Pop and pour. Lots of fresh melons and white fruit. Crisp, clean, & complex. I've drank 6 of these bottles so far, and this may have been the most deep. Loved the tangerine and subtle mineral tone going on. Couldn't have asked for a better wine while kicking back on the deck.

A very good showing. This is the 6th time having this wine and this was right up there with the best of them. Lots of depth, and complexity with a beautiful, airy, white floral note. Great white peach, & pear gave it some subtle tropical notes, and then there were the minerals. Razor sharp with a firmly acidic finish. The pinnacle of Sauvignon Blanc for me.

I've had a fair amount of Thunder Mountain wines over the years, but I think this was the first Cabernet Franc. It had some very traditional markers; peppers, red fruits, earth, and acid. The palate was nice and fresh - frankly, that surprised me a bit since I salvaged this bottle from WineBid (just never know...). It had some nuttiness to it, maybe a hair of oxidation, but all-in-all, I liked it a great deal.

I gave this about 3 hours of air. Upon opening (way before dinner) this was just gorgeous. Lots of pepper, roses, cranberries, & earth with a hazy red fruit thing going on on the palate. With dinner, this seemed to get a bit softer and more reserved and a bit more simplistic. The complexity and depth of the fruit seemed to subtlety retract into the shadows leaving behind a great wine, but a less profound wine. It had all the great markers; peppers, graphite, red fruit, roses, & subtle earth. The fruit seemed to get more sappy with air, too.

Decanted about 4 hours before dinner. Upon first opening, the nose was VERY closed. Luckily, the wine really opened up with air. Great things happened at the estate in 2005, and this was a great example of what awaits the patient among us. It's a ripe year, so the red fruits were really exotic and pungent. What made the wine really pop was its grip - the acidity that danced alongside the fruit and earth tones made it just hum on the palate. It'll last for quite some time, too.

Beautifully rich gold color with aromas of bananas, mango, wool, & white florals. Personally, I thought this was a bit advanced - but the 2002 vintage in Vouvray has been given me fits for a while now. The body of the wine had a bit of acid, just not what I was hoping for. Don't know if this wine has had oxidation issues in the past, but I fear this bottle might have been slightly over the hill.

In a perfect world, I would have given this wine about 3+ hours to open up. The glass that I had was wooly, funky, & obtuse. In the past, middle-aged chenins from the Loire sometimes need the time to blow off the bottle funk they have. Might have been the case here. I did find the earthy/mushroomy, white peach, almond, & white flower profile appealing...but there was this wet-foot-funk that dampened the good bits. I was really glad I got to try this.

Just a stellar bottle of wine that packed great weight and intensity with an agile, acidic character. The palate was lithe and fresh, the flavors were deep and nuanced. Wish the finish was a bit longer, but I'm nitpicking. Gorgeous wine.

Very lovely wine with beautiful red rose tones, cranberries, & tobacco. This had a really sappy palate with a density that seemed more fit for maybe 1997 or 2000. This has aged very nicely and I think it has another decade ahead of it.

I've always been a big Olga Raffault fan and this was another example of how well they age. Drank alongside a '90 Joguet, this was more rustic, more primal. The softness and approachability of the Joguet was nicely juxtaposed against the more rugged, earthy, dark Raffault. This was more of a mystery. Delicious from beginning to end.

A lovely wine that might be 3-5 years past its prime. It had a lot of tea and herbs on the palate with some cranberries and cherries. The fruit seemed really dried out, so it led me to think that it was somewhat advanced.

This bottle highlights the value of library releases. Amazing length, depth, and complexity. Such a great combination of earthy red fruits, & dried florals. This bottle shows the potential of older Chinon - while they are delicious young, they can age for quite some time, too.

Thanks to Bobby for opening this towards the end of the night without much hope of showing well. Surprise, surprise! While not a showstopper, I thought this was quite lovely. Nice tea and balsamic tones married nicely with subtle red fruit & dried rose tones. Decent acidity. It did have some nuttiness to it, too.

Delicious, but flawed (in a sense). Just didn't have the acidity you'd hope for from a top-tier 2001 Sauternes. Lots of pineapple, peach, mango, & cream. I've had this wine in the past and it was a showstopper - so I think this bottle was somehow off.

This was a really good bottle of Riesling. Beautiful nose of lychee, pear, stone, & peach. Palate was supple, rich, & deep...luckily, it had nice acidity to balance the sweetness. Lovely.