10th of 12, pnp, perfect level, cork quarter stained, back on top form, marvellous black cherry, some liqueur, hint of black raspberry, very mineral as befits CdlR, complex, GC authority, some upside surprisingly, 12+ years. F+ (18).
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9th of 12, opened 90 minutes, soaked and spongey cork but perfect level, attractive depth of fruit and minerality, just sense of lack of balance and drive to fruit, plateau, no rush. F (17.5).
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8th of 12, opened 2 hours, perfect cork and level, in line with last Jan's bottle, rounder and more materiel than Lignier 08 on same night, now on maturity plateau, little upside but no rush. F+ (18).
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7th of 12, opened 2 hours, perfect level, cork third travelled, more on form than last May, brighter and more layered, greater drive and grip, upside yet. F+ (18).
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Wonderful nose and concentrated deep red fruit on the palate. This one really sang here and was easily my red wine of the night. Quite a triumph considering it was possibly among the cheapest bottles and beat out some much more lauded producers. Big thumbs up! 95+
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6th of 12, opened 30 minutes, half travelled cork, perfect level, edgier than previous bottle and rather like the Mazis on same night slow to reveal its fruit, finally a decent wine revealed, no rush. F (17.5).
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5th of 12, opened 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, little changed from bottle last noted in Dec 18. F+ (18)…..less transparent and complex than previous night's Dujac offering.
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Is this my last bottle? Oh no! Notes from Day 2 open (unrefrigerated on the counter overnight). This was the best bottle of GC burg I have had in a long while. On the nose, a touch of funk, deep red fruit with spiced wild.strawberry and a hint of cedar, followed by wonderfully earthy secondary notes. On the palate, the acid is on point, and this just sings with elegant spicy strawberry and a touch of leather. In a fantastic place, and if this btl is representative, just beginning to hit its stride.
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PnP. Floral and black fruit aromatics. This was balanced and elegant. Cola and red/dark fruit notes on the palate with a long minerally finish. Great bottle of wine. It was delicious.
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3rd of 12, pnp, perfect cork and level, cross between previous 2 notes, more youthful and more high toned than last bottle, but lovely purity and persistence to black (cherry) fruit, my sense is that this is 2 to 5 years away from making a very fine bottle. F (17.5).
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2nd of 12, decanted 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, much purer and more complex than April bottle and recognisably Roche, if a tad behind Dujac's excellent offering the previous night, what a difference 6 months can make! Just F+ (18).
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1st of 12, pnp but drunk over 2 nights, perfect cork and level - dense, quite dark red, hint of brown on rim;monolithic nose, plums and black cherry, earth, sous bois hint; medium, ok length, bit burly and rustic, concentrated but more from extraction, not pure, youthful yet. VG+ (16.5).....others obviously found more to like so I hope this improves; it is Roche after all and from a top vintage!
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Aromatics were wonderful, with red fruit, sous bois, and violets. On the palate black cherries and cola, with good acidity and body. A bit monolithic which makes me think this wine still has a long way to go.
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This is the Berkeley Wine Company 'Cuvée Unique' bottling. The wine is quite tight the first day, though not shut down hard, but giving mostly sour acidity and grainy tannins. I drank it glass by glass over the following three days, and it opened nicely between day 2 and 3, giving an indication of breadth of fruit, weight of body, and nascent complexity you'd be looking for in a grand cru. Very nice with patience; I don't see much point to opening another for four or five years, however.
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Really great bottle - Fantastic nose off the pop. Deep red fruit, spice, game, some oak, damp earth, moss. Palate is silk, tannins are starting to resolve, and there's a nice streak of minerality and acidity. Lots of fruit, spice, no funk, and a really excellent showing from a producer I've never tried before. Re-buy for sure. 10 years of life left.
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No notes, but this was showing beautifully. Popped and poured. Great spice and red fruit/sweet tart on the nose. Expansive and silky smooth on the palate.
