From jeroboam. Awesome freshness with lovely acidity and brightness. Good concentration and complexity, but the dosage here sticks out a little bit, causing this to finish a little sweet. Pretty damn delicious all the same.
This wine did pretty well at our blind 2004 tasting, but I'm a little less keen on it this time around. There's a very distinct chardonnay note here, with some sweet and sour citrus and a distinct meyer lemon peel flavour. Slightly bitter on the finish too, this has the leanness you'd expect from a chardonnay. I think a few years will smooth out some of the rough edges.
This bottle was pretty odd; it definitely didn't show well. The palate and nose are all classic Krug, but the midpalate seems to be a bit thin and there's just not much there. The fruit profile is a slight bit more oxidized than I would like too. Nowhere as good as from magnum a few years ago.
A fairly solid Krug, but one that is still young and needs time to fully integrate. Bright white fruit, as well as a slight bit of tart apple. The palate doesn't have the full density I expect, but I think the material is coiled under it and will emerge with time.
I thought this bottle was slightly weird; it's not as pure as I remember this wine being the last times I've had it. There's a very distinct funky earth thing on the nose, and the palate comes across disjoint and slightly bitter too. A slightly off bottle?
Smells like Dom -- this has got a bit of that funky reduction on the nose here. Very good, with a lot of steely white fruit and plenty of potential in a really taut package. Pretty consistent with some other recent experiences, and to my taste, a wine that needs a little more time still.
A solid showing, with some of the citrusy aged chardonnay notes on the nose and palate. There's a slight bit of funk, but that 1996 is there and it's ripping. A good amount of fruit on the palate, and the advancement here gives this a really vinous sort of quality.
The nose is slightly funky here, but it's a more reductive sort of funk. The palate here again shows the intense 1996 acidity, but the rest of the champagne is sort of nondescript. I think the acidity is the thing that is keeping this fresh, and there's a slight white fruited component that's pretty nice here.
From jeroboam. A massively structured and intense wine that needs a good amount of time in the glass to fully unwind. The story here is the 1988 acidity which almost overpowers the rest of the wine. There's a good amount of fruit as well, but it's slightly browned, as you could expect given the age, but this bottle is showing quite well.
For Agrapart, this is a fairly opulent style, showing a bit more ripeness and breadth than the other wines generally do. I think the vintage and the higher-end cuvee help in that respect. A nice white fruit element with a slight hint of spice. There's a slight hint of sweetness here too that I like in the context of this wine.
Easily the best bottle of Krug on the table tonight, surpassing the 1998 and 2004. Richly structured, with a very filigreed and precise flavour profile, showing some lovely tart red berries on the palate. This has just the right amount of Krug oxidation too.
This is still a little tight, but it is probably very close to entering a solid drinking window. The nose shows some green herbs and pineapple, with a pretty tropical and ripe complexion. The palate has that expected racy Hune acidity, which is counterbalanced by some green herbs, sweet white fruit, and a lovely minerally finish.
I'm told this is an older bottle, acquired around 2010/11. A fair bit of brioche on the nose here, with a slightly funky mushroom thing as well. The palate falls off quite a bit from the nose; it's a bit taut and not showing very much width. Slightly hollow on the midpalate.
There was a slight spritz on this, and there was also a slightly dirty animal funk on the nose here. The palate is a bit cleaner, with some yellow fruit and a fair dose of acidity, though it's a still a touch waxier than I tend to like my whites. Needs food to balance out.
Meh. Maybe this performed a little better than the relatively low expectations given the house? Far more autolytic and biscuity than I like my champagne. The palate shows the correct 1996 acidity, but not much else; just a slightly nondescript if inoffensive champagne.
Yeah, this is the kind of white Burgundy I can get behind. Really lovely reduction and smoke notes, with a slight bit of tart stone fruit. Needs a ton of air to open up, which then gives you even more smoke, but also reveals more of the fruit. Still very primary and incredibly delicious stuff.
