Our white starter, courtesy of Brian. On the nose and palate, red and green apples, white florals, rocky minerality, damp cloth, moderate oak and vanilla, and Meyer lemon giving the wine a nice spine. Medium yellow, medium+ bodied, medium legs. Medium acidity, no heat. Medium/medium+ on complexity, intensity and persistence. I hadn't had a White Burg, as distinguished from a chablis, for over 4 years, since when I dropped quite a few C-notes on a private purchase of several Batards and Cortons which were all in various stages of premox (fortunately, they were a small part of the bottle purchase, if not a trivial dollar part of the buy). But a fondness for these wines is something I got from my dad at the start of wine drinking life, so they bring back fond memories, which led to a WB suggestion to Brian. This particular PM was well-balanced and elegant, but whether the particular bottling (with which I wasn't familiar) or the relatively young bottle age, wasn't showing super WB typicity, at least in my recollection, not having the classis chalky texture (this was somewhere between creamy and taut), tension, length or expressiveness. These traits, along with relatively more oak and vanilla than I'm used to for WBs (albeit a totally unremarkable amount for a CA chard), made for an enjoyable, high quality drink, but at its sticker price, one that presented unremarkably. I tasted this first, as you might have expected, and did go back to have a larger taste after I'd tasted the full range of wares, but alas, my palate was too blown out by the big reds to tell if this had developed with more air. Toward that end, and again subject to my unfamiliarity with this particular bottling (and with my premox memories still burned in my brain), I'd be more likely to hold this for a while than drink now. We didn't have good food choices for a pairing, but there's enough acidity here to believe it would be very good to excellent with the usual meaty white fish or white meat chicken dishes.

One of my 2 wine contributions, bought at the big box wine store about 9 months ago as a one off. Aerated for about an hour after which its most intensely herbal notes blew off and were replaced by sweet and intense dark florals and spice, black and red cherries, black and blueberries, mocha, wet earth and graphite and gravel notes. Even though I'd allowed 2+ hours of air, the nose and palate were so superb, I recorked for 90 minutes before we began tasting. Deep slightly brownish purple, medium to full bodied, thick legs. Present but very well integrated tannins and acidity, no heat. Deeply complex and persistent, medium+ intensity. With over 400 TNs, this is my first CF/CF-dominant blend; while I appreciate the lift it can add to a CS (or even merlot) dominant blend, I'm often skeptical of it as the starring player, as the herbal quality that brings the lift can too often, in my experience, eclipse the fruit. But after an hour of air, that was certainly not the case here; this supple, elegant wine simply stunned. A bit creamy with a luscious, luxurious mouthfeel, this wine displayed extraordinary length, with waves of flavors washing over the palate, as the fragrant aromas tantalized the nose. Although there's not a sharp edge in sight, I do have to quibble that this wine is in any way lacking structure, and the tannins and acidity made it a great partner with the charcuterie and smoked chicken, and I think that the structure combined with the elements of spice could help it excel not only as a standalone and the usual with red meat dishes, but also with some more seasoned dishes as well. With just a bit of air, this is in a perfect drinking window and should continue to be I'd guess for 5 years or so, but these wines with well-integrated structures usually make me think that they won't be forever wines, and the way this wine is drinking now, I'm most inclined to say why wait. My biggest criticism of this wine is that the bottle, alas, ran out. This has also piqued my curiosity for more CFs, and while, unlike some of my more epicurean friends on CT, I don't drink Andy Erickson's wines on a regular basis, this is my third Bordeaux blend of his (Ovid reds from '08 and '12 before this), and all 3 are on my shortlist of all-time favorite wines. A very close WOTD (maybe because I brought it?) over the '08 Dal Forno AdV, but any day I could choose the lesser of those 2 would be an awfully great day. 98-99

Brought by the ever generous cyclist to our weekend wineapalooza; not sure of his decanting ablutions, but it was singing on the pour. On the nose and palate, very classic CS notes of leather, spice, florals, anise, dark chocolate, dust, tobacco and a bit of oak with mixed dark berries, cherries and cassis. Dark purple with a hint of black, medium+ bodied, medium++ legs. No acidity or tannins anywhere in sight, no heat (although Brian tasted some, and it is over 15% abv). Medium+ complexity, persistence and intensity. My second Fayard wine (that I know of, since I'm not as up on who's making what wine as I should be), and it kind of reminded of the first, a '15 Purlieu BTK, although cyclist said he thought Fayard was going for something different here. To my palate, both wines feature top shelf dark fruit, balance and some elegance, but are quite lean on structure, leading me to agree with WDC in his short but perceptive TN that time isn't on its side. Went well enough with our mixed small delicacies, but IMO, there really isn't enough structure here to make this primarily a food wine, so I'd be most likely to serve it as a standalone. Really delicious, but at the price point, a bit more complexity would've been welcome. 94+

Another cyclist contribution, this one particularly apropos because, I think, we may have connected through the comments to this TN. I cracked open a '10 Canalicchio BdM Riserva (which, alas, despite 4.5 hours of decanted air, and another couple when we were imbibing, wasn't nearly enough) which we paired against this Allbaer of old vs. new world Sangios. This has bright red fruit, particularly cherries and red currants and the slightest dash of acidity, but I didn't get much depth, complexity or persistence, and viz the Canalicchio, which skews toward the traditional end of the spectrum (and on top of that, '10, while a wonderful year, is marked by intense structure to boot), to my palate, this was a pleasant but pretty one dimensional drink, leaving aside quality, about as similar to the BdM as your average chablis would be to an Aubert, both chards, sure, but almost totally distinct otherwise. If tasting blind, I'd probably have guessed a C. Coast grenache based on the sweetness of the fruit (it's not hot, but is sweet), although a foothill sangio may have hit the top 10. When I did take a second taste later in the tasting, when my palate wasn't as sharp, I did find a bit more texture. Even though this is a well-made wine and I was glad to try it, it wasn't to my taste, not what I'm looking for in a sangio. It does bring up the interesting issue with wines, are tastes most determined by varietal or terroir, since some Tuscan Bordeaux blends can have what I consider classic sangio traits like cedar, smoke, tomato leaf and ground spice, not to mention drying tannins. Not scoring, as I think that if this style is your jam, you'll be closer to cyclist than any score I'd assign. I'd hold or give lots of air if drinking now.

The brightest star in cyclist's lineup, he put this through some serious overnight decanting gymnastics before it showed up on my deck in sunny Noe Valley, at which point it was singing a sweet tune. All manner of rich, sweet fruit, led by black cherries, cassis, mixed dark berries, a slight citric note, plums, prunes, raisins, figs and probably any of their other fruit brethren you could find in a fruit Rorschach test, leather, deep forest spice, Xmas spice cake, dark flowers, wet earth and frogs, snails and puppy dogs tails and anything else the witches could find that morning, all backstopped notably by powerful tannins and acidity which was very present and partially integrated. Impenetrably blackish purple, full bodied enough for a straw to stand upright, legs like General Sherman (to clarify: the tree, not the man). Hugely but in no way unpleasantly tannic and acidic, not boozy but incandescently warm. Insanely complex, persistent and intense. I couldn't summarize this better than soyhead (who was on the invite list, but alas, fell off): whoa. 2021 hasn't exactly been a year for the ages, what with the persistence of covid, the crazy block party in the Capitol, and more personally, medical and sundry personal woes leaving me as a virtual shut in. And yet, this is the second tasting I've done in 6 weeks when some wonderful and extravagant soul has brought a funkin' DF AdV; is this a great country or what? While I've not gone back and compared the above notes viz those in the '98 supplied by A_M at the prior tasting, my sense is that this drinking similarly, at least for my not so sophisticated palate. This wine is insanely powerful, but like the 6'4" 350 guy in full pads running a 4.5 40, it moves well for a big man (or phrased more appropriately, it glides along, at least in a relative sense, for ever and ever, despite its 16+% abv). While this wine may not remind you of a '61 Latour (well, they are both red and contain alcohol), I admit to being perplexed by the scores this has received on CT. This wine is fabulously complex and anchored by tremendous structure; no Central Coast fruit bomb this. I know that some of the low scores, as is often the case for complex--dare I say, difficult?--reds are because CT'rs are drinking them, IMO, too early, do people not know how much air if not time these need to be anywhere near their best? And as for saying this isn't someone's cup of tea, this wine has total AdV typicity (albeit at a far higher quality level); if they weren't sure they liked AdVs, why not test drive the wares on the online wine clearinghouses or even the reasonably priced base models from reliably solid producers like Allegrini, Masi, Tomassi or Zenato (or if feeling a bit flusher, Bertani); did they have to find out they didn't like Amarones by wasting either the best or second best (Quintarelli is certainly in the discussion) bottling? Well, these are first world issues, and I do understand where some divisiveness on Amarones can come from, but if you like Amarones, if you air this out, or wait at least another 5-10 years, you'll be rewarded with a world class wine. After our last tasting, I was curious to pair this with something sweet, so I drank it against my wife's blueberry chocolate brownies, but this wine, even with its sweetish fruit, is just too structured and savory, IMO, to work with most desserts. Best to go with something similar to my earlier in the week pairing with the Castellini of the veal chop. I'm grading this just the thinnest of hairs behind both the '98 and the '08 Cerro Sur we drank. While the latter is just a matter of slight preference, I think that this wine, even with the tremendous depth and expressiveness it had on Saturday, is ever so slightly behind the '98 in those categories, but it sure would have been a pleasure to have had them side by side to see if I truly felt that way or if it's just my slightly addled memory playing tricks. Anyway, who's to say if in a decade, this will have caught, or even passed where the '98 is now. Time is on its side in a big way, but plenty good to go now with enough air. Huge gratitude to my new friend cyclist for suppling this stunning libation. 98+

Brian's wonderful red contribution to wineapalooza; I know he opened it beforehand, but don't know for how long or if it was decanted, but it was definitely ready to go when we broke the seal. On the very vibrant nose and palate, sweet and savory black currants and cherries, blackberries, and plums; charred earth; ground spice; leather; minerality; dark florals; cinnamon, and tobacco. Deep purple, full-bodied, medium to full legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity which were partially integrated, but to the extent not, well balanced by fruit and secondary notes, no heat despite the 15% abv, but with that wonderful incandescence like the Dal Forno. Tremendous persistence, complexity and intensity. My first bottle of Ornellaia, and while youthful and energetic, it wasn't unharmonious in any way. Terrific Bordeaux style blend in which the CS gave complexity, the merlot roundness, the CF lift (I must confess I'm never sure exactly what I'm supposed to be tasting in a PV). As mentioned, shockingly good to go on the pour, but it deepened and became more expressive over the course of the afternoon, all the more so with the small pour left over--thank you so much, Brian, for leaving!--on night 2. The fruit is extraordinary, but unlike the Covert, the structure and savoriness really add profundity, which, while already impressive, seem certain to increase greatly over the coming years, nay, decades. Great with the charcuterie and on the second night, lasagna, but more than balanced and elegant enough to stand on its own. If I had one or 2 bottles, I'd hold or give them plenty of air, but if you're lucky enough to have a bunch, no reason not to find a special occasion--except for my fortunate CT friends for whom this kind of thing is a regular occasion quaff--and let it rip. Like the Tusk at the prior tasting, if this esteemed group of wines were to be reconvened in the future, this could well climb to the top of the medal stand, but no disgrace being just a bit behind the Favia and Dal Forno on this date. As a side note, this bottling is a bit of a mystery to me, as it has the same grapes in the same proportions as the "standard" Ornellaia, and for the 12 vintages of this wine, there are zero (yep, a big goose egg) TNs, so, at the risk of violating CT protocol, I'm copying this TN into the "standard" Ornellaia section (yeah, I also love attention). I note that some Solares have a particularly artistic label, but this one did not. 96-97+++

THIS TN IS FOR THE 2017 ORNELLAIA SOLARE; SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM. Brian's wonderful red contribution to wineapalooza; I know he opened it beforehand, but don't know for how long or if it was decanted, but it was definitely ready to go when we broke the seal. On the very vibrant nose and palate, sweet and savory black currants and cherries, blackberries, and plums; charred earth; ground spice; leather; minerality; dark florals; cinnamon, and tobacco. Deep purple, full-bodied, medium to full legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity which were partially integrated, but to the extent not, well balanced by fruit and secondary notes, no heat despite the 15% abv, but with that wonderful incandescence like the Dal Forno. Tremendous persistence, complexity and intensity. My first bottle of Ornellaia, and while youthful and energetic, it wasn't unharmonious in any way. Terrific Bordeaux style blend in which the CS gave complexity, the merlot roundness, the CF lift (I must confess I'm never sure exactly what I'm supposed to be tasting in a PV). As mentioned, shockingly good to go on the pour, but it deepened and became more expressive over the course of the afternoon, all the more so with the small pour left over--thank you so much, Brian, for leaving!--on night 2. The fruit is extraordinary, but unlike the Covert, the structure and savoriness really add profundity, which, while already impressive, seem certain to increase greatly over the coming years, nay, decades. Great with the charcuterie and on the second night, lasagna, but more than balanced and elegant enough to stand on its own. If I had one or 2 bottles, I'd hold or give them plenty of air, but if you're lucky enough to have a bunch, no reason not to find a special occasion--except for my fortunate CT friends for whom this kind of thing is a regular occasion quaff--and let it rip. Like the Tusk at the prior tasting, if this esteemed group of wines were to be reconvened in the future, this could well climb to the top of the medal stand, but no disgrace being just a bit behind the Favia and Dal Forno on this date. As a side note, this bottling is a bit of a mystery to me, as it has the same grapes in the same proportions as the "standard" Ornellaia, and for the 12 vintages of this wine, there are zero (yep, a big goose egg) TNs, so, at the risk of violating CT protocol, I'm copying this TN into the "standard" Ornellaia section (yeah, I also love attention). I note that some Solares have a particularly artistic label, but this one did not. 96-97+++

My second contribution to the winefest, and I must confess to dropping the ball on this. I actually decanted this an additional hour and half more than the first bottle (for a total of 4.5 hours), and yet it was still a bit like cutting through underbrush on the initial serving date, even after another 3 hours in the decanter while we imbibed. With still another 2 hours of air then more glass time on night 2 (and even more so on night 3), it pulled the amazing Euro wine trick (observed most notably and recently with the '03 Pegau CR) of not only greatly thickening but darkening, with marvelous dark berries coming to the fore, rivaling the tremendous acidity and tannins and classic Tuscan secondary notes to make this already among the greatest BdMs I've ever tasted. Was excellent with the food on Saturday, but became far more of a standalone superstar on Sunday and Monday. If you have a bottle of 2, *HOLD*, as I think that this will peak sometime between 2025 and 2030 (would guess more the latter than former), then hold there for at least another decade, but I'd be inclined to decant overnight if you're going to pop much sooner. If scoring, 95-96+ on the second night on, although some of that is still on potential.

Wonderful surprise from cyclist, commemorating the year of my birth, and like the Albala, a kaleidoscopic blast of flavors after an afternoon which hadn't previously lacked them. On the extremely intense nose and palate, burnt marshmellows, Grand Marnier, stewed cherries, caramel, spice, raisin, dark roast coffee, and a warehouse full of other notes that would take more time and require a more sophisticated palate than I can pull out. A translucent color which seemed to flick between medium gold, light garnet and rust, oh so full bodied, medium legs. Medium+ acidity, light tannins, and, oh, is this boozy (as close to cognac as any non-fortified wine, including the DF). Indescribable complexity, intensity and persistence. Well, sfwl's expertise on fortified wine is about at the same level as his knowledge of 1970s Moldovan cabinet ministers and 1980s women's college lacrosse, but this Porto, along with the Albala, rank among the most interesting things I've ever introduced to my system. Compared to that beverage, this wasn't quite as mellifluous (is it ridiculous to think at 60--note to cyclist, this commemorates my birthday, and I'm 60, not 61!--this is still in its infancy and has further balancing to do?), the flavors coming not so much as in a smooth set of waves as in eddying chops, and this trait, along with its potency, made it a bit overwhelming, at least for me, with the sweets I tried it with on pouring (I note that most of my thoughts come from the second night on the leftovers, as my palate, and I, were pretty blown out by the time I got to it on Saturday). For those so inclined, I'd expect it to be wonderful with a good cigar, but the thought of sipping it around a giant fireplace, whether at the Ahwahnee--or whatever they're calling it these days--or some inn at Kitzbuehl after a day of carving powder, sounds about as good as it gets. I think I have about 4 oz left and may serve it to some wine-spirit loving dinner guests on Friday, but otherwise, this seems likely to be apportioned out in eyedropper-sized portions, as this is, for my tastes, something to be sipped, savored and consumed with great occasion-ness and intentionality. That said, and subject to my lack of familiarity with adult after dinner beverages, seems very underrated on CT. Thanks again, cyclist, for bringing this treat!