5/13/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Golden and cloudy. Nose of mushrooms and, now that I see the reference in a note below, clear ginger bug. The palate is sour and funky, but golden fruity, also touched by that spice that I’m now unable to call anything but ginger. The finish is a bit on the VA side, and not the longest, but this went incredibly well with really funky delicious porky bratwurst brought over from the Forest Pork Store on Long Island… a reminder of my days in grad school devouring those wursts with whatever funky beer or natural wine I could get my hands on.

4/26/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Expression. Natural cork. 30% new oak.

Intensely sour cherry and balsamic nose, with some baking spice and vanilla backing it up. The palate is light and cherry driven, but with a green and black pepperiness at the core that tightens it up. This is all framed by succulent acids and an imposing, fine tannic structure. The finish has a nice length and is spiced and peppery as well. Will be interesting to see the other bottle in another 3-4 years.

4/24/2024 - Bagwhat wrote:

Largely consistent with my last note: intense acid and stone, zippy almost effervescent. Most notable is the tense balance between the sweetness and acid, but in between is a cool airiness that many kabis seem to lack. Fantastic.

4/16/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured from fridge temperature into a Grassl Liberte. The aromas jump from the glass with lemon, stones, yeast, and marzipan. The acid and breads/nuttiness actually reminds me faintly of my sourdough starter (RIP).

The palate is lively, lemony, and acid forward with plenty of mineral backing. The mousse is fine, and the texture is overall enveloping and silky. The finish brings the more dosage-inflected nutty elements in a way I enjoy. There and adding pleasure but not overpowering the acid drive.

4/7/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured at fridge temperature. Stored with me since release. Drank from Grassl Liberte glasses.

Pours a nice pale golden yellow. The nose is petrol at first but this quickly fades. Behind that is a fruit-laden bouquet of pineapple, pear, apricot, and other golden fruits and pretty florals. The palate is silky and honey with more tropical-leaning fruit. Agree with previous comments that this seems a little more sweet than feinherb would suggest. Nonetheless this is framed by excellent stony minerality and well-judged acid. The finish is decently long, tropical and fruity, but also herbaceous and acid forward.
I think overall this is at peak for me, but could go a long time and as the sweetness (maybe) fades it would come into favor for different palates at different times. Lovely. Glad I have another, as well as ‘19s and ‘20s.

3/13/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Red-purple fruit nose, and a spicy pepper note. Moderate level of expressiveness.
The palate is surprisingly complex. Silky intro of dark fruits, especially plum. A bit of imbalance to the acid, but not terrible. An intriguing and quite strong green pepper note on the back end, leading to a leathery, gravelly finish supported by still present fine tannin. Medium length finish.

3/10/2024 - Bagwhat wrote:

Nose of black cherry and cinnamon and warm spices.
On the palate there is initial bright and sour cherry. The midpalate is relatively thick but acid is present, and the tannic structure on the back end is clear and tooth staining. The balance here is well done, and this was a great dinner wine.

2/29/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Largely similar to my last note, like licking a lemon (I like eating lemons). There was an added exotic note in the nose that I called coconut. Delicious and long minerally finish.

2/16/2024 - Bagwhat Does not like this wine:

Popped and poured, slow oxed in glass over 90 minutes. Weirdly green smelling, with a little bit of red fruit and vanilla, but overall aromatically quiet. The palate was also green and quite bitter, actually. The fruit profile was slightly pruney, but over the 90 minutes it did slowly take on a more classic sour cherry tone. There is ample oiled leather, and the finish is intensely tannic. Not the most enjoyable experience. Is it an off bottle? An awkward phase? Not sure.

2/6/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Cru. Followed over 90+ min on night 1. A village level lieu dit at a cool entrance to a combe (apparently). 40% new oak. Destemmed.

