One of the most interesting white wines that I have come across in my short time chasing this hobby of ours. This was opened overnight before drinking, but not decanted. Pale straw yellow in color. It shows a pretty classic Viognier nose of sweet pineapple, with an underlying floral note. This wine showed three distinct profiles as it cross the tongue. First there is a big hit of stony minerality, like licking wet rocks, with the taste of alcohol (no heat yet) coming through into the mid-palate. On the mid the fruit peaked through showing very nice and light citrus infused oil flavor. Into the finish the fruits softened and faded out with the heat from the 13.9% alcohol poked it's head back out, but never really became overwhelming. Having some experience with Rhone whites, the fruit profile, while brief in this wine, was what I would expect from the region, but everything else was a completely new experience for me. Considering the way it sectionally crossed my palate, I wonder if this wine needs age to really come together. I doubt I'll find out however, as this didn't really "wow" me enough to want to shell out $45 for it.

Pale yellow color. The nose showed subdued aromas of citrus with underlying grass and flowers. First thing on the taste I got was acid right on the front of my tongue. It has an oily texture with flavors of sharp citrus and sweet melons. While I don't have much experience with Riesling, this to me seems pretty basic and straightforward. It has a nice acid structure, but otherwise it's a tad on the sweet side for me and there's not much complexity going on. Easy drinker, but I would hope for a little bit more complexity in something at this price point. For $7-$8 cheaper, I would get the Josef Leitz Dragonstone we tried next to this before coming back here.

Very tight on the aromatics, only could coax out some citrus oil and what I would describe as sweet petrol. Shows on the sweet side of the Riesling spectrum with tropical fruit flavors, but these are cut into the finish with a nice minerality, crisp acidity, and an underlying petrol that I wish would come forward more. Not much more going on here than the Fritz Haag we drank next to this, but I felt that it had better balance and a little more depth of flavor. I think both would show better with food, and I could see enjoying this under the warm summer sun.

Black, purple, and opaque in color. Nose shows BIG chocloate, blackberry, black pepper and some green pepper. Insanely aromatic wine. Tastes of lush black and red berry fruits with underlying vanilla spice and pepper flavors and very chewy tannins. Well balanced as it never went insanely over the top with the oak and the jammy fruits as the Aussies are known to do, but I still felt that this wine was lacking in any elegance or direction. A bit all over the place with so much going on. I rather enjoyed it at this juncture, but I could see being turned off to this if I wasn't in the mood for it.

Ahhh...this is more like it. Rich nose full of caramel, roasted nuts, and sweet prunes. Well balanced flavors that followed the nose with an underlying smokiness and only a touch of heat. There was a lightness to the texture, but a denseness to the fruit flavors that really fascinated me. Not the best 20 yr tawny that I have had, but right near the top.

Tasted next to the 05 vintage and this wine jumped out at me as being an improvement right off the bat. Similar characteristics in the nose and on the palate to the 05, but all of it seemed more subtle and restrained, which was my main complaint with the 05. Soft floral nose with vanilla, chocolate, some white pepper, and black fruits. On the tongue, the 05 seemed to just go all over the place, but this seemed to come in with more structure to it. The flavors, while still big and rich as expected, seemed deliberate and focused in comparison. I am really glad we had this next to the 05 because I think a lot of those nuances would have been lost if I tasted this on its own. Still a bit much (both stylistically and price point) for me to really get excited about. But a very enjoyable wine none-the-less.

Decanted for several hours before drinking. Soon as I stuck my nose into this wine I knew it was going to be right up my alley. Nose full of wet, dirty leather, pine, and earth. The flavors showed lovely ripe blue and black fruits, spice, tobacco and fresh soil. Tannins are still a bit chewy and unresolved, but with time this should settle into a soft yet structured wine. I wish I had taken more detailed notes on this wine as it was really quite fantastic. This was my wine of the event, without a doubt.

Impression only as I really only had about a two ounce pour of this. The bottle was open for about 4 hours before drinking. Absolutely fantastic nose full of rich strawberries, cinnamon, and fresh pine. The nose of this wine alone is worth the price of admission. Flavors of strawberries, red licorice, clove, and dust showed more subtle and subdued than the nose. Other than feeling a little let down by the relative thinness of the flavors compared to the nose, this is a really fantastic little bottle of wine. Definitely worth seeking out to work through a full bottle. If I ventured a score I would say 88 at this point, but the potential is there for higher scores both in terms of really getting a good taste of it and with a few more years in the bottle.

This is my first taste of a Late Bottled Vintage port. This was bottled in 1999. Nose is very smokey and seemed very similar to a cognac with more underlying spice and sweet raisins. The taste was similar to the nose with big smoke filled flavors and heat from the alcohol covering most of the sweet fruit and nut flavors. I am thinking this just needs to lay down for 20 or so years to let the alcohol integrate and allow all the characteristics come together. There was nothing bad here, it was just really hard to get through the alcohol at this point.