4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Co-planted with Viognier. 1 - 3% viognier depending on fruit set. 40 - 60% whole cluster, 16 months in oak, 600 L demi puncheons which keep a ton of tension on the palate, but also gives allot of lees contacts, so builds power but also keeps tension. In an olive direction on the nose and a little reticent. And then a goodly amount of acidity to back it up. Focused, and tight right now.

4/25/2024 - sempervinum Likes this wine:

Slightly brownish rim. Great nose complec aromas. Dried fruit, red fruit, smoke. Everything gets more integrated. Still high acidity. Fresh. Do not mind. Ripe tannins. Round. Good. Franz says 10 of 10 points. I would say very good.

4/20/2024 - PIntag wrote:

14.2% abv. Recent auction purchase.
This wasn't terrible, but I think this is good example of RRV Pinot that is not aging well. VA is elevated and a little distracting, the candied fruit character is not particularly attractive, and the alcohol sticks out a bit. Opened a bottle of the 2006 Small Vines RRV right after this and the contrast between the two was stark - the Small Vines has the same RRV flavor profile, but has aged beautifully and just does everything better.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Rosehip and rosewater, tomato leaf as well. Really quite charming. Lovely, light and with lots of depth.

4/15/2024 - Floral wrote:

Off. Apple cider prominent.

4/25/2024 - VinCrush wrote:

Meh. Very average. Doesn't compare to the other Luna varietal bottlings I've had in the past.

4/25/2024 - Henman Likes this wine:

Best before 11/2014; 6,5% alcohol. Full bodied, rather dry and robust, showing vibrant hop, pine and grapefruit with a bit of malty notes and a bitter finish. This is a nice basic IPA from the austere end of the spectrum. A good quaff after the sauna.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Grapes from across the entire property. So a blend of the entire vineyard, a bird's eye view of the entire vineyard. 45% new french, 5 - 20% whole cluster. And that is wonderful smelling Pinot Noir. Pure and crisp and clean to it. And long finish, very young right now but so beautiful.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Now the 2020. And this definitely riper, but riper only in the sense of this producer. More structure, phenolic and tannic. Briney,

4/25/2024 - VinCrush Likes this wine:

Aging very well!

4/25/2024 - ArmadilloBandit Likes this wine:

Opened this at 9am and decanted until dinner. Tannins were quite grippy when the bottle was opened, but wow was this good when dinner came around. Had all the trademarks of good Barolo with notable cherry and tar. This should age well for many years to come. If you drink it now, definitely decant for 4+ hours.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Has a lovely Chardonnay smell to it, and then very vibrant with a clean line and mineral focus. Very fine wine. Maybe could use a bit more flesh, but MAyeb could flesh out further. Excuse me, this review is 2021, on of the coldest vintages they've recorded.

4/24/2024 - ArmadilloBandit wrote:

Well balanced right now; notably less oaky than a bottle consumed last year. Nice dark fruit. More of a juicy, refreshing cab which I really enjoyed.

4/25/2024 - Ingmars wrote:

Another cooking wine/cellar-defender contestant, priced on promotion at €4.49 at Maxima in Rīga. Conglomerated, medium-sized particle cork. Medium ruby, thinning at fringe. Savoury nose of not fully ripe cherry, but also minor (American, I suspect) oak. The mouth is lightish to medium bodied and broadly classically Italianesque, except when the wood shows-up and veers it to a New Wordly style just before the finish. That said, the acidity on the finish is properly Md'A. Some natural sweetness showing nicely. Overall, a good quaffing wine which takes me back to the mid-80's when I came across a public foyer tasting of basic Italian wines in a Melbourne food hall, resulting in the purchase of a couple of magnums of Citra Md'A at ten Aussie dollars per head. Fun times.

4/25/2024 - despore Likes this wine:

A: pale straw
N: fresh spring white flowers, ripe pear, lemon, saline, quince, green herbs
P: dry, high acidity, med waxy texture, 12.5% ABV, med (-) body
C: very good wine = balanced ripe green fruit/florals and acidity, med (+) intensity, med (+) concentration, med complexity, long finish, typicity! Drink now or over coming 5 years. Fresh, balanced, lively, really well done Gavi.

4/25/2024 - dino_mike Likes this wine:

Drinks well now with good complexity and medium weight spicy cherry fruit.

4/25/2024 - Realdoc1 Likes this wine:

This vintage is very good. A dependable pop and drink blend that pairs well with spicy food.

4/25/2024 - Derek Darth Taster wrote:

At home after work. Drank in Gabriel Standart.
Appearance is clear, pale intensity, yellow lemon colour. Thin legs.
Nose medium+ intensity, with aromas of green apple, tangerine, citrus lemon-lime, weathered stones minerality, light petroleum, honeysuckle, bit of burnt rubber tyre smoke and spice. Developed.
On the palate, medium-dry/medium-sweet, good bracing high acidity, low alcohol (7.5% alcohol), medium- body. Medium flavour intensity, with flavours of juicy green apple, citrus lemon-lime, weathered slate stones minerality, sweet honeysuckle, bit of smokiness and spice to the medium+ finish. Only a little of the sweet tangerines that were more obvious on the nose.
Very good quality for me. Doesn't really give me any difficult/bad vintage feel. Good supporting acidity. Was thinking to drink this sooner after reading other reviews here but no hurry at all I feel.

4/25/2024 - ACellarCat wrote:

Medium yellow with aromatic scent of lime, grapefruit and straw. I tasted lime, flint and grapefruit —which gave it that slight bitter finishing. It has that signature salinity that is expected of a Chablis.

Medium bodied at 12.5% ABV (not excessive) with medium acidity and a medium finish. It leaves a clean palate after some time. In this regard, some may find this wine light, even watery, but I think it is a sign of its refinement, where there is an “end” with a nice soft finish.

Appellation-wise. this is not Grand Cru or Premier Cru but a third tier, village-level Chablis. It is ok taste-wise and I do not want to over-state this bottle. It is not peak level Chardonnay etc. Just a nice middle-of-the-road village-level Chablis.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Wow! Great acidity, intense flor, dry fig, rice cracker, almond, such a long, persistent, ever-changing finish with nutty, dry fruit, saline notes coming waves by waves. Love it!

4/24/2024 - comlaw Likes this wine:

Decanted for 30 minutes. Complex, well balanced pinot with dark and red fruit, moderate tannins and acidity. Medium bodied with long finish. Drinking very well right now.

4/25/2024 - Tabascobill wrote:

Actually better than I expected. Good fruit. It overly complex but a nice bottle.

4/25/2024 - mark_k Likes this wine:

This is in a great place. Waxy and quite full and round despite being low in alcohol. Fruit driven, with a bit of smoke, this ticks all the right boxes for a glass of meditation Riesling. Slight hint of petrol, plenty of limey fruit - this is not one of those super stony, slate dominant Rieslings, it's more a rounded fruity style. I think it will sit at this happy level for another 5 years easy.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu wrote:

Fresh strawberry, medicinal, nutmeg and spices. Palate very much aligns with nose.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu wrote:

Lifted herbal notes, rosemary, spicy, canned sugary pineapple, dry apricot, oak, honey and marzipan. very ripe and fuller in body.

4/25/2024 - Radegast12 Does not like this wine:

Vypito u nasich jak delali slavky, trochu sladsi, ale ok

4/24/2024 - David Paris (dbp) wrote:

Drank from magnum... no formal notes taken, but this was absolutely alive and thriving. It took about an hour of air to really start to come around and reveal its fruit; at first I feared it was gone, but it actually was the opposite... just needed air. A beautiful, complete Valpolicella Superiore, with integrated, but still present structure. Look forward to exploring the next bottle in more detail, but this fit the bill exactly for what you want it to be at this age.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Red cherry, star anise, toast, juicy, dry orange peel, sweet spice, close knit tannins, structured but fine. Great flavour intensity, particularly at mid palate, with balanced oak and fruits. Persistent finish. Very well made. Need time to develop.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu wrote:

Candied fruit, rosemary, spicy. Tannins a bit coarse, punch on the face.

4/25/2024 - markjanes wrote:

similar note

4/24/2024 - Schiffy Likes this wine:

Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with notes of tobacco and spice on the finish. Balanced and drinking very well right now…will benefit from a 30 minute decant.

4/25/2024 - Radegast12 Does not like this wine:

Vypito u nasich jak delali slavky - trochu sladke, noc moc

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Medicinal, wet dirt, red plum, red currant. On the palate, complex flavors with savoury, gamy, red plum, tree bark. Juicy and delicious. Drink at its peak.

