1/6/2024 - mphatic wrote:

7.5% alc. Screwcap. AP3309.
At Bargara.
Putting on a bit of colour now; into the deep gold spectrum.

Toast, citrus peel, lime, petrol, hone, and apple on the nose.

Almost a light spritz upon pouring, a feeling that is accentuated by the firm acidity upon entry to the palate. Rich for a 2008 Kabinett, and Medium bodied, with a moderate length finish with a gentle off-dry twist at the end.

Based on colour and flavour development, I’d say drink now-ish. Enjoyable aged Kabinett, without the fireworks. While it has developed, it hasn’t necessarily gained a great deal of complexity.

1/4/2024 - mphatic Likes this wine:

Screwcap.
At Bargara.

Intoxicating nose. Not overdone in any way, yet full of black fruit, deep nutty oak, a hint of iodine.

Controlled palate, almost to the point of being elegant, which is a feat for a McLaren vale Shiraz. Juicy berries, medium bodied, with drying fine tannin. It’s all front and mid palate atm.

Looked best on day 4. More red-fruited (raspberry) flavour on palate and fleshed out.

1/3/2024 - mphatic Likes this wine:

14.5% alc. Screwcap.
At Bargara.
Bright light-medium yellow, youthful.

Pear, citrus peel, Cashew, woody oak on nose. A little marzipan top note.

Powerful, ripe palate. Lots of flavour. Kept in check by balanced acid. Alcohol can be felt, mainly as a glycerol like texture but it’s not obtrusive. Medium length.

A richly flavoured wine, in its drinking window, but not falling apart any time soon.

4/25/2024 - elevwine Likes this wine:

Another one-off purchase that should have been a case. Purchased on sale in 2017. Terrific wine, particularly for second wine. Dark cherry and some blueberry fruit, BDX bite and very good aromatics including cedar, spice box, leather and tobacco. Well-balanced, though acidity started to dominate more on day 2. Very good value demonstrating why you should buy plenty of second wines in a very good vintage.

4/25/2024 - Dermck wrote:

Drank with Rib BBQ

4/24/2024 - hansende Likes this wine:

Drank with Chris & Kathleen, paired with shrimp Risotto.

4/25/2024 - enataf wrote:

Nice smell, full nose of ripe fruits. Taste is a bit bitter and short. Nice experience but not as nice as a few years ago m, is this wine past its drinking window?

4/25/2024 - jviz wrote:

Thought this was showing especially well at age 19. Nice velvety tannin, polished by age alone, some cool mint notes amid wizened blackcurrant with nice concentration and balance. Classic and composed. I thought this was good to excellent.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

No formal notes.
Redcurrant, Sous bois, delicate cola. Nutty oak. Fine grained tannin, with some masculine grip. Mellow fruited palate, a little underdone, and perhaps starting to dry out. Decent length finish.

4/25/2024 - Psdycp wrote:

Very bright cherry fruits with a touch of fresh herbs and spicy notes. Palate echoed the nose. Fruity but not forward, elegant and balanced on the medium-bodied palate. Not much structure. Made to drink young and at casual settings.

4/25/2024 - Ozsnapper Likes this wine:

Still drinking really well.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
Simple, yet engaging Burgundy. Meaty notes with crisp red cranberry fruit.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
Youthful and a little heavy on the oak relative to the fruit. Drying tannins. Blackcurrant, leafy, in need of time.

1/18/2024 - mphatic Likes this wine:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
Fragrant and classic Barolo nose. Some oak present but not overdone. Palate shows some softening of tannins, some tertiary flavours. All quite nice.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
Liquid Star anise! A little light and lacking in depth. Maybe time will help.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
No notes taken, but I enjoyed this. Not as heavily oaked as I was expecting.

4/25/2024 - KevinS wrote:

Incredibly delicious. Deep, dark red fruits with some flecks of tobacco. Tons of complexity, richness and nuance. Just stuffed with yummy. Really special stuff.

