2/9/2016 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

These days, I am scared to buy new release Burgundy due to premox, but this 1991 shined brightly. I suppose there were wines that came before premox. Pop and pour, this poured a golden yellow. Great mature burg notes of lemon kurd, flint, sulphur, something that kind of reminded me of a cheese rind, in a good way. There were also some smoke notes. Although there were definite lemon notes on the nose, there was not a big acidity on the palate. It was smooth, and made me hope that pre-mox will someday be a thing of the past because I really enjoyed this 25 year-old wine and would like to buy some with the goal of aging them to this point.

2/9/2016 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

I was really excited to try this wine, more so than the 1988 Haut-Brion. However, on the day in question, the 1988 Haut-Brion came out on top. We double decanted this a few hours ahead of dinner. Unlike the Haut-Brion, this did not present any primary characteristics initially. There was bricking around the edges. The nose offered up some ash, currant, cassis, cheese rind, bell pepper, gravel mushroom, cedar, mint and pencil shavings. This is basically textbook secondary Bordeaux. The wine was very fresh and lively on the palate despite its age. It did not evolve much further over the night, but did not need to. This was a good wine from start to finish. I think that it has some time left, but it is in a very good place now.

2/9/2016 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

This wine was double decanted a few hours prior to dinner. It poured a dark ruby and did not have as much bricking as I would have expected for a wine that is 28 years old. The nose was shockingly primary. My first reaction was Luden's Cherry Cough Drops, which is strange because that is often associated with young California wines, almost in an insulting way (depending on who says it). To me, the description emphasizes how young this wine is drinking. Over the course of the evening, the cherry notes fell more into balance as some cedar, cigar, and leather notes emerged. However, given the age, the intensity of these notes was more subdued than expected. I really enjoyed this wine. Over the course of the evening it really came into balance and offered plenty of enjoyable primary and secondary characteristics. However, the wine puzzles me. Where will it go from here? Is it still young with a long life ahead of it? If so, how long? If not, why does it retain such a primary initial presentation? Those are questions for someone smarter than me. I am simply happy to sit back and enjoy.

2/9/2016 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

I first had this wine at Thanksgiving 2013 and it was an eye opener for me. We got another bottle for Christmas and I had big expectations. I was not disappointed. This wine really needed a day to slow ox or a few hours in the decanter. Unfortunately, that was not possible for us. Instead, we decanted upon arrival at the restaurant and the wine got about an hour in the decanter before pouring it. Initially the wine was shy. The only real notes that I remember initially was a red fruit profile dominated by tart cherries. For this reason, I set the glass aside and let it get a bit more air. The extra time paid huge dividends. When I came back to the wine about 45 minutes later, the red cherries had been joined by some mushroom notes along with leather, raspberry, and some Asian spices. The wine had a great mineral presence on the palate with firm but not overwhelming acidity. The tannins were also still very present. As someone at the table stated, "this is a rare occurrence when the Burg has more tannin than the Bdx." Overall a great bottle of wine that has another 5, 10, or 20 years on it.

12/24/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

Not a great year in Burgundy and was not sure what to think of this. Overall I was happy with the bottle. Some barnyard funk, subdued tart red fruits, dried flowers, spices, and mild leather. Really light and smooth on the palate. Tannins integrated. At first, it was very tart. But after two hours of slow ox, became smoother and less edgy. Not the heavy fruits of Groffier, from which I have had more wines from this vineyard, but that isn't a bad thing. Overall a good but not great wine. Don't see tons of benefit from hanging on longer. But what do I know, I am a Burgundy neophyte.

12/24/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

Good wine from a less than stellar vintage. Very happy with the way it turned out even if it did not hit the high I have come to expect from great Dunns. Opened and let slow-ox for two hours. At that point picked up notes of eucalyptus, tart cherry, menthol cedar and graphite. On the palate tannins were fully or close to fully integrated (can't say that often about Dunn), smooth, red fruit some secondary mineral notes, tea, and spices. Medium body. Enjoyable but not great.

