| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2001 Château Sociando-MalletHaut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/8/2021 - Jdog wrote: 91 pointsSplash decanted and served in large Riedel glasses. This is mature but still remarkably fresh for a 20 year old unclassified wine from this vintage. Pleasant bell pepper notes on the nose give way to cool red and black fruit on the palate and more hints of spicy bell pepper on the finish. The wine is fully integrated and has no tannic edge to speak of. Not terribly complex, but delicious and perfectly aged northern Medoc. It seems like this wine could remain in this plateau for another 5-10 years. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| Red |
2018 Hardin Cabernet SauvignonNapa Valley more |
3/8/2021 - Jdog Likes this wine: 90 pointsOne used to be able to buy the 15' and 16' Hardin for $20-$22 per bottle, and at that price it was an incredible bargain. At $25-$30 for the 2018 the value proposition has slipped quite a bit. However, considering that most sub-$30 Cali Cabs seems to me to be generic, spoofilated plonk these days, this wine is still worth considering for its tasty, fruit-forward character which is presented in a refreshingly restrained style. Recommended. |
| Red |
2006 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet SauvignonNapa / Sonoma more |
3/29/2020 - Jdog wrote: 90 pointsPurchased recently from Cellaraiders. Clearly a well-stored bottle. Wine was decanted for 1 hour and served in Riedel stemware. Four tasters had consistent notes on this wine which is to say nose of dark fruit dominated by very high alcohol volatility which was sometimes so pronounced it was like sniffing nail polish. Similarly, on the palate big, ripe fruit but the wine is overwhelmed by its alcohol content. Disappointing effort from Pride. Perhaps additional bottle age or longer decanting would help this wine, but I'm not sure it will ever come together into a more balanced, elegant style. |
| Red |
2000 Château Barde-HautSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/29/2020 - Jdog wrote: 91 pointsPurchased two bottles recently from Cellaraiders for $45. Consistent notes on both bottles. Both given 1 to 2 hours to decant and served in Riedel glasses. Well integrated oak and forest floor tones on the nose. On the palate, the wine lacks complexity and vibrancy, but it is a graceful, lighter-styled, classic, red-fruited St. Emillion which is certainly drinking in its prime now. It seems like it could age for three to five years longer before it starts to decline. |
| Red |
2005 Château FonroqueSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/4/2020 - Jdog wrote: 91 pointsQuick splash decant. Very dark ruby color. A fair amount of oak on this but offering a nice nose of coffee, leather and old soil. On the palate, well integrated flavors of black fruit, dark cherries and blackberry with oaky vanilla notes and a little spice. The wine improved over approximately a half hour and then plateaued and started to fall off. Overall, a very nice St. Emilion that seems to be at its peak right now and based on my palate and experience, a wine I would not expect to have a very long drinking plateau. |
| Red |
2010 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Knights Valleymore |
1/10/2020 - Jdog wrote: 90 pointsPurchased for $36. Tasted against 2016 Stags' Leap Winery Cabernet, 1997 Rodney Strong Alexanders Crown Cabernet and 2013 Isosceles. Served in Reidel stemware. Other commentators have noted the wine seems to be past its peak but it struck me as still relatively fresh. This is a middle-of-the-pack quality wine with intense purple color, a nose of blackberry and blueberry and the same on the palate. The finish is relatively clipped. Overall, a pleasant Cali cab, but nothing particularly special or interesting to offer. |
| Red |
2016 Stags' Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valleymore |
1/3/2020 - Jdog wrote: 88 pointsPurchased from Rye Brook Wines for $36. Decanted and served in Reidel stemware. I have been a fan of other Stags' Leap Winery Cabs in past vintages so I thought I would give this a try despite the mixed reviews on Cellar Tracker. Overall, I was disappointed by this wine...very little on the nose other than dark fruit and essentially the same on the sweet, monolithic palate. There was nothing inherently "bad" about this wine, we just found it incredibly generic. If you put this up against a $10 bottle of McManis Cabernet you would be hard pressed to choose a winner. This was the consensus of two other experienced tasters as well. |
| Red |
2005 Château MarjosseBordeaux Red Bordeaux Blend more |
