5/25/2024 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine:

Extremely concentrated meyer lemon, lime, apricot, green apple. Lavender and smoke nose. Waves of apricot in a satin finish. Liquid stones. Almost like chewing on limestone. Stunning, if young, even at 12 years in the bottle. Now I’ve had the holy trio of Alsace’s most coveted dry rieslings and the Hugel Schoelhammer comes across as more concentrated and savoury and less tropical than either Trimbach Clos St Hune or Weinbach Clos St Catherine and reminds me more of Keller’s Abst Erde GG. 95+

5/25/2024 - tobyc Likes this wine:

Refined persumed bouquet, very elegant. On the palate, lean with plenty of acidity balanced by sweeter fruit and red berry notes with hints of vanilla and liquorice. Good balance and structure and length on the finish.

5/25/2024 - Oenophiliac Likes this wine:

This was our last bottle and was extraordinary. If you are lucky enough to have, drink it now with some Camenbert.

5/25/2024 - Gr8penut Likes this wine:

Received as a gift but very surprising on the finish!

5/25/2024 - Mark60 Likes this wine:

I took this to dinner last night, so just a pop n pour. It is drinking well.
The last time I had a bottle was in 2022. The extra two years have allowed the tannins to be well integrated allowing for a smooth and long finish. Drink now or hold.

5/25/2024 - David J Cooper wrote:

Dark purple/brown. Great aged Syrah perfume, dark berry, tire shop, roasted meat and coffee bean. Dry berry, meat and pepper flavours and a long dry resolved finish.

5/25/2024 - Vas19 wrote:

Great energy - what I expect from a 2014. This is lean and mineral driven, almost chablisien. Sealed with Diam 30 - I think I'll wait a decade before trying this again.

5/25/2024 - Gr8penut Does not like this wine:

My first disappointing bottle of Modus

5/25/2024 - AndrewSGHall wrote:

Really nice linearity. Apple acids faded off to creamy lime. Good balance and just a little funkiness on the finish.

5/25/2024 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine:

From 1/2 bottle. Opened for an hour. Color is deep and opaque ruby. On the nose: Plum, cassis and graphite. On the palate: Plum, cassis, graphite, earthy notes and a bit of espresso. Very young but superb. I had the pleasure of drinking a 1952 a week ago in London while out with friends. That to me was surprisingly good and put me in the mood to try this for the holiday weekend. I will let it open up while dinner is prepped. Alas it is my only bottle.

5/23/2024 - John Nezlek wrote:

Note: I use the recommended scale, so 85 represents a very good wine.

Best of the lot. Opened up over an hour or so and became a bit rounder and fuller.
Not so good on Day 2, but all that means is that you need to drink it all on Day 1. :-)

5/20/2024 - John Nezlek wrote:

Note: I use the recommended scale, so 85 represents a very good wine.

As suggested by the score, an outstanding bottle. Took just little while to open up (maybe 30 min). Pretty straightforward red burgundy profile, tannins nicely resolved. No need to wait.

5/25/2024 - CharleneK Likes this wine:

Tasted at the winery…like this flavor profile, a nice balance of fruit and spice

5/25/2024 - Arsene Wengert Likes this wine:

Sehr viel Holz, Speck. Sehr gute Länge..

5/25/2024 - finewinebuff57 wrote:

Reports on cepage vary but this seems to be Vermentino, Viognier and Fiano. Gaja quality and pricing, but this is really well done and atttractive.

5/25/2024 - PaulusLoZebra wrote:

The 2020 Aperture Soil Specific is a big, big wine, but pulls it off nicely. It is amongst the darkest and most color-extracted wines I’ve seen, 14.6% alcohol, with lots of black and blue fruit flavors. It has some cigar and leather hints, but isn’t very developed aromatically. It has a medium-soft structure, some acid, tannin and oak, and seems to be a wine, like most California Cabs, built to impress and overwhelm the senses rather than to accompany a meal. But luckily it is a very smooth wine and keeps its alcohol, oak and sweetness in balance. Not my preferred style of wine, but a pleasure to drink. At $75 it seems much too expensive to me, but it seems that such prices are typical in California.

