Disgorged March 2019, 5 g/L dosage. For a grower champagne, I quite liked this, mostly because I think it had a little more dosage than most, giving it a more rounded texture on the palate rather than just trying to slice you up with razorblades. More orchard fruit than citrus.
This bottle hasn't held up anywhere as nicely as my last experience with it. It feels old and tired, with some nutty oxidative notes and really missing freshness. It has some complexity and weight still, but the browning tones really don't do it for me.
Disgorged January 2022. A huge whiff here. This wine was almost universally disliked today. The fruit was candied and clearly very sweet, but at the same time, the acidity didn't seem to integrate at all, leading to an unpleasant green sensation as well. Unbalanced and herbal, but overripe and candied at the same time, this was a pretty confounding wine. Hopefully this was a flawed bottle.
I'm dead certain that the hosts liked this more than I did. Extremely savoury, effectively to a fault, with also this green pyrazine-like peppery flavour that just seems so out of place with Chablis. Reflects the vintage more than any other attribute of this wine, though it does have the classic minerality of Chablis on display.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
Outstanding village-level chardonnay that shows plenty of noble reduction, but also a kiss of oak. Good richness and depth on the palate, without going overboard on the oak. Clearly the product of a ripe and fat vintage, but these are holding up just so well. Yet another bottle that confirms to me how magnificent the 2015 white Burgundy vintage is.
Fantastic riesling as always. Not quite as intense and concentrated as the 2019 (in fact, I thought that this felt relatively a little dilute and weak on the palate), this still has plenty of the typical notes you'd find in a bottle of Emrich GG -- the green herbs, intense fruit, and generous minerality. Perhaps at a bit of an awkward point right now; I'm quite confident in the longevity and potential of this.
Man, I do love having some viognier in my syrah, especially since it brings out such intense, potent aromatics. This is a wine that is almost fully driven by the nose, but what a nose it is. Explosive and expansive, the perfume of this is simply incredible. There's a lifted, herbal note alongside some fruit and smoke. The palate is admittedly a bit of a let-down, but almost everything is, after that nose. Not as ripe as some of the other 2019s I've had so far on the palate, with lots of acidity. The somewhat weaker structure and relatively low tannins make me cautious about long term potential. But that nose, right now...
Definitely the weakest of the three Ceritas today. Quite consistent with my other note from earlier this year, this is a bit of a weaker wine, showing a little empty on the palate, but a whole lot of acidity. The deficit is all the more stark next to the Trout Gulch and Charles Heintz.
The inbetween of the Carex and Heintz, this shows some taut acidity as with the Carex, but also a good weighty presence of fruit in line with the Heintz. Perhaps showing a little more bright and minerally, this is definitely quite a pleasant bottle of chardonnay, and lacks the underripeness that I can sometimes complain about in Ceritas's wines.
Almost a slight hint tropical, this almost reminds me a bit of Lavantureux with the riper weight from relatively cool climate fruit. Very impressive stature, this still has enough acidity to keep everything fresh and bright. Very impressive; this definitely drinks at the level of some pretty serious Cote de Beaune wines.
This felt a little ornery today; some earthiness coupled with more typical syrah fruit notes. Not quite as fruity and voluptuous as I might have guessed from the name. Good density though; can't help but wonder whether this was in an awkward moment (slightly surprising as the 2016 Cote Rotie has been drinking quite nicely).
Not the most complex Chablis, but definitely quite classic. Clean orchard fruit with a slight hint of green herbal notes. There's something that's not exactly natty, but along those lines that I find in the E&E wines and it's here in this bottle too.
#124-72! I think this had a very slight TCA contamination here, not to the point where you couldn't taste what was going on, but it definitely had some off flavours here. Slight stone fruit notes (especially apricot) with floral tones as well. Quite dry at this point, this feels more like a curiosity now. Drink up.
Crazy weird, wacky wine, with a palate profile that is all over the place -- spicy (cloves!), volcanic reduction, herbs, all sorts of things in an almost unidentifiable mix. I'm told this gets even wackier with air and time, and I'd believe it. Love the minerality and acidity here too.
