5/5/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Hint of salinity, taut dialectic between gently bitter melon rind, apricot, and generous peach fruit, a wine of contemplation and some good length – I really like the texture here, too, there's density without undue weight. It's almost too easy to like, you have to spend time with it to better understand its subtle depths and charms.

5/4/2024 - Wicker Parker Does not like this wine:

Although some Nebbiolo character comes through – light sour cherry, say – confected roasted and/or oak-derived notes interfere, so the wine feels neither fresh nor immediate. Lightly structured.

3/14/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Presents as fresh and really quite young – no tertiary characteristics here. Cedar, thyme, a hint of balsamic, sweet blackcurrant fruit. It doesn't come across as complex, but it does come across as harmonious, and I really would have preferred to wait another 10 years before opening this bottle, as I think the wine would have had more to say if I'd waited. That said – very nice!

3/2/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Fabulous. This is why I age Briords! This magnum drunk in 2024 is fresh as a daisy and tasting pretty much just like Brooklynguy wrote back in 2016 (I've quoted his Cellartracker note below) but with an additional undertow of subtle earthy creamy mushroom characteristics that make me purr like a kitten. And I'd doubly emphasize the saline finish on the palate, which is simultaneously delicate and assertive.

The excerpt from Brooklyguy that still applies now: "The aromas are wild and complex with preserved lemon and savory herbs and black licorice and smoky minerals - absolutely pungent and fascinating and alluring. Palate is balanced and fresh, and shows a complexity that is equal to the nose, and the citric and saline and mineral finish just goes on and on. Wonderful wine, by any measure."

Couldn't have said better.

2/22/2024 - Wicker Parker Does not like this wine:

Pinched, drying, not expressive – we should have drank up 10 years ago! (storage was perfect and cork and ullage were equally perfect – just not an interesting wine, I'm afraid.)

2/10/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Wonderful stuff. Not an extracted style – this is medium bodied, red fruited, energetic, and graceful. Good depth. This needs time to integrate its oak, but I'm expecting a terrific experience in about ten years.

2/3/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

A basic, unfussy, authentic (i.e. unconfected) red wine that’s unencumbered by oak, excessive ripeness, or spoofulation. But why buy this, instead of a Loire gamay, or a mencia from Ribera Sacra, or a fer servadou from SW France? The answer for me is that I like them all, as each has their charm. I like the tart red fruits here (currant, Rainier cherry, that sort of thing) and the hint of salinity that’s important in the really good wines from this volcanic region. Mild tannins, not a lot of depth, but a good amount of pleasure.

1/31/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Some clichés can be manifestly true. Yes, classically made Chablis from a wonderful producer in a classically cool vintage from a wonderful 1er cru vineyard should evoke salt, oyster shells, tangerine, and lemon curd, as this one does, and yes, said Chablis should not only be impeccably balanced but also should achieve and does achieve that magical balancing act wherein the wine is richly perfumed, richly textured, and somehow poised and delicate and deep, all at once, without artifice – in a way that completely eludes any Chardonnay grown in any other place in the world – and the writer of said observations will state all this in a rather silly and yet somehow completely sensible run-on sentence, seeing how he is quite taken with this whole experience, and doesn't mind being judged by complete strangers for his logorrhea (look it up) on his belief that enthusiasm for life's small pleasures should be embraced and not mocked, unless of course thoroughly deserved.

1/30/2024 - Wicker Parker wrote:

A coiled tangy number, texturally polished, ripping mouthwatering acidity – lime. A metallic note on the nose and the palate, and also saline, with a pinch of dried thyme. The big takeaway is that this is quite austere, but we'll see if the wine is more expressive on night two. (UPDATE on night two, it's still quite inexpressive... not a rebuy, I'm afraid)

1/28/2024 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Luminous straw in the glass and a beautiful nose – jasmine florals, sea spray, fresh lemon zest, mango (!), and just a hint of barrel toast, nutmeg in particular. Lovely density of fruit on the lively palate (though it's not "fruity"), subtle barrel tones sneak through (though this is 90% stainless aged), and slightly metallic earth tones provide another dimension to ponder. Medium-long finish. Superbly balanced and perfect for drinking young but structured to age and I wouldn't be surprised if the wine became more mineral over time as the youthful bloom of fruit evolves. Great value, too.

