| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| White - Off-dry |
2022 Weingut Hermann Ludes Riesling "Hermann"Mosel Saar Ruwer more |
4/3/2024 - Benj wrote: flawedThe second 2022 Riesling in a week that was unmanageably reduced on the nose. Persistent moderate to high unpleasant egg aroma. Did not blow off with an hour in a decanter or even overnight. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| White |
2022 Schloss Lieser Riesling KabinettMosel Saar Ruwer more |
3/28/2024 - Benj wrote: flawedExtreme eggy hydrogen sulfide aroma. Did not blow off with an hour in a decanter. Unpalatable. |
| Red |
2013 Arrowood MalbecSonoma Valley more |
3/22/2024 - Benj wrote: NRI was surprised to find this extremely open and giving tonight. Time has really helped the oak integration and opened up a lovely box of woody spices to complement and freshen up Malbec’s tendency toward inkiness. Plenty of structure here still but accessible from the pop and pour. Very good and no rush. |
| White |
2014 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried LoibenbergWachau more |
3/22/2024 - Benj wrote: NRPretty, surprisingly floral, peppery, refreshing, and very smooth. A bit lightweight, the aromatics are very nice with air but one guest found the mid-palate too quiet to be compelling. Very nice, and not hurting from its age, but not improving from it either. |
| White |
2022 Tannura Fiano Vanni Estate VineyardSanta Clara Valley more |
2/23/2024 - Benj wrote: 86 pointsA pleasant, enjoyable, but relatively uninteresting Fiano, lacking the aromatics and weight the grape can offer. 13.1%, $30. |
| Red |
2017 B. Leighton Petit Verdot Olsen Brothers VineyardYakima Valley more |
2/14/2024 - Benj wrote: NREven after 3 hours this still hadn’t fully opened up yet, so I’d give this years or many hours in a decanter. Nonetheless, excellent density, very much Petit Verdot. Big, tannic, rich, dark. Good fruit character, a bit dusty. Problem is, the perceived alcohol is much too high, making this feel somewhat bitter and disjointed, so best with rich food. 14.5% |
| White |
2022 Filomena Wine Company Vermentino Unti VineyardsCarneros more |
2/13/2024 - Benj wrote: 90 pointsAnother fine Vermentino from Sonoma County. I preferred this slightly to Unti’s own offering. Fleshy, very lightly phenolic, juicy acid, good savory backbone, quite long. Tastes barrel fermented. A bit spicy and reductive though not in any bad way. An excellent and distinctive example of what this variety can do here. 13.5%, $30. |
| White |
2021 Elvio Cogno Langhe Nascetta Anas-CettaLanghe DOC more |
2/11/2024 - Benj wrote: 90 pointsQuite an astonishing wine. 100% Nascetta (what?), nose has an aged parmesan rind / hidden tropical / creamy character. Palate is viscous and oily with phenolic grip - unexpected for a pale, savory white. On the palate there is a ton of melon and fleshy stone fruit, good acid, finishes robust, alcohol well measured. An odd and delicious wine. 13.5%, $30 |
| Red |
2022 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! Old Vine CarignaneMendocino County more |
1/29/2024 - Benj wrote: NRWe were given this blind and told “good luck”. I eventually ended up at California Grenache made in a “natural” style with heavy carbonic influence. Well. This is pretty and light and easy but also interesting and a bit perplexing and fun to think about, which describes both of the EWCY! wines I’ve now tried. It’s completely clean by the way; I don’t want to give people the wrong idea with the “natural” descriptor. |
| White |
2019 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de TablasPaso Robles Adelaida District White Rhone Blend more |
1/28/2024 - Benj wrote: 91 pointsReady to go right from the pop and pour, quite the change from two years ago. Flint and cream, beeswax and flowers, softened on the palate but not flabby. A lovely Esprit Blanc. If you like this wine vibrant and youthful, it’s ready to go, but no rush. And if you like it with age, hold hold hold. 13% |
| Red |
2017 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon The Reserve To-Kalon VineyardOakville more |
1/28/2024 - Benj wrote: 93 pointsAromatically very giving, with masses of cassis and spiced wood. Some unintegrated oak here and still somewhat tight on the palate. Lovely now with some air but better in 5 years. 14.5% |
| White - Sweet/Dessert |
2001 Château Lafaurie-PeyragueySauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more |
1/28/2024 - Benj wrote: 96 pointsFrom 375 mL. One of the most stunning bottles of Sauternes I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Tremendous aromatic intensity - oolong tea, orange peel, saffron, exactly the right level of liveliness from VA. On the palate the sweetness-acidity balance is pretty much perfect. Lots of both. This wine has plenty of stuffing but has a weightlessness and clarity to its edges that gives it an effortless grace despite its intensity of flavor. Wonderful now but should go on for decades. And yet more proof that Sauternes is the greatest deal on Earth. This was $30 for a half bottle. |
| Red |
2019 Bedrock Wine Co. Old Vine ZinfandelCalifornia more |
10/21/2023 - Benj wrote: 90 pointsAlways a winner at the price point. Remarkably complex, balanced, ageworthy stuff. Rich, fruity Zinfandel character without too much over- or under-ripe influence, and a nice savory backbone. |
| White |
2015 Peay Vineyards Chardonnay EstateSonoma Coast more |
10/3/2023 - Benj wrote: NRPeay Chardonnays can age beautifully, and this was a bottle that was well on its way there. In a slightly awkward place between the vivacity of youth and the savory, almost petrochemical depth of age, I think I opened this particular bottle a few years too early, expecting the 375 mL format to be more advanced than it was. Still, it was a delight and a study in what the best coastal Chardonnays can be. Based on this and other experiences my general sense is that these wines are best drunk at 2-4 years or >10 years of age. |
| Red |
2009 Qupé Syrah Alisos VineyardSanta Maria Valley more |
8/10/2023 - Benj wrote: flawedJust dominated by Brett at this point. |
| White |
2014 Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 VinesNagambie Lakes more |
8/28/2023 - Benj wrote: 92 pointsTahbilk’s Marsannes remain one of the best kept secrets in wine. This bottling, a step up from the already superb and ageworthy standard Marsanne, is absolutely roaring. A baby at 9 years, there is already a delightful petrol and slightly reductive character to support the lime leaf, wet honeysuckle, and pithy finish. The searing acid makes this a food wine, no question, but what a food wine it is. Light on its feet but bold enough to cut through a creamy chicken dish tonight, just starting to show a little bit of very pleasant hazelnut-almond character. Completely fresh, this has decades ahead of it. Oh, and it’s only 11% alcohol and $25. A wine lover’s dream. |
| White - Sparkling |
NV Le Brun-Servenay Champagne Grand Cru Mélodie en C Extra BrutChampagne Blend more |
8/9/2023 - Benj wrote: 92 pointsVery good indeed. Rich, sweetly yeasty nose with lots of crunchy apple and a strongly tangy vinous character. On the palate there is a surprisingly large amount of weight, intensity of character in the mid-palate, and a very long, almost salty finish, kept sharp by excellent acid. Very fine and abundant mousse. Thoroughly enjoyed by all present. Superb stuff and well priced. 3 g/L dosage, 3 years on lees, disgorged January 2022. 12%, $43. |
| Red |
2018 Domaine Beausejour ChinonCabernet Franc more |
7/12/2023 - Benj wrote: 85 pointsA pretty, deeply varietal nose, this is Loire Cab Franc to a tee. Clean and medium-lightweight, the wine is well resolved and drinking in about the right spot, but too green even for my tastes. |
| Red |
2017 K Vintners The BoyWalla Walla Valley Grenache more |
7/13/2023 - Benj wrote: NRThis has an absolutely lovely, classic Grenache nose, very perfumed and pretty. The lightness - in color and palate intensity - that others have noted is, to me, a good thing: a sign of relatively gentle extraction, which is nice to see in a grape that is too often pushed into dull heaviness. Unfortunately, there is a stark bitterness to the palate that throws the wine off-kilter. A nice wine in many ways but ultimately falling a little short. |
| Red |
2015 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza ReservaTempranillo Blend, Tempranillo more |
7/4/2023 - Benj wrote: NRExtremely tight, this took over an hour’s decant to show anything at all. When it did it was very nice, though too oaky right now. It’s an awkward time for this wine. It needs another few years to start opening up. There was a touch of Brett in this bottle, which makes me nervous about the offset of continued aging, though I do find that the LRA wines typically handle Brett with some grace. I have thus far been less impressed with the Ardanzas of the 2010s than the 2000s. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1) |
| White - Sparkling |
NV L. Aubry Fils Champagne Premier Cru BrutChampagne Blend more |
6/30/2023 - Benj wrote: 89 pointsQuite fresh, young-tasting, not a ton of time on the lees here. Very clean and approachable, moderately fine mousse, somewhat soft on the palate; not sure what the dosage is here but I would prefer it a bit tighter for the style. Not a profound bottle but a quality wine that was popular around the table tonight even with people who don’t like Champagne. $40 |
| Red |
2009 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte VineyardYorkville Highlands more |
6/9/2023 - Benj wrote: 93 pointsDouble decanted and left for two hours before dinner, this is a truly beautiful bottle of wine. Herbes de Provence and olive provide the savory-floral balance for what is still a quite dense fruit core. Riper than most subsequent vintages that I’ve had, but would still hardly qualify for being called out as particularly “ripe” in this part of the world. Instead this is a deftly crafted, impeccably balanced wine that feels at peak now but has an easy 5+ years in it if you like your Syrahs aged. A textbook example of the kind of Syrah that is the perfect pairing for lamb, this was magical with Moroccan lamb meatballs. 13.9%, bought at auction for $38. |
| White |
2018 Site Wines Roussanne Stolpman VineyardBallard Canyon more |
3/11/2023 - Benj wrote: 88 pointsVery fat and oily, strongly perfumed and a little wobbly on the palate, lacking sufficient acidity and grip to hold it together. Attractive, for sure, but not on the level of other Roussannes from this site and the central coast in general. $35. |
| Red |
2012 Virage Vineyards BourriquotNapa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more |
2/25/2023 - Benj wrote: 92 pointsI wish I had a case of this stuff. Can’t stop drinking them. Perfectly mature, at-peak, gorgeously built Cab Franc with a big slug of Merlot. Amazing perfume. Almost at the level of the Virage bottlings but more accessibly priced. These days Napa is a circus. $100+ for monolithic reds up and down the valley. And here this sits. Aged to perfection and $44. |
| White |
2014 Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les ChenevottesChardonnay more |
3/5/2023 - Benj wrote: 91 pointsVery much agreed with SHZA’s note. This is in a superb spot right now. Excellent acid-fruit-oak balance, getting savory but with plenty of life. |
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- Tasting notes: 1,562 notes on 1,520 wines
