Agharta black label 2009 notes

All, at some point I bought a 6 pack of this wine. Now on my third bottle…All are undrinkable…really! So I went back to find any notes, ratings, wine maker comments. I can find none in my files. Or pricing. I would love to know what the original promise was for these wines. They are horrible…anybody got any original wine maker comments, ratings, pro notes on this wine? I need closure :laughing:. What made me buy these?

You probably bought them as did I because Pax was the winemaker. $75 Mostly Alder Springs. 54 months in French oak. I opened one recently and I pretty much agree. It was not good. I had the 07 version and 1 bottle was pretty good but my second bottle was flawed. I also had the 05 (30% New French oak 343 cases $80) which was really good.

The one time I bought Agharta wines (Cab) I hated them.

Dudes, where were you when I needed you. I still would like to see the original notes…there must be some!

This appears to be the original mailer:

I cannot think of a more deliciously hedonistic bottle of wine to compliment the cold, early spring evenings in front of us. Sourced almost entirely from the famed Alder Springs Vineyard in northern Mendocino County, this concentrated and powerful Syrah-based wine is sure to evoke memories of great aged bottles that cost three to four times more. The extended barrel aging that we utilize in this tiny production wine is intended to mimic those attributes that make an aged bottle of wine so special and rare.

Tasting notes
Roasted earth, dark chocolate, baked blueberries, blackberries and pepper on the exotic aromas. Full bodied and rich with fresh berries and brown spice to enliven the decadent nature of this wild Syrah. Long supple and silken this will pair brilliantly with grilled meats.

It looks like Garagiste offered it a few years ago for $28. Maybe that’s when you bought it?

(Edit - just saw that Roger beat me to it, but yes, that was the original release email. Mine includes the short intro sentence.)

From the release email in 2015:

Greetings Enlightened One,

It is with immense satisfaction that I offer this singular bottling of the 2009 Agharta Black Label. After spending 54 months in barrel and another 12 months in bottle, we have selected this spectacular bottle of juice to represent the sole release from Agharta this spring.

I cannot think of a more deliciously hedonistic bottle of wine to compliment the cold, early spring evenings in front of us. Sourced almost entirely from the famed Alder Springs Vineyard in northern Mendocino County, this concentrated and powerful Syrah-based wine is sure to evoke memories of great aged bottles that cost three to four times more. The extended barrel aging that we utilize in this tiny production wine is intended to mimic those attributes that make an aged bottle of wine so special and rare.

Tasting notes

Roasted earth, dark chocolate, baked blueberries, blackberries and pepper on the exotic aromas. Full bodied and rich with fresh berries and brown spice to enliven the decadent nature of this wild Syrah. Long supple and silken this will pair brilliantly with grilled meats.


I only bought the 2004 Black Label, ‘’06 Exhibit B and the 2009 Cataclysm White but continued to get the offers for years after. I enjoyed the ‘04 BL and ‘06 ExB Bdx blend, but was not a fan of the Cataclysm. When I tried to click on the link in the old email I got a “website on hold” notice. I believe Pax sold his share of Agharta as part of the sale of his Wind Gap holding.

Cheers!

Steve

Thanks all, maybe I just have very “off” bottles. My experience is not even close to the above notes. Thanks again!

John,

In a situation like this, it would be really helpful to understand what you mean by ‘horrible’. That term, unfortunately, has no objective meaning - and therefore it is impossible to ascertain what the ‘issue’ might be here - whether it simply is the fact that this wine is not made in a style that you like, if the wine was heat damaged, if the wine was corked, if the wine is showing some signs of brett, whether the wine is showing signs of bacterial issues, whether it is ‘out of balance’ with regards to alcohol and fruit and texture, etc.

Any chance you can add more here? Thanks!

Cheers.

Pax was partners with Gloria Schaefer who was behind the Audelssa label.

Molesworth wrote about his visit with Pax and had to say about the 2007:

The Sonoma County 2007 is the current release, as it was aged in barrel (at least 50 percent new) for just over 60 months. The 98/2 Syrah and Viognier blend is a large-scaled wine, markedly different from the Wind Gap and Pax wines in style, showing grilled and raw beef notes, along with pastis, charcoal, blackberry and boysenberry pate de fruit and a long, singed alder–framed finish. Despite its heft it has great cut and drive, leaving a nearly mouthwatering feel on the finish.
Obviously not the 2009, but he was unwilling to call it for what it is. And Tanzer and Galloni also liked the Agharta line up, but again, did not write about the 2009 Syrah.

