Maybe our palates are lousy, but this wine confused us at first. The wine in question was a 2004 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Private Reserve Red Blend. This is one of the more high-end wines made by Columbia Crest out of Washington State priced at $26 from LA Wine Company that often gets decent scores in the 90-91 range. It's a bordeaux-type blend made with 54% cabernet sauvignon and 46% merlot. I've been wanting to try it for some time as I have read some good things about it.
I decanted it for two hours to help open it up. The smell was very nice - rich, black fruit, leather and a bit of spice. The body was somewhere medium and heavy. Taste was very nice and long - complex, solid tannin, dark fruit and wood (cedar?) When we first tried it, the finish was awful - bitter, over-oaked and sharp. After an hour or so, either the wine got better or our palates changed, because the finish got much better. Overall, very nice, but it took some time to make us happy. So if you try this, maybe decant it for 3 -4 hours and see how it is. Or buy it and stick it away for 6-8 years and see if that helps. :)
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