. Drank over six hours. Slight improvement. After my recent experiences with thus bottling, I'm beginning to think Eloge is a wine better consumed young.

7/4/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Over the hill. Toasted. Major dissapointment considering I've had it for eight years in my cellar.

6/18/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

This wine is not for me. I've tasted it several times with consistent results, which is good. However, it's just way to overdone for me. I hope it sheds some serious fat in it's old age, but I don't think there's enough tannin to last. Drank over three days and it tasted like bad port on the third day.

6/12/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Pnp. Gorgeous right out of the bottle. The nose and palate are intoxicating even without the alcohol. A mix between new and old world. Although I don't think there's a rush to drink this vintage, I can't imagine there being a more enjoyable experience in it's evolution.

6/4/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Decanted. Plush fruity nose on opening. Out of balance initially. Too much fruit and short finish. This did improve over the evening, but not to the point where it was great. Hopefully this bottling will improve eventually, but I'm not holding out hope. This was so much better in it's youth.

6/2/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Delicious right out of the bottle. Nice perfumed nose. Soft tannins.

5/21/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over three days. Decanted three hours. Muted aromatics and palate. Second day it's more open, but still not giving up much. By the end of day three this is starting to sing. Biggest difference is the finish that goes on for one minute plus on day three. Very primary throughout. Seems destined to age gracefully into a magnificent wine. 10+ years before it really starts to show it's stuff IMO.

5/21/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Extremely aromatic nose of Sherry cask. Incredibly smooth with Brandy back bone. Drink at room temp or even slightly chilled, but no ice. I tried it with one cube, no bueno.

4/9/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Nice wine. Rich, lemony and a full bodied. Not overly complex and the qpr is not.good, but a nice wine overall. Went well with halibut.

4/9/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Fine bubbles. Love the Pinot influence here that gives it some depth. Solid.

4/9/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Opened and let slow.ox for four hours. Initially very young and tight. Beautiful aromatics dominated by red and black fruits. Started to show very well after 5-6 hours. Beautiful structure.

4/9/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Tightly wound and young. Very well balanced and elegantly structured. This opened up nicely after about four hours to show some of the fruit.

3/12/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Much more evolved than last bottle. Funky nose upon opening. Tart and tanninc. Rounded out after an hour. This is drinking nicely now. I don't see this improving with more bottle age. Good but not great.

3/6/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

Drank over two days. Initial aromas are beautiful And typical barolo. Flowers, leather, cherry. Medium bodied. Very well balanced. By the second day this has thinned out considerably. Beautiful short term drinker IMO. (10 years)

2/19/2018 - hawkeye54 Likes this wine:

Drank over three hours. Very aromatic. Fruity and a bit acidic, but well balanced leaning towards the fruit. I've held in to these for awhile and I can't decide if it's been worth the cellar space. It's a very nice drink and delicious, but not much of a thinker. Kind of like my note. ✌️

1/13/2018 - hawkeye54 wrote:

PNP. Rich fruit, roasted, a little port like fruit. A touch of funk on the nose. Not much acidity or tannins left. Fun to drink for the intellectual qualities, but past it's prime.