4/26/2024 - f95masv Likes this wine:

Lovely and surprisingly drinkable for its youth. Black cherry, leather, tobacco, and cedar. Nice tannins. A bit edgy, but will round out over time.

4/26/2024 - Alex Barbera Likes this wine:

Mit das beste, was ich bisher im Glas hatte

4/26/2024 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

This is currently (as was the 2021 previously) the house red at my club (the Foreign Correspondents' Club in HK) and it's a very quaffable wine, particularly for the price (I believe the club buys these wholesale for less than US$9).

The nose is firm pinot fruit with a clear overtone of slatey minerality. And these follow to the palate, which is quite well balanced, not as acidic as some cheaper pinots, and still with that minerality, particularly on the slightly drying and rather long finish.

Overall, as a wine on its own or for a casual meal with a pizza or other straightforward food this is a decent value choice. I'm happy to have a glass or two at the club from time to time.

4/26/2024 - HarveyManfrenjensenden Likes this wine:

A unique experience- like a dessert all by itself. Almost syrupy. Amazing nuanced flavours-so intense after all these years. Decadent.

4/26/2024 - Mike47 wrote:

- Brick color.

4/26/2024 - callmeacab22 wrote:

No notes (bottle was used for quite some time to hold cooking wine)

4/26/2024 - Mauri61 wrote:

Alcohol 14

4/26/2024 - linkin22luke Likes this wine:

Striking profile. Butter to open that fads back to smoky reduction that is matched by mushroom broth, elusive yellow fruit, and chalky slate. Beautiful wine.

4/26/2024 - johnh1001 wrote:

Now I am Convinced the prior bottles were advanced. This was beautiful and fresh blue red fruit. Plums. Tar and excellent tension.

4/26/2024 - Odedis.Wine.reviews wrote:

Ruby in color with a wide purplish rim.

Light to medium in body with high acidity.

Very dry on the palate with mild complexity.

Showing red fruits with earth, spices and coffee.

Short finish with fine grained tannins and tangy pomegranates.

An Interesting wine from the mouth of a volcano.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

87 Points.

4/21/2024 - chablis28 wrote:

My local "big group" Sunday dinner. Theme was"CA wines not from Napa". And, we got a fun range to share at BLVD Kitchen. I love Roederer Estates basic Rose and drink that often. Can't remember ever having the L'Ermitage cuvee rose but I loved it tonight. Very elegant & ethereal presentation. Like this way more than the L'Emitage Brut which always taste sort of disjointed. This rose' is more what you'd expect from Roederer. Reminds me a lot of the French version. 93+ Thanks Gary!

4/21/2024 - chablis28 wrote:

My local "big group" Sunday dinner. Theme was"CA wines not from Napa". And, we got a fun range to share at BLVD Kitchen. Interesting how palates differ. At least 2 guys from our table oohed & awed over this Sunday. While I enjoyed it more than the 2 Kistler Chards it paled in comparison to Mike Z's '14 Hanzell Chardonnay, for me. For me this was prototypical Ca Chardonnay. Well-made but a bit weighty like most Ca Chards for my palate. Its toastiness was bit more than I care for too.

4/26/2024 - Dav00 Likes this wine:

Strawberries, amaro, grapefruit pith, dried herbs. Spiced acidity and fine, gripping tannins. It’s a powerful, sophisticated and elevated wine. Great length. A beauty.

4/25/2024 - JFW Likes this wine:

Sonja was a big fan.

4/26/2024 - decaturwinedude wrote:

Opens a tad tight. Needs some air. Fresh berry, crunchy berry. Upfront Some sour cherry and forest floor. There's tad much oak that may integrate in time Good wine. Correct and rather crushable.

4/24/2024 - JFW Likes this wine:

This one was off. I mean... Not fully corked, but there was something odd about this bottle. It had that burnt grass thing I've tasted in some others (I think it was a Txakoli from Ancona's a few times). Anyhow... Kind of hard to put a finger on what wasn't quite right, but I hope remaining bottles don't suffer the same.

4/26/2024 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Bottle 1373/2046- Ultra-perfumed nose with flowers, red currant, stems and spice. Palate was sweet and deep with nutmeg coated red fruit sensation. Terrific.

