Impact
Bruce Toy, the North American face of Coppeneur, hands out samples of this to keep pace with the U.S. Federal Govt passing spending bills. And for good reason. He relates how everyone’s face lights up the way his did when he heard Stairway To Heaven for the first time on CFUN-Vancouver at 3:34 in the afternoon, Saturday May 16th, 1976; cloudy with light drizzle & 52 degrees F (obviously before the change-over over to Celsius & satellite radio... & with a Michael Phelps-style water pipe in the car no doubt).
The update would have U2 changing the track title of Beautiful Day to ‘Buena Vista’; sing it, Bono... “it’s a beautiful view/& it’ll get to you” – right into the bloodstream with an IV.
The other difference being that pipe is now filled with Amarone in a classic throwback to Rock Hall of Famer Miles Davis (that's right, check it... inducted March 2006) & his piece from a half century earlier - 7 Steps to Heaven.
Simply put, this bar ain't quite off-the-charts, just off-the-box.
The update would have U2 changing the track title of Beautiful Day to ‘Buena Vista’; sing it, Bono... “it’s a beautiful view/& it’ll get to you” – right into the bloodstream with an IV.
The other difference being that pipe is now filled with Amarone in a classic throwback to Rock Hall of Famer Miles Davis (that's right, check it... inducted March 2006) & his piece from a half century earlier - 7 Steps to Heaven.
Simply put, this bar ain't quite off-the-charts, just off-the-box.
Appearance 4.6 / 5
| Color: | light umber w/ minor purple pigment |
| Surface: | generally clear, save for tiny air holes & bubbling |
| Temper: | soft sheen, nowhere near the butter crystal latticework of its 92% brethren |
| Snap: | Jimmy Page bowing his Les Paul on F Major (the VI of the Am root chord); gently sanded edge |
Aroma 8.1 / 10
quietly muted compared to some other D.R.s as if by avocado butter: upwind coffee / downwind olive, in between the nasal passages catch some freshly oxidized tobacco, molasses, then cocoa earth & cereal grains -> sweats mango, more picholine, & vegetal green (thyme & avocado again) on the rubdown + latent orange sparkler for a headnote & rare juniper needle for this origin
Mouthfeel 12.6 / 15
| Texture: | choppy opening self-corrects |
| Melt: | virtually quaffable; some astringency |
Flavor 43.3 / 50
chocolate bong & bang right off mixed w/ raisins -> dives deeper into chocolate pools of earth, morels, then light bitter insurrection -> surges up an orange backstop rammed into by olives -> green walnut savored in thyme & strawgrass -> builds a wall of dark chocolate reinforced w/ polyphenic rods -> coffee sprayed in blood orange & avocado skin -> drops the drapes on walnut brownie drizzled in rum... echos off extended digital delay signals... growing sweeter the farther it ripples from the epicenter
Quality 17.5 / 20
Multi-levels & layers... with a helluva vertical stairwell & landing. A little raw in parts, especially when the bitter polyphenals move between thyme & coffee, almost in defiance of Coppeneur’s wont for firm handling, creating that moment of doubt whether this bar would hold its balance or spin out of control. Poise maintained, but at the expense of some harmonization, then resolves confidently.
The 92% sib is more unwaivering / unflinching, & actually sweeter for its percentage class than this. By allowing those polyphenols to serve as a bitter offset, the pH here fails to cycle so well - the fruit left hanging to ripen – producing a more austere configuration. On the plus side, they account for length & range.
A noble effort, one that Amarone lovers who like their grapes dried on straw mats will appreciate.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter
Reviewed 5/24/09
The 92% sib is more unwaivering / unflinching, & actually sweeter for its percentage class than this. By allowing those polyphenols to serve as a bitter offset, the pH here fails to cycle so well - the fruit left hanging to ripen – producing a more austere configuration. On the plus side, they account for length & range.
A noble effort, one that Amarone lovers who like their grapes dried on straw mats will appreciate.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter
Reviewed 5/24/09