Tropical fruit on nose - hints of mango and banana. More than a touch of sweetness on the palate, but nicely balanced and worked well with a roast garlic tart
Soft open red and black plummy fruits with some vanilla overtones. Nice and open for business. Firm tannins balanced by a restrained fruit that verges between sweet red fruit aromatics and slightly sour plummy fruit.
Deep gold colour. Attractive minerally nose with some good, slightly raisined fruit. Remarkably fresh on palate. Slightly honeyed, but it's lost all its obvious sweetness. Really nice weight and balance on palate. Really improved after decanting and with further exposure to air. Really very impressive.
Immediate citrus, esp orange on the nose. Very complex nose with quite a savoury edge and some olives in brine. Massive savoury palate. Very intense with fascinating layers of flavour. Quite a saline feel, but also with hints of olives and grapefruit (esp the peel). Fascinating stuff.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Slightly toasty, beurre noisette noise. Some attractive minerality on palate.very nice wine, but just how much more than any really good chardonnay is it?
Rich, warm noe. Very attractive palate. Quite ripe, with new world overtones, but there's a clarity and even a sort of austerity that just pulls it back. Really savoury, complex and layered with quite a firm tannic structure.
Fragrant, attractive nose with a rather interesting edge to it - hint of tobacco? Unctuous syrupy texture. But it's not too sweet either. Quite lovely, very rich muscat palate. It has a cloying texture, but not a cloying sweetness. Fascinating stuff.
Sweet raspberry fruit, slightly confected, but it's not bubblegummy. Soft, fresh, fruity. Quite a steely note, almost steely acidity? Really interesting match with a very à point Epoisses - neither adds anything to the other, but neither takes anything away from the other - it's just perfect symbiosis.
Rather funky nose: violets, cheese, fennel, tobacco, and lots of black fruits. Lots of ripe fuits on the palate, but with quite a prickle of freshness (or is of alcohol?) too. It's less than seven months since my last bottle of this, when I wrote that it had plenty of time ahead of it, but this bottle holds out no future for the wine, and not really a lot of present either.This bottle seems way out of balance: I can't detect any obvious fault, but if I didn't know how good this has been in the past, I'd be giving this a very low score. It's not unpleasant, but not something I want to drink much of. Faulty?
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Lots of dark black fruit and hint of tobacco on the nose, with quite a hit of alcoholic pepperiness. Ripe and open on the palate. On the palate, it's very full on and in your face. Lots of dark, black fruit and a very firm tannic grip. Just a little unsatisfying overall.
2004 Albert Boxler Pinot Gris Brand 91 Points
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
Tropical fruit on nose - hints of mango and banana. More than a touch of sweetness on the palate, but nicely balanced and worked well with a roast garlic tart
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1998 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 90 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Soft open red and black plummy fruits with some vanilla overtones. Nice and open for business. Firm tannins balanced by a restrained fruit that verges between sweet red fruit aromatics and slightly sour plummy fruit.
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NV Château de Blaceret-Roy I love you Gamay Aromatique 88 Points
France, Burgundy
Deep pink with a very foamy mousse. Fruit salad. Low alcohol Pimms. Sweet and fun on palate. Hints of raspberry-ade and cherry-ade.
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1999 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Cuvée Creation 93 Points
France, Champagne
Very clean and crisp, but showing some maturity on nose. Great finesse on palate. Very interesting flavours with a lovely full finish.
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1975 P. Licht-Bergweiler Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spätlese 92 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Deep gold colour. Attractive minerally nose with some good, slightly raisined fruit. Remarkably fresh on palate. Slightly honeyed, but it's lost all its obvious sweetness. Really nice weight and balance on palate. Really improved after decanting and with further exposure to air. Really very impressive.
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NV Gonzalez-Byass Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Tio Pepe Fino 'En Rama' 2010 95 Points
Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry
Immediate citrus, esp orange on the nose. Very complex nose with quite a savoury edge and some olives in brine. Massive savoury palate. Very intense with fascinating layers of flavour. Quite a saline feel, but also with hints of olives and grapefruit (esp the peel). Fascinating stuff.
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1998 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Slightly toasty, beurre noisette noise. Some attractive minerality on palate.very nice wine, but just how much more than any really good chardonnay is it?
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2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Lovely fresh nose. Very pleasant and pleasing palate. Has a nice savoury edge. Lovely interesting layered flavours. Lovely wine.
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1997 Château Léoville Las Cases 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Lovely restraint all round.A bit of a bitter edge. All seems rather green.
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1996 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 93 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Rich, warm noe. Very attractive palate. Quite ripe, with new world overtones, but there's a clarity and even a sort of austerity that just pulls it back. Really savoury, complex and layered with quite a firm tannic structure.
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2005 Union of Winemaking Cooperatives of Samos Muscat Vin Doux 91 Points
Greece, Aegean, Samos
Fragrant, attractive nose with a rather interesting edge to it - hint of tobacco? Unctuous syrupy texture. But it's not too sweet either. Quite lovely, very rich muscat palate. It has a cloying texture, but not a cloying sweetness. Fascinating stuff.
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2006 Château de Blaceret-Roy Chiroubles Pente de Fontenelle Vieilles Vignes 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Chiroubles
Sweet raspberry fruit, slightly confected, but it's not bubblegummy. Soft, fresh, fruity. Quite a steely note, almost steely acidity? Really interesting match with a very à point Epoisses - neither adds anything to the other, but neither takes anything away from the other - it's just perfect symbiosis.
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2000 Quinta Vale D. Maria Douro Flawed
Portugal, Douro
Rather funky nose: violets, cheese, fennel, tobacco, and lots of black fruits. Lots of ripe fuits on the palate, but with quite a prickle of freshness (or is of alcohol?) too. It's less than seven months since my last bottle of this, when I wrote that it had plenty of time ahead of it, but this bottle holds out no future for the wine, and not really a lot of present either.This bottle seems way out of balance: I can't detect any obvious fault, but if I didn't know how good this has been in the past, I'd be giving this a very low score. It's not unpleasant, but not something I want to drink much of.
Faulty?
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1993 Yalumba Shiraz The Octavius 85 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Lots of dark black fruit and hint of tobacco on the nose, with quite a hit of alcoholic pepperiness. Ripe and open on the palate. On the palate, it's very full on and in your face. Lots of dark, black fruit and a very firm tannic grip. Just a little unsatisfying overall.
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