1/18/2024 - mphatic wrote:

Quick tasting at Wineology. No formal notes.
Not the greatest Grosset Polish Hill. Nothing wrong with it just lacking some zip and sparkle and depth.

4/25/2024 - KevinS wrote:

Seemed a little flabby and unfocused. Just OK on its own, better with food. While clearly Chardonnay, not so obviously Chablis. Enjoyed other bottles better -- we'll see.

4/25/2024 - deagle88 Likes this wine:

petrol. peach honey green apple lemon.
당도에서 오는 텁텁함을 끝에 적당한산미가 잡아주어서 밸런스를 잡아줌.
케잌과 곁들였으며, 페어링이 좋았음. 와인만 마시기에는 많이 마시지 못하겠다.

4/25/2024 - DavilaDC Likes this wine:

In a perfect place for me as I like my Burgs slightly younger. Still has decent acidity with fruit on the palate that has not been taken over by tertiary flavors from the aging process. Still red in the glass with only slight browning along the edges. Sounds as if this bottle has beaten the odds as compared to earlier notes.

4/25/2024 - gparker777 wrote:

light gold colour in the glass. Fresh peach lemon beeswax aromas. Some oak comes through together with the fruit falling away in the middle and good acidity pulling throughout tasting. I found a long dry savoury finish. Solid mouthfeel - enjoyed more day 1 where the oak played a more significant role.

4/19/2024 - Pinot_Geek Likes this wine:

Tasted blind

Dark-fruited, salty-stemmy, some reductive graphite notes. With airtime this opened up and mellowed out.

Liked this enough to seek it out. 17’ is a Burgundy vintage I mostly skipped for reds, but lately I find a lot of pleasure there.

4/24/2024 - Metalhorns wrote:

A lovely monastrell from the tiny Yecla region of northern Murcia. Blackberry, light smoke, dark plum and raisin play on the nose and palate with a full-bodied heft offset by a velvety mouthfeel and mild tannins. Goes down almost too easily, but its humble charisma and nicely integrated profile makes up for its gentleness and simplicity.

4/25/2024 - MICHVANZ wrote:

Cette bouteille confirme mes impressions précédentes.

4/19/2024 - Pinot_Geek Likes this wine:

Tasted blind, I guessed 17 or 15, maybe a Corton or a Chambolle Sentiers (because of the grip)

Ripe dark fruit nose, noticeably dark color.
Juicy dark-fruited backed by med stiff tannins and acid. I liked this a lot, enough to seek out.

Corton is a sweet spot for quality and price for lovers of a generous and dark-fruited Burgundy (like me). See also Mallard, Tollot-Beaut, Bouchard’s Le Corton, Jadot’s Corton Pougets.

4/25/2024 - Cyclist Likes this wine:

Have heard about this wine for years. Touted as the best domestic US Chardonnay people have ever had. An absolute treat, this lives up to the talk, even with several years of age on it now. A beautiful, French-styled white that is so effortlessly balanced, while remaining quite bold at the same time. I would be glad to have more of these in my cellar.

3/20/2024 - NickA Likes this wine:

Presented blind in a label-less Riesling bottle. Obviously not Riesling, though. Then someone promptly called it as Musar :-)

Deep orange. Subtle but funky nose. Again subtle, even a bit weak, on the palate - served too cold? A touch of rose petal, very slightly sweet, and creamier with air. I definitely liked this, but not as much as the Tondos.

4/25/2024 - Cyclist Likes this wine:

Always love tasting the interesting concoctions from Premiere Napa Valley auction. This one was particularly well balanced with the smooth and sometimes slutty fruit from the doctor being balanced by the tannin and acid from Oakville ranch. A great blend they make here. Opened up quite nicely throughout the dinner as well.

4/25/2024 - Joelene wrote:

Nice

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Restrained but screams 'quality' - a coolness and depth that would proudly situate it at the top end of the PC/ GC Burgundies a couple of tables down. Density, freshness - notes of decaying rose and dark roast coffee. Overall there's a sweet aromatic delicacy here, smooth and silky with well-judged acidity and tannin framing the fruit. Only demerit is a finish which is a touch insubstantial and abrupt.

