Sometimes, I become uncertain whether or not I truly like Pierre Péters, but then there are wines like this that bring me back to the fold. Fresh and vibrant, the touch of almondy sweetness on the palate melds nicely with the chalky minerality on the back end. Nicely concentrated, this has the acidity I want in a champagne, but without any sharpness that leaves your enamel stripped.
Served double blind. Extremely heightened strawberries on the nose (or, strawberry coulis, as Aaron described it). Sweet, spicy, and earthy, the nose is absolutely intoxicating. I had originally guessed old world on the acidity and earth profile, but with a bit of prodding and help, settled on Australian grenache (?!) based on that strawberry note. I will admit, even with a lot of help and the benefit of knowing what this was, it was fairly difficult to find any syrah characteristics (some bloody notes emerged with more air), but this was an incredibly and unique wine in its own right.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
Served double blind. Somehow, I was the only one who seemed to pick up a lot of funky barnyard and animale and earth on the nose here. This came across as quite feral and wild, and on the nose alone, I was starting to think CdP, or at least some sort of old world GSM blend. The acidity turned me otherwise, as it certainly felt like the juicy acidity derived from pinot. This was lacking a lot in the heavy tannic structure that I would expect from 2005 (I found this a lot softer than it really ought to be), and my initial guess was that this was something older than that.
Served double blind. Extremely potent menthol and green on the nose and palate here. The fruit, though, shows really nice restraint, as well as some really strong acids. My gut guess was that this was a weaker-year Bordeaux wine, from a producer that showed a relatively light touch on the oak. Quite nice, but the relative paucity of fruit made me think that this was much older than it was (I was thinking late 90s).
This is pretty much exactly what I thought it would be, except a little heftier and higher in alcohol. Very dark in colour, with a ripe and concentrated nose that is somewhat lacking in syrah characteristics (all wines taste exactly the same when ripeness increases). The palate is similarly dense and young, just showing a lot of black fruit and extract, and a somewhat inordinate amount of heat. Probably one to let rest for much longer, but I'm not the most optimistic either.
This bottle, which was a pop and pour, did not show quite as well as my previous taste, but I found it still a very impressive (if somewhat non-idiomatic) tempranillo. There is dense black fruit here, with lots of concentration and velvety tannins, but this is bolstered by a lot of acidity as well. Perhaps a function of the more natural wine-making style here, this had a little bit of mousiness that I didn't detect originally either. I'll be interested in opening more bottles soon to confirm or refute these impressions, but I still found this fairly impressive.
Served double blind. Cigarette ash. So much cigarette ash. And then green peppers and stuff. Loire? Imagine my surprise. It's really not too pleasant, and there's a thinness here that hasn't aged well at all. In fact, Cornas was the first subregion I ruled out when I was told this was indeed from the Northern Rhone -- there's no black fruit, no feral animale notes here; just some wisps of black pepper.
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Really stinky and reductive on the nose, this showed a little bit animale and furry as well. The palate shows a lot of the typical chenin characteristics as well, with the stereotypical furriness easy to detect here. There's some florals and sweet fruit that add to this. Lots of mouth-puckering acidity keep this really refreshing.
I had missed this wine initially, but was told it was fairly tight and closed to begin with. By the time I got to it, this had been sitting in a decanter for a few hours, and it seemed to be very nicely expressive. There is a faint touch of earthy mushrooms on the nose, but that is an overtone to the red fruit here. The palate shows some lovely tart red fruits, as well as a touch of doughiness. Really nice stuff that needs some time to round off the edges.
For the level of the wine, I found this very impressive. Bright acidity and a moderate amount of reduction make for a really nice first impression with me from a chardonnay. The palate leans heavily acidic, but there is enough ripeness and fullness here to balance it out. This wine, despite its "low" pedigree, never feels thin or short.
Served double blind. I had been thoroughly convinced this was an Austrian Grüner Veltliner from the nose on this -- there was so much green it was almost spicy (like a jalapeño). This had a few of the fruit aromas I could associate with riesling, such as white peach, but those seemed a little more peripheral than that greenness. The waxiness on the back end helped push me further towards Austria.
This had been open from the day before, but I didn't find that to have adversely affected this wine at all. In fact, it was fairly expressive and open, with some sweet pears and other waxy characteristics. On the other hand, the acidity and minerality all spoke clearly of Chablis, and I was actually surprised to find that this felt a lot more full-bodied than would be expected for the level.
#12-10, 8.5% abv. From a bottle that had been open for a week(!). But that hadn't adversely affected this wine at all. In fact, it was still fresh as a daisy, and had all of the characteristics I had remembered from tasting this a few months ago. Extremely sweet and rich, but with a clarity and crispness that kept this as true to the Spätlese level as you are to find these days. The fruit profile here is crystalline and pure, and reminds me a bit of the Eisweins.
#15-11, 7.5% abv. From half bottle. This is exactly as I remember it being. The scintillating acidity, the incredible sweetness and purity of fruit, the lack of botrytis, and the sheer amount of extract that can be packed into a wine of such low alcohol... it's simply a marvelous bottle of riesling that is still drinking incredibly well right now. I wonder if this wine will ever shut down, for even if it did, it wouldn't be able to hide the insane amount of stuffing here.
2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l'Esprit 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Sometimes, I become uncertain whether or not I truly like Pierre Péters, but then there are wines like this that bring me back to the fold. Fresh and vibrant, the touch of almondy sweetness on the palate melds nicely with the chalky minerality on the back end. Nicely concentrated, this has the acidity I want in a champagne, but without any sharpness that leaves your enamel stripped.