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I too liked this wine a lot and didn't expect to as I've had other Arlauds that didn't rock my boat. This is classic 02 vintage with walk up to the edge ripeness or put another way, nearly perfect ripeness. Superb balance and fruit. Still quite young with no mushrooms or forest floor yet but this might be only a few years away from really rocking. My smeller was off tonight so I may have missed some fireworks on the nose. If I found this for sub $100 I'd buy some.
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A French Night at La Belle Vie with a lot of Burgs and Some Others (La Belle Vie, Mpls): Medium red color. Lets just say this was freaking awesome and leave it at that. Ok, fine you want some details....well here's what I've got; this was freaking awesome.....leave me the hell alone. Fine; if you're going to badger me...there's this purple sweet tart thing going on... where you bite the sweet tart and it's just soooo good, then there's the spices, so complex, with something I can't even describe, cinnamon but with much ore than that, gorgeous pristine red fruits, great acid and depth, beef broth, and a long spicy finish. Crazy good - nose and palate.
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intriguing smokey nose, with black cherries and blueberries on the nose. Relatively tight with a fair bit of acid and this has at least ten years ahead of it, but drinking OK now.
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Tasting Group Dinner - Burgs (Heidi's & La Belle Vie, Minneapolis): Third time I've tasted this. Darker fruit than the '96, tasted side-by-side (see TN). Some new oak, sappy dark fruit, coffee, meat, and lots of iron. This is still a bit primal in comparison with the '96, but seems like the (slightly) better wine of the two.
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Wednesday Night Burgs: Tasted beside the 1996. I had a slight preference for the '96 right now, but suspect the '02 could overtake it in the long run. The nose features a youthful blend of red fruit, brown sugar, earth, spice and oak. With time in the glass it added a subtle bonfire/burnt match aroma. On the palate this showed good flavor intensity with mild acidity making it almost fat. Tannins are mild and the finish is excellent. I'm happy to have a few bottles of this and will sit on them for a few years in hopes things will become better integrated in time.
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Second time I've had this. Complex, perfumed, expressive nose that leads to a dense, sappy, layered palate. Black cherries, meat juice, and earthy flavors. Quite concentrated and ripe. Long finish. Very approachable now, and should age well for many more years.
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Dinner at Fugaise: Steve, Chris, and I split a case of this wine and this was our first opportunity to taste it. The color is a dark purple/black. The nose started off reserved giving mainly black fruit but after a little time in the glass really opened up to give a complex nose of mushrooms, earth, and mineral. The taste was also a little primary giving a powerful yet elegant cherry cough syrup taste (in the best possible way) with enough earthiness to keep things interesting. Probably a little tight for drinking now, but this should really develop into something special with additional time in the bottle as it is packed with fruit. An excellent wine.
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Dinner @ Fugaise. I had high expectations for this wine (based on Vinsanity's review and my subsequent blind purchase), and was not disappointed. Dark, brooding ruby/black color, with rich, deep flavors of blackberry fruit, soy, and coffee. Developed complex mushroom/forest floor notes with time in the glass. Lively, fresh fruit, good minerality and structure, and fresh acidity. This wine is in its infancy and should age very well.
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4/19/2024 - liber Likes this wine: 94 Points
10th of 12, pnp, perfect level, cork quarter stained, back on top form, marvellous black cherry, some liqueur, hint of black raspberry, very mineral as befits CdlR, complex, GC authority, some upside surprisingly, 12+ years. F+ (18).
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3/28/2023 - liber Likes this wine: 92 Points
9th of 12, opened 90 minutes, soaked and spongey cork but perfect level, attractive depth of fruit and minerality, just sense of lack of balance and drive to fruit, plateau, no rush. F (17.5).
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1/22/2022 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
8th of 12, opened 2 hours, perfect cork and level, in line with last Jan's bottle, rounder and more materiel than Lignier 08 on same night, now on maturity plateau, little upside but no rush. F+ (18).
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1/16/2021 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
7th of 12, opened 2 hours, perfect level, cork third travelled, more on form than last May, brighter and more layered, greater drive and grip, upside yet. F+ (18).
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9/16/2020 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wonderful nose and concentrated deep red fruit on the palate. This one really sang here and was easily my red wine of the night. Quite a triumph considering it was possibly among the cheapest bottles and beat out some much more lauded producers. Big thumbs up! 95+
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5/22/2020 - liber Likes this wine: 92 Points
6th of 12, opened 30 minutes, half travelled cork, perfect level, edgier than previous bottle and rather like the Mazis on same night slow to reveal its fruit, finally a decent wine revealed, no rush. F (17.5).
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1/26/2020 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
5th of 12, opened 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, little changed from bottle last noted in Dec 18. F+ (18)…..less transparent and complex than previous night's Dujac offering.
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3/9/2019 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Is this my last bottle? Oh no! Notes from Day 2 open (unrefrigerated on the counter overnight). This was the best bottle of GC burg I have had in a long while. On the nose, a touch of funk, deep red fruit with spiced wild.strawberry and a hint of cedar, followed by wonderfully earthy secondary notes. On the palate, the acid is on point, and this just sings with elegant spicy strawberry and a touch of leather. In a fantastic place, and if this btl is representative, just beginning to hit its stride.
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2/25/2019 - OldKingBalthazar Likes this wine:
PnP. Floral and black fruit aromatics. This was balanced and elegant. Cola and red/dark fruit notes on the palate with a long minerally finish. Great bottle of wine. It was delicious.
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12/23/2018 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
4th of 12, pnp, perfect cork and level, as last December's note with mineral and cola aspects more pronounced, still early days. F+ (18).
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10/24/2017 - liber Likes this wine: 92 Points
3rd of 12, pnp, perfect cork and level, cross between previous 2 notes, more youthful and more high toned than last bottle, but lovely purity and persistence to black (cherry) fruit, my sense is that this is 2 to 5 years away from making a very fine bottle. F (17.5).
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9/8/2017 - liber Likes this wine: 93 Points
2nd of 12, decanted 30 minutes, perfect cork and level, much purer and more complex than April bottle and recognisably Roche, if a tad behind Dujac's excellent offering the previous night, what a difference 6 months can make! Just F+ (18).
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4/14/2017 - liber Likes this wine: 89 Points
1st of 12, pnp but drunk over 2 nights, perfect cork and level - dense, quite dark red, hint of brown on rim;monolithic nose, plums and black cherry, earth, sous bois hint; medium, ok length, bit burly and rustic, concentrated but more from extraction, not pure, youthful yet. VG+ (16.5).....others obviously found more to like so I hope this improves; it is Roche after all and from a top vintage!
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7/28/2016 - Rani Likes this wine: 93 Points
Aromatics were wonderful, with red fruit, sous bois, and violets. On the palate black cherries and cola, with good acidity and body. A bit monolithic which makes me think this wine still has a long way to go.
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8/11/2015 - fitzi wrote:
This is the Berkeley Wine Company 'Cuvée Unique' bottling. The wine is quite tight the first day, though not shut down hard, but giving mostly sour acidity and grainy tannins. I drank it glass by glass over the following three days, and it opened nicely between day 2 and 3, giving an indication of breadth of fruit, weight of body, and nascent complexity you'd be looking for in a grand cru. Very nice with patience; I don't see much point to opening another for four or five years, however.
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7/10/2015 - RyanJames Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really great bottle - Fantastic nose off the pop. Deep red fruit, spice, game, some oak, damp earth, moss. Palate is silk, tannins are starting to resolve, and there's a nice streak of minerality and acidity. Lots of fruit, spice, no funk, and a really excellent showing from a producer I've never tried before. Re-buy for sure. 10 years of life left.
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4/18/2015 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 93 Points
No notes, but this was showing beautifully. Popped and poured. Great spice and red fruit/sweet tart on the nose. Expansive and silky smooth on the palate.
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4/15/2015 - chablis28 wrote: 93 Points
I too liked this wine a lot and didn't expect to as I've had other Arlauds that didn't rock my boat. This is classic 02 vintage with walk up to the edge ripeness or put another way, nearly perfect ripeness. Superb balance and fruit. Still quite young with no mushrooms or forest floor yet but this might be only a few years away from really rocking. My smeller was off tonight so I may have missed some fireworks on the nose. If I found this for sub $100 I'd buy some.
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4/15/2015 - rocknroller wrote: 95 Points
A French Night at La Belle Vie with a lot of Burgs and Some Others (La Belle Vie, Mpls): Medium red color. Lets just say this was freaking awesome and leave it at that. Ok, fine you want some details....well here's what I've got; this was freaking awesome.....leave me the hell alone. Fine; if you're going to badger me...there's this purple sweet tart thing going on... where you bite the sweet tart and it's just soooo good, then there's the spices, so complex, with something I can't even describe, cinnamon but with much ore than that, gorgeous pristine red fruits, great acid and depth, beef broth, and a long spicy finish. Crazy good - nose and palate.
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3/3/2010 - toomuchwine wrote: 91 Points
intriguing smokey nose, with black cherries and blueberries on the nose. Relatively tight with a fair bit of acid and this has at least ten years ahead of it, but drinking OK now.
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3/18/2009 - Siggy wrote: 92 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - Burgs (Heidi's & La Belle Vie, Minneapolis): Third time I've tasted this. Darker fruit than the '96, tasted side-by-side (see TN). Some new oak, sappy dark fruit, coffee, meat, and lots of iron. This is still a bit primal in comparison with the '96, but seems like the (slightly) better wine of the two.
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3/18/2009 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 93 Points
Wednesday Night Burgs: Tasted beside the 1996. I had a slight preference for the '96 right now, but suspect the '02 could overtake it in the long run. The nose features a youthful blend of red fruit, brown sugar, earth, spice and oak. With time in the glass it added a subtle bonfire/burnt match aroma. On the palate this showed good flavor intensity with mild acidity making it almost fat. Tannins are mild and the finish is excellent. I'm happy to have a few bottles of this and will sit on them for a few years in hopes things will become better integrated in time.
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2/8/2009 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Second time I've had this. Complex, perfumed, expressive nose that leads to a dense, sappy, layered palate. Black cherries, meat juice, and earthy flavors. Quite concentrated and ripe. Long finish. Very approachable now, and should age well for many more years.
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7/29/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
No notes taken. Served with a roasted tomato soup during a family gathering. Showed consistent with the last bottle. Very nice.
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1/24/2007 - lars1014 wrote: 94 Points
Worth every penny, and I need to get more of it.
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1/24/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at Fugaise: Steve, Chris, and I split a case of this wine and this was our first opportunity to taste it. The color is a dark purple/black. The nose started off reserved giving mainly black fruit but after a little time in the glass really opened up to give a complex nose of mushrooms, earth, and mineral. The taste was also a little primary giving a powerful yet elegant cherry cough syrup taste (in the best possible way) with enough earthiness to keep things interesting. Probably a little tight for drinking now, but this should really develop into something special with additional time in the bottle as it is packed with fruit. An excellent wine.
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1/24/2007 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Dinner @ Fugaise. I had high expectations for this wine (based on Vinsanity's review and my subsequent blind purchase), and was not disappointed. Dark, brooding ruby/black color, with rich, deep flavors of blackberry fruit, soy, and coffee. Developed complex mushroom/forest floor notes with time in the glass. Lively, fresh fruit, good minerality and structure, and fresh acidity. This wine is in its infancy and should age very well.
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4/10/2005 - Ben Andersen wrote:
2002 Red Burgundy - Sunday of The Masters (Richmond, Virginia): $100 full retail. Black fruit. Coffee. Dense, deep, brooding. Great texture. Wow.
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