2004 Ilona Howell Mountain

Community Tasting Notes (34) Avg Score: 89.5 points

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  1/28/2023 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Another pleasant surprise from this wine. Decanted and tasted shortly thereafter. Dark almost opaque garnet with little to no bricking. Rich chewy texture. Nose had vanilla. Boysenberry, cassis, plum and some floral and tobacco notes. Palate is long and layered. Tasty with steak. My last bottle but a wonderful QPR over nearly 2 decade.

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  8/9/2018 - keepcleanbob Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Channels an aging Bordeaux with notes of leather replacing the fruit but balanced

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  10/9/2016 - wineman73 wrote: 91 Points

  The 2004 Ilona Howell Mountain Blend color was a deep scarlet red. The nose provided scents of rosewater, tar, and cherry. The mouth feel was medium with light to medium tannins. A very nice velvety feel that provided a taste of mushroom, wet stone, plum, cherry, and a hint of licorice. A very nice wine. Drink now. Score 91

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  10/8/2016 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Decanted at about 5pm and drunk over three more hours. Medium to dark garnet colored. The nose has lots of tar and vanilla and layers of rose petals with a bit of "sharpness"/crystalline minerality. On the palate I get tar, red plum, rose petals, earthy mushroom, anise and oddly some bacon on the finish. Nicely textured, soft on the tongue and somewhat voluptuous. At or about peak but certainly can sustain for some time to come. This was a surpriseingly good pairing with a pan seared halibut over a butternut squash purée and truffled fingerling potatoes...it really brought out the roses and earthy notes to the point that it almost tasted like a Barolo. Lovely!

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  4/30/2016 - oldwines Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Medium to dark garnet/purple. Nose has dark chocolate and black fruit with some oaky creaminess. Palate is quite rich and chewy with black raspberry, chocolate, licorice and a touch of cedar. Modern styled, soft and rich on the tongue with just a little heat (despite only 13.8% ABV) but very little tannin. Very smooth, feminine with rich body. Has some fine sediment, needs decanting.

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View all 34 Community Tasting Notes

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