4/26/2024 - Dav00 Likes this wine:

Grenache of the highest order. Powerful, yet vibrant. Length for days. Nuanced. Absolutely the complete package. Nebbiolo like tannins. Sensational drinking.

4/25/2024 - Rossodio wrote:

Quite okay, which is a shame because everything behind that oak is quite decent especially given the price. There is a flint/matchstick thing going in as mentioned by a recent taster as well. A crowd pleaser for the new world palate that wouldn't be outright shunned by old world folks like me but would not please a Burgundy purist.

I had a small glass.
Vvv

4/26/2024 - EdLark Likes this wine:

A lovely southern Rhone style light to medium bodied with flavours of summer berries. Really a nice drinking wine.

4/26/2024 - Burgnick wrote:

Bottle 1482/5080- No Leroy style at all, more Clos Vougeot. Quite dark and brooding with cardboard, cough syrup and cherry. An unresolved wine.

4/26/2024 - beatles wrote:

This is pure juice and must be one of the best buys out there. Still very primary, albeit quite relaxed and way too easy to drink. Powerful, local, spicy, rich; loved it yesterdays, feeling it today.
#P&AM

4/26/2024 - Seband Likes this wine:

Great quality/price ratio, lovely green pear notes, nice sharpness and a light sparkling finnish

4/25/2024 - Francophile1 Likes this wine:

Fifth tasting note on this wine. Approachable now. Pop n pour. High toned pomegranate and cranberry red fruit. Lovely minerality and touch of earth on the finish. I don’t see this being a long lived wine.

4/21/2024 - Dav00 wrote:

Geez I like this. Green apple skin, lime, brûléed grapefruit, classic cool climate minerality. Off dry style allows a wonderful interplay between acid & residual sugar.

It’s very good now but with patience the rewards will come.

4/21/2024 - chablis28 wrote:

My local "big group" Sunday dinner. Theme was"CA wines not from Napa". And, we got a fun range to share at BLVD Kitchen. This was another standout btl for me tonight. This lived up to the producer's reputation for old school Burgundy aspirations from Ca terroir. Calera's late founder Josh Jenson went on a dogged one-man mission to find a spot in Ca to replicate Burgundy's terroir and largely succeeded. To this day, I don't think anyone else has planted nearby vineyards to his one and only stony Mt Harland AVA. This btl showed; exemplary finesse, fruit purity & weightless elegance. Terrific. I need to add this to my buy list! 94+ Thank you Robert!

4/26/2024 - Dav00 Likes this wine:

3 hour decant prior to serving. Deep crimson colour. Smells brooding. Macerated strawberries, balsamic, faint truffles, roasted mushrooms, wet earth, moss. Tannins a little edgy at this stage. A little overbearing. Firm acidity. Length is unreal. Wow. Although everything is not quite singing together at this stage you get the feeling that because of the quality of the wine, giving this time will allow everything to come together very nicely. Will hold the other bottles for another 5+ years. Patience.

4/26/2024 - JohnREdwards Likes this wine:

Past its best, but still excellent.

4/25/2024 - mdefreitas wrote:

Perfect fill level and cork. Nice healthy red in color, with no browning on the rim. Still primary and youthful at 30 years of age. Full of red fruit and pepper. Plump and juicy. Doesn't Petite Sirah ever age?

4/26/2024 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Nose was musky exhibiting dark fruit, soy sauce, iron, spice, earth and griotte cherry. On the palate, it was broad and muscular with waves of subtle sweetness, especially compare to the 96 Richebourg on the side. It possessed a lot of power. In my humble view, 98 is not a great vintage for DRC.

4/19/2024 - Hanibal wrote:

corked

4/19/2024 - Hanibal wrote:

Good but showing advanced aging already

4/25/2024 - Fatdoi Likes this wine:

highlight of the night.... cannot fault this shiraz for it's full body, rounded mouthfeel, lingering finish and sweet peppery berry sweetness...

4/25/2024 - Fatdoi Likes this wine:

slight savoury note to an overall mid-full bodies shiraz

4/19/2024 - Hanibal wrote:

Nice fruit but lacked persistence and amplitude

4/19/2024 - Hanibal wrote:

maderized

4/26/2024 - kim@meko.ru Likes this wine:

From Magnum. Decanted 1 hour. Needs more air, but already shows opulent nose of honeycomb, sultana raisins, liquorice and autumn leaves. I liked it a lot, it wasn’t a crowd pleaser though.

