Baer Winery, Ursa, Columbia Valley

Dark cherry fruit on nose, remarkably well preserved, right bank challenger

2003 vintage

Brick red color. Slightly faded, fruit has dropped, but still very drinkable with pronounced baking spices.

2003 vintage

No notes, just enjoyed the crap out of this bottle. Drinking beautifully at 15 years old.

2003 vintage

Last bottle, still excellent.

2003 vintage

Still holding up pretty well, but probably 5-10% off from its absolute peak.

2003 vintage

This is probably getting a little long in the tooth so time to drink up. I was inspired to revisit this after tasting a 2004 at a recent event. This is more subtle and demure than that was, not as notably vibrant or alive. Still, it has a beautiful nose and lovely fruit on the beginning, giving way to some smoky oak notes and a velvety smooth finish. Just 5% off what I remeber it was.

2003 vintage

very good nose and fruit. black currants. very smooth and balanced. at its peak but will drink well for a few years.

2003 vintage

- It's balanced with a full body. Satin-Like texture with a long finish.

2003 vintage

Really nice right now - seems like prime drinking window for me

2003 vintage

On first opening the nose shows cherry, cedar and all spice. The palate is black cherry, clove spices with a nice tart finish that includes some light spices. One hour later the nose is showing black cherry, currants, spices, brambles and pepper. The palate has black cherry, all spice and coffer bean with a tart spicy pepper finish.

2003 vintage

Well balanced, with more grit and earth than I remember. Easy drinking - well aged right now. Probably won't improve.

2002 vintage

Best one of these in a while - soft rich fruit on the palate, well integrated tannins. The cab franc really works in this one to soften and warm the wine. Couldn't stop pouring just a little more in the glass.

2002 vintage

Fully ready. Nice fruit soft tannins. Easy drinking.

2002 vintage

still wonderful.

2003 vintage

Should have opened it a few years ago. Loosing some of it's fruit.

2003 vintage

Bottle seemed off, but maybe it was me, getting over a cold. Either way, can't give a rating.

2002 vintage

A remarkable difference between this bottle and the one I had a few months ago. Same purchase, same storage, same everything - except for the results. This bottle has none of the awkwardness of the last one. Rich sweet fruit and oak on the nose. Dark fruit, cassis, and nicely balanced oak on the palate in a surprisingly rich package. Some lingering acidity in the background, along with moderate but fine tannins on the finish. I was that WS suggested …

2003 vintage

Pop/pour. Super rich on the nose. Dark red fruit, cassis, brown sugar. On the palate, initially a touch awkward, with a metallic presence on the finish. Thankfully, this passes very quickly. After 15 minutes, this settles down quite a bit. Medium weight, with some high notes. A touch of heat keeps my score down.

2003 vintage

color is deep, but not inky. Nose: cherry, earth. Palate: fruit (cherries, plum), earth, some spice, hints of vanilla. I rated this wine in the high 80s a couple years ago. It has aged very well. I look forward to consuming the rest of my bottles.

2003 vintage

Likes - tasty cab fruit, mellow tannins Dislikes - the cab franc is a bit green, imparting a touch of bitterness Better the second day.

2002 vintage

9L party (Woodinville, WA) : Tasted from 9 Liter. I thought there would be plenty of time to be able to come back to revisit this, especially since there was another 9 Liter of Mark Ryan Dead Horse open at the same party. Well, it went much faster than I thought it would, so there really wasn't an opportunity to see it open up too much... The nose had some volatility at first with a rubbery/sharpie aroma. With some time …

2003 vintage

This wine was the hit of the evening. Beautiful.enjoy now.

2002 vintage

wonderful

2003 vintage

No score because the bottle was opened two nights ago and has been in the fridge. Would give it an 87. A very fruity, well-balanced wine. Not as nuanced as I remember, but a couple nights in the fridge will do that..

2002 vintage

Shoulda drank it a few years ago.

2002 vintage

Probably would have rated this 91 or 92 ifnot for the heat on the back end. Lots of earthy tones, maybe beets? red fruit, dirt, but not mud...was lovely and I toast Lance Baer for a well-made wine.

2003 vintage

Starting to cloud, at peak. very nice

2002 vintage

Exhibited mild notes of spice and rubber on the nose, not particularly well-integrated. Strong whiff of alcohol. Needless to say I did not approach the first sip in the right frame of mind. Tongue confirmed everything the mouth found. An overpriced bottle of wine featuring underripe cab franc, that tastes in excess of the 14.3% abv shown on the label. Nice mouthfeel from cab franc and hint of velvet texture from malbec. Pleasing color.