A quiet presence to the nose. Understated yet not lacking in substance. Vanilla cherry, ripe plum, sweet soil dominate the bouquet, but nothing ostentatious. On the palate there is an entry of sweet fruit, medium density or weight, and excellent acidity. In the middle of the palate there is cool but plush fruit that’s a little redder in character thickens that middle a bit. With time this becomes sappy but not syrupy, if that makes sense. There’s no sense of cloying, candied anything, just a bowl of ripe red fruits. Tannin is present but supple, not at all rustic. There isn’t much spice so I’m guessing no stems. (Edit: no stems.) Medium long finish of fruit plus mild earth, and creamy notes suggesting new oak, though I don’t know if there is any. (Edit: there is).

The thing I was struck most by in this wine was the sappy fruit and the absolutely silky texture. It just glides over the palate and paints it with fruit, leaving only a little room for other things. Thankfully this is clearly an earthy burgundy. The acid portends well that this will age, and presumably take on more complexity, but I don’t see why one would need to wait to enjoy this. Of note, it already seems to have doubled in price since release, and while very enjoyable I can’t say this is worth $100+. But at $60, yes please.

1/29/2024 - Bagwhat wrote:

Popped and poured, natural cork. Really pleasant and typical nose of citrus and grass, with an herbal fleck here and there. The palate follows, not overtly fruit driven but still ripe with pink grapefruit, toasted pineapple, and some lychee, plenty of hay and green herbs. A slight creaminess balances the strong acid. The finish isn’t so long, but isn’t short either.

1/20/2024 - Bagwhat wrote:

Popped and poured, VYCE stemless. Not ideal for the nose probably, because there seems to be a lot going on and I wonder how much I missed. Bright tart cherry but also some old leather and a tarry smokiness. Beguiling. The color, incidentally, is a little browned, but the palate doesn’t show any fatigue. Still tart cherry with nice weightless density. Clear and lifted in the palate, still with considerable but well integrated tannin structure, and all leading into a nice earthy, leathery, smoky finish that nevertheless ends on red fruit. Excellent and glad I have a couple more to keep me away from the normale from this year.

1/15/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Expression.

Immediately friendly nose of cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. After time some herbal hints emerge. The palate is similarly rich (deep-)red fruited, with some pastry and creaminess nodding to obvious oak influence. What keeps it from cloying is a strong pull of acid that sort of slices down the middle, and a back end of well-integrated but firm tannin that adds fine grained texture to what was otherwise quite soft. The finish is not the longest, but this is a quite enjoyable drink for the first real snow of the year.

1/11/2024 - Bagwhat wrote:

Will try to have more details after giving it a day or so, but somewhat salmon/copper colored, a little appley, and I get the orange wine thing of some tea and dried fruits. Bright and acid driven, with some grip on the palate. Not really my style but fun to pound.

1/5/2024 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Universal from cellar temperature. Relevant stats are in the MFW note.

The nose is relatively meek, a bit of petrol and a lot of herb masking most of the fruit. Cooling the wine actually worked a bit, although it could also have been air. Still though, this is predominantly herbal, with some wet stones, all masking little peeks of golden fruit, especially pineapple. The palate is also at first a little flat, but elements are there. Similar to the nose, a little chill +/- air evens things out. The fruit profile is dominated by peach and pineapple. It still feels a little heavy in the mouth, but the acid does bring up the rear, with a character that mimics the sour tang of a canned pineapple. This isn’t to say it’s bad at all, that’s just the clear note I’m getting out of it. The finish is medium in length and herby. This is very simple and enjoyable, and goes nicely with flavor forward foods. But I’m not sure if it’s vintage or what, but it doesn’t have the lifted, nervous zip of my favorite rieslings from more recent vintages. I have a mini vertical of this fuder, and will see how they fare.

12/31/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Base year 2017, disgorged 7/22 with 3 g/L dosage. Poured into a Grassl Liberté and Glasvin Chanpagne stem side by side to compare.

Notes primarily from the Grassl, which offered a less aggressive bubble and therefore was easier to appreciate for me.

