3/23/2022 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:

Such a fresh, elegant and engaging nose of white flowers, white peach and aniseed. It is layered and silky in the mouth, caressing the gums with orchard fruit flavour. It has great drive and intensity without excessive weight and cool mintiness and citrus notes linger for a long time.

10/29/2020 - slulkin wrote:

Opened to celebrate Ethan finishing his college applications (now the waiting game). Drank with slow cooked Moroccan spiced chicken.

Decanted 90+ min (thanks rollerball) and while I don't have much experience with aged wines, this was lovely and what I had pictured/hoped for. Dark ruby in the glass to a bricking meniscus. Great nose that the only word I have to describe it would be autumnal. Like walking through a forest after most of the leaves have fallen. To my senses at least no noticeable fruit notes. The palate was round and silky smooth with spices, earth and leather notes. The finish lingered nicely, was balanced and any tannins were fully resolved.

Ethan liked it. Jill gave it a thumbs down.

6/10/2023 - CamWheeler wrote:

Samples from Bill #6: Light ruby colour. Nosy is all about the cherry and redcurrant with ashy and orange notes supporting. Sappy on the palate, good acidity and light red fruit leads it to feel fresh. I feel like this has structure but it's not one for the long term, maybe another 7-8 years would work

9/27/2012 - Seth Rosenberg wrote:

Josh Kurek's birthday bash (Corkbuzz, New York, NY): Again, tasted double blind. Off the list at Corkbuzz. Sweet and pure with almost candied fruit. Berries - strawberry and blackberry. Brambly and jammy. Very primary and pretty. Reminds Matt of Gamay (which he does not like). A touch of stems and structure in there. Nice purity. It was the end of a long night, so I didn't record my score breakdown, but I'd put it squarely in the 90-92 point range.

9/19/2022 - Julian Marshall Does not like this wine:

I was inspired to open this by Jane Anson’s very interesting report on the 2005s last week, in which she chose DdeC as the wine to open now. I followed her advice and decanted it for several hours.

Decanting was absolutely necessary - on opening, the wine was a bit disjointed with the sort of rasping, tannic finish that I’ve come to expect from 05s.

On the nose, red cherry, cigar box and redcurrants, plus some sweet spices towards the end. At first, a rush of red cherry, quite high-pitched, before some silky redcurrant and an intense third wave of blackberry and blackcurrant - so far so good - then…wham…the finish hits the back of the throat: very acidic, quite hot, a lingering sensation of cough mixture and kirsch. Not as tannic as it had been on opening, but it belied the mere 13° and ruined the whole experience.

I’m not sure what to think about this - there is a silky elegance to the fruit and until the finish, it is quite impressive, but it’s one of those glossy, high-pitched wines that lack a bass line, and as for the finish…I just hope time will sort it out. The style of the wine is anything but classic, like for me so far, the vintage itself. I can imagine the Chevalier turning into something special, but I wouldn’t put any money on it. It just reminded me yet again of how much I miss the old style.

9/22/2011 - Seth Rosenberg wrote:

Drank off the list at Thalassa. Hard to tell the appearance in the light - seemed to be medium ruby-red. Beautiful velvety nose - bright, creamy fruit: strawberry, pomegranate, iron, spice, earth. The fruit is almost candied or crystalline. Incredibly perfumed and elegant - it envelopes you like a soft cloak. Coffee and Cocoa aromas come out with time. Almost painfully pure on entry with a soft velvet mouthfeel and smooth but present tannins. Bright red fruits show along with a slightly darker element. Iron and earth, almost gamey. Sappy and pure in the fruit in the middle, which melds into iron on the finish. The first sip in each glass out of the bottle showed amazing sap, acid and persistence - a clarity rare in wine. Later sips were also great, but lost that perfect balance - the wine seemed to be open just right for a bit, and then closed down just a touch. So elegant, but with the weight of an 05. Pure crystalline fruit on the finish. This wine still needs time - you can feel that there is some stuff still wound up and in reserve. In 10 years when this is mature, it will be frighteningly good. This was on the list for under retail, but sadly I drank the last one. Nose - 6/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 2/2 = 18/20 = 96/100.

2/1/2018 - Seth Rosenberg wrote:

young. Lots of oak. Sweet. Needs decades. Some spices and red minerality. Clearly a lot of potential.