1/23/2019 - Jdog wrote: 85 pointsI found this remaining bottle of a full case after doing a full inventory of my cellar. Based on what people were writing in 2016 and 2017 with regard to the age of the wine, I would say that the downward curve of this wine is accelerating quickly (at least in 750 ml format). Unfortunately, this bottle was well past it's prime and starting to turn vinegar-ish. You can see that there was a very pleasant, typical Medoc in here a few years ago. It is still drinkable if you don't mind the over-the-hill Bordeaux flavor profile. |
| Red |
2004 Château Léoville PoyferréSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
1/10/2019 - Jdog wrote: 92 pointsStood this bottle up for several days before splash decanting using a Vinturi. Beautiful purplish ruby color. Classic Poyferre nose and flavor profile and still a really fresh, fairly young wine after 15 years in the bottle. Surprisingly fruity as well. This wine is a little hollow in the mid-palate and just doesn't quite have the vibrancy, precision and layering of a great vintage of Poyferre. I don't think it will ever develop into a block buster, but it is an elegant, regal, and lovely expression of classic St. Julien. Every sniff and taste just says "Ah, I'm in Bordeaux!" 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| Red |
2015 ArbalestBordeaux Red Bordeaux Blend more |
1/16/2018 - Jdog Likes this wine: 90 pointsPurchased a case of this from Wine Access at $20/bottle. This is a very good, fruit forward, right bank wine from an accomplished wine making team. This wine is made in a more Californian style than most right bank Bordeaux. Lovely red fruits dominate the flavor profile and there are no hard edges at all. Wonderful wine for the money, but I don't think it merits a higher score based on lack of complexity, some lack of structure and the relatively short finish. |
| Red |
2010 Château Fleur CardinaleSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
12/5/2017 - Jdog Likes this wine: 93 pointsPopped and poured this after having just moved my entire wine cellar so hardly perfect conditions but, wow, this wine is really coming together. Massive, luxurious red and black fruits with some secondary notes starting to emerge. Drinking well now, but I expect this to improve further over the next 5-10 years as it fully integrates. |
| Red |
2014 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valleymore |
8/31/2017 - Jdog wrote: 90 pointsDecanted with vinturri and drank over a period of about two hours. Nice bouquet, but typical of California Cab in the $30 plus price range. Big black and red fruit but quite alcoholic and monolithic. I've been tasting and judging young wines for a long time and maybe this will develop into a better than average wine in the next five years, but I just don't see that it has the "right stuff". |
| Red |
NV Locations WA-4Washington Syrah Blend, Syrah more |
6/1/2017 - Jdog Does not like this wine: 85 pointsI am surprised by the relatively glowing reviews for this wine. I have generally liked the "Locations" bottlings that I have tried, but this wine was simply too over the top. I aerated the wine with a Vinturi into a large Riedel decanter. |
| Red |
2014 Newton Cabernet Sauvignon (Red Label)Sonoma County more |
4/1/2017 - Jdog wrote: 85 pointsOrdered a bottle at dinner. Generic California cab. Fruit forward and utterly unremarkable. |
| Red |
2010 Château Teyssier St. Émilion Grand CruRed Bordeaux Blend more |
12/29/2014 - Jdog wrote: 88 pointsConsumed over two nights in Riedel Vinum glass. Day 1, spicy black fruits and some bell pepper; quite tannic and without much structure. Day 2, slightly better as the tannin had dissipated/integrated with some oxidation. Wine was still fresh, however. Hold for a couple of years and see how this evolves. |
| Red |
2001 Château Fleur CardinaleSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
12/3/2013 - Jdog Likes this wine: 91 pointsPurchased a case from Wine Connection about 3 years ago for $20/bottle. Two bottles tasted in 2011 and early 2012 were somewhat disappointing with a flat affect, relatively thin fruit and overly-aggressive oak treatment that made drinking the wine a little bit like licking the inside of a charred barrel. At roughly 10 years old, I didn't think the wine could still be in a dumb phase, and simply assumed that the wine was on a downward trajectory. So I am now really surprised by the transformation of this wine over the past 18 months. Popped and poured a bottle and the tannins and oak have noticeably receded and the cool, slightly tart red fruit, which is somewhat typical for the 01 vintage, is resurgent. This is now a classic right bank wine drinking beautifully. I don't believe this will improve considerably, but am ecstatic that the wine seems to have come alive in 2013. |
