Search Results - Save This Search

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

NV Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape la Réserve VII IX X

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

10/15/2021 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 97 points

Popped one of these last night w some sushi and it was phenomenal. Smooth like a kitten, but hiding its strength. This was a Panthro sort of wine (for thundercats fans - he was my favorite. Liono was kind of a tool imo).

Fully mature - I’m sure it will hold, but it won’t get better from here. Drink up and enjoy!!

(Still thinking about it a little - I think I have one more stashed somewhere. I hope it’s hard to find (if it wants to live).

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

2010 Castello dei Rampolla d'Alceo

 Toscana IGT Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

7/31/2021 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 98 points

Fantastic! Another wine that made me check the ratings mid-bottle - and……. 100ptsAG!!!

Had a feeling.

My only very small complaints about this wine are:


That being said, I wish I had tried the d’Alceo before! I’ve had a lot of the Sammarco and love it. I don’t know what my problem is…

Actually, I do know. I’m never sure if it’s time for “that bottle” - but I’ll tell you, this baby is seamless and amazing. Will it get better? How do I know? I’m sure it will hold for a long time, but no reason to wait just for the sake of waiting. Get drinking!

Ample black fruit and smooth, dusty tannins. Some kind of exotic wood on the finish? A beautiful sip, from attack to a wonderfully full mid-palate- resolving into a finish that go on and on and on. And on. And…. You get the idea.

Some color commentary - my wife is trying to talk to me while I’m finishing the last glass (she has some too). I don’t want to talk - I just want to let this wine seep into me as slowly and spiritually as possible. But I have to nod at olympics anecdotes. At appropriate times. Sigh.

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

2015 Lillian Winery Syrah

 Santa Barbara County more
Options

7/9/2021 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 93 points

Well that was tastylicious! Syrah is amazing w sushi, imho…but I wasn’t prepared for the total boldness of this Lillian! So concentrated - pure - tannicraziness. The earthiness is so powerful but elevated. Like if there was some way to take loamy, mulchy dirt and some of the blackest berries ever grown and challenge @richardblais (shout out) to win a cooking competition with it.

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

2003 Larkmead Vineyards LMV Salon

 Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

6/16/2021 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 95 points

Well, I dragged this bad boy out of the cellar, thinking it might be about the time to enjoy it. LMV is my favorite wine from Larkmead (so far - I have some stuff waiting that I expect to be ridiculous - Lark, Dr. Olmo, a few bottles from a Napa Premier Wine Auction…I’m giddy just thinking about it!)

I was both right and wrong - it’s only sort of ready. It’s an adult, but has a long life ahead. It’s in that boisterous phase - rebellious and deciding who it’s going to be. It was thrilling to see the potential! But I need to hold on to my others a while - I really want to catch this wine fully mature and in control of itself.

The nose was a little restrained at first but opened up in the glass. I got camphor, a little eucalyptus, something like balsamic-infused strawberries, maybe? Or maybe that’s just what I want to smell because that sounds so tasty. On the palate, it has some of that Larkmead blue fruit character that resolves into more red fruit on the finish (which lasts forever…) The texture was the real magic in the bottle - satiny smooth but with an iron core. Glyceriny and rich but tannins for days. I think if I’d opened this ten years ago, it might have ripped my face off - but let’s not dwell on disaster averted!

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

2014 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

 Columbia Valley more
Options

5/29/2020 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 100 points

I’m so happy also! Well kind of....

I had a zoom HH meeting with a team in Seattle, so I grabbed a bottle of WA wine. I haven’t opened a Quilceda Creek in a while, so I thought I’d go for it. I opened the first one I came across in my cellar. The bouquet exploded as I opened the bottle. I took a sip and did a double take. The intensity and concentration was unreal.

I barely touched it as the zoom call was pretty active, then I stepped away for a bit and just came back for dinner. The wine was so good, but it wasn’t matches to the dinner.

I’m sitting here watching Top Chef sipping on it and just thought it’s getting better and better. Holy leather Batman. And cedar. Like an old cedar box filed with some kind of gourmet blackfruit Michelin gummy bears, wrapped in new leather.

So I thought- what is this rated? I feel like it might be a 100 pointer! But I’ve relaxed about ratings recently and let my memberships lapse. So I had to nose around and boom! Good ole’ Jeb D with the perfect score. I see all don’t agree, but I grok you Jeb!

I’m so happy I’m having it. I’m sorry I wasted some on chicken fingers. I wish my wife would stop drinking it.

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

2015 Bedrock Wine Co. Petite Sirah Drummond's Cuvee

 California more
Options

2/16/2020 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 91 points

Ok - don’t take my rating the wrong way. It’s really good, better than 91, but needs more more more more more time!

It’s so tight! But it’s all there. I had it with some spicy food and it needed that to make it come out of its shell. And it came out swinging! Punched me in the mouth a few times, but no complaints on this end. D-lishus.

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

2007 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

6/1/2019 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 95 points

Just always good. This is probably prime drinking window for me. It’s got plenty of fruit, smooth silky tannins, and I can just taste the onset of those older pruny tones. And that’s not any kind of bad thing.

I just took another sip (live review in progress) and damn. How long is this finish....? Hold please. I stopped the timer at 70 seconds but it was still going. This wine just fills my face with happy.

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

2008 Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

 more
Options

4/3/2019 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: NR

Tasty tasty

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

2014 Quilceda Creek Palengat Red Wine

 Horse Heaven Hills Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

4/14/2018 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 92 points

Hitting this a touch early - still a little bitey but in that way that the vampire seems pretty cool and getting bitten isn’t so bad, particularly since the post-bite lifestyle is so seductive. And it’s that weird thing that you are getting bitten but also biting back, savoring the dark fruits, cedar, glycerin and dry tree bark. I don’t remember drinking that much, but the bottle is empty and I don’t think I will welcome the sunrise.