Strong nose of rich tree fruit, peach and apple primarily, but with a hint of lemon and some yeastiness also. A floral high note sort of lingers in the background. With some time in air, that lemon and yeastiness just melds into a beautiful lemon curd aroma, while the fruit notes veer more apple. Ther also comes a slightly spicy, maybe ginger hint too.

On the palate this is quite vinous, with a lively presence and a fine beaded, quiet mousse (again, in the Liberte). The mid palate is quite plush with stone fruit and apple, with a driving citric presence. A hint of creaminess rounds out and leads to a nice acid forward finish.

12/28/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Delicious, crunchy red cherry, pomegranate, raspberry, as well as rose and stone. A little thin on the palate, but good driven acid. In the fairly nice finish, there’s a dusty quality to the tannin that gathers nicely. Simple but gulpable.

Edit: 2 days later the palate is way more fleshed out. Bumped up the score, and will definitely give adequate air next time. Crazy quality for the price.

12/26/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Natural cork. Popped and poured into a Glasvin Universal. 100% Muscat Ottonel from 45 year old vines.

Cooling nose with scoops of coconut, pineapple, and maybe suggestion from the note below, lychee. That mildly bubblegum scent is here too. The palate is light, bright, and forward, with a refreshing tropical character. The acid here is excellent and well balanced, and the 2.5 g/L RS is probably not really detectable but then the suggestion of sweetness really plays nice with the tropical fruit theme. The finish is fairly long for this kind of drink, and adds a dash of bitterness to the mix which really keeps this from getting boring. Not to belabor the point, but the perfect setting for this wine would be at a resort with a tropical ceviche or something. It’s like a piña colada with bitters, but really not at all that loud. I want more of this next summer.

12/20/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Liberte.

A immediately floral and white fruited nose. With some warmth a tiny wooliness comes through, and faint herbiness. With more time, rocks take the center stage. The palate is lithe and energetic, with an ample core of golden and white fruit, and driving acids. This feels dry but the fruit makes its presence felt at the same time. The finish is medium in length and the lanolin note from the nose is added to the now citric fruit and some wet rocks. I agree with the comment that this seems to be lacking a little bit of weight, but I don’t know, it’s pretty great as is and probably has a good future ahead of it, if I can keep away.

12/13/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

By the glass at Addison. Initially a muted nose, but with some time red fruit and light florals emerged. Surprisingly little tertiary, no leaves earth or game, and so felt a little simple.

The palate was much nicer, soft and fruit forward but with good density and a quite long persistence. The fruit did ultimately take a on an almost medicinal, syrupy tone at one stage, but eventually settled back in and even began to give some earth. The tannins felt present but unobtrusive and silky.

Ultimately I think this is an excellent wine in a weird phase and will emerge much more complex than it is now. It’s giving hints of that, and I know now to hold >15, maybe closer to 20 years before opening my bottles of later vintages.

12/13/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

By the glass off the champagne cart at Addison, but bottle was popped at the table. Served in those fancy Riedel champagne glasses with the very tall painted stem.
This champagne is immediately explosive, with a powerfully floral nose hitting the high notes atop a thick bouquet of orchard fruits, especially ripe apple, sweet pear, and some quince. The back end of the palate is really clear sourdough bread, and a slightly saline note note emerges. Followed over two hours, the fruit and bread notes get deeper, but the saline note also becomes slightly more assertive.

That was just the nose. The palate is again rich and full, with a deep core of fruit on the mid palate evoking all those golden orangey orchards. The tail end of the middle picks up a squeeze of lemony acid that segues into a strongly chalky mineral driven but well cut back end. The finish is so long and so detailed, and brings back the pear but adds some cream, some warm spices, and even some sharp herb.

This is a beautiful and powerful champagne, everything fitting together perfectly and hitting from the get go but deepening with time in the glass. A wow experience.

12/2/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Cru. Bottled under DIAM10.

This nose struck me as more savory than any Goodfellow Pinot I’ve had. We just went on a walk after a rainy day, and the wet leaves were immediately brought back by this bouquet. Beyond that you get clear red fruits and stemmy warm spices, which turns out to be appropriate for a 100% whole cluster wine. Weirdly I get a little heat on the nose, but nowhere on the palate, and this dissipates completely after a couple of minutes.

