Tasting, brief note. I'm not very familiar with this wine, but it comes across as very precise and Chardonnay-driven with lots of apple and lemon peel. Very good energy and length, even if not necessarily very powerful.
Tasting, brief note. Comes across as very Pinot Noir to me with ripe apple and lots of berry notes. The vintages of this wine I've most admired come across as fresher at this youthful stage, and I find this very toasty and bready, even while I find this powerful and dense.
Tasted double blind. Spice-driven nose is better than earth-driven palate. Mature black fruit throughout. I liked this much more when last tasted shortly after release. Firm structure is outlasting the mature fruit here.
Tasted double blind. Big and burly black fruit start with some green pepper. Moderate weight. Simpler than I recall from other time tasted in recent years, but still drinking nicely now.
Bottle had been open and sitting on the counter overnight. Bigger, fresher and more dense than the Lynch Bages 1990 just tasted. Black plum, some liqueur and cigarbox. Good balance. Moderate length.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Tasted double blind. Meaty black fruit, very Gevrey character. Crunchy textures, I didn't think it ripe enough for 2002, instead thought it a 2001 1er Cru with plenty of life ahead. Barely in its peak drinking window.
Tasted double blind alongside PLL 82. Dense black fruit with background spice. Firm and still backward (could have used decanter time), but overall excellent balance and potential. Will benefit from more cellar time.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Black and blue berries on nose and palate with floral nice and an overall sense of elegance, with the charm of enough ripeness without jamminess. Best vintage of this wine I can ever recall tasting. Good now, but with the structure and substance to improve.
I served this double blind to the tasting group as a "palate cleanser" of sorts. Lemon, lemon peel, some orange peel as well. Precise, energetic, long and pristine. I was surprised how fresh this came across. Purchased at release, basically unmoved since.
Tasted double blind. Popped and poured. Fat, ripe and rounded black cherry and plum. Elegant structure sneaks up on you. Very good length and finessed finish.
Tasted double blind. Black berry aromas and flavors, slightly mature, with modest spice. Hints of roasted meat. Very classically northern Rhone, even if it didn't show the spice I associate with Côte-Rôtie.
This bottle had been sitting open on the counter for several days when I tasted it. Floral and citrus aromas. Lemon, lime and intense saline minerality. Very impressive given how long it had been open, so I'd expect this might easily be a 92-93+ point wine if tasted more normally.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Tasted double blind. Forward black and red cherry with modest spice. Weight made me think 1er Cru, but textures made me think Chambolle. Very good now, with ongoing cellar potential.
Tasted double blind. Black fruit, meaty and dense. Lots of structure. I thought this Bordeaux from a mediocre vintage. Too firm for the level and quality of fruit.
Tasted double blind. I don't think I have tried this wine since shortly after release, and found it slightly disappointing today. Very ripe berry aromas and flavors with intense spice, all of which are good on the nose and palate. But not showing the weight, depth or length I'd ever have expected from the middle forward. Odd.
2006 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay 92 Points
France, Champagne
Tasting, brief note. I'm not very familiar with this wine, but it comes across as very precise and Chardonnay-driven with lots of apple and lemon peel. Very good energy and length, even if not necessarily very powerful.
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2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses 92 Points
France, Champagne
Tasting, brief note. Comes across as very Pinot Noir to me with ripe apple and lots of berry notes. The vintages of this wine I've most admired come across as fresher at this youthful stage, and I find this very toasty and bready, even while I find this powerful and dense.
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2001 Viña Almaviva S.A. Almaviva 89 Points
Chile, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto
Tasted double blind. Spice-driven nose is better than earth-driven palate. Mature black fruit throughout. I liked this much more when last tasted shortly after release. Firm structure is outlasting the mature fruit here.
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2001 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor 89 Points
Chile, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto
Tasted double blind. Black plum and cherry on palate and nose. Good balance, a nice glass of wine, but overall slightly simple. Good now.
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2003 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire Flawed
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I'm not a fan of most 2003 CDP, but will assume this stewy bottle is flawed and not just devoid of acidity and fundamentally bleh.
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1990 Château Lynch-Bages 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Tasted double blind. Big and burly black fruit start with some green pepper. Moderate weight. Simpler than I recall from other time tasted in recent years, but still drinking nicely now.
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1990 Château Pontet-Canet 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Bottle had been open and sitting on the counter overnight. Bigger, fresher and more dense than the Lynch Bages 1990 just tasted. Black plum, some liqueur and cigarbox. Good balance. Moderate length.
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2002 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Tasted double blind. Meaty black fruit, very Gevrey character. Crunchy textures, I didn't think it ripe enough for 2002, instead thought it a 2001 1er Cru with plenty of life ahead. Barely in its peak drinking window.
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1990 Château La Fleur de Gay 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Tasted double blind. Clearly ripe Bordeaux. Mature black fruit aromas and flavors with rounded textures. Nicely balanced. Slightly hollow middle.
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1959 Château Roquegrave Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Médoc
Totally madeirized.
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1969 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Corton-Bressandes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Dead.
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1997 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain 90 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
Tasted double blind. All black fruit with good textures and balance. Mountain fruit structure is holding this up nicely. Very enjoyable now.
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1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Tasted double blind alongside the 1995 vintage. Mature, ripe black fruit with enticing spice and cigarbox. Very good, very long. Best wine of the day.
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1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Tasted double blind alongside PLL 82. Dense black fruit with background spice. Firm and still backward (could have used decanter time), but overall excellent balance and potential. Will benefit from more cellar time.
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2009 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Black and blue berries on nose and palate with floral nice and an overall sense of elegance, with the charm of enough ripeness without jamminess. Best vintage of this wine I can ever recall tasting. Good now, but with the structure and substance to improve.
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2004 Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang 92 Points
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
I served this double blind to the tasting group as a "palate cleanser" of sorts. Lemon, lemon peel, some orange peel as well. Precise, energetic, long and pristine. I was surprised how fresh this came across. Purchased at release, basically unmoved since.
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1996 Vieux Château Certan Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Corked.
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1996 Château L'Evangile 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Tasted double blind. Popped and poured. Fat, ripe and rounded black cherry and plum. Elegant structure sneaks up on you. Very good length and finessed finish.
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1995 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Seemed corked at first, then I thought it musty, but alas it was corked.
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1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Tasted double blind. Black berry aromas and flavors, slightly mature, with modest spice. Hints of roasted meat. Very classically northern Rhone, even if it didn't show the spice I associate with Côte-Rôtie.
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2012 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot Vieilles Vignes
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
This bottle had been sitting open on the counter for several days when I tasted it. Floral and citrus aromas. Lemon, lime and intense saline minerality. Very impressive given how long it had been open, so I'd expect this might easily be a 92-93+ point wine if tasted more normally.
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2007 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Tasted double blind. Forward black and red cherry with modest spice. Weight made me think 1er Cru, but textures made me think Chambolle. Very good now, with ongoing cellar potential.
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1989 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
Tasted double blind. Black fruit, meaty and dense. Lots of structure. I thought this Bordeaux from a mediocre vintage. Too firm for the level and quality of fruit.
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2008 Amuse Bouche
USA, California, Napa Valley
Tasted double blind. Extremely concentrated and ripe with plenty of new oak. One dimensional. Not my style of wine.
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2003 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Tasted double blind. I don't think I have tried this wine since shortly after release, and found it slightly disappointing today. Very ripe berry aromas and flavors with intense spice, all of which are good on the nose and palate. But not showing the weight, depth or length I'd ever have expected from the middle forward. Odd.
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