2006 Leviathan

On a wonderful summer day, low humidity, lower 90’s, my son’s first football game of the season (tied last year’s super bowl champions 7 to 7), AND a first tasting of the 2006 Leviathan. We sat outside and had out first taste and wow…
The nose comes at you like a sniper. Our first impressions revealed tons of dark fruit with a hint of dustiness with some smoky highlights. However, after about 30 minutes, the fruit bomb became a little more tricky by adding some tobacco and chocolate. This wine is full of complexity and structured like a much more expensive California cult red. Could it be the next Screaming Eagle?

The color of the Leviathan is dark and, as you could expect, the pallet was full of darkness as well. But to our surprise, this big red had more tricks up its sleeve. The pallet, while being very heavy and full, was like driving in a patchy heavy fog. All of a sudden it was on you, almost unable to see the road and then it just disapeared into a beautiful mysterious mist. Silky smooth greatness!

The finish was wonderfully long lasting and seemed to reveal the high alcohol content but not in a ‘hot’ way. It was more like a great roasted red pepper. The feeling you get after you’ve ate one that is a bit warm, but not so much that it bothers you. It just leaves you feeling like you had something wonderful and are ready to get some more.  Wow, some cherry notes on the finish… This thing is so complex.

Ok… get some if you can. If you can’t, find me and let’s drink some of mine. This will be perfect with a nice roasted lamb dish in the back yard on an Autumn evening or just drink it on a hot summer day… it is THAT good!

96 Rating – Paul
94-95 Rating – Carol