2/23/2024 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked.

4/11/2023 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked AF. What a bummer.

7/8/2022 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked.

12/4/2021 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked. Damnit.

9/2/2021 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked. Shit!

5/31/2021 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked AF.

9/5/2020 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked, damnit.

1/29/2020 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked. Damnit. This wine is great when it's on.

9/23/2018 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked!

1/22/2017 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked!

12/9/2016 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked.

2/7/2014 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked.

10/10/2013 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Lively, edgy, fruity aroma. This has some spritz on first pour from the dissolved CO2 and needs to be decanted to let it blow off. Then deep, red-fruited Trousseau, but fun and playful, not too serious. Since this vintage first hit US shores, it has really put on some weight and the fruit has come to the foreground. It is quite a dramatic improvement from when I first tasted it. Very drinkable at 11.5%.

10/7/2013 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked.

3/2/2013 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Some weird, bacterial stuff going on here, unfortunately.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Nose of wool, apple and almond. This was more off-dry than sweet, but it was a fine line. More developed than I expected. What was that about Huet not aging in a linear fashion? Real class and breed here, regardless. One of the better wines on the (coffee) table.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Served blind. Very ripe, dark fruited again. Hotter, higher octane. One person says mint, but I am not getting it. I have no idea about this one. Others are guessing Cabernet, and I adamantly register my opinion that this is not Bordeaux. But my guesses are terrible - like older, very ripe Australian Shiraz terrible - so I suppose I am just not very good at this blind tasting business. Either that, or the wine has just been ripened to a point that the pyrazines I am used to smelling in Cab aren't there. I don't pretend to understand the biology or chemistry of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to try the wine, but this does nothing for me.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Served blind. Some brick color around the edges. Very ripe, dark fruited nose. Licorice. Developed. Most of us are certain it is from the south of France, or nearby. I guess older Chateauneuf from a producer that is more modern in style. Not quite right, but no matter, this is not my kind of thing anyway. It does have some nice tertiary aromatics, and I think we were all more or less able to narrow down its origin enough that we ought to give credit for being true to its character.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Started out on the red fruit side of the spectrum, trended darker with air. Very earthy. Shows its Morey character. Nothing stood out about this, and perhaps that is a good thing. I thought a previous bottle about a year ago was in a better place, but this was just fine with roast chicken and potatoes and will last quite awhile. Nice for a village wine.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Much less fleshy than the 2009 Ganevat Trousseau that preceded this. And a more restrained nose. Some nice leafy elements, complex. One can see the potential, and I quite like this, but now is perhaps not the best time to be popping this bottle. I need to find out how this is made because it reminded me quite a lot of a partial whole-cluster, semi-carbonic style that you sometimes see in certain cru Beaujolais. Just a guess.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Double decanted to get rid of a little dissolved CO2. Beautiful black cherry nose, ripe, the warm vintage showing itself just a little. On the fuller side in the mouth, but offset by some real texture, as if there were particles in suspension in the wine (perhaps there are). Ripeness on the palate is balanced by a savory, almost bitter note on the finish, which is masterful, if you ask me. People say Ganevat's whites are at another level than the reds. While that may be true, it should be considered no knock on the reds. I think they are fantastic too.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Very nice ripeness for a Kabinett. More weight than the Clemens Busch, but in need of more acid to balance the residual sugar. That shouldn't have been a problem in 2010. Was this de-acidified? Still, the flavors are mouthwatering and this is good for its level. Tough matchup against tonight's competition.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: If this was in an opaque glass and poured blind, I am not sure I would know from the nose alone whether this was white or red. It smelled musky, almost meaty. Good, but I am more impressed by the palate. Rocky, Savagnin goodness. The acidity just etches the flavors onto your tongue. Detailed, layered. Sturdy, confident. This is perhaps the wine of the night.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: This was served blind, but I knew what it was. Guesses were all over the map at first, and it took awhile before people even got the variety correct. Slightly off-dry, very high acid, the group thinks this is currently tight. Having had the wine before, I felt like something was stripping the flavors and aromas a bit, and for a moment I guessed that it might be mildly corked. Not enough to ruin the wine, but I couldn't get past it. Others did not agree, but in any event no one was that thrilled with this.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: Gorgeous nose, and a layered, complex palate. Lemons. Minerals. Very precise. I think there is a very small bit of residual sugar despite the GG designation, which gives this a nice roundness. One of the better wines of the evening. This went fast.

7/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Dinner and MMA at Dr. Culang's: This seems richer than the other 2010 De Moor wines I have tasted, but with crisp lemony fruit that finishes fresh and savory. No trace of the lactic note I detected on a recent 2010 Bel Air et Clardy. Balanced. I would love to put a few of these away for a few years, but the potential is quite evident even now.

3/29/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Lightly corked.

3/16/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

I don't get to drink a lot of old Oregon Pinot, but this convinced me that the wines can in fact be cellared. The fruit has not gone anywhere - it's still there, sweeter than I might have wanted, actually. You could never mistake this for Burgundy - it is so primordially Oregon Pinot that I can do nothing but sit here in awe as I am reminded of the 2008, which this smells and tastes almost exactly as this must have tasted at the same stage of its evolution.

3/16/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

First vintage of Domaine Drouhin...corked.

3/14/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

What a classic expression of topped-up Savagnin for such a new winemaker! There are some green apple flavors at first and a honeyed richness, which are vaguely reminiscent of Chenin, but they are simultaneously contrasted with saline, slightly oxidative notes and nuts that never allow you to doubt that this is Savagnin from the Jura. The finish on this is also remarkably persistent, something I was not expecting. A bargain if you are a fan of the region.

