11/16/2023 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Near perfection. I don't think I've had better. As a previous note mentioned, this rewards careful attention, but it was unmistakably a remarkable wine from the moment the cork left the bottle. This drinks incredibly well on its own. If pairing with food, avoid anything heavy/sweet.

1/20/2023 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Far more approachable than I would have expected on pop and pour. Extremely pretty floral nose, sprightly cranberry-lime palate, and prominent but silky smooth tannins. The '18 Savoy, but dialed up a couple notches both aromatically and on the finish.

12/19/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Still alive. Typical gerwurtz nose, with a bit more of the chenin coming through on the palate and certainly in the body/finish, which is beguilingly bitter after the expectation of sweetness.

10/7/2022 - KL1191 wrote:

Corked

9/24/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

More Burgundian than any of John's pinots that I've tried (and I've tried a lot)...there is tension and balance, and most surprisingly an almost citric/lime oil character to the acidity that is rather magical. This is a remarkably serious tasting wine from a producer that I already think of as a master of deliciousness and QPR. He caught lightning in a bottle here.

4/17/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Eye opening...layered, slightly honeyed, subtle citrus, white flowers, nutty bordering on a hint of bitterness on the finish on day one, which had rounded out on day two. Incredibly enjoyable, and easily the best 25+ year old Chardonnay I've tasted.

3/13/2022 - KL1191 wrote:

Corked

2/18/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Gave this a couple hours of air in an over-sized decanter, and it would have benefited from a lot more time. That said, it was very enjoyable. Aromas of dark fruit (black currant, black plum), with smoke, mocha, leather and mahogany. Palate is in line with above, with huge but not obtrusive (at least once the food arrived) tannin, balanced with fresh and lively acidity. This has decades of life left in it, and I'm hoping to taste one at 50, which will likely be opened a day in advance.

2/18/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Initial appearance and nose are a bit Maderized, with notes of Manzanilla sherry and caramel apple. There is mouthwatering acidity, bracing even. The wine is alive and pleasurable, but it takes a bit of time to come around. 30 mins or so after opening there is butter, toffee, dehydrated lemon peel and Yuzu marmalade. It made a stellar pairing with some smoked crudo and frito misto. That said, it falls off a cliff pretty swiftly thereafter, with the entry/front palate being completely washed out after about ~1.5 hours.

2/8/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Classic, unimpeachable, delicious.

1/17/2022 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Slow-oxed for a bit given the previous comment and the initial bouquet was still predominately smoke with hints of red fruit (strawberry, cranberry). First sips mirrored the above, with fully resolved tannin and well-restrained acidity producing a lovely, plush mouthfeel. With time in the glass and food (salmon burgers with sauce gribiche; perfect pairing) the smoke completely dissipated and touches of sweet decay (tree bark, crushed leaves), five spice, and dark fruit (blackberry, black cherry) were evident. This held on and even increased in enjoyment through the night, including with fresh crepes spread with Rush Creek Reserve, and vanilla ice cream with fresh and caramelized figs.

1/14/2022 - KL1191 wrote:

Quite lovely. Gorgeous goldenrod in color. Bouquet is a ringer for a perfect lobster roll: sea spray, toast, judicious use of butter. Palate adds Kalamata olive, golden apple, vibrant acidity. With time, there's hints of lime curd, black truffle, fresh cut herbs, and the suggestion of butterscotch. This still has some more life ahead of it...one bottle remaining and will hold at least a couple years.

12/12/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

At Charlie Bird, took a couple hours to fully resolve. Started off rather vegetal and shy on the palate, at least compared to an '81 Pichon Lalande that was ready to go out of the gate. But, the perfumed bouquet hinted at what was to come. Florals, dark fruit, and graphite. Lovely with a sparingly sauced, liver-amplified tagliatelle Bolognese, as well as hanger steak and escarole salad.

12/10/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

BYOB at Carbone...only got about 90 minutes in the decanter, as it was a late decision to bring this to dinner, so perhaps not the best showing it could have offered. Still, plenty of fruit (predominately cherry), with lovely tertiary elements: smoke, ash and earth. Good acid backbone, held up to veal parm and cherry pepper pork ribs. Was glad it was particularly well received by guests who don't typically love more mature wines.

12/8/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

From Magnum. 2015 base, disgorged 2018. Plenty of complexity to enjoy on its own with toasts and paired well with shellfish towers. A big crowd pleaser with great QPR...guesses put the cost at 3x actual.

11/12/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

With dinner at FIG in Charleston -- somm said the cork slipped right into the bottle with the ah-so, but we were planning to decant anyway.

