A very austere Champagne, with a very pretty and floral nose. Quite mineral and fresh on the palate, with a slight hint of bitter almond on the end.

A good whiff of white peach. The palate has a very rich texture, but balanced with lots of acidity, and despite the fat, this still comes off as quite austere.

Perhaps a little fat in general, this still had a lot of steely acidity. On the other hand, the rich texture didn't integrate too well with everything else, so you almost experience this wine in two phases. Weird, but a very decent bottle of chardonnay nonetheless.

The nose on this was just fantastic. Light, red-fruited, and floral, but the palate had some weird chemical quality that really accentuated some brown stems. Another weird 2011, I suppose. I did really like the nose on this one though.

Another very pretty nose of red fruit, with a bit more earthy quality to it. The palate is quite austere, and really showing absolutely nothing right now except for a bit of dirt and stems.

A darker nose that's definitely more on the restrained side of things. The palate is similarly dark, with a bit of oak showing prominently right now. Wait some time for this to settle in, but not too long, as I don't think the stuffing is there for the long haul.

The third-last vintage of this wine at Giacosa. Lots of juicy red fruit on the nose and palate. Somehow this has an unbelievably approachable profile now, with the juicy fruit and very soft structure. There's a bit of overripeness to the whole thing that I find a tad off-putting. I suppose it's delicious, but it really is missing the gravitas that you want from a Giacosa.

What a beast. Big, massive, and lots of fruit. But at the same time, there's not that much I found interesting with this wine -- likely shut down now, I'd love to revisit this in a few years.

From magnum. A decidedly clean Chateauneuf-du-Pape, this was showing a whole hell of a lot of sweet purple and black fruit (plums, blackberries, you name it). A little too sweet for my tastes already, but very restrained and what I imagine is classical for CdP.

There's certainly a very meaty quality about this wine -- roast meat juices, perhaps, followed on with a bit of mint. This is quite robust on the palate, with a very strong presence, and despite the reputation of the vintage, this still comes across as quite ripe, and then pulls it off with elegance all the same. Well done.

I thought this was a stunner. Quite fragrant, with a graphite pencil note dominating. The palate was big, ripe, and powerful, and to be honest, open for business. I was pretty surprised about that, but I think there's stuffing here for another decade at least.

Quite lean, but with a nose that definitely shows a tad of cabernet franc character. This is quite soft, with some flavours of sweet black fruit, but at the same time very lithe and pretty. Showing very well now.

This was a Napa cabernet that hits all the archetypes in my mind. A boatload of black fruit is framed by some green pepper aromas. The palate is clearly ripe, but restrained and also shows a bit of a meaty character. Perhaps on the richer end of the Domini (?) that I've tried, this takes it close to the edge but never falls flat.

I still don't get why people like this stuff. The same desired effect of gluttonous self-loathing can be achieved with two-thirds of a blueberry pie topped with coconut ice cream for one-tenth the cost.

This is a bombastically huge and fruity riesling, showing a lorry full of ripe (and almost candied) peaches. A huge wine with a massively sweet presence, I find that this is lacking in acidity. Serve this on the colder side, or else you're gonna wind up with a sticky mess on your hands.

After having the 2001 a while ago, I really wanted to like this, but the best I can muster is "meh". This had a lot of candied and fresh citrus peel aromas and flavours. Very sweet, but with a texture that isn't oily or thick at all -- that actually struck me as kind of weird. A bit of marzipan on the finish, as well as a little burn from the alcohol.

The nose was one with a lot of dried dates and figs, which carried through onto the palate. On the other hand, there wasn't much else of interest. This wine seemed almost artificially sweetened; the sugar a bit disjoint from the rest of the stuff. A bit of a burn from the spirit on the finish too.

From a double magnum #baller. Holy crap, this thing is sulphured -- no doubt the format doesn't help either. Lots and lots of sulphur, but under that is a very chiseled and steely nose with some faint grapefruit notes. The palate is just as massive, with a very dense and steely character and acidity that's just razor sharp. Very difficult to approach now for just drinking (well, that's probably because of the format), this is a wine that ought to make you sit down and concentrate on it. Without a doubt Henri Boillot is making some of the most convincing affordable examples of white Burgundy on the market these days.