3/23/2024 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

Third bottle, insanely unbalanced and alcoholic. These bottles MUST have been damaged. Since these weren’t the wines I ordered in any case, I would advise everyone NOT to purchase from this provider, meaning the store obviously, as opposed to the producer, Lumpp.

10/29/2022 - essconsults Likes this wine:

I just noticed that I hadn’t entered a note. This was an exceptional bottle of mature WB, perhaps not ultra classic or nuanced as the greats can be, but a wonderful drinking experience. Thankfully, no signs of PREMOX whatsoever. We drank it at a lavish dinner and the wine got better and better as the evening went on and it came close to room temperature.

11/28/2022 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Had this many years ago at an Acker BYOB but see I never added a note. Spectacullar, classic white burgundy. They simply don’t make ‘em like this any more.

11/15/2022 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

My second bottle, the first from Coravin, this opened traditionally. Compared to the ‘14, which was balanced and interesting albeit with minimal fruit, this is tannic, alcoholic and with a kind of bubble-gum tutti frutti component.

I got a “deal” on this but I guess you get what you pay for.

10/26/2022 - essconsults wrote:

Since we’re not allowed to post a range, I’m using sn average. This is nowhere near ready but it seems to have the makings of a very good wine. Or, it may dry out, with the tannins outlasting the fruit. Hard to say as this hasn’t budged in 10 years. At least from my bottle.

8/3/2022 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

First impression and perhaps it’s about expectations. This is quite disappointing in the context of some of the reviews Lorenzon has garnered. This has a burnt rubber taste that I find off putting. Perhaps it’s the vintage, perhaps it’s Mercurey, perhaps it’s the producer. Cola, but more rhubarb and sour cherries, a hot alcoholic finish, little to no burgundian complexity, albeit it’s only 5 yrs old.

Another overrated burgundy? On the other hand, perhaps it’s me.

7/29/2022 - essconsults wrote:

I guess I’m always going to be disappointed with this wine, since my first encounter with it was the ‘97 vintage, a remarkable achievement and close to grand cru Cote d’Or level, as Parker indicated. Maybe it IS “global warming” but this iteration is hot and alcoholic and hits you over the head with its ripeness. Some of the other tasters claim it needs more time; maybe that’s true, but should it, at age 6? While it has broad mouth-filling fruit and length, it has no elegance or complexity. In general, when it comes to much of the Macon, I am not impressed anymore. I really don’t like this type of wine, but I’ll give it an 88 on reputation.

12/11/2019 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Sorry for not posting this before. At the last pre-Covid Acker BYOB. Agree with all the comments. Maybe a bit modernist but a beautiful wine and with a long future. Worked perfectly with a ragu sauce on fettuccine, as you’d expect.

1/27/2022 - essconsults wrote:

Hanging on for dear life. You have about 20 minutes once this is opened and as it’s cold. After that see ya. Oxed, but after 14/15 years can’t say premoxed in today’s modern WB world.

1/15/2022 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

I had ordered (I thought) the Lumpp ‘16 1er cru Vignes Rouges, and was sent this in error. As Lumpp has a strong reputation I decided to keep it but so far the wine-my second bottle-has been a big disappointment. Perhaps I’m expecting too much from a Givry village wine, but the other ‘16s I’ve had have been very good, with refined tannins and drinking well. Possibly this needs more time.

12/31/2020 - essconsults wrote:

Matchstick and buttered popcorn with a somewhat hot one dimensional finish. There is a ton of fruit buried under this somewhere, but this wine is not the epitome of elegance which a top flight WB should be. We just drink a glass of the 2019 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett and I wanted to try the Boillot, as I keep hoping that the superlative reviews will ultimately prove correct. I realize that it’s apples and oranges but if you would like to drink a great bottle of wine that will only get better, at about $35 bottle or so I think the Schaefer is far far superior.

12/11/2019 - essconsults Likes this wine:

My apologies again! I see that I have been lax entering notes. At the Acker BYOB-boy that feels like a million years ago! An excellent wine, that is drinking very well. Gentleman sitting next to me said he bought it on release. Fruit, soup bois, great typicite. Should hold for many years. 1996? Well yes if they’re like this.

12/28/2020 - essconsults Likes this wine:

I echo both Ufgator and Jeremy Holmes. I drank this two and a half years ago but forgot to put in the note. Anyway I wish I had more because it really wasn’t ready. Now, who knows, but if the bottles are well stored it should be outstanding.

12/25/2020 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

88 on Spec. Who knