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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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Red
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2002 Three Dog Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa Cruz Mountains
more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, high quality but weakening natural cork.
Third bottle in 6 years. With my mind's eye I can pick on this wine in little ways: linear nose, slightly bitter mid-palate, medium finish... but my hedonistic flesh wants two more cases. Now. Every sip has me holding up the glass up to light mouthing "wow".
This style is a rarity: truly racy acidity paired with full ripeness in a CS. That combination brings out a pure, bright, translucent red currant quality that has been wholesale lost to bigger, fatter Cabernets for many decades. Especially since around 2000 when fruit-forward Napa Cabs took over the hearts and minds of consumers worldwide.
If any Intel founders are reading this, please keep releasing vintages. This is a potential cult wine; an off-beat treasure.
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White
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2013 Alexandre Bain Pouilly-Fumé La Levée
Sauvignon Blanc more
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Medium bodied, producer-unique styling, high quality natural cork.
Take Nicolas Joly Clos de Bergerie and orient in a way that you could gulp a whole bottle in 20 minutes. Some wooly Chenin Blanc-like tones alongside a hint of residual sugar. Viscerally appealing, despite my usually avoiding both those things. Graham cracker, pie crust, lemon zest. It's like a glass of warming yourself by the fire.
Technical 91, pleasure 93+. Peaking now, but good until 2028-2030 or so.
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Red
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2018 Halcon Vineyards Mourvèdre
Yorkville Highlands
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, good quality natural cork.
A bit "natty" tasting for the first 60 minutes, and then intensity and expansiveness ramp up: this is easily in the wheelhouse of classic CdP profile. Wide swath of red berries, wet brick clay, purple flowers, carbonic acid. Followed over 3 days, stayed fairly consistent. No rush to drink.
Perhaps my third favorite Halcon bottling, behind Elevacion and Alturas -- now wishing I had been stocking up on their Mourvèdre previously. 91-92
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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1998 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru
Chenin Blanc more
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Medum bodied, traditional styling, natural cork holding up well.
Followed over 5 days, while delicious at PnP the last day was the best and easily could have continued on. Nice blend of sweetness and acidity, both tree and tropic fruit elements, lemongrass, toasted wheat. Not as typically cloying or caramel-like as its bretheren from Sauternes. Good complexity and length, excellent balance.
Ready today, but no rush to drink -- this will age decades more.
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Red
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2020 Domaine Verset A & E Cornas
Syrah more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, good quality natural cork.
Probably best vintage in the last 10 years of Verset, though 2014 is above average as well. Youthful, already approachable, and obvious upside holding for 10-15 years. Followed two days - saturated with monolithic blue and purple fruit, alongside white pepper, gamey tones, raw olive. More herbal on first day. Good balance, good persistence.
Perhaps a top value Cornas if you're looking for old school. If this pricing and style is your thing, check out Gilles Peyrouses (just outside Cornas) and Halcon Elevacion (high elevation California). 91 today given how tight it is, but would expect 92-94 starting ~2030.
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Red
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2016 Capiaux Cellars Pinot Noir Widdoes Vineyard
Russian River Valley
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Medium- bodied, traditional and modern styling, high quality natural cork.
Dark meaty Pinot Noir here, but not full-bodied or gamey. Fruit profile reminds a bit of Santenay with black and blue stewed elements, and dry herb garrigue tones like inland Sonoma such as Forestville. There is a smokiness that feels like wood-fired bird. While dark, the mentholated mid-palate gives it a refreshing lift that calls for another sip. Finish is mostly visceral - could expand a bit; and nose is fleeting, but no way is this wine unsatisfying. Expected good and got better.
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Red
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2017 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie Les Journaries / Maestria
Syrah more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, high quality natural cork.
Three years since my last bottle, followed over two days. Now opening up a bit and showing that it is in fact much "cleaner" than most Journaries vintages -- Cornas-like rusticity has been traded for crystaline mountain berries perfuming the room from when the bottle is opened to the last echoes in the finish.
The balance, complexity, depth, and persistance are punching in a price range above retail. Give it another 3-5 years, but enjoyable today. Little change between day one and two, though perhaps a hint more savory on day 2.
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Red
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2019 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion
Pessac-Léognan
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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No formal note, followed over three days. Painfully mediocre for the price, fat fruit with high levels of fake-tasting oak. Better to purchase USD$28-$35 Latour Martillac, Laroque, or Tour St Christophe if you're looking for fair-priced quality Bordeaux with modern elements.
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White
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2009 Le Clos de la Meslerie Vouvray
Chenin Blanc more
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Medium bodied, traditional demi-sec styling, good quality natural cork 1/3rd saturated after 14 years.