| Red |
2009 Château La Lagune Moulin de la LaguneHaut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend more |
9/30/2013 - Jdog wrote: 87 pointsValue wines category - $20. Fifth bottle of a case with consistent notes. Nearly opaque ruby red with a lighter meniscus. Nose of barnyard and a little chocolate milk. On the palette, all primary red fruit and fairly heavy oak treatment. Certainly not a little brother to the 09 La Lagune, this is more of a country second cousin. OK but nothing special and there are better wines at this price point such as Chantegrive, Villars, Cap de Faugeres, etc. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| Red |
2010 Château VillarsFronsac Red Bordeaux Blend more |
9/30/2013 - Jdog wrote: 89 pointsValue wines category. $18. Opened and consumed over two nights. Beautiful, opaque ruby red color. Unusual nose of pumpkin seeds, fresh rain on slate and iron. On the palette, this is very primary with warm, jammy, red fruits and the oak treatment coming through as coffee grinds. Big, chewy tannin dominates the 20-30 second finish. Given the consistent performance over two nights, I think this wine needs a few years to settle down, integrate and develop secondary characteristics. Likely a 90+ wine in 2 to 3 years. |
| Red |
2003 Clos Les LunellesCastillon Côtes de Bordeaux Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/28/2013 - Jdog Does not like this wine: 78 pointsLunch with Ceil and JC. Sorry I brought this. Hot, stewed rasins on the nose which follows through to the palette. Tannins are rustic and harsh and the wine is just cooked and disjointed. I don't think this bottle is flawed; it is the winemaking that is flawed. This represents the worst of the 2003 vintage and may have been over extracted and just never came together. |
| Red |
2009 Château DomeyneSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/5/2013 - Jdog Likes this wine: 91 pointsCategory: value wines. Purchased from Total Wine for $19. I had never heard of this Chateau and was cautious to take the buying recommendation. Glad that I did, however. PnP. Good nose of cedar and earth. On the palette, green bell pepper, minerals and black fruits. This is smooth St. Estephe drinking well now and very charactersistic of 2009 vintage as a whole, i.e. excellent quality even from smaller Chateaux. Sort of reminds me of a mini Pichon Lalande. It will be interesting to see how this develops, but at <$20 bottle this is a definite winner. |
| Red |
2006 Casiano-Colombaio Brunello di MontalcinoSangiovese more |
3/5/2013 - Jdog wrote: 86 pointsPurchased from Total Wine for $20. Not much of a nose. Very sour cherry in the mouth with some minerality and a relatively short finish. Not a good value. |
| Red |
2010 Domaine La Garrigue Côtes du Rhône Cuvée RomaineRed Rhone Blend more |
4/11/2012 - Jdog wrote: NRI have had two bottles of this and I cannot get past the disjointed fruit and high alcohol. Also, I am experiencing the very high acidity as an unpleasant "spritziness" on the tongue. Maybe this just needs time to come together. The 2009 drank much, much better as a young wine. Will reserve judgment/score on this wine, but at this point I am not a fan. |
| Red |
1995 Château Gruaud LaroseSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
2/15/2012 - Jdog wrote: 92 pointsPoured through Vinturri and decanted for 1 hour. Extremely powerful nose of leather, currant and cedar which manifested itself almost like spearmint. Mature but fresh on the palette with good but not exuberant fruit in text book GL style. This is a less massive, more streamlined wine than the 1996 GL. Very good and should last another decade at least. |
| Red |
2006 Sportoletti Umbria Rosso Villa FideliaRed Bordeaux Blend more |
1/20/2012 - Jdog wrote: 91 pointsLamb and steak dinner with Nathan, Kelly, Jordan and ML. 5th bottle of the case. All bottles completely consistent with last note. An incredible bargain @$20. |
| White |
2010 Tasca D'Almerita Sicilia Regaleali BiancoWhite Blend more |
1/20/2012 - Jdog wrote: 87 pointsValue wines category. Varmax - @$9 . Popped and poured. Extremely light, pale yellow color. Very pleasant nose of oak, peach, white flowers and honey which follows through to the palette. High, playful, acidity results in a not unpleasant sensation of spritz on the tongue. Very short finish but this wine has solid QPR and a nice break from Chardonnay and SB. 86-87 |
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- Tasting notes: 111 notes on 100 wines