2003 vintage

Opened last night and had a glass. Vac'd & put in the fridge. Tonight the wine is singing, absolutely fabulous. The nose matches the palate. Lush flavors of plum & spice. Excellent texture with ample fruit & velvety taninns that lead to a lengthy finish. 50+5+13+17+7=92+

2003 vintage

No formal notes, we brought to a dinner we were invited to. Very nice wine as expected. My last bottle seemed a bit closed, but this one was great.

2003 vintage

This bottle is predominately Merlot & Cab Franc. It tasted like the Cab Franc was not ripe enough, as the wine was causing me heartburn on its own. It was, however, much more enjoyable on the second day with my pasta dinner. A very fragrant and well made wine that I would purchase again. I will wait to pick up an 04 though, since I have heard other people having problems with the 03 as I did.

2003 vintage

Lots of spicy, smoky oak. Well balance with good acid, a nice cherry fruit backbone, slight tartness, coffee, and mocha flavors. An elegant wine, especially considering the current oak level.

2003 vintage

New Year's Eve at Seaside, OR; 12/29/2006-1/1/2007 : Good dark fruit flavors, and much bigger than I remembered. I have always thought I liked the Arctos much more than Ursa, but this tasting will make me rethink that.

2003 vintage

15+5+13+16+7=91 pts

2002 vintage

Flavors of coffee, chocolate and blackberries. We had only tasted this as Passport weekends previously so we never had an opportunity to let this wine really open up. After about an hour we were really enjoying this wine. We'll get some of the next vintage.

2002 vintage

Same enjoyment as last time. Definitely would like to be able to buy more but none available locally.

2002 vintage

Hmmm...I like! Nice dark purple. Soft tannins with blackberry, coffee and...not sure what else, can't quite put my finger on it but I do like this. For the price, a great QPR

2002 vintage

This wine continues to impress. Dark ruby-purple, with a perfumed nose of licorice, blackberry, and holiday fruitcake. Black cherry and blueberry notes on the tongue with terrific balance between fruit and tannins. Total hedonistic pleasure bomb. And to think this cost 28 bucks!

2002 vintage

Dark purple hue. Nose immediate and gratifying with cedar, blackberry, pencil lead. Smoother on the palate than last time but nonetheless a structured wine giving off blackberry and marionberry flavors without any tobacco or green pepper, thank goodness. Harmonious, long finish. Will probably deserve a higher rating in a few years.

2002 vintage

Still a touch sweet as if RS is present. Maybe a bit of time will take this off? Otherwise nicely drinkable

2002 vintage

Garnet purple color. On opening, there was a hint on the nose of spice infusion which developed over the next hour into a nice mix of blackberry and chocolate scents. The palate was open and accessible. It was a lush round fruit bomb of blue- and blackberry flavors with a hint of licorice and chocolate, plus some cedar on the finish, which had some nice grip. Tannins were plentiful but soft-edged. Not particularly concentrated but genuinely delicious at this stage. …

2002 vintage

Tasted at McCarthy & Schiering from a freshly bottled sample. This showed a very floral nose. The palate was sweet up front and then initially showed a very herbal Cab Franc personality. With a few minutes in this glass this showed more coffee notes. Quite soft and approachable yet with ample structure on the finish.

2002 vintage

WA wine dinner at Kaspars: This was a cask sample. Big heady, oaky nose. Very very dark in color. This is a big wine with great potential, but definitely needs it's time in barrel and in bottle to integrate. Should be the best baer to date.

2002 vintage

Seattle Tasting Group Washington Wine Offline at Kaspar's (Seattle, WA, USA) : This was a cask sample which Lance Baer brought. This seems to show a higher percentage of Cabernet Franc with a bit of tea leaf or green tobacco on the nose. On the palate this is quite sweet and expressive again showing some brown sugar, very pure and balanced. Like the prior two Baer wines, I found this to be very compact and laser focused.

2002 vintage

STG. Nose of nutmeg and oak. The palate is thick and lush and shows candied fruit. I found it to be much too sweet. It seemed like it might have had a touch of RS. Hopefully this will fade with some time. 87+

2002 vintage

Are you sure?

Baer Winery, Ursa, Columbia Valley

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews