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Wine Type Vintage Name Variety Locale Date Posted Score Helpful Comments Comment Date Community Score More...
Red

2021 Evesham Wood Pinot Noir Le Puits Sec

 Eola - Amity Hills more
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5/16/2024 - Motz wrote: 93 points

Tremendous precision and tension here. High expression of place too. Red fruits and berries, meadow flower, and herbal tea notes throughout. Piercing finish. A few years in the cellar will serve it well...and it might improve. 93-94.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    5/21/2024 12:39:00 AM - Thank you. Cheers!
Red

2014 Château Léoville Barton

 St. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more
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5/9/2024 - Motz wrote: 94 points

Bold bouquet of blackcurrant, blackberry, pepper garden, mint, hints of juniper, drying tobacco, and mineral ores. Wholly expressive of Saint-Julien. The oak, consistently a touch heavy from this producer, appears to be integrating.

Stylistically reflective of this rugged, understated vintage. Tangy attack, akin to blackcurrant juice. The middle just brings it...in every good way! Wow! Striking tension between expansive rusticity and compact restraint. The middle reveals considerable gritty tannins and the back features them. The finish grips and holds a long while.

A serious wine, with no less than a decade of evolution ahead. The tannin initiated might find checking in on a bottle informative now. All others, recommend waiting at least five years. Likely best round or about 2040, perhaps through 2044. Improvement seems possible...if not likely. 94-95.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    5/10/2024 1:45:00 AM - hiker_guy: Agreed on the 2014 vintage. The best wines will likely enjoy a three decade maturation. Happy retirement!

    Hendmo: My vintage preference, since 2000, runs like so: 2005, 2010, 2001, 2014. Several 2019 wines have also caught my attention.

    Other noteworthy vintages include: 2004, 2008, 2012, 2015. The latter, strikingly delicate vintage shows spectacularly from houses that do not consistently apply a rigid oak regimen. For example, the 2015 Léoville Barton was, and likely will remain, overpowered by oak.

    The 2009 and 2016 vintages hold the bottom rungs. The 2009 Californiaesque vintage featured bright red fruits and berries, but lacked underlying substance. As such, many of those wines have already reached peak. The ripe 2016 vintages features what I have described as blackberry cream, but most of the wines lack the grip to evolve beyond 2030.

    Should you be interested, I write more broadly on this in my profile. Cheers!
Red

2019 Moulin de la Gardette Gigondas La Cuvée Ventabren

 Red Rhone Blend more
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5/6/2024 - Motz wrote: flawed

Notes of balsamic vinegar. Yuck.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    5/6/2024 11:03:00 PM - A disappointing experience.
Red

2010 Pauillac de Latour

 Red Bordeaux Blend more
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4/20/2024 - Purple Tooth wrote: 93 points

*A....If you like punge in your Bordeaux, this is for you. So old skool, so deep and thick, so muscular in savoriness and funk. Reminds me of a Cote Rotie or even a CdP from a big vintage. Brawny, tough, masculine, manly man's wine. Or even a manly woman with unshaved legs I guess. Its just scruffy....I like it! Drink

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    4/24/2024 9:49:00 AM - I will drink to that!
Red

2014 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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11/20/2023 - Motz wrote: 93 points

Coravin access.

Blackcurrant, violets, tobacco, worn leather, herbs, graphite, and oak imparted spices in the glass. This estate uses excessive lumber and yet, vintage to vintage, its terroir-driven substance tends to be able to stand up to it. Perhaps Pauillac best holds form against heavy timber.

The wine tastes like it smells, with added blackberry top notes, which in conjunction with the oak, impart a certain textural creaminess. Broad and expansive, seemingly a touch heavy. Then again, Pauillac and oak typically impart weight. Powerfully structured, long, inflection changing finish.

One comes away with the impression that GPL terroir brings it. Purists might come away a little frustrated, wondering what the wine might express with twenty percent less overall lumber treatment. This noted, this rustic vintage stands up to it well enough.

