We scooped up all of the remaining Two Jakes of Diamonds inventory and this may be the last of it! Now’s the time to buy before it’s all gone.
This offer is entirely a Red Wine offer, predominantly Library Selections. It is a true Mystery Offer, but will include many of your favorite Two Jakes wines!
What’s Included
4-bottles:
4x Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wine Case:
12x Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wine
About The Winery
Winery: Diamond Ridge Vineyards
Owner: Jake S. Stephens III
Founded: 1998
Location: Lake County, CA
My name is Jacob S. Stephens III, but everyone calls me Jake. I represent the third generation in our family to embrace the life of a farmer, following in the footsteps of my grandfather Jacob, and my father Jake II.
The Diamond Ridge Vineyards name derives from the Lake County diamonds found on the property. Diamond Ridge is located on the volcanic hillsides north of the town of Clearlake, with the eastern shores of Clear Lake just over the hill. Elevations range from 500 to 800 meters. At this elevation, there is never any fog, and the bright cool sunlight creates conditions ideal for deeply expressive Bordeaux varieties as well as Petite Sirahs of unrivaled color, grace and aroma.
Our site allows us to grow fruit that is comparable, sometimes superior, to our downhill neighbor Napa County, at a fraction of the cost of land. Many experts contend that the quality of fruit produced in mountain vineyards rivals that of the valley floors. We agree! As one of our avid grape clients remarked, “Diamond Ridge is without question the diamond in Lake County’s crown.”
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
@bunnymasseuse@klezman@radiolysis you have two options. Cancel and reorder with the coupon, or use the coupon next time. it’s good for 11 more months roughly.
Edit, it’s good for everyone, not just those who purchased that offer.
I’ve never tasted Two Jakes. I was burned by the international mystery case.
However, because you’ve all raved about Two Jakes over the years and still having the coupon available, I’ve decided to pull the trigger. Merry Christmas to me and my wine loving family members.
Coupon ‘witchwine’ makes the case $110…$9.17 per bottle. Not bad
@jaybird the international mystery case was truly awful, but the next mystery case they did more than made up for it.
Two Jakes is a known commodity. They could literally give me anything they had and it would be well worth it. I’m desperately trying to text my friends awake so they can get in on this before it sells out.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wines - $45 = 24.99%
Ordered in a panic because I knew this will sell out. Didn’t realize there was the coupon code. Any one tell me how long the coupon is good for? Sure I can find something in the near future with the code.
I’m down to the last two bottles of the last case in the house. Thanks for those that shared the coupon code. Haven’t had Two Jakes before so I hope it will be a success in the house.
Currently sitting on 44 bottles of Two Jakes wines at an average bottle cost of $18.65, over 50% more than today’s case price. I will let others enjoy the massive discount on these great wines, while remaining happy with what I’ve already gotten for my money.
@hscottk@rjquillin@winesmith
Steve and I are actually in Lake County today! We’ll be at the (somewhat belated) Tempranillo Day festival at Six Sigma. Next Saturday we’ll be tasting with Clark. If he doesn’t chime in here, I’ll ask him what’s up with Two Jakes and report back later.
Hi Folks. This is Two Jakes’ swan song, an amazing vineyard - a volcanic soil mountain vineyard with a cooling afternoon lake effect, perfect for rich, fruity Petite Sirah and BDX varieties. I made Jake’s wines from 2007 through 2021, when he was able to allocate everything as grape sales at good prices, mostly to the Hess Collection. Mostly I would make his remarkable Pomerol-like Merlot, which because of Sideways, was difficult to get a good price for as grapes, so I’d make 100 tons which mostly sold on the bulk market, and we’d bottle a couple hundred cases for the Two Jakes label. I did the same with 23 tons of Cab Franc and 70 tons of amazing Petite Sirah. I also made some Cab Sauv now and then and one vintage of Malbec.
These wines almost always sold out in bulk, but I was able to bottle my own under the WineSmith label, and I still have some 2017 Cab Franc that WineDavid will run sometime soon.
If there was ever a can’t-go-wrong Mystery pack, this is it. I can honestly say that I never made a wine off this vineyard that was less than extraordinary. My only caveat is that these wines have a long, flat aging trajectory. The longer you wait, the better they are.
This is the end of the line for Two Jakes, so if they sell out, there’ll be no more. I really want to acknowledge Jake Stephens as a wonderful client. It was a great privilege to work beside him for so many years. He trusted me to engage in a long line of sulfite-free “Roman Reserve” wines which you’ll find amazing if you’re lucky enough to get a bottle included in your assortment. Breathe these wines for at least a day, up to a week for best results. They’re quite different from the conventional sulfited wines, but will demonstrate why the Romans planted grapes all over Europe and used fine cuisine to stabilize the Empire.
@winesmith so you’re saying that Jake sold the vineyard? Or that all good grapes are now allocated and you’re frozen out of it? I’m not quite following what happened.
@klezman No, he’s still running the vineyard, but likes that a lot more than being in the wine business. He’s got a farmer’s soul, not a salesman’s black heart. Here’s what wine sales really looks like:
I’m very pleased that he’s earned his position with Hess and others as a combination of quality and economy unparalleled in California. It’s the goal of any consultant to put themselves out of a job, and that’s what we accomplished.
You guys were a tremendous help keeping us breathing when we needed oxygen. Grateful thanks to all.
Don’t worry, you certainly haven’t seen the last of me. My 2017 Diamond Ridge Cab Franc will be featured soon.
Would be fun if they could throw in an extra Sunday deal since this sold-out (as expected) today. Like, “Extra! here’s some more stuff we found in a warehouse…”
Of course that would probably mess up some of the scripts that expect to do things on certain days only, like send the email the 2nd day, except on Fridays. Which makes me wonder, will an automated email go out tomorrow for today’s deal that you can’t buy anymore?
Extra! here’s some more stuff we found in a warehouse…
I don’t think they could do that unless they actually owned the miscellaneous cases that they ‘found’, which goes against its business model - they are an expediter, not a reseller.
Congratulations to all that purchased. Fantastic deal. Outstanding wine and winemaker. As a long time Wooter/‘Mater/fullpuller/‘tsoer with the typical more wine than time to drink, it was nevertheless painful to sit this one out.
Salute.
I thought about sitting this one out for all of 2 seconds. I am overflowing and was thinking of giving mixed 6 packs as holiday gifts. Now it will probably be cases.
Drinking an Aspects tonight. Sorry to hear they are going out of the wine business. Sorry I was not on line this weekend and missed this offer. I am in the wine club of their neighbor Gregory Graham and he has a wonderful product he creates yearly.
Oftentimes shipments go out ahead of the stated delivery window and I have tentative travel plans Nov 20th - Dec 5th. If UPS can’t deliver this and it gets sent back to WCC, I’ll be devastated. I’m trying my best to prevent that from happening.
Do you by chance have any updates? If the delivery will take place after December 5th that’d be great. If you think the wine will ship sooner, I’ll need customer service to change the shipping address for my order.
@danidani12@kawichris650 ok, just came from the warehouse and two jakes is being built today and will go out THIS Monday. my guess for MN is will get it first week of Dec. it’s a little hard to predict with Thanksgiving and holiday rush.
yea, this time of year (both in terms of temperate weather and warehouse busyness, once we get it in, we let’er rip. these are all palletized and likely given to the carrier.
@danidani12@kawichris650@Mark_L@Winedavid49
I hope you’re ready for a lot of returned packages…probably including ours unless they’ll hold until Monday 27th…sending out for delivery during the biggest travel week of the year is just asking for a boatload of people to be unable to receive.
@danidani12@kawichris650@Winedavid49 Come to think of it, it was for the Scott Harvey offering that I got the shipping notice for 2 days ago. When I looked it up on UPS Mychoice, I noticed that the Two Jakes was scheduled to be delivered the same day.
@danidani12@kawichris650@rjquillin@Winedavid49 I received an “official” shipping notice (beyond the shipment just appearing in the MyChoice web page) of delivery on 11/28. That works fine for me. (I would have been gone for the original MyChoice delivery day of 11/24 and had rescheduled it to 11/27)
@danidani12@kawichris650@klezman@rjquillin@Winedavid49 I could have it delivered to a UPS store, but 1) it would probably sit there even longer than if I delay the delivery, and 2) I would rather let UPS do the driving and save myself the 80 minute round trip (with the exception of times of high heat).
@danidani12@kawichris650@klezman@Mark_L@rjquillin@Winedavid49 Check out signing up for UPS My Choice ($20 a year for unlimited changes to address or date) - mine is arriving on Nov 28 (and I will be here but I will switch delivery to a UPS CC so that I do not have to wait in) and it was giving me options of delaying delivery until Dec 12 although YMMV
@ctmariner@danidani12@kawichris650@Mark_L@rjquillin@Winedavid49 I will have to call them. If they only deliver Wednesday, Friday, and then Monday we’ll be fine. If they try to deliver Saturday that’ll be the third try. Last time I tried to get something worked out with them it was an exercise in frustration.
It’s just asking for so much trouble to send wine when half of the country is travelling.
UPS delivers to USPS. I have a box there. The case goes in the box and I p/u at my leisure. If it doesn’t fit in a small box, I get a key to the locker it’s in.
@danandlisa Finding the USPS address thing works was an accident. I had it for a default address for other Meh sites to foil porch pirates. I ordered one of the wine offers on meh and UPS delivered the case to the US Post Office. There it was put into a locker. Guess I’m really not sure if I could redirect to that address, but as a primary, it wasn’t an issue, and no nonsense should it remain there for some time.
@rjquillin@ScottW58 Luckily we don’t have porch pirates here. We just don’t have routing options, which is okay if you are prepared. Happy Thanksgiving.
@danandlisa@ScottW58
Yes, her too.
Accidentally, well the shipper (K&L) f’d up, and shipped a couple of held cases here, home.
Had no “shipping” address so they, without asking to where or when, used the billing address.
Pissed.
Awkward.
@rpstrong You got what is, I think, for me, the best of the cases I’ve seen so far! Only way it could have been better would be 2 each of the 2010 and 2012 Cab Francs.
@klezman I’m not complaining, and I’m really intrigued by the RR CFs - I think I’ll pull a cork tomorrow, strain and decant, and see where it goes over the next week or so.
“Interesting” exchange with the Brown today.
I got a shipping notice, mentioned earlier
Just got my shipping notice; scheduled delivery 11/22
for delivery to business work address. Kept following tracking and it started looking wonky, well, because it was. One arrived in town, the other still in transit, then both arrived, but now the delivery date went TBD. Never saw where either made it on a truck.
Did the online chat thing and after some extended back and forth I was advised the shipper, WCC, missed the pickup time; well, they got picked up, but after the ‘these need to be picked up by…’ time for it to be delivered by the advised delivery date.
OK, so where is it now I asked.
At the local, not far from me, distribution facility, where, in the past, I’ve picked up shipments.
Ahhhh, but according to the agent, WCC shipped out prohibiting any re-routing to a different address, be it residential, business, access point, UPS store, anywhere; including the ability to pick-up at the UPS center. Only WCC could could alter ~anything~.
Well, the business will be closed tomorrow, and Friday, and Saturday so that leaves a Monday date. They will try three attempts. The agent did state the next delivery attempt day would be Monday and it would not see a truck until then.
We shall see…
@rjquillin
I have had UPS tell me that a couple times with WCC shipments I was trying to track down/re-direct. Never really did believe them but what can you say to that?
That is one little bonus about abstaining from otherwise tempting offers - not having to deal with UPS. FedEx was far superior, at least for me.
I have tried repeatedly to have the delivery address updated and it was never updated by WCC. UPS will be delivering the wine tomorrow and I am out of the country. I’ve spoken with three different UPS representatives in an effort to resolve this issue and they say there’s nothing they can do. Only WCC can change the delivery name and/or delivery address.
Please for the sake of Two Jakes, I need the delivery name changed and I need WCC to authorize the delivery to be sent to the nearest UPS facility so my mom can pick it up on my behalf. I desperately do not want this package being sent back to WCC since this is the last of the Two Jakes wine.
Boy, I feel bad for WD and staff as you read the evolution of this sale.
It first started with everyone saying instant buy, then those complaining about the fact that the email doesn’t go out until the second day (and those people don’t check the website without an email notification) and that they missed the deal.
To then a whole bunch of complaints about the fact that the wine was shipped in a timely fashion.
I’m sure some who missed the deal would gladly accept the shipments from those that don’t like that the wine was shipped?
@Drez143 as one of the people who “complained” that the wine was shipped, you clearly missed the point. This is the single biggest travel weekend of the year. Many or most people aren’t home to receive and most offices are closed at least part of the week. It’s terribly wasteful if a bunch of wine needs to get shipped back to Sonoma because it was sent during Thanksgiving week. Then you have wasted money and a huge cost for WD and a bunch of angry customers who really wanted the wine but aren’t home to get it. And with UPS it’s obnoxious to try to get it redirected compared to FedEx.
Shipments that get returned get charged twice for shipping to WD, and then he has to issue a refund. It’s not good for him or his business either.
I think what most people here would prefer is that the shipping window given in the offer is adhered to. Personally, I don’t usually care, but being among the tens of millions of American residents out of town this week, I happen to care this time.
@Drez143@klezman i’m good. we felt the timing of the shipment would be the least worse in this situation. if we don’t release it, those wanting it sooner would be bothered (rightly so). we ship it, and that spells trouble for those impacted by this tough week (rightly so).
the chips will fall. i hope you get the wine in good working order. temperatures will help.
@WCCGeorge the saga continues. The updated delivery date says tomorrow and not Monday as the previous rep told me. UPS has the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with. They can’t do anything when you call them except claim they will call the local centre to see if they’ll delay driver one day. Such a pain.
Apparently Unbelievably Poor Service doesn’t transport on Black Friday. Thanksgiving I understand but today? My case has sat in Illinois since yesterday morning, en route to NEO. What a joke…
I got my case today (St. Louis) and all good! My first Two Jakes (and apparently my last), now off to buy a decanter after reading all the reviews. Cheers and thanks for this amazing offer!
@deadlyapp pretty sure Clark has mentioned that the CF can be aged for a few decades if I remember correctly from previous postings… biggest thing is to open it and let it breathe for several days before consuming.
Extremely curious to hear others opinions of the 2012 Cabernet franc. We opened a bottle last night and honestly it was an unpleasant experence. Extremely vegetable to the point of some sourness. Maybe because we opened it the same day it arrived? The color was a issue as well. Definitely browner than I would think for a well cellared 2012. Thought giving it some air would help but the bottle was open for 3 hours and did not improve. 1/2 the bottle on the counter and will taste again today. Concerning considering half my shipment was cab franc.
@gtcharlie Clark has said in the past that the Roman Reserve wines can take 3-7 days of air sometimes. Try a small glass twice a day to see how it evolves?
@klezman
3-7 days seems kind of crazy but if that is what it takes I guess. Will be curious to hear other people’s opinion once there are more bottles opened. Not sure I am willing to call it a damaged bottle yet but it was not a pleasant drinking experience.
@gtcharlie@klezman I have ordered the Roman CF case in the past & very true leave open & not start tasting for at least 3 days…for me around day 7 was the sweet spot…sounds crazy but very true. Don’t be surprised by the amount of sediment in the bottle
@dawnlac@klezman
Alright then. Next bottle will be opened far in advance. And this one does indeed have a large amount of settlement. Not much change to report the second day.
@dawnlac@gtcharlie@klezman This wine is a wine that has an attitude, some days it’s sweet, some days it’s a bit wild, but I really really appreciate that it has a variant character and allows you to experience a vast range of flavor and taste with only one wine!
It takes patience, and timing, and no matter what it tastes like today… it’s likely to change tomorrow, and I look forward to that every day.
So “mystery cases” I guess are just the garbage you can’t honestly sell anymore? So incredibly disappointing. Obviously this site can no longer be trusted to provide quality wine any longer in the “mystery” category.
@Vince247 what exactly was the problem with the wines? How were they served? How much time did you allow for them to breathe? This stuff isn’t 2023 Yellow Tail.
If you tried to pop and pour, the issue is operator error.
@vandemusser my 6-bed home now stinks from allowing this to breath. Is this smell something I can look forward to for the next week before “enjoying” this “opportunity”?
Operator error. Another smarmy know-better-then-others vandemusser
@Vince247 It’s as if you didn’t read/see the previous Two Jakes wines offered on Casemates… of which the Roman Reserves were a prominent part, which a lot of people purchased for over $15 a bottle! If you don’t like the wine, that’s your prerogative. I’ll try to make sure I decant it in my one spare bedroom. (and yes, I too was burned by the International mystery offer)
@Vince247 I think it’s hilarious that you are offering this assessment considering the oddly aggressive, weird comments you posted earlier this afternoon about the offer and other casematers.
@davidd13 I received a full refund for this case so I plan to gift every bottle to others and suggest it’s an education, should they chose to accept it.
I tried to edit my previous comment regarding the RR CF, but was too late. After doing some research, I will be prepared to let it decant 3-5 days when the time comes to try it, and hope for the best!
I did offer a pretty harsh assessment but I am willing to try letting the wine breathe for much longer next time. I was pretty taken aback by my initial tasting but hopefully my hurry to try the wine was the culprit. We shall see.
@danidani12 I poured it directly into the decanter through a common kitchen strainer. It caught the big stuff, but still has many fine particles which I have been filtering through a finer filter that came with my venturi when pouring to a glass.
Last night we opened a 2012 Roman Reserve Cab Franc that’s been down in the cellar for several years and it was fantastic. Definitely has the “natural wine” kind of funkiness and changed quite a bit through the evening. I’ve got some left to taste the next few days. Sediment is an issue and there is a lot of finesediment so I did filter a glass or two through cheese cloth and thought that worked well.
Very happy with this mystery case haul for $11/btl. I’m familiar with all of these wines and enjoy all of them. This mystery case wins the QPR award for sure. As someone who loves library wines, it’s cool that the oldest vintage is 2010 and the most recent is 2017!!
Is this really a mystery offer? No. Not when you look at the very, very similar offerings each has received, by bottle and by year. And yes, I did read the write up.
Call it a marketing ploy, which I also fell for, that many of us might equate to the old Wellington days when it truly was a mystery. Some hit it rich with an old, true library wine, while others didn’t; luck of the draw. This doesn’t seem like that.
Heck, I pretty much can guess what’s in my case just by reading what others have posted and I haven’t even picked it up yet from the local Unbelievably Poor Service store.
Smart (and shady) marketing. The powers to be could’ve made this a 4 pack with one each of RR CF, CS, Aspects, and PS, or a case with 3 of each, with a listing of the possible vintages received.
But then, how many would’ve taken the bait? My bet, a lot less. Too bad.
@shrimp74 A non mystery offer with the selections you’ve listed would have sold out just as quickly at an $11/btl price point. I’ve been buying, drinking, and loving these wines for almost 10 years. A farewell offering (no more Two Jakes wine being made) at an all time low price for even the cheapest of these bottles in a Casemates offering, and it’s an auto buy. I have no regrets.
@shrimp74 I think you’re conflating mysteriousness and randomness. It was a mystery offer, and some cases do vary. I’m not surprised by the relative sameness because unless you have some means of randomizing all the available wines you have to let humans pack the boxes and people need some set of rules to do their job remotely efficiently.
@lehigh Terrifically. Were there some overlaps in bottles? Sure. But there was a tremendous amount of case variety. Very, very few ever got the same case. It was fun, and opening a mystery offer box was like Christmas morning. This deal was also like Christmas morning, but unfortunately your siblings already told you what you’re going to be opening, because they also got the same thing.
@shrimp74 Two Jakes has Merlot, Petite Sirah, Reserve Cab, Aspects, and Roman Reserve CF in this offer, some with multiple vintages. 5 different wines. There is just not that much variation possible. Peter Wellington had 20-30 wines in multiple vintages. It’s just not even close to the same thing. Was the Wellington mystery case the best offering of all time? Absolutely. Is this offering a disappointing failure? No way.
Delivered to my office today…UPS tried to deliver on Friday (so they said), but came back today:
4X 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2X 2013 Aspects
2X 2013 Petit Sirah
2x 2017 Petit Sirah
I have no problems with what i got as my cost / bottle is $9 - 13 (the range is depending on the drinkability of the CF). If nothing else, makes a great gift at this time of year. Lotsa people will see “2013” on the bottle and be impressed
2X 2010 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
4X 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Aspects v2 (based on the 14.9% ABV)
2X 2017 Petit Sirah
@bunnymasseuse@Mark_L LOL! I got 8 2012 and 2 2010 so I’m right behind you. I think all the drama of this offer is whether people enjoy the RRCF or not. Yes, it’s very different. Yes, it will have a ton of sediment, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I would imagine there is probably bottle variation, but all the 2012 and 2010’s I’ve opened from previous offers have been pretty consistent. A wine that really makes you think and is changing constantly. I may open one of the bottles that came this week to see if they are problematic. It seems somewhat unlikely with a wax seal, but I’m sure it’s possible.
4x2012 RR Cab Franc
2x2013 Aspects
4x2017 Petite Sirah (Yay!)
2x2103 Reserve Cabernet Sauv.
I had a poor experience with the first RR Cab Franc this summer at the beach and am interested to give them another try. Did not give it 7 days until first tastes, but had it every day through the week.
@eastcoastmary Unknown, even by Clark. They might last many easily be many decades. I intend to put some in back of cellar (closet under stairs, with styrofoam boxes) and not think of them for a long time. Make sure you go back to the offers for those and watch the videos for the Roman Reserve CFs. They’re really quite special.
I still haven’t received mine. UPS, bless their hearts, thought it prudent to keep trying to deliver every day during Thanksgiving week and on the weekend after the wine was unwisely sent 2-day transit to SoCal during Thanksgiving week. Despite assurances that they would deliver it today, the only brown truck that came by stopped a few doors down and then went along its merry way.
So now I will have to call them a fifth time to try to actually get them to deliver the wine.
2 2013 Aspects
2 2017 Petit Sirah
2 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
6 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
No complaints, although I was hoping to see a few different years of the Roman Reserve. I have a number of the 2012 RR and have opened two so far. Treated both the same, decanted and tried a bit immediately, then finished them over 7 days. The first one was fantastic, the second not so fantastic. Maybe more bottle variability with un-sulfured wine?
Received 8 RR cab francs (3 2010 and 5 2012) 2 2017 ps, and 2 2013 aspects. Funny, Clark mentioned something about those “lucky enough to get RR cab franc” in the order. Apparently, everyone was very, very lucky! Wish I’d been less lucky and had more variety, but those are the breaks with mystery packs. All good.
@hscottk I got exactly the same mix as you with the same reaction - would have liked more PS, CS and/or Merlot instead of 2/3rds of a case of RR CF - a bit disappointed and very nervous about opening a CF
What is the trick to get the wax seal off the RR Cab Franc? I’ve had many bottles with wax seals, but never one as thin, stuck on, and difficult to remove as these. Any hints to minimize the difficulties with the next bottle?
@LSeewoester I opened the bottle earlier this afternoon and let it sit without cork for about three hours. It smelled off as soon as I pulled the cork, but thought I would wait to see. Poured a first glass and there was no doubt it was no good. The glass was also full of pieces of sediment up to 1/4 inch square. Seems not right to me!
@cdgrimm@LSeewoester
There is going to be lots of sediment in these. Great big chunks, and a lot of small stuff that ends up as “sludge” on the bottom. The second bottle I had was not very good as I recall, but it was a year or so ago and I don’t remember the exact details. I seem to remember it had a real off smell like acetone.
What I did with both bottles was to pour it off into a decanter to give it lots of exposure to air. Put something over the top so critters can’t get in. If you don’t have a real decanter, pour it off into some kind of container leaving as much of the crud in the bottle as possible, dump the dregs and clean the bottle, find a funnel and return to the bottle. Cover with something to keep the critters out, but let the air in. The level should be below the neck to give it air. If not, pour some into a glass and have a taste. It will be funky, but not terrible on opening. Gets better with air, lots and lots of air.
Any of the Roman Reserves will need this.
@cdgrimm@LSeewoester
Iirc when the first one of these came out he said he used some old Roman technique to preserve the wine like they did for the soldiers fighting distant wars vs using sulphur like they do now? Maybe the soldiers didn’t care what it tasted or smelled like because it got them drunk I know klez let me try that one after it was open for 3 or 5 days and I thought it tasted and smelled like cheese. I was not a fan but what do I know.
@LSeewoester@Springbank OK, upon further research of these RRCF, maybe I didn’t give enough air, so I’ll decant the next for a week or more, but still sceptical it will reverse that skunky!
@cdgrimm@klezman@LSeewoester@ScottW58
Also, if you are storing these on the side, put it upright for a at least a day or so to let it settle before you open it. Clark’s “experimental” wines can be different, and people tend to love them or hate them. The Roman Reserve is about as far out there as you can get. Some of his other wines are more
“mainstream” and fantastic.
One of my 2012 RR is missing half the wax cap. Good excuse to open and decant it later today.
@cdgrimm@klezman@ScottW58@Springbank Thanks everyone! It’s in a decanter, w/ a paper towel loosely stuffed on top to keep out the fruit flies. Filtered out the sludge. It’s definitely interesting and I’m certainly open to trying something new and different.
Upon pop and pour I thought at first, like many, it had been corked but corked wine is distinct and this is not that. I thought to myself is this just really really really tight? Looks like it.
I only wish I knew what I was signing up for - I’ve had many of Clark’s wines before but I’m not such a fan girl to know about the RR’s. This is the kind of thing I’d pick up a bottle or two to check out. Now I’ve got 8.
@cdgrimm@klezman@LSeewoester@ScottW58 The good thing is that Clark says they will last for decades. Stash them somewhere and years from now you can discover them all over again.
All kidding aside, 8 is probably too many for what is really more a novelty than a daily, or even monthly drinker. I got 12 yesterday, and probably another 8 or so from the last time.
@cdgrimm@klezman@LSeewoester@ScottW58@Springbank Exactly the same boat here. I would have passed if I had known that more than half my case would have been these RR’s (or even if any of them were going to be this).
My household is a 2 hour max decant type of house before the bottle is consumed. I personally don’t know a single local person who would be down for having to decant something for 2-7 days.
Internally, I wished I had passed on this and simply used that money to buy a case of the recent WS offering that I passed on due to having bought this.
Oh well though. Can’t change anything now!
Curious why Clark has been MIA? He’s always on here and now that the rabbit is out of the hat with the RR wines not a word. I was hoping to get no more than four RR wines but ended up with six. My gut feeling is that the RR wines are an experiment gone bad. Real bad.
@losthighwayz or he’s just busy.
Either way, I think it might be time for another experiment with this wine. Assuming I get my case tomorrow I’ll probably open one up and drink over several days and report back.
I’ve been concerned about the comments regarding the 2012 RR Cab Franc, especially since I have 10 bottles from 2 cases. I couldn’t wait any longer so popped a bottle to see. Fortunately, the bottle I opened is well aged and quite tasty, with no negatives to note.
@RRichmo with fellow folks here who don’t drink wine, smelling only I got “embalming fluid” (their father used to be a mortician), “vinegar” or “balsamic vinaigrette” reports on the nose, but none drink it anyway so no way to convince them the nose does not identify the taste properly at this time.
For me, it needs some more air, but does not taste “turned” at all.
@bunnymasseuse I just opened a second bottle to go with a coffee rub sirloin tonight and realized mine are 2011 bottles, not the 2012! I’m very pleased with the 2011!
I just opened the one I got with the chipped wax cap. Much less sediment that the last one I opened or the one shown above. No weird aroma of acetone/higher alcohols or general funk. The color is red, not the brown indicated above. Decanted and poured the last ounce or so with the dregs into a coffee cup. Let it settle for a bit and took a taste. First tiny sip was intensely sharp and made me want to say “wow,” but not the taste of a wine gone bad. Let it sit for another 15 minutes or so and tried again. The acidity had died down, or my taste buds had, but it tasted pretty fresh and fruity. Not bad at all. I think this bottle will be very drinkable.
After 6 phone calls, multiple re-delivery attempts, drivers who won’t actually come to the door, and more wrangling with the absurdly bad “customer service” of UPS I finally got the case!
4x 2012 Cab Franc RR
2x 2010 Cab Franc RR
2x 2013 Aspects v2
2x 2013 Cab Sauv Reserve
2x 2017 Petite Sirah
Wish I’d gotten some of the Merlot hanging around there but this is a solid case and a screaming deal.
@bunnymasseuse Oh, I’m happy with the case. I was just lower on Merlot and already had 4x of the 2012 CF.
I also just opened a bottle (that had been sitting here a long time) of the 2012 Cab Franc RR and it’s screamingly good even at pnp. Not totally open, that’s for sure, but it rings like a mature-ish Bordeaux that’s still got plenty of fruit. The plan is to have a glass a day until it’s gone and see what happens.
@klezman agree, even a good 1hr sit has helped, most of what I had at pnp has improved already and the heavy balsamic nose tones have diminished.
I know this RR is very “roller coaster” on its day by day taste profile, so I’m already dialed in for that ride, and will drink other wine and wait for it to beckon me in and envelope me when it’s ready . Like an angsty teenager, rebellious phases with some “I love you” moments you wait for .
@bunnymasseuse@klezman will one of you who enjoy the RR CF open one of the bottles that just arrived? I might do this also. Because I totally enjoyed the 2012 that I opened the other night, but it had also been down in the cellar for a long while since the last offer in March of 2021. Wondering if these recently arrived bottles are freaked out from the shipping or if something happened to the lot of them in storage.
@bunnymasseuse@klezman@wnance
The one I opened had just arrived. It seems fine. I have opened a total of three of these. Two a while back from previous buys, and this one. One of the old ones was fantastic, and one was spoiled. I just think that without preservatives, this is more likely to happen.
@bunnymasseuse@klezman@wnance I drinking a glass now from the bottle I opened yesterday and am very pleased with it! First sip yesterday and today were both pleasant Wow moments!
@bunnymasseuse@klezman@Springbank@wnance Same. Opened a 2012 that just arrived last night, and also one or two a month or so back that I already had. No issues (or patience to let them fully decant) with any, but someone earlier called it “sharp” for the first half hour or so which is how they felt for me as well.
@james@klezman@Springbank@wnance my pictures above, today it’s more berry and less “earthy”, the harshness from yesterday has already begun to subside.
@bunnymasseuse@james@klezman@wnance
Ignored it on day two. Day three tried a small glass. It seems like the color has evolved. I did not get a great look at it in a glass on opening, but the decanter and the little I poured off at the end seemed to be a light red. Now it appears to be brick red. Aroma is now faint, taste has gotten less fruity, and more something else that I’m not really sure of. Has an amazing aftertaste that lingers, and reminds me of the feeling you get with something slightly effervescent, but it’s not. minerality perhaps? Interesting, but still evolving.
@james@klezman@Springbank@wnance look forward to hearing more, seriously. The one thing that I fell in love with regarding this wine is that it always teaches me something, and as a person who is always trying to lean something, and gain knowledge, it both challenges my patience as well as my taste buds.
@bunnymasseuse@james@klezman@wnance
Day 4. Aroma is back, but hard to describe. Alcohol, and a bit of the sweet smell you can get from over ripe fruit. Seems to evolve rapidly in the glass. Started out with a bit of fruit that is turning more towards woody, oaky, and tannic. This wine is definitely an adventure.
@bunnymasseuse@james@Springbank@wnance Day 6, although I didn’t open it yesterday. Started off actually a bit acetic but that blew off quickly. It’s still in the savoury fruit realm. This bottle has been good every night, although a bit different each time.
@bunnymasseuse@james@klezman@wnance Day seven. Haven’t tried it since day 4. Color about the same. Tasted the same as last time, so I let it sit in the glass for a half hour or so. Aroma is still pretty intense. Taste is also about the same. I probably should have opened the top of the decanter and shook it up every day. Still have enough left for another few glases.
So, for science (!) I opened a bottle of the 2012 RR Cab Franc after leaving it sitting straight up for a day. I poured it into a decanter through a strainer to capture any sediment, and there was a lot of it! It is cloudy in the decanter, and I poured about an ounce to sample. On the nose it is earthy, not at all what I would call funky. It is very acidic, not quite vinegar, but close. Balsamic is the term that comes to mind. I would not drink this in its’ current state. I plan on leaving the decanter (covered) on the counter for up to seven days, sampling a little each day until it has evolved into something drinkable. Otherwise, down the drain, lol! To the Romans!
@davidd13 Let it sit in the decanter for a long while and pour gently. Or pour it through some cheesecloth. Wines that have a fine sediment (vintage port can also do this) will have the mouthfeel and perceived bitterness greatly affected from those fines suspended in the wine. Yes, it’s a pain to pour and enjoy these types of wine, but they also often offer a more thoughtful experience IMHO.
@davidd13@wnance
I decanted a bottle yesterday and your picture and description match my experience closely. Will sample a small glass this evening to start the tasting process. Not sure I have cheesecloth around. A suitable substitute?
@davidd13@gtcharlie no real substitute except a very fine strainer. You can hold your glass up to a light and see if you can see the fines suspended in the wine. If there’s no fines it will be more brilliantly clear.
@davidd13@rpstrong@wnance
Thanks for the suggestions. Did obtain some cheesecloth and my wife and I tasted after the one day in the decanter and using the cloth. Honestly no improvement. Still very sour and more vinegary than is acceptable. Plenty left to taste over the next few days but my skepticism is growing. Hard to see this wine all of a sudden blossoming. I would settle for being drinkable. At this point it certainly is not that.
@davidd13@gtcharlie@rpstrong@wnance yeah the described smell at first matches mine, a day made a big difference, but don’t worry, this is a roller coaster, I tend to get about three different variations of taste with this wine: earthy/vegetable, berry and more Bordeaux like, or spicy/peppery edge (less so much this one).
Seriously though, it can go past 7 days, longest I had it for was 11 and I was too impatient and it tasted delicious to let it go further!
@davidd13 After the first day, a little more fruit and a little less earth on the nose. Put it through the strainer that came with my Vinturi three times into a small glass until it was mostly clear. It is a bit less acidic and a better finish. Still not something I would care to drink, but definitely improved. Very interesting.
@davidd13 Wow! After two days the nose has softened greatly, now mostly fruity, berry notes. And although it is still tight, has become drinkable, with a lingering finish. I am very excited to let this sit a third day!
@rjquillin It is just sitting in a decanter on my dining room table. I have a bottle cap on top to deter any fruit fly’s that may be around, however unlikely this time of year. Still some fine sediment in the bottom but it filters out with no problem.
@davidd13 On the third day really no change; floral and slightly earthy nose and quite tight. If it does not change significantly today I will probably have some tonight.
@davidd13 Fourth day of the great experiment, and this has matured to the point where I felt I could enjoy it. I am having left over pizza tonight, and I think it will be fine with that. Fruit forward on the nose; still pretty tight but marginally improved from 24 hours ago. I ran it through a venturi from the decanter and still recovered a fair amount of sediment, and it poured cloudy. I obviously need a better filtering element! Color is dark red, similar to a Petit Sirah. Though it is not on the nose, there is no doubt of its’ 14.9 abv, and still a bit tart for me, but no in an unpleasant way. A nice finish is a bonus, though not terribly complex.
Final thoughts; I give Jake props for letting Clark take a swing on this expression of Cabernet Franc. One of my earliest purchases on this platform was the WineSmith 2010 Cabernet Franc in 2018, and I cherish the few bottles of those I still have. This wine is not that. But still, if you have a long enough window out, at least 4 days in my opinion, I think it is worth the wait. Casemates has always been more than fair to me regarding customer service issues, but I must admit that the biggest mystery in this case sales was whether you go 4, 6, or 8 of these, based on other’s comments. Caveat Emptor indeed.
Cheers to all and hoping for the best for all of you this holiday season!
All of this discussion prompted me to set aside a 2010 RR from this order (as I have been sorting through the multitude of cases in my storage and consolidating as I can). Not sure when I will start the process, but it is sitting upright for the time being.
Really?! working on a bottle to remove sludge, standing up for days, decanting for 5 to 7 days just to make it drinkable lol. And having to do that 4 or 5 times depending how many bottles you have. Pretty sure in most worlds that would be a flawed bottle IMHO.
@rpstrong Yes IF it does you are correct. A week to drink a bottle is not my thing I guess, maybe a fun experiment once. A hard sell as a producer probably why so many in these cases.
@rpstrong@ScottW58 I don’t tend to open this bottle and expect to drink it right away, which means I have to have an understanding about how the winemaker made it and what it was intended to drink and taste like.
I may never know what it was like to drink wine in Roman times, but I can imagine this is much better!
@bunnymasseuse@rpstrong@ScottW58 Let’s also remember we paid $11 for it. I’ve been hoarding these but now I’ll open them more frequently for wine enthusiast friends or just to have a crazy thoughtful wine open for a week…
I popped a bottle yesterday. Decanted through a fine screen, had sediment similar to the pic posted by davidd13. No off-putting aromas; a small PnP taste was rather jumbled, but - again - nothing off-putting. Will try and test on a daily basis.
Based on other reviews, it appears that there may be a high mortality rate on a battle-by-bottle basis.
But hey, $11 for something other than the usual juice? Why not.
@rpstrong I don’t support using that price per bottle when countering people who were caught off guard with the volume of such experiential wines.
It’s one thing to go to a store and drop $11 on a random flyer, to fill the need for curiosity.
But then people have 6+ bottles of this. So if they don’t like the wine/process involved, we are talking $66+, not just “$11”.
@Drez143 Fair enough; I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who received ‘only’ four.
I wonder how many fell into that 6+ category? We’ve heard from some of them, but I suspect anyone getting 6+ would be much more likely to post than those getting a more balanced selection.
@Drez143@rpstrong I ordered 2 cases- one had 4 bottles, the other had 6 bottles. Was not expecting any of the RR, and hadn’t ever tried it; I know I like all the other Two Jakes very much. Keeping an open mind- maybe I’ll love it, and wish I had more. Who knows… fingers crossed!
Kinda annoyed Clark oversold this by making it sound one would be lucky to get a bottle of the RR. No doubt in my mind he knew 50 percent of the wines available were RR. Deceiving for sure
He trusted me to engage in a long line of sulfite-free “Roman Reserve” wines which you’ll find amazing if you’re lucky enough to get a bottle included in your assortment.
But he also didn’t chime in until after cases were sold out.
@chipgreen@losthighwayz
However, when he did join in, it was with lab reports that don’t just happen. He too was likely in a bit of a panic oh $#!t what’s happening mode.
@radiolysis I think I’m not going to make the 5day window, it’s going down tonight . I also probably have this as a single bottle highest number, but between Wellington, Zeppelin, Winesmith, Gard, 2Jakes (and maybe something else I’m missing…) those are probably the majority labels.
It’s been a week with the 2012 Roman Reserve opened on the counter. Filtered twice with a coffee filter and funnel. Washed sludge out, then decanted back into the bottle.
Did it improve? Slightly, but not enough for the effort put in. Is it drinkable? I’m honestly not sure. I’d have been ok with 4, but 8 of this “project” wine is beyond the normal luck of the draw with mystery cases. Disappointing to say the least.
@hscottk Same boat here.
I opened one of the bottles, ran it through a filter (not too much sediment), and now I’m on day 5.
Is it wine? Sure.
Is it “enjoyable”? Absolutely not. It still taste like a mix of vinegar with a splash of some red wine.
My wife nailed it perfectly on the head when we tried a small sample on day 4. She looked at me and simply said “can we open up a real bottle of wine now?”
I have 5 other bottles, and I don’t even know if I want to waste cellar space on them. This experiment is tieing up my decanter for an entire week.
@hscottk@rjquillin Are you looking for Christmas gift ideas?!?!
Technically we own two, and I had to throw the second in the dishwasher after I opened this RR as it hasn’t been used in years and was covered in dust. Our second is just so big and bulky, I pretend it doesn’t exist and it just sits on display.
@hscottk@Winedavid49 Glad to see this comment, David. I have opened one bottle thus far. Has been in the decanter for 4 days and not improved. It’s definitely bad. I have three more. I was beginning to think that maybe I don’t love wine after all.
@hscottk@rpstrong@Winedavid49
I too am glad to hear you are aware of the problem. I am open to a vast array of wine styles. Was concerned that perhaps I was missing something with this one. In the end I just think something went wrong with this wine. Whether storage wise or something else. Given the number of excellent wines I have purchased from this site at extremely reasonable prices I wouldn’t hesitate to continue buying wine here.
@Winedavid49 just checking in on whether you were able to identify the problem? I opened on of the 2012 RRCF and as others have said it is very funky snd balsamic. Not corked, but maybe some other issue? Thanks!
I’m finally home from Munich and able to report which bottles I received.
Two: 2013 Aspects
Two: 2013 Cab Sauv
Two: 2017 Petite Sirah
Two: 2010 RR Cab Franc
Four: 2012 RR Cab Franc
Has anyone had any of the older Petite Sirahs lately? I still have four of the 2010 vintage and four of the 2012 vintage. I don’t recall when they are best to enjoy and when they are in their “dumb” phase.
Well I tried. Second bottle of the RR Cab Franc in the books. Second one I exercised, much more patience with. Decanted and drank over a seven day period. Best I can say is that on day three it was drinkable? Not necessarily enjoyable though. Pretty disappointed that the majority of my case was this wine. Can’t help but think something went wrong with the cellaring of the wine if other people are reporting getting this wine in the past and thoroughly enjoying it. The balance of the wine is just off. If I had to define a prominent taste characteristic it would be vinegar. My wife and I have been drinking and enjoying wine for forty years. This goes beyond something experimental and interesting. It is just not good. Not sure if refunds are warranted but pretty disappointed with what we received.
@gtcharlie Just tasted the 2012 RR Cab Franc after a five day decant, and the wine has not improved. I
certainly hope that the other offerings in this sale, will not go down the the road with the RR CF.
@fibercot
We had a bottle of the petit sirah with dinner the other night and it was excellent. Pretty confident the problem is isolated to the cab franc. Would not be so disappointing if it wasn’t half of my case.
Last update from me on this, as I’ve chirped a lot as this all played out!
We gave the 2012 RR a solid 7 days, trying it each day. It never became enjoyable, and I would even question drinkable.
It has a weird brown tint, and remained a good vinegar taste with a hint of wine through its “evolution”. On day 7, my wife simply said “This wine is not good. Please get rid of it.” Down the drain this bottle went, and I think I might just pitch the other 5 I have.
I personally did not have an issue with the international mystery assortment offered a while back, as we at least drank all 12 bottles (recognizing none of them were “all-star” variants). The fact that 6 out of my 12 bottles for this offering are flat out garbage is quite a blow. What makes this worst, I sat out on the offering from WS that followed this simply due to too many back to back purchases on the site.
Looking back, I would have done myself a huge favor sitting this one out and going with an offering that had actual rats to flush it out.
I can’t have my cake and eat it too though, because the Gård mystery offering was amazing (and now one of our favorite wineries). I regret not scoring myself multiple cases of that one.
“But this came out to a great price of $11 a bottle!”
Well, times that by 6 and now I need to drink through my collection to forget!
@Drez143 I haven’t cracked any of my 6 RRs yet, but I had the exact same regret – I also passed on Clark’s Cab Franc because I had just purchased this, now thinking I should’ve been less adventuresome (but where’s the fun in that?)
@Drez143 give them a sniff before you dump. I opened one this week with a lot of apprehension, but it was drinking fine on day one. I just left the bottle open standing upright all week and had half a glass every night, and the wine did evolve. Dumped the last half glass out as it was pretty muddy. I assume 3 of the 6 I got are probably bad but who knows!
@Winedavid49 The more I think about it I feel we were mislead. Casemates should have labeled the offer as six RRs plus a random assortment of six reds to fill out the case. Hard to believe they didn’t know close to 50 percent of the winery’s allocation would be RR.
To be fair CM has always been fair with adjustments and have some solid offers with great QPR. This one, however, fell short.
@losthighwayz Agree with you on that. I bought 2 cases & had 6 btls of the RRCF in each so a case total that’s not what I was thinking would get…a couple btls in each is enough. I split a case on previous offer on the RRCF & did the experimenting wasn’t completely horrible but I wouldn’t have bought a case offering if it came up again. Reading everyone’s post I am scared to open any btls as I think I am going to be even more disappointed with the purchase.
@dawnlac@losthighwayz At least you should know if a bottle is bad as soon as you open it - no need to wait for a week. I suppose I may tap into my remaining stock - only 3 bottles - and see if I can find a good one.
This was crap. I have many bottles of similar age in my cellar (and much older) that are not failing like this. The sediment was one thing but the funky nose on the 2012 Cab Franc indicates spoilage to me. I was not at all familiar with Two Jakes but if this is what they are capable of then color me unimpressed. The singular worst deal I have ever had from Casemates.
@medwardb
While I don’t disagree with your assessment of the RR I can pretty confidently say the problem is limited to those bottles and you will be very happy with the rest of your case. And WD has acknowledged the issue and I am guessing will look for a way to make it right.
@gtcharlie@medwardb having had previous RRCF bottles, this is not the characteristic that has been echoed in previous buys.
I don’t say that just cause I have a love for the RRCF, and I also too, hope I have no bad bottles in my lot, but I can understand the displeasure others have voiced.
FWIW (probably not much), I also played along at home. 2012 RR CF but from a previous offer. Poured it through a filtered spout into a pseudo-decanter and set the lid on top sideways to allow air in but somewhat less than fully open. The wine actually tasted ok on Day 1, probably would have opened up nicely in the glass but I just took a small taste. Let it sit 2 days and revisited. Like , I found it to be somewhat vegetal on day 3 with garrigue notes. Day 4 it hit its stride and the fruit reappeared. Day 5 started to get some of the acetic notes mentioned by klez, but it blew off and was still pretty good. Day 6 now and it’s starting to go downhill.
@chipgreen I did the same this past week with a previous offer and agree with your assessment. However, it sounds like the issue is with this latest offer and possible storage issues. Enough people have posted vinegar notes which I did not get.
I will open a 2012 from recent offer to see if notes from this bottle are similar to what I got from the 2012 from last year.
Regardless, I’m sticking to my opinion that the offer was misleading. CM should have disclosed six RR per case plus an assortment of other reds
@bunnymasseuse@chipgreen@losthighwayz
To be clear - vinegar is the result of microbial contamination. Acetobacter spp., to be precise. The contamination had to have happened at or before bottling. It’s not a storage issue. Ditto a corked wine.
The reason no-sulphur-added wine is rare is that the sulphur makes it harder for the vinegar bacteria to grow. (And any other microbial spoilage bugs like Brettanomyces.) So that’s the risk Clark took, and now he’s going to hopefully figure out how to make it right.
@bunnymasseuse@losthighwayz
I thought this was going downhill on day 6 but tried it again on day 8 and it was actually a little better than day 6. Not enough to warrant an additional post, but… holy cow, I just poured the last glass on day 10 and the nose was wonderful! Full of the bottle boquet that RPM talks about in well aged wines.
On the palate, it was still slightly acetic but less so than day 6. It blew off rather quickly once again and with a little swirling and time in the glass, this wine is suddenly singing! I would not believe it if I wasn’t tasting it for myself. Truly incredible. I really do not want to decant wine for 10 days before drinking it but color me impressed. The fruit is back, the wine has come into balance and it has a lingering finish of dusty cherry that is quite enjoyable.
@bunnymasseuse@chipgreen well I happen to be home with a sick child. I’m intrigued now and lucky me left half the bottle uncorked for what is now it’s 12th or so day! Crazy but agree with you. Fruit is present front and center and wine is actually quite good. There’s brownish red on the edges which along with the taste remind me of a much older wine. I opened a 2000 Marques de Riscal a month or so ago and though different varietals and continents this reminded me of that wine.
To be clear, this 2012 is from the original offer some two years ago.
@bunnymasseuse@chipgreen@losthighwayz I recently replaced the 2010 I had set aside with a 2012 from the mystery case. Will probably be opening it in the next few days…
I bought a case and received 6 bottles of the Roman Reserve. I’m just catching up with this forum so was unaware of the potential problems. Now I have a problem. I’m going to have to start opening mine just to see if they are ok or spoiled. Seems like a waste as I was hoping to open them on occasion over a longer period of time. And if they are spoiled, what then? I’m hopeful the mystery magnums make up for all this.
Where’s Clark? In the past he was quick to make an appearance when sales were lagging. Almost salesmen-esque in nature, or at least far from the Post Modern Winemaker.
In a word, the wine is swill.
In a word, the offer was misleading.
@shrimp74 So you’re aware of Clark’s involvement in past offering discussions, and even the nature of them, but not of the RR line? Which before now (when I’ve bought it), was offered at nearly double what we paid here, before prices of everything spiked? It is a shame you are disappointed with the ratio present in the mystery, but I don’t believe it was misleading. It was stated this was the remaining stock, and the “lucky enough” comment could now be seen as a coy hint. You apparently understand salesmen, and as such should understand the job is to promote what’s for sale.
Sure, the specifics of the packages could have been more upfront, yeah. But I also don’t remember reading that definition of “mystery”. Also maybe I’m “lucky” to not have received a bad bottle, but I also believe we’re hearing more about the bad from a vocal minority than the good that have been well received and moved on. Notwithstanding, I still found the product to be quite valuable for the price. I’ve had issues sorted out in the past here so I trust CM’s judgement in handling. Hopefully bad bottles get remedied but honestly what I’m hearing here is wanting a fix for a different type of “sour grapes”.
@james@shrimp74
Agreed that the usual case is those receiving the bad bottles will be more vocal. I have been one of those but to be honest I just started out wondering if my experience was isolated. Obviously it was not. What I am really curious is the ratio of good to bad bottles that got shipped out this time. It certainly seems to be the case that this is the first time there was a problem with this particular wine. And on another note we have opened both a bottle of the petite sirah and the aspect and both have been excellent.
@gtcharlie@james@shrimp74
IMHO getting the occasional bad bottle is one thing this is far more than that from what has been reported. Throw in the write up that said you might get lucky and get one bottle of the RR to everyone getting 4 or 6 makes me suspicious at the very least. But CM is not at fault here and has always made things right whatever happened.
@james Unfortunately it’s not sour grapes. It’s 6 RRCF, of which, 2 have so far been used as drain cleaner. This, with the statement of maybe getting one if you’re lucky, in the original offer. The reviews on these have been consistent, something happened. At a restaurant, there’d be an immediate refund or replacement offered. Here - crickets.
Someone previously said the offer should’ve read 6 RRCF of various vintages and then 6 mystery bottles of Two Jakes. Eureka!
I thought it funny that someone made the comment in the mystery magnum bottle offer this weekend that they hoped the mystery bottle wasn’t this.
@shrimp74 up until now, I haven’t seen mention from yourself about loss/spoilage within your own case, just the declaration of it’s “swill”. If you’ve experienced this then I urge you to take it up with CM support. Maybe you did get 6 of a specific tainted case, but the rest I’d be assured are of high caliber quality (and again, follow up with the appropriate channel).
Beyond that, there’s two things happening here: (1) some bad bottles reported among (2) an unexpected disproportion. For the latter, yeah LOL because that’s the way these things can go but for the former, they shouldn’t go that way and I’m sure there wasn’t intention of the sort. Just please try to remember you’ve received a stock of the last remaining existence of a well respected vintner. There might likely be quite a bit of mess to sort through as it is.
I agree with a lot of what has been said in this thread. Received six of the RR wines. I’ve opened two and they have been undrinkable. I’ll keep trying but my expectations are low. The other six bottles (I’ve drank two) have been exceptional.
Bummed, but also sometimes a mystery doesn’t work out, just ask the “ghosts” on scooby doo.
Just opened second 2012 RR, the first had that overwhelming vinegar smell, #2 less vinegar more vegetal aroma, used #1 to make red wine mushroom sauce and #2 will help break down in a Sunday sauce. Would have been nice to know in advance we were getting so much of this gamble chocolate or now just cooking wine. sigh.
I was getting progressively more nervous as I read this thread but just wanted to add my experience so far for anyone in the same boat:
I opened one of my 2010 RR two days ago and after carefully decanting I poured the remaining sediment-filled dregs into a glass to taste and it was actually really good day one. I’m letting this one ride for a week and tasting along the way, but at least one data point of clearly not a bad bottle.
I do wonder if the remaining bottles will be a roulette or if the way bottles were allocated people are likely to end up with either all bad or all good bottles. It also appears that most (if not all) of the bad bottles reported are 2012s, so I’ve got one of those on deck to try in the coming weeks.
Hi folks. Let me share my point of view on the Roman Reserve line in general and the 2012 Cab Franc specifically. RR is code for sulfite-free. This is because the Romans, while they had access to “blue smoke” and used it in pest management in orchards, in magic and in a primitive form of gunpowder, did not like its effect in winemaking, so they made sulfite-free wines for a thousand years all over Europe. Check out “Gods, Men and Wine” by William Younger for a thorough discussion.
I was given a copy of this book by the late, great Chip Cassidy in 2001. I thought this was nuts. I started my experiments with Rennaisance Syrah with and without SO2 for a couple years, but we liked the complexity of the Roman-style wines so much that we dropped the control wines and just made the Roman style. In 2007, when I started making wine for Jake, we made small lots of all four varieties off Diamond Ridge, but in 2010 decided to focus on Cab Franc.
WineSmith also made a sulfited version many of you know. These wines are extremely different. The WineSmith comes off as a convincing classic St. Emillion knock-off - elegant, graceful, and easy to understand. Oddly, it turns out that sulfite-free wines do not have oxidation problems. They do, however, have serious reduction even after six years in barrel and another six in the bottle. The Roman Reserve has much more complexity and evolves, as noted above, from green peppercorns to romano cheese to intense white cherry over the course of hours, days and weeks.
Not everybody is prepared for this craziness. When we ran this wine on Casemates years ago, there was a fair amount of reporting of corked or spoiled wine, so Jake and I opened 100 bottles and tasted them. They were totally consistent, with no corkiness or spoilage. I do recommend lots of breathing - like maybe a week.
I fully understand why one might hate this stuff when evaluated with a modern mindset. But what if you had never tasted wine and this was offered? The Romans used cuisine as a military/political tool. Say you’re a centurian in the heart of Gaul. You’ve got 99 soldiers running the town and everybody hates you. So you invite the village elders to dinner. They get the steam bath, the panini with olive oil (Attila the Hun can make butter, but it takes 10 years of stable government to get an olive), stinky cheeses, and this wine. Apparently this approach was so effective that on the way home, the guests decided not to stab them in their beds.
If nothing else, I hope you can appreciate the experiment. It turns out that sulfites suppress the wine’s natural immune system, leading to a tendency in long-aged sulfited wines toward volatile acidity, an affliction which did indeed lead to rampant spoilage in my 2017 CF, for which we are refunding everyone’s money.
The way I read it is he tested these bottles and they are good hope you can enjoy the experiment lol. But I’m not all that smart maybe he meant something else? And you will get a refund for some other sale.
I just tasted a 2012 RRCF opened Sunday & it is exactly how the others tasted when I purchased a case…with that being said my disappointment as stated in another post was in this offer was thinking I would get more of the other varieties of wine which enticed me to purchase 2 cases…1 of which being a total of 1 case of the RRCF…which gonna be honesty wasn’t thrilled about but again mystery case…
I did then buy the Winesmith CF offered not long after which I love before I got my 2 mystery cases but would totally do again!
Well now I am totally confused. After my experiment from a couple of weeks ago, and contemplating sending a note to customer service regarding the fact I got six RR Cab Franc’s in my “mystery case” and would like some resolution, I decided to take another swing at it. I left a bottle of the RR standing on my countertop for two days. I opened it this afternoon.
Upon opening, there was none of the nasty funk I had with the first bottle. The cork looked the same as the first. Slight fruit on the nose. After letting the open bottle sit for around three hours, I carefully poured a glass through the filter that came with my venturi. Very little on the nose now. No sediment whatsoever! I used a flashlight to peer through the bottle and saw no sign of the huge glob of sediment that was in my first bottle.
The first few sips were very drinkable, a bit tight and acidic, but much better than what I experienced with my last bottle after four days. For dinner I had romaine lettuce with oil and vinegar dressing, and leftover pork tenderloin and au gratin potatoes. The wine, now four hours opened, cut through all the food beautifully.
I am to the bottom third of the bottle, and still no signs of any sediment whatsoever. I cannot believe I am comparing two bottles of the same vintage. Is it even possible for sediment to disappear like that? If not, it is clear to me some, but not all of these bottles are compromised. And I am still a little miffed I got six of these. But at least I have some hope for the others.
@rjquillin Yes, the 2012 vintage, the same vintage that offered up a strainer full of sludge from the first one I opened. That one also stood on my countertop for a couple of days prior to opening, but only two or three days from when it was delivered.
I have examined the four remaining bottles with a flashlight, all of which are currently stored on their sides, and each of them have a significant amount of material floating around, top to bottom. I am going to stand another up for a couple of days and will check and see what happens.
I checked the bottle I stood up for three days with a bright light and it appears all of the sediment is gone. I kind of expected to see a big blob at the bottom of the bottle, but it appears to have all incorporated into itself. Interesting.
That’s encouraging to hear. I wonder if the sediment situation could be evaluated without opening? Perhaps by storing the bottles inverted for a few days and checking the neck?
