The nose is balanced and fresh with tones of peaches, red apples, red berries, toast, brioche, roses, nectarines, pears, and some biscuits. There is excellent interplay between the autolytic and citrus notes to where neither is dominating and they are more acting in concert. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and poised with crisp, high acidity. This is a real lovely Rose Champagne from a rather challenging vintage. It won't knock your socks off, but you certainly won't be kicking it out of bed either.
The nose is pristine and lifted with a real lovely freshness to the tones of torched pears, red apples, crushed almonds, quince, biscuits, warm dough, brioche, and a lovely minerality that lies beneath the rest of the tones. There is excellent depth here as everything is working together beautifully. The Medium bodied feel is well balanced and textured with mouthwatering, high acidity. This is a real beauty and one that will keep on aging for a while to come. It is already showing extremely well with deft balance across the nose and palate while possessing a lengthy finish.
The nose is balanced and aromatic with tones of spiced pears, quince, baked apples, yellow flowers, nectarines, toast, biscuits, and some warm pastry notes. There is excellent depth to the nose and a lovely seamless quality to the tones. The Medium bodied feel shows off the balance of the nose while bringing in crisp, high acidity that really persists. This is drinking beautifully and ready to go right now, though it can certainly age for a while longer. The balance is the key here and makes for a very attractive Champagne.
The nose is highly perfumed and red-fruited with strawberries, raspberries, red cherries, fresh picked berries, roasted herbs, licorice, rose petals, fresh leather, and some violets. The nose is expressive, but understandably feels like it is holding back a bit right now. The Full bodied feel is deft, yet with a lushness from the vintage along with tart, high acidity and youthful, high tannins. The structure is very 2015 in that it is deceptively silky but has some real bite once you breath in a little bit. This has a clear amount of room to improve, and I can certainly see this hitting a much higher level when it gets to the 15+ year mark.
There is a lovely, aromatic quality to the nose with tones of strawberries, red cherries, violets, asian spices, juniper berries, earth notes, tobacco, and a touch of leather. There is some lift to the tones, though there is also a lack of depth as well for what it is. The Medium/full bodied feel is elegant and refined with tart, high acidity and youthful, yet slightly underripe high tannins. This is a product of the vintage, yet it is still a pretty Barolo. I can see some room for improvement here if it adds some depth and balances out on the structure a little more, though this will never be much more than a good middleweight Giacosa.
This bottle is cooking! The nose is deep, layered, and pungent as it fills the glass with loads of red cherries, raspberries, juniper berries, licorice, roasted herbs, violets, rose petals, and savory spices. This was the nose that had me just pause and let it do its thing for a little bit before I really got back into the tasting. The Full bodied feel shows off the depth and layering of the nose while having a brawny side that doesn't push it too far. The high acidity is mouthwatering and tart while the high tannins are silky and youthful. This was a real knockout and a treat to have!
The nose is pungent and powerful with layered tones of tobacco leaf, black cherries, licorice, bitter chocolate, ground coffee, black currants, raspberries, and some vanilla extract. There is a real intensity to the nose while showing off noticeable oak notes that do integrate well with the fruit. The Full bodied feel shows off the power of the nose as well as showing off good depth and balance. The Medium+ acidity has some punch and mouthwatering qualities while the high tannins are still a bit aggressive, but not overtly so. There is a lot of distance for this to go as it really shows off the power that RDD can bring while still holding back a slight bit.
The nose is aromatic and savory with a distinct dusty note permeating at first before pulling back into layered tones of black cherries, licorice, raspberries, savory spices, dried tobacco leaf, and some herbs. There is good balance to the nose, but it does lack a little depth, and the fruit is starting to become a bit more tertiary. The Full bodied feel is balanced and refined with tart, medium+ acidity and resolving, medium+ tannins. The tannins have really pulled back to let the feel show, but they still let you know that they are there. This feels like its where it needs to be and shows good balance across the nose and palate while possessing fruit that has enter its mature stage.
The nose is pungent, complex, and with some understated power behind the tones of bitter chocolate, black cherries, black raspberries, licorice, liqueur notes, dusty tones, asian spices, and a good bit of violets. There is excellent complexity, but this does slightly feel like it may be holding back a slight bit right now. The Full bodied feel shows off the understated power of the nose while also possessing excellent balance. The Medium+ acidity is tart and mouthwatering while the high tannins are chewy and youthful. This certainly does need a few more years of aging as the structure is a bit domineering at the moment. I can see this really blossoming with another 3-5+ years and showing itself to be a top-notch Priorat.
The nose is interesting and quixotic, but it lacks depth with tones of warm oils, quince, pears, peaches, yellow flowers, and some musky notes. This also isn't the most complex nose, nor does it really bring any vibrancy. The Full bodied feel is a smidge blowsy though it is balanced with integrated, medium acidity. The finish falls off slightly and this has the same lack of depth that the nose possessed. This is a good data point for a White Priorat, but that's about as much as I'll care for it.
And we are definitely back on track after the less than stellar white! This nose is deep and profound with layered tones of black cherries, black raspberries, liqueur notes, dust, violets, sweet tobacco, sour cranberries, earth tones, and a dose of currants to round it all out. This is taking what the Vi de Vila brought and ratcheting it up a notch. The Full bodied feel is powerful, but balanced with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, high tannins. The structure is certainly youthful and a showing itself a bit much at the moment. Still, this is a rockstar of a Priorat and a great way to close the Vall Llachs out!
2005 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé Rosé 91 Points
France, Champagne
The nose is balanced and fresh with tones of peaches, red apples, red berries, toast, brioche, roses, nectarines, pears, and some biscuits. There is excellent interplay between the autolytic and citrus notes to where neither is dominating and they are more acting in concert. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and poised with crisp, high acidity. This is a real lovely Rose Champagne from a rather challenging vintage. It won't knock your socks off, but you certainly won't be kicking it out of bed either.