5/25/2024 - AURUM Likes this wine:

A very good wine but not exeptionel. Had expected more from the 2009 vintage.
Poped and poured half a glas and decanted the rest for one hour+. Very closed from the beginning, black current nose. Opened up after an hour. More blueberries and blackberries, mid acidity.Tannins softened. Not very complex, but a good wine. Better with food. May develop with some more years in the celler. Will open next bottle within a year or two.

5/25/2024 - Vas19 wrote:

Balance is great, still showing on the young side. Long. Still a few years from it's peak I think, but enjoyable now.

5/25/2024 - djlevin Likes this wine:

Gosset Grand Reserve is our favorite mid-price Champage. It is a great value at a little over $50/btl. I wish it was easier to find in the U.S.

5/25/2024 - pinotbestia Likes this wine:

Pale and delicate. Floral nose with plenty of funk. On the palate it opens savoury, with red fruit, grilled meat and undergrowth. This is a cool Pinot for those into the grape. The structure is quite gentle and forward, and a couple of years might bring it to its peak.

5/19/2024 - Bigdogs Likes this wine:

Oh my. Thank you Genevieve for your insight and craftsmanship!
No decanting. 20-30 minutes of air. Paired with filet. Blue fruit. Forest floor. Pencil shaving and more. Wonderfully med-long finish. Looking forward to the other 2. Get more!

5/25/2024 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine:

From my local wine club. Color is straw. On the nose: pears, apple , white florals and grapefruit. On the palate: pear, orange and grapefruit, white florals. Nice mouthfeel with good density. Decent length. Interesting wine. Worth a try.

5/25/2024 - Michael Mackenzie Likes this wine:

Retasted from a bottle this time. Simply stunning. Classic Suduiraut nose and flavours.
BLEND
93 % Sémillon - 7 % Sauvignon Blanc
AGEING
45 % in new barrels, 55 % from barrels of one vintage, for 20 months
COMPOSITION
Alcohol Content: 13.5° - Total Acidity: 3.5 - Residual Sugar: 148 g/l
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
2011 was a year of contrasts. The mild, dry winter and spring led to very early growth of the vines. The summer in which cool, damp periods alternated with some very hot weeks mitigated this advance. Luckily a very fine month of September nonetheless enabled the grapes to ripen well.
Botrytis was present early on and we were able to start the harvest a month earlier than usual. They began September 12, to finish on October 5 with a total of 3 tries
Source: winery website
C: med deep gold, hint of amber
N: full, unctuous yet still fresh, dried apricots, citrus zest, peach, caramel notes, floral, v intriguing
T: med/heavy body, rounded, v viscous, apricots, touch of citrus zest, long finish, v ripe, apricots, finishes on a dry note in spite of the high RS.
Overall, delicious if perhaps in need of a touch of acidity to lift it and for the long haul.

5/25/2024 - ralaspech wrote:

A pretty Mosel riesling that may have benefited from more acidity imo.

5/25/2024 - VinhoVerde wrote:

Medium red. Fragrant meaty, dark cherry, and spice aromatics. Crisp cherry with a touch of acidity on the palate. Tannins resolved. Ripe fruit, but elegantly styled with a smooth silky aftertaste.
From Magnum and decanted an hour plus. An excellent red Burgundy.but I expected more power from a top Corton at its peak.

5/25/2024 - gtilley wrote:

Good spiced plum aroma and flavours, slightly floral, tasting relaxed, mature and well balanced. In a very nice place right now.

5/25/2024 - PT insurgent wrote:

Closer to vinegar than wine, or a vinegar that is 10.5% alcohol.
And this is from a taster who is sympathetic to "natural wine".

5/25/2024 - djlevin Likes this wine:

Not a Brut. A bit of residual sugar helped this age well. Not exactly nutty like aged Champagne, but still added more complexity. Medium plus acid. This was a surprise. In past experience, California sparkling doesn't age well.

5/25/2024 - Pratino wrote:

Armatic, powerful, plum tobacco. Not a lot of tar and violets.

5/25/2024 - egoya Likes this wine:

Next day and another bottle. Can only recommend drinking this wine right now! There will be no regret. For me 10 bottles left which I look forward to consuming in the near future.

