4/24/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Nose is better than palate right now; nose is classic with mint, forest floor, tar, tobacco, dried cherry and roses; palate remains pretty structured and while drinkable with food it seems like the tannins could integrate further.

4/24/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Quite tasty and drinking well now; ripe plums, a hint of cassis, black cherry, violets. Well balanced with good depth and a lovely elegance. Good now and will develop well.

4/24/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Super tasty again; some reduction on the nose, but it blends in perfectly with ripe citrus and orchard flavors, floral notes and some crushed stone. Lovely stuff.

4/24/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was a lovely showing; red fruited and supremely elegant; hints of mint and orange peel, but still really quite primary with red currant, raspberry, and tart cherry. Super pure, elegant, ethereal and delicious. Not a powerful vintage of Montevertine, but its at age 10 and sailing along. Wish I had a few more.

4/24/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was really good; lemon zest and mineral notes with underlying ripe apple and pear. Fresh, delicious, great depth for the price. Hands down one of the best values in Burgundy. Wish they were easier to find.

4/22/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Whats not to like in this wine? Fresh red fruit with some citrus oils and floral notes; beautiful balance with good depth. Improved over 3 hours. Better in another 3 years, but super tasty now.

4/22/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Young, but excellent; classic Chenin earthy notes and wool, orchard fruits, honeysuckle, lifted floral notes. Super tasty and fresh.

4/20/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

This solid and plenty drinkable. Not sure it was worth the price. May improve with more time. Mousse was borderline aggressive

4/20/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Wanted to try one of these early just out of curiosity. It was way to young as anticipated, but really still pretty enjoyable. The nose was beautiful classic Barolo; red fruit, a hint of citrus, lots of tobacco and tar and earth, a bit of mint; the concentration is quite nice and the tannins while quite prominent are fairly refined and with food this is almost drinkable now. Improved over 2 hours; held half for the next day.

4/20/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Very good; shows the warmth of the vintage a bit and this is larger scaled for Lafarge, but still in balance; I think this will be better in another 5 or so years to let everything settle in a bit more.

4/18/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Now this was the stuff; after a corked '19 a few weeks ago this strutted its stuff; young yes; but full of vibrant orchard fruit, citrus oil, boatloads of crushed stone; very Perrieres and with very good concentration. Lovely stuff. Closed with natural cork which means I'll probably drink my other bottles young too...

4/18/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

First bottle from Accomasso and it was really good. The nose was open almost from the start but continued to improve over 2+ hours; beautiful red fruit, floral, anise, mint, tar, a bit of tobacco; ripe and redolent and seductive. The palate was certainly large scaled, but in a beautifully balance way that was lovely. Definitely needs food now; the tannins are mostly cloaked by the concentration of the fruit, but they are there. Wish I had another bottle to try in 5-10.

4/18/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

This was ok, not great, had some reduction that blew off fairly quickly, but had a bit of raspy drying tannins on the back. Maybe more obvious now as the fruit is fading a bit? Still enjoyable, but maybe showing some signs of the hail

4/18/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This bottle seemed a bit better than my prior; nose was fresher with lovely red fruits, still some earthy underbrush and forest floor notes developing, and some minerality. The palate remains tannic, but this bottle seemed better integrated and with food it was solid. A bit much for me on its own as the tannins definitely poked out.

4/15/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Never had this wine before and my first taste of the K Fox 2022; this was really good; super fresh and pure red berry fruit; bing cherry, red currant, cranberry type stuff with maybe a bit of tart raspberry; floral and maybe a hint of orange peel. The palate is pure and elegant with a lovely sensation of fresh red cherry with a bit of blood orange. The balance and depth are lovely. I really quite liked this. Obviously very primary and young, but so delicious and definitely will develop well.

4/15/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Another very nice showing for this wine; the nose was open almost immediately with bright red berries, blood orange, crushed stone, hint of spring floral notes. With air there was some added black tea, a hint of underbrush, but this remained primarily red fruited with a citrus peel tinge. The palate was still quite fresh and vibrant, reasonable depth for a '13 1er cru and the balance was quite nice. Still seems to have plenty of life ahead.

4/13/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Good; this was reduced on opening; decanted for 30 min with improvement in the nose; plum, forest floor, violet, a bit of sauvage. This was ok, but felt like it didn't have much more in the tank which was not my prior experience.

4/13/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was good, but still needs some time; the nose was reduced initially; decanted for 20 min and it blew off; showed classic Vosne spice, red cherry, raspberry, and violet. Palate is still a bit tight with notable tannins. Once these integrate fully this will be better. Has plenty of fruit and stuffing for at least another 5-10 so hopefully the tannins fade some by then.

4/13/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Another solid bottle of this; not really grand cru quality, but priced accordingly and still not bad for a tough vintage; the nose has some dried tobacco, forest floor, plum and dried cherry; the palate has solid depth and still good freshness. Balance is good and tannins mostly resolved. Solid, but not a great CDLR

Definitely more advanced on day 2 and borderline falling apart, so I'd drink sooner rather than later.