11/23/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

I am a big fan of this wine. It is probably not a producer that many people know, but they should. The wine is 50/50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wine is produced from a solera. The current assemblage ranges from 1997-2010. Every year 30% is racked off for secondary fermentation; it is aged sur latte prior to disgorgement at which point 30% new wine is added. Zero oak, full malolactic.

Ok, enough facts. The nose is dense with lots of tart Apple and pear notes. There are also oxidative notes and bready yeasty notes. Very satisfying and great with fried chicken. I think that the Krug Grande Cuvée is a good comparison.

Great bottle that you should definitely seek out for the holidays.

11/22/2015 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

Just got these in last week and decided to open one for the sake of charity. Very bright red fruit on the nose: cherry and cranberry notes dominate. Secondary is some spices and woody notes that I associate with the stems (have to look but I believe this is 100% whole cluster). The palate is lighter, but that is what I expect from Kutch as it is a more restrained style. The acidity really jumps out and causes the mout to water, but just enough fruit hangs off of the acidity to keep things in balance. Low tannins. Great value that punches above its weight. Would easily fit in with many single vineyard wines coming out of Napa.

11/8/2015 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

Decanted for three hours then poured back into the bottle to take to dinner.

Violets, red fruit, spice on the nose. There is some meatiness, leather, and tar. But it is much lighter than I expected. Also doesn't have a prominent olive characteristic that has been prominent in some Gonon Saint Josephs that I have tasted recently. My wife mentioned bell pepper, which I noticed after her mentioning it, but definitely not prominent (or it could be the power of suggestion).

Medium body. Structured but neither acid nor tannin are overpowering. Of the two, the acidity is more prominent, but not in a bad way. The acidity really keeps it lively in your mouth. Some dark fruit - blueberry - and more tart red fruit like cranberry are the first appreciable flavors. The finish starts to drift to more classical Northern Rhone notes of meat, etc.

Overall really enjoyed this wine. I think it will put on a bit weight over the next few years. Will be curious to try this again tomorrow. I wish I had bought 6 or 12 instead of 3.

3/11/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

Very clear wine, just slight twinges of yellow and green, but very clear. Light acidity for the wine. I have not tasted many 2013 Rieslings so I am not sure if this is typical of the vintage, but it seemed a little light compared to a 2012 I had recently. The acid was definitely playing a backseat to the sweetness, which was not a bad thing, but definitely a little heavier on the palate than I had expected.

The bouquet was a nice composition of stone fruits (peaches and apricots), mango, and some honeysuckle and green apple notes. I detected a bit of petrol, but due to the age, I don’t think this at all a secondary characteristic (could it be from sulfur)?

Overall, good easy drinking wine. Nice bouquet that sucked you in with its tropical nose and delivered on the palate as well. Worked really well with a panang curry. I will definitely pick a couple more of these up to keep around the house.

3/11/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

This wine presented more color than the kabinett. It had more twinges of green as opposed to the almost clear kabinett. There was a touch of petrol on the nose. It shared lots of characteristics with the kabinett, although they were a bit punchier. I picked up some green apple, lime, minerality, and some floral notes. A nice long finish.

The wine medium-sweet. Not as large of a step-up from the kabinett as I expected. I thought it could use a little bit more acid, but that was only a minor issue. Also, although it carried the same abv as the kabinett, it seemed more pronounced.

Overall, it was a nice wine, but I think that the way they were drinking last night, I actually preferred the kabinett, which was in a really nice place.

3/11/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

This had a much darker color than the Selbach-Oster kabinett and spätlese, which preceded it. This was a deep yellow/straw/gold color.

The nose did not jump out of the glass. However, once you got in there and it hits you, it had a greater intensity and depth than the earlier wines. Fat and ripe with boytritis being evident. Pineapples, mangos, peaches, lychee on the nose. The nose envelops you in an enjoyable way that almost borders on being too much, like the way it feels to be in a flower shop and to be enveloped by all of the aromas.

