8/28/2023 - tourproto Likes this wine:

I can't believe I am the first one to comment on this wine :) Makes me wonder if I am drinking it too soon! That said, this Pinot was wonderful from the moment I opened it up. Wonderful nose, velvety mouthfeel, and medium finish. It really didn't need to breathe at all IMHO. On the 2nd night it got a bit better, but it was already so good to start with. Glad I have a lot more bottles of this. Kalita is probably my fave Pinot from Et Fille.

1/1/2024 - tourproto Likes this wine:

Been looking for a Cab to replace Caymus in my cellar, and I think this is it. I wanted a cab that delivered a better QpR, as I feel that Caymus has declined over the last few years.

JP has a great nose, and lush mouthfeel as soon as the bottle is opened. Lots of berries on the palate, well-integrated tannins, and medium-length finish.

Will be adding this to my cellar moving forward.

7/29/2023 - David B Likes this wine:

My 5th half bottle. I always pour into decanter for 4-5 hours. It's young so the fruit/ earth is like an extract. The fruit is a deep blueberry/ blackberry extract. Silky smooth. Just a young star. And 10 years from now, will be something completely different but also a star. In this price range not a close competitor, been drinking their special select and regular cabernet for 30 years, never a disappointment.

2/12/2022 - D.Sperling Likes this wine:

Experiencing this wine was a much needed breath of fresh air. To date, this is one of the purist and truest expressions of grenache I've ever had the privilege of tasting. The aroma contains a captivating scent of crushed flower petals. The flavor profile is dominated by expressions of red fruit that include raspberry, red licorice, cherries, and candied fruits. There's an amazing transformation across the palate which begins as a full-bodied richness yet somehow ends with a very crisp finish. The structure comes across as an extremely fine grained expression of sweet tannins, brown sugar spice, and garrigue - somehow leaving you to wonder where the spice ends and the tannins begin.

In a market full of blue-fruited teeth staining opaque purple wines labeled as grenache (or grenache-based Rhone blends), this wine stands out as a much needed reminder of why grenache deserves noble grape status. And, as such, should sometimes be allowed to stand alone in a beautiful expression of red fruit.

If you have recommendations for other grenache wines that align with this style, please share in the comments.

4/15/2018 - Markie_Sharkie Likes this wine:

Great Chardonnay. Nice tropical fruit tones, good acidity and smooth finish. Not overly buttery. Paired well with prosciutto wrapped sea bass and risotto.

10/17/2021 - Sonoma Duck Likes this wine:

Perfect cork. From magnum. Decanted and initially a bit thin but we let it sit for one hour. Light ruby with lightening at the rim. After one hour it all came together. Rich, full bodied, notes of rich compost. Long long finish. Absolutely delicious. Fully mature but not going over the hill anytime soon.
At release in 1985 I liked this wine so much that I purchased three cases of 750ml and one case of magnums. BTW this was $30 per bottle and $60 per magnum. This wine drank well from day one. Over all those bottles, I never had a bad bottle. Simply amazing. This was the very last bottle.

7/5/2021 - Chris Likes this wine:

This stuff is insane. Everything you want a Napa cab to be. Incredible aromatics, not too heavy, integrated tannins, gorgeous profile, finish goes on and on and on

8/20/2021 - Geoff Likes this wine:

Really singing. 3 hour slo ox, 1 hr decant. Beautiful dark color, nose erupts from the glass with dark fruit, red cherry, smoke, oak, multiple layers of secondary notes, cigar box, spice box. Tannins smooth and slightly mollified, but still present and pleasant. More of nose on the tongue. Long, long finish. Very enjoyable wine with some life left.

9/28/2020 - Rudolph Schmidt Likes this wine:

Smells like feet in the most beautiful way possible. Alot of lambic qualities.

10/12/2019 - angelcyn wrote:

This is the last Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo I will drink, really not at all together, cherry red with a slight spritz ! a glorified Lambrusco, don't get it, two earlier bottles drunk in Italy at restaurants were still fermenting in the bottle, if this is 'authentic' wine making it is not for me, and now grossly overpriced.

2/3/2017 - rmarkey Likes this wine:

Superb wine. Iron fist in a velvet glove.
Colour: jet black berry
Bouquet: dusty, grainy black berries,black currants, raspberries and mulberry, sweet fruit but finishing savoury, pencil shavings, black olives,
Palate: as bouquet, big fruit and tannins, concentrated and fleshy, but very soft and velvety, with soft fine grained tannins, long, dry clean uplifted acid finish.
February 2017

4/20/2020 - adnorthup Likes this wine:

Really not sure what to make of it. Has a bit of oxidative funk that I usually associate with Beaujolais Gamay that I often enjoy but confuses me when looking at the wine. Lots of honey and yellow flowers. Medium mouthfeel, lovely golden color. Drank with fresh trofie pasta with an arugula and pistachio pesto (with an insane amount of garlic) that is paired with greatly. Will be a buyer next time this becomes available.

10/27/2019 - ev3rthesame Likes this wine:

Love wines like this where it’s not just an enjoyable wine to drink, but so much fun to drink it and talk about all the flavors. Cigar box, tart cherries or raspberries, cranberry in the finish and river stone? And a free element, haven’t out my finger in it yet, but this is yummy!