This is a gorgeous non-wooly Chenin Blanc. The sugar adds more to body weight and fullness than to sweetness at this stage of bottle age. It completely blankets your palate and fades slowly. Moderate acidity lifts it with fresh lemongrass and zested citrus, while the aged sugars bring darker tones of browned sliced green apple and graham cracker.
No problems drinking now, and the intensity should hold strong for a decade or more.
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Red
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2018 Château Latour-Martillac
Pessac-Léognan
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Medium+ bodied, modern styling, lower quality natural cork - likely will not live as long as the wine.
Drank over 2 days: Day 1 decanted half the bottle... coarse tannins, fresh oak, sappy fruit, some smoke, dry herbs, and tar. A bit impenetrable. It's fine - some quality shows.
Day 2: a little soft and tired, still unforgiving and monolithic until 4 hours into it some reduction appeared, and as it subsided: gorgeous. A denser 2015, with less bright crisp black/red fruit... this coats your palate with more of a berry reduction from a castiron pan. A warm compote, with cacao in its persistent finish. Excellent for the price.
Needs 24 hours open in bottle, or another 3-4 years to enter its drinking window with a brief decant.
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White
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2016 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Sec
Chenin Blanc more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, good quality natural cork 20% saturated top-down by black powdery exterior growth (not from my cellar).
Phenomenal at PnP onward. Second bottle, first was a baby - this has matured into simply one of the finest Chenin Blancs in this rich, high-acidity style I have come across in years.
Electrifying spark across your tongue: yuzu, crisp tree fruit such as green apple, cold iron or steel (like licking a barrel hoop), hints of Graham cracker (~cinnamon and light brown sugar), tropical fruit, yeast, fruit skins. Complex, alluring, balanced. May be too acidic for some, particularly if you love a fat Chardonnay.
It's exciting to see Chenin Blanc produced at this quality, and this should age well too. "Sec" but there is barely perceptible residual sugar, a must to balance the massive attack. It has aspects of cold (tree) and warm (tropical) climate fruit, I'm not sure how they did it. 2014 Clos de la Meslerie impressed me similarly but has a bit of bottle variation due, I believe, to cork and rate of oxygen seepage.
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Red
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2015 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
Red Rhone Blend more
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Medium bodied, rustic styling, high quality natural cork.
Day 1 was lighter than it was four years ago, this desperately needs air - it bulks and unfurls with 24 hours recorked... revealing spicy red fruit, anise, and petrol on the nose. Palate brings heated red berries, spice cabinet, dried hard cheese, and when you exhale it feels stiffly mentholated like hard alcohol. Last glass was best. Enjoyable but needs serious time still... 2028+?
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Red
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2005 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva
Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, natural cork was stuck but in good condition. Cork puller recommended over corkscrew.
Softens and expands after 45 minutes, showing signs of age with bricking on palate and diffused, dark fruit. Echos of coconut and vanilla. Good balance and length.
A modest pleasure if you enjoy aged wines, but drink sooner if you do not. Held up no problem over two days, so likely has time left.
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Red
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2016 Halcon Vineyards Esquisto
Yorkville Highlands
Red Rhone Blend more
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Medium bodied, blended traditional and modern styling, mid-length mid-quality natural cork. Starting to drink really well -- fruit and spice from secondaries are harmonizing. Now-2030+
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Red
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2018 Sandlands Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands
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Medium+ bodied, traditional styling, quality natural cork.
DAY 1: it's effectively rich dark chocolate and olive tapenade. Huge washes of chocolate. Time in glass never changed the tone.
DAY 2: Vacuum compressored overnight, and second night was a completely different wine: a gorgeous milky Central California Syrah but towards Rhone styling with bright saturating berries, dry garrigue, volcanic soil, baking spices, mocha powder. Hints at future game and olive development.
One thing that stands out is you are really appreciating an exceptional harvest of fruit here - not the oaking or the assemblage. This bottling can make you keenly aware why grape is royalty, and why we don't use blue or blackberries. Hedonistic and intellectual. A testament to winemaking so deft it becomes invisible.
Everything in balance, no bitterness or harsh tannins. This should drink well in both near and long term - no need to wait if you open and recork overnight. Slightly short finish today, filtered?
If you like this price and style of California Syrah seek: Halcon Alturas, Ramey's coastal Syrahs, Anthill Campbell Ranch, Sky Mt Veeder Syrah. Equis Cornas from Rhone too.
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Red
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2012 Trout Gulch Vineyards Merlot Le Trianon Regan Vineyard
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Full bodied, modern styling, high quality natural cork with no saturation.
Beginning its descent - here was probably a big fruit-forward Merlot that has grown mature in 11 years, with bricking and secondaries starting to overwhelm the fruit. Pretty linear and plummy overall. Quality, spicy oak. SCM terroir definitely shows. Drink up by 2026.
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White
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2021 Assiduous Wines Chardonnay Regan Vineyard
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Medium bodied, modern styling with traditional elements, short agglomerate cork (2-4yr lifespan).
Vibrant blend of tree and tropical fruit, generally underripe, with creamy malolactic elements. Fleshy. Youthful bitterness in long finish should wane with some cellaring but does not with air (followed 3 days). Judicious use of oak with an ethereal echo of burnt matchstick. Personally would want a little more acidic zip, but this leans more new world.
The agglomerate "drink now" cork selection is unfortunate - and odd alongside good quality wax. This is a wine that would benefit from 3-8 years in the cellar and the cork may not last that. I would open my next bottle around 2026.
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Red
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2015 Château Grand Mayne
St. Émilion Grand Cru
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Full bodied; traditional and modern styling; high quality real cork with no saturation.
It's coming back around towards it's initial (2017) dark fruited, smoky, volcanic profile that is a bit like a blend of St Emilion and Pauillac. Stewed fruit, cigar, game, red pumice, etc. Reductive on PnP, but a bit flabby and milky with 24 hours of air. In 2023 would serve with 2-4 hours air to hit sweet spot. ~92
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Red
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2015 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas La Geynale
Syrah more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling with modern elements, high quality real cork.
Needs around two full days of air to open up at all. Until then it's a tannic mess and doesn't offer any Cornas terroir. After that it's fantastic: granitic iron, conifer, purple and wild blue and black berries, anise, blood. This vintage reminds me a bit of Gilles' style of Cornas.
Wait, or give 48+ air. Drank over 5 days and days 3-5 were all solid with the 5th introducing slight black banana. One concern with long term cellaring is this gorgeous fruit may dissipate prior to its incredibly dense tannic backbone. 93-94
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Red
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2015 Château Tronquoy-Lalande
St. Estèphe
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, good quality real cork.
Smells beautiful - tobacco, red fruit, leather, antique wood. Palate is straightforward and monolithic, but obviously will gain some complexity by end of decade. Decent QPR.
Needs about 6 hours in a decanter, otherwise it's wildly astrengent/tannic and then "hot" as it transforms with air. Almost undrinkable at first.
Start drinking around 2028. 91 today, 92+ end of decade onward.
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Red
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2016 Horsepower Vineyards Syrah Sur Echalas Vineyard
Walla Walla Valley
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Full bodied, producer-unique styling, highest quality real cork.
Never have had a wine so similar to beer, first day funk like a Duchesse de Bourgogne, alongside tar, iodine, cabbage, bright Syrah fruit in the background. Second day was best - scorched bacon and skin, black olive, red mountain fruit poking through campfire and coriander. Third day yeasty dark stout beer tones dominate.
Highly recommend at this stage: in the afternoon open and decant into another bottle, recork, and then drink it the next day. Not sure it needs cellaring as much as specific management of air to your taste, secondaries are already so dominant.
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Red
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2014 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley
Corton Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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Needs a mountain of time, even open 30 hours wasn't enough to push through reduction and dumbness -- and back towards the beauty and specificity it was displaying in 2017. Try 2028 onward for decades?
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Red
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2000 Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert) Cornas Cuvée Prestige
Syrah more
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Medium bodied, traditional and modern styled, real cork in good shape. Reminds me most of Alain Voge VV in style, though a little brighter. Fleshy red cooked fruit, salty, earthy, with gamey hints. Amazingly fresh with a solid acidic core. Slowly declining now but still has plenty left for years.
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Red
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2010 Clos Saron Spring Frost
Sierra Foothills
Red Blend more
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Medium bodied, traditional styling, high quality cork holding up well. This wine represents the end of an era, and continues to drink extremely well. Rich with berries, blackest cherry, iron, granite. Good persistence and length.
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Red
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2015 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino
Sangiovese more
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Full bodied, modern styling, 2in/51mm excellent quality cork. A wine to be put away and forgotten for at least a decade (2035?) - so tannic and oaky today; on day two and three other notes peek out a little, still overpowered by tannins.
What is there is solid BdM but not worth the sticker price yet - autumn tones, dark cherry, leather, black coffee. In my experience these have higher than average in-bottle development and variation. Mid/late-2000s Vals are banging right now, sticking to those. 90-92 today, expecting 94-95 in 2030s.
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