Chiming in to echo my overall disappointment. Purchased two cases and ended up with 12 bottles of the RR CF (2x2010, 10x2012). Opened two of the 2012’s and went through the process of straining the sediment and decanting for a week, tasting along the way. After a week, both bottles will be going down the drain. Fingers crossed the 2010’s are better, but I have little hope for the 8 other 2012’s.
@dmac88
Based on what others have reported, it sounds like these might finally hit their stride at around 10 or 12 days after being opened. Since you’ve already waited a week, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to wait a few more days and see if they improve.
A similar experience here with the 2012 RRCF. I decanted and tasted over 10 days. At day 7 it was maybe drinkable, with strong food to mask the taste. Before this it was just vinegar with lots of sediment. I’m really disappointed, maybe the other bottles will be better.
I’m not nearly as experienced as many on this forum, but starting my own mini thread on a RR 2012 bottle.
Was planning to experiment with one for Christmas. Realized this morning that I’m well short of the recommended 7-10 day decant. Decided to give it a try anyway.
Bottle stored on side since arrival. On opening, no cork issues. Poured through stainless steel mesh strainer into a Tupperware (!) pitcher. Left fair amount of sediment in bottle but little went through to the strainer.
Hint of vinegar smell but nothing overwhelming. A tiny taste, wine felt… thin? Not unpleasant, just not a lot of mouth feel. Ran through vinturi 3 times (hopefully not sacrilege?) — once into decanter, back into bottle, then back into decanter where it has an ample air gap. I’ll update closer to Christmas…
@lehigh Realized one bottle not very celebratory so repeated with another RR 2012 into decanter #2. Same experience; only a hint of vinegar on the nose and nothing off putting on first taste.
@lehigh Great CMH minds think alike! I poured mine into my “decanter” last Saturday (12/16/23), thinking that I could take it to a family event on Christmas Eve for some other oenophiles to join the experiment after 8 days of air. Not a lot of sediment in this one, most of what was there stayed in the bottle with a gentle pour. I actually really enjoyed the front end of it; it was the finish that had the musty funk to it that was off-putting. I haven’t tasted it since (been putting my nose over it daily, inhaling deeply, and saying “nope” rather quickly), but I’m holding out hope that with time the musty funk dissipates (fingers crossed). It does seem like the funky smell has lessened over the week, so maybe that’s a positive sign?
@klezman Thanks! I’ve never actually used it as a decanter before (I use it + a stir plate for yeast starters for homebrewing), as I’m not typically patient enough to decant wine. But seems to be perfect for it!
This is probably the second time ever I have logged into this site. I could not let this stand!
RON. SIR. Do not attempt to limit the utility of a flask. These are not relegated to dusty lab shelves, they are not chemical uni-taskers!
Behold — yes, a laboratory vessel, but my personal flask uses extend to wine decanter, flower vase, water carafe, lamp, general decor, and even hookah (sure, that one was a vacuum flask).
@fermentedwisdom@klezman@molarchae
good to read you! Yes been a long time.
We need a good sarc font here for my earlier tongue-in-cheek attempt at humor
@lehigh Verdict: not unpleasant, filled out a bit with multiple aerations, still prefer the regular WineSmith cab franc. Accompaniment was prime rib and had no issues with the pairing. Every once in a while I got a very vegetal whiff, which I liken to wheatgrass juice. Left about a half of a decanter which I’ll sample in the coming days.
@lehigh Similar “not unpleasant” comments from our crew. We had it on 12/24 after an 8 day decant. The funky/musty nose that was there all the previous week had finally blown off. Most common comment was that it tastes “very old world”, with my father in law saying he got lots of leather out of it, and that it had a bit of a sherry quality to it (perhaps from sitting in the flask for 8 days?). All in all not a bad wine, but I agree that the Winesmith cab franc is definitely more enjoyable. A fun experiment for a botte that was pretty reasonably priced…but like most on the board, I’d have preferred not to have 5 more experimental bottles to go with it.
@lehigh I swear I’ll stop bumping this thread after this…but I still had about a glass and a half left, which I drank yesterday (12/31, 15 days after first decanting it), and it was it’s best showing (still not my favorite wine ever, but fairly tasty). If you’re going to crack one of these guys, patience is a virtue.
I have bought dozens of cases from Casemates. (Including a few cases of Clark’s wine) A vast majority have been great wines, a few just ok but that is all part of it. I mainly lurk (I do appreciate everyone’s comments) but I do post when I get the chance to rat.
I have to say, I am very disappointed in the 2012 RR CF. I got 6 bottles and even after doing all the recommended solutions above and opening multiple bottles the wine is undrinkable. I don’t mind interesting and unusual wines but this is simply unpalatable.
It is surprising to get 1/2 the case of one wine and the rest mixed. I wonder if this was a last ditch effort to get ride of the RR?
@Nel250 I think at this point, it is known this was a way to clear the excessive inventory of the RR.
Sadly (or happily), a few weeks ago a 6 pack of wine showed up at my door that I did not order. I opened it with glee, and saw it was a 6 pack of one of my favorite wineries from this site (known as Italian for QPR). I thought to myself “amazing, they took care of the 6 bad bottles of RR they sent out!”. I was in a fantastic mood all day.
The next day, a close friend of mine texted “Did you get the wine I sent you?!?”. I was still happy he did that, but then I snapped back that I paid for 6 bottles of undrinkable wine.
I was refraining from posting here about this mystery set. However, it is Christmas morning and I have to rant.
Fully half this mystery case was undrinkable and went down the drain. The rest was meh and about at the end of its life judging from the bottles I opened. So, basically, I paid a lot of money for 4 bottles of wine I’ll use to make chili, boeuf bourguignons, and marinara.
I really love Casemates and once in a while getting chosen to rat. However, I really feel like I had the wool pulled over my eyes on this one. Combined with the six pack of Château Bois Mondont Saint-Germain which I use in my salad dressing now, I’m getting a little disillusioned.
I have a case of the Powder Keg Petite Sirah on order. I know that the buy decision is mine and mine alone. However, if this case is funky, I will have to re-evaluate.
@bunnymasseuse well, as of last night, it was completely gone as it was flourishing wonderfully! That was about a 7-8 day sit in a decanter with small tastes every 3 days or so. That’s my 2nd recent bottle opened of my 12 received, not including 2012&2010 RR CF I still have from previous purchases.
Reporting in on the 2012 RR. Opened last Friday and let sit in a decanter until tonight, trying it with a KC strip loin. The vinegar smell and taste upon opening has gone away, and this unsophisticated palate really enjoyed the wine.
So it looks like there won’t be any compensation for all the crap bottles of 2012 CF they sent me? Using the remaining bottles for cooking (eventually) but I kind of expected Two Jakes quality when I ordered Two Cases
Just had a little swig of the 2012 RR CF. 3 days with half-bottle in decanter. (Half left in bottle, to air more slowly.) Mostly for tasting on Sunday (with 6 day decant) to counter point some sparkling, over the course of the day. Little bit that I nipped just now. . . so fun. A little goes a long way. Really neat.
Probably my 5th bottle over the last few years. Haven’t gotten a ‘bad’ one yet. Tastes awful on pnp of course.
To us old hands, and I guess Clark and WineDavid, we knew exactly what to expect, and the RR CF would be a score to those who know about it. When unpacking my mystery cases, I was quite happy to get so many RR CFs. But if you’re not ready for it, I imagine it would be pretty jarring. In hindsight, Casemates should have been way, way more clear up front on this component of the mystery case.
@wardad this iteration of RR CF, I’ve had the wine be cycle through sublime to not-very-good back to good and then . . well, let’s give it a try… fantastic. again. After it had been and then wasn’t.
The way to drink this wine is: filter the whole thing when you open it. Then when you try it each evening, if you’re not loving it, have something else that night. You’ll love it again soon enough. It’s like being served a different wine every night.
It’s NOT that the normal cycle for a young wine x5. Some wines need a couple days, this needs more than usual. Nope! Yes it needs more air initially but then it cycles, loops around. If it taste great, then later doesn’t, you’ll think, “oh no, I missed the window!” But you probably didn’t; just wait a day or 3 and you’ll like it again.
If you know what you’re getting into with this wine, it’s a blast. If you’re expecting a normal bottle of wine, I can see that would be very frustrating.
Opened. 2012 Roman Reserve on Friday and it was great. Decanted for many hours but finished off that night. Loved it, consistent with previous bottles.
I am 1 and 1. First bottle we opened we decanted and drank that night. Different but good.
Second bottle I open 13 days ago after reading the recommendations. Smell was horrible, taste was vinegar; brownish color. I aerated into a decanter and said let’s ride it out, day 10 is the day to drink it. Let it sit for 6 days and then tasted every day. It never became drinkable and sadly I put it down the sink tonight, can’t remember the last time I did that. One of the few times in my life. My wife refused to even taste it, she really enjoyed the first bottle. I’ve got four more of these, I’m hoping to end over .500.
To agree with what others have said - I’ve enjoyed every other Two Jakes I got. I’m now wishing I had more of those and didn’t get RR as half of my mystery case. It definitely feels Shady.
Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wines
About The Offer
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
About The Winery
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Dec 8 - Monday, Dec 11
Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wines
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $134.99 $11.25/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Can I predict, at this price, a rather rapid sell-out?
@rjquillin Jesus, yeah that seems likely. I should not be buying this but if it’s the last of the two Jakes stuff…
@klezman @rjquillin Cases are gone, but 4-packs are left:
/giphy military-antsy-tiger
Clark, what’s the deal? The Two Jakes label shutting down?
@klezman
Humm, Cabernet Franc Roman Reserve would be a treat
@klezman @rjquillin OMG don’t EVEN make me cry, I love that RRCF! (If someone gave me a box of just that I could die happy)
@rjquillin I should try one of those. I keep thinking I should then I remember they need air and I never think that far ahead.
@klezman @rjquillin
That is exactly what I was going to say. Need to remember to open those at breakfast!
Losing no sleep here about this…
/giphy small-particular-regret
@bunnymasseuse
/giphy ambivalent-feared-thief
I’m hoping for a great mix with 2 cases!!!
/giphy jovial-exultant-nest
/giphy adventurous-uneven-knee
Got two cases. We’ll see if this is a record sellout.
@radiolysis could be. Got a case. Really shouldn’t have. With that $25 coupon is even more insane a deal.
@klezman coooooupon?
@klezman @radiolysis yeah news to me… bunny got no coupon…
@bunnymasseuse @klezman @radiolysis
Coupon ‘witchwine’ from a sale on meh. 1 use.
@bunnymasseuse @jaybird @klezman bah! I got a case of that but didn’t notice a coupon. Booo.
@bunnymasseuse @klezman @radiolysis you have two options. Cancel and reorder with the coupon, or use the coupon next time. it’s good for 11 more months roughly.
Edit, it’s good for everyone, not just those who purchased that offer.
@bunnymasseuse @jaybird @klezman @radiolysis Thanks for the reminder; I’d forgotten about that one!
I’ve been exercising restraint and not buying wine in an effort to reduce my inventory. However, this offer destroyed the SIWBM.
I guess I’ll consider it a reward to myself for lasting so long.
Absolutely don’t need another case but this is too crazy to resist
In
/giphy insidious-elastic-chance
Two Jakes- one of our favorites. Sad if this is the end of them. No wine needed at present, but I’ll have to take 2 cases of this.
/giphy woeful-ticklish-leopard
Hard to stay away from this offer!
/giphy squealing-necrotic-thought
I’ve never tasted Two Jakes. I was burned by the international mystery case.
However, because you’ve all raved about Two Jakes over the years and still having the coupon available, I’ve decided to pull the trigger. Merry Christmas to me and my wine loving family members.
Coupon ‘witchwine’ makes the case $110…$9.17 per bottle. Not bad
@jaybird yup that international case left a scar fer sure.
Saw the word ‘mystery’ and cringed, but then I saw the producer and the price and decided to go for it after all.
@jaybird the international mystery case was truly awful, but the next mystery case they did more than made up for it.
Two Jakes is a known commodity. They could literally give me anything they had and it would be well worth it. I’m desperately trying to text my friends awake so they can get in on this before it sells out.
/giphy bared-queasy-yak
How do I get a coupon? What’s the coupon code?
@mcc36 coupon code is: witchwine
@knlprez
@knlprez Thanks
@mcc36 no problem!
/giphy chancy-usual-wombat
Bought a bit of this over the last few years. Loved all of them. Aspects, Reserve Cab, Roman Reserve. The only question is one or two?
/giphy baleful-dependable-mustard
No space, but what they heck. In for two.
/giphy fragrant-graven-octopus
Order name makes me think of pastadrop.
/giphy pensive-blunt-macaroni
@pmarin I miss sending random ‘noods…
Have only had the Aspects and really enjoyed. Full up on reds but cannot resist.
Roman Reserve Cab Franc from Mar 2021
Roman Reserve Cab Franc from Jan 2020
Aspects from Apr 2022
Aspects from May 2019
Mixed reds from Nov 2021
Petite Sirah from Jan 2020
Cab and Merlot from Jan 2021
Reserve Cab from Jul 2021
I know I missed some but for your perusal.
Read the thread title, saw the price, and put in a case order.
/giphy mean-provocative-twist
Well, this is probably the fastest order I’ve put in on this site. Hope it’s not disappointing but how can you go wrong with Two Jakes? In for a case.
/giphy effective-earthy-lark
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
Two Jakes of Diamonds Mystery Red Wines - $45 = 24.99%
Ordered in a panic because I knew this will sell out. Didn’t realize there was the coupon code. Any one tell me how long the coupon is good for? Sure I can find something in the near future with the code.
@gtcharlie 11 months left on it. Could always cancel and buy again.
witchwine
@jml326
Thanks! 11 months? I probably won’t make it another 11 days before I order something else
I just bought another case with the coupon
/giphy cunning-terrible-daisy
I’m down to the last two bottles of the last case in the house. Thanks for those that shared the coupon code. Haven’t had Two Jakes before so I hope it will be a success in the house.
Currently sitting on 44 bottles of Two Jakes wines at an average bottle cost of $18.65, over 50% more than today’s case price. I will let others enjoy the massive discount on these great wines, while remaining happy with what I’ve already gotten for my money.
@chipgreen you’re a stronger man than I!
@klezman
If by some miracle this is not sold out by tomorrow night, I reserve the right to change my mind.
@chipgreen @klezman I have zero Two Jakes in the cellar, so feel compelled to remedy that before they are gone. You guys have a favorite?
@hscottk @klezman
The Roman Reserve Cab Franc is my favorite Two Jakes wine. The Aspects red blend would be my second choice.
@chipgreen @hscottk @klezman
My picks would be the reverse. The Roman Reserve requires too much planning ahead. Like it for special occasions.
@chipgreen @hscottk @klezman @Springbank same here Springbank. I’m also a fan of their petite sirah
@chipgreen @hscottk @klezman “ The Roman Reserve Cab Franc is my favorite Two Jakes wine” ~~~ scream it from the rooftop! The lifeblood of my people!
Couldn’t pass it up…
/giphy uber-ticklish-eggnog
No question on this!
/giphy tan-textured-chili
/giphy minor-giant-bamboo
FOMO made me do it
/giphy take my money
Another mystery and another purchase.
Anything Clark is involved in gets an auto-buy from me. Excited to see what’s included!
Speaking of Clark, it’s strange to not see him here. He always seems to be around for his offers. Feel free to start your own conspiracy theory here.
@hscottk
Well, could be @WineSmith may not have known when this would be offered, and he hasn’t been tagged 'till now…
@rjquillin @winesmith Nah. Clearly, he was kidnapped by aliens.
@hscottk @rjquillin @winesmith
Steve and I are actually in Lake County today! We’ll be at the (somewhat belated) Tempranillo Day festival at Six Sigma. Next Saturday we’ll be tasting with Clark. If he doesn’t chime in here, I’ll ask him what’s up with Two Jakes and report back later.
any chance for more cases?
@snyderben I’m glad I checked on the availability before I hit the comments - at least I got a 4-pack.
Twelve hours;
Cases Gone!
This should have been a Friday offer…
@rjquillin Haha, and here I was, still waffling on whether or not I should get a second case. I guess I’ll be happy with just one!
@rjquillin @worbx Cases appear to be back…
Oh No! Cases sold out from under my feet!
Was just about to buy a case, any chance more can be allocated
@deadlyapp Would like to see it as well.
@deadlyapp @rpstrong strike while the iron is hot!
@hscottk @rpstrong yep just saw them come back and grabbed one! Huzzah to the casemates gods
@deadlyapp @hscottk Glad I saw your reply in my email; in for a case.
Now to talk to their ever helpful customer service department…
/giphy grizzly-fantastic-card
Hmm, I just grabbed a case??
Woo! Cases back!
/giphy safe-outdated-view
I got suckered in! I love mystery cases.
@Drez143 you must have missed the sucky one…
years later, still bitter. I know, “get over it!” they will say.
@pmarin
This one below? I honestly thought I got what I paid for out of it, though it wasn’t a “steal”. That’s the fun of a mystery set!
The Random Mystery offering on November 2nd, 2022 made up for that one in spades. I also quite enjoyed the Gard Vintners mystery from a few weeks ago
Cases out again…
Hi Folks. This is Two Jakes’ swan song, an amazing vineyard - a volcanic soil mountain vineyard with a cooling afternoon lake effect, perfect for rich, fruity Petite Sirah and BDX varieties. I made Jake’s wines from 2007 through 2021, when he was able to allocate everything as grape sales at good prices, mostly to the Hess Collection. Mostly I would make his remarkable Pomerol-like Merlot, which because of Sideways, was difficult to get a good price for as grapes, so I’d make 100 tons which mostly sold on the bulk market, and we’d bottle a couple hundred cases for the Two Jakes label. I did the same with 23 tons of Cab Franc and 70 tons of amazing Petite Sirah. I also made some Cab Sauv now and then and one vintage of Malbec.
These wines almost always sold out in bulk, but I was able to bottle my own under the WineSmith label, and I still have some 2017 Cab Franc that WineDavid will run sometime soon.
If there was ever a can’t-go-wrong Mystery pack, this is it. I can honestly say that I never made a wine off this vineyard that was less than extraordinary. My only caveat is that these wines have a long, flat aging trajectory. The longer you wait, the better they are.
This is the end of the line for Two Jakes, so if they sell out, there’ll be no more. I really want to acknowledge Jake Stephens as a wonderful client. It was a great privilege to work beside him for so many years. He trusted me to engage in a long line of sulfite-free “Roman Reserve” wines which you’ll find amazing if you’re lucky enough to get a bottle included in your assortment. Breathe these wines for at least a day, up to a week for best results. They’re quite different from the conventional sulfited wines, but will demonstrate why the Romans planted grapes all over Europe and used fine cuisine to stabilize the Empire.
@winesmith
It’s always great to have you here Clark, but we’re all sad to hear this is the last of the Two Jakes.
@winesmith so you’re saying that Jake sold the vineyard? Or that all good grapes are now allocated and you’re frozen out of it? I’m not quite following what happened.
@klezman No, he’s still running the vineyard, but likes that a lot more than being in the wine business. He’s got a farmer’s soul, not a salesman’s black heart. Here’s what wine sales really looks like:
I’m very pleased that he’s earned his position with Hess and others as a combination of quality and economy unparalleled in California. It’s the goal of any consultant to put themselves out of a job, and that’s what we accomplished.
You guys were a tremendous help keeping us breathing when we needed oxygen. Grateful thanks to all.
Don’t worry, you certainly haven’t seen the last of me. My 2017 Diamond Ridge Cab Franc will be featured soon.
@winesmith well, I’m worried you won’t be making more wine from his vineyard.
@winesmith Thank you for your comments and letting us benefit glad I grabbed a case yesterday.
@klezman @winesmith
What a great line!
@winesmith there seem to be lots of unhappy people with the RR. Any insight?
wow, that went quick! heck of a deal.
I think a case would find a home here in MD if more happen to be added
Whelp, no such luck! Congrats to everyone who grabbed some!
Would be fun if they could throw in an extra Sunday deal since this sold-out (as expected) today. Like, “Extra! here’s some more stuff we found in a warehouse…”
Of course that would probably mess up some of the scripts that expect to do things on certain days only, like send the email the 2nd day, except on Fridays. Which makes me wonder, will an automated email go out tomorrow for today’s deal that you can’t buy anymore?
@pmarin yeah! WTH we going to do now (for the next 30 hrs)?!
@ttboy23
We can drink and try to make more room for the next offer up WD’s sleeves.
@pmarin yeah, I got the email and got excited…for about 30 seconds and I saw it was sold out
@pmarin
I don’t think they could do that unless they actually owned the miscellaneous cases that they ‘found’, which goes against its business model - they are an expediter, not a reseller.
@pmarin @ttboy23 well, as for me, I see that there are currently 111 comments to read
Congratulations to all that purchased. Fantastic deal. Outstanding wine and winemaker. As a long time Wooter/‘Mater/fullpuller/‘tsoer with the typical more wine than time to drink, it was nevertheless painful to sit this one out.
Salute.
I thought about sitting this one out for all of 2 seconds. I am overflowing and was thinking of giving mixed 6 packs as holiday gifts. Now it will probably be cases.
Yup, this didn’t last long, at all, but no surprise there.
Thanks to Jake, @WineSmith and WD for making this a fun ride in a 15 hour finale.
Rats - why can’t casemates send the email on opening day instead of day 2?? Arggggggg
Welp. This was going to be my first purchase in quite a while. Sadness
So sad to have missed this
I am so sad this is the swan song of 2 Jake’s and that I missed it . Casemates is always a day behind for me, no idea why. This was one of my autobuys
@pienka the emails go out 24 hours after the offer starts for the two-day offers. It’s always been this way.
@klezman When a deal like this sells out it makes me super sad because I didn’t realize two jakes was going away. I love two jakes
Ahh missed it
Should be automatic
Bah. Missing this makes me sad… and extra grumpy.
Drinking an Aspects tonight. Sorry to hear they are going out of the wine business. Sorry I was not on line this weekend and missed this offer. I am in the wine club of their neighbor Gregory Graham and he has a wonderful product he creates yearly.
Ouch… just ouch
I ordered a case. Would be happy to do a Marin/SF share/split.
@cosmo108 I would love to get in on sharing a case.
@Winedavid49
How likely will that delivery window be true?
Oftentimes shipments go out ahead of the stated delivery window and I have tentative travel plans Nov 20th - Dec 5th. If UPS can’t deliver this and it gets sent back to WCC, I’ll be devastated. I’m trying my best to prevent that from happening.
@Winedavid49
Just a friendly nudge in case you haven’t seen this yet.
Thanks in advance.
@kawichris650 @Winedavid49
@wccwinegirl may be of assistance as well
@kawichris650 @rjquillin @WCCWineGirl whispering. All good.
Good evening and happy Friday!
Do you by chance have any updates? If the delivery will take place after December 5th that’d be great. If you think the wine will ship sooner, I’ll need customer service to change the shipping address for my order.
Thanks again for your help.
@kawichris650 If you don’t tag @WineDavid49 and/or @WCCWineGirl they may not see your message…
@kawichris650 I’m in the same boat. Did you get an updated shipping window?
@danidani12 @kawichris650 ok, just came from the warehouse and two jakes is being built today and will go out THIS Monday. my guess for MN is will get it first week of Dec. it’s a little hard to predict with Thanksgiving and holiday rush.
@kawichris650 @Winedavid49 thank you! Any chance mine can be pushed so it can be delivered the week of dec 4?
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Winedavid49 My UPS tracking shows a delivery of Friday, Nov 24 (rural central MO).
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Mark_L @klezman
yea, this time of year (both in terms of temperate weather and warehouse busyness, once we get it in, we let’er rip. these are all palletized and likely given to the carrier.
WD
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Mark_L @Winedavid49
I hope you’re ready for a lot of returned packages…probably including ours unless they’ll hold until Monday 27th…sending out for delivery during the biggest travel week of the year is just asking for a boatload of people to be unable to receive.
@kawichris650 @Mark_L @Winedavid49 when did you get a shipping notice?
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Winedavid49 Come to think of it, it was for the Scott Harvey offering that I got the shipping notice for 2 days ago. When I looked it up on UPS Mychoice, I noticed that the Two Jakes was scheduled to be delivered the same day.
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Mark_L @Winedavid49
Just got my shipping notice; scheduled delivery 11/22
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @Mark_L @rjquillin @Winedavid49 yeah, me too. Not happy. This will sit in a warehouse all weekend or get sent back, and I want this wine. Shipping Thanksgiving week just makes no sense.
@klezman
You could always not travel? This is Two Jakes we are talking about here!
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @rjquillin @Winedavid49 I received an “official” shipping notice (beyond the shipment just appearing in the MyChoice web page) of delivery on 11/28. That works fine for me. (I would have been gone for the original MyChoice delivery day of 11/24 and had rescheduled it to 11/27)
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @Mark_L @Winedavid49
can you not redirect to some place/one?
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @rjquillin @Winedavid49 I could have it delivered to a UPS store, but 1) it would probably sit there even longer than if I delay the delivery, and 2) I would rather let UPS do the driving and save myself the 80 minute round trip (with the exception of times of high heat).
@kawichris650 @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin @Winedavid49 how long will ups hold it? Mine is scheduled to come almost two weeks earlier than the shipping range given on the offer
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @rjquillin @Winedavid49 I think they will typically hold for 1 week (at least, at the UPS store).
@kawichris650 @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin @Winedavid49 oh no. I won’t be back in time. @winedavid49 - any suggestions here on what to do?
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @Mark_L @Winedavid49
Talk to your store…
Ask, explain.
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @rjquillin @Winedavid49 …PLEAD!!!
@danidani12 @kawichris650 @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin @Winedavid49 Check out signing up for UPS My Choice ($20 a year for unlimited changes to address or date) - mine is arriving on Nov 28 (and I will be here but I will switch delivery to a UPS CC so that I do not have to wait in) and it was giving me options of delaying delivery until Dec 12 although YMMV
@ctmariner @danidani12 @kawichris650 @Mark_L @rjquillin @Winedavid49 I will have to call them. If they only deliver Wednesday, Friday, and then Monday we’ll be fine. If they try to deliver Saturday that’ll be the third try. Last time I tried to get something worked out with them it was an exercise in frustration.
It’s just asking for so much trouble to send wine when half of the country is travelling.
I tried. Mine can only redirect to a ups store where they have a strict 7 day hold period with no flexibility.
UPS delivers to USPS. I have a box there. The case goes in the box and I p/u at my leisure. If it doesn’t fit in a small box, I get a key to the locker it’s in.
@rjquillin It depends on where you live. Even if I pay the upgraded UPS charge, I only have one option which does not work. Luckily I am home a lot.
@danandlisa Finding the USPS address thing works was an accident. I had it for a default address for other Meh sites to foil porch pirates. I ordered one of the wine offers on meh and UPS delivered the case to the US Post Office. There it was put into a locker. Guess I’m really not sure if I could redirect to that address, but as a primary, it wasn’t an issue, and no nonsense should it remain there for some time.
@rjquillin We don’t have lockers regardless if it is Amazon, UPS, or USPS. It just does not exist here.
@danandlisa @rjquillin
Porch pirates or the boss?
@rjquillin @ScottW58 Luckily we don’t have porch pirates here. We just don’t have routing options, which is okay if you are prepared. Happy Thanksgiving.
@danandlisa @ScottW58
Yes, her too.
Accidentally, well the shipper (K&L) f’d up, and shipped a couple of held cases here, home.
Had no “shipping” address so they, without asking to where or when, used the billing address.
Pissed.
Awkward.
11/22 - received:
2x - 2011 Merlot
4x - 2012 Cab Franc
2x - 2013 Aspects
2x - 2013 Petit Sirah
2x - 2017 Petite Sirah
All of the above are Lake County.
@rpstrong Just noticed, the '12 CFs are Roman Reserves.
@rpstrong You got what is, I think, for me, the best of the cases I’ve seen so far! Only way it could have been better would be 2 each of the 2010 and 2012 Cab Francs.
@klezman I’m not complaining, and I’m really intrigued by the RR CFs - I think I’ll pull a cork tomorrow, strain and decant, and see where it goes over the next week or so.
Ended up with a case + a 4-pack, the latter due to hedging on buying a second case until they sold out.
The results:
I would’ve loved some of the older PS’s, perhaps replacing a few of the RR bottles, but overall can’t complain.
@Sekraan I picked my two cases up yesterday, haven’t opened. I would not be disappointed with mixes like that!
“Interesting” exchange with the Brown today.
I got a shipping notice, mentioned earlier
for delivery to business work address. Kept following tracking and it started looking wonky, well, because it was. One arrived in town, the other still in transit, then both arrived, but now the delivery date went TBD. Never saw where either made it on a truck.
Did the online chat thing and after some extended back and forth I was advised the shipper, WCC, missed the pickup time; well, they got picked up, but after the ‘these need to be picked up by…’ time for it to be delivered by the advised delivery date.
OK, so where is it now I asked.
At the local, not far from me, distribution facility, where, in the past, I’ve picked up shipments.
Ahhhh, but according to the agent, WCC shipped out prohibiting any re-routing to a different address, be it residential, business, access point, UPS store, anywhere; including the ability to pick-up at the UPS center. Only WCC could could alter ~anything~.
Well, the business will be closed tomorrow, and Friday, and Saturday so that leaves a Monday date. They will try three attempts. The agent did state the next delivery attempt day would be Monday and it would not see a truck until then.
We shall see…
sigh
@winedavid49
Are you mandated to ship disallowing any modification by the recipient of the delivery address?
Just so you know, not upset, just frustrated, and thought you and others may benefit from some of these details.
@rjquillin
I have had UPS tell me that a couple times with WCC shipments I was trying to track down/re-direct. Never really did believe them but what can you say to that?
That is one little bonus about abstaining from otherwise tempting offers - not having to deal with UPS. FedEx was far superior, at least for me.
@chipgreen @rjquillin @WCCGeorge @winedavid49
I have tried repeatedly to have the delivery address updated and it was never updated by WCC. UPS will be delivering the wine tomorrow and I am out of the country. I’ve spoken with three different UPS representatives in an effort to resolve this issue and they say there’s nothing they can do. Only WCC can change the delivery name and/or delivery address.
Please for the sake of Two Jakes, I need the delivery name changed and I need WCC to authorize the delivery to be sent to the nearest UPS facility so my mom can pick it up on my behalf. I desperately do not want this package being sent back to WCC since this is the last of the Two Jakes wine.
Boy, I feel bad for WD and staff as you read the evolution of this sale.
It first started with everyone saying instant buy, then those complaining about the fact that the email doesn’t go out until the second day (and those people don’t check the website without an email notification) and that they missed the deal.
To then a whole bunch of complaints about the fact that the wine was shipped in a timely fashion.
I’m sure some who missed the deal would gladly accept the shipments from those that don’t like that the wine was shipped?
@Drez143 as one of the people who “complained” that the wine was shipped, you clearly missed the point. This is the single biggest travel weekend of the year. Many or most people aren’t home to receive and most offices are closed at least part of the week. It’s terribly wasteful if a bunch of wine needs to get shipped back to Sonoma because it was sent during Thanksgiving week. Then you have wasted money and a huge cost for WD and a bunch of angry customers who really wanted the wine but aren’t home to get it. And with UPS it’s obnoxious to try to get it redirected compared to FedEx.
Shipments that get returned get charged twice for shipping to WD, and then he has to issue a refund. It’s not good for him or his business either.
I think what most people here would prefer is that the shipping window given in the offer is adhered to. Personally, I don’t usually care, but being among the tens of millions of American residents out of town this week, I happen to care this time.
@Drez143 @klezman i’m good. we felt the timing of the shipment would be the least worse in this situation. if we don’t release it, those wanting it sooner would be bothered (rightly so). we ship it, and that spells trouble for those impacted by this tough week (rightly so).
the chips will fall. i hope you get the wine in good working order. temperatures will help.
@Drez143 @klezman @WCCGeorge
Are you prohibited from allowing reroutes requested by consignee?
@WCCGeorge hey George! I get it. Thankfully they’ve told me that the third attempt would be Monday so it should be ok.
@WCCGeorge the saga continues. The updated delivery date says tomorrow and not Monday as the previous rep told me. UPS has the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with. They can’t do anything when you call them except claim they will call the local centre to see if they’ll delay driver one day. Such a pain.
Apparently Unbelievably Poor Service doesn’t transport on Black Friday. Thanksgiving I understand but today? My case has sat in Illinois since yesterday morning, en route to NEO. What a joke…
@shrimp74 false. That transport and try to deliver black Friday and Saturday, too. Which is a problem for me.
I got my case today (St. Louis) and all good! My first Two Jakes (and apparently my last), now off to buy a decanter after reading all the reviews. Cheers and thanks for this amazing offer!
2010 RR cab franc x2
2012 RR cab franc X4
2013 reserve cab sauv x2
2013 Aspects x2
2017 petite sirah x2
Looks like a great, I’ve never tried the Roman reserve. I guess I’ll sit out today’s cab franc offer
@CruelMelody Ditto.
@CruelMelody @marikar Double ditto
Similar case to above poster, only difference is I got 2013 PS instead of the 2010 CF.
Pretty pleased. I’ve found the PS quite nice and the CF and CS always good. The aspects is kind of meh to me but there’s only two.
Hopefully WS chimes in on the remaining aging potential. I’d say they probably at least have another 5-10 years left for the CF and CS.
@deadlyapp pretty sure Clark has mentioned that the CF can be aged for a few decades if I remember correctly from previous postings… biggest thing is to open it and let it breathe for several days before consuming.
Extremely curious to hear others opinions of the 2012 Cabernet franc. We opened a bottle last night and honestly it was an unpleasant experence. Extremely vegetable to the point of some sourness. Maybe because we opened it the same day it arrived? The color was a issue as well. Definitely browner than I would think for a well cellared 2012. Thought giving it some air would help but the bottle was open for 3 hours and did not improve. 1/2 the bottle on the counter and will taste again today. Concerning considering half my shipment was cab franc.
@gtcharlie Clark has said in the past that the Roman Reserve wines can take 3-7 days of air sometimes. Try a small glass twice a day to see how it evolves?
@gtcharlie I’m planning to open one in a couple weeks, and I’ll taste it over the course of a week to see how it develops.
@klezman
3-7 days seems kind of crazy but if that is what it takes I guess. Will be curious to hear other people’s opinion once there are more bottles opened. Not sure I am willing to call it a damaged bottle yet but it was not a pleasant drinking experience.
@gtcharlie @klezman I have ordered the Roman CF case in the past & very true leave open & not start tasting for at least 3 days…for me around day 7 was the sweet spot…sounds crazy but very true. Don’t be surprised by the amount of sediment in the bottle
@dawnlac @gtcharlie @klezman
Just curious - are you shouldering the bottle or just popping the cork when opening days in advance?
@dawnlac @klezman
Alright then. Next bottle will be opened far in advance. And this one does indeed have a large amount of settlement. Not much change to report the second day.
@dawnlac @gtcharlie @klezman This wine is a wine that has an attitude, some days it’s sweet, some days it’s a bit wild, but I really really appreciate that it has a variant character and allows you to experience a vast range of flavor and taste with only one wine!
It takes patience, and timing, and no matter what it tastes like today… it’s likely to change tomorrow, and I look forward to that every day.
So “mystery cases” I guess are just the garbage you can’t honestly sell anymore? So incredibly disappointing. Obviously this site can no longer be trusted to provide quality wine any longer in the “mystery” category.
Never again Casemates. Fooled me twice now.
@Vince247 Rather seems like you failed to read the offer…
@rjquillin casemates bootlicker with that response there douche. This wine sucks. Period. Bad deal, bad wine, bad rjquillin
@Vince247 what exactly was the problem with the wines? How were they served? How much time did you allow for them to breathe? This stuff isn’t 2023 Yellow Tail.
If you tried to pop and pour, the issue is operator error.
@vandemusser my 6-bed home now stinks from allowing this to breath. Is this smell something I can look forward to for the next week before “enjoying” this “opportunity”?
Operator error. Another smarmy know-better-then-others vandemusser
@Vince247 If it smells that bad, you have a corked bottle. Really weird that you mention how many bedrooms your house has.
@Vince247 It’s as if you didn’t read/see the previous Two Jakes wines offered on Casemates… of which the Roman Reserves were a prominent part, which a lot of people purchased for over $15 a bottle! If you don’t like the wine, that’s your prerogative. I’ll try to make sure I decant it in my one spare bedroom. (and yes, I too was burned by the International mystery offer)
@Vince247 Full refund received today from Casemates for this order.
I genuinely appreciate Casemates commitment to their customers. I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll leave future mystery cases as just that, mysteries.
6X 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2X 2013 Aspects
2X 2017 Petit Sirah
In no great hurry to open any of them, but I am a little nervous about the amount of 2012 RR Cabernet Franc if it is as bad a previous poster claimed
@davidd13 drinking this wine is for connoisseurs, being both an education for the palates of taste and smell and a challenge to the uninitiated.
It’s like college; many of the classes you’ll dislike, but in the end you can claim to be educated and have stuff to talk about at parties.
@Vince247 I think it’s hilarious that you are offering this assessment considering the oddly aggressive, weird comments you posted earlier this afternoon about the offer and other casematers.
Are you just a troll?
@davidd13 I received a full refund for this case so I plan to gift every bottle to others and suggest it’s an education, should they chose to accept it.
@davidd13 Just get a decanter, and read some of the previous posts on the RRCF, it really is delicious and delightful.
It’s not your traditional or typical wine, the RRCF, so as long as you don’t approach it like that you should be good.
I tried to edit my previous comment regarding the RR CF, but was too late. After doing some research, I will be prepared to let it decant 3-5 days when the time comes to try it, and hope for the best!
@davidd13
I did offer a pretty harsh assessment but I am willing to try letting the wine breathe for much longer next time. I was pretty taken aback by my initial tasting but hopefully my hurry to try the wine was the culprit. We shall see.
@davidd13 how did you decant it?
@danidani12 I poured it directly into the decanter through a common kitchen strainer. It caught the big stuff, but still has many fine particles which I have been filtering through a finer filter that came with my venturi when pouring to a glass.