But it’s pretty bad. In fact, they all were.

Larry - I don’t want to speak for the OP, but the wines I had were not damaged or improperly stored. I’ve had a few, the black label and red label and the Cab and they are of a type.

The original Pax wines were big, super-ripe, and I suppose what one might call “hedonistic”. They at least tasted of fruit and especially the Castelli-Knight had notes of pepper and spice overlaying it. If you don’t like big wines, you may not have liked them, but they were all good efforts showing a particular aesthetic.

Wind Gap is quite different. Leaner, more savory, but also showcasing the vineyards. Those wines can be quite delicious. I like them quite a bit actually.

The Agharta was big, but not in the way of the Pax wines, which were big wines, but also quite delicious. Agharta was just big with no deliciousness factor. No discernable fruit. OTOH, plenty of alcohol. Bitter and tannic, showing nothing particularly promising. With a young wine from Bordeaux or elsewhere, you may get a mouthful of “structure” but you can usually discern something else layered in there and you figure perhaps if the tannins soften a bit, or the oak integrates, or whatever, you’ll have a nice wine. With the Agharta wines, I couldn’t discern much of anything. I’ve laid some down, mostly because I never felt like drinking them. But on occasion, we open one. After five years, much less ten or fifteen, you might be forgiven for concluding that perhaps there just isn’t much that’s ever going to happen. Neither delicious nor interesting, the wines were horrible IMHO.

I’m sure there are others who would disagree.

Greg,

Thanks - that helps me understand why many may not like these wines. Saying something is ‘undrinkable’ or ‘bad’ simply does not paint a clear enough picture to determine if the wine was faulty or made in a style not desired OR just flat out out of balance (however you want to categorize that ‘objectively’)

Cheers

I had a few of the Agharta right bank type blend, called the Exhibit B, which I think they only made in 2006. I think mostly merlot and cab franc. I really liked it at the time; it was pretty plush and soft in style, but I recall the cab franc kept it more interesting and kept the mouthfeel from veering heavy.

Looking on CT now, people still seem to be enjoying that 2006 for the most part, though some people note some alcohol heat to the finish.

I never tried the syrah or cab though.

Larry, fair enough on your question. "Horrible/Undrinkable = it has a "piney chew on wood taste (think turpentine) soy overtures, fruit is there but masked by the pine sap taste. Hot alcohol burn on throat. 3 bottles all variation of above!

Not the black label, but I finally got around to popping a 2009 white label Mountain Terraces cab., and loved it. I bought this from the winery in a late release offering in 2012. Here are my notes. happy holidays, all,
Jonathan

“A beautiful Cab., with notes of savory plum and cassis, complemented by herbs and fennel. Rich and balanced. Does dry out a touch on the lengthy finish. I would imagine this has another 5+ years left in the tank.” 92 points

Interesting. I kind of gave up on that label entirely. Love the Wind Gap but after a few disappointments with the Agharta, that became an easy pass.

Then I recently saw some Agharta on sale after Pax announced he’d sold the label. So I bought a bottle of the 2017 Agharta Black Label Syrah Central Coast. It was surprisingly good. Might not be everyone’s preference, but it had some of the meaty elements you often get in Syrah, good structure without being punishingly bitter and tannic, and it even had a slight floral element. All in all a pretty nice wine, especially at a steep discount. And the alcohol level wasn’t nutty at all, stated as 14.2 on the label. My wife bought a few cases to serve at a non-profit event and it was quite the hit.

No idea what happened but we have a fair amount of it left over and I’m not having any regrets like I did about the few that I paid full price for. Pax is a good wine maker and maybe he himself finally decided that he didn’t really like the earlier Agharta style. I have no clue. While I still agree with the first few posts on this thread, this later, cheaper wine was not nearly as problematic.

I just finished my last one tonight. New oak and Syrah are a dangerous mix. While I wouldn’t write home about it, this was the best bottle out of my three. Feel like the oak isn’t as perceptible and it is more clearly a new world Syrah. Give this some more time to gain some tertiary notes and it might surprise?

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