5/13/2024 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Drinking beautifully now. Lovely fruit, good balance, medium long finish, tannins resolved, no sharp edges anywhere in sight. We finished this bottle within 2 hours after opening; I didn't think it was evolving much in the last 30 minutes. Not sure there's much upside to waiting to drink additional bottles.

4/13/2024 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Exceptional. Enjoyed over dinner at an excellent restaurant (main dishes were pork in a red wine sauce and a strip steak). 30 years in, this wine is fully mature but at least this bottle still had lots of time left. This is a full-bodied wine, with gorgeous fruit, great structure, and a wonderful long finish. One of the best California reds I have had in quite some time. While this is unmistakably a California wine, it has complexity, structure and nuance -- it's not an OTT "fruit bomb". I have had many bottles of the 1999 Insignia over the years -- I thought this was even better and doesn't seem even close to decline.

1/25/2024 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Despite the CT drinking window "closing" in 2017, this wine was still singing over an excellent Italian dinner at Cucina Alba in NYC. I understand this wasn't a "great" vintage, and Costanti didn't bottle a Riserva -- maybe that helped this. Lovely fruit, long finish, very well balanced. Terrific Sangiovese from one of my favorite Brunello producers.

2/4/2024 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Opened an hour before dinner (prime NY strips grilled over wood charcoal). Great nose and drinking beautifully. The TNs for this over the past two years are quite consistent and right on the mark. The wine is fully mature, very well balanced, no hard edges, just great Brunello. Unfortunately, my last bottle. Thanks again to the somm at Fiola in Miami who recommended this highly two years ago -- I did not know the producer.

12/3/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Very full bodied, with still vibrant fruit, good balance and a long finish. It was opened, decanted and served before our main courses arrived, and was drinking very well after just a few minutes. It held up well, even improved over the next 90 minutes. This will never be mistaken for a Grand Cru from the Medoc, but it's a fine specimen of unapologetic California Cab. It was a bargain when purchased, and seems fairly priced at current retail compared with so many Cali cabs. Plenty of life ahead. If this bottle is representative, the CT drinking window needs to be extended substantially.

10/28/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

I've never had a disappointing bottle of the Merry Edwards SB, and the 2018 did not break that string. Medium full bodied and round, with lovely fruit, but not over-oaked or a "fruit bomb". I didn't have the same experience as the recent reviewer who said it faded after 30 minutes: it was very good right out of the gate, and not only held up but improved over the course of dinner (~90 minutes).

For those unfamiliar with this wine, this is a very unusual California SB -- I'd be surprised if most people drinking it blind would even identify the varietal -- in that it consistently offers great power and rich and complex fruit flavors that are more often found in a Chardonnay. It bears no resemblance to, say, a typical New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, or most of the Cali versions. It has few legitimate Cali rivals -- the Peter Michael L'Apres Midi is the one that comes to mind and that's also consistently excellent but costs a great deal more. I think the Merry Edwards is usually a little fatter and less refined and detailed than the PM, so perhaps it's true that you get what you pay for. All in all, the Merry Edwards is a consistently excellent wine at a very fair price point. Highly recommended.

10/21/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

One of the great California Chardonnay bargains I've encountered in recent years. It offers the rich, beautiful fruit one expects from California, but it has fine structure and cut. It benefits from some air and was drinking beautifully after 30-45 minutes. A "dinner wine" that will pair well with richer fish preparations, chicken or pork. Excellent.

10/21/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Magnificent.

I was lucky enough to have purchased a half dozen bottles of this wine shortly after release. A decade later, I was pleased to see that this specific vintage (the '01) was included in "1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die" (edited by Neil Beckett). That is certainly true, and, unlike many of the far more famous wines in that volume, the Aalto PS is not exactly a household name. It should be.

Even at age 22, this is a wine of great power. It not, however, a "fruit bomb" but a perfectly balanced wine with a wonderful long finish. It is a wine to enjoy with a hearty dinner, and pairs beautifully with red meat, game or even (as I found last night) a perfectly roasted chicken. If anything, this bottle (a Christmas gift in '22) was in even better shape than the last one I had.

If you haven't experienced a great Ribera del Duero, this is a superb place to start -- and at a small fraction of the price of Vega Sicilia's offerings, it is an astonishing bargain.

