$15 – Chile

*50/23/12/8/7 Syrah / Carménère / Cabernet Franc / Petit Verdot / Malbec

This wine was rough around the edges through and through for me, but still very delicious.  I started out with my first ever experience with mold on the outside of the cork.  I was scared at first, but consulted a few books and the interweb and discovered that this is not at all uncommon. So I cleaned it up, and made sure the mold didn’t follow the cork into the bottle.  All was fine! The aromas definitely were not tainted aromas.  However, there was a lot of sediment in this bottle of Lien, which, as I have gathered from other reviewers, is also not too uncommon.

As for the profile – I got a wide boquet, ranging from sweet raisin and chocolate to a very distinctive meaty aroma that I’ve encountered before in some old-world style Syrah.  The flavors were a bit more tight, with an earthy character up front and dried raspberry behind it.  It softened in character as it warmed up, but its tannic structure remained nice and brash.  I personally would recommend this one with food.

I think I had high expectations, and it was all just a little… off.  I’m actually anxious to revisit this bottle tonight to see if its character has changed any after being open for a day.  All in all though, a decent value.  I would try a newer vintage of it.  8.4