On entry, the sweet deep core of red fruit hits your palate first, leaning more strawberry than cherry I think, but is still light-but-thick in that signature Goodfellow style. The texture is silky and lifted by generous acid, but still drawn taught over a quite notable but fine frame of tannins. The finish brings stemmy spices and herbs, and a long cranberry cherry burst.

Can’t believe Goodfellow wines are this consistently good.

11/27/2023 - Bagwhat wrote:

From the get go this wine’s nose hits with baking spices and vanilla, almost masking some thick plummy fruits. Same deal on the palate, with the addition of some spicy oak tannin, but with a plush texture and a very generous core of plum and boysenberry fruit. The finish ends on some mildly bitter toasted oaky flavors, and is sort of on the short end. Overall pleasant but not a ton more. The acid in particular is kind of lacking and leaves the shape round and somewhat amorphous. Perhaps some time in air will put things into more balance.

11/27/2023 - Bagwhat wrote:

Badly corked

11/26/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

From 375. Poured into Glasvin champagne stems.

QR code on the bottle offers a lot of information: 7g/L dosage. 41% Chardonnay 33% PN 26% PM. 54% from the 2019 vintage, supplemented by 10% oak aged reserve wines and 36% of a perpetual reserve comprised of 2012-2018 vintages. This bottle disgorged 10/22.

From the get go, the nose is open and high toned with floral elements backing up an orchard of golden apple and pear. A small hint of pastry brings up the rear.

The mousse is very fine and vigorous. The palate is lively as well, opening with citrus acid and opening into that orchard of apples and pears, as well as some faint peach notes. The fruit segues directly into a dominant chalkiness, which carries into the medium length, mineral and acid dominant finish. A note of bruleed sugar emerges with air and temperature, but is still faint at this time.

This wine is an excellent value offering all the elements I look for in a champagne, especially the strong acid and minerality, and the juicy fruit profile. The complexity isn’t quite there but it’s still young and some of the pieces (that strong minerality and crisp acid, the faint hints of dosage/caramel) seem to project a promising and more complex future. Next bottle in 2 years.

11/11/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Fragrant nose of violets, pepper, dark fruits, stone, a bit of olive and game, and some heat.

Palate is silky on entry, with a solid core of fruit accented by stone and lavender, and framed by mostly resolves tannin and medium acid. The finish is longsish and heavy on the brine and spices, almost evoking a dirty gin martini. Surprisingly complex for a 11yo wine I mostly forgot about.

11/6/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Opened and slow oxed about 15 minutes before first pour. Bottled under DIAM10. Poured into a Grassl Cru.

It immediately jumps from the glass with deep red cherry aromas, but underlined by toasted spices and mulch or wet dirt. This gels nicely with the palate flavors. The fruit is similarly red l but on the darker side of that, and deep. It has more earth and spoonfuls of stemmy spice, with a notable fresh cracked black pepper zing. The body has that Goodfellow signature airy lightness that sneaks into a thick middle that picks up density before spreading into its long finish that adds a really pleasant light herbal bitterness and a light woodsy vanilla. The acid is excellent and uplifting and persistent.

I see the parallels to the Durant vineyard that I love, but I think that one packs a bit more complexity if less forward fruit.

10/30/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Stinky sponti diesel nose, quickly fades to lightly botrytized and honeyed tropical fruit, mostly pineapple but a little guava too. On the palate it’s deeply concentrated, rich and tropical, but with a sturdy frame of citrusy acids. The finish is long and penetrating, fanning out to become creamy and herbal, giving curry lead and a licoricey bay leaf that lingers beautifully. Sad this was my only bottle.

10/21/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Cru. Bottled under Diam5. Recent library purchase. Stored in cellar but moved to the refrigerator a couple days ago for space reasons (i.e., Goodfellow shipment arrived).

