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A perfect wine any way you look at it, the utterly profound 2012 Pandora is 100% Grenache that was brought up all in barrel. Massively concentrated and textured, yet ethereal and nuanced, it offers a huge bouquet of black currants, licorice, smoked herbs, chocolate and toasted spice. Bravo to the team at Alban for this incredible, full-bodied, seamless beauty that's easily one of the greatest wines I've tasted from California.
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Average Score
Josh Raynolds
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Glass-staining ruby. Potent, expansive red fruit preserve, incense and potpourri scents show superb focus and pick up exotic spice and smoky mineral elements as the wine opens up. Densely packed raspberry, lavender pastille and spicecake flavors show unlikely vibrancy thanks to a core of tangy acidity, which drives the rich fruit on the back half. Closes extremely long, sweet and smooth, with an emphatic echo of juicy red fruit and candied flowers and outstanding, gently tannic persistence.
Dark purple. A gorgeous, complex bouquet of ripe boysenberry, blueberry, cherry compote and incense, with hints of chocolate ganache and Asian spices emerging as the wine opens in the glass. Sweet, seamless and palate-staining, offering deeply concentrated dark fruit and spicecake flavors and a sexy rose pastille nuance. Shows a suave, compelling blend of richness and vivacity. Finishes with superb power, with velvety tannins lending shape.