11/22/2014 - rklafter wrote:

Absolutely epic bottle. Everything that is kind and lithe and smart and detailed and reticulated. Basalmic and licorice and truffle and moss. Tremendous sweetness on the palate. Decanted five hours @mareanyc. Really beyond points

3/5/2014 - rklafter wrote:

: Lithe. Sinewy. Delicate. Crystalline. Cherry cinnamon nutmeg and clove. Spectacular.
Rare for a wine to elevate beyond tasty to special. Nothing like chateaunef of syrupy 100 point land.

A thoughtful wine. Best in a very long time

3/5/2014 - rklafter Likes this wine:

Tremendous wine. Fruit dripping off a steel skeleton. The terroir trumps the vintage. Anise, honey. Acacia. Chalk. Too young otoh but alive otoh. Improving thoroughout. Great bones for the future

2/21/2014 - rklafter wrote:

Great opportunity to try side by side with the regular ob
The Auction destroys it. To refer to a blast from da past...pancakes it

Zingy. Broad . Electric. Dense. Light and profound

Amazing showing in a room of heavyweights. You did good pig, you did good

#rieslingfeier

2/21/2014 - rklafter wrote:

Showing better than the g max

Umami

That is all

Savory. Splendid. Spectacular. Spicy. Serebral is that a word? Ok cerebral

96 points

2/21/2014 - rklafter wrote:

At rieslingfeier
Muted nose but coiled to spring in the future

Palate is electric

92 nose 96 palate = 94

11/10/2013 - rklafter wrote:

Outstanding place. Silky. Mature clay and bitter chocolate. Plum and anise. Complex and complete. Always delivers

2/8/2013 - rklafter wrote:

This note is for the 11 people who care. That's what I like about this. IMHO, to date, the best 2011 I have had. The structure and focus of this wine is thrilling. Mineral, smoke, ash, squash, nutmeg, peach, pear and apple peel. Tight acidity that punctures the palate and lingers laterally. Ymmv

12/5/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Mature. Dancing. Citric acidity. Molten chocolate. Ashy earth. Thrilling

11/10/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Rocks,fruit, and I traveled downtown to support lower manhattan. One restaurant at a time. Cookshop after the power came back was outstanding. Great radishes with salt and butter. Happy plate of pickles. Booming walnut pizza. Mighty duck stew.

To accompany, in the vein of drink em while you go em, another why not now wine.

This wine is very well made, with great stuffing. It was anonymous. It was light on it's feet for the stuffing. Elephant ballet so to speak. Tons of structure and balance, but I found it cloaked. It was dark chocolate and stewed tomato and tar. It was,again, well crafted but unexciting. The stewed tomato character blew off with air, but the overripe, big character remained. Tis wine could have been a California cab that the scarecrow and maybach crowd would relish. Don't get me wrong. This is clearly quality. Not interesting to me

11/10/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Extremely pure, clear, clean, delineated wine. Shiny smooth titanium coated raindrop of a wine. Anish kapoor sculpture. Perfect foil for a hurricane induced blackout.

Spice and tea. Pine and moss.

A living wine.
Perfectly open and approachable now with a succulent mouth of sweet fruit.

9/3/2012 - rklafter wrote:

IMHO. In the deep sleep
Nose is earth and cranberry but palate is the shrill thing we must be apologists for when a may back drinking friend goes ich. NR

7/14/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Stay away. While 11 years old, acting more like a snotty brooding 15 year old. Oh...chalk and limes too

6/16/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Amazing when a hunch comes together. 5 years ago this was undeniably and undrinkably too much. Too acidic, too sharp, too big. The smart mOney said this would integrate. Would chevalier with time. It actually has. Rocky topnotes, midweight body and stony pear and coffee flavors. Really everything I would hope a cellar is built for. I'm sure there is a urologist in la who will smile to hear this. It has the bones to really define profound

6/9/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Open
Cedar
Plum
Smoke
Dirt
Clean
That is all

6/5/2012 - rklafter wrote:

quiet nose now but shadows of tar and tea
palte is humming already
vibrant acidity and tremendous length and balance on the finish

too young
nose 88, palate 94. future good

4/1/2012 - rklafter wrote:

monochromatically seamless. while thisis notmy style, it does show well. harmonious and easy. resolving tannins. prolonged finish in good balance. i don't find these wines soulful, thas probably why I buy giacosa.ymmv