This wine is fantastic. The nose is immediately smoky and flinty, and slowly unfurls it’s orchard bounty and saline intrigue. There also emerged late on a warm spice note.

The palate is forwardly golden apple and pears. The fruit density is remarkable here, and in comparison to the village+ Meursault we had a few nights ago, deeper. The acid is prominent but perhaps less driven than the white burg I can’t help but compare this to. The finish is nice and long and detailed with that smoke and sea seasoning the fruit. The minerality is not a major factor here, but is nicely integrated. One of my favorite aspects of this is the body, which feels full and dense without being heavy, overbearing, or cloying. Kudos M+M

10/17/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Cru. Long high quality cork. Light crystalline straw color. A village level lieu dit in part because of a slight northerly aspect to the vineyard. That plus its site on the hillside above Meursault may have served this well in a warm year. Bouzereau treats this wine like his 1ers, with extra time in barrel.

The nose is just slightly smoky, and a bit salty at the end, but is mostly a swirl of puckering lemon, crisp apple, some white peach, and yellow pear. The fruit and other elements mingle with some high toned florals and a bit of (probably) oaky spice, and is very alluring.

On the palate this wine is at once light and concentrated. There’s a lifted, acid forward entry, followed quickly by a fairly deep mid palate with the same ripe orchard fruits and a tiny bit of fresh dough. The mineral hit finish is salty and spicy, clean and long, concluding an excellent wine.

I tracked this for a couple of days and that bread/dough flavor never really took hold, but a pyrazine bitterness did. Having had a 7 year old 2016 of this, I suspect this will gain in complexity as the spice and mineral evolves. Next bottle in 2-3 years.

10/14/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Expression. Long natural cork with a tiny bit of seepage but also strange in that it says “viña tondonia,” which may be common to all their wines, I don’t know.

The nose is powerful with sweet red cherries, sweet herbs that I’ve come to associate with “tobacco,” and new leather. There’s a strong vanillin aroma as well, giving away the considerable oak. Finally, a faint hint of heat mars an otherwise lovely nose.

On the palate this wine is much brighter than I expected. Primary and forward, it hits you right away with sour cherries and segues into a full mid palate of prominent red fruit. The acid is strong here, lending with the cherry a sweet balsamic flavor but isn’t so out of balance to seem vinegary as some have felt in their notes. There also lurk some herb and leather flavors in the middle, but not every taste. Oak again comes out on the close, with vanilla smoothness and a surprisingly prominent drying tannic structure that is nonetheless fine and not obtrusive. The acid takes on a lactic tenor.

The wine has notable shoulders but is still on the svelte side. Right now the balance is good. This structure suggests the next bottle should be opened in 5-10 or so years, but could probably go longer. At that point, more complexity seems likely, although if the fruit fades too quickly and the acid and tannin do not evolve much, this will fall out of balance. Time will tell!

10/9/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

100% chardonnay from Grand Cru Chouilly. Dosage 3g/L. Triage first half of 2013, but no disgorgement information; googling suggests 7 years. Popped and poured into Glasvin Champagne stems.

Pours a light golden hue, with a quite vigorous mousse that settles into a very fine bead. The aromas are initially a bit reduced, giving off a bit of flint. But also there is a bright, lemony, flowery bouquet backed by a dollop of sweet cream. Really enticing nose.

On the palate there is a lot of energy and a fine line of acid and a good dose of stones. The mid palate starts with sweet Meyer lemon, takes on a tiny bit of yellow apple, and ends with fresh brioche. The depth of that lemony fruit is excellent. The texture is plush but driven, and the finish is long, lemon curd inflected, and stony.

This wine feels young and primary, but lovely and lively. We had a lot to celebrate with it, and it delivered perfectly. I only wish I had more to see how the Maillard develops.

9/29/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a VYCE stemless from cellar temp. A tiny bit of seepage up the long natural cork.

The nose is captivating, full of bright ripe strawberries, but also some macerated berry thickness. There’s a big crush of pepper, too. I’d say floral laciness as well, but a good freshly crushed black pepper has those notes.