One thing that was missing was the acidity that seems necessary to carry this wine forward for decades. It was a full palate but the sweetness and fruits definitely overpower the acid. It was drinking very well now, but I just wonder about whether these are the wines to lay down for the long haul.

2/11/2015 - JimmyGillingham wrote:

I decided to open this in anticipation of a get together over BBQ. I really like the fact that I can get an approximately 20 year old wine on release from Kalin for a reasonable price.

Opening the wine was a bit of an issue. I would say that the wine had worked its way 80% up the cork, which broke about 2/3 of the way down and sort of crumbled from there. Decanted the wine through a filter and poured back into the bottle. Although I was a bit worried about whether the wine was affected, those concerns drifted away as soon as I could smell the wine jumping out of the decanter.

The wine was golden yellow in color. There were no oxidized notes, which was refreshing given its age. On the nose, there were some floral notes, but butterscotch and pineapple that others have noted. Although "sweet" is more of a description of taste, I noted that the nose was sweet. However, the sweetness seemed to decrease as the wine sat in the glass.

The palate was a little bit heavier. I think that is due to the fact that I did not pick up much acid on the wine. There were some oaky notes but nothing over the top or distracting. I also picked up more minerality, stone fruits and lemon.

Overall, for the price, this is a great wine.

2/11/2015 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

Decided to go out for BBQ after work and brought this since the bbq spot was BYOB. I opened the wine at about 12:30 in anticipation of a 6:30 dinner. I did not have a chance to follow the progression at the office. But, by the time dinner rolled around, the wine's aroma was jumping out of the glass. The notes that jumped out at me most were meat, smoke, leather, and the characteristic that I most associate with these Gonon - brine and olives.

Given the big dense notes on the nose, you might expect this wine to also be big and brooding on the palate. Not so. It has a nice dose of acidity that keeps it light and vibrant as you drink it. Although the fruit is a secondary player on the nose, it comes through more in the palate, some raspberry, boysenberry and later I noted, although muted, some cranberry. Also a small herbal component was noticeable, though that was tertiary for me.

This is very good wine, especially for the price. I hope to see the 2013s go on sale soon.

8/1/2014 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

I really enjoyed this wine. The color was a little bit darker than I was expecting. I had brought it as a bottle to a BYOB and actually worried for a second whether there may have been oxidation issues. But, there were none. Just a little bit of a darker young wine.

Great nose of stone fruits. Some honeysuckle and a touch of oak. Not sure how much oak it sees. Although present, it is not distracting. On the palate you get some minerality and what I think of as salinity. The mineral notes are accompanied by citrus, stone fruits, and a touch of apple.

Really nice bottle at a good price when can find it on sale. Now, someone just needs to come up with a way to get the wax capsule off easier. I felt really bad for the waiter who fumbled with it at the table. Next time, I am definitely getting the wax off before leaving the house.

7/25/2014 - JimmyGillingham Likes this wine:

As with everyone, I was a bit apprehensive about this bottle prior to opening it. Given the vintage and white burg generally, there were concerns of oxidation. However, after backlighting the bottle, it appeared to be good to go. Luckily, there were no oxidation issues with the bottle. The wine actually came through with a great color. Golden with a slight green overlay. Almost what I imagine it would look like of you back-lit a very thin piece of granny apple skin with a bright light. Just a greenish filter.

The nose was really nice at first but faded a bit as the night went on. Citrus was the first thing that I picked up. But as it settled a bit there was more of a mineral/clay note that came through and some faded nuttiness. Maybe hazelnuts. But I am bad at those descriptors.

Palate was a little heavier. It simply didnt have the bounce of a younger wine. Not a bad thing and I think that it was fairly consistent with the age on the wine. A little bit of salinity. The one place where the wine showed its age was the mid-palate, which fell a bit flat.

Overall it was a good bottle for the price. That said, i think I was lucky to get one in such good shape and it seemed to be a bit past its prime. I think there is good wine there now but it won't get any better with more time.