The wine returned to the table with a wonderfully garrigue-ous bouquet, smoky and herbaceous tending toward greener notes like roasted asparagus and bell pepper, with just a touch of horse barn funk. Flavors of fresh raspberry and plum combined with miso/soy and loamy earth, backed by black pepper and anise spice. This was a bottle I was a bit suspicious about, but it turned out to be a great pairing with chicken liver pate, ricotta gnocchi in ragu, and most surprisingly, miso-marinated swordfish.

10/15/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Perfect cork. Wonderfully alive. Aromas of cigar box, charred green pepper. Palate is red fruited with raspberry and boysenberry. Sufficient acid; held up against a veal chop Parmesan. A wonderful time capsule.

10/26/2021 - KL1191 Does not like this wine:

Undrinkable. Bitter and acrid. Down the drain.

9/24/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Nervous as hell. Aromas of raspberry eau de vie and something a bit bloody and a touch faecal...ever tried andouillette? Palate adds mushroom consomme / ramen packet and sweet decay. Paired with a Luger rib steak (rare) and a slice of fresh sourdough dragged through the drippings. This is at or near peak...holding one more bottle for a complete vertical, but would otherwise drink up.

9/25/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

It doesn't get much better than this...the best looking 40 yo cork I've seen (~2mm penetration, firm), easily removed by the sommelier with just an ah so.

Bouquet was spectacular, leaping out of the glass from the very first moment. No funk to blow off; ready to go. Aromas of tomato vine, crushed/stewed blue and black fruit. Palate brings all of the above, plus a cornucopia of herbs and loamy earth. Plenty of fruit, good acid and almost but not fully integrated tannin (might this be even better at 50?). Decanted and over the course of the 2.5 hour meal the nose became less elegant and more grounded. Maybe treat this a bit more delicately than we did.

The versatility of this wine was stunning...it worked perfectly from steak tartare to seared foie gras with duck neck confit, veal sweetbreads, lamb meatballs, and beef strip loin. By the end of the meal, there was more pronounced sweetness on the palate, with notes of cedar and humidor on the nose.

9/18/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Tasted side-by-side with the Bosconia. On initial tasting, Tondonia was heavier, palate-coating, intense, and even a touch sweet. Would never have guessed it was .5% lower ABV. Flavors noted were consistent with the bottle opened a few days ago, including strawberry, five spice, leather and anise. As it evolved further, there were dried florals, including lavender and more herbs, such as thyme, fennel seed, and savory. Better-preserved bottles of this wine likely have time left and would not be surprised to see it peak at 50. A fantastic wine, and even better bottle than a few nights ago, but also the more heavy-handed tonight.

Wines were both clear garnet (bottle of the Tondonia opened earlier in the week, note below, showed considerable brick/oranging). Wines were slow-oxed for about 2 hours before dinner. The Tondonia could have used more time or a decant.

9/18/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Tasted side-by-side with the Tondonia. On initial tasting, Bosconia was light weight, predominantly characterized by medium acid and a bit of tannin, with elements of strawberry, some funk and tomato vine. As it opened up and with food (smoked tri-tip) noted blood orange, dusty earth, leather/saddle, grill smoke, green and black olive flesh, and toward the end of the night something I called Balsamic, but through the lens of Yankee Candle. This was delicious, and our unanimous WOTN. Drink now.

Wines were both clear garnet (another bottle of the Tondonia opened earlier in the week showed considerable brick/oranging). Wines were slow-oxed for about 2 hours before dinner. The Tondonia could have used more time or a decant.

9/14/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Wonderfully alive at 40. Red fruit, dried strawberry and spice, particularly clove, cinnamon, and fennel seed. Around hour two, some additional notes of leather and anise.

8/24/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Lovely and smelling fresh as a daisy on opening. Dusty rose, black cherry, red fruit on the palate. Moderate acidity (very nice with a grilled tri-tip salad). Over time, some secondary aspects of BBQ spices, old books, earth/loam. Drink or hold.

8/23/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Mays Canyon (aka Porter-Bass Vineyard) is an SVD that I tend to think of as more of an early drinker in the Littorai lineup. I need to stop that. This has the sea spray, Kalamata, black truffle, and sweet decay that its weightier cousins add with sufficient age, but with a more sprightly acidity that suggests it has years to go, and some delicious Asian-inspired aromatics (ginger/hoisin).

8/7/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

From magnum, as part of a 40th birthday celebration.