4/11/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

First wine from Kapcsandy; I found this quite enjoyable; the nose was lovely with red cherry and plum, tobacco, humidor, a bit of fireplace and damp earth, just a tiny hint of spice. The palate is well balanced and quite muscular for a 2011 Napa wine; still tannins underlying, but meshing well with the fruit. The complexity on the nose is lovely and its delicious with steak. Still has some upside. High quality stuff and you can definitely sense the merlot here.

4/11/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

My wife mostly drank this, but I did get to try a sip; it was solid, a bit tight and a bit burly, but seems to have potential. Hold for now.

4/7/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was good, but still too young. I thought for sure it would be in the zone now, but this was still tight with lots of brambly fruit, spice, smoke; tannins are still very present. Don't get me wrong it is very good with food, but still not in prime time.

4/7/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Auction purchase; this was really quite good; cork was only saturated about 1/4 of the way up; the nose initially had a bit of dust and earth that dominated, but with about 45 min of air this really blossomed with lovely ripe cherry and black raspberry, underbrush and just a hint of sauvage along with some baking spice and black tea. The palate was initially still a bit austere, but with air it smoothed out and became more balanced. Good concentration. This has plenty of time. Served with a lamb stew and it worked well.

4/7/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

I found this quite good; took some air and letting the temp come up a bit to really show its stuff. But once it did it was really good. A nice balance between a vinous feel and laser precision. Upside in the cellar

4/6/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

Tasty and fresh with lovely orchard fruit and minerality. A hint of sea breeze. Solid depth and good energy. This is ripe for a '21 from the Hautes Cotes but in a good way. Diam 10 closure.

4/6/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was good, though it was young and big; not closed down at all, just seemed like it needed some more time to come together; big ripe fruit with maybe even a hint of raisin though with air this got fresher and that hint faded; there was spice and forest floor alongside some floral hints; the palate was large scaled with intense fruit and spice notes; the alcohol is slightly noticeable but seems to integrate with air (or is that me being more intoxicated?); overall this was very good and I think will improve from here. Certainly not closed and with a rich meal now it is good. Will be curious to follow.

4/6/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

First time I've tasted Combettes; this was young, but certainly enjoyable. Super fresh nose with green orchard fruits and a hint of citrus with lovely mineral and floral notes underlying; with air you get a tiny hint of some spice and the fruit turns a bit more to yellow; very nice intensity on the palate with a lovely long and fresh finish. Quite tasty. Closed with natural cork.

4/6/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was good, but not as good as the Le Chaneau I had from '18; nose is a bit more subtle and while it is fresh and delicious it doesn't have the same level of concentration and intensity on the palate. That said its still quite enjoyable. Closed with diam

4/6/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

Corked; not terribly, but enough to mar the nose; disappointing as this was my first experience with this producer. I've had bad luck with Perrieres... underlying material seemed tasty. Natural cork closure.

4/4/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was very nice; I really like the '14 vintage overall. This has a lovely Gevrey nose with some dark cherry and hints of underbrush and earth. There is some violet and black tea along with a hint of spice. The palate is fresh and maybe a touch lean. There is still a fair amount of structure and acidity and this absolutely needs food. Still seemed pretty young, but a lovely Burgundy for the table.

4/4/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Wanted to try one of these early; as usual it is very good; ripe orchard fruit with a hint of oak spice and a touch of minerality. With air you get some spring floral notes. The palate has very good concentration and a lovely lifted freshness. This has a bit more energy than the '19 and is more reminiscent of the '17 to me. I expect it to continue to improve for several years at least. Good stuff and no doubt one of the best chardonnay's in Oregon.

4/1/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was another very good bottle; closed with natural cork; lovely nose with ripe orchard fruit; certainly shows the sun of the vintage; but alongside the sunny fruit is classic Puligny minerality and just a tiny hint of reduction; floral blossom notes emerge with more air. The palate is very elegant and very classic Puligny. It has very nice depth for a village wine and really lovely length. I would probably drink sooner for the ripe fruit and elegance as who knows when this will oxidize...

3/30/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Wanted to try one of these young; it was very young. Nose was nice, but a bit closed; darker fruit, mint, spice, and earth; the palate is very powerful and the tannins are a bit overwhelming. I suspect this will close down and need a bit of time. Its drinkable now with food, but needs 5+ years really. Reminiscent of the '13 to me. Will be really good, but be patient.

3/30/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was really quite nice. Never had this producer before. Very nice '17 and drinking well now. Lovely red fruit, minerality, floral, and a hint of orange peel. Good balance with lovely freshness and good depth. Not a powerful Santenots, but very nicely balanced and quite pleasant.

3/28/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

I think I under estimated this wine; it is still very dark and potent at the age of 14. The tannins were very robust and some what coarse and overwhelming the wine. I can sense some potential underlying, but this needs another decade. My only bottle so I won't get to find out. A very classic Chinon nose with blackberry and bramble fruit, green tobacco, green pepper, and violet. The pyrazines are pretty prominent.

