A great starter Champagne, crisp and clean with tart green apple, pear and minerality. Nice value here! Went great with smoked salmon app! 91+

Small 2 oz pour. Great 2002 Champagne! Lively on the tongue with crisp acidity (lots of life left in this Champagne!), green apple, sea shell, limestone and stone fruit. This was a pleasure to drink! Wish I owned some of this! 94+ to 95.

This was one of the best Rosé Champagnes I have had! The nose was perfumed with cherry blossom dominating, the color was a beautiful coral, and palate showed crisp acidity with minerality and saline, oyster shell and notes of tart cherry and tart strawberry. This went remarkably well with the caramelized mushroom, pancetta and gruyere cheese tarts! 94+ points - no problem

My first Raeneau. Way too much brine and saline for my palate, although many present absolutely loved it. For me, the palate showed sea shell, oyster, and brine with some lemon, unripe stone fruit and spice. Nice, but a little too acidic for my palate. Given the price, I would stick with Fèvre ...more my style of Chablis. 92 for me.

Nice balance between acidity and fruit. Very smooth on the palate with notes of toasted oak, pear and some minerality. Very nice and an exceptional value! 92+

My first Cathleen. This was much more restrained than I had anticipated...I would call it a more elegant style, which I was perfectly happy with! Meyers lemon, pear, and green apple with limestone, chalk and sweet toasty oak. Showed a touch of spice and acidity, but all in perfect harmony. Drinking well now, but certainly no hurry. 94+, no problem!

Nice for a 1976 wine. Others, who enjoy tertiary character in a wine more than I, really appreciated this wine. For me, while there was a little fruit present, it wasn't enough for my palate. In fact, a 1961 Cos d'Estournel showed much more fruit than this wine, and it was no where close to the 1982 Trotanoy I had a few weeks ago. Having said all that, it was/is always a treat to taste older Bordeaux wines!

Nose showed some funk and barnyard (not in a bad way), with leather and earth, and slight hints of cherry and vanilla. The palate followed suit, but the fruit was well hidden and had to be coaxed out. This was 90 to 90+ for me, and I would say drink up if you still have some.

I guess when you are dealing with wines this old it a crap shoot....aside from storage issues, you still have bottle variation issues also....well, today the wine gods were smiling! This was my first 1961 wine, and I was very pleasantly surprised. This wine had the most complex nose I have encountered. It was perfumed, but notes of black and red fruit, coupled with leather and earth dominated. Later, violets and dried flowers came to the forefront. Unfortunately, this was only a two ounce pour, and once I started tasting the wine, it was gone before I knew it and no time to revisit later in the night to track its evolution. The palate showed a nice mix of fruit and tertiary flavors with notes of cassis and earth dominating, but also showed some bark, tobacco and dark cherry. A pleasure to drink and held up remarkably well for a 60 year old wine! Easy 95+ for me, and my WOTN.

Absolutely loved the nose on this Burgundy. Nose shows kirsch, lavender and violets with hints of cedar, forest floor, leather and spice. Palate shows red fruit (mostly raspberry and cherry) with cigar and leather. Nicely balanced and a great combination of fruit and tertiary flavors. For my palate, this wine is in its peak window. Those who like fruit, need to drink up..those who enjoy tertiary flavors more, drink or hold, with more tertiary flavors to surface down the road. A nice aged Burgundy in a great place right now. 93+ and a joy to drink!

This wine was drank along side a 2002 Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacque. While I enjoyed both wines, the nose on the Jadot stood out. For this wine, it was the palate that took center stage. The nose showed bramble, spice and red fruit. The palate was filled with red currant, leather, forest floor and spice. Acidity was there to keep the wine lively, but not overt. This wine will likely last a few more years, so no hurry. 93+ points...loved both of these Burgundies!

This wine was puzzling. Wasn't sure what to expect from a Niagara Cab Franc. The first impression from the nose was port-like. Based solely on the nose, I would have thought this to be a fortified wine. The palate was even more perplexing, i.e., Amarone-like with plenty of dried plum dominating. Someone stated the grapes were dried before pressing, which made sense. Nose was not perfumed like one would expect from a Cab Franc, but palate did show dried plums and kirsch. A very different wine that was in balance and keeps your attention. 92+ to 93 points, and a unique and pleasant experience!

Always a treat to taste older wines! This wine didn't benefit from the food, as we were in the dessert course when we reached this wine. However, even with that, the wine was still alive with cherry and tar dominating on the palate and some acidity still present. I think this wine is on a downward trajectory, but still breathing life! A treat to drink and 89+ to 90 points for me.

This wine is in a nice drinking window right now. The color was still dark, turning more burgundy on the edge. Nose showed plenty of red and black currant, cigar and some earth and leather. Palate was really shining, with notes of violets, cassis, and bramble, followed by hints of cedar and dark chocolate. Tannins were present, but well integrated and silky. I can't imagine this drinking much better. Still excellent QPR, even at the current price of $120. Easy 93+, and I may be being conservative.

Not sure if it is because it followed more mature wines, or if it is really just way young, but this wine definitely showed its youth. More hedonistic (which doesn't bother me), but still feels a little disjointed and still shows some heat. Kirsch and licorice were dominating the palate, but also starting to show nice notes of earth, tobacco and leather. I am amazed at how slow this is taking to mature, but I probably shouldn't be too amazed since even the '05 Cos is still a baby. I would recommend holding these for another 3-5 years before trying one. 91 to 91+ now, but the potential to go higher in a few years, IMO.

This wine showed a perfumed nose filled with wild flowers, mint and some eucalyptus, with hints of raw steak, and some herbs. Palate showed plenty of dark fruit (mostly blackberry), some pepper notes and some toasted oak, all wrapped in silky tannins. One of the nicer Shiraz wines I have tasted and in a perfect place for my palate right now, with a nice balance of fruit and tertiary flavors coupled with well-resolved tannins. I don't think there is any rush to drink this, but I am not sure it will get any better....drinking quite well now! 93+ to 94 points