2/6/2021 - SimonG wrote:

Bright mid ruby. Starts off quite densely silky and very Gevrey with a good core of bright red fruit and a nicely earthy edge. Acidity becomes more noticeable after an hour, and it lightens and tightens somewhat before relaxing after three hours and becoming darker fruited and fleshier of texture. This has lost the easy going 07 upfront fruit and is becoming more serious. I did wonder whether the acidity was taking over mid bottle, but it pulled through and rounded nicely. ****

10/2/2021 - Jcwl wrote:

Classic nebbiolo colour with some browning on the edges revealing it’s age. To me telltale smells of tar, mahogany, roses, mint and light berries. However, a really feminine and elegant wine with an impressive structure and tannin bite. Burgundy in Piedmont. Completely fresh and with plenty of mileage ahead.

11/26/2021 - Lype Likes this wine:

Powerful dark toned nose with cassis scents. The palate is rich and full, ripe fruit is at the forefront but no cooked vintage 2003 feel whatsoever. Predominant cassis supplemented by spicy fragrancy, rosy flauvors, pipe tobacco, leather and more. I like the way the palate is rich with fruit but the sour tones are a bit of a let down in the otherwise attractive package, could be a bottle thing, though. Tannins are still there but there is enough fruit and acidity to make this pleasant. Not the most sophisticated presentation but enjoyable in a way which exceeds the vintage by miles.

4/17/2021 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:

Ninth bottle from a full case purchased in 2005. Pristine, perfect level, perfect cork. Decanted for two hours. I don't decant as often as I used to, but this felt a bit thin on opening and I thought it might flesh out a bit with some oxygen. It didn't. Aromatically it is perfectly alright on the nose, but on the palate and on the finish it remains thin and a bit raw. It's not TCA (not even low-level I would have thought), but the lack of generosity is quite marked and inconsistent with previous notes. I will put it down to the bottle variation which cbuhlman recently noted too. Not rated.

11/23/2021 - winecoffee wrote:

Great nose of rose petals and blackberry. Classic palate of leather, mud, earth, and mushrooms. Very well balanced.

Needed to decant for an hour.

8/2/2021 - jshufelt wrote:

Pop and pour. In the glass, a slight auburn tint at the rim, but for the most part, the deep maroon-red looks like a much younger wine. On the nose, a burst of funk, followed in short order by forest floor, currants, and lead. On the palate, very smooth and soft, with cassis, cherries, graphite, and a bit of bacon fat. None of the "dustiness" I usually associate with tempranillo, and no meaningful tannins - if you haven't opened one yet, it's time.

2/20/2022 - Twowinechicks Likes this wine:

Hearty and fresh, medium-bodied and rustic, brambly red fruit. Definitely more robust than the La Vitoriana ‘16 and perhaps a better accompaniment to the lamb stew our friends made!

8/23/2019 - drwine2001 wrote:

Clear red center. Mature Burgundy nose-some underbrush, red berry, smoke, earth, and just a bit of menthol. Completely calm, poised, elegant medium weight. Enough gorgeous strawberry fruit at age 26 to make you swoon, complemented by orange peel and tobacco. Perfectly weighted acidity and very little remaining tannin. If you wanted to quibble, you could say that this lacks the sap and grandeur of Rousseau, but my goodness, this bottle brought the unbridled joy of subtle, fully expressed red Burgundy. I am so glad we opened and experienced it tonight.

1/8/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Nose of caramel, tart - this has dried out a bit from my last good bottle, ginger, apple/pear. Some brioche/creme elements. The palate is pretty but drying out with caramel and brioche and pear, apple and some peach? Dry and tart with apple and some citrus peel on the finish. Either this wine is on the way down or not this was not a perfect bottle. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je ne sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 16/20.

1/3/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Inglorious Batards (Noreetuh restaurant, Manhattan, NY): Jesus fucking christ, this is 24 years old??? It's dark and impenetrable. Super wound with dark fruit, earth, tar, smoke. It is clearly classic N Rhone. Will need like 20 more years to come around. Thanks Zak.

1/3/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Inglorious Batards (Noreetuh restaurant, Manhattan, NY): Tart cherry, super medicinal, dirt, black fruits, more dirt. Super tart on the palate and medicinal, tart, dirt, sour cherry, very smokey and earthy as well. I'm not a fan of the dirty old Red Burgs that are thin and just taste like dirt, but this wasn't one of those, at least to me. Matt went with dirty pool water and that was it for him, But Zak, Jay and i all found it to be more than that. Yes, this is old and tertiary, but there was an umami and some flesh and perfume we found compelling. Definitely AFWE at this point and we loved it for that. Drink up. Thanks Jay! Probably 15.5-16/20.

1/3/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Inglorious Batards (Noreetuh restaurant, Manhattan, NY): The first of 6 from my dad's cellar. This was the best showing for this wine I've seen by far, and it was no slouch before. Classic nose of cool mint, lemon, a bit of sugar, green and bright and cut. Great on the palate and cool again - menthol, excellent cut and drive, herbal, complex. This kept getting better and better and was probably my WOTN. Nose - 6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18.5/20.

1/3/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Inglorious Batards (Noreetuh restaurant, Manhattan, NY): Tasted double blind. This is clearly older Riesling from the Mosel. Nose is sweet with sugar, lime, stones, rock candy. Palate is sweet/sour with lime, good acid, light and airy, delicate. Great cut and light finish. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 15.5-16/20.

I guessed 1990 with the acid and decent fruit but then told that these were 1988s which clearly made more sense. We were told that the 2 blinds were from the same year and same producer and I ended up guess Egon Muller and WBK Spatleses, with this being the Scharhofberger, based on some feeling of Saar, something musky. When told they were Loosen I immediately knew this was UW and thought the other to be EP. I think I was the only one at the table who liked this better than the EP - to be it had more grace, even though it was a lighter wine. Although the other wine was bigger and had more power and acid, it lacked the poise, finesse and complexity of the UW. Thanks Matt!

1/3/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Inglorious Batards (Noreetuh restaurant, Manhattan, NY): Tasted double blind along side another wine. This is wine #2. Clearly older Mosel Riesling. Bigger than #1, sweet. Heavier and a bit more bronze. Some citrus and minerals. Deeper with good acid, sugar, rock candy, spices. Good acid on the finish. Nose - 4.5/6, Palate - 4.5-5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 15-15.5/20.

Clearly this was older Riesling from the Mosel. I guessed 1990 with the acid and decent fruit but then told that these were 1988s which clearly made more sense. We were told that the 2 blinds were from the same year and same producer and I ended up guess Egon Muller and WBK Spatleses, with this being the WBK, based on some feeling of Saar, something musky. When told they were Loosen I immediately thought #1 was UW, and this was EP. I think I was the only one at the table who liked #1 (UW) better than this one. Although this wine was bigger and had more power and acid, it lacked the poise, finesse and complexity of the UW.

5/19/2019 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Medium yellow-gold. Salty and nutty, some darker notes including some oak, shells, a bit of butterscotch. The palate is saline and some golden notes, a touch of citrus, lots of minerality and some shells but w some maturity and the vintage to round it out. The oak is pretty well integrated now and gives the wine some weight and maybe a touch of creamy feel. Nice salty finish. This is good to go and drink over the next 5 years. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5-5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16-17.5/20.

5/19/2019 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Some petrol on the nose - also peach/apricot, spice and a sharp/bitter flavor like stone-fruit pit. Big and sharp on the palate with serious acid and some citrus, very bitter and young. Finish is serious with excellent and big crisp acid. Matt thought this was awkward, but I disagree. Definitely needs 10 years at least. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finish - 4.5+/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 15.5-16.5+/20 (with 16-17/20 potential)

5/22/2019 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Dad gave me a bottle after I expressed and interest in Alto Piemonte. OK, I really dig this. It took a little time (15-20 min) for the nose to open up, but now it's great. Gentle perfume of dark cherries, blackberries, wonderful spice and dried flowers (violets? roses? not sure). Also a little hint of tar and sometimes a little citrus or citrus peel. Sitting in the glass undisturbed for a while built up a wonderful melange of sweet red-dark fruits, spice and florals. A later pour that is a little cooler from the fridge gives a significant savory element - herbs and meat along with citrus and spice. The palate is quite silky with the dark cherries, spice, tar, significant bitterness around smooth tannins. For a while the finish dropped off and got a little slippery and funky, but that went away after about and hour or so. Right in my wheelhouse. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5-5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 15.5-16.5/20.

4/25/2018 - mzimberg Likes this wine:

Pale golden. Nice viscosity. Tropical yet not over ripe aromas of guava, peach pit, mango and some wet stone. Dense texture, with very pure litchi balanced by lemon acids. Zippy finish. This is really nicely done.

5/29/2016 - zding Likes this wine:

Grassland under the sun. Gorgeous.

9/19/2016 - Motz wrote:

From a half. Typical and expressive bouquet of blackcurrant, peppers, and gravel, though the scorched earth element common to Pessac-Leognan was absent. Generous, bordering on luxurious, and showing a highly appealing texture. Medium plus acid, medium tannins, superb balance, focused, precise. This bottle could have easily aged another 15 years. In a word, pure. 93-94.

1/21/2017 - whits Likes this wine:

has a pristine, ruby appearance, scents of mountain flowers, red berries and red licorice, very enjoyable in it's youthful and fresh state, wild strawberries, cherries, cinnamon and mineral flavors, clean fruit, medium bodied, perfectly balanced acid, beautifully feminine, every sip is invigorating rather than tiring, a well-made, fine wine, will continue to cellar well, but drinking well now, this claret is kind to your mouth

5/22/2016 - Trent Walker Likes this wine:

(From Marcus as a gift to the dinner party-provenance unknown). I have a hard time with this wine. It has the promise of a good california cab but sometimes with these california wines they go through an extended dumb/simple phase which really makes the wine difficult to evaluate. I personally wouldn't touch another bottle for 5 years and wait for this to hopefully transform itself into what the late 70's diamond creeks became.

10/22/2014 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine:

Very young and rather tightly wound, though a six hour decant proved very effective in getting this to show it's stuff. Pretty well closed aromatics. Medium plus spice on the palate over a dense core of dark red fruit with a hint of green freshness. Finishes well with good length and intensity. This was very fun to watch as it started to open after a lengthy decant. Preferred this to its '05 counterpart and look forward to tasting again 10 - 15 years on.

9/29/2014 - coremill wrote:

Highway to the D'Anger(ville) Zone (L'Apicio): Noticeably darker, richer color than the other Angervilles in this flight. Perfecly ripe nose of red cherries and dark berries. Incredibly dense and concentrated but still elegant and streamlined, there is a ton of structured tannin here but the tannins are ripe and refined, with a touch of stoniness on the back end. This is awesome with food, which cuts the structure and allows the fruit to shine through. Amazingly long finish. Surprisingly drinkable now with food, but this is so concentrated and structured that it will easily last decades. Magnificent.

2/28/2015 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

La Paulée de New York Grand Tasting (Metropolitan Pavilion - New York NY): Bright and burly - lemon, candied fruit, nutty and salty. Powerful and delicious on the palate - salty and nutty, lemon, some oak. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.

2/28/2015 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

La Paulée de New York Grand Tasting (Metropolitan Pavilion - New York NY): This was a real surprise for me. The nose is stony with good raspberry fruit, coffee. Delicious on the palate - great fruit, minerals and coffee. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 16/20.

7/1/2014 - salil wrote:

Gonons and Rougeards (Riverpark, NYC): Absolutely stunning wine, my favourite of the night. The fruit's not as forward or intense as in the '03, it's more restrained here and framed by layers of leathery, earthy, smoky and high toned herbal and forestal notes. The balance is impeccable - there's bright acidity beneath keeping it very fresh and lively, and a spine of very fine grained tannin that gives this a really polished, graceful mouthfeel. Outstanding.

4/30/2015 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

Greet Adira and small BYO at our place, round 2 (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NYC): Fresh and bright on the nose. Subtle but perfumey. Aromas of strawberry, smoke, spice, red flowers. Bright on the palate - red berry fruit, great snap. Berry and earth finish. This is delicious, it manages to have a great deal of sweet fruit, but still comes off very serious. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.

10/27/2014 - cooberp wrote:

Served blind from magnum at a Produttori dinner and stole the show. Best Italian wine I've ever had, by some distance. Translucent maroon. Intense, complex, shapeshifting nose of black cherry/plum fruit so fresh it could have been bottled yesterday; spearmint gum; bitter Amaro liqueur; leather; and flitting, highly unexpected scents of honey and horseradish. (Yes, really.) In the mouth it's merely middleweight yet extraordinarily dense, depositing one layer of flavor after another like waves lapping ashore, with just the right sour touch and a truly remarkable tannic character--the structure binds the taste to the sides of the mouth long after swallowing without drying the tongue in the slightest. In the early stages of what I imagine will be a 20+ year peak drinking plateau. A revelation.

9/29/2014 - coremill wrote:

Highway to the D'Anger(ville) Zone (L'Apicio): Super ripe and creamy for Burgundy, with a hint of whole cluster spice, perhaps just a touch overripe/bitter. It's still airy and quite Volnay despite being very concentrated with rather slick extract, as the acid is excellent and the finish is long. Very good but it's a touch 09/New Worldy for my taste. I actually prefer the 2007 version of this wine I've had on a couple of other occasions.

5/11/2014 - Chomsky wrote:

I think this is the 1985 vintage. There is no vintage designation on the label, but the label on the back notes that the wine was released in January 1987, so I extrapolated. Anyway, this old wine was a singleton in the suburban Seattle cellar of the parents of a dear old friend of mine, who found it when clearing out her parents' house and lugged it all the way to Brooklyn to share with me. The wine is almost 30 years old and the winery itself is in Idaho, so I was like WTF, how good could this be? (It also retained its original price tag sticker: $6.99.) Turns out the fruit is from Washington, near the Columbia river, the realization of which augured a possibly better outcome than I had cautioned my friend might reasonably be expected.

The wine is fantastic! Super vigorous and fresh with no signs of browning, with just a few minutes in the glass it shows classic New World Cabernet scents of plummy fruit, herbaceous, peppery notes, and a hint of soy sauce. On the palate it's got great depth of flavor, with very young seeming sweet fruit. The finish is a bit short but that's a minor quibble. The wine is flat out delicious and far exceeded my expectations. Bravo!

10/24/2014 - Chomsky wrote:

What a huge disappointment. I love Bea's wines and was very eager to drink this, but it's so god-darned ripe it's like the Zinfandel of Umbria. The nose is ripe and spirity -- hot, really -- and in drinking it shows every degree of its 15% alcohol. Irredeemable.

3/18/2015 - Matt Neel Likes this wine:

Wineberserkers Eat Duck in Midtown (Peking Duck House (Midtown), NYC): Pale ruby. Freaking textbook nose: roses and iron, delicate and enchantingly perfumed, a jewel caught in a web of precious minerals; gushing with friendly red berry fruit and in no way overripe. Totally primary, of course, but wowza it's gorgeous. The palate is perfection: perfect balance, pure and bright; cherry and a touch of confection. Very long, indeed, but far more delicate than I anticipated though exceptionally persistent. This is a great wine, a Volnay exactly calculated for a palate like mine (which loves it some Volnay, lord knows...). This thing is going to bloom into a ravishing belle with time in the cellar.

2/22/2015 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:

PnP. The nose has sweet, almost candied fruit - plummy, macerated strawberries and sweet black cherry, a creamy marzipan note, spices - baking spices and fruitcake, and a pretty herbal component with alpine herbs. At times shows just a hint of raisins, but this is not hot or overripe on the nose, maybe just a touch of heat. The nose is so perfumed that I would probably guess Red Burg, but it's not quite right - it's like a Red Burg from a nearby dimension. The palate is very silky with fine tannins and deep and sweet red and blue fruits. The acid is good and it shows some herbal qualities and some stony minerality on the midpalate. The finish shows the sweet candied fruit, the herbs and creamy marzipan and ends with the fine tannins. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5-5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16.5-17.5/20.

11/1/2010 - Seth Rosenberg wrote:

Dinner with Matt, Mark, and Nils (Apiary Restaurant, New York, NY): Great nose - very sweet and full. Spicy and taught. Tangerine and persimmon. Palate is full, but it is missing the sweetness to be in balance w the acidity. Same flavors very complex but probably a few years over the hill. Feels a little tired on the palate, like something is missing. Vintage after vintage, this is one of my favorite wines, and I never found one over the hill, until this one - I guess my streak couldn't last for ever. A disappointment: not the first of the night, and not the last. Well better to get them all out of the way in one tasting. Nose: 5/6, Palate: 3/6, Finish: 3/6, Je ne sais quoi (wild card): 0/2 = 11/20 = 82/100

1/16/2013 - Matt Neel wrote:

Straw. Deep, earthy, primary, classic young Riesling nose. On the palate: wow! with acidity, such that it recalled the 2010 vintage, at least compared to the other 2011s we've seen tonight. Absolutely stellar precision on the palate; grapefruit, minerals. A very long finish, though lacking just a touch of fruit intensity there. In a way, I think this wine is showing, in this company, as a better wine than it actually is. Nevertheless, it is excellent. (Third flight, #1/3WOTF, just barely edging out #2)