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2004 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires 93 Points
France, Champagne
The nose is pristine and lifted with a real lovely freshness to the tones of torched pears, red apples, crushed almonds, quince, biscuits, warm dough, brioche, and a lovely minerality that lies beneath the rest of the tones. There is excellent depth here as everything is working together beautifully. The Medium bodied feel is well balanced and textured with mouthwatering, high acidity. This is a real beauty and one that will keep on aging for a while to come. It is already showing extremely well with deft balance across the nose and palate while possessing a lengthy finish.
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2006 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé 92 Points
France, Champagne
The nose is balanced and aromatic with tones of spiced pears, quince, baked apples, yellow flowers, nectarines, toast, biscuits, and some warm pastry notes. There is excellent depth to the nose and a lovely seamless quality to the tones. The Medium bodied feel shows off the balance of the nose while bringing in crisp, high acidity that really persists. This is drinking beautifully and ready to go right now, though it can certainly age for a while longer. The balance is the key here and makes for a very attractive Champagne.
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2015 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
The nose is highly perfumed and red-fruited with strawberries, raspberries, red cherries, fresh picked berries, roasted herbs, licorice, rose petals, fresh leather, and some violets. The nose is expressive, but understandably feels like it is holding back a bit right now. The Full bodied feel is deft, yet with a lushness from the vintage along with tart, high acidity and youthful, high tannins. The structure is very 2015 in that it is deceptively silky but has some real bite once you breath in a little bit. This has a clear amount of room to improve, and I can certainly see this hitting a much higher level when it gets to the 15+ year mark.
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2014 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
There is a lovely, aromatic quality to the nose with tones of strawberries, red cherries, violets, asian spices, juniper berries, earth notes, tobacco, and a touch of leather. There is some lift to the tones, though there is also a lack of depth as well for what it is. The Medium/full bodied feel is elegant and refined with tart, high acidity and youthful, yet slightly underripe high tannins. This is a product of the vintage, yet it is still a pretty Barolo. I can see some room for improvement here if it adds some depth and balances out on the structure a little more, though this will never be much more than a good middleweight Giacosa.
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2011 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili 94 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
This bottle is cooking! The nose is deep, layered, and pungent as it fills the glass with loads of red cherries, raspberries, juniper berries, licorice, roasted herbs, violets, rose petals, and savory spices. This was the nose that had me just pause and let it do its thing for a little bit before I really got back into the tasting. The Full bodied feel shows off the depth and layering of the nose while having a brawny side that doesn't push it too far. The high acidity is mouthwatering and tart while the high tannins are silky and youthful. This was a real knockout and a treat to have!
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2012 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Tinto Pesquera Reserva 92 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
The nose is pungent and powerful with layered tones of tobacco leaf, black cherries, licorice, bitter chocolate, ground coffee, black currants, raspberries, and some vanilla extract. There is a real intensity to the nose while showing off noticeable oak notes that do integrate well with the fruit. The Full bodied feel shows off the power of the nose as well as showing off good depth and balance. The Medium+ acidity has some punch and mouthwatering qualities while the high tannins are still a bit aggressive, but not overtly so. There is a lot of distance for this to go as it really shows off the power that RDD can bring while still holding back a slight bit.
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2006 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero Alenza Gran Reserva 91 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
The nose is aromatic and savory with a distinct dusty note permeating at first before pulling back into layered tones of black cherries, licorice, raspberries, savory spices, dried tobacco leaf, and some herbs. There is good balance to the nose, but it does lack a little depth, and the fruit is starting to become a bit more tertiary. The Full bodied feel is balanced and refined with tart, medium+ acidity and resolving, medium+ tannins. The tannins have really pulled back to let the feel show, but they still let you know that they are there. This feels like its where it needs to be and shows good balance across the nose and palate while possessing fruit that has enter its mature stage.
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2014 Celler Vall Llach Priorat Porrera Vi de Vila 92 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
The nose is pungent, complex, and with some understated power behind the tones of bitter chocolate, black cherries, black raspberries, licorice, liqueur notes, dusty tones, asian spices, and a good bit of violets. There is excellent complexity, but this does slightly feel like it may be holding back a slight bit right now. The Full bodied feel shows off the understated power of the nose while also possessing excellent balance. The Medium+ acidity is tart and mouthwatering while the high tannins are chewy and youthful. This certainly does need a few more years of aging as the structure is a bit domineering at the moment. I can see this really blossoming with another 3-5+ years and showing itself to be a top-notch Priorat.
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2015 Celler Vall Llach Priorat Aigua de Llum 88 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
The nose is interesting and quixotic, but it lacks depth with tones of warm oils, quince, pears, peaches, yellow flowers, and some musky notes. This also isn't the most complex nose, nor does it really bring any vibrancy. The Full bodied feel is a smidge blowsy though it is balanced with integrated, medium acidity. The finish falls off slightly and this has the same lack of depth that the nose possessed. This is a good data point for a White Priorat, but that's about as much as I'll care for it.
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2013 Celler Vall Llach Priorat Vall Llach, Mas de la Rosa 94 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
And we are definitely back on track after the less than stellar white! This nose is deep and profound with layered tones of black cherries, black raspberries, liqueur notes, dust, violets, sweet tobacco, sour cranberries, earth tones, and a dose of currants to round it all out. This is taking what the Vi de Vila brought and ratcheting it up a notch. The Full bodied feel is powerful, but balanced with tart, medium+ acidity and chewy, high tannins. The structure is certainly youthful and a showing itself a bit much at the moment. Still, this is a rockstar of a Priorat and a great way to close the Vall Llachs out!
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