Albany excess

Châteauneuf-du-Salil, Albany
Tasted Friday, November 14, 2025 - Saturday, November 15, 2025 by salil with 89 views

Flight 1 - Night 1 (8 Notes)

  • 2019 Under The Wire Sparkling Oakville Farmhouse Vineyard 87 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    (11/14/2025)

    I think others enjoyed this a lot more than I did - there's tart, bright fruit here and a light yeastiness, but I also found an odd metallic aspect to the nose that was distracting and never went away with air.

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  • 2023 Weingut Keller Muskateller trocken 89 Points

    Germany, Rheinhessen

    (11/14/2025)

    Liked this a lot once again, though not at the level of the last bottle I opened a few months back. Intensely floral and herbal on the nose, and lots of tart limes and other citrus fruits beneath on the palate. Enjoyable, though not showing the depth of my last bottle, and this also came across a touch more lean and dry and left me wishing for a bit of rs.

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  • 2023 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (11/14/2025)

    I'm generally skeptical of a lot of Mosel GGs, but this is convincing. Stellar, in fact. Ripe peachy and citrus fruit, a slatey mineral base, gentle florality, and a light creaminess all coming together on a frame that manages to be dry and focused, yet round and almost silken textured. It feels very similar to the Ur Alte Reben feinherb in terms of its texture and flavour profile, only slightly drier. Terrific wine.

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  • 2011 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    (11/14/2025)

    Very little I can add to Rieslingfan and kenv's descriptors (the same bottle, the same awed response). This is stellar. Just an incredible perfume, one that defies description but is very much that haunting, ethereal Burgundy experience that we Burg geeks keep chasing. The palate nearly lives up to the fragrance. Remarkable freshness, clarity, and depth to the flavours, tremendous balance even though it seems to clamp down a bit on the finish a little, where the tannins show some grip. But a really special bottle and experience. Thanks David.

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  • 1989 Domaine Louis Remy Latricières-Chambertin Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

    (11/14/2025)

    Corked. Bah.

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  • 1990 Château Gruaud Larose 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    (11/14/2025)

    I've had some bottle variation with the '90 Gruaud previously, but this is one of the best bottles I've had. It's a redder fruit profile than I usually expect from Gruaud with savoury earth, cedar, and faintly leathery notes around the fruit, and it's in a terrific place right now - the fruit's still very rich and vibrant, but taking on a mature patina, and the texture's remarkably silken and finessed.

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  • 2013 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 92 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

    (11/14/2025)

    Lots of tannin here, but around it is a core of remarkably pure, sappy red and dark fruited flavours tinged with floral and lightly tarry/earthy notes. Very pretty, though still very primary right now.

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  • 2003 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points

    Germany, Nahe

    (11/14/2025)

    I've been convinced that 2003 produced some truly amazing Auslese from the right producers, and this is reaffirming. A deep gold colour, intensely rich with an array of honeyed and marmalade flavours around a core of ripe citrus and tropical fruits, and beneath is a base of pure stone. It's remarkably savoury on the palate and not particularly sweet despite the colour and my usual expectations for Dönnhoff Auslese - surprisingly, it feels drier than many young Spätlese. The balance here is impeccable - it's so light on its feet with the acids, sugar, and array of flavours all coming together seamlessly, and the whole package is incredibly easy to drink.

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Flight 2 - Night 2 (8 Notes)

  • 2023 Bedrock Wine Co. Cabernet Franc Detert Vineyard East Block 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    (11/15/2025)

    This is a tremendous wine and I am really hoping Bedrock makes more Cab Franc in the future. It's clearly Californian, clearly Bedrock, and also very distinctively Cab Franc. There's a rich, sunny sweetness to the dark fruit here, but also that herbaceous/forestal green aspect of Cab Franc on the aromatics that I love, and a palate presence that's full bodied and plush, though showing plenty of structure with lots of fine grained tannin and bright acids beneath. It's still incredibly primary, but the pieces are already coming together into a really thrilling and compelling wine, and on the second night the leftovers hold up extremely well - the tannin softens enough that the texture turns downright silky, while the flavours retain their brightness and clarity.