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1991 Yarra Yering Shiraz Underhill 93 Points
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Served double blind. Extremely heightened strawberries on the nose (or, strawberry coulis, as Aaron described it). Sweet, spicy, and earthy, the nose is absolutely intoxicating. I had originally guessed old world on the acidity and earth profile, but with a bit of prodding and help, settled on Australian grenache (?!) based on that strawberry note. I will admit, even with a lot of help and the benefit of knowing what this was, it was fairly difficult to find any syrah characteristics (some bloody notes emerged with more air), but this was an incredibly and unique wine in its own right.
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2005 Maurice Écard Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Jarrons 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
Served double blind. Somehow, I was the only one who seemed to pick up a lot of funky barnyard and animale and earth on the nose here. This came across as quite feral and wild, and on the nose alone, I was starting to think CdP, or at least some sort of old world GSM blend. The acidity turned me otherwise, as it certainly felt like the juicy acidity derived from pinot. This was lacking a lot in the heavy tannic structure that I would expect from 2005 (I found this a lot softer than it really ought to be), and my initial guess was that this was something older than that.
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2010 Mount Mary Quintet 88 Points
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Served double blind. Extremely potent menthol and green on the nose and palate here. The fruit, though, shows really nice restraint, as well as some really strong acids. My gut guess was that this was a weaker-year Bordeaux wine, from a producer that showed a relatively light touch on the oak. Quite nice, but the relative paucity of fruit made me think that this was much older than it was (I was thinking late 90s).
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2009 Bernard Faurie Hermitage Bessards-Le Méal 85 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
This is pretty much exactly what I thought it would be, except a little heftier and higher in alcohol. Very dark in colour, with a ripe and concentrated nose that is somewhat lacking in syrah characteristics (all wines taste exactly the same when ripeness increases). The palate is similarly dense and young, just showing a lot of black fruit and extract, and a somewhat inordinate amount of heat. Probably one to let rest for much longer, but I'm not the most optimistic either.
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2010 Viticultor Goyo Garcia Viadero Ribera del Duero Finca Viñas de Arcilla 93 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
This bottle, which was a pop and pour, did not show quite as well as my previous taste, but I found it still a very impressive (if somewhat non-idiomatic) tempranillo. There is dense black fruit here, with lots of concentration and velvety tannins, but this is bolstered by a lot of acidity as well. Perhaps a function of the more natural wine-making style here, this had a little bit of mousiness that I didn't detect originally either. I'll be interested in opening more bottles soon to confirm or refute these impressions, but I still found this fairly impressive.
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2001 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis 83 Points
France, Rhône, Vin de France
Served double blind. Cigarette ash. So much cigarette ash. And then green peppers and stuff. Loire? Imagine my surprise. It's really not too pleasant, and there's a thinness here that hasn't aged well at all. In fact, Cornas was the first subregion I ruled out when I was told this was indeed from the Northern Rhone -- there's no black fruit, no feral animale notes here; just some wisps of black pepper.
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2011 Foxen Old Vines Chenin Blanc Ernesto Wickenden Vineyard 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Really stinky and reductive on the nose, this showed a little bit animale and furry as well. The palate shows a lot of the typical chenin characteristics as well, with the stereotypical furriness easy to detect here. There's some florals and sweet fruit that add to this. Lots of mouth-puckering acidity keep this really refreshing.
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2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
I had missed this wine initially, but was told it was fairly tight and closed to begin with. By the time I got to it, this had been sitting in a decanter for a few hours, and it seemed to be very nicely expressive. There is a faint touch of earthy mushrooms on the nose, but that is an overtone to the red fruit here. The palate shows some lovely tart red fruits, as well as a touch of doughiness. Really nice stuff that needs some time to round off the edges.
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2014 Domaine du Chateau de Meursault Chardonnay Bourgogne Blanc Clos du Château 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc
For the level of the wine, I found this very impressive. Bright acidity and a moderate amount of reduction make for a really nice first impression with me from a chardonnay. The palate leans heavily acidic, but there is enough ripeness and fullness here to balance it out. This wine, despite its "low" pedigree, never feels thin or short.
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2006 Nigl Riesling Privat 88 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Kremstal
Served double blind. I had been thoroughly convinced this was an Austrian Grüner Veltliner from the nose on this -- there was so much green it was almost spicy (like a jalapeño). This had a few of the fruit aromas I could associate with riesling, such as white peach, but those seemed a little more peripheral than that greenness. The waxiness on the back end helped push me further towards Austria.
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2004 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis
This had been open from the day before, but I didn't find that to have adversely affected this wine at all. In fact, it was fairly expressive and open, with some sweet pears and other waxy characteristics. On the other hand, the acidity and minerality all spoke clearly of Chablis, and I was actually surprised to find that this felt a lot more full-bodied than would be expected for the level.
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2009 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese 93 Points
Germany, Nahe
#12-10, 8.5% abv. From a bottle that had been open for a week(!). But that hadn't adversely affected this wine at all. In fact, it was still fresh as a daisy, and had all of the characteristics I had remembered from tasting this a few months ago. Extremely sweet and rich, but with a clarity and crispness that kept this as true to the Spätlese level as you are to find these days. The fruit profile here is crystalline and pure, and reminds me a bit of the Eisweins.
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2010 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#15-11, 7.5% abv. From half bottle. This is exactly as I remember it being. The scintillating acidity, the incredible sweetness and purity of fruit, the lack of botrytis, and the sheer amount of extract that can be packed into a wine of such low alcohol... it's simply a marvelous bottle of riesling that is still drinking incredibly well right now. I wonder if this wine will ever shut down, for even if it did, it wouldn't be able to hide the insane amount of stuffing here.
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