4/24/2024 - isbjoern wrote:

Lovely Chianti Classico. Bright cherry fruit, a hint balsamic, lively acidity, super elegant tannins and perfect oak integration, some spices and pepper, always juicy and mouthwatering with great energy and tension. I like it a lot. Good for drinking now, but will easily hold 5-10 years. - 91 points

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Red plum, red currant, orange peel, great intensity but not overly done. Awesomely balanced with lifted acidity and red fruit intensity. Lingering finish with a touch of oak sweetness at the end, perfectly integrated. Still quite youthful and muted especially on the palate. Need time to shine.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Wet leaves, dirt, red plum, mushroom, medicinal, black tea. Fully developed on the nose, but the fruit is still present on the palate supported with spicy and red fruits. Delicious to drink now!

4/25/2024 - rogerr Likes this wine:

Probably should have cellared this but was curious. Drank over 3 days. A bit harsh on first taste but opens up nicely after about a half hour. On day 2 it peaked with flavors in balance. Enjoyable but not highly memorable. Day 3 still holding up but dropping a bit. Will buy it again if I find it at a decent price.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Toast, sour dough, unique ‘dirt’ note from Xarel.lo, lemon juice, not as high acidity as Champagne, rounder on the palate.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu wrote:

Violet, vanilla, dark cherry, dark plum, heavily oaked, better than Toro.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Does not like this wine:

Vanilla, coconut, prune, dark fruit, mocha, too much heavily oaked, intense, typical Toro. Don’t like this type of wine.

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Red plum, raspberry, strawberry, high acidity, juicy, subtle pepper and meaty note, very good with food.

4/24/2024 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:

Pours a medium gold in the glass. Developing med + intensity aromas of honey, orange marmalade, lemon, white peach, yellow apple, quince, apricot, white fig, wet rocks, hazelnuts, toast, vanilla. In the mouth, the wine is dry, full body, med acid, high alcohol, med + palate intensity, med finish. Overall, good/very good. I feel like this wine is overdeveloped for being 5yrs old. The wine is very fleshy in the mouth, which is what I was expecting, alcohol is noticeable and stands out in front, I also wanted a bit more acid, longer finish, and expected a bit more intensity in both the nose and mouth.

I see that some compare this wine to Condrieu- there's no viognier in this wine, St. Joseph blanc is typically marsanne dominant with some roussanne, I feel like comparing the two throws expectations off from what either is or should be.

4/25/2024 - Bernt Olav wrote:

Strågul farge. Aroma med preg av gult eple, voks, sitrus og smør. Medium fyldig, bra intensitet, flott syre som gir ryggrad og friskhet. Sitter lenge. Nydelig vin som fremdeles har oppside. 92+p

4/25/2024 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Gooseberry, green apple, lemon, subtle creaminess. Very high acidity, some lovely flinty and salty lemon notes lingering.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Really rich cabernet fruit character, and on the palate as well. Just opened and certainly all the stuffing is there, just needs to ease in.

4/24/2024 - ankitmehra Likes this wine:

Perhaps an imbibed decision to open this after a bottle of Morey-Saint-Denis at dinner, but after reading about the vinification changes Château Branaire-Ducru have undergone since the 1990s, I was eager to try a bottle from that period. Enjoying many of the bottles I've tried from the 1995 vintage, it was a no-brainer when I saw this bottle for sale and that confidence was rewarded after a 30 minute decant last night. The 1995 Château Branaire-Ducru opened up wonderfully, drinking younger than anticipated and boasting a lot of power over the course of two hours. The nose medlied lots of classic Bordeaux qualities as blackcurrants, cigar box, pencil shavings and a hint of smoke all came together. The fruit was singing as the upfront was packed with blackberries and even a hint of rhubarb before the mid-palate moved into a backbone of cedar wood, licorice and a hint of earthiness. The power of this bottle was well represented in the finish as notes of crème de cassis and meatiness came across an elongated finish that boasted racy acidity.

4/24/2024 - thelostverse wrote:

Notes of lemon oil and citrus. Drinking well.

4/19/2024 - lung2297 wrote:

A relatively deep colour rose. Cherry, cranberry, earthy, high acidity.

4/25/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Has a little bit of a touch of the green bean funky thing to it. But just opened so needs to freshen up a bit and get some oxygen. And a bit of a wooly oak character on the palate as well. But I assume that oxygen will smooth and broaden that out.

4/24/2024 - thelostverse wrote:

Last of the library purchased bottles. Similar notes as prior bottles and still drinking well.