1/13/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

A bit shrill and musty on the nose. Strong presence of wood tannins on the palate. Seems like it is the oak treatment, but I suppose it could be in part due to the vintage. At first I thought this might be very mildly corked but I was talked out of it (probably correctly) by other tasters. Beneath all that there is some medium-depth red fruit and a bit of the d'Angerville character, but it really takes effort to find it.

1/13/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Tropical and oaky. Fat. This had a decent mouthfeel and was certainly very forward in its flavors and aromas, but that is not what I am looking for in Rhys. If you served this to me blind and said this is a Cali Chard, I would have come away mildly impressed. From Rhys I expect more delineation and character, and less of a tropical profile.

1/13/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Strong green pepper aromas and flavors. Very clear Chinon character. A touch of brett that I enjoyed, but it was controversial. Silky texture and a real presence. Perhaps a bit clipped on the finish.

1/13/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Austere, high-acid, but complex. Intellectually appealing if not hedonistically so. Pretty damn close to mature. Expressive and typical.

1/13/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

I wanted to see what Amoureuses tasted like. This tastes like oaky, anonymous Pinot. From what I have read, that is not what Amoureuses is supposed to taste like. $60 Amoureuses? You get what you pay for.

1/7/2012 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Well, shit. I bought a single bottle of this, wanting to try it before I loaded up in quantity, and of course now that I finally got around to trying it, it turns out to be a great value. Such a great value, in fact, that there is none of this vintage remaining for sale in the United States. Young, balanced, just interesting enough to make you notice it at the table, but still quaffable enough that it would not detract from a range of hearty winter fare. Tasty.

12/29/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Corked. @#*$%&@#%!

11/18/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Not anything at all like last time. Still clearly a well made wine, but the oak was dominant and I did not pick up on the tension that I previously loved. Still refined, still fruit-forward, still somewhat complex, but I'm afraid it's not as pure, not as Volnay, as I used to think.

11/18/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Blah. Way too international for me. I can buy buttered popcorn much closer than Burgundy. Can this really be a representative bottle?

11/15/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

I remember liking this more the last time I had it and it isn't revealing much, so perhaps it is closing down. It shows regional typicity and correct flavors, I suppose, but there is nothing intriguing happening here. The acidity sticks out in a bad way and the rest of the material is just not in a position to compete. With food, this is acceptable, but that's about it.

11/14/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Cooked. Reminded me of some recently tasted, and cooked, Domaine de la Grange des Peres. A shame, but fortunately we had a number of other really nice wines to make up for it.

11/14/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Nice, with that Chablis cobweb thing on the nose, but much more intense and clear on the palate. Outshone by a Raveneau this evening. This wine was a little too young still - it needs about five plus years.

11/14/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

From magnum. Started out clean. Developed some good Verset funk with time. Definitely competed for wine of the night honors among a solid Northern Rhone lineup, even if it was 10 years too young.

11/13/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Quite light in color, though darker than the 2008. The wine composes itself quickly, not taking long at all to reach a consistent aroma that changes little. There is a slightly buzzing spritz at first, but with time this recedes. Tart cranberry on the palate, but with a savory, herbal streak running down the middle. Light to medium bodied. Not especially complex, but quite delicious nonetheless. I love that this clocks in at 12.3%. I could drink it all day.

11/4/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Though this is great on first pour it really shines after some time in the decanter. Very open aromatics. The wine is red-fruited, but it is a deep red fruit with a profound sense of purity that I really appreciate. There is a mineral kick on the back end that is perhaps not for everyone although it is right in my wheelhouse. You might be able to pick up a slight touch of oak too, but in conjunction with the fresh acids, I am not complaining.

11/4/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Slightly oxidative style, but with a prominent fruit-driven richness. Versatile food wine, handling sushi with no problem. This was a gorgeous wine that can go for many more years in the cellar. I have had three or four different Gahier wines now and I have yet to be disappointed. This guy is seriously underrated.

9/25/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

The cork on this was branded Cuvee Prestige, although the label did not say as much. I have had this open for a few days now (corked up in the fridge) and it is not the sort of wine you can drink a lot of in a sitting, but it has a real presence, is nutty (chestnuts?) and savory in its way and it can be rewarding in quantities of one glass or less. Don't drink it on its own. This is especially nice matched with some stinky, funky cheeses.

9/25/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

It has been awhile since I drank a wine that basically grabbed me and screamed in my face, "I am from Cote Rotie!" This did. It had that roasted meatiness to it, that savory, leathery, smokey facet to it. It quite literally brought the words Cote Rotie to mind. There was a mild suggestion of licorice, and also of olive, if you paid attention. Not really much fruit though, although I don't care. Why would you want fruit when the wine tastes like this? I suppose one could argue that for a second the wine feels just a little hollow on the mid-palate without the fruit, but it also feels intentional in a way, or at least it feels like the wine is just being honest. I like honesty.

9/25/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

A nice wine, but perhaps somewhat outclassed by the other wines tonight. On the one hand, I like the minerally restraint this shows, but on the other, it lacks the depth and finish that really leave an impression, like the 2008 Bouchet did in my opinion. Perhaps it needs to unfurl a bit. I have left some corked up in the fridge to evaluate later.

9/25/2011 - TheBusiness724 wrote:

Young but impressive. A very perfumed nose, like inhaling powdered soil and flowers. This was an elegant wine with, for me, just the right amount of weight. The tannin is the sort you can feel on your gums, but it is very fine and indicates that this could really shine with some time in the cellar. After a couple of hours, the fruit started to come out and play. This wine would be great at Thanksgiving, five years from now.