5/24/2024 - whitmanlholt Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. This is a garnet red wine. On the nose, I get salt, cured white fish, ash, and a hint of wet river rocks. In the mouth, the initial attack of light red fruits (primarily raspberries and strawberries) seamlessly transitions into a mix of olives and briny water. The finish wraps the savory theme up with a bow. Overall, I found this to be balanced and pure with great funk. It’s dialed down a tad from earlier Horsepower releases, which I think shows refinement of the style. The wine evolved nicely over time and still seems on the younger side.

The Horsepower wines are not for everyone, but my suggestion is to find someone who you think will appreciate these unconventional and complex beverages, share a bottle with them over several hours, and get an honest reaction—everyone might be pleasantly surprised. 93 points.

5/25/2024 - roelof.ligtmans@gmail.com Likes this wine:

2 hour decant. Cherry fruit nose. Elegant middle-weight taste, again cherry fruit. Long finish. The decant has softened the tannins, this shows young but very drinkeable. Nice elegant Barolo. Much better than the first showing about a year and a half ago.

5/25/2024 - finewinebuff57 wrote:

Restaurant by the glass - possibly kept a little too long and slightly too warm. Certainly a less ecstatic experience than other notes. Surprisingly full colour too.

5/25/2024 - PT insurgent wrote:

See previous note.

5/25/2024 - finewinebuff57 wrote:

Like my October 23 note, these are very useful halves. Perhaps slightly younger, hence one point less.

3/8/2024 - VAGenius wrote:

PnP. Nose of blueberry, boysenberry, and oak with a hint of pine sap and maple wood. Dusty blackberry palate with pine cone, mint, and fleshy cherry. Firm tannins, oak, black cherry, cola, and a sharp rhubarb note and damp earth but the finish seems a bit dilute.

5/25/2024 - Ilmari wrote:

Fruit-bomb

5/25/2024 - rwetz30 wrote:

Pleasant

5/25/2024 - vinovoyager wrote:

Solid WA Merlot. Dark fruit and structured tannins. Great value.

5/25/2024 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine:

Medium red with a touch of mahogany color. Smoky leathery bouquet A lot of complex secondary characteristics but the fruit is beginning to fade a bit. Moderate length.

5/25/2024 - Gregboch wrote:

This was a beautiful bottle of wine on a Friday evening.
Aroma was both blackberry & Blueberry juice with some background baking spices.

Tannins have smoothed quite nicely and the mouthfeel is just short of velvet.
More Blueberry on the palate and a descent finish.

5/25/2024 - FQ Likes this wine:

Muy suave y rico y buen precio…

5/25/2024 - LW31 wrote:

This was fine but nothing special. Not poxxed just uninspiring

5/25/2024 - WestfalenGG Likes this wine:

Young and hedonistic. Probably without a sense of place, but if you just want to enjoy a powerful, well-made Bordeaux blend, this is it.

5/25/2024 - ancherrera Likes this wine:

Unmistakenly BDX.

5/25/2024 - cvst Likes this wine:

Pure and honest. Notes of dried leaves, red fruit, high minerality, wet moss, bell pepper and herbal tea. Well balanced, particularly in terms of alcohol. Not sure about further upside development but good persistence and very enjoyable.

5/25/2024 - finewinebuff57 wrote:

I had the 1996 in November 21 - that was golden, contemplative, generous and long and I gave it a 91. This felt slightly less incisive hence one point less. Nonetheless these mature Kalin wines are a real treasure trove.

5/25/2024 - eb1202 Likes this wine:

maybe a bit past it's peak but still good. Spicy, lots of red fruits, medium tannin, warm,

5/25/2024 - patrizimo Likes this wine:

A tart fruity red blend with a nice acidity and low tannins.

5/25/2024 - silton Likes this wine:

The cloudy ruby grapefruit color lets you know this is an ambitious, different sort of rose. There's more phenolic substance and less overt acidity than I was expecting from a <13% abv rose, with flavors of watermelon, strawberry, and white cherry. Excellent with food, but the flavors don't soar. I preferred this on the cold side. Good wine but not a great value, I do look forward to sampling more Yeah! I never miss an opportunity to buy Shake Ridge fruit - always a welcome site on the way to/fro Kirkwood, and in the hands of passionate winemakers, or so it seems.