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Wine Type Vintage Name Variety Locale Date Posted Score Helpful Comments Comment Date Community Score More...
Red

2020 Tablas Creek Le Complice

 Paso Robles Adelaida District Red Rhone Blend more
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8/30/2023 - drwine2001 wrote: NR

Paso Robles Winery Visits; 8/30/2023-9/1/2023: Ruby. Floral and herbal aromas. Medium weight. Lively black fruit. Round and supple but it has a funny cigar smoke component that makes me wonder if it is smoke tainted.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    10/31/2023 12:49:00 PM - Interesting regarding the smoke. Smoke taint has been a concern for me for the 2020 vintage, particularly Northern California and Oregon, but also Paso. (SBC was spared.) I did taste through half a dozen Tablas reds in July. I was pleasantly surprised to get no clear hints of smoke taint in any of them. I noticed that you didn't note smoke in your your TN for the Terret, which leaves the Syrah as the likely culprit here. It's possible only some blocks were effected. Also, smoke taint is notorious for playing hide and seek in red wines - it can not show at all and then a year later be obvious.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    10/31/2023 3:43:00 PM - Well said and well considered. I remember in real time reading about the smoke in Paso and seeing photos. With so much great wine sloshing around the globe, why take undue risk?

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/21/2024 8:03:00 AM - Bummer to hear, hmwolters. In the 2020 vintage I bought zero bottles from Oregon and nearly all of my California purchases were either SBC or required club shipments.
Red

2020 L'if

 St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend more
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5/14/2021 - Shrewsram Likes this wine: 92 points

Near opaque
Charming nose – has a plumpness, super lift and elegance. Very pure and fresh black raspberry, dark cherry, a clean-cut mineral vein.

More cherry on the palate, plenty of structure, a chalky grip, ripe tannins. Good density, super dark cherry intensity, spicy and floral, long and mineral.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/17/2024 2:21:00 PM - Thanks for the helpful TN and comments follow-up. I hear you on price, but with a handful of bottles on close-out here in the U.S. at $150 including tax ~equiv. 120 GPB, duty & VAT inclusive, I think I'll bite!

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/17/2024 5:11:00 PM - Anhelo, not sure where you're located. This retailer is in Southern California.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/18/2024 7:18:00 AM - Anhelo, LiteItOnFire,
    wine-searcher.com has completed it's daily scrape and updated to reflect the sale price. See here*: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/l+if+st+emilion+bordeaux+france/2020/usa-ca?Xsort_order=p

    There were six bottles available. I purchased two, so four remain.

    * Not trying to be coy, but I generally don't document specific price + store identity data on CT when it comes to close-out deals.
White

2019 Michel Bouzereau et Fils Bourgogne Côte d'Or Le Clos du Moulin

 Chardonnay more
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1/13/2023 - bradhens1 Likes this wine: 92 points

PNP. Starting out, oak and barrel characteristics upfront with a mineral-forward, crisp finish. Over the ensuing hours, the barrel subsides and integrates into lemon and citrus fruit. This is a gem and killer QPR for $43

Next bottle in 3-5yrs - it will only get better.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/16/2024 8:22:00 AM - Just had a bottle and loved it. It's getting in the zone. I looked at the CT consensus drinking window and it goes out to 2026. I agree with your assessment that it'll develop further out than that and I'm adjusting my window accordingly.
Red

2014 Aurelien Verdet Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Le Prieuré

 Pinot Noir more
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4/14/2024 - tward Likes this wine: 92 points

Excellent
Wow, this last bottle of four purchased seven years ago was the best even though it's a couple years past the consensus drinking window. Still vibrant and with some tart cherry and a restrained funk and some tertiary decaying leaf and forest floor, subtle spice, maybe some rosemary. It is fairly deep and full bodied, yet far from feeling warm or heavy.

Went great with grilled flour tortillas stuffed with Rancho Gordo pinto beans, grilled butternut squash, corn, and shitake mushrooms. Drank so well on its own too, from PnP forward.

Outstanding QPR for the $17 paid back in 2017. (Sadly, K&L stopped carrying this producer after the 2018 vintage.)

Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines

12.5% abv

Empty bottle weight: 634

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/15/2024 9:50:00 AM - Glad to hear someone else is having this happy surprise. It's part of what makes having a cellar so interesting. Some things might go sideways and even disappoint, while others come out of nowhere and shine.
White

2021 Suertes del Marqués Valle de la Orotava Trenzado

 Listan Blanco, Palomino Fino more
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1/11/2024 - hippoonroofeatingcake Likes this wine: NR

This must be cheating. Like this is two years old, and in some ways yeah it is, like lots of fresh fruity minerality and general spunk, but ALSO so many complex oxidative malty cheesy farty secondary flavours. And it's CHEAP.

If this was a ten year old savennieres from a famous vineyard i would just be like, "yes this is pretty good" but as it is I feel like surely it is pulling a fast one and deceiving me in some subtle way. Surely it cannot *actually* be this delicious.

CONFESS WINE WHAT ARE YOUR TRICKS

69

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/13/2024 7:41:00 AM - Thanks for the informative and fun TN, but I can't make sense of the numbers you put at the end of your TNs. "69"?
Red

2020 The Royal Nonesuch Farm

 York Mountain Grenache Blend, Grenache more
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12/26/2022 - Ticker tape guy Likes this wine: 90 points

nice Bordeaux blend rather big bodied with tannins that mellowed as oil sat open very good wine

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/8/2024 1:38:00 PM - You might have had a different wine. This is a Rhone blend.
Red

2013 Tenuta Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino

 Sangiovese more
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5/14/2020 - happy712 Does not like this wine: 85 points

Horrible brunello from a good vintage. 2 days didn’t improve it.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/3/2024 10:13:00 AM - Thanks for your review - I'll avoid this wine, but an '85' is on the Good to Very Good bubble!
Red

2021 Arnot-Roberts Zinfandel Kirschenmann

 Lodi more
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2/3/2024 - redz wrote: 89 points

These Arnot your typical zins. Really fruity in a Beaujois kinda way. Might mellow a little with age, not my taste.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    4/3/2024 7:28:00 AM - ISWYDT
Red

2018 Domaine Guy & Yvan Dufouleur Nuits St. Georges Aux St. Julien

 Pinot Noir more
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7/27/2021 - alexlb06 Likes this wine: 92 points

Really nice white burgundy. A bit of oak, but not too much. Buttery and smooth. Well balanced

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/30/2024 5:05:00 PM - This is a red wine.
Red

2016 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py

 Gamay more
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3/7/2024 - chablis28 wrote: 89 points

Brad's Winner Winner Zuni chicken dinner night. BB,KB,ML & I. Thanks Brad! My btl. First thing I smelled was dill pickles & it never dissipated in my glass. Others didn't seem to notice. No, I didn't have a Burger for lunch. Palate was more appealing than the nose! Red fruit, earth & spice on the palate. 13% alc 85pts Nose / 91pts palate. Average...89pts. My least fav wine of the night.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/29/2024 6:51:00 PM - Crisp skin and bread salad!
Red

NV Christopher Tynan Wines L'enclume De Velours

 Bennett Valley Red Blend more
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2/18/2024 - jvphoto Likes this wine: 91 points

w/ take home lasagna from Eataly

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/25/2024 8:30:00 PM - How was it? The wine, I mean.
Red

2020 Vieux Château Certan

 Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend more
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7/15/2021 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 98 points

2021 Bordeaux Tasting Trip; 7/12/2021-7/16/2021 (Bordeaux): A tasting in Bordeaux of 71 wines, some of the best I have ever had and others, umm, well were disappointing. If you read the Tasting story (and my grading history) I think it will do a much better job putting this in perspective.

Vieux Chateau Certan is not a Trophy wine that Americans buy to throw their junk on a table and show off (crude I know but reality), it’s a wine that really only knowledgeable wine drinkers are aware of and not well known to Americans. Further they do not advertise or market or do any publicly at all, they are farmers/winemakers and that’s what they know (FYI going forward same winemaker as Le Pin GT). If there was an ounce of marketing they would be priced 2x++ what it is today. First we tasted the 2020 second wine, La Gravette de Certan, then 2020 VCC, then 2010 and then the 2019 (requested a comparison after the fact). The suite of wines were outstanding, period- and they know it with a shy smile and a nod.

While the 2020 had the large price increase (like others) it made other much more expensive wines look like they were playing in little league baseball while VCC just won the championship. While I am not familiar with Petrus or Screaming Eagle (only familiar with the second wine) nor truly understand Burgundy, I can say without a doubt VCC was the wine of the trip and the best wine at the price- and one of the best wines we have ever had.