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

2010 Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Anonyme

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

12/8/2017 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 94 points

I’m into this wine! It’s got a healthy dose of alcohol, but I think it is well balanced against all the other goodness going on in the glass. Blackberries are punching me in the face and I kind of like it. There’s a so-black-it’s-blue cherry thing happening also. Some heavy minerals on the finish - that may be a little radioactive. And a little baseball glove. Maybe a lot of baseball glove, depending on your sensitivity to baseball glove. But, yum!

4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (4)
Red

1998 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac

 Grenache more
Options

11/14/2017 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 92 points

Fully mature and delicious. This should hold here nicely for a few more years.

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

2008 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

 Napa Valley more
Options

11/5/2017 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 93 points

Classic larkmead blue fruit, rocks. Maybe a little twizzler on the finish. Lovely acidity. Beautiful delineated flavors. Yummy!

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

2007 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve

 Grenache more
Options

12/23/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 97 points

Part of ludicrous wine day!!

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

2009 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières

 Chardonnay more
Options

7/30/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 95 points

Clean nose - not super expressive to me. With time, a little fresh rain on pavement

Palate is killer though! A little hot, med acid, grapefruit? Salted melon! Limestone...

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

2002 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année

 Champagne Blend more
Options

7/30/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 94 points

Toasted bread, almonds, green apple, underripe honeydew, firm mousse- lovely!

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

2010 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

7/15/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 92 points

Is this my ode to CDP?
It says something about me
That I almost never see
Food that doesn't pair really well
With its loamy,earthy taste and smell
At least that's the story I tell

Truth be told,
I might not serve it with filet of sole
But if you did, I'd just call it bold
And savor every velvet drop
Against that buttery, lemony pop
I wouldn't stop.

Often I will drink a sabon
With nothing, just on its own
And so enjoy its herbal tones
But I drank one with sushi last night
And it even then seemed right
Friendly and big yet somehow light

Of course not all sushi is the same
You may think it delicate, just by name
But in this case, mine wasn't so tame
Crunchy tuna rolls with lots of spice
Oily salmon and mackerel by the slice
With perfectly seasoned sticky rice

I want to tell you more about the wine
How purple, how full, how smooth, how fine...
But there was no real analysis of the vine
On this particular night, in this particular case,
Just wine and dinner going in my face
At the right time and in the right place.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (3)
Red

2011 Wren Hop Pinot Noir Wisdom & Chaos

 Russian River Valley more
Options

7/10/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 92 points

My first bottle of wren hop! I've heard so much and am very excited to try it. It's only been open for a few minutes - and it is a powerful Pinot indeed. Nearly opaque blackberry colored with a lavender rim. Nose is a little closed for me - though boquet decomposition is not my best trick!

Blackberry, sawdust, rose petal?

On the palate, black cherry, cola, mint in the finish? A little hot but not in a way we can't be friends. Tannins are a bit sharp but focused and pleasant. I should be having this with a tuna steak or something that would stand up to the little punch in the face this is giving me. This has a lot of life ahead of it.

I have one more that I'll try to wait two years to return to.

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

2007 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Solari

 Napa Valley more
Options

7/1/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 95 points

Red fruit? I usually get strong blue fruits out of Larkmead but this seems a little different. It is rich and full, but singing in a higher register than some others. The finish rolls on and on, tannins are fine and tight. This is only in the first hour - I'll try to resist drinking too fast to see what develops. It clearly has more years ahead of it than I will be able to wait to drink the next bottle (my last)...

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

2003 Viader

 Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more
Options

5/30/2016 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 92 points

2nd day w this @viader_napa 03. Blueberries mellowed into darker fruit and leather - maybe some smoked meat & molasses without the sweet. ��

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

2006 Tom Scott Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Barn Burner

 St. Helena more
Options

11/2/2015 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 94 points

My first bottle of Barn Burner - after hearing rave reviews from a friend. I really enjoyed this bottle! Inky black goodness - black fruit, a little ashtray (I like this, call me weird), some leather and tobacco. All these brooding flavors, yet the wine was light on its feet and well balanced.

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

2007 Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Anonyme

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

11/1/2013 - Buffy the Wine Slayer Likes this wine: 95 points

Loved this. Popped one to think about getting more and I'm in!

Ran it through the Vinturi and gave it an hour in the decanter. Had it with some chocolate and Sharfe Maxx cheese. Nose was a little closed but found dark fruit and asphalt. Wine was rich, no hard edges, very balanced with a nice, full mid palate. Blackberries, a little licorice, herbs. I savored this tasty bottle.

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

2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

10/27/2012 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 95 points

Absolutely ready to drink but with several years of life left in it -- signature Beaucastel!

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

2008 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

9/4/2012 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: 93 points

Decanted for 6 hours prior to drinking -- that is key at this stage for this wine, I think. It seems a little disjointed upon first opening, then finally blossoms.

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

2002 Juslyn Vineyards Perry's Blend

 Napa Valley Red Blend more
Options

3/29/2012 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: NR

- Brick color with medium forming legs and aromas of cedar. It's balanced and has flavours of bell pepper, cedar, blackberry and licorice anise with a medium/full body. Round texture with a medium finish.

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

2008 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina

 Red Rhone Blend more
Options

3/2/2012 - Buffy the Wine Slayer wrote: NR

Incredible with decanting... Unbalanced without it. PLEASE give it air and time and it will be delicious!

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
  • Tasting notes: 30 notes on 28 wines

Loading wine details...
loading

×
×