2/3/2012 - rklafter wrote:

In a lineup of bruisers, a thrilling quietly powerful gem
hard rock candy palate. velveteen tannins that linger exponetially.
dried flowers and sweet fruit whispers. No shouting.
A drinker described it as musigny with balls. apt

1/26/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Tremendous cut. mid weight palate with taut finish that grips and lingers. expansive nose of mint,coffee,toast and white flowers.too young but it may not live to be to be too old

1/21/2012 - rklafter wrote:

Crazy high wire balance. Perfect flash of sweet. Just enough to light up the lemongrass, coconut husk, oyster shell. Detailed focused taut

8/27/2011 - rklafter wrote:

on the leather side of barn. nicely balanced and in a good place. tannins are resolving but length is good. sweet spot now. plum herbs and smoky tones
very nice now

8/5/2011 - rklafter wrote:

Crazy focus. Slate peach turpentine walnuts. Profound balance and girth

3/27/2011 - rklafter wrote:

at festa del barolo, a 3l found a place to be drunk. great verve with brisk acidity thrusting powerful fruit
right wine for right venue

3/20/2011 - rklafter wrote:

Of the absence variety. There but not there. Weightless and dense. Clear and obtuse. Light and immense. Long and instant

12/8/2010 - rklafter wrote:

Professional level mineral. Green apple and quince with Pickering acidity and a dump truck of dirt. Snowy rocky mountains on the nose. Frigid walk down vail village.stone girders support a dense long palate. Too young but what will it become. Double rAinbow what does it mean?

10/24/2010 - rklafter wrote:

brooding adolescent. avoid for now. turns out drouhin can close down

9/9/2010 - rklafter wrote:

open for business. there is often the comparison to burgundy, and ad nauseum discussion of parallels but this is worthy of consideration as a cali pinot. On it's own merit. Tremendous balance with medium body and crunchy acidity. Citrus and blue fruits on the nose and lingering palate. Pine and spice.This disappeared quickly from the bottle. Tannins are soft and non intrusive. This is my best show of a Rhys yet. Just to keep the discussion going, I'd say premier cru heft. Morey dirt.

Chapeau, Kevin

9/9/2010 - rklafter wrote:

sublime wine. perfect balance with juicy acidity and lingering finish. At this point, aromatically less vibrant than it might become, but already beautiful. Lemon ices and peach skin. A ton of mineral on the nose and palate, but creamier mouthfeel than the chevalier. The amount of palate stain which i equate to dry extract is noteworthy

7/10/2010 - rklafter wrote:

very perfect for a hot summer day bbq
cranberry, cool mint, dusty nose
palate is the winner. soft tannins. sweet fruit. long finish

a winner and a joy. good fruit for a cool year
a step off the 2007 but yummy

7/4/2010 - rklafter wrote:

lime peel, chocolate shavings,pear,musk,geranium,peat moss and a spicy overnote like oil from a plate holding a coal oven pizza.
open for business aromatically.
The palate is the story. electric, zingy, long explosive mouth. slightly off dry. Medium thick texture. tremendous tension
the threads on Trocken wines made me pop this.

explosions worthy of he fourth of july

6/6/2010 - rklafter wrote:

playing well above it's price point, this wine was in serious need of some air when opened. a bit of a reduced mess. But a remarkable awakening with only 5 minutes of air. A lightweight color, mouthfeel wine. Soft aromas of black cherry and strawberry preserves. After around an hour, aromas of coffee grounds became prevalent. A lot of good signs here, and very enjoyable on a warm summer evening in a bistro

5/31/2010 - rklafter wrote:

this is really special wine.
toptier meausault.
smoky nutty nose that is expansive and changing
palate is dense and razor sharp
balanced and persistent

coals to newcastle, but these 2007 roulot are the real, real deal

5/31/2010 - rklafter wrote:

it's the acidity, stupid

vintage specific nervous acidity that settles into the corners of your tounge. 10 minutes after drinking it is alive and searing the deep of your mouth.
from 375, the sweet is less unctuous but more bracing balance to the zing

special. dare i say profound

5/24/2010 - rklafter wrote:

well, the question of what to drink with greek food is answered.
perfect fit
less fruit than even last year
great crystalline structure of mineral