This bottle was fairly open and didn't seem to need too much air to strut its stuff. The correct acidity for 2014, but also a nice rounded bit of fruit to smooth out the rougher edges. Good minerality and a light herbal touch.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
A stunning wine -- it has the depth and complexity of a true grand cru and also shows so correctly for the vintage. A nice mix of red and black fruit, and some serious tannin on the palate, with this mushroom-scented perfume that I'm pretty sure is laden with pheromones too. Intoxicating and complex on the palate as well; this was certainly one of the wines of the evening (and there were many!).
This wine's price to quality proposition has always been a bit contentious to me (in all vintages). A bit of blood on the nose, with other pretty dirty earth elements (and not in a good way). The palate is fairly thin; probably passable if I had to drink a glass with lunch, but pretty pointless in the company of the great wines opened tonight.
Another stunning example of why this is the greatest American wine. Graphite, black fruit, pencil shavings, and surprisingly not much American oak here on the nose. Ripe, but restrained. Very complex and multilayered, with a palate weight that feels a bit light given the intensity of the fruit here. Super delicious stuff nonetheless.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
It's been a while since I've tasted one of these, and while some thought that this could stand to age a bit longer, I think this is spot on for my palate, and I ought to be opening more the 2007s now. The nose has a pretty intense stem quality, with a sweet spice tone, but also a slight aspartame-like sweetness that I presume is the stems. The palate is fairly light, but perfumed and spicy, and the red fruit is starting to show just a wee bit brown, but is still very sweet.
There's a waxiness here on the palate that is just classic Raveneau. The nose shows some tart fruit, mostly on the white end of the spectrum. However, on the palate this is a little more yellow and rounded, and while the waxiness is unmistakable, there's also some serious acidity to cut through it.
From magnum. Put a notch in the bedpost for this one. I've read about this wine being sometimes inconsistent, but this magnum was absolutely spot on. The perfume on the nose is off the charts, showing some pyrazines, dried figs and dates, and a slight bit of leather. The palate is the archetype of an elegant Bordeaux -- it's simultaneously plush and structural. Slightly plummy and sweet, but not flabby. A touch of leather and more cedar round out the midpalate, finishing with some truly silky tannins.
Lots and lots of black fruit and graphite here, with a slight bit of smokiness. The nose here is just incredibly complex; sadly it's a fair amount better than the palate, which seems to pick up a slight hint of pruney overmaturity and sweetness. Nonetheless, there's enough very compelling material to be able to overlook that slightly jammy quality, but it definitely gets in the way of elevating this bottle to the top echelons of Bordeaux.
Late release, I believe. Preternaturally fresh, this is classic old nebbiolo. Tar and roses, with no significant signs of browning. The fruit is ridiculously fresh and red-coloured with just some leafy underbrush elements giving this bottle's age away. The ripeness here is lovely too; it gives this a sweetness that supplements the acidity and tannin very well.
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Perhaps just a little funkier on the nose than I would have liked, but this is as classic as it comes for this genre. On the heels of so many great 1982 right banks, this is just another that exemplifies the vintage. The fruit is black and ripe, but there's a leathery element that keeps this from flabbing out. Very classic stuff; the cabernet sauvignon gives this a firmer backbone than some other 1982s.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very expressive and beautiful nose, with some of those classic Rayas strawberry and white pepper things. It's light and elegant, with so much perfume; and the palate manages to follow through on that too, though there's definitely a pretty strong tannic backbone here. Probably needs some more time to resolve, but considering the Rayas tasting last year, I'd also be inclined not to over-age this.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I really wanted to like this more as this is one of my favourite CdPs, and although this is outstanding in the context of one of the worst vintage/region pairings in my lifetime so far, this wine just comes off a little too spoofy. Lots of black cherry liqueur and other sweet-black-fruit-related things. Tons of them, in fact. The palate is pretty heady and dense, and there's a very slight bit of roastedness here. However, the fruit is still fairly well-delineated and this wine hasn't started to show any decaying fruit flavours (so many other 2007s have at least one foot in the grave already).
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
As far as the Morey wines tonight goes, I'd have to give this the nod over the 2007 Dujac CSD. An explosive, complex nose that is riddled with spice and red fruit. The palate is similarly intense and shows the bright red fruit and openness that all the 2010s still seem to have. Fabulously complex and somehow already fine to open now. Honestly, you won't be disappointed.
Unfortunately I don't think that this was the best bottle; this showed a very light hint of soy on the nose, and the palate was overall less complex than I expected it to be. Good acid, but also a bit dusty and the fruit a little muddled.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Overpriced moderately-oaked Oregon pinot? Nope, Olivier Bernstein! A pretty charmless wine, lacking any real Burgundian sensibility. The earth elements have been obliterated by ripe fruit and fancy oak. Want your three bottles of DRC from Wilson Daniels? You'll have to take a pallet of this first.
A very perfumed and classic nose here; some of the subtlety was probably lost in the context of this giant pile of wines, but there is definitely the expected 2004 red fruit here. Light and elegant on the palate too, but not lacking in complexity and raw power. This got a full day's worth of air and is already drinking very well, though there's no doubt that further aging will be rewarded.
Slightly weird chlorine thing on the nose and palate; it didn't seem like TCA and certainly didn't seem to get particularly worse as the night went on. Also, this didn't seem to have too much of the more modern influences; there was a good amount of acidity here and none of the fruit polish (though time may have worn that away). Probably in its last throes, the palate is thinning a bit, so drink sooner than later.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
This is a bit of a bruiser; not much elegance, and just a ton of weight to make up for it. The fruit is pretty sappy, and there isn't any of the reduction in vogue these days. It's an alright white Burgundy, but as a Montrachet, I'd really expect a lot more out of this.
Well, the Cordier funk is gone at least. The fruit is slightly roasted and is starting to show a slight bit of pruniness as well. The palate is still very young, but there's a lot of tannin starting to suck up all the rest of the elements. A kiss of oak on the finish, leaving a trace of coconut flavour.
This bottle showed slightly older than I would have expected for a 2001 Sauternes to be. Classic Sauternes flavours, with bitter orange, marmalade, and spice. Very nicely balanced, and good complexity too. This has almost certainly got to be one of the great values of the vintage.
From half bottle. Super weird stuff; hard to make heads or tails of it. Honestly, I thought this could have been a hybrid varietal, as it did seem to have a slight foxiness on the nose; but it's an obscure eastern European grape instead (the synonym is Sereksia). Nutty with almost a hint of rancio on the nose, but with good sweetness and acidity. Not something I'm in dire need of revisiting, but super fun to try nonetheless.
Shows the vintage pretty well with its crunchy bright red fruit. The palate has the same complexion as the nose, and this is fairly light with just a good crunch to it. Juicy and easy to drink.
Pretty much past its prime; cheesy and dirty, with out-of-balance acids. Kind of a weird flavour profile, but you have to appreciate that this still has a bit of fizz.
NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
From jeroboam. Awesome freshness with lovely acidity and brightness. Good concentration and complexity, but the dosage here sticks out a little bit, causing this to finish a little sweet. Pretty damn delicious all the same.
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2004 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires 90 Points
France, Champagne
This wine did pretty well at our blind 2004 tasting, but I'm a little less keen on it this time around. There's a very distinct chardonnay note here, with some sweet and sour citrus and a distinct meyer lemon peel flavour. Slightly bitter on the finish too, this has the leanness you'd expect from a chardonnay. I think a few years will smooth out some of the rough edges.