If drinking now, several hours in decanter will serve it well. This bottle seemed no less than a decade from maturity. Recommend holding for a few years. Improvement likely. 93-94.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    11/21/2023 5:44:00 AM - I will drink to that!

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/30/2024 12:56:00 AM - I will drink to that too! Cheers!
Red

2015 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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3/17/2024 - Motz wrote: 97 points

Drank over two days, alongside the same vintage Domaine de Chevalier.

This has not softened as much as the DdC. Rather, it has retained its original, velvet gloved iron fist character. Delightful fruit, high-order expression of (Pauillac) place, exceptional structure and grip. The finish reveals no conception of quit.

My preference over the DdC, on the strength of its rusticity. Tanninphobes might want to give this a wide berth through 2035. Indeed, even the tannin initiated might find holding bottles through 2030 rewarding. 97-98.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/18/2024 4:22:00 AM - Glad to have been of service to you both. Cheers!

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/30/2024 12:54:00 AM - Interesting commentary here. Thank you all for the kind words.

    When age worthy wines reach a certain maturity, almost invariably by fifteen to twenty years from vintage (this is the all bets are off window for great bottles), I find leather and parchment in only the most judiciously oaked from the outset. Put differently, oak treatment above the condiment level will always be above the condiment level, regardless of age. The modern, ripe stye of winemaking does not hold up to oak treatment in the way that wines made in restrained styles can. The more I drink wine, the less I like oak, especially new oak.

    Cheers!
Red

2015 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

 Red Rhone Blend more
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3/6/2024 - macaujames Likes this wine: 95 points

94/95. 0.375. Has fantastic aromas of blackberries ,black olives, iron, mint, five spice and blueberries! Profound lightly spicy garriguey leathery, lightly earthy, vanilla-ery lacy, satiny ironey blue red and black fruited wine with lovely long refreshing and tapering finish with nice gripping tannin. 14.5%. Drink now with 8-9 hrs aeration or lay down 15-30 yrs no problem.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/6/2024 6:50:00 PM - I will drink to that!
Red

2014 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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3/5/2024 - Motz wrote: 93 points

Pulled the cork on the bottle accessed by Coravin a few months ago and drank over two days.

There is substance to this...a lot of it...and also a lot of wood. The bouquet, attack, middle, back, and finish evoke tension between spectacular fruit and terroir, in conflict with timber. The pivotal factor seems to be real ageability relative to all the lumber. All elements suggest maturity after two decades from vintage date, perhaps through 2038 or so.

Even then, this will likely feature excessive oak. 93-94.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/6/2024 6:48:00 PM - Too early?

    Did you mean to type 'too oaky'?

    Over-oaked wines will always be over-oaked and this estate brings the lumber.

    Less (oak) is more...even for vintages with three plus decade ageing potential. This wine likely has a two plus decade ageing potential. By 2038, or so, it will be too oaky.

    Zum Wohl!
Red

2014 Château Prieuré-Lichine

 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend more
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2/20/2024 - Motz wrote: 92 points

Pulled the cork on the bottle previously accessed by Coravin and drank over two days.

Fine perfume, quite floral, if excessively polished (modern). The palate, albeit typical and excellent, left something to be desired over both days. Specifically, many non-Classed Growth offerings deliver equal or greater quality and satisfaction for half, or less, the release cost of this Fourth Growth Margaux.

The wine should hold form for five or so years. Drink by 2030-2032.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    2/24/2024 2:14:00 PM - Tasting a bottle over a couple of days allows the wine to reveal what a glass accessed by Coravin oftentimes cannot. Pretty perfume, which this offers in abundance, cannot compensate for the comparatively uninspiring palate experience. This note best reflects the last two sentences of my note of 11/23. Put differently, Coravin access did not change the wine. Cheers!

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    2/24/2024 2:44:00 PM - Enjoy! I look forward to reading your tasting experience.
Red

2015 Vietti Barolo Castiglione

 Nebbiolo more
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3/23/2023 - Motz wrote: 92 points

Coravin access. Tasted alongside the same vintage Vajra Bricco delle Viole and PdB Montefico.

The least impressive of the three wines, and also quite restrained. Somewhat muted bouquet, of tart and sweet red berries, hibiscus, rose hip, raspberry leaf tea, cut tobacco, savory herbs, and menthol.

Correct in all regards, though nothing stood out. Medium minus body, for Barolo, and fairly high-pitched. A touch biting at the back. Interesting and likely to evolve for another decade or so. Not the equal of other vintages of this label. Quality nonetheless.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    3/24/2023 6:42:00 PM - Have to sampled the '16?

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    2/23/2024 1:18:00 AM - Cheers!...even if begrudgingly...as per 'Eagleville'. :-)
Red

2010 Fattoria Galardi Terra di Lavoro

 Roccamonfina IGT Aglianico more
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2/13/2024 - Motz wrote: 98 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the same vintage Trotanoy and Léoville-Barton.

The words bouquet and perfume cannot adequately convey this wine's olfactory expressiveness. Floral and fruit notes (live, fresh, dried, and essences) linger in the background, behind root vegetables (raw, sauteed, roasted), live and dry herbs, assorted olives, tobacco (all forms), umami, smokehouse, all things savory (kelp, iodine), ash, minerals, and ores.

The wine tastes like it smells, in inflection changing waves. Bold, concentrated, and precise. Without any sense of the contrived fruitiness, heavy timber, and nasal membrane destroying alcohol that characterize the modern style. Medium plus acid and medium tannins frame the substance beautifully. Indescribable sophistication and nuance! Neither Bordeaux could match this wine's range and depth.

All elements point to another decade+ of life. Satisfying in all regards. Stupendous QPR! 97-98.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    2/14/2024 11:23:00 AM - Gotta call'm as I experience'm. Cheers to you both!
Red

2019 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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1/25/2024 - Motz wrote: 96 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the 2020.

This delivered infinitely more of everything appealing and interesting, even if in somewhat off the beaten path fashion, than its stablemate, particularly on the second day.

The bouquet puts the mind to France, partially Bordeaux, partially the Rhone, and partially the southwest, particularly Madiran. The perfume also features striking bio-dynamic elements, which accounts for its (French) mixed signals, and to central Italian wines based on Sangiovese and Aglianico. One also finds highly appealing savoriness, which puts the mind to the Rhone, Calabria, and Etna reds on Nerello Mascalese. In sum: unique. Amphora aging likely accounts for some of the olfactory melange.

The wine tastes like it smells, in mind-bending waves. Here is the thing though: It brings the substance, truck-tons of it! Medium plus acid and medium to medium plus tannin frame its layered intensity. Tanninphobes, beware the gripping back. The long finish changes inflection with ridiculous frequency.

Traditional? No! Appealing? Abso-friggin'-lutely! The Bordeaux purist within me tips its cap to the wine's depth and range.

Will it age? Certainly, through at least 2040. Will it evolve? Likely. Will it improve? Possibly. Whatever turns this may take, decidedly worth seeking out. 96-97.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/31/2024 12:27:00 PM - PT: Always a pleasure to read your tasting notes and comments. I tasted the 2010 PC recently, alongside the same vintage GPL and d'Armailhac. The latter featured the greatest traditional elements of the three, with no close second. In this way, if came off as 'thin' next to the PC, but that was expected. The GPL was at least as extracted as the PC, with a much heavier oak footprint, and lesser structure. The bones of the d'Armailhac made a strong impression. I thought holding the GPL beyond 2035 risky.

    I think that PC tends to be a maverick of modernity. High extraction? Certainly. Excessive extraction? By modern standards, no. The appeal of PC to me lies in the combination of saturation and structure. Also, other than the 2020, most vintages tend to feature balanced oak.

    I do not think I tasted the 2009. You may recall that I found that vintage vapid, not worth the tariffs, and I quit buying early on. I tasted the 2016 early on, and found it one of the best of the vintage, but not particularly age worthy, and quit buying 2016 shortly afterwards.

    I would like to know which houses are dialing back from the modern style. Someone made that argument about 2019 Cos d'Estournel, but I found it generally soulless, effectively stripped of the substance that would make it age worthy.

    Circling back to the three 2010 Pauillacs tasted recently, time will tell. Ultimately, I believe that the d'Armailhac will be the longest lived of the three.

    DQ: Thank you. A mind-bending offering, indeed.

    IW: I generally do not decant wines that I taste over at least two days. Also noteworthy, I have high tannin tolerance.
Red

2020 Château Pontet-Canet

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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1/25/2024 - Motz wrote: 92 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the 2019.

Plush red and purple fruits, amalgamated with strikingly high vanilla and baking spice notes (allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon) for the label. No bellringer.

More of the same on the palate. Open-knit and opulent, while not particularly juicy (acid) or gripping (tannic). In these ways, reminiscent of the 1980s Wendy's commercials: 'Where's the beef!?'

Less impressive on the second day, particularly compared to the 2019, which had reached full stride.

Overall, the two wines put my mind to the 2009 and 2010 Left Bank vintages, in reverse. Put differently, 2009 appealed to hedonists, whereas 2010 appealed to purists (who generally accept the neo-traditional style, which was birthed during the 1990s and seemingly became fashionable after 2005).

I would not expect this to age well, beyond 2035 or so. It lacks substance. The least impressive vintage of this label since 2013. 92-93.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/26/2024 9:37:00 AM - I have to call them as I experience them. Cheers!

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/27/2024 1:00:00 AM - I agree with your assessment, MJ. Happy drinking!
Red

2010 Château d'Armailhac

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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12/30/2023 - Motz wrote: 94 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the same vintage Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Pontet-Canet. Opened, sampled blind, called it, then left to slow-o for a few hours.

The purest and most rustic of the three...with no close comparison. Along with typical varietal markers, the bouquet features cigar (unlit and lit), heavily worn leather, creosote, live and dry herbs, deciduous forest sous-bois, rusted iron, and century-old railroad tie, covered in decomposed leaves, overgrown by moss and mushrooms.

In the style that defined Left Bank offerings until about twenty years ago. The leanest upon opening, primarily bones and sinew; it put on muscle and skin as it breathed, particularly by the second day. Nuance, nuance, and more nuance.

Showing the least extraction and lowest oak treatment of three. In no way polished. A like it or go-pound-sand, take it or leave it, offering.

This bottle had a two decade maturation curve ahead. If drinking in the near term, recommend a long decant, no less than four hours, then strap in for a kick-ass, tannic ride. A giant in its simplicity; profoundly satisfying. Improvement seems possible. 94-95.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/3/2024 10:39:00 AM - Cheers!

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/26/2024 9:33:00 AM - Hello paris_pub. Thank you for the commentary. My note of 11/14/2021 addresses possible perceptions of TCA with this wine. The comments might also interest you. Cheers!
Red

2019 Fontanabianca Barbaresco Bordini

 Nebbiolo more
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3/26/2023 - Motz wrote: 95 points

Enjoyed over a long afternoon and evening.

Beautiful Barbaresco, in all regards. Bright red sweet and tangy berries, acerola, hibiscus, rose hip, Rooibos, light petrol. Wholly compelling.

Striking precision and layered density. There is substance here...a lot of it. Medium plus acid, ripe, gritty and gripping tannins. Exceptional balance and poise. The finish lacks for nothing. Gorgeous!

Tanninphobes beware! If drinking over the next several years, pour and guzzle. After an hour of air, powerful grip bears down in full force. A long haul wine. No reason why this will not evolve and hold through 2050. 94-95...96?

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/12/2024 3:53:00 AM - Thanks WGD. I appreciate your expressions of confidence in my assessments.
Red

2015 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico

 Nebbiolo more
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11/18/2023 - WineGuyDelMar Likes this wine: 94 points

WoW. Decanted two hours and then drank over another hour. I would have never bought this except for Motz reviews that are right on. Dark color. Musty Old World nose. I find this wine balancing between Old World and Modern New World. Extraction & flavor layers are incredible. Opulent, Smooth, Balanced & Flavor filled. Incredible depth & fullness. You want this. Thank you Motz for turning me on to this. I have some 15 Montestefano coming also. QPR is incredible.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/12/2024 3:52:00 AM - Thank you for the endorsement. Cheers, WGD!
Red

2014 Château Clinet

 Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend more
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12/31/2023 - WineGuyDelMar Likes this wine: 91 points

Decanted 30 minutes then poured back in the bottle after first sip. It tasted originally like a Left Bank wine with prominent Cab Sauvignon. Poured first glasses 30 minutes later.

Still a bit tight but tannins we’re soft so figured the wine would open quickly which it did 20 minutes later. At this point the wine was more layered and the Merlot came to the party. Much more smooth and rounded now but subtle earthy flavors.

I think Motz is right on here. This is soft but no blockbuster. I usually find Pomerol overpriced compared to St Emilion that I much prefer. I get the more limited production of Pomerol vs St Emilion but like what Motz said about much lower priced wines giving the same scores. So true. I’ve had several 15 St Emilion at half the price that blow this wine away.

Still a nice treat and another wine learning experience. I prefer the 14 Feytit Clinet for $60. I don’t see any major improvement in this wine by cellaring it more. It is just going to get softer. Very much a finesse wine.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/12/2024 3:50:00 AM - Thanks for the feedback, WGD.
Red

2010 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
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12/30/2023 - Motz wrote: 94 points

Tasted over two days, alongside the same vintage d'Armailhac and Pontet-Canet. Opened, sampled blind, called it, then left to slow-o for a few hours.

First impression? Excessive oak. Impression throughout the first day? Defiled by oak. So much lumber, particularly compared to the other offerings, that all attempts to evaluate the fruit and terroir imparted substance proved frustrating. Also noteworthy: Did not know the assemblage...and still do not...but this showed the most red fruits of the three.

The wine took an interesting turn by the second day. The oak had integrated somewhat, which imparted a certain creamy, textural weight. In this way, it proved an intriguing teaser for the Pontet-Canet.

At the time of this note, this wine had a CT score of 93.3. The d'Armailhac, at the same time, had a CT score of 91.7. Indeed, I scored this a grudging 94 points, based on its second-day presentation. Qualitatively, given the wine's modernity (timber), the delta makes some since. Quantitatively, i.e., traditional, terroir-driven, rustic substance, the delta is, frankly, laughable.

Why corrupt high-quality Left Bank fruit to such an extent that creamy, textural weight becomes a wine's calling card? Presumably, money. C'est la vie!

This bottle had about a decade of evolution ahead. Wines in this style, however, above average extraction and heavily oaked, tend to throw a lot sediment and turn boring after a certain point. Equal chances that this wine will do so, before or by 2032-2035.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/11/2024 12:36:00 AM - Thank you for the feedback, Lars.
Red

2010 Château d'Issan

 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend more
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1/9/2024 - Motz wrote: 93 points

Very pretty, very suave. One expects prettiness from Margaux, regardless of vintage, except for the worst (seemingly, most years that end in 3 and 7 :-)). One hopes for more than suavity in great vintages, such as 2010.

In 2015, this featured an edginess. Now, it conveys a certain docility, which does not bode well for improvement. Young, great vintage, Left Bank Bordeaux should offer medium plus, or higher, acid and medium, or higher, tannin. In early adolescence, such wines should be tight, backwards, rude upon awakening, even somewhat mean. None of these elements could be discerned in this experience.

Overall, a very, very nice, elegant, marginally sophisticated wine, which should hold its current form for seven to ten years. Generally disappointing, on account of its open-knit, excessively polished soullessness.

  • Comment posted by Motz:

    1/10/2024 8:14:00 AM - Thank you for the feedback. Cheers!

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