Case 1:
[1]
Case 2:
[2]
Last night we opened a 2012 Roman Reserve Cab Franc that’s been down in the cellar for several years and it was fantastic. Definitely has the “natural wine” kind of funkiness and changed quite a bit through the evening. I’ve got some left to taste the next few days. Sediment is an issue and there is a lot of finesediment so I did filter a glass or two through cheese cloth and thought that worked well.
Very happy with this mystery case haul for $11/btl. I’m familiar with all of these wines and enjoy all of them. This mystery case wins the QPR award for sure. As someone who loves library wines, it’s cool that the oldest vintage is 2010 and the most recent is 2017!!
Thanks, Clark!
[1]:
[2]:
Comment on the above:
Is this really a mystery offer? No. Not when you look at the very, very similar offerings each has received, by bottle and by year. And yes, I did read the write up.
Call it a marketing ploy, which I also fell for, that many of us might equate to the old Wellington days when it truly was a mystery. Some hit it rich with an old, true library wine, while others didn’t; luck of the draw. This doesn’t seem like that.
Heck, I pretty much can guess what’s in my case just by reading what others have posted and I haven’t even picked it up yet from the local Unbelievably Poor Service store.
Smart (and shady) marketing. The powers to be could’ve made this a 4 pack with one each of RR CF, CS, Aspects, and PS, or a case with 3 of each, with a listing of the possible vintages received.
But then, how many would’ve taken the bait? My bet, a lot less. Too bad.
@shrimp74 A non mystery offer with the selections you’ve listed would have sold out just as quickly at an $11/btl price point. I’ve been buying, drinking, and loving these wines for almost 10 years. A farewell offering (no more Two Jakes wine being made) at an all time low price for even the cheapest of these bottles in a Casemates offering, and it’s an auto buy. I have no regrets.
@shrimp74 I think you’re conflating mysteriousness and randomness. It was a mystery offer, and some cases do vary. I’m not surprised by the relative sameness because unless you have some means of randomizing all the available wines you have to let humans pack the boxes and people need some set of rules to do their job remotely efficiently.
@lehigh How ever did Peter Wellington pull it off?
@shrimp74 you tell me!
@lehigh Terrifically. Were there some overlaps in bottles? Sure. But there was a tremendous amount of case variety. Very, very few ever got the same case. It was fun, and opening a mystery offer box was like Christmas morning. This deal was also like Christmas morning, but unfortunately your siblings already told you what you’re going to be opening, because they also got the same thing.
@shrimp74 Two Jakes has Merlot, Petite Sirah, Reserve Cab, Aspects, and Roman Reserve CF in this offer, some with multiple vintages. 5 different wines. There is just not that much variation possible. Peter Wellington had 20-30 wines in multiple vintages. It’s just not even close to the same thing. Was the Wellington mystery case the best offering of all time? Absolutely. Is this offering a disappointing failure? No way.
2x - 2011 Merlot
4x - 2012 Cab Franc
2x - 2013 Aspects
4x - 2017 Petite Sirah
Delivered to my office today…UPS tried to deliver on Friday (so they said), but came back today:
4X 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2X 2013 Aspects
2X 2013 Petit Sirah
2x 2017 Petit Sirah
I have no problems with what i got as my cost / bottle is $9 - 13 (the range is depending on the drinkability of the CF). If nothing else, makes a great gift at this time of year. Lotsa people will see “2013” on the bottle and be impressed
2X 2010 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
4X 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
2X 2013 Aspects v2 (based on the 14.9% ABV)
2X 2017 Petit Sirah
Very happy with my assortment.
@Mark_L
whole lotta RR in that case
@rjquillin That’s what I’m especially liking!
@Mark_L Pretty sure that 2013 reserve in your case is the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon… I don’t thing we ever saw a 2013 RR Cab Franc
@wnance Oops…you are correct. It is the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
@Mark_L also a really good wine!
@Mark_L @wnance I may have won the RRCF lotto but I refuse to let them go
@bunnymasseuse @Mark_L LOL! I got 8 2012 and 2 2010 so I’m right behind you. I think all the drama of this offer is whether people enjoy the RRCF or not. Yes, it’s very different. Yes, it will have a ton of sediment, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I would imagine there is probably bottle variation, but all the 2012 and 2010’s I’ve opened from previous offers have been pretty consistent. A wine that really makes you think and is changing constantly. I may open one of the bottles that came this week to see if they are problematic. It seems somewhat unlikely with a wax seal, but I’m sure it’s possible.
Enjoy your case of 2012 RRCF! (for $11/btl)
Would liked to have seen a bit more variety (like 2x '10 and 2x '12 RR), but as others, I too received
2x - 2011 Merlot
4x - 2012 Cab Franc RR
2x - 2013 Aspects
4x - 2017 Petite Sirah
@rjquillin If you’ve got too much Merlot I’m happy to work out a swap!
@klezman I’m swimming in RR, Merlot, not so much, just two
4x2012 RR Cab Franc
2x2013 Aspects
4x2017 Petite Sirah (Yay!)
2x2103 Reserve Cabernet Sauv.
I had a poor experience with the first RR Cab Franc this summer at the beach and am interested to give them another try. Did not give it 7 days until first tastes, but had it every day through the week.
@pjmartin
which vintage?
I ratted one of these, long ago, and don’t recall which it was.
@rjquillin 2012 and now I have 5 …
@pjmartin ouch, unless you figured out how to turn poor into good with additional time.
@pjmartin @rjquillin
Just have to play the right music.
I received similar to others
2 2017 Petit Sirah
2 2013 Aspects
2 2010 Cab Franc
2 2013 Cab sauvignon
4 2012 Cab Franc
No merlot.
Any thoughts on the 2010, 2012 Cab Franc, how long can I hold them?
@eastcoastmary Unknown, even by Clark. They might last many easily be many decades. I intend to put some in back of cellar (closet under stairs, with styrofoam boxes) and not think of them for a long time. Make sure you go back to the offers for those and watch the videos for the Roman Reserve CFs. They’re really quite special.
I still haven’t received mine. UPS, bless their hearts, thought it prudent to keep trying to deliver every day during Thanksgiving week and on the weekend after the wine was unwisely sent 2-day transit to SoCal during Thanksgiving week. Despite assurances that they would deliver it today, the only brown truck that came by stopped a few doors down and then went along its merry way.
So now I will have to call them a fifth time to try to actually get them to deliver the wine.
Just got mine. Two identical cases.
In each case:
2 2013 Aspects
2 2017 Petit Sirah
2 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
6 2012 Roman Reserve Cabernet Franc
No complaints, although I was hoping to see a few different years of the Roman Reserve. I have a number of the 2012 RR and have opened two so far. Treated both the same, decanted and tried a bit immediately, then finished them over 7 days. The first one was fantastic, the second not so fantastic. Maybe more bottle variability with un-sulfured wine?
Received 8 RR cab francs (3 2010 and 5 2012) 2 2017 ps, and 2 2013 aspects. Funny, Clark mentioned something about those “lucky enough to get RR cab franc” in the order. Apparently, everyone was very, very lucky! Wish I’d been less lucky and had more variety, but those are the breaks with mystery packs. All good.
@hscottk I got exactly the same mix as you with the same reaction - would have liked more PS, CS and/or Merlot instead of 2/3rds of a case of RR CF - a bit disappointed and very nervous about opening a CF
What is the trick to get the wax seal off the RR Cab Franc? I’ve had many bottles with wax seals, but never one as thin, stuck on, and difficult to remove as these. Any hints to minimize the difficulties with the next bottle?
@cdgrimm
ignore the wax and just pull the cork thru it
@rjquillin
@rjquillin my first of five bottles of 2012 RR Cab Franc has turned
. It is a bit brown and very skunky. Bummer, hope others are better.
Okay - this might sound dumb but… are we letting it breathe completely open or re-corking it for 3-7 days?
It makes me think this wine will be like an avocado and I will miraculously miss the special window before it goes bad but I digress.
Also - is it just the 2012 CF or should we plan ahead w/ all the RR wines?
TYIA!
@LSeewoester I opened the bottle earlier this afternoon and let it sit without cork for about three hours. It smelled off as soon as I pulled the cork, but thought I would wait to see. Poured a first glass and there was no doubt it was no good. The glass was also full of pieces of sediment up to 1/4 inch square. Seems not right to me!
@LSeewoester I only received the 2012.
@LSeewoester the cork appeared fine, however.
@LSeewoester Poured the rest of the bottle into the sink and there was two heaping tablespoons of sludge!
@cdgrimm @LSeewoester
There is going to be lots of sediment in these. Great big chunks, and a lot of small stuff that ends up as “sludge” on the bottom. The second bottle I had was not very good as I recall, but it was a year or so ago and I don’t remember the exact details. I seem to remember it had a real off smell like acetone.
What I did with both bottles was to pour it off into a decanter to give it lots of exposure to air. Put something over the top so critters can’t get in. If you don’t have a real decanter, pour it off into some kind of container leaving as much of the crud in the bottle as possible, dump the dregs and clean the bottle, find a funnel and return to the bottle. Cover with something to keep the critters out, but let the air in. The level should be below the neck to give it air. If not, pour some into a glass and have a taste. It will be funky, but not terrible on opening. Gets better with air, lots and lots of air.
Any of the Roman Reserves will need this.
@cdgrimm @LSeewoester
I know klez let me try that one after it was open for 3 or 5 days and I thought it tasted and smelled like cheese. I was not a fan but what do I know.
Iirc when the first one of these came out he said he used some old Roman technique to preserve the wine like they did for the soldiers fighting distant wars vs using sulphur like they do now? Maybe the soldiers didn’t care what it tasted or smelled like because it got them drunk
@LSeewoester @Springbank OK, upon further research of these RRCF, maybe I didn’t give enough air, so I’ll decant the next for a week or more, but still sceptical it will reverse that skunky!
@cdgrimm @LSeewoester @ScottW58 yeah, some of Clark’s wines have that. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t.
@cdgrimm @klezman @LSeewoester @ScottW58
Also, if you are storing these on the side, put it upright for a at least a day or so to let it settle before you open it. Clark’s “experimental” wines can be different, and people tend to love them or hate them. The Roman Reserve is about as far out there as you can get. Some of his other wines are more
“mainstream” and fantastic.
One of my 2012 RR is missing half the wax cap. Good excuse to open and decant it later today.
@cdgrimm @klezman @ScottW58 @Springbank Thanks everyone! It’s in a decanter, w/ a paper towel loosely stuffed on top to keep out the fruit flies. Filtered out the sludge. It’s definitely interesting and I’m certainly open to trying something new and different.
Upon pop and pour I thought at first, like many, it had been corked but corked wine is distinct and this is not that. I thought to myself is this just really really really tight? Looks like it.
I only wish I knew what I was signing up for - I’ve had many of Clark’s wines before but I’m not such a fan girl to know about the RR’s. This is the kind of thing I’d pick up a bottle or two to check out. Now I’ve got 8.
@cdgrimm @klezman @LSeewoester @ScottW58 The good thing is that Clark says they will last for decades. Stash them somewhere and years from now you can discover them all over again.
All kidding aside, 8 is probably too many for what is really more a novelty than a daily, or even monthly drinker. I got 12 yesterday, and probably another 8 or so from the last time.
@cdgrimm @klezman @LSeewoester @ScottW58 @Springbank Exactly the same boat here. I would have passed if I had known that more than half my case would have been these RR’s (or even if any of them were going to be this).
My household is a 2 hour max decant type of house before the bottle is consumed. I personally don’t know a single local person who would be down for having to decant something for 2-7 days.
Internally, I wished I had passed on this and simply used that money to buy a case of the recent WS offering that I passed on due to having bought this.
Oh well though. Can’t change anything now!
@cdgrimm @Drez143 @LSeewoester @ScottW58 @Springbank one per year seems about right to me…
Tried the 2017 Petite Sirah and it, in contrast, is exquisite!
@cdgrimm phew!
6x 2012 RR Cab Franc
2x 2013 Aspects
2x 2013 R Cab Sauv
2x 2017 Petite Sirah
I was hoping for less RR and more Petite Sirah, but the dice didn’t go my way! Cheers!
If anyone is in #DMV I’ll take the RRCF off your hands for an exchange;)
Two cases total:
12x RRCF 2012
4x Petite Sirah 2017
4x Aspects 2013
4x Resv Cab Sauv 2013
Thrilled Bunny over here!
Enjoying a 2013 Aspects. Does anyone know how to tell the new 2021 bottling from the original bottling?
@wnance If the ABV is14.9% it is the “second release”. The “first release” had a lower ABV.
Curious why Clark has been MIA? He’s always on here and now that the rabbit is out of the hat with the RR wines not a word. I was hoping to get no more than four RR wines but ended up with six. My gut feeling is that the RR wines are an experiment gone bad. Real bad.
@losthighwayz or he’s just busy.
Either way, I think it might be time for another experiment with this wine. Assuming I get my case tomorrow I’ll probably open one up and drink over several days and report back.
I’ve been concerned about the comments regarding the 2012 RR Cab Franc, especially since I have 10 bottles from 2 cases. I couldn’t wait any longer so popped a bottle to see. Fortunately, the bottle I opened is well aged and quite tasty, with no negatives to note.
@RRichmo I may open one of mine tonight too, but I have a decanter I use for it so it gets maximum air and easy to re-bottle when I need.
@bunnymasseuse I didn’t decant, because I only wanted a taste. Have plans tonight, but will probably decant tomorrow.
@RRichmo
@RRichmo with fellow folks here who don’t drink wine, smelling only I got “embalming fluid” (their father used to be a mortician), “vinegar” or “balsamic vinaigrette” reports on the nose, but none drink it anyway so no way to convince them the nose does not identify the taste properly at this time.
For me, it needs some more air, but does not taste “turned” at all.
@bunnymasseuse I just opened a second bottle to go with a coffee rub sirloin tonight and realized mine are 2011 bottles, not the 2012! I’m very pleased with the 2011!
@bunnymasseuse @RRichmo 2011 is probably a Merlot?
@bunnymasseuse @klezman The vision just ain’t what it used to be! Pardon me, again! They are 2012!
@bunnymasseuse @klezman That said, I did remove 2 bottles of 2011 Merlot from my Cellar Tracker!
I just opened the one I got with the chipped wax cap. Much less sediment that the last one I opened or the one shown above. No weird aroma of acetone/higher alcohols or general funk. The color is red, not the brown indicated above. Decanted and poured the last ounce or so with the dregs into a coffee cup. Let it settle for a bit and took a taste. First tiny sip was intensely sharp and made me want to say “wow,” but not the taste of a wine gone bad. Let it sit for another 15 minutes or so and tried again. The acidity had died down, or my taste buds had, but it tasted pretty fresh and fruity. Not bad at all. I think this bottle will be very drinkable.
@Springbank sounds like we’re all likely to see some variation from bottle to bottle
After 6 phone calls, multiple re-delivery attempts, drivers who won’t actually come to the door, and more wrangling with the absurdly bad “customer service” of UPS I finally got the case!
4x 2012 Cab Franc RR
2x 2010 Cab Franc RR
2x 2013 Aspects v2
2x 2013 Cab Sauv Reserve
2x 2017 Petite Sirah
Wish I’d gotten some of the Merlot hanging around there but this is a solid case and a screaming deal.
@klezman I got no Merlot, which was sad, but I got the bulk of what I wanted of the “experiment” wines so I consider it a good trade off.
@bunnymasseuse Oh, I’m happy with the case. I was just lower on Merlot and already had 4x of the 2012 CF.
I also just opened a bottle (that had been sitting here a long time) of the 2012 Cab Franc RR and it’s screamingly good even at pnp. Not totally open, that’s for sure, but it rings like a mature-ish Bordeaux that’s still got plenty of fruit. The plan is to have a glass a day until it’s gone and see what happens.
@klezman agree, even a good 1hr sit has helped, most of what I had at pnp has improved already and the heavy balsamic nose tones have diminished.
I know this RR is very “roller coaster” on its day by day taste profile, so I’m already dialed in for that ride, and will drink other wine and wait for it to beckon me in and envelope me when it’s ready
. Like an angsty teenager, rebellious phases with some “I love you” moments you wait for 
.
@bunnymasseuse @klezman will one of you who enjoy the RR CF open one of the bottles that just arrived? I might do this also. Because I totally enjoyed the 2012 that I opened the other night, but it had also been down in the cellar for a long while since the last offer in March of 2021. Wondering if these recently arrived bottles are freaked out from the shipping or if something happened to the lot of them in storage.
@bunnymasseuse @klezman @wnance
The one I opened had just arrived. It seems fine. I have opened a total of three of these. Two a while back from previous buys, and this one. One of the old ones was fantastic, and one was spoiled. I just think that without preservatives, this is more likely to happen.
@bunnymasseuse @klezman @wnance I drinking a glass now from the bottle I opened yesterday and am very pleased with it! First sip yesterday and today were both pleasant Wow moments!
@bunnymasseuse @klezman @Springbank @wnance Same. Opened a 2012 that just arrived last night, and also one or two a month or so back that I already had. No issues (or patience to let them fully decant) with any, but someone earlier called it “sharp” for the first half hour or so which is how they felt for me as well.
@james @klezman @Springbank @wnance my pictures above, today it’s more berry and less “earthy”, the harshness from yesterday has already begun to subside.
@bunnymasseuse @james @Springbank @wnance My day 2 is more balsamic and less fruit. So far.
@bunnymasseuse @james @klezman @wnance
Ignored it on day two. Day three tried a small glass. It seems like the color has evolved. I did not get a great look at it in a glass on opening, but the decanter and the little I poured off at the end seemed to be a light red. Now it appears to be brick red. Aroma is now faint, taste has gotten less fruity, and more something else that I’m not really sure of. Has an amazing aftertaste that lingers, and reminds me of the feeling you get with something slightly effervescent, but it’s not. minerality perhaps? Interesting, but still evolving.
@james @klezman @Springbank @wnance look forward to hearing more, seriously. The one thing that I fell in love with regarding this wine is that it always teaches me something, and as a person who is always trying to lean something, and gain knowledge, it both challenges my patience as well as my taste buds.
@bunnymasseuse @james @klezman @wnance
Day 4. Aroma is back, but hard to describe. Alcohol, and a bit of the sweet smell you can get from over ripe fruit. Seems to evolve rapidly in the glass. Started out with a bit of fruit that is turning more towards woody, oaky, and tannic. This wine is definitely an adventure.
@bunnymasseuse @james @Springbank @wnance Day 6, although I didn’t open it yesterday. Started off actually a bit acetic but that blew off quickly. It’s still in the savoury fruit realm. This bottle has been good every night, although a bit different each time.
@bunnymasseuse @james @klezman @wnance Day seven. Haven’t tried it since day 4. Color about the same. Tasted the same as last time, so I let it sit in the glass for a half hour or so. Aroma is still pretty intense. Taste is also about the same. I probably should have opened the top of the decanter and shook it up every day. Still have enough left for another few glases.
So, for science (!) I opened a bottle of the 2012 RR Cab Franc after leaving it sitting straight up for a day. I poured it into a decanter through a strainer to capture any sediment, and there was a lot of it! It is cloudy in the decanter, and I poured about an ounce to sample. On the nose it is earthy, not at all what I would call funky. It is very acidic, not quite vinegar, but close. Balsamic is the term that comes to mind. I would not drink this in its’ current state. I plan on leaving the decanter (covered) on the counter for up to seven days, sampling a little each day until it has evolved into something drinkable. Otherwise, down the drain, lol! To the Romans!