10/2/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

My very last bottle, and, while still enjoyable, it was definitely time to drink it up. The tannins are completely resolved, but the fruit has faded and the structure and length are receding as well. I've had a bottle of this in '21, '22 and now '23 and it has aged markedly over that period. Few cases of wine I've ever bought have given more pleasure.

10/2/2023 - Valaprop wrote:

This was a rare disappointing bottle of Cervaro. It was short on fruit, minerality and structure. It wasn't flawed or apparently damaged by age, but just didn't have any of the energy or complexity that I associate with this wine.

8/31/2023 - Valaprop Does not like this wine:

First bottle from a case. Showing signs of oxidation. Maybe a flawed bottle. Improved somewhat with air but still quite disappointing: great producer; celebrated vintage and the wine ought to be entering its prime drinking window. I hope the next bottles are better. Recently had a bottle of the '14 Laroche Blanchots, purchased at the same time, which was drinking well.

8/26/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Originally bought 6 bottles (for $32/per). Drank several during the pandemic and had been somewhat disappointed with this in the past. This last bottle was by far the best. Drank with steak dinner, then stoppered and poured the following evening with cheese before dinner. Enjoyable the first night and even better the second. Much more richness, depth and length than prior bottles, which had seemed very short on the finish and surprisingly tired. This had lovely fruit, medium weight, nice mouthfeel and felt like it had plenty of life ahead.

8/4/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This bottle was still in its "prime" drinking window. Very, very rich, with a long finish. This isn't my favorite style of Chardonnay, but it does what it does at a very high level, and it has exceptional longevity for a "big" Cali Chard.

7/29/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Nothing wrong with this bottle of pleasant, traditional Rioja, but it was less compelling than most of the LdH Riojas I've had. It didn't seem to me to be too youthful, nor did it evolve very much with a decant and over the course of dinner. Recently, in this price range, I've been more impressed by the La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza bottlings.

7/28/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This time we did not decant the wine and opened it less than 30 minutes before dinner. The results were better than previous bottle (2 years ago). The wine has lovely fruit flavors and mouthfeel, and it worked very well with rare steaks. However, it doesn't have the complexity and structure of a great Bordeaux, notwithstanding Parker's 97 points, "amazing" and a "modern day classic". It started to "run out of gas" about 90 minutes in (by which time we were almost done with the bottle, so no harm). I don't see this getting better with more age, and I do not recommend decanting or opening much before consumption.

7/22/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Decanted for about 60-90 minutes. Dark red, almost purple. Huge. Extremely rich. Remarkable fruit. No longer conspicuously tannic; no sharp edges. Seems to be in its prime drinking window. Perhaps it will develop a bit more complexity and subtlety with more time. At present, this seemed to me to Tempranillo what some of the more massive California Cabs are to CS.

7/21/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This wine is still extremely young. Right after opening, very tight and disorganized. After a double decant and then 90 minutes, it started to open up and come together and it kept improving for the next hour or more (the score reflects our assessment a couple of hours after opening. Rich, with no hard edges. I won't open another bottle for a couple of years.

7/20/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Didn't know what to expect from this 20 year old bottle. Opened (but not decanted) about 90-120 minutes before we started drinking it (with excellent NY strip steak). It was a wonderful surprise. I thought it would be thinned out or thinning at least. Not at all: it had plenty of stuffing. Beautiful fruit, complex flavors, long finish. Lovely round old-world Pinot Noir. Drunk alongside a 2009 Chambolle 1er Cru from Drouhin; the Laurent from '03 blew away the wine from the much more highly touted vintage. Some takeaways: (1) as I've noted before, the drinking window of a fine red Burgundy is often much longer than the "expert" reviews would indicate. At 20, this wine appears to have at least a few years of satisfying life ahead. I don't know whether the better producers have since changed the way they make their wines, so that they drink better when young and perhaps don't last as long. (2) It is nowhere more true than in Burgundy that the producer is more important than the vintage.

6/10/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Consistent with Caruso's TNs, this wine is simply delightful. Every time I have served it, guests ask "What is this? It's DELICIOUS." Terrific structure, "cut", minerality and fruit. Nothing to excess. A serious bargain to boot. Sadly, I'm running out of the case I bought during the pandemic. Italian Chardonnay has certainly arrived! Stylistically, this is much closer to Burgundy than to California, but comes at a fraction of the cost of any Chardonnay of comparable quality that I've tasted in recent years from either one. Highly recommended!

6/10/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Excellent, well-balanced, full-bodied red for a steak dinner. Ridiculous value (cost about $20 when purchased). Drinking perfectly right now, probably isn't improving at this stage but seems to have plenty of life ahead.