2012 Bonnaire Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Cramant 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Disgorged March 2019, 5 g/L dosage. For a grower champagne, I quite liked this, mostly because I think it had a little more dosage than most, giving it a more rounded texture on the palate rather than just trying to slice you up with razorblades. More orchard fruit than citrus.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2005 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Avizoise Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 85 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
This bottle hasn't held up anywhere as nicely as my last experience with it. It feels old and tired, with some nutty oxidative notes and really missing freshness. It has some complexity and weight still, but the browning tones really don't do it for me.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2018 Laherte Frères Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Grandes Crayères 80 Points
France, Champagne
Disgorged January 2022. A huge whiff here. This wine was almost universally disliked today. The fruit was candied and clearly very sweet, but at the same time, the acidity didn't seem to integrate at all, leading to an unpleasant green sensation as well. Unbalanced and herbal, but overripe and candied at the same time, this was a pretty confounding wine. Hopefully this was a flawed bottle.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
I'm dead certain that the hosts liked this more than I did. Extremely savoury, effectively to a fault, with also this green pyrazine-like peppery flavour that just seems so out of place with Chablis. Reflects the vintage more than any other attribute of this wine, though it does have the classic minerality of Chablis on display.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
Outstanding village-level chardonnay that shows plenty of noble reduction, but also a kiss of oak. Good richness and depth on the palate, without going overboard on the oak. Clearly the product of a ripe and fat vintage, but these are holding up just so well. Yet another bottle that confirms to me how magnificent the 2015 white Burgundy vintage is.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2017 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points
Germany, Nahe
Fantastic riesling as always. Not quite as intense and concentrated as the 2019 (in fact, I thought that this felt relatively a little dilute and weak on the palate), this still has plenty of the typical notes you'd find in a bottle of Emrich GG -- the green herbs, intense fruit, and generous minerality. Perhaps at a bit of an awkward point right now; I'm quite confident in the longevity and potential of this.
Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2019 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Man, I do love having some viognier in my syrah, especially since it brings out such intense, potent aromatics. This is a wine that is almost fully driven by the nose, but what a nose it is. Explosive and expansive, the perfume of this is simply incredible. There's a lifted, herbal note alongside some fruit and smoke. The palate is admittedly a bit of a let-down, but almost everything is, after that nose. Not as ripe as some of the other 2019s I've had so far on the palate, with lots of acidity. The somewhat weaker structure and relatively low tannins make me cautious about long term potential. But that nose, right now...
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2018 Ceritas Chardonnay Carex 88 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Definitely the weakest of the three Ceritas today. Quite consistent with my other note from earlier this year, this is a bit of a weaker wine, showing a little empty on the palate, but a whole lot of acidity. The deficit is all the more stark next to the Trout Gulch and Charles Heintz.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2018 Ceritas Chardonnay Trout Gulch 90 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
The inbetween of the Carex and Heintz, this shows some taut acidity as with the Carex, but also a good weighty presence of fruit in line with the Heintz. Perhaps showing a little more bright and minerally, this is definitely quite a pleasant bottle of chardonnay, and lacks the underripeness that I can sometimes complain about in Ceritas's wines.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2018 Ceritas Chardonnay Charles Heintz Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Almost a slight hint tropical, this almost reminds me a bit of Lavantureux with the riper weight from relatively cool climate fruit. Very impressive stature, this still has enough acidity to keep everything fresh and bright. Very impressive; this definitely drinks at the level of some pretty serious Cote de Beaune wines.
Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2016 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie Fructus Voluptas 88 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This felt a little ornery today; some earthiness coupled with more typical syrah fruit notes. Not quite as fruity and voluptuous as I might have guessed from the name. Good density though; can't help but wonder whether this was in an awkward moment (slightly surprising as the 2016 Cote Rotie has been drinking quite nicely).
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2020 Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret Chablis En Boucheran 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis
Not the most complex Chablis, but definitely quite classic. Clean orchard fruit with a slight hint of green herbal notes. There's something that's not exactly natty, but along those lines that I find in the E&E wines and it's here in this bottle too.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1971 August E. Anheuser Kreuznacher Narrenkappe Ruländer Auslese
Germany, Nahe
#124-72! I think this had a very slight TCA contamination here, not to the point where you couldn't taste what was going on, but it definitely had some off flavours here. Slight stone fruit notes (especially apricot) with floral tones as well. Quite dry at this point, this feels more like a curiosity now. Drink up.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2019 Tenuta Di Castellaro Bianco Pomice 90 Points
Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane
Crazy weird, wacky wine, with a palate profile that is all over the place -- spicy (cloves!), volcanic reduction, herbs, all sorts of things in an almost unidentifiable mix. I'm told this gets even wackier with air and time, and I'd believe it. Love the minerality and acidity here too.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue