Search Results - Save This Search

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

2014 Robert Sinskey Vineyards POV

 Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

3/28/2024 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 90 points

What is it about so many California wines that are meant to be drunk young? Five years ago this wine was in perfect balance as per my note back then. Today it has aged much more than expected. Bricking on the edge and cooked prune fruit. Still great acidity, and still reasonably complex but some elements have faded already. Drink it up.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2002 Marquis Philips Sarah's Blend

 South Eastern Red Blend more
Options

11/25/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 94 points

Ha ha reading previous notes was fun. This wine is amazing.Very dark fruits are still prevalent. The only criticism if it could only be a criticism is that it is port-like. But having said that it isn't as sweet as any port. it is incredibly well extracted, high alcohol but high fruit content. it has amazing depth and complextiy and viscosity.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
White - Sweet/Dessert

1976 Schloss Eltz Eltviller Sonnenberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese

 Rheingau more
Options

7/27/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 95 points

This wine is still going strong. Great flavors of toasted nuts, caramel, good acidity. Hints of apple and spice. Rich, thick, viscous. The finish lasts for a long time. It fades in glass only slightly after 30 minutes. Gorgeous, but no need to wait.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Rosé

2021 Château Des Brigands Côtes de Provence Rosé

 Grenache more
Options

7/3/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 90 points

Typical Cotes de Provence Rose in many respects. Salmon color. Well balanced with the right amount of fruit, sweetness and sourness. A touch of minerality. Dry in spite of the sweetness hint. Just perfect, but not highly extracted.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2019 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets

 Pinot Noir more
Options

7/1/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 92 points

Drinking beautifully already. Medium body, color is rather lighter than expected. Fragrant flowers, bright red fruit. The back end was very interesting and reminded me of hazelnuts. Not a lot of tannins.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
Red

2016 Castello di Fonterutoli Chianti Ser Lapo

 Sangiovese more
Options

4/29/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 91 points

Gorgeous layers of flavor, acidity is not over the top, just right. Great cherry, herb, just a classic interpretation of chianti. Second day, it still holds up and reveals extra terroire without getting a vinegar taste.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2018 Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Les Vergelesses

 Pinot Noir more
Options

3/31/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 93 points

I read Burghound's review of this wine and I agree with his assessment, but why did he give it 89 points? He said extremely sauvage. Yes. Roasted plum, dark pinot fruit and plenty of earth. Yes. Excellent volume and richness to the velvet-textured medium weight flavors that also display marked rusticity on the serious, complex and lingering finish. Yes.
Won't win any awards for refinement, but I do like the depth and focused power. Yes.

Me too. So yes, at least 93 points. This wine is so delicious and wonderful.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
White

2019 Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru En Caradeux Blanc

 Chardonnay more
Options

2/22/2023 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 93 points

What a beautiful wine. Not because of its complexity or extract, but because it has a perfect balance of acid, minerality, honey and nutmeg and spice. It grows in the glass as it warms, like all great chardonnays. I am not that familiar with the commune of Pernand-Vergelesses but this wine is so pleasureable, it reminds me a little bit of Puligny-Montrachet minus the hazelnuts. Get this, drink it, be surprised and wowed.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

1968 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo

 Nebbiolo more
Options

12/26/2022 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 93 points

What a revelation. What a perfectly amazing 54 year old wine firing on all cylinders. Opens to notes of funk, passes into excellent fragrances of flowers, herbs. After 30 minutes, viscosity presents itself. Fruit is prevalent all the way through the entire tasting. Acid is not too overpowering, tannins are nearly gone, the balance is intriguing throughout as it walks the tightrope of an extremely old wine's fragileness. Absolutely no pruning, no maderization. I am not sure I can wait until tomorrow morning to taste it again, but there are more bottles... ha ha

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2000 Luigi Pira Barolo Margheria

 Nebbiolo more
Options

3/11/2022 - ChaineMatt wrote: 91 points

What a pleasant shocker. Chewy, viscous. Much bricking at the edge but still fragrant, still earthy, minerals, flowers. Medium body, few tannins left, fruit is a little muted but good light to medium cherry. It changes in the glass of course, and after only one hour it has opened nicely. Probably won't need further air and I certainly don't intend to give it any more, haha.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2005 Bergström Pinot Noir Cumberland Reserve

 Willamette Valley more
Options

12/10/2021 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 94 points

I was very pleasantly surprised by this wine, it is holding up so well, it is still fresh as a daisy. The tannins have mostly melted away, the color is still very dark with a little bricking on the edge. The nose gives up sweet dark cherry, earth, spice, vanilla, toast, all kinds of wonderful. The extraction is big, chewy. The wine is viscous, has a beautiful long finish. The only thing I wondered about is the acidity, which isn't bracing but perhaps that is because the complexity just smashes right through the acid.

We left a glass for the second night. New flavors have developed. The wine is still excellent. Absolutely floored!

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2006 Epicuro Salice Salentino Riserva

 Negroamaro more
Options

12/2/2021 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 87 points

What a shock, probably no one will ever see this review since this is 11 years after the last review but every now and then an inexpensive wine can last longer than you think and surprise you in general. I stumbled upon this in my cellar, I have no idea when or how I got it which means I probably need to do a full audit of my inventory! (probably a gift from someone who didn't know about wine, but hey it's all wonderful)

Anyways, the tannins have melted away, the color is lighter than others have remarked and there's a little bricking on the edge but that's expected too for 15 years in bottle for a wine that never aspired to live this long in the first place. The nose is pleasant, sweet red or bing cherry. After 30 minutes a bit of oregano appears. The acids have helped prolong its life and any imperfections due to tannin or youth in general have sorted themselves out. This is not just a pleasant quaff, it is well-balanced and lighter styled of course since the grapes could not possibly have been from a low-yield vineyard.

But it is still just lovely. It will not go with steak, but almost any chicken dish in lieu of a medium intensity white.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2005 Temple Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

 Napa Valley more
Options

8/6/2021 - ChaineMatt wrote: 90 points

Reading back on other reviews I honestly think there might have been weird production problems. There is inconsistent quality among the reviews. My own experience has been abysmal until this bottle. I still have 3 more in my cellar and I asked myself why am I keeping this when it has been awful every time? So I opened another fully expecting the same experience.

But no this bottle is different. Which makes me think there was something that happened somewhere along the process that ruined only a portion of the production and not the other portion.

This bottle has all the characteristics that the others had in the beginning: complexity, balance, fruit, some wood, excellent nose but high alcohol. The problem was the rest of them fell apart. This bottle is showing extremely well, after 16 years, is that what it took to blow off the problems, or are some bottes just flawed and others fine?

This bottle is starting to fade after an hour but not a lot.

Too many questions unanswered. For now, I will simply enjoy. If anyone still has some, try it.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
White

2016 L'Esprit de Chevalier Blanc

 Pessac-Léognan Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more
Options

3/5/2021 - ChaineMatt Does not like this wine: 86 points

A good bit of earth smell at first but there is not much fruit here. High acidity without freshness, without citrus, the acidity just feels like white vinegar. Creamy, too creamy without support. Light style, not much depth. No herbs or spices. An off bottle?

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2016 Bergström Pinot Noir Silice

 Chehalem Mountains more
Options

2/28/2021 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 93 points

Tasted by 38 people blind against Kistler, a Premier Cru Burgundy, and a NZ top producer, this won hands down. It tricked most of us because it had terroir, beautiful barnyard, cheesy nose, and then great body. Most perceived it as French. This is a great compliment one could pay but although it won the competition it was not perfect. Which is of course totally fine.

Medium body, medium red fruit, not a lot of acidity but as mentioned above, great terroir. Stinky, cheesy at first then herbal. Great nose. Great extraction.

2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
Red

1985 Château Haut-Bages Averous

 Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

2/14/2021 - ChaineMatt wrote: 99 points

This wine is absolutely stunning and entirely improbable given its age and the fact that it isn't Lynch Bages' first bottling. I have not had a wine like this in a very long time. Get ready because this wasn't just great tasting wine, it was a journey in the glass.

At first, the cork smelled old and a small pour revealed huge funk, a lot of burnt wood and that signature cheeseburger and mushrooms that attracted me to Lynch Bages in the first place.

After a bit of breathing it began to reveal more. A bit of leather, funk, barnyard. Still cheese but also fragrant wood, not charcoal but a more hickory note that made your nose ecstatic. Fruit was a bit muted but there was so much complexity of earth and terroir it didn't matter. On to the lamb loin with demi glace.

After half an hour to an hour it began to reveal extraordinary dark cherry fruit, almost like an extraction of luxardo without the sweetness. The tannins throughout the entire experience wove a web of warmth, not too prevalent, not absent. The wood changed again to mahogany.

The acid throughout was in the background, simply supporting the entire experience. After an hour, dark cherries faded into black plums. After two hours the fragrant wood returned but with a note of charcoal also, the fruit went blacker and faded a tad. Thoroughly an incredible erxperience.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
White

2013 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet

 Chardonnay more
Options

1/2/2021 - ChaineMatt wrote: 92 points

Sixth time from magnum and this last one was showing its age but in general all six magnums were lovely and a very pure expression of what I expect a Puligny Montrachet to be. Wonderful hazlenuts, butterscotch, full and grassy, good citrus notes. Good acidity, very well balanced.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2015 Law Estate Wines Beyond Category

 Paso Robles Red Blend more
Options

11/15/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 89 points

Hot. Alcoholic. No finesse. Dark, black, yay. But is a wine about 15.6% alcohol with big sweet fruit? Can Paso Robles copy Spain?

I hope it improves over time but I suspect the alcohol will not help it much.

Second night, it softened. Very sweet fruit coming through. Still a lot of alcohol coming through. But it's better than last night.

2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
White

2015 Donelan Chardonnay Genevieve's Block DeVoto Vineyard

 Sonoma Coast more
Options

9/26/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 95 points

This wine is bursting with so many variables. The complexity, the depth, the variety of different fruits that assault you. The minerality is much higher than average for California.

You could argue that this is made in a Burgundian style, but yet it has some sweetness, but it doesn't seem to come from oak. You could argue it's classic California because of its tropical fruits and honey but then you come back to the minerality argument, and you taste the petrol which was practically non-existent in California chardonnays until more producers started "finding" it.

You could say that some pear fruit slipped in, meyer lemon as opposed to straight lemon and you would be right. Where does that come from? I have tasted it in a couple Oregon wines.

In short, this wine has so much going on that everyone probably picks up very different things. But the bottom line is the complexity, extraction and nice long finish, At five years it is great. If you have more, do one per year. It could evolve amazingly.

Don't drink it at 38 degrees, it does quite well at cellar temp of 57.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2015 1853 Old Vine Estate Malbec Selected Parcel

 Mendoza more
Options

9/25/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 89 points

I agree with most peoples' assessment of QPR. This is a very pleasant wine, and yes a lighter more feminine style of malbec than most. Tannins are fading a bit, making it ready to drink now. Good medium fruit, almost raspberry-like. A bit of charcoal in the early going which turns to finer wood if you let it breathe. Not highly extracted but tasty.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
White

2017 Colli Ripani Offida Pecorino Mercantino

 more
Options

8/16/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 90 points

It's hard to rate this against its peers for me because I do not have a lot of experience with pecorino, but this wine has changed rapidly over time. I purchased a case and have been drinking it over the last 2 years.

Highly extracted, minerally, honeyed, a little sweet, but great slateyness (if that's a word). In its youth it showed a depth of minerals, less honey, good acidity. Honeysuckle, melon, the fruit isn't quite tropical but it is dense. Excellent wine.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2009 Bonuzzi Amarone della Valpolicella Ca' Ferreri

 Corvina Blend, Corvina more
Options

8/16/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 86 points

Bitter all the way down. Highly alcoholic on the nose and through the throat. Bitterness on the throat. Acidity is high and overpowers the rest of the taste. However, extraction is ok, sweet fruit, leather, tannins are fading a bit but this won't be any better. Not sure where I even procured it. Cellartracker has only one vintage of it.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2015 Sobilane Grenache Syrah

 Côtes Catalanes Red Rhone Blend more
Options

6/25/2020 - ChaineMatt Does not like this wine: 82 points

Parker gave this a 92? It’s time to ignore the “critics” because point inflation only means they get quoted most often. Look at James Suckling who is always 2 points higher than the rest of the world. Sickening.

This wine was bitter, astringent, lacking in depth, body, and fruit, and it was a bit sour. Bright acicidity is nice, underripe sourness isn’t. It ruined all food put with it, and it did not improve with food. It did not improve much in glass, it added a very small amount of sweet fruit.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
White

2018 Domaine de la Grange Touraine-Chenonceaux Blanc

 Sauvignon Blanc more
Options

6/13/2020 - ChaineMatt Likes this wine: 90 points

Drinking at 38 degrees F which is of course too cold. High minerality, both slate and something more bitter, but I must confess I don't lick rocks often. Thick mouthfeel, lots of glycerin. Fruit is very green, almost like underripe pineapple. Therefore high acidity.

Warming up, apples, rose petals on nose. Surprisingly unctuous for this part of the world and this price point. It's a style that to me is a departure from a typical Touraine, but it is compelling.

Rating a wine that isn't what you expect is an interesting proposition and it opens it up to more comparison. But in the entire universe of Sauvignon Blanc this is as good as many others around the world.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
Red

2012 Marcelo Pelleriti Felipe Staiti Vertigo

 Valle de Uco Malbec Blend, Malbec more
Options

5/24/2020 - ChaineMatt wrote: 86 points

Unbalanced, very sharp, acidic, the charcoal and tobacco elements cover up the fruit which is nice black cherry but mostly this is a mess. Medium body, no finish, this doesn't work on its own it needs big steak and cheeseburgers to hide its flaws.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
  • Tasting notes: 91 notes on 85 wines

Loading wine details...
loading

×
×