All that leads to a surprisingly lithe palate, bright and silky, but with a note of earthy bitterness to dance with the strawberry and sweet spices in the mid palate. The structure feels just there enough to stand up to the deep core of fruit. The finish is nice and full, rich with the suggestion of sweet red fruit without being sweet, but doesn’t add anything additional to the party, nor does it need to. This is really enjoyable. It’s in great balance right now but I think is near the end of its peak. Drink in the next year or two I’d say.

9/21/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Liberté at cellar temperature. Per MFW harvested at 82 Oeschle, and per vom boden from a vineyard that lay dormant until recently being picked up and replanted by the Lauers. 8% ABV.

Immediately, the nose explodes with spices and herbs. I’m getting a nice garam masala at times, and mint lemonade at others. Just beautifully expressive and includes some lush yellow fruit as well in the bouquet.

The palate is absolutely stunning with a softness and lightness that belies its immense concentration of more spice and herb. In Lauer style the acid is prominent but balanced. Unlike some 21ers, I find the balance between fruit and acid much better in this 20er, more tension between the poles that makes a more compelling drink. The finish is long and redolent of the pears and apples that came before, seasoned as expected, and well salted at the end. On day 3 I was surprised this lost a little verve/acid so quickly, beginning to taste like white peach juice, but otherwise this is a beautiful wine and I’d love to see how it ages.

9/19/2023 - Bagwhat wrote:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Liberte. Wax tipped, shortish natural cork that shares the vineyard’s location in Montigny.

The first sniff of this wine was off putting, to say the least. Something of an unholy cross beteeen VA and Brett. The palate was similarly flawed, tasting like chemicals. But I had a feeling some of that would blow off, so recorked and refrigerated it. 24 hours later I was proven partly right. Most of the foulness was gone, and the nose was now redolent of yellow apples and toasted nuts befitting a sous voile chardonnay, but also a pleasing mineral/stony note. The palate was similar, though less nutty than I would expect. Unfortunately the acid makeup remained seriously out of balance, and some sips were quite vinegary while others were pure. Overall the flavors weren’t precise, but I’m not sure I can say that’s anything but whatever flaw this has going on. The finish too was clipped, maybe faulty.

9/11/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Universal at cellar temp. Natural cork. 45 g/L of RS, 8% ABV. By report harvested at 80 Oeschle.

Aromas burst with cool green apple, minty herbs, and wet stones. The palate is energetic and tense, squeezing your salivary glands with salted limeade. The drive is excellent, and if the mid palate is slightly one-dimensional, it does segue into a nice long finish dominated by the introduction of sharp ginger (totally agree with MFW here).

This was a notably demonstrative wine. Precise to the point that I could pinpoint aromas and flavors and find them again in the same place. Really interesting and lovely, and not overripe, if a bit straightforward. There is a notable lack of creaminess here. Interested to try others from this range.

9/8/2023 - Bagwhat wrote:

Natural cork. From a vineyard (Rive or Bettolotti? Both are now included but not sure which was featured in 2013) in La Morra, with its Tortonian soils supposedly giving more perfumed and softer wines. 14.5%. Aged for 24 months in Swiss oak. Decanted, and tasted from a Glasvin Expression.

Hot nose with a little tar stretching out. After just 5 minutes some of the classic sweet red fruit and rose petal aromatics emerge.

After 3 hours in the decanter, the wine is medium to medium full bodied, with a lithe palate entry that transitions into a soft but somewhat thin core. There, fruit is secondary to earthier flavors of soil and leaves and tar. What fruit is there is subdued cherry, and framed by strong acids, solid though soft tannins, and clean minerals. The finish is medium in length, and doesn’t add much. Moreover, it is marred by a touch of heat that does fade over several hours in the decanter.

This has classic Barolo aromas and is from a heralded vintage. The wine is structured, aromatic, and acid forward, but I did feel the fruit was somewhat lacking, and the alcohol to be a bit intrusive. I’ll check in on day 2-3, but at $40 you’re not far from better regarded examples of the appellation.

