Sean Thackrey Pleiades XIX
November 22nd, 2010 | 
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For the past several years, Kim has referred to Sean Thackrey’s Pleiades as “my wine.” She has come to love it dearly over its many incarnations, as our experience with it goes back to at least number VIII. We always look forward to trying the new release, and Kim is always very good about sharing her wine with me, as I usually find a lot to like about these myself.
Thackrey eschews vintage dating of Pleiades, as he apparently has no qualms about including components from previous years, if it’ll make a better, more complete wine. And lest one assume that this is simply a kitchen-sink-catch-all of leftovers, the quirky winemaker assured us just last May that these are always very well thought out.
We received a shipment of this latest version of Pleiades a few weeks back, and after giving them ample time to rest after their journey, pulled the cork on one to see what’s in the bottle. Here’s what we found.
Sean Thackrey Pleiades XIX California Red Table Wine, 14.7% alc., $24: You can tell just from looking at the clean medium dark color that this is a lighter version of Pleiades than any of the releases that I can recall, and one taste confirms that. Only medium-full bodied at most, but that’s OK, because there’re some good things happening here. A judicious kiss of oak graces a pretty melange of red fruit flavors and aromas, with subtle leathery nuances lurking in the background. Structured for at least a few years in the cellar, but drinking quite well right now, despite Kim’s complaint that the “mint is just explosive in the mouth;” she’d like to see how this fares with some cellar time to tone that element down and we can do that with the bottles we have left. At this point, it’s not one of the best Pleiades that we’ve had, but neither is it a bad wine in any way; we’ll try it again in a couple of years and report back. A blend of Sangiovese, Viognier, Mourvedre, Syrah and Petite Sirah, among others. Find this wine
Reporting from Day-twah,
geo t.
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Thanks for the feedback Bob, we appreciate it, and would pretty much agree. Haven’t had any of Sean’s Sangios lately, because, like ol’ Ernie Harwell, they’re long gone from our cellar, but we always did enjoy them. Had an ’04 Andromeda on Thanksgiving that was drinking quite nicely; of those, we have a few newer vintages still laying down and we’ll leave them there for some time yet. Always good to hear from you, ol’ buddy, and keep on truckin’!
Cheers,
geo
Hi folks, well you both know I too have been a long time fan of Sean’s wines……back to late 80s. And the Pleiades series have always had a place in my wine rotation….juicy, nothing too serious but guaranteed to please. And it most often holds over tow nights quite easily. I would agree that this latest version XIX is a touch lighter than the previous two “editions” but its aromatics and previous experience make me think that a minimum of a year in the cellar will do some good things for it. In fact early versions Sean’s sangiovese and pinot noir are just now coming into there own. I wasn’t sure about the pinot though the sangio was always interesting but now see them quite differently. In fact went in for some of the older sangiovese wines recently with Leslie…she agreed they were in a nice place now and Sean sent me a very generous note saying he appreciated my interest in his sangiovese and explaining how he saw there development. Cheers, Bob
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Don Coyote, Gang of Pour. Gang of Pour said: Notes and impressions of Sean Thackrey's latest Pleiades don't-call-it-a-kitchen-sink red blend http://bit.ly/9l849d #wine [...]