12 days later I found a remainder of that Magnum stored under vacuum cork. And it was a real jewel. Developed and oxydated the wine shined at its best shape. So I changed my score point.

4/26/2024 - Moloko Likes this wine:

Fine wine. Alrhough fairly vanilla and nothing to get too charged over. Will be a better wine in a decade...

4/26/2024 - Papies wrote:

By the glass courtesy of BA en route LHR > TKY. Freshly opened bottle.
Frankly quite young and thus not a proper representation but that been said it did feel like it was made for early drinking. Ripe cherry , soft spice , rich and polished and probably sees some wood here but old. Thinking about it probably better this young while is fresh and full of energy. 87-88

4/26/2024 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:

Attractive, fragrant nose with a lovely sense of place; cool and silky palate, elegant and fresh, distinctly on the lighter side, well-defined (citrus and orchard) fruit and a nice balance; noticeable bitters on the finish, which is dry and chalky but has very good length. At La Cabane, Chassagne-Montrachet, France.

4/26/2024 - Tao wrote:

If you holding the half bottles, personally I think it is at its peak now!

4/26/2024 - Guillmallette Likes this wine:

Chalky, clear and pretty oily. A tint of citrus. Don’t drink it too cold or you will loose some subtil taste.

4/25/2024 - Bcw1989 Likes this wine:

Dark black ink color to this wine. Popped and poured. A bit tight at first but slowly the fruits began to stand out. Lots of red ripe cherries and raspberries on the tongue. Hints of chocolate and tobacco at the finish. Tannins still very present up front. This wine has many more years of cellaring if needed. Great to drink now!

4/26/2024 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Darkish red fruit, raspberries, DRC spice, iron, minerals, and inner perfume on the nose. It displayed great complexity from one pour to another, going from being ethereal to dense. Drinking amazingly well now. 95+

4/26/2024 - Isaac D wrote:

Roses, strawberries, charcuterie. Good finish. Drink now or over next 5+ years. 91+

4/26/2024 - Papies wrote:

By the glass courtesy of BA en route LHR > TKY. Freshly opened bottle.
A year to the date almost and again at 35k feet. More Syrah feel a year later, more spice and almost punchier. Good wine for the lovers of the style. 88

4/26/2024 - 100pp wrote:

Exceptional how vibrant and alive this bottle still was. Some of its original fruit and length disappeared but the difference with the 2021 tasted next to it was surprisingly small.

4/26/2024 - Papies wrote:

By the glass courtesy of BA en route LHR > TKY. Freshly opened bottle.
Soft and mild almost lacking any sense of presence . Not sure what they aimed to deliver here but this is for those looking for a very light drink. Maybe good partner for a spritz too. 85

4/26/2024 - ProfByron wrote:

Wow, gosh there is a lot of bortrytis here, and oak, and acid, and then sweetness.

It’s impressive and opulent (but not in just simple sweetness) without weight.

4/26/2024 - Kevin Mak wrote:

Colour: Pale Lemon

Nose:
Medium (+) Intensity
- Apple, Lemon, Pear, Biscuits, Bread Dough, Pastry

Palate:
Dry
High Acidity
Medium Alcohol
Medium Bodied
Creamy Mousse
Long Finish
Medium (+) Flavour Intensity
- Apple, Pear, Lemon, Biscuits, Bread Dough, Pastry, Wet Stones, Chalk

Quality:
Very good
- Intense, fresh citrus fruits and green fruits, balanced with mouth watering acidity, complemented with gentle autolytic notes and minerality, which became more expressive as the wine opened up. This wine is layered with an array of primary (fruit and minerals) and secondary (autolysis) flavours, with a strong acidic backbone. This finish is very long and decent, with notes of chalk and wet stones lingering on the palate. Would be an outstanding wine if there were more complexity from tertiary flavoirs, bit hey, as a US$50 NV English sparkling wine, it has already over-delivered by a mile.

Suitability for bottle ageing:
Suitable for bottle ageing. Although it's an inexpensive NV Sparkling wine, with such a strong acidic backbone and fruit intensity, I don't see why it can't be cellared for a few years. Of course, one might wanna enjoy it fresh, just get a few more bottles, as this wine is absolutely a bang on the buck.