5/6/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

In a word, huge. I was not prepared for the sheer power of this wine, nor for its apparent youthful state. The fruit is spectacular, but it overshadowed everything else. This was my only bottle; if I had more, I would not touch them for several years. May have a long and wonderful future ahead.

1/28/2023 - Valaprop wrote:

I was expecting more, based on a '20 tasting. This struck me as rather typical, very fruit forward Cali Chard. Reminded me of a Beringer PR Chardonnay. The fruit is very tasty, but it kind of punches you in the face. Lacks the structure, complexity and subtleties of a great Chardonnay.

1/28/2023 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

I've had the pleasure of drinking this wine over many years, and remarkably, this was the very finest bottle I've had. Opened about 45 minutes before we sat down to some good grilled steaks, this was absolutely singing when we tasted it, and it only got better for the next 2 hours. The critics' and CT drinking windows have expired, which only illustrates the limitations of those recommendations. This was a majestic Cabernet blend in its prime -- which appeared likely to last another several years. Gorgeous fruit, great complexity, great length. Nothing about this wine is excessive or out of balance. It puts the lie to everything critics of Cali Cab rightly criticize. Bravo!

11/24/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Vibrant, very youthful at age 21. My guess is that this will be drinking well for at least another 10-15 years. Gorgeous fruit, fine structure, just kept getting better for hours. These wines have exploded in price, and justifiably, as they were absurdly inexpensive for a long time. Today, even at well over $100, this is a compelling option for a fine, rationally priced red dinner wine. It has enough body to be paired with red meat, but works well with lighter fare. It can be consumed with great pleasure now or cellared for many years.

11/7/2022 - Valaprop wrote:

Definitely much less engaging than the last bottle (late '21). Pleasant and nothing off-putting, but monolithic and kind of tired.

11/5/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

My last bottle from a case purchased soon after release, I had saved this for a very special occasion. Enjoyed at a wonderful restaurant with my son on my birthday, with superb rack of lamb.

Though the critics have this as "old", and it's 5 years past the CT drinking window, and despite the restaurant's report that the cork crumbled when they opened it, after decanting for about 60-90 minutes, it was absolutely singing. The fruit was livelier than I remember the last bottle being two years ago. Great length and complexity. The finest bottle of Ribera del Duero I've ever had, and up there with the best Tempranillo (Murrieta Ygay '05 and an LRA Gran Riserva I had at Lasarte in Barcelona are the most memorable competitors). Spectacular!

11/4/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Even better than the last bottle I had. Appears to be in its prime -- it would be shocking if this wine were to get even better. QPR is just remarkable. Unlike my last bottle, the cork on this was perfect. So was the fruit, the length, the balance and the finish. So much going on in this ca. $30 wine. Wonderful complement to some great grilled prime strip steaks.

10/30/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Rich, full-bodied white with plenty of stuffing. It made a fine pairing with grilled pork chops -- indeed, this wine is probably a better match with "lighter" meat than with fish. Seems to have plenty of life ahead.

10/9/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Brought to restaurant and enjoyed with bone in NY strips. The somm was a bit aggressive, or optimistic, when lifting the cork, which cracked after it was about 75% out and the wine had to be filtered and decanted. I suspect it would have been fine with a slower pull -- but in any event, the wine was drinking beautifully just minutes after the pour and it only improved over the next hour. This was always medium weight, never a fruit bomb, and 23 years in, it's all about subtlety, complexity, harmony and finesse. If I were drinking this blind, I might have thought it was from Pauillac. The tannins have softened completely. Just delightful. No reason to wait on remaining bottles, but I'm looking forward to my last two.

8/29/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Cervaro, as the cliche goes, seems to go from strength to strength. This 2015 was popped and poured before a fabulous Italian tasting dinner (1996, 2000 and 2001 Barolo and a fabulous 2001 Soldera BdM Riserva). Enjoyed with pate de campagne and mousse truffee on sliced baguettes. This was as good as any Cervaro I have had -- crisp, clean, beautiful fruit and minerality. Perfect weight and balance. To me, this wine consistently challenges 1er Crus Puligny-Montrachet, at a vastly more modest price point (even though the price of the Cervaro has risen in recent years). It's hard to resist drinking this all the time.