@davidd13 Let it sit in the decanter for a long while and pour gently. Or pour it through some cheesecloth. Wines that have a fine sediment (vintage port can also do this) will have the mouthfeel and perceived bitterness greatly affected from those fines suspended in the wine. Yes, it’s a pain to pour and enjoy these types of wine, but they also often offer a more thoughtful experience IMHO.
@davidd13 @wnance
I decanted a bottle yesterday and your picture and description match my experience closely. Will sample a small glass this evening to start the tasting process. Not sure I have cheesecloth around. A suitable substitute?
@davidd13 @gtcharlie no real substitute except a very fine strainer. You can hold your glass up to a light and see if you can see the fines suspended in the wine. If there’s no fines it will be more brilliantly clear.
@davidd13 @gtcharlie @wnance Unbleached muslin would probably be better than cheesecloth - but is probably less likely to be lying around.
If you opt for cheesecloth, check out your local hardware store - usually much cheaper than groceries or foodie stores.
@davidd13 @rpstrong @wnance
Thanks for the suggestions. Did obtain some cheesecloth and my wife and I tasted after the one day in the decanter and using the cloth. Honestly no improvement. Still very sour and more vinegary than is acceptable. Plenty left to taste over the next few days but my skepticism is growing. Hard to see this wine all of a sudden blossoming. I would settle for being drinkable. At this point it certainly is not that.
@davidd13 @gtcharlie @rpstrong Yeah that sounds like a bad bottle. That stinks.
@davidd13 @gtcharlie @rpstrong @wnance yeah the described smell at first matches mine, a day made a big difference, but don’t worry, this is a roller coaster, I tend to get about three different variations of taste with this wine: earthy/vegetable, berry and more Bordeaux like, or spicy/peppery edge (less so much this one).
Seriously though, it can go past 7 days, longest I had it for was 11 and I was too impatient and it tasted delicious to let it go further!
@davidd13 After the first day, a little more fruit and a little less earth on the nose. Put it through the strainer that came with my Vinturi three times into a small glass until it was mostly clear. It is a bit less acidic and a better finish. Still not something I would care to drink, but definitely improved. Very interesting.
@davidd13 Wow! After two days the nose has softened greatly, now mostly fruity, berry notes. And although it is still tight, has become drinkable, with a lingering finish. I am very excited to let this sit a third day!
@davidd13 How exactly are you airing it out?
@rjquillin It is just sitting in a decanter on my dining room table. I have a bottle cap on top to deter any fruit fly’s that may be around, however unlikely this time of year. Still some fine sediment in the bottom but it filters out with no problem.
@davidd13 On the third day really no change; floral and slightly earthy nose and quite tight. If it does not change significantly today I will probably have some tonight.
@davidd13 Fourth day of the great experiment, and this has matured to the point where I felt I could enjoy it. I am having left over pizza tonight, and I think it will be fine with that. Fruit forward on the nose; still pretty tight but marginally improved from 24 hours ago. I ran it through a venturi from the decanter and still recovered a fair amount of sediment, and it poured cloudy. I obviously need a better filtering element! Color is dark red, similar to a Petit Sirah. Though it is not on the nose, there is no doubt of its’ 14.9 abv, and still a bit tart for me, but no in an unpleasant way. A nice finish is a bonus, though not terribly complex.
Final thoughts; I give Jake props for letting Clark take a swing on this expression of Cabernet Franc. One of my earliest purchases on this platform was the WineSmith 2010 Cabernet Franc in 2018, and I cherish the few bottles of those I still have. This wine is not that. But still, if you have a long enough window out, at least 4 days in my opinion, I think it is worth the wait. Casemates has always been more than fair to me regarding customer service issues, but I must admit that the biggest mystery in this case sales was whether you go 4, 6, or 8 of these, based on other’s comments. Caveat Emptor indeed.
Cheers to all and hoping for the best for all of you this holiday season!
All of this discussion prompted me to set aside a 2010 RR from this order (as I have been sorting through the multitude of cases in my storage and consolidating as I can). Not sure when I will start the process, but it is sitting upright for the time being.
Really?! working on a bottle to remove sludge, standing up for days, decanting for 5 to 7 days just to make it drinkable lol. And having to do that 4 or 5 times depending how many bottles you have. Pretty sure in most worlds that would be a flawed bottle IMHO.
@ScottW58 No, a flawed bottle wouldn’t reward you after a week.
@rpstrong Yes IF it does you are correct. A week to drink a bottle is not my thing I guess, maybe a fun experiment once. A hard sell as a producer probably why so many in these cases.
@rpstrong @ScottW58 I don’t tend to open this bottle and expect to drink it right away, which means I have to have an understanding about how the winemaker made it and what it was intended to drink and taste like.
I may never know what it was like to drink wine in Roman times, but I can imagine this is much better!
@bunnymasseuse @rpstrong @ScottW58 I definitely need to be in the right frame of mind and mood for it.
@bunnymasseuse @rpstrong @ScottW58 Let’s also remember we paid $11 for it. I’ve been hoarding these but now I’ll open them more frequently for wine enthusiast friends or just to have a crazy thoughtful wine open for a week…
Excellent point.
I popped a bottle yesterday. Decanted through a fine screen, had sediment similar to the pic posted by davidd13. No off-putting aromas; a small PnP taste was rather jumbled, but - again - nothing off-putting. Will try and test on a daily basis.
Based on other reviews, it appears that there may be a high mortality rate on a battle-by-bottle basis.
But hey, $11 for something other than the usual juice? Why not.
@rpstrong I don’t support using that price per bottle when countering people who were caught off guard with the volume of such experiential wines.
It’s one thing to go to a store and drop $11 on a random flyer, to fill the need for curiosity.
But then people have 6+ bottles of this. So if they don’t like the wine/process involved, we are talking $66+, not just “$11”.
@Drez143 Fair enough; I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who received ‘only’ four.
I wonder how many fell into that 6+ category? We’ve heard from some of them, but I suspect anyone getting 6+ would be much more likely to post than those getting a more balanced selection.
@Drez143 @rpstrong I ordered 2 cases- one had 4 bottles, the other had 6 bottles. Was not expecting any of the RR, and hadn’t ever tried it; I know I like all the other Two Jakes very much. Keeping an open mind- maybe I’ll love it, and wish I had more. Who knows… fingers crossed!
@Drez143 @drgonzo99 @rpstrong I was “lucky” enough to get 8 bottles in my case
Kinda annoyed Clark oversold this by making it sound one would be lucky to get a bottle of the RR. No doubt in my mind he knew 50 percent of the wines available were RR. Deceiving for sure
@losthighwayz
He did say;
But he also didn’t chime in until after cases were sold out.
@chipgreen @losthighwayz
However, when he did join in, it was with lab reports that don’t just happen. He too was likely in a bit of a panic oh $#!t what’s happening mode.
@losthighwayz @rjquillin
I am just pointing out that his comments were not a sales driver since the offer was virtually sold out already.
@chipgreen
Do you recall what @winesmith said in his post?
It seems to have been removed…
@rjquillin @winesmith
It’s still there
Has anyone tried the 2013 Cab?
@danidani12 Not yet, riding the RRCF since it seems to be the most controversial.
@bunnymasseuse hah. I now have more RRCF in my cellar than any other single bottling, so i suppose i should just open one now for Science.
@radiolysis I think I’m not going to make the 5day window, it’s going down tonight
. I also probably have this as a single bottle highest number, but between Wellington, Zeppelin, Winesmith, Gard, 2Jakes (and maybe something else I’m missing…) those are probably the majority labels.
@danidani12 I had it about a year ago and quite liked it.
@bunnymasseuse @radiolysis Was super happy with the Gard mystery cases as well!
It’s been a week with the 2012 Roman Reserve opened on the counter. Filtered twice with a coffee filter and funnel. Washed sludge out, then decanted back into the bottle.
Did it improve? Slightly, but not enough for the effort put in. Is it drinkable? I’m honestly not sure. I’d have been ok with 4, but 8 of this “project” wine is beyond the normal luck of the draw with mystery cases. Disappointing to say the least.
@hscottk Same boat here.
I opened one of the bottles, ran it through a filter (not too much sediment), and now I’m on day 5.
Is it wine? Sure.
Is it “enjoyable”? Absolutely not. It still taste like a mix of vinegar with a splash of some red wine.
My wife nailed it perfectly on the head when we tried a small sample on day 4. She looked at me and simply said “can we open up a real bottle of wine now?”
I have 5 other bottles, and I don’t even know if I want to waste cellar space on them. This experiment is tieing up my decanter for an entire week.
@Drez143 @hscottk
You only have one!!??
@hscottk @rjquillin Are you looking for Christmas gift ideas?!?!
Technically we own two, and I had to throw the second in the dishwasher after I opened this RR as it hasn’t been used in years and was covered in dust. Our second is just so big and bulky, I pretend it doesn’t exist and it just sits on display.
@hscottk pretty clear, there’s a bad batch. clark and i are trying to identify scale. apologies.
@Winedavid49 much appreciated, thanks!
@hscottk @Winedavid49 Glad to see this comment, David. I have opened one bottle thus far. Has been in the decanter for 4 days and not improved. It’s definitely bad. I have three more. I was beginning to think that maybe I don’t love wine after all.
@hscottk @Winedavid49 Glad to hear that it wasn’t my taste buds going south!
As for pairings - try with a nice EVO, some fresh ground pepper, and a bit of Malden salt; all mixed together on a green salad.
@hscottk @rpstrong @Winedavid49
I too am glad to hear you are aware of the problem. I am open to a vast array of wine styles. Was concerned that perhaps I was missing something with this one. In the end I just think something went wrong with this wine. Whether storage wise or something else. Given the number of excellent wines I have purchased from this site at extremely reasonable prices I wouldn’t hesitate to continue buying wine here.
@Winedavid49 just checking in on whether you were able to identify the problem? I opened on of the 2012 RRCF and as others have said it is very funky snd balsamic. Not corked, but maybe some other issue? Thanks!
I’m finally home from Munich and able to report which bottles I received.
Two: 2013 Aspects
Two: 2013 Cab Sauv
Two: 2017 Petite Sirah
Two: 2010 RR Cab Franc
Four: 2012 RR Cab Franc
Has anyone had any of the older Petite Sirahs lately? I still have four of the 2010 vintage and four of the 2012 vintage. I don’t recall when they are best to enjoy and when they are in their “dumb” phase.
@kawichris650 I tried one of the 2017 and I think it definitely needs to sit for a while longer.
@jrbw3 @kawichris650 bDub funny, at your house I’m thinking that won’t be very long!
Well I tried. Second bottle of the RR Cab Franc in the books. Second one I exercised, much more patience with. Decanted and drank over a seven day period. Best I can say is that on day three it was drinkable? Not necessarily enjoyable though. Pretty disappointed that the majority of my case was this wine. Can’t help but think something went wrong with the cellaring of the wine if other people are reporting getting this wine in the past and thoroughly enjoying it. The balance of the wine is just off. If I had to define a prominent taste characteristic it would be vinegar. My wife and I have been drinking and enjoying wine for forty years. This goes beyond something experimental and interesting. It is just not good. Not sure if refunds are warranted but pretty disappointed with what we received.
@gtcharlie Just tasted the 2012 RR Cab Franc after a five day decant, and the wine has not improved. I
certainly hope that the other offerings in this sale, will not go down the the road with the RR CF.
@fibercot
We had a bottle of the petit sirah with dinner the other night and it was excellent. Pretty confident the problem is isolated to the cab franc. Would not be so disappointing if it wasn’t half of my case.
Last update from me on this, as I’ve chirped a lot as this all played out!
We gave the 2012 RR a solid 7 days, trying it each day. It never became enjoyable, and I would even question drinkable.
It has a weird brown tint, and remained a good vinegar taste with a hint of wine through its “evolution”. On day 7, my wife simply said “This wine is not good. Please get rid of it.” Down the drain this bottle went, and I think I might just pitch the other 5 I have.
I personally did not have an issue with the international mystery assortment offered a while back, as we at least drank all 12 bottles (recognizing none of them were “all-star” variants). The fact that 6 out of my 12 bottles for this offering are flat out garbage is quite a blow. What makes this worst, I sat out on the offering from WS that followed this simply due to too many back to back purchases on the site.
Looking back, I would have done myself a huge favor sitting this one out and going with an offering that had actual rats to flush it out.
I can’t have my cake and eat it too though, because the Gård mystery offering was amazing (and now one of our favorite wineries). I regret not scoring myself multiple cases of that one.
“But this came out to a great price of $11 a bottle!”
Well, times that by 6 and now I need to drink through my collection to forget!
@Drez143
I tried to attach this but failed.
@Drez143 probably a lot of bottle variation. I hope some of your others are in good condition!
@Drez143 I haven’t cracked any of my 6 RRs yet, but I had the exact same regret – I also passed on Clark’s Cab Franc because I had just purchased this, now thinking I should’ve been less adventuresome (but where’s the fun in that?)
@Drez143 give them a sniff before you dump. I opened one this week with a lot of apprehension, but it was drinking fine on day one. I just left the bottle open standing upright all week and had half a glass every night, and the wine did evolve. Dumped the last half glass out as it was pretty muddy. I assume 3 of the 6 I got are probably bad but who knows!
@Winedavid49 The more I think about it I feel we were mislead. Casemates should have labeled the offer as six RRs plus a random assortment of six reds to fill out the case. Hard to believe they didn’t know close to 50 percent of the winery’s allocation would be RR.
To be fair CM has always been fair with adjustments and have some solid offers with great QPR. This one, however, fell short.
@losthighwayz Agree with you on that. I bought 2 cases & had 6 btls of the RRCF in each so a case total that’s not what I was thinking would get…a couple btls in each is enough. I split a case on previous offer on the RRCF & did the experimenting wasn’t completely horrible but I wouldn’t have bought a case offering if it came up again. Reading everyone’s post I am scared to open any btls as I think I am going to be even more disappointed with the purchase.
@dawnlac @losthighwayz At least you should know if a bottle is bad as soon as you open it - no need to wait for a week. I suppose I may tap into my remaining stock - only 3 bottles - and see if I can find a good one.
This was crap. I have many bottles of similar age in my cellar (and much older) that are not failing like this. The sediment was one thing but the funky nose on the 2012 Cab Franc indicates spoilage to me. I was not at all familiar with Two Jakes but if this is what they are capable of then color me unimpressed. The singular worst deal I have ever had from Casemates.
@medwardb
While I don’t disagree with your assessment of the RR I can pretty confidently say the problem is limited to those bottles and you will be very happy with the rest of your case. And WD has acknowledged the issue and I am guessing will look for a way to make it right.
@gtcharlie @medwardb having had previous RRCF bottles, this is not the characteristic that has been echoed in previous buys.
I don’t say that just cause I have a love for the RRCF, and I also too, hope I have no bad bottles in my lot, but I can understand the displeasure others have voiced.
FWIW (probably not much), I also played along at home. 2012 RR CF but from a previous offer. Poured it through a filtered spout into a pseudo-decanter and set the lid on top sideways to allow air in but somewhat less than fully open. The wine actually tasted ok on Day 1, probably would have opened up nicely in the glass but I just took a small taste. Let it sit 2 days and revisited. Like
@chipgreen I did the same this past week with a previous offer and agree with your assessment. However, it sounds like the issue is with this latest offer and possible storage issues. Enough people have posted vinegar notes which I did not get.
I will open a 2012 from recent offer to see if notes from this bottle are similar to what I got from the 2012 from last year.
Regardless, I’m sticking to my opinion that the offer was misleading. CM should have disclosed six RR per case plus an assortment of other reds
@chipgreen @losthighwayz opened mine 11/29, finishing off the rest today, no fallout or loss from the extended open over 10+ days.
Clearly this was not a compromised bottle, and nothing saying the rest of my 11 are safe or not.
@bunnymasseuse @chipgreen @losthighwayz
To be clear - vinegar is the result of microbial contamination. Acetobacter spp., to be precise. The contamination had to have happened at or before bottling. It’s not a storage issue. Ditto a corked wine.
The reason no-sulphur-added wine is rare is that the sulphur makes it harder for the vinegar bacteria to grow. (And any other microbial spoilage bugs like Brettanomyces.) So that’s the risk Clark took, and now he’s going to hopefully figure out how to make it right.
@bunnymasseuse @chipgreen @klezman @losthighwayz
I’m glad someone finally mentioned this! I’m surprised nobody at the winery noticed this before selling the bottles.
@bunnymasseuse @losthighwayz
I thought this was going downhill on day 6 but tried it again on day 8 and it was actually a little better than day 6. Not enough to warrant an additional post, but… holy cow, I just poured the last glass on day 10 and the nose was wonderful! Full of the bottle boquet that RPM talks about in well aged wines.
On the palate, it was still slightly acetic but less so than day 6. It blew off rather quickly once again and with a little swirling and time in the glass, this wine is suddenly singing! I would not believe it if I wasn’t tasting it for myself. Truly incredible. I really do not want to decant wine for 10 days before drinking it but color me impressed. The fruit is back, the wine has come into balance and it has a lingering finish of dusty cherry that is quite enjoyable.
@bunnymasseuse @chipgreen well I happen to be home with a sick child. I’m intrigued now and lucky me left half the bottle uncorked for what is now it’s 12th or so day! Crazy but agree with you. Fruit is present front and center and wine is actually quite good. There’s brownish red on the edges which along with the taste remind me of a much older wine. I opened a 2000 Marques de Riscal a month or so ago and though different varietals and continents this reminded me of that wine.
To be clear, this 2012 is from the original offer some two years ago.
I’ll need to open a 2012 from my recent order
@bunnymasseuse @losthighwayz
Mine was also from the previous offer.
@bunnymasseuse @chipgreen @losthighwayz I recently replaced the 2010 I had set aside with a 2012 from the mystery case. Will probably be opening it in the next few days…
I bought a case and received 6 bottles of the Roman Reserve. I’m just catching up with this forum so was unaware of the potential problems. Now I have a problem. I’m going to have to start opening mine just to see if they are ok or spoiled. Seems like a waste as I was hoping to open them on occasion over a longer period of time. And if they are spoiled, what then? I’m hopeful the mystery magnums make up for all this.
@jaybird when you plan to open one just have a backup handy. No need to do it now.
Where’s Clark? In the past he was quick to make an appearance when sales were lagging. Almost salesmen-esque in nature, or at least far from the Post Modern Winemaker.
In a word, the wine is swill.
In a word, the offer was misleading.
My last Clark purchase was the recent Cab Franc.
No more Clark. Not good business.
And WD needs to make good.
What a scam.
@shrimp74 So you’re aware of Clark’s involvement in past offering discussions, and even the nature of them, but not of the RR line? Which before now (when I’ve bought it), was offered at nearly double what we paid here, before prices of everything spiked? It is a shame you are disappointed with the ratio present in the mystery, but I don’t believe it was misleading. It was stated this was the remaining stock, and the “lucky enough” comment could now be seen as a coy hint. You apparently understand salesmen, and as such should understand the job is to promote what’s for sale.