3/28/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

This was good; not great; I've noted a little bit of oxidative notes on most of these recently; they are not pronounced on this bottle and there is plenty of ripe orchard fruit, but the slight bruised note and slight walnut hint throw it off a touch for me. Still enjoyable, but not my favorite

3/28/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Drank with simple NY strips. Very dark in color. Cork was only stained on the bottom. I decanted off the sediment as there was a fair amount. The nose was fabulous. Blueberry, blackberry, and black cherry along with camphor and eucalyptus notes; some dried violet and a touch of tobacco and damp earth. The palate was still quite intense. The balance was excellent though. Tannins are present, but not really standing in the way of anything. Long and lovely. A killer bottle of this; has years ahead of this in good storage.

3/27/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was very tasty; better than many '18s I've had; started a little tropical, but by the second glass it had freshened up and showed more minerality and the fruit was more in the orchard vein with a bit of spice and lovely floral notes. There was very nice density and concentration with a long mineral tinged finish. Closed with natural cork.

3/27/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was very good; fresh and full of minerality and salinity on the nose with yellow apple and green pear, a hint of lemon; acacia blossom and a hint of petrichor; the palate is really lovely with great energy and a lovely sense of balance. Very drinkable now, but with some upside. Closed with diam 10

3/27/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Oh man was this good. Young Yquem is just so delicious; honeysuckle, orange blossom, marmalade, quince, fresh honey. It smells incredible. The palate is rich and sweet, yet doesn't feel heavy and has lovely acidity; floats across the palate and yet hits every sensor. Wow stuff for sure.

3/27/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

So frustrating... natural cork seal; and unfortunately this was definitely starting to oxidize; the palate still had some freshness and minerality, but the nose was toasted walnut and bruised apple. I tried to push this a little further given the vintage and the quality to let it mature. White Burgundy... so good and yet so frustrating

3/25/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

This is good. The nose is quite nice with ripe strawberry and tart cherry, some spice and floral notes; clearly shows a cooler and lighter vintage compared to the '19; the palate is a little wound up still with structure seeming like it is not fully integrated. Seems to be enough fruit to make it happen. Would probably hold these for a couple years and revisit.

3/25/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This was very good; natural cork seal; pale color with a lovely nose of ripe orchard fruits, crushed rock, acacia, just a tiny hint of spice and baked lemon. Ripe on the palate, but with good underlying acidity to keep it humming along. Walks a nice balance between a taut and mineral style and the older ripe fruit and fat Meursault. Drinking well now.

3/23/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

I can't say I've ever been blown away by a Clos de Ducs at this point; I haven't had a lot, but still given the prices these days it seems like it should be pretty awesome stuff; this had a nice nose with ripe almost liqueur like berry fruits, the classic minerality of this wine, some wilted floral notes and just a hint of autumn leaves; still certainly fairly primary at 15; the palate is rich and borderline heavy with a bit of alcohol peeking out that just throws the balance off; a touch hot on the back end; if it were 1/2 a degree less it would probably be amazing, but as it is the alcohol level threw it off for me. Still enjoyable and I drank it, but I certainly wouldn't buy it again.

3/23/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Really quite nice as the last few have been. Good energy and good depth for the level. Natural cork

3/23/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Lovely stuff; closed with natural cork; there is super fresh lemon and green apple along with minerality and a hint of reduction. The palate is fresh and bright, but with ample depth of citrus and orchard fruits. Lovely village wine that should continue to develop well assuming it doesn't oxidize first...

3/23/2024 - jnewman77 wrote:

This wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't what you hope for from a Petits Monts. The nose was solid; took a bit to open, but did eventually show some nice red fruits and spice along with some floral and mineral hints. The palate was a bit tight and felt rustic with the tannins a bit dominant. Don't get me wrong it was plenty enjoyable and maybe I've just caught it at an awkward moment, but it was no where near the level of the '14 Drouhin Petits Mont I recently had. I guess that explains the price difference.... will hold for several years and see if it develops more.

3/22/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Pretty tasty; young and with a dark ruby color; nose with some black cherry and lots mineral notes; hint of earth and floral notes; the palate is quite fresh for an '18 with a juicy salinity; good depth and then the tannins become more prominent. The balance is really quite nice for the vintage; its drinkable now, but has the structure to age for many years.

3/20/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

This is excellent. Pale ruby color; nose with lovely red berry fruit, rose petal, a hint of orange peel and spice; so fresh and vibrant; very elegant and ethereal, but with great intensity of flavor. Lovely balance and some tannin does come in on the back end, but fairly minimal for nebbiolo. Excellent, very Burgundian in nature. Look forward to enjoying this and checking out the single vineyards.

3/18/2024 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Closed with diam 10; took about 45 min to open up, but showed lovely floral notes, lemon and orchard fruits; fresh and vibrant with bright acidity, but still good depth of fruit and a lovely saline finish. Will improve time.