8/30/2022 - Valaprop wrote:

Spectacular Italian tasting dinner. 2000 Scavino Bric del Fiasc. 2000 Scavino Carobric. 2001 Soldera BdM Riserva. 2001 Conterno Fantino Sori Ginestra. 1996 G. Mascarello Monprivato. All wines decanted for 1-2 hours. Dinner: pate, seared tuna, NY strip steak, cheese platter.

The Conterno Fantino Sori Ginestra was outstanding. The wine is fully mature, and closer to the end than the beginning of its prime. By contrast with the Scavino wines, this wine seemed more "old school", with the fruit less forward and the structure more pronounced. While it is a powerful wine, the detail is amazing and the finish very long.

I thought this was very close to the WOTN, and the competition was ferocious. The Soldera was the unanimous favorite of our dinner party of 4, and I don't disagree but I rated the Conterno Fantino second.

8/29/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Spectacular Italian tasting dinner. 2000 Scavino Bric del Fiasc. 2000 Scavino Carobric. 2001 Soldera BdM Riserva. 2001 Conterno Fantino Sori Ginestra. 1996 G. Mascarello Monprivato. All wines decanted for 1-2 hours. Dinner: pate, seared tuna, NY strip steak, cheese platter.

The Bric del Fiasc was drinking superbly -- more restrained and, I thought, better balanced than the Carobric, which was also beautiful and had more prominent fruit. Contrary to the CT consensus, this bottle of the Fiasc (which has been in my cellar since shortly after release) was squarely in the middle of its optimal drinking window and a properly stored bottle surely has several glorious years ahead of it. This definitely tilts toward the "modern" style, but it is very well structured and has great complexity and length. Along with the 1997 Rocche dell'Annunziata, this is the finest wine I have ever had from Scavino. I probably would rate it even higher if I hadn't enjoyed it in such mind-blowing company -- especially the Soldera (which was a 98+) and the Conterno Fantino (97+).

8/28/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Drank with dinner of grilled marinated tuna and salmon, and sauteed shrimp with linguini. Two wines: 2006 Hanzell Chardonnay was the other. Both wines were excellent -- obviously very different styles. This was first bottle of a case of the '14 Laroche Blanchot, and it was drinking very well indeed. Medium weight, not austere, but well delineated. Very well balanced. Good structure and length. I'm really looking forward to enjoying this over the next several years. Fascinating contrast with the '06 Hanzell, which was a much richer, more powerful style. An education for a couple of younger guests showcasing superb examples of New vs. Old World Chardonnay.

8/28/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This was my last bottle of the '06 Hanzell and I didn't know what to expect, at age 16. Enjoyed with dinner of grilled marinated salmon and tuna, and sauteed shrimp with linguini, this wine was a perfect match for the fish and was simply extraordinary. Very rich, but not just a Cali "fruit bomb". There are multiple layers of different fruit flavors, that coexist in harmony, not just a monolithic wall of sweetness. Amazing length. Crucially, it was not overoaked. One of the finest California Chardonnays I have had in many years. Fascinating contrast with an excellent 2014 Laroche Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots -- the New World and the Old World both on top of their respective, very different, games.

8/21/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This fourth bottle of my original six was by far the best I've had. I was concerned that this would be well past its peak, but was very pleasantly surprised. Didn't offer much nose right out of the bottle, but it opened up nicely after a 1 hour decant and kept improving for the next two hours. Not a particularly big Brunello, but everything in balance, the fruit still lively, great structure, long finish. Previous bottles have not offered similar complexity and didn't hold up to a steak dinner nearly so well as this one. Just lovely. Looking forward to the next two bottles.

8/12/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Huge wine. Layer upon layer of fruit. Appears to be right in its prime, though it's hard to imagine this won't go on for many years. I would only drink this with red meat -- it's truly massive.

8/9/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

We drank this as the first bottle at a blockbuster dinner with 1990 Silverado and Mondavi Reserve Cabs, a 1990 Montrose, 1988 Pichon Baron, 1986 Cakebread and more. The wine was so much body and character that drinking it with guacamole probably didn't do it justice, but it was drinking very well straight out of the bottle. No one knew what it was and everybody seemed to enjoy it. I think it has many years of life. Rich fruit. Lots of stuffing. This is ridiculously good at the price. Still tastes to me like a good CM or PM village wine at least. Delicious.