12/25/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Ripe apricot / apricot preserves, fresh ginger, the acid/sugar balance is pitch perfect. Good with Christmas ham, would have been even better with a richer preparation.

12/25/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Between the perfect cork, the bejeweled ruby color, and (following a 3 hour decant) the nose of fresh currant and pencil / graphite, you'd swear this wine could be 5 years old rather than 23. The tannins have melted into the wine without losing structure, the texture is lovely. I stored this bottle for 15 years and wish I'd bought more! A beautiful bottle that should grow deeper and more complex over the next 10+ years.

12/23/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Aromatically this is still a young wine. Lavender is a particularly prominent aromatic, but dried cherries are right up there, along with hints of tilled earth, olives, leather, thyme, and cinnamon. It's a bit chunky / blocky on the palate and is a bit short. I really like this wine but so far as I can tell, I opened this 22 year old wine too young. The longer this wine is open (and I decanted 2 hrs before serving), the more the tannins clamp down on the palate. Maybe wait 5 years? 10 years? more?

12/18/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Very fresh for an 18 year old bottle, a really lovely balance of sour cherry (and even sour cherry pie!), mushroom, autumn forest, not complex but given how this wine is still still in its primary + secondary mode, I'll wait at least 5 years (if not more) to trot out my remaining bottle. I paid just $24 for this back in 2008, so I'm happy with how this is tasting in late 2023.

12/9/2023 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Corked, I'm afraid. Sigh...

12/7/2023 - Wicker Parker wrote:

If blinded I would have guessed an Oregon Pinot gris from one of the bigger producers – at least from the nose of pear and greengage plum. But definitely chardonnay on the palate. Good energy on night one, limey with a hint of oatmeal, although a bit coarse on the finish. No diacetyl or oaky impressions, which is nice. The wine is gentler and better integrated on night two, although not as energetic or defined.

11/29/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

This is unexpectedly reminding me of AR.PE.PE's Rosso di Valtellina. Not in its (slightly volatile) aromatics or flavor profile – the White Field Red is certainly darker fruited, it is mostly Syrah after all – but in texture and mouthfeel. I wasn't expecting a wine this fine boned that also carries the darker tones - Worcestershire, five spice, fresh-picked blackberry – so lightly as well as so long. Plenty of tannins, but fine (there's that word again) tannins. Very promising for a long life, I think I'd better wait at least 5 years to open the next bottle, probably longer is a better idea.

11/28/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Such a joy to drink. Medium to medium-light bodied, a good shake of rotundone spice, red fruited, just right with a bucatini bolognese.

11/28/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Fine boned, clean, super delicious. Varietally expressive and true. Moderate effervescence by pet nat standards. $39 (US) is a bit steep, though.

10/24/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Fine and detailed – aromatically and on the palate. I ordinarily don't associate yellow apple, apricot, or just-ripe banana characteristics with precise / delineated wines, and yet here I do, as these elements are intertwined with salinity, baking spices, snap peas, spring meadow flowers, and beautiful acidity. Vibrant and long on the palate – a focused laser beam of a wine that's not the least bit austere! – I am totally digging this.

6/23/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

For emotional reasons my favorite Gigondas producer and this 18 year old wine does not disappoint. The nose shows the classic cold grilled meat and licorice, while the palate is super fresh and juicy – red fruit, eucalyptus, black pepper, and dusty tannins that I find incredibly charming. I love this wine.

6/16/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

While some folks here experienced "mature" bottles recently and even think the wine is on the downhill slope, my bottle tonight (in 2023) shows quite young. Everything is integrating nicely – baking spices, five spice, juicy black cherry, hints of orange rind – and the texture is supple and fine. Pure pleasure, wish I had more!

6/13/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Unbelievably lively and fresh, I would have pegged this as a 2020, not a 2009. As I mentioned in my last note from a decade ago, there's not undue weight here despite the warm vintage. Purrs like a happy cat. Ranks among my best-ever experiences with a Beaujolais.

6/6/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Beautiful. When I last drank this wine back in 2010, I underestimated the wine that it would become. It's not showy, but it's everything a person could want from a Barbaresco.

5/31/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Beautiful. There's both depth and purity on the nose, it's red fruited (cranberry, raspberry, cherry) and accented by all kinds of baking spices. A haunting perfume. Not as many fireworks on the palate but it's delicious for sure, effortlessly balanced and transparent – the oak is almost invisible, I just get fruit and slightly saline minerality. I figured this wine would be pretty ok but this is way better than that, and there's no hurry to drink this, it's really quite fresh and young. The average community score here is 89 points and while I don't score wines, if I did, I'd score this wine quite a bit higher. Wish I had 2 or 3 more bottles of this to track it over the next 10+ years.

5/29/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

A lovely old wine – dusty attic, autumn leaves, perky sweet black cherry, cardamom and black pepper, a gentle and exquisitely balanced finish. To those of you who report you have 347 bottles of this wine in your cellar – drink up, people!

5/26/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

I'd never have guessed this is almost 17 years old, it tastes so young, like a 5 year old wine. Some menthol on the nose, grilled meat, some barrel notes, blackcurrant. Very well balanced on the palate, fresh, with sweet fruit and fine structuring tannins that still retain some astringency. Comes in a little hot (it's 14.5%) but the heat is not too distracting. Neither deep nor complex and I'm thinking that this is what it is, but you could wait on this to prove me wrong.

5/26/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

A mellow glow, old yet fresh: dry autumn leaves, juicy blackberry compote and preserved cherries, dried herbs (esp. thyme), and the tannins have completely melted into the wine. Harmonious and gentle and really quite beautiful.

5/15/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Perhaps the cork in my bottle held up better than others here (who complain of an over-the-hill experience), but this was fresh, delicious, and balanced, and it had the subtle minerality and deep fruit I hope for from Gigondas. It's in a wonderful spot. Everything to like, nothing not to like.

5/16/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

In a beautiful spot, maybe even at its peak as it suits my palate. Violet hued and a pretty clear rim. Cranberries, grilled meat, alpine stones, and dried flowers on the nose. Juicy and medium-full on the palate, again very fresh, I experience the poise and balance here as a deep pleasure. Wish I had a case of this.

5/9/2023 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Mildly sherried, alas (the cork was in perfect condition, btw)

5/9/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Beautiful. Precise and fine rather than broad. Dry stones, fresh strawberries, and mere hints of warm bread and cantaloupe. Mouthwatering acidity and subtle, welcome bitterness frame the finely tuned body – which is to say that it's tempting to quaff this when it should be appreciated over time, patiently.

5/7/2023 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Lovely. Neither deep nor complex, but certainly harmonious. Initially only subtle menthol on the nose, but opens up nicely after 45 mins in the decanter (florals, dark berries). Very nice with turkey lasagna. Happy to keep aging my remaining bottle.

5/5/2023 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

The amber color signifies its age (it's old enough to be drafted, or smoke) and yet this ginger-apricot bomb is somehow too young, because while it's balanced, the sugars are still overly forward and the fruit is quite primary. Quite likable, but maybe wait another 10 years? I'm skeptical that this will become complex but I do think this will deepen a bit and become more harmonious.

5/5/2023 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Rich spice cake, raisins, soft. Although it's neither "over the hill" nor oxidized, it's simple in its emeritus years – a sleepy sunset with gentle waves lapping at the beach. I generally prefer my CdP's at 10 years old and this is now nearly 18, and I just waited too long on this one.

12/29/2014 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

The modest sweetness is beginning to fade, and as the texture becomes more watery (in a good way), the finish is making a distinct turn toward the mineral. Nice flourish of ginger on that finish as well -- classically Touraine. A very nice showing.

9/27/2014 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Fresh, subtle, structured, delicious.

2/22/2014 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

This bottle is even fresher and perkier than the one I had 16 months ago, though again, it required air to show it. A unique amalgam of fresh berries and porcini tea, not complex but nicely structured, particularly by its acidity. An impressive showing from a hot vintage.

11/26/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Hey, whoa! This is a beautiful Cheverny! Meat and cherries on the nose, light on its feet but nicely concentrated, bright every which way, pure and silky and very mineral on the palate. Very mineral. Unpretentious and bursting with joyous energy, which in turn makes me feel great joy. Utterly fantastic.

11/24/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Really, this is gorgeous stuff: bright red fruit, deep brown spices on the nose, savory grilled meat on the palate... It's nice and long, like a ball at the ballpark arcing into the night sky, high above the crowd (and I don't even like baseball).

11/3/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

An unexpected treat. While there's plenty of vanilla gloss and black fruit here, typical of higher-end WA red blends that feature cab sauv and merlot and new oak, the 42% syrah adds an earthy baritone note and a juicy peach flavor that can also typify WA syrah. A balanced and fresh wine that also shows terroir, depth, and interest.

10/4/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Developed a pleasant mushroom-and-damp-earth aspect on night two, but otherwise this is a static wine, not evolved from a youthful state: it's mostly about fruit. Plenty of acid here, but also a touch of heat despite the 12.5% alcohol. No complaints overall, though: this is the basic, value-priced wine and as an 11 year old it performs nicely for it.

9/29/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Just a beautiful wine – mature, evolved, layered, totally fresh – and all the more impressive for being the basic WV cuvee rather than the storied estate vineyard.

9/15/2013 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Nice purity but very, very tight - it needs time!

9/8/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

I thought it would be wrong to decant a no-sulfur (sans soufre) pinot gris, but it turns out that I am in the wrong. Poured immediately after popping the cork, this wine was waxy, aggressively yeasty, and not entirely pleasant. By the third night, though, this has evolved into a complex expression of yellow citrus, yellow orchard fruits, minerals, acid, and bread.

8/28/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

Weissburgunder kabinett, improbably from the chilly Coast Range in Oregon. What else do you want to know? Tasty and true, 9%, impeccably balanced, though not as electric as last year's bottle. What else? I think this was the vintage where raccoons reached under the bird netting and took much of the (late) harvest, thus the half bottle size.

8/24/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

A long and complete wine – savory, earthy, somewhat floral – and certainly very tasty now (not the least bit closed), but with all its fruit-driven intensity, it'll need several years to really show its stuff.

8/15/2013 - Wicker Parker Likes this wine:

I dig the aromas of pan-fried pork chop, green herbs, and dry earth. Nicely structured on the palate, racy, not too tart. Alcohol is 11.75% but this is very dry and not at all underripe.

8/10/2013 - Wicker Parker wrote:

Drinking nicely! My note from last year still applies.

7/15/2013 - Wicker Parker wrote:

A totally high class syrah, showing breed and cleanliness and sophistication from its exotic nose of black pepper, salumi, and roasted herbs to its acid-driven, low-alcohol drinkability. The issue here – and I'm sure as heck going to be critical given its $60 price tag – is its lack of depth and soul on the palate; for all its character, it skates along the surface. I'm inclined to believe that this wine will change over the next 10 years but be merely different and not better. This is almost surely not a flaw of viticultural or winemaking practices, both of which strike me as top notch, but of the youth of the vines. I'd have less of an issue if the wine was half the asking price (and $30 is still quite a lot!) or if I thought it would develop over many years in bottle, but I just don't see it, given that I tracked this over three nights.