4/25/2024 - Cyclist Likes this wine:

Olives! Olives everywhere. The most prominent nose of olive. Really quite extraordinary. Some green olives on the palate too along with a lovely dried fruit and cedar to level it out. A nice treat for a 21 year old wine. Still some great life in the bottle. Drink now.

4/25/2024 - Cyclist Likes this wine:

Probably one of the most interesting “cab-like” wines coming out of Napa valley right now. This has all the hallmarks of a great Cabernet, yet has such an interesting backbone of other components with incredible acid and tannin structure that doesn’t bite, along with fresh plums and dark fruits that come out with a good amount of air.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Really liked this producer, which offers great value in the context of quality Pinot Noir. Very Burgundian nose - cool, angular and fresh. A great sense of restraint here - the oak is subtly framing tart red fruit. A sense of saturation on the palate, smooth but cool and well-defined. Not that I know anything about Burgundy but I'd have confidently called this Premier Cru quality

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: A really compelling nose - smoke, lime marmalade, hazelnut, candied orange, toffee and coffee. Tastes at first like those orange creme Quality Street that get left at the end but otherwise it's very sharp and tight on the palate, with searing acidity leaving it quite a challenging wine to drink.

4/20/2024 - Dr S Likes this wine:

A very fine wine, but as a Wendouree it brought to mind the following lines from John Hiatt:

'He said, "Girl you're a beauty like I've never witnessed,
And I've seen the Northern Lights dance on air

But I've felt the cold that can follow the first kiss
And there's not enough heat in the fires burning there".'

This has a soft inner glow, not an Icey Blue Heart. But despite the fine lines and beautiful fruit, it never quite fires as usual for a Wendouree and particularly this inimitable blend.

A touch more faded on the rim than expected for six years, the nose shows poached strawberries, warm spices, oak dusting, dried meat hints. A study in subtlety.

The palate is all style. Filigreed tannin, medium body and medium intense red fruits. It speaks to the refinements made over the last 10-15 years that have made for better, more accessible wines without sacrificing their individuality or sense of place. For all its class, this doesn't quite possess the depth or personality of those other years (esp 2012, 2013, 2019, or from an earlier period, 1998, 2004, 2006 etc). It's a more bespoke wine than the 2003 S/Mbc tasted alongside it, but the latter etched itself into the senses with its darker, deeper, more complex character (and not least that it rose above an unforgiving hot vintage).

Mindful of comparing cool year 'apples' with hot year 'oranges', I held over 2/3s to assess the 2017 in its own right the next evening. With nearly all Wendourees, a day to breathe up usually sees the the inner strong characters emerge and muscle up (eg, see NTs for the 2015 and 2016 S/Mbcs). But not this time. The characteristic jube gum (Malbec) and acid shot remained strangely elusive, as did the iron filings and coal dust.

The Wendouree 2017s attracted mixed reviews on release, mostly ill-founded for mine. The Shiraz, Cab Malbec and three-way Shiraz/Cab/Malbec Pressings are each in their own way terrific. The Shiraz Malbec seems similar to the Shiraz Mataro from the year. As a self-confessed Wendoureephile, I enjoyed it, but the spark was missing. A perfectly good wine, albeit not A Perfectly Good Guitar.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Fresh and angular underneath the initial reduction- reminds me of a precise, mineral Chablis with greater mid-palate density. Sharp malic green apple, a beautiful oak signature and perfume which perfectly complements the fruit profile. Apple and lemon palate, bright acidity woven into the chalky structure. Very moreish and excellent at less than £25

4/25/2024 - Eudemis Likes this wine:

13% alcohol. Diam5 closure, pretty long. Pale golden colour with a luminous quality.
The nose is vivid with white flowers, yellow plum and some lanolin. Similarly balanced in the mouth with just a hint of opulence counterbalanced by vg grip and excellent acidity; there is quite a lot going on here. A model of Chalonnais Chardonnay, especially given the warm vintage.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Talcum powder, sweet vanilla, lemon, ripe Golden Delicious apples. Concentrated apple and lemon fruit on the palate - direct and delicious if not all that refined. Medium body and really powerful acidity keep this refreshing. A really good example of its style - completely distinct from Burgundy

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Potentially more interesting than the Alta Glacia but also less drinkable - toothsome and full, it's chalky and heavy on the palate. Almost claggy. Some spritz and a prominent sweet spice note that wasn't altogether welcome.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Does not like this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: The producer seems cool and I like the story but I didn't get on with the wines. Really reminiscent of recent hot-vintage Chablis which loses its sense of character, balance and place. Direct and ripe, the reductive elements don't really come off here - I just found it rather clumsy and foursquare.

4/19/2024 - Pinot_Geek Likes this wine:

Nose of baby sh*t and berries.
Ripe dark fruit, with some low-med tannic backbone and low-ish acid. This surprised me for how open and approachable it was, based on other reviews.

An easy glass of pleasure that stood out on a table of delicious wine (13 LLM Corton Renardes, 17 Faiveley Chambolle Orveaux, 12 Chezeaux Vougeot…). But it went up against its serious and structured neighbor, 15’ Dom. Trapet Chambertin, my WOTN

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: The oak is still a bit fresh and competes for space with spiced raspberry and violet. Very appealing and direct. Boisterous on the palate - assertive primary red fruit, lots of acidity and big, blocky tannins that coat the mouth. Needs to chill out.

4/25/2024 - Jonnhy99 Likes this wine:

The wine is a blend of 80% Sangiovese, 10% Ciliegiolo, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a bit of age and the fruit flavours lean towards the dry and dark side.

The wine is not a typical red fruit Sangiovese, the 10% Cab dominates the taste as time passes. It has earthy aromas of violet, licorice, red currant, black cherry, cassis and dried herbs. The flavours are similar with mineral notes and hints of basil on the medium finish.

4/25/2024 - colinscellar Likes this wine:

The colour has gone rusty but the wine is clear and bright, reminds me of old Barolo. Similar nose to Barolo with cherries, dried flowers, and a savoury umami character.

On the palate there's tart raspberry and cherry fruit, a little stalky greenness and savoury meatiness. Given time in the glass the nose started to show a bit of cola. Tannins have fully softened but there's still firm acid here.
Old bottles are always a roll of the dice but this one was definitely a win.

4/25/2024 - johnh1001 wrote:

Decanted for 2 hours. Dark fruit, chocolate, red fruit, plum, herbs and minerals. A lot going on here all with a wonderfully silky texture. Finish falls a bit short but love the flavors and texture.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: This is really good. Earthy, sweet strawberry, violet, menthol, eucalyptus - it's detailed and complex on the nose. Ripe, dry and tangy on the palate - a grown-up sourness that's very gourmand with lovely acidity. Dense without weight. Not Burgundian in character - really its own thing.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: Very pretty: sweet strawberry, pot pourri. Deep, tangy and concentrated on the palate. Smooth tannins with lots of presence. Fresh, drinkable and substantial.

4/25/2024 - johnh1001 wrote:

Drank over 3 hours. Immediately open on the nose with airy Leroy spice, red and blue fruit. Gorgeous palate with an unusual level of finesse. 1er depth but the flavors and energy make up for it. I’ve had my fair share of Leroy and this was a standout.

4/24/2024 - Joshvoulters Likes this wine:

Howard Ripley portfolio tasting: This has kicked up a gear since I last tried it and, while I'm still not a buyer at the asking price, I can see why somebody else might be. High-toned, explosively aromatic nose - sweet spice and dried flowers, strawberry fruit. Sweet and sour on the palate: extremely concentrated, dense but fresh. It's compact and youthful with enormous potential.