8/3/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Brought to dinner at Porter House in NYC. This was definitely showing its age and past its prime. It was still elegant and enjoyable, but had lost a lot of stuffing. Maybe it was unrealistic, as the CT drinking window closed at 2015, but I was disappointed relative to some other fine Burgs I've had in the past year or two from '99 - '01, including a 2000 Clos de Beze and a 2001 Volnay Champans and a 1999 Pommard from Robert Ampeau a few months ago at Union Square Cafe, all of which were still drinking extremely well. Happily, the other red wine (2009 Rancia Riserva) had as much stuffing as anyone could want . . .

7/27/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Paired with on-the-bone strip steaks at Porter House in NYC, this was the first bottle of the '09 Rancia I have tasted and it was drinking extremely well. So this is what great Chianti tastes like! Rich, delicious fruit goes on and on. Not overly tannic. The CT drinking window (to '26) seems like a good prediction at this stage -- certainly doesn't even hint at being past its peak, but I don't know whether it's going to improve from here.

6/11/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

At home with grilled NY strip steaks. Another splendid bottle. The cork came apart while I was pulling it, but strained and decanted for an hour and the wine was drinking beautifully. Seems right in its sweet spot. Lovely nose, lively fruit, but not overdone; medium length to the finish.

5/30/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Dinner with grilled pork chops. This was just beautiful -- "next level", as my 23 year old observed. Superb structure, length, minerality and luscious fruit -- what a package! If PYCM isn't on his own plane in St. Aubin, he's close. I thought WA (91) and CT scores (91 avg) quite stingy. Wish I had more!

4/12/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Still lovely at 25. The power is waning a bit, but the finesse and balance are compelling. The '97 BdM vintage remains a wonderful treasure to enjoy, especially when I thought I'd run out and discovered I still had a couple of bottles . . .

3/18/2022 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Enjoyed at a wonderful Italian restaurant last night with friends. My first experience with this producer and it was wonderful. The somm recommended the '07 over the '05 and '06, and we were most grateful! At 15, the wine still had explosive fruit and the tannins were just starting to soften. Layer after layer of flavors, and a beautiful nose. It was not decanted, but savored over about 90 minutes and it just kept getting better. Delicious -- I drink alot of Brunello and this was one of the best I have had in a long time, and perhaps the single best '07 BdM I've been fortunate enough to drink. If you see it, grab it!

11/3/2021 - Valaprop wrote:

PnP at a restaurant and then enjoyed over 90 minutes with a fine steak dinner. Based on others' tasting notes, I was concerned that the Azelia might be getting tired, but it was vibrant both right out of the bottle and throughout the meal. Fruit holding up well, well-structured, long finish. Delightful.

10/20/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

PnP at a restaurant before steak dinner, so didn't have optimal amount of air before tasting, but opened up very well. Gorgeous fruit -- a lover of Cali Pinot Noir might well rate this in the high 90s, but it lacks the complexity of a great Burg (or the '09 Marcassin PN I drank recently). Nonetheless, this gives great pleasure, and appears to be in prime drinking window now. Probably will be there for several years more (at least).

10/9/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This was very good, mature, well balanced and complex. It just was missing the "wow" of the '07 La Serena BdM that preceded it.

10/9/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

This wine was really singing last night. Glorious! We had this and '07 Gorelli Le Potazzine BdM -- I was expecting the latter to be the winner, but this was the unanimous favorite. Should have at least 5 more years in the sweet spot.

9/25/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Excellent. A pleasant surprise, given some of the underwhelming recent reviews. Great complexity and a long finish. Definitely not a "fruit bomb", but still had plenty of stuffing. From a maturity standpoint, I would guess this is a bit past its peak, but probably has a few good years left.

9/16/2021 - Valaprop Likes this wine:

Opened 60 minutes before a steak dinner. Not decanted. Brilliant -- even better than the last bottle we had. One of the finest Brunellos I've had since the 1997 Costanti. Our guests, who mostly drink Cabernet-based wines, were blown away. Oddly, though it seemed "20 years young" while we enjoyed it during the meal, it did seem to get a bit tired about 2.5 to 3 hours after it was opened, so I would be wary of decanting or giving it hours of air before drinking.

9/11/2021 - Valaprop wrote:

For people who derive extra pleasure from dining at a great restaurant that has maintained its excellence for decades. Decanted for about 1 hour before serving, this seemed right at its peak, perfectly integrated, with the tannins resolved and the fruit still lively. Should have many years of excellent drinking ahead; it will take discipline with my remaining bottles to find out. Still one of the Cali Cab benchmarks.