Sure, the specifics of the packages could have been more upfront, yeah. But I also don’t remember reading that definition of “mystery”. Also maybe I’m “lucky” to not have received a bad bottle, but I also believe we’re hearing more about the bad from a vocal minority than the good that have been well received and moved on. Notwithstanding, I still found the product to be quite valuable for the price. I’ve had issues sorted out in the past here so I trust CM’s judgement in handling. Hopefully bad bottles get remedied but honestly what I’m hearing here is wanting a fix for a different type of “sour grapes”.
@james @shrimp74
Agreed that the usual case is those receiving the bad bottles will be more vocal. I have been one of those but to be honest I just started out wondering if my experience was isolated. Obviously it was not. What I am really curious is the ratio of good to bad bottles that got shipped out this time. It certainly seems to be the case that this is the first time there was a problem with this particular wine. And on another note we have opened both a bottle of the petite sirah and the aspect and both have been excellent.
@gtcharlie @james @shrimp74
IMHO getting the occasional bad bottle is one thing this is far more than that from what has been reported. Throw in the write up that said you might get lucky and get one bottle of the RR to everyone getting 4 or 6 makes me suspicious at the very least. But CM is not at fault here and has always made things right whatever happened.
@gtcharlie @james @ScottW58 @shrimp74 …or 8 bottles like I got.
@james Unfortunately it’s not sour grapes. It’s 6 RRCF, of which, 2 have so far been used as drain cleaner. This, with the statement of maybe getting one if you’re lucky, in the original offer. The reviews on these have been consistent, something happened. At a restaurant, there’d be an immediate refund or replacement offered. Here - crickets.
Someone previously said the offer should’ve read 6 RRCF of various vintages and then 6 mystery bottles of Two Jakes. Eureka!
I thought it funny that someone made the comment in the mystery magnum bottle offer this weekend that they hoped the mystery bottle wasn’t this.
WD’s response? “LOL”.
@james @shrimp74
I take that as WD enjoying the joke at his expense.
@shrimp74 up until now, I haven’t seen mention from yourself about loss/spoilage within your own case, just the declaration of it’s “swill”. If you’ve experienced this then I urge you to take it up with CM support. Maybe you did get 6 of a specific tainted case, but the rest I’d be assured are of high caliber quality (and again, follow up with the appropriate channel).
Beyond that, there’s two things happening here: (1) some bad bottles reported among (2) an unexpected disproportion. For the latter, yeah LOL because that’s the way these things can go but for the former, they shouldn’t go that way and I’m sure there wasn’t intention of the sort. Just please try to remember you’ve received a stock of the last remaining existence of a well respected vintner. There might likely be quite a bit of mess to sort through as it is.
@james @klezman @shrimp74
I thought so too, and it was my comment!
I agree with a lot of what has been said in this thread. Received six of the RR wines. I’ve opened two and they have been undrinkable. I’ll keep trying but my expectations are low. The other six bottles (I’ve drank two) have been exceptional.
Bummed, but also sometimes a mystery doesn’t work out, just ask the “ghosts” on scooby doo.
Just opened second 2012 RR, the first had that overwhelming vinegar smell, #2 less vinegar more vegetal aroma, used #1 to make red wine mushroom sauce and #2 will help break down in a Sunday sauce. Would have been nice to know in advance we were getting so much of this gamble chocolate or now just cooking wine. sigh.
I was getting progressively more nervous as I read this thread but just wanted to add my experience so far for anyone in the same boat:
I opened one of my 2010 RR two days ago and after carefully decanting I poured the remaining sediment-filled dregs into a glass to taste and it was actually really good day one. I’m letting this one ride for a week and tasting along the way, but at least one data point of clearly not a bad bottle.
I do wonder if the remaining bottles will be a roulette or if the way bottles were allocated people are likely to end up with either all bad or all good bottles. It also appears that most (if not all) of the bad bottles reported are 2012s, so I’ve got one of those on deck to try in the coming weeks.
Hi folks. Let me share my point of view on the Roman Reserve line in general and the 2012 Cab Franc specifically. RR is code for sulfite-free. This is because the Romans, while they had access to “blue smoke” and used it in pest management in orchards, in magic and in a primitive form of gunpowder, did not like its effect in winemaking, so they made sulfite-free wines for a thousand years all over Europe. Check out “Gods, Men and Wine” by William Younger for a thorough discussion.
I was given a copy of this book by the late, great Chip Cassidy in 2001. I thought this was nuts. I started my experiments with Rennaisance Syrah with and without SO2 for a couple years, but we liked the complexity of the Roman-style wines so much that we dropped the control wines and just made the Roman style. In 2007, when I started making wine for Jake, we made small lots of all four varieties off Diamond Ridge, but in 2010 decided to focus on Cab Franc.
WineSmith also made a sulfited version many of you know. These wines are extremely different. The WineSmith comes off as a convincing classic St. Emillion knock-off - elegant, graceful, and easy to understand. Oddly, it turns out that sulfite-free wines do not have oxidation problems. They do, however, have serious reduction even after six years in barrel and another six in the bottle. The Roman Reserve has much more complexity and evolves, as noted above, from green peppercorns to romano cheese to intense white cherry over the course of hours, days and weeks.
Not everybody is prepared for this craziness. When we ran this wine on Casemates years ago, there was a fair amount of reporting of corked or spoiled wine, so Jake and I opened 100 bottles and tasted them. They were totally consistent, with no corkiness or spoilage. I do recommend lots of breathing - like maybe a week.
I fully understand why one might hate this stuff when evaluated with a modern mindset. But what if you had never tasted wine and this was offered? The Romans used cuisine as a military/political tool. Say you’re a centurian in the heart of Gaul. You’ve got 99 soldiers running the town and everybody hates you. So you invite the village elders to dinner. They get the steam bath, the panini with olive oil (Attila the Hun can make butter, but it takes 10 years of stable government to get an olive), stinky cheeses, and this wine. Apparently this approach was so effective that on the way home, the guests decided not to stab them in their beds.
If nothing else, I hope you can appreciate the experiment. It turns out that sulfites suppress the wine’s natural immune system, leading to a tendency in long-aged sulfited wines toward volatile acidity, an affliction which did indeed lead to rampant spoilage in my 2017 CF, for which we are refunding everyone’s money.
@winesmith
Was there even any '17 CF included in this offer?
I see some PS, but it looks like all (most) report '10 and '12 RR CF.
@rjquillin @winesmith I think Clark is referring to the issues associated with this offer.
@rjquillin @winesmith All my RRCF were 2010 & 12…I’m hoping for the best
The way I read it is he tested these bottles and they are good hope you can enjoy the experiment lol. But I’m not all that smart maybe he meant something else? And you will get a refund for some other sale.
@ScottW58 yeah that sounds about right. Wine is sound, another offer has problems.
@klezman
Oh brother
@ScottW58 I didn’t sufficiently acknowledge the sarcasm?
I just tasted a 2012 RRCF opened Sunday & it is exactly how the others tasted when I purchased a case…with that being said my disappointment as stated in another post was in this offer was thinking I would get more of the other varieties of wine which enticed me to purchase 2 cases…1 of which being a total of 1 case of the RRCF…which gonna be honesty wasn’t thrilled about but again mystery case…
I did then buy the Winesmith CF offered not long after which I love before I got my 2 mystery cases but would totally do again!
Well now I am totally confused. After my experiment from a couple of weeks ago, and contemplating sending a note to customer service regarding the fact I got six RR Cab Franc’s in my “mystery case” and would like some resolution, I decided to take another swing at it. I left a bottle of the RR standing on my countertop for two days. I opened it this afternoon.
Upon opening, there was none of the nasty funk I had with the first bottle. The cork looked the same as the first. Slight fruit on the nose. After letting the open bottle sit for around three hours, I carefully poured a glass through the filter that came with my venturi. Very little on the nose now. No sediment whatsoever! I used a flashlight to peer through the bottle and saw no sign of the huge glob of sediment that was in my first bottle.
The first few sips were very drinkable, a bit tight and acidic, but much better than what I experienced with my last bottle after four days. For dinner I had romaine lettuce with oil and vinegar dressing, and leftover pork tenderloin and au gratin potatoes. The wine, now four hours opened, cut through all the food beautifully.
I am to the bottom third of the bottle, and still no signs of any sediment whatsoever. I cannot believe I am comparing two bottles of the same vintage. Is it even possible for sediment to disappear like that? If not, it is clear to me some, but not all of these bottles are compromised. And I am still a little miffed I got six of these. But at least I have some hope for the others.
Color me stumped.
@davidd13
Which vintage was this, 2012?
@rjquillin Yes, the 2012 vintage, the same vintage that offered up a strainer full of sludge from the first one I opened. That one also stood on my countertop for a couple of days prior to opening, but only two or three days from when it was delivered.
I have examined the four remaining bottles with a flashlight, all of which are currently stored on their sides, and each of them have a significant amount of material floating around, top to bottom. I am going to stand another up for a couple of days and will check and see what happens.
I checked the bottle I stood up for three days with a bright light and it appears all of the sediment is gone. I kind of expected to see a big blob at the bottom of the bottle, but it appears to have all incorporated into itself. Interesting.
That’s encouraging to hear. I wonder if the sediment situation could be evaluated without opening? Perhaps by storing the bottles inverted for a few days and checking the neck?
Chiming in to echo my overall disappointment. Purchased two cases and ended up with 12 bottles of the RR CF (2x2010, 10x2012). Opened two of the 2012’s and went through the process of straining the sediment and decanting for a week, tasting along the way. After a week, both bottles will be going down the drain. Fingers crossed the 2010’s are better, but I have little hope for the 8 other 2012’s.
@dmac88
Based on what others have reported, it sounds like these might finally hit their stride at around 10 or 12 days after being opened. Since you’ve already waited a week, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to wait a few more days and see if they improve.
A similar experience here with the 2012 RRCF. I decanted and tasted over 10 days. At day 7 it was maybe drinkable, with strong food to mask the taste. Before this it was just vinegar with lots of sediment. I’m really disappointed, maybe the other bottles will be better.
I’m not nearly as experienced as many on this forum, but starting my own mini thread on a RR 2012 bottle.
Was planning to experiment with one for Christmas. Realized this morning that I’m well short of the recommended 7-10 day decant. Decided to give it a try anyway.
Bottle stored on side since arrival. On opening, no cork issues. Poured through stainless steel mesh strainer into a Tupperware (!) pitcher. Left fair amount of sediment in bottle but little went through to the strainer.
Hint of vinegar smell but nothing overwhelming. A tiny taste, wine felt… thin? Not unpleasant, just not a lot of mouth feel. Ran through vinturi 3 times (hopefully not sacrilege?) — once into decanter, back into bottle, then back into decanter where it has an ample air gap. I’ll update closer to Christmas…
@lehigh Realized one bottle not very celebratory so repeated with another RR 2012 into decanter #2. Same experience; only a hint of vinegar on the nose and nothing off putting on first taste.
@lehigh Great CMH minds think alike! I poured mine into my “decanter” last Saturday (12/16/23), thinking that I could take it to a family event on Christmas Eve for some other oenophiles to join the experiment after 8 days of air. Not a lot of sediment in this one, most of what was there stayed in the bottle with a gentle pour. I actually really enjoyed the front end of it; it was the finish that had the musty funk to it that was off-putting. I haven’t tasted it since (been putting my nose over it daily, inhaling deeply, and saying “nope” rather quickly), but I’m holding out hope that with time the musty funk dissipates (fingers crossed). It does seem like the funky smell has lessened over the week, so maybe that’s a positive sign?
@fermentedwisdom you have the perfect decanter!
@klezman Thanks! I’ve never actually used it as a decanter before (I use it + a stir plate for yeast starters for homebrewing), as I’m not typically patient enough to decant wine. But seems to be perfect for it!
@fermentedwisdom @klezman
That’s a flask, not a decanter, and you know that; you can thank Erlenmeyer for it.
Nice repurposing however.
@fermentedwisdom @rjquillin obviously we know what its technical name is. But as my LW pointed out, decanters are, in fact, flasks.
@fermentedwisdom @klezman @rjquillin
This is probably the second time ever I have logged into this site. I could not let this stand!
RON. SIR. Do not attempt to limit the utility of a flask. These are not relegated to dusty lab shelves, they are not chemical uni-taskers!
Behold — yes, a laboratory vessel, but my personal flask uses extend to wine decanter, flower vase, water carafe, lamp, general decor, and even hookah (sure, that one was a vacuum flask).
@fermentedwisdom @klezman @rjquillin
@fermentedwisdom @klezman @molarchae
good to read you! Yes been a long time.
We need a good sarc font here for my earlier tongue-in-cheek attempt at humor
@fermentedwisdom @klezman @molarchae @rjquillin I don’t remember which thread, but there was a discussion a bit ago about snark marks…
@fermentedwisdom @molarchae @rjquillin you can cure the long time issue by paying us a visit any time!
@lehigh Verdict: not unpleasant, filled out a bit with multiple aerations, still prefer the regular WineSmith cab franc. Accompaniment was prime rib and had no issues with the pairing. Every once in a while I got a very vegetal whiff, which I liken to wheatgrass juice. Left about a half of a decanter which I’ll sample in the coming days.
@lehigh Similar “not unpleasant” comments from our crew. We had it on 12/24 after an 8 day decant. The funky/musty nose that was there all the previous week had finally blown off. Most common comment was that it tastes “very old world”, with my father in law saying he got lots of leather out of it, and that it had a bit of a sherry quality to it (perhaps from sitting in the flask for 8 days?). All in all not a bad wine, but I agree that the Winesmith cab franc is definitely more enjoyable. A fun experiment for a botte that was pretty reasonably priced…but like most on the board, I’d have preferred not to have 5 more experimental bottles to go with it.
@lehigh I swear I’ll stop bumping this thread after this…but I still had about a glass and a half left, which I drank yesterday (12/31, 15 days after first decanting it), and it was it’s best showing (still not my favorite wine ever, but fairly tasty). If you’re going to crack one of these guys, patience is a virtue.
@fermentedwisdom @lehigh I think I’m at a similar sit length as you, mine is still going through its roller-coaster phases.
I have bought dozens of cases from Casemates. (Including a few cases of Clark’s wine) A vast majority have been great wines, a few just ok but that is all part of it. I mainly lurk (I do appreciate everyone’s comments) but I do post when I get the chance to rat.
I have to say, I am very disappointed in the 2012 RR CF. I got 6 bottles and even after doing all the recommended solutions above and opening multiple bottles the wine is undrinkable. I don’t mind interesting and unusual wines but this is simply unpalatable.
It is surprising to get 1/2 the case of one wine and the rest mixed. I wonder if this was a last ditch effort to get ride of the RR?
@Nel250 I think at this point, it is known this was a way to clear the excessive inventory of the RR.
Sadly (or happily), a few weeks ago a 6 pack of wine showed up at my door that I did not order. I opened it with glee, and saw it was a 6 pack of one of my favorite wineries from this site (known as Italian for QPR). I thought to myself “amazing, they took care of the 6 bad bottles of RR they sent out!”. I was in a fantastic mood all day.
The next day, a close friend of mine texted “Did you get the wine I sent you?!?”. I was still happy he did that, but then I snapped back that I paid for 6 bottles of undrinkable wine.
I was refraining from posting here about this mystery set. However, it is Christmas morning and I have to rant.
Fully half this mystery case was undrinkable and went down the drain. The rest was meh and about at the end of its life judging from the bottles I opened. So, basically, I paid a lot of money for 4 bottles of wine I’ll use to make chili, boeuf bourguignons, and marinara.
I really love Casemates and once in a while getting chosen to rat. However, I really feel like I had the wool pulled over my eyes on this one. Combined with the six pack of Château Bois Mondont Saint-Germain which I use in my salad dressing now, I’m getting a little disillusioned.
I have a case of the Powder Keg Petite Sirah on order. I know that the buy decision is mine and mine alone. However, if this case is funky, I will have to re-evaluate.
I opened my 2013 cab last night, served with prime rib Christmas dinner. It was fantastic after opening up for about an hour in bottle.
Started a decant of another of my 2012 RR CF tonight, going to share with another for a taste opinion. Will report later…
@bunnymasseuse well, as of last night, it was completely gone as it was flourishing wonderfully! That was about a 7-8 day sit in a decanter with small tastes every 3 days or so. That’s my 2nd recent bottle opened of my 12 received, not including 2012&2010 RR CF I still have from previous purchases.
“It’s not unpleasant” is akin my Mom’s backhanded insult of “it’s not as bad as some”. That seems to fit the 2012 RR CF.
Reporting in on the 2012 RR. Opened last Friday and let sit in a decanter until tonight, trying it with a KC strip loin. The vinegar smell and taste upon opening has gone away, and this unsophisticated palate really enjoyed the wine.
So it looks like there won’t be any compensation for all the crap bottles of 2012 CF they sent me? Using the remaining bottles for cooking (eventually) but I kind of expected Two Jakes quality when I ordered Two Cases
Just had a little swig of the 2012 RR CF. 3 days with half-bottle in decanter. (Half left in bottle, to air more slowly.) Mostly for tasting on Sunday (with 6 day decant) to counter point some sparkling, over the course of the day. Little bit that I nipped just now. . . so fun. A little goes a long way. Really neat.
Probably my 5th bottle over the last few years. Haven’t gotten a ‘bad’ one yet. Tastes awful on pnp of course.
To us old hands, and I guess Clark and WineDavid, we knew exactly what to expect, and the RR CF would be a score to those who know about it. When unpacking my mystery cases, I was quite happy to get so many RR CFs. But if you’re not ready for it, I imagine it would be pretty jarring. In hindsight, Casemates should have been way, way more clear up front on this component of the mystery case.
@wardad this iteration of RR CF, I’ve had the wine be cycle through sublime to not-very-good back to good and then . . well, let’s give it a try… fantastic. again. After it had been and then wasn’t.
The way to drink this wine is: filter the whole thing when you open it. Then when you try it each evening, if you’re not loving it, have something else that night. You’ll love it again soon enough. It’s like being served a different wine every night.
It’s NOT that the normal cycle for a young wine x5. Some wines need a couple days, this needs more than usual. Nope! Yes it needs more air initially but then it cycles, loops around. If it taste great, then later doesn’t, you’ll think, “oh no, I missed the window!” But you probably didn’t; just wait a day or 3 and you’ll like it again.
If you know what you’re getting into with this wine, it’s a blast. If you’re expecting a normal bottle of wine, I can see that would be very frustrating.
Opened. 2012 Roman Reserve on Friday and it was great. Decanted for many hours but finished off that night. Loved it, consistent with previous bottles.
I am 1 and 1. First bottle we opened we decanted and drank that night. Different but good.
Second bottle I open 13 days ago after reading the recommendations. Smell was horrible, taste was vinegar; brownish color. I aerated into a decanter and said let’s ride it out, day 10 is the day to drink it. Let it sit for 6 days and then tasted every day. It never became drinkable and sadly I put it down the sink tonight, can’t remember the last time I did that. One of the few times in my life. My wife refused to even taste it, she really enjoyed the first bottle. I’ve got four more of these, I’m hoping to end over .500.
To agree with what others have said - I’ve enjoyed every other Two Jakes I got. I’m now wishing I had more of those and didn’t get RR as half of my mystery case. It definitely feels Shady.