Experienced very light seepage during recent transit. Cork was quite loose and ultimately needed to be pushed in. Decanted through cheesecloth and consumed over ~2.5 hours.

Color was dark, inky, blackberry. Initial aroma made me nervous. It was a bit high-toned, even volatile (reminiscent of plum brandy/slivovitz), otherwise very Port-like, with a lot of baked fruit, particularly blackberry and blackcurrant.

A sip put me out of the mind that this might be cooked, and validated that it was just showing age. There was plenty of life in this wine, with pleasing acidity that wanted food, and it made a wonderful pairing with a starter of flambeed pork belly with maple and dark chocolate. There were actually two times in the evening when fire/smoke entered the area of the table (the later, at dessert), and both times it seemed to improve the showing of the wine. Drink with cigars?

There was no obvious signs of American oak (vanilla/coconut), but as the wine opened up (60-90 minutes post decant), it became more savory with notes of soy, as well as plum, softening and expanding with the addition of decaying cedar as the previously volatile notes subsided and complexity increased to include tobacco. Continued to show very well with some excellent dry-aged Kansas City strips.

5/26/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

This year, a blend of Sonoma Coast (last of the dropped fruit before harvest at the Pivot vineyard) and selections of Anderson Valley sorting, so technically a North Coast wine, which is a first for Littorai. Nonetheless, delicious and probably my favorite American rose.

5/22/2021 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Disgorged March, 2018. Nose starts off with bruised apple & cider notes, with brewer's yeast, saline, and a touch of Manzanilla sherry. Intensity of the palate is like biting into a seasoning packet of instant ramen, lemon flavor. Umami acid overdrive. Autolytic character eventually peaks through, but barely, on the insanely long finish. Spectacular.

9/9/2020 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Pure fire. This is the wine that taught me to truly love California Chardonnay many years ago (it was the '01, I think). A teenage Thieriot firing on all cylinders, here with intense salted black truffle jus nose, Kalamata olive and sweet decay on the palate, bit of lime curd peaking through. Exceptional with roasted halibut, pattypan squash and sungold tomatoes. One more 750 and can only hope it's this good...will try and hold my magnums at least another decade.

4/2/2020 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Effusive, complex nose of walking past a spice shop, touch of sweet oak with a hint of woodsy decay, lightly plumy and vaguely saline: umeboshi?! Definitely bigger than the 12.8% ABV.
Mouthwatering, tooth-coating acidity...off the charts for a red, thankfully had a chili-rubbed flank steak with jalapeno/cilantro vinaigrette to stand up to it, and it did.
Palate adds fresh cranberry, raspberry, Damson and Mirabelle plum, orris root. Fruit is there, trying to exert itself, but it's dominated at the moment.
Slightly dusty, but mostly imperceptible tannin given everything else happening.
Finish is extremely long, even more so if you count the aching teeth. This was delicious with food, but my dentist is going to be mad at me for that last glass before bed.

10/30/2019 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

My second bottle in the past 6 months, both absolutely delicious with plenty of life left.

9/26/2019 - KL1191 wrote:

The 15% ABV overwhelmed, particularly as it warmed. When well-chilled, there was a metallic edge that was off-putting and in stark contrast to the richer, rounder ethos typically found with the producer. Had high hopes, but this was not a pleasurable wine to drink.

2/19/2019 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Checking in on a teenaged Thieriot, inspired by an interesting read on the risk/reward of prolonged aging for California Pinot. The cork took two tries (broke pretty much in half, but the latter still came out with a clean pop), but otherwise this is all reward. The bouquet is massive, woodsy & floral with orange flower water/Concord grape prominent and hints of grilled meat, cedar & sandalwood. The palate adds dark cherry, overripe strawberry, and toasted oak. Fruit is certainly above-average for its age. Acid is medium-minus...very pleasurable to drink on its own, and more than held its own against a homemade French Onion Soup Gratinee. Tannins are fine and nearly entirely integrated. Tertiary characteristics are in their infancy, and for my taste this will still be enjoyable for the next 5-7 years, and possibly quite a bit longer.

11/2/2018 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

The nose is meaty, with a hint of the barnyard and a heaping helping of roasted cruciferous vegetables. The palate adds cran-raspberry juice.

7/7/2018 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

When I poured this, I was legitimately unsure if it was white, orange or rosé...the nose was green cardamom & whole clove and it was fiercely off-gassing. Initial palate impression was those Pillsbury orange-glazed sweet rolls, which evolved into more finessed Concord grape/orange flower water, becoming almost unctuous as it warmed with more autolytic/bready flavors coming out as the bubbles disappeared. Rosé of Pinot Noir, certainly.

6/10/2018 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

A bowl of black truffle consomme, fine enough for VGE (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing), with undercurrents of dried black olives and salted lime. Acidity is still ripping, too.

6/2/2018 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Grapefruit nose. Elegant palate of melon and waxy peach. The beautiful weight is an wonderful surprise given the gorgeous pale color. What a lovely rosé!

ETA: Some kiwi and bubblegum as it warms, with more pronounced acidity. Drink well chilled.

5/21/2018 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Decanted off minimal sediment and consumed over 3 hours from Zalto Burgundy glasses. Appropriately advanced color, flashes of salmon on the pour, but more crushed brick in the glass. Aroma of tart dried cherry, white pepper, dried orange peel. Palate has Cherry Heering, kirsch/slivovitz, mulling spices. On its own, it drinks a bit bigger than 14.2%, but the alcohol is less overt with food (duck sliders with Gruyere & caramelized onions) and the fruit shines. Tannins are fully integrated, a bit of a grippy finish. They say these should be consumed young(er than the SVDs), but I'm hard pressed to think this would have been any more enjoyable 5+ years ago.

2/9/2018 - KL1191 wrote:

Corked

1/7/2018 - KL1191 wrote:

This bottle was (thankfully) sound. Lots of cranberry, some rose/violet florals. Very lean & angular, structure over substance at the moment. Ted's AVA Pinots have typically been ready to drink on release, but not this one. Will hold my last bottle of this one for at least a year.

12/29/2017 - KL1191 wrote:

Corked.

11/29/2017 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Recently disgorged (this week?), poured by Michael at Marta. This doesn't taste a lot like Ultramarine, but that might be because this wine (and, to a lesser extent, the 2012 magnums he was also pouring) are sort of antithetical to his stated mission of releasing wines ready to be consumed. While it was somewhat pleasurable, I don't think this is at all ready to drink. But, it has depth, weight and length that I expect will reward in a couple years.

11/5/2017 - KL1191 wrote:

Spiced, red fruit on the nose (mace, anise). The palate has slightly raisinated, darker fruits once you get past the cherry cola & the heat. It is fully mature, with a touch of fine, dusty tanin. I don't think it's getting any better. This is more plush in texture than I expect from Sonoma Coast or Hirsch. There's a delineated finish, but I think the winemaker has overpowered otherwise exceptional terroir. Enjoyable for what it is, but not my preferred style.

6/24/2017 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Amber ale hued, with a nose of sweet petrol, Asian pear, and cooked prunes. The palate adds brûléed grapefruit, carmelized pineapple, and Manzanilla sherry. There's still mouth-puckering acidity. The finish is nearly endless. How do you pack this much flavor into 9% ABV?! I'm marking this as flawed due to the sherry notes, which were more than likely the result of suboptimal storage suggested by the cork, but it was still imminently enjoyable.

6/10/2016 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Couldn't resist checking on this, my favorite Holdredge bottling year to year.

It's pretty intense at the moment, especially on day one where the fruit notes were very high toned, raspberry/cherry brandy (quality kirsch). The trademark silky Mazie body is dialed up to an almost excessively buttery mouthfeel. The richness was such that I didn't want more than a glass.

Day two the fruit is rounder, black cherry & baking spice. Finishes leaner, with nice acid, but still typically plush and elegant.

Days three and four consistent with day two.

Give it a few years. 92 now, with significant upward potential.

5/30/2016 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Classic Mosel nose with a touch of petrol, some Earl Grey. Asian pear, apricot and pineapple give way to flinty stone. Wonderfully integrated lemon-lime acidity and lovely weight suggestive of something almost effervescent/carbonic.

5/2/2016 - KL1191 wrote:

My last bottle, and it did not show as well. Noticeable carbonic texture. Flavors/aromas very primary/simple. Perhaps this bottle was off, or perhaps it's fading fast.

4/12/2016 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Blueberry, plum, black tea, damp earth. A rather sprightly wine, with texture very well described below as, "a touch of creaminess and bright carbonic fruit."

4/9/2016 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Citrus (grapefruit, lemon peel), Asian pear, gooseberry, and a hint of Juicy Fruit. Terrific acid; wonderful with Szechuan.

3/26/2016 - KL1191 Likes this wine:

Elegant & balanced with nice weight and ample acid. A true taste of the Sonoma Coast. Sea salt and Kalamata olive brine, with honeycomb, unripe pear, and umeboshi.

Outstanding with a seafood-focused tasting at Kong Hans Kælder in Copenhagen.