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1998 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
This bottle was pretty odd; it definitely didn't show well. The palate and nose are all classic Krug, but the midpalate seems to be a bit thin and there's just not much there. The fruit profile is a slight bit more oxidized than I would like too. Nowhere as good as from magnum a few years ago.
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2004 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
A fairly solid Krug, but one that is still young and needs time to fully integrate. Bright white fruit, as well as a slight bit of tart apple. The palate doesn't have the full density I expect, but I think the material is coiled under it and will emerge with time.
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2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé 90 Points
France, Champagne
I thought this bottle was slightly weird; it's not as pure as I remember this wine being the last times I've had it. There's a very distinct funky earth thing on the nose, and the palate comes across disjoint and slightly bitter too. A slightly off bottle?
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2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne 93 Points
France, Champagne
Smells like Dom -- this has got a bit of that funky reduction on the nose here. Very good, with a lot of steely white fruit and plenty of potential in a really taut package. Pretty consistent with some other recent experiences, and to my taste, a wine that needs a little more time still.
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1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
A solid showing, with some of the citrusy aged chardonnay notes on the nose and palate. There's a slight bit of funk, but that 1996 is there and it's ripping. A good amount of fruit on the palate, and the advancement here gives this a really vinous sort of quality.
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1996 Duval-Leroy Champagne Femme de Champagne 90 Points
France, Champagne
The nose is slightly funky here, but it's a more reductive sort of funk. The palate here again shows the intense 1996 acidity, but the rest of the champagne is sort of nondescript. I think the acidity is the thing that is keeping this fresh, and there's a slight white fruited component that's pretty nice here.
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1988 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
From jeroboam. A massively structured and intense wine that needs a good amount of time in the glass to fully unwind. The story here is the 1988 acidity which almost overpowers the rest of the wine. There's a good amount of fruit as well, but it's slightly browned, as you could expect given the age, but this bottle is showing quite well.
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2009 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Vénus Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
For Agrapart, this is a fairly opulent style, showing a bit more ripeness and breadth than the other wines generally do. I think the vintage and the higher-end cuvee help in that respect. A nice white fruit element with a slight hint of spice. There's a slight hint of sweetness here too that I like in the context of this wine.
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NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé Edition 22eme 95 Points
France, Champagne
Easily the best bottle of Krug on the table tonight, surpassing the 1998 and 2004. Richly structured, with a very filigreed and precise flavour profile, showing some lovely tart red berries on the palate. This has just the right amount of Krug oxidation too.
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2007 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune 95 Points
France, Alsace
This is still a little tight, but it is probably very close to entering a solid drinking window. The nose shows some green herbs and pineapple, with a pretty tropical and ripe complexion. The palate has that expected racy Hune acidity, which is counterbalanced by some green herbs, sweet white fruit, and a lovely minerally finish.
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NV Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
I'm told this is an older bottle, acquired around 2010/11. A fair bit of brioche on the nose here, with a slightly funky mushroom thing as well. The palate falls off quite a bit from the nose; it's a bit taut and not showing very much width. Slightly hollow on the midpalate.
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2010 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 88 Points
Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
There was a slight spritz on this, and there was also a slightly dirty animal funk on the nose here. The palate is a bit cleaner, with some yellow fruit and a fair dose of acidity, though it's a still a touch waxier than I tend to like my whites. Needs food to balance out.
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1996 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d'Or 88 Points
France, Champagne
Meh. Maybe this performed a little better than the relatively low expectations given the house? Far more autolytic and biscuity than I like my champagne. The palate shows the correct 1996 acidity, but not much else; just a slightly nondescript if inoffensive champagne.
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2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Meix Chavaux 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Yeah, this is the kind of white Burgundy I can get behind. Really lovely reduction and smoke notes, with a slight bit of tart stone fruit. Needs a ton of air to open up, which then gives you even more smoke, but also reveals more of the fruit. Still very primary and incredibly delicious stuff.
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2014 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
This bottle was fairly open and didn't seem to need too much air to strut its stuff. The correct acidity for 2014, but also a nice rounded bit of fruit to smooth out the rougher edges. Good minerality and a light herbal touch.
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1993 Louis Jadot Musigny 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
A stunning wine -- it has the depth and complexity of a true grand cru and also shows so correctly for the vintage. A nice mix of red and black fruit, and some serious tannin on the palate, with this mushroom-scented perfume that I'm pretty sure is laden with pheromones too. Intoxicating and complex on the palate as well; this was certainly one of the wines of the evening (and there were many!).
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2000 Maison Leroy Bourgogne 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
This wine's price to quality proposition has always been a bit contentious to me (in all vintages). A bit of blood on the nose, with other pretty dirty earth elements (and not in a good way). The palate is fairly thin; probably passable if I had to drink a glass with lunch, but pretty pointless in the company of the great wines opened tonight.
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1994 Ridge Monte Bello 95 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Another stunning example of why this is the greatest American wine. Graphite, black fruit, pencil shavings, and surprisingly not much American oak here on the nose. Ripe, but restrained. Very complex and multilayered, with a palate weight that feels a bit light given the intensity of the fruit here. Super delicious stuff nonetheless.
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2007 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
It's been a while since I've tasted one of these, and while some thought that this could stand to age a bit longer, I think this is spot on for my palate, and I ought to be opening more the 2007s now. The nose has a pretty intense stem quality, with a sweet spice tone, but also a slight aspartame-like sweetness that I presume is the stems. The palate is fairly light, but perfumed and spicy, and the red fruit is starting to show just a wee bit brown, but is still very sweet.
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2014 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
There's a waxiness here on the palate that is just classic Raveneau. The nose shows some tart fruit, mostly on the white end of the spectrum. However, on the palate this is a little more yellow and rounded, and while the waxiness is unmistakable, there's also some serious acidity to cut through it.
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1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 100 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
From magnum. Put a notch in the bedpost for this one. I've read about this wine being sometimes inconsistent, but this magnum was absolutely spot on. The perfume on the nose is off the charts, showing some pyrazines, dried figs and dates, and a slight bit of leather. The palate is the archetype of an elegant Bordeaux -- it's simultaneously plush and structural. Slightly plummy and sweet, but not flabby. A touch of leather and more cedar round out the midpalate, finishing with some truly silky tannins.
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1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Lots and lots of black fruit and graphite here, with a slight bit of smokiness. The nose here is just incredibly complex; sadly it's a fair amount better than the palate, which seems to pick up a slight hint of pruney overmaturity and sweetness. Nonetheless, there's enough very compelling material to be able to overlook that slightly jammy quality, but it definitely gets in the way of elevating this bottle to the top echelons of Bordeaux.
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1978 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Late release, I believe. Preternaturally fresh, this is classic old nebbiolo. Tar and roses, with no significant signs of browning. The fruit is ridiculously fresh and red-coloured with just some leafy underbrush elements giving this bottle's age away. The ripeness here is lovely too; it gives this a sweetness that supplements the acidity and tannin very well.
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1982 Château Figeac 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Perhaps just a little funkier on the nose than I would have liked, but this is as classic as it comes for this genre. On the heels of so many great 1982 right banks, this is just another that exemplifies the vintage. The fruit is black and ripe, but there's a leathery element that keeps this from flabbing out. Very classic stuff; the cabernet sauvignon gives this a firmer backbone than some other 1982s.
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2005 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very expressive and beautiful nose, with some of those classic Rayas strawberry and white pepper things. It's light and elegant, with so much perfume; and the palate manages to follow through on that too, though there's definitely a pretty strong tannic backbone here. Probably needs some more time to resolve, but considering the Rayas tasting last year, I'd also be inclined not to over-age this.
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2007 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I really wanted to like this more as this is one of my favourite CdPs, and although this is outstanding in the context of one of the worst vintage/region pairings in my lifetime so far, this wine just comes off a little too spoofy. Lots of black cherry liqueur and other sweet-black-fruit-related things. Tons of them, in fact. The palate is pretty heady and dense, and there's a very slight bit of roastedness here. However, the fruit is still fairly well-delineated and this wine hasn't started to show any decaying fruit flavours (so many other 2007s have at least one foot in the grave already).
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2010 Hubert Lignier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
As far as the Morey wines tonight goes, I'd have to give this the nod over the 2007 Dujac CSD. An explosive, complex nose that is riddled with spice and red fruit. The palate is similarly intense and shows the bright red fruit and openness that all the 2010s still seem to have. Fabulously complex and somehow already fine to open now. Honestly, you won't be disappointed.
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2001 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Unfortunately I don't think that this was the best bottle; this showed a very light hint of soy on the nose, and the palate was overall less complex than I expected it to be. Good acid, but also a bit dusty and the fruit a little muddled.
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2008 Olivier Bernstein Bonnes Mares 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Overpriced moderately-oaked Oregon pinot? Nope, Olivier Bernstein! A pretty charmless wine, lacking any real Burgundian sensibility. The earth elements have been obliterated by ripe fruit and fancy oak. Want your three bottles of DRC from Wilson Daniels? You'll have to take a pallet of this first.
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2004 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
A very perfumed and classic nose here; some of the subtlety was probably lost in the context of this giant pile of wines, but there is definitely the expected 2004 red fruit here. Light and elegant on the palate too, but not lacking in complexity and raw power. This got a full day's worth of air and is already drinking very well, though there's no doubt that further aging will be rewarded.
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1988 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc 88 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Slightly weird chlorine thing on the nose and palate; it didn't seem like TCA and certainly didn't seem to get particularly worse as the night went on. Also, this didn't seem to have too much of the more modern influences; there was a good amount of acidity here and none of the fruit polish (though time may have worn that away). Probably in its last throes, the palate is thinning a bit, so drink sooner than later.
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2000 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Le Montrachet 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
This is a bit of a bruiser; not much elegance, and just a ton of weight to make up for it. The fruit is pretty sappy, and there isn't any of the reduction in vogue these days. It's an alright white Burgundy, but as a Montrachet, I'd really expect a lot more out of this.
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2009 Château Gruaud Larose 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Well, the Cordier funk is gone at least. The fruit is slightly roasted and is starting to show a slight bit of pruniness as well. The palate is still very young, but there's a lot of tannin starting to suck up all the rest of the elements. A kiss of oak on the finish, leaving a trace of coconut flavour.
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2001 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
This bottle showed slightly older than I would have expected for a 2001 Sauternes to be. Classic Sauternes flavours, with bitter orange, marmalade, and spice. Very nicely balanced, and good complexity too. This has almost certainly got to be one of the great values of the vintage.
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1991 Dr. Konstantin Frank Băbească Neagră Sereksia Late Harvest 88 Points
USA, New York, Finger Lakes, Keuka Lake
From half bottle. Super weird stuff; hard to make heads or tails of it. Honestly, I thought this could have been a hybrid varietal, as it did seem to have a slight foxiness on the nose; but it's an obscure eastern European grape instead (the synonym is Sereksia). Nutty with almost a hint of rancio on the nose, but with good sweetness and acidity. Not something I'm in dire need of revisiting, but super fun to try nonetheless.
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2016 Méo-Camuzet Frère et Sœurs Marsannay 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay
Shows the vintage pretty well with its crunchy bright red fruit. The palate has the same complexion as the nose, and this is fairly light with just a good crunch to it. Juicy and easy to drink.
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1976 René Collard Champagne Cuvée du Roi René 83 Points
France, Champagne
Pretty much past its prime; cheesy and dirty, with out-of-balance acids. Kind of a weird flavour profile, but you have to appreciate that this still has a bit of fizz.
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