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  • 2015 Marie et Pierre Bénetière Syrah Vin de France Cordeloux 93 Points

    France, Vin de France

    (11/15/2025)

    I know there's been a ton of controversy about this vintage/release - I did not have this wine on release, but ten years out it tastes like a proper Northern Rhône to me, with the brightness and flair of Benetiere, though certainly showing the ripeness and rich fruit of the vintage. It is *very* fruit forward - there's a lot of plummy and dark berried fruit here, but also lots of bright higher toned peppery and lilac/other floral aspects that make it very enjoyable right now. Beneath the fruit there's good structure; grainy tannins and bright acids, and the leftovers hold up very well overnight as the fruit takes on a more savoury, slightly smoky character. No complaints about having a few of these in my cellar.

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  • 1991 Domaine de Vallouit Côte-Rôtie Les Roziers 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    (11/15/2025)

    And now we go old school. Yeah, this is a throwback (as the Vallouit wines always are), very much a 'they don't make em like this any more' experience. So savoury, all blood and iron and olives around a core of gentle red fruit, with time bringing out more floral and lightly meaty flavours. It starts out understated, but the intensity of the flavours keeps building with air over a few hours. The fruit's still fresh and bright, but it plays a background note to all the iron and meaty savouriness, and the whole package is incredibly compelling. Such a great bottle, and everything I love about Côte-Rôtie.

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  • 1985 Pierre Barge Côte-Rôtie 98 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    (11/15/2025)

    Côte-Rôtie really doesn't get much better than this. Like the Vallouit alongside, it's a throwback - totally old school, super classic Côte-Rôtie that's all about savoury iron and meaty and olive-y goodness, with a core of fruit underneath that's still remarkably vibrant and sweet. This isn't just rustic, there's an almost feral aspect here with the intense meatiness - the same character that I love so much in older Verset, and I don't use that comparison lightly here. The palate presence is incredible. So polished, so graceful, remarkably light on its feet but with almost piercing intensity to the fruit and savoury flavours here, and with such persistence. A really special wine. Thanks Z.

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  • 1998 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

    (11/15/2025)

    Took a little time to come around, but it did with some air and I loved it. Very Wendouree - that striking aroma of high-toned minty and eucalyptus notes, and almost bitter tree bark and earthy, cocoa-like savouriness. A core of dark and red fruits underneath lifted by bright acids, and because it's Wendouree it's very, very tannic - the kind of finer grained tannin I find in young Nebbiolo, except that this is nearly 30 and it has that tannin in spades, still. But this is lovely, and leftovers the next day smooth out and show more smoothly texturally (although with a lot of sediment).

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  • 2006 Noël Verset Cornas

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    (11/15/2025)

    So this is the finale, the master signing off. It's a pretty wine, gentler, lighter, and more delicate than earlier vintages of Verset when he had all his vines in Sabarotte/Reynard. I think he was in his mid-80s when he made this wine, without some of his best parcels that he sold or leased a few years before this as they were too steep for him to climb at that age. It's still very Cornas, and very Verset - animale, slightly feral, smoky and ashy and meaty flavours that keep expanding with air around a core of gentle red and dark fruit, though also extremely youthful right now, the flavours much more primary than tertiary. There's a lot of grainy tannin underneath that never really relents with air, and a spine of bright acids that also give it plenty of lift. It gives the sense it's holding more in reserve, and I'm just glad I have a couple more bottles - I probably won't open another for at least ~5 years or so.

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  • 2003 Edmunds St. John Syrah Bassetti Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, San Luis Obispo County

    (11/14/2025)

    Powerhouse of a Syrah. So, so youthful - this comes across almost primordial with such piercing intensity to its rich, dark-toned fruit, but also plenty of smoky and meaty savouriness around the fruit. There's a lot of tannin beneath and bright acids that give it lift - it's certainly nowhere near ready, though still very enjoyable with the biryani and it does soften and open out a little over the next few hours.

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  • 1998 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese 95 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (11/15/2025)

    Auslese my ass. This tastes like a Beerenauslese at least, and there's a high toned, almost gingery/horseradish-y spicy aspect to the nose that makes me wonder if there's some Eiswein in this. But this is freaking awesome. Packed with ripe tropical fruits, spice, honey, and an array of other high toned floral and spicy accents, and the whole package comes together so elegantly despite its intense sweetness. There's bright acidity here, a lovely freshness and energy to the fruit, and I could drink a lot of this. Oh wait, I did. Meulenhof never disappoints, especially with their older Treppchen holdings.

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