10/1/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine:

Fourth time drinking the 2000 Gruaud Larose in recent years, and a wine I always look forward to. Perhaps the best bottle so far with medium rare/rare steak at home. Poured into decanter and let sit for only about 10 minutes. Deep and layered dark fruit, a touch of tobacco and leather. Very dry. Fine to medium tannins. Medium finish. Very classic, would likely have guessed Pauillac.
Great Bordeaux and with the 2000 Lagrange perhaps the best deal in this excellent vintage.

3/11/2020 - soyhead wrote:

Nose - cherry, lavender
Mouth - sappy nice red fruit attack, very clean and pure minerally midpalate, dry substantial tannins on the finish. Well made wine which combines stuffing with elegance and purity. Reminiscent of Cote de Beaune.

3/16/2015 - steveatkin wrote:

This is really at a perfect point, but I would not wait too much longer. Fruit is still big for 20 years.

1/4/2019 - MagicJuan Likes this wine:

Despite being a few years past its ‘drink by’ date, this wine has aged superbly...what was once a classic Chardonnay coloring has evolved in to a deep golden hue, with complex notes of acidic fruit and some buttery/oak flavor. Opens up beautifully as well, improved with some time uncorked

11/12/2018 - Shay.Aldriedge Likes this wine:

This was opened alongside many SQNs, Schrader, Screaming Eagle, older Pahlmeyer and other impressive bottles and really held its own. I think I surprised myself at claiming it needed 30-45mins of air as well as needing to be brought down from room temp to closer to cellar temp. This is a gorgeous wine, and a wonderful effort from the Heitz team. Underripe black fruit and plum on the nose, giving way to an herbal/earthy blackberry pie note. Seamless and well balanced on the palate showing red and black fruit, dark cocoa dusted bay leaf and older fig. A touch of their signature eucalyptus on the finish. Many years to go.

5/31/2016 - mathwonk wrote:

this is an example of why i do not score wine numerically. this wine deserves a high numerical score and yet i could not stand to drink even one glass. i am a big lover of cab sav, and to me cab franc belongs in a small role of blending. here the opposite choice was made and the wine has 64% cab franc and only 14% cab sav. the result is a wine that is bright, fruity and delicious in a certain frivolous sense but has for me no complexity, interest or depth. back in about 2004 the wine under the champoux label from andrew will was one of my favorites, but this is not. also a few years back he made a tiny amount of 100% cab sav from champoux that i luckily got a case of that was delightful.

the 2012 sorella on the other hand, with a majority cab sav content was wonderfully sumptuous and rich, and i shared it around 2 days ago to uniform acclaim, disappearing immediately. the champoux bottle sits unfinished on the counter the next day, next to a full glass untouched from last night. the notion that this is thought to be the best wine chris camarda ever made astonishes me. it also depresses me since for about 20 years i was a huge Andrew Will fan, buying their wine by the multiple cases. as the cab sav content declined and the alcohol level (and price) increased, i have largely stopped buying it. still it is well made, it just does not suit my preferences in red wine, again with the unique exception of the rather pricey sorella.

12/7/2016 - vintage1949 wrote:

My cellar must be too perfect and wines really need to age. My natural underground cellar is a constant 60 degrees. Wine still throws off fragrant blueberry nose. No complexity. Will wait five more years to open my last bottle of this vintage.

7/29/2013 - Ron Slye wrote:

Much more smooth and understated than more recent Cayuse vintages -- perhaps the effect of a bit of age. Very delightful wine. Definite cherry on the nose and palate, thus living up to its name. A day later still well put together. On day two a bit stronger hint of roast meats on the palate; still cherry, with a bit of anise and pepper on the nose. Curious to see how this is in a few years....

10/6/2013 - Rieslingfan wrote:

Shockingly forward and approachable. This is about the frindliest (in a slobbering puppy sort of way) Petite Sirah I have ever had. There's some tannin in the background, but barely enough for structure. Frankly it's just weird to drink a Ridge Petite Sirah that is this simple/fruity.

If this is the direction that the team is going to take with their renditions of this variety then I am done.

7/8/2012 - pjaines wrote:

Bordeaux v Burgundy III; 7/7/2012-7/9/2012 (The Square, London): Hang on a minute - this stuff is 22 years old and it tastes like a barrel sample. Incredibly dark, compact, brooding - fantastic purity of fruit with pencil load, liquorice, black fruit and impressive depth. This needs much longer in bottle to unwind. Brilliantly compact and huge and long. I wonder what this tasted like when it was first released? Massive I would have imagined.

9/4/2013 - David B wrote:

Opened at 1pm. Kept checking nose all afternoon without tasting. What a transformation. From simple fruit/earthy nose to somebody pull me away. At 7pm guests arrived and we tasted with 2000 Tignanello, which at first seemed unfair. By 9pm we were all fighting for the last glass of d'abruzzo. Had the same depth and layers of the Tignanello. I have one more bottle, think I'll give it 5 years, if I can hold out. Did have the barnyard nose and taste like I've read about, but it was non existent as the night went on. A real gem.