On day 2 and 3 the volume has filled in a bit on the middle with mostly spices. Still not fruit forward but that’s okay. The heat is receded a bit but this plus acid still feels a little bit out of balance with the overall shape of the wine being driven too pointy.

8/18/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Grassl Cru, which was then sipped two hours later.

The nose on first sniff is alluring and red fruited, redolent of raspberries and strawberries and cherries, but two hours later these are tossed in some wet earth and a hint for a really pleasingly deep bouquet. The palate is similarly fruit toned, but there is a pronounced stemminess that veers toward a bitter herbal amaro on the back and and into the medium length finish. There is a nice line of acid that persists through the fruit and into the herb. This is less balanced than it was 6 months ago (more bitterness, less fruit) and it feels like the fruit is taking a nap for now. Maybe though it’s bottle variation.

Edit: on day 2, the core of fruit was unboxed and went nicely against that stemmy herbal bitterness. This felt much more in balance, and allowed focus to be directed to the svelte shape of the wine. The texture is one of silk, rather than velvet, and the wine sort of flits over your palate and just stains the back end. Much nicer today than yesterday. Next bottle in ~2 years.

8/14/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Natural cork with moldy top opened using a Durand, though it came out without any difficulty. Poured into a Grassl Liberte.

Greets with a profoundly spicy diesel nose, lurking underneath thought is a pleasant peach or pear aroma girdled by lemon lime zest.

On the palate, the fruit takes the foreground on a slightly viscous texture. There is pear and apple but especially lemon juice. The acid picks up somewhere in the middle and runs, leaving a mineral, quite spicy and complex finish. The overall impression is like today’s riper kabinett flavors but with more heft to it. It feels a bit tired, but already over the first hour is adding to itself. Will check in over the next couple of days.

On subsequent days the nose quieted and the fruit did as well. This ended up with the puckering feeling of straight lemon juice, a bit unbalanced. Probably too over the hill to last multiple days. Definitely a drink now wine.

8/9/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Uni from fridge temperature. Screwcap. Per Mr Panzer, 69 g/L of RS, 9.6 g/L of acid, and boy do those both show.

Initially smoky nose that gives a pronounced cooling sensation but without much fruit at this stage. Maybe a dumb phase?

The palate, on the other hand, slaps you in the face with thick tropical fruits. Pineapple, peach, papaya all came to play. There is a creaminess filling the mid palate, but the back end of this is pure 2021 acid, lemon and grapefruit zingers that lift it up. At this stage, the fruit and acid are a little disjointed, fruit taking a left turn into acid rather than coiling together. I think over time this will settle in (will check in over a few days), and this is an insane value at $16. This doesn’t feel like a Kabi, but it’s delicious.

Edit: days 2 and 3 indeed were a more cohesive whole, though I actually think it lost a little intensity on both sides (fruit and acid) in the process. Nevertheless this feels more complete now, and this wine should improve over the next 1-5 years. The nose too is awakening and peach and pear now have a prominent place there.

8/7/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured at We are Slow Burn’s visit to Heavy Metal Sausage. Popped and poured, followed over two hours.

On open, the nose was aggressively mushroomy. Not foul or fetid, just surprisingly fungal. Swirling and time brought out stone fruit and honey. In particular this felt (smelt) like a savory dish involving mushrooms and apricots. The palate, however, did not go the way I expected. I expect this to have a load of VA, or mousiness, or just lack of appeal. But actually this was charming. Soft on the entry but light on its feet. There is clearly a botrytis influence here, and that honeyed mushroom nose does persist on the palate. But the acid through line doesn’t waver and holds up, and this wine brings weight but also cut to the playing field. I’m not sure I would sip this solo, but with all the fermented goods at dinner this was an incredible pair. One knock, this to me has no recognizable Sauvignon blanc typicity or Sancerre characteristics, no citrus and no grass, just honey and apricots and mushrooms swirling around.