Holy mother of gd this is insane and can’t be for real. Nectar of the gds right here and now. As the thief started to pour the wine into our glasses, the bouquet slaps you playfully with incredible intensity and incomparable never ending perfume of flavor after flavor that never seems to end… we all snap our heads in attention and our mouth waters, as what it must be like for a crack addict, a burning desire to rip the glass from its location and ingest this magical elixir immediately while staying cool calm collected on the outside… Well that was what I intended anyway…

Once in the mouth, there is an explosion of flavors that hit you from all directions with the finesse of a professional ice skater and the artistry of Picasso/Monet/[fill in your artist of choice here] where you stare at the artwork and marvel at its vision and unspoken message. It has an incredible complexity providing a kaleidoscope of flavors that will be hard to be matched anywhere at any price, enhanced by the most incredible mouthfeel, which can only be described as silk velvet wrapped in full structure coating the mouth creating nearly a 90 second finish- yes really. Without an ability to even come close to expressing how fing good this is, I almost didn’t try as anything I wrote would not even come close… do you think I liked the wine? Nope absolutely in love with it.

If you have never heard of VCC, you will soon enough. If you haven’t tasted one, you are missing out on what wine is all about. If you haven’t had one in its peak drinking window, regardless if early or towards the end, I don’t think one truly has experienced all of what wine has to offer (while it may not be affordable, either save up and stop buying other wine or find a friend or pool some friends together and chip in to buy one- and if doing that, buy the 2010 as it’s firing on all cylinders and will only continue to get better every day- IMO (I purposefully left out humble). 98-100 Cheers!

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/25/2024 8:19:00 PM - Thanks for the fantastic TN. You helped me pull the trigger on a couple of bottles and I'm someone who clearly has a per-bottle wine budget well below yours. FYI, Wine House in LA currently has a nice price on this if you're looking to add more.
White - Sparkling

2016 Déhu Père & Fils Champagne Cuvée La Rue des Noyers Extra Brut

 Pinot Meunier more
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2/12/2024 - Frank Murray III wrote: NR

Opened yesterday, still working on the bottle a day later. 100% Pinot Meunier, done without dosage. There is some discrepancy here on disgorgement, as the back label says February 2020, and the cork stamp says February 2021. Dunno which is accurate. Farmed biodynamic, no malo. Current release is 2018 so this is a few vintages older. Of note, I had some mixed experience with a few bottles of the 2013, with one advanced and another less so, and then one other that was fine. So, I finished off the 13s and when I saw this 2016 out for sale, figured I would give it a go. Little bit of gold here showing but the wine's energy is spot on. When we first opened this yesterday, it was softer, showing raspberry, tangy peach and orange rind. By the end of dinner last night, it had started to acquire some coil, a firm energy. Today, the wine is pretty consistent with the final glass yesterday. In terms of texture, the chill really shuts the wine down but when the chill is relieved, then some saline infused lime comes through with some of the fruit signature. The wine just needs the right temp to relax, and I just wonder how often people misjudge brut nature because they hit it with too cold a serving temp, then wonder why it's lean and coiled--an act of begging the very thing that is unwanted. Let this warm up so that you get the ground from the Noyers plot to talk, then the fruit from Meunier to join in. Finishes with some light seasoning of wood, adding an allpsice note. This is worth reloading as it's drinking really beautifully--tangy, a bit salty and I love the fruit.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/23/2024 8:37:00 AM - Fantastic TN, thank you. As for "an act of begging the very thing that is unwanted", ah, well this sadly seems to be something that has infested many things well beyond serving temperature for brut nature...

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/23/2024 10:05:00 AM - Thanks for the tip. Your profile shows OC. I'm LA and buy a bit from Envoyer in OC. He pitched this today for $80.
Red

2021 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive

 Gamay more
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2/9/2024 - ricard Likes this wine: 93 points

Wildly enjoyable top-notch Fleurie. Gloriously expressive nose of blueberries, plums, wet slate and smoked bacon. Real bite and crunch to the texture. Firm and serious. Impressive structure and body but also light and playful. Deeply pleasurable. Whoever thinks Cru Beaujolais isn't fine wine is a fool. And at the price, it's criminally underappreciated.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/23/2024 8:47:00 AM - Truth. Fools are the reason there's still real gold in them there hills for the rest of us.
White

2020 Patrick Piuze Chablis Terroir de Chablis

 Chardonnay more
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2/7/2023 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 91 points

Sourced from two north-facing parcels that are in close proximity to the Premier Cru Montmains vineyard, Piuze's 2020 Terroir de Chablis is a light-to-medium golden Chardonnay that offers an attractive aromatic profile of pit fruits, quince, jasmine, wet stones and chamomile. Medium-bodied, crisply acidic and without noticeable wood or alcohol (12%), it delivers flavors in line with the aromas and stays solid on the mid-palate. Long and vibrant on the back end, this is an excellent young Chablis that performs well above its pedigree. It will last longer than most would predict. Drink now-2035.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/14/2024 8:58:00 AM - Thanks for your helpful TN. In particular, thanks for advising on the drinking window.

    FYI, I recently learned that the CT team has decided to change the way the community drinking windows work. As of now, if a given vintage of a wine has less than four CT community members contributing a drinking window, the system will automatically use the drinking windows from *ALL* of that wine's vintages in CT. This can include decades of a wine's vintages across various conditions and aging potential.

    So... I'm commenting to my fellow users to please set a drinking window on wines you've got experience with (e.g. when you create a new TN for the wine). I'm doing this myself, even if I don't have any bottles remaining. I wish there were a way to update drinking window information integrated with making a TN, but there is not. I've gathered that there are no plans to do so.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/14/2024 12:53:00 PM - Thanks again. Much appreciated. The hope is that we can get enough users to click through the "Drink YYYY-YYYY" link and set those dates to update the community average drinking window.

    Like most users, I get a lot of value from the TN text more than the scores. But in terms of pacing bottles in my cellar to drink, I relay on those CT drinking windows, whether ones I've set or others have set (community).
White

2018 La Chablisienne Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu

 Chardonnay more
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7/22/2022 - Thegreen1985 wrote: 90 points

French white wine from Chablis: Chardonnay. 13 % alcohol. Aged for 12 months on fine lees in tanks and barrels.

Pale golden/grayish color.

Powerful, crisp and delicate aromas of brioche, lemon, exotic fruit, green apple, limestone and minerals. Ripe flavors of yellow apples, exotic fruit, honey, yogurt, exotic spices, white flowers and minerals.

Dry. Medium body. Medium acidity. Good balance. Very good structure. Some complexity. Powerful. Good intensity.

Medium finish with honey and minerals.

A good and ripe Chablis that need some air before it start to deliver. I would prefer more acidity and less exotic fruit. It performs best when it’s fridge cold. I see little room for improvement, but it should be able to last a few years in the cellar. 90/100

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/13/2024 4:28:00 PM - Thanks for your helpful TN. Sounds like this vintage is for earlier drinking.

    FYI, I recently learned that the CT team has decided to change the way the community drinking windows work. As of now, if a given vintage of a wine has less than four CT community members contributing a drinking window, the system will automatically use the drinking windows from *ALL* of that wine's vintages in CT. This can include decades of a wine's vintages across various conditions and aging potential.

    So... I'm commenting to my fellow users to please set a drinking window on wines you've got experience on (e.g. when you create a new TN for the wine). I'm doing this myself, even if I don't have any bottles remaining.
Red

2016 Domaine des Bosquets Gigondas Cuvée "Le Lieu Dit"

 Red Rhone Blend more
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7/14/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 91 points

Double-decanted. Paired against Bosquet La Colline 2016. Both displayed decent typicity. While both had an earthy base, Le Lieu Dit was lighter and sweeter with red cherry and raspberry fruit, vanilla, but also occasional hints of soy which made me question how much life was really left here. Despite the concentration and sweet, spicy features, the palate managed to come across fresh thank to nice acidity, but with some heat and a grainy texture.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    1/29/2024 9:42:00 AM - Thanks for another helpful TN. I'm not familiar with double-decanting. What does that entail?

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/11/2024 8:31:00 AM - Ah, then I have indeed double decanted a few times myself!
Red

2015 Domaine Pavelot (Jean-Marc et Hugues) Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Gravains

 Pinot Noir more
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1/18/2024 - ESubvaria Likes this wine: 50 points

Believe it or not....this still needs two more years. I am drinking it now. Tons of fruit but still too much tannin on the finish.

Pavelot wines are for the long haul......which I might not make.

I find California universally awful. If I want hard liquor I will order a scotch. They are simply awful.....just had to say it.

  • Comment posted by tward:

    3/9/2024 5:52:00 PM - I don't understand the California comment.

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