yum plus

5/2/2010 - rklafter wrote:

splendid, splendid drink
nose of wet bluestone after a good rain at the beach house.
metaphorically speaking of course.
celery, fresh spanish almonds, fennel and the clean smell of really fresh toro.
alot of umami here. meaty,nutty, root vegetable yumminess

palate is much more balanced and taut than the hamm, imho

the key here is the buildup from midpalate to lingering finish

this has more heft in the body than most kabinett

strong thumbs up

will report back with some chinese food

4/2/2010 - rklafter wrote:

discaimer.
even when not so good, riesling and knebel is pretty great

nose of chalk and green apple. a meaty, liver/kidney pie offal-ly thing as well. some coconut, but not tropical. more like the husks of a coconut. if you know what i mean.
my problem, and it is only somewhat better on day 2, is the bulk of the midpalate. it is almost bloated. the wine does a bell curve rather than a rising parabolic pitch to finish. it is too much mid and not enough back end.
ton of extract. sweeter than i would like. halb and a halb if you will.

a bit of a surprise, given the character of 2008, which tends to suit me
still it is better than say, a bordeaux

3/26/2010 - rklafter wrote:

much better than the 2002 lafite, which wasn't so shabby
top notes of nose brought me back to a bottle of kistler circa 1995. one of the first great bottles i tried. greatness does that sometimes. brings back good memories. mineral and smoke. a bit coche-ey if i say so.
palate is lemon ice and rubberband tight tension of acidity and glycerin. finish is a grower. palate is chablis.

a great wine with good friends and a celebration

perfect

3/26/2010 - rklafter wrote:

a bottle of wine from a case celebrating my oldest kid's birthyear
a celebration of my wife's 39th
good friends who appreciated the wine on multiple levels

perfect

it is opening up.
the texture is silky, the robe is luxuriant. the nose is a beguiling mix of graphite and oak and sweet fruit.yada yada adjective adjective adjective

purchased on futures for under 100$. anyone want to buy the rest at current rates?

3/14/2010 - rklafter wrote:

very classic and good wine. excellent balance of cherries and dried moss. light bodied but succulent and persistent on the finish. Great for 50$ ok for current prices

3/13/2010 - rklafter wrote:

disappointing bottle. smoky, dusty wine with a lot of pruney notes. i don't think it was cooked, per se. more roasted flavors. palate wast tart without lush mouthfeel i enjoy in these wines.

swing and miss

2/21/2010 - rklafter wrote:

still quite alive and kicking, but not as thrilling as other bottles and vintages.
nose of musk and sandalwood and root vegetables. palate is trickily light and heavy at once. persistent but light taste of almost a celery and jicama. off sweet but succulent. The palate had a weight and subtle persistence that made me think Muscadet. really nice with Italian food and a divider. 6 people at dinner. aside from me, 2 wouldn't touch it ( 1 likes riesling and 1 pinot grigio so go figure) and 1 was fascinated by it. said it was tremendously interesting ( which it was). It is a prime example of an "alive" wine. Still with life in it, Drink with food

12/24/2009 - rklafter wrote:

first try of this
nose is cinnamon and baked apple with creme brulee crusts
palate is a bit diffuse on the front but zingy on the back
long lingering high acid finish. cotton candy palate with apricot. a tad of pepper on the back end too

front of palate makes this less than great but pretty good and very interesting
vg+

12/12/2009 - rklafter wrote:

Nose was in decline
Soy sous bois cherry
b-

palate was fresh
tasty sweet soft Pinot
tannins long gone
good density

b+

educational not profound

9/25/2009 - rklafter wrote:

vitamin-bright yellow color
musky,sweaty,melon,white peach and nectarine nose.
very alluring

palate was dense in the middle with a residual sweetness that lingers
extremely big stuffing
this could go epic when the sugar softens and the nose gets kinkier with age

9/18/2009 - rklafter wrote:

sleeping a bit
clear cherry
sous bois
correct but not uplifting

5/27/2007 - rklafter wrote:

fyi. now this bottle (my 3rd) is starting to close. the acids were much more shrill than last year x 2.
still soulful aromatics of clay and smoke but the palate has up and left

1/22/2005 - rklafter wrote:

Extremely enjoyable bottle. plum, spice, sweet palate. Shows it's pedigree but also it's price. Nice for what it was, wine for dinner.