7/31/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Bottled under Diam 5. Largely consistent with my note from 6 months ago: still slightly reduced and flinty, still with lively orchard fruit and a ringing line of acid. The finish is compact and linear but persistent, flinty, and almost salty. It is its own thing, but it’s not hard to squint and see Chablis here.

7/30/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

By the glass at Irwin’s. Slightly effervescent and burnt siena in color. “A blend of cesanese, montepulciano, and bellone.” This wine drank more orange than rose. Full bodied, and really sappy fruit, with a faint stink of brett and of VA. It worked really well here because of the intense fruit, which read almost syrupy. The overall effect was of a sort of vinous balsamic vinegar. With the understanding that doesn’t sound like a nice wine, this was a really nice wine. Particularly, some herbal elements on the medium length finish really caught the herbs in a tomato tart, and the fruit/acid interplay was a perfect foil for the tomatoes.

7/22/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured, drank on the roof. Bottled under DIAM5.

The nose wasn’t the most powerful, but gave off salt and citrus to set a theme that would return. The palate is lively, with an energetic entry leading to a surprisingly thick middle, full of citrus and salts. It reminds me of when I learned that bartenders trick to salt the drink, not the rim. The spine of acid never disappears and carries through into a decently long finish that doesn’t offer any new ideas (but why should it?). An incredible wine at this price

7/22/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Delicious, light, summer fruited, acid, mineral. I love this wine, and I never pay enough attention to it because it’s so delicious that it disappears

7/20/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Consistent with my prior note. Brambly fruit, medium acid, little tannin, just a great BYO dinner wine. With a chill it goes with nearly everything. It got a little lost in a pig’s blood lasagna, but sung with a bone-in roasted fish with a fennel and tomato sauce. The fruit and acid really shone tonight.

7/16/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Tasted from magnum by the glass at Beddia. A second glass later was very different. More sponti, more funk. Still great, but different. Either the difference between a long-opened bottle and a new one, or a different vintage (I saw a bottle of 2020 around). This first glass was spectacular:

Pretty, powerful nose of herbs and cream, apples and pears, stonedust and smoke, and some spice and ginger. The palate entry is electric with a current that carries until the end. The mid palate fruit is incredibly deep, like peering into a barrel of yellow orange tropics. There’s some mango hiding in a bushel of apples, lemon zest on pineapple. The finish is a swirl of cream and fruit and cumin and herb, backed by intense mineral and rippling acids but girdled by a creaminess that leaves it neither feeling austere, nor lush. Instead there is nervous energy everywhere and it leaves you tingling.

7/12/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

Popped and poured into a Glasvin Universal. Natural cork.

Initially flinty nose gives way to scents of lemon zest and honey crisp apples accented with lifted floral elements. The palate is lifted in entry, very minerally on exit. The acid drives through this but makes room for apple and lemon again on the palate. Overall this is light bodied and energetic and a really nice summer wine, if nothing to write home about. More mid palate density would technically be nice but maybe would change the tone of this into something different and possibly not better for it.

Edit: after two days, the palate has fleshed out and more fruit has emerged along with some riper tones

6/29/2023 - Bagwhat wrote:

Popped and poured. High quality seeming natural cork. Chilled, this had a fairly expressive nose of flinty smoke, cream or butter, and yellow fruits from pear to apple but also some lemon. To taste, this wine has a little low energy on entry, though the acid does pick up in the mid palate. The dominant feature is oak to me, both butter and bitter notes. Could be pyrazines I suppose. The mid palate is lighter than the nose suggests, but the fruit is also somewhat lacking, though tropical in tinge. The finish isn’t that long, but it is quite salty actually, which adds a good dash of interest and kept me coming back to the glass.

6/24/2023 - Bagwhat Likes this wine:

From magnum, under synthetic cork. It’s lost it’s effervescence somewhat, though a faint spritz remains. Lightly fruited, saline, and minerally driven. This was a big hit at a summer bbq, and a beautiful pair with the warm summer sun, salads, and bbq chicken.