Tasting Notes

WE94

Dark and smoky, this wine is relatively tannic and emphasizes flavors of leaf, bark, root and herb. There's plenty of depth and exceptional power to this wine, which seems unique among New World Tempranillos. Cellar Selection

WA93

Baron's 2009 Impulsivo – from his En Chamberlin vineyard, partly fermented and entirely aged in 70% new 600-liter casks – is scented with smoky cigar ash and tar, supplemented by beet root, and licorice, that collectively instantly give away its being Tempranillo. After the high-toned aromatics, textural refinement, dynamic interplay, and diverse allusions to things mineral that nearly all other 2009 Cayuse offerings had in common, it's a bit difficult coming to terms with something as opaque and massive as this wine, which at one and the same time displays creaminess yet also underlying tannic grit. (So I hope I haven't under-estimated it on account of tasting context.) Saliva-inducing salinity is, thankfully, another Cayuse common denominator on exhibit here and adds enormous appeal to a finish almost dour in its dense, smoky, metaphorically darkly-hued, palate-staining persistence. I suspect that this will reward more than a decade in bottle.

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