Mike Smith just scored 99 points on his sold-out GIII and this is his inaugural vintage. Not only am I all in, I’m hoping they tag my wish list!! Side note, the label is badass!!
Just read on their website that it’s aged 23 months in barrel. I’ve followed Mike for years and that’s the longest I’ve ever seen for one of his wines. If Leahis posting it’s lights out, I’m inclined to believe her!!
Mike Smith just scored 99 points on his sold-out GIII and this is his inaugural vintage. Not only am I all in, I’m hoping they tag my wish list!! Side note, the label is badass!!
I’ll keep an eye out for early reviews. I buy a ton of Mikes wines so I’m always interested. This is just the second most expensive bottle he makes at this point (that I’m aware of) so I’m a bit hesitant. 12C was always great for the price.
Out of curiosity, what is the first?
Carter GTO - even though it’s only sold in Mag, I believe it’s $600 ish per mag making it $300 per 750ml. Under that would be Carter OG and Verdad at $195 per. Again - I could be missing something I don’t know of.
I think I’m done buying anything from Beckstoffer fruit.
Ah, thanks for replying. I completely forgot about the GTO.
Absolutely. Hopefully this stuff is incredible and then I can go back and get some. For now I’ll wait on the reviews.
Why is that?
Some of the NYTimes article:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2982779#p2982779
He uses heavy fertilization and irrigation.
But more than anything, I’ll try to support things like these with my limited resources:
https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/the-next-macdonald/146053/197
I’ll still be purchasing Mike Smith wines–but probably not the Beckstoffer offers.
Well, we got it and popped it.
My wife started our tasting discussion: “Wow, this is really good.”
She actually sort of took the lead for whole tasting note:
Deep deep dark red fruit, but not overly much.
Long finish.
Perhaps some very fain allspice, but not overtly…more like a coolness on the palate, which is her preferred style. So, I would say great alcohol balance.
Prominent tannin, but actually quite balanced with the fruit in that way people used to describe wines as ‘feminine.’ (I don’t really have a good new descriptor and mean only to talk style of wine, not be a genderizer.) Not over-bearing in any one aspect, generally well behaved.
Long finish.
I really appreciated Sarah K’s post in the wine notes thread, so will try to use her framework…
- How was the wine handled? Opened and allowed to sit for two hours at cellar temp, which is 53 degree lately. We use ‘Bordeaux’ type stems, we get them at the “Original Wine Club” in Santa Ana, CA. Wide base.
- Some comment on the nose - expressive, mute, any offensive notes? I would say slightly reticent, which is a fine feature for me. All the notes are present, I just had to sit and appreciate them. Not fruit forward, but still with great fruit hidden inside. Pure cabernet notes.
- Some comment on the body and weight. Medium body, medium weight…one way I use to decide this is how fast a glass goes by. We drank the whole bottle in one evening (while watching the second to last episode of Supernatural and the first episode of season 2 of Star Trek Discovery (our kid set up streaming!)[/b] The kind of weight that sits well with me.
- Some sense of the palate - Balanced? Acidic? Tannic? Mouthfeel? Fruit? Mineral? Really, amazingly balanced, high in finesse. medium acidity, medium tannins, Mouthfeel with prominent sensation on sides of tongue and mid to rear palate, lingering, languorous finish. Dark red fruit, perhaps a touch of faint (faint!) lavender. Some minerality, but more like a lean fine lean red wine that outright stone/basement/limestone.
- How did the wine behave over time and how long was that time? Blossomed as we swirled, but still not overtly fruit forward. This held it’s structure over the hours we took to drink it. No flab.
- How did the wine strike you emotionally? Or simply, did you like it? It made my wife visibly happy and she drank more of the bottle than I did. She loved it and it did what great wines do…it created a mild state of euphoria for her. She says it is as good as Spottswoode, which is high high praise coming from her.
- Some comment on current drinkability and projection of its future aging curve. My wife spontaneously mentioned this, saying, “This is gonna live forever.” It’s both ponderous and approachable. It made us both excited for more of the 2018 vintage! She approved the purchase, and says it was worth the price of admission. Her last quote: “So, good, I feel a little guilty, but glad we drank it alone.”
Thanks again to Sarah K for the great template.
i find it enjoyable that it takes me literally less than 2 minutes on a new wine’s website to determine if i want to buy.
i buy several mike smith wines. im sure this one is great. but resources are limited of course.
Wow, what a thorough review! Really appreciate the effort, knowledge, and detail that went into that post. Thank you.
Great review. Thanks
Well, it’s official, Mike Smith has outdone himself. I think this is the best wine he has ever madePerchance Estates came in with a whopping 98 point score for their first release. I have since bought the wine and drank my first bottle last Monday. It is a POWERHOUSE. As Jeb Dunnuck said, "its dense purple hue is followed by rich notes of crème de cassis, mulled black cherries, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and a hint of cedar. These carry to a full-bodied, incredibly seamless 2018 with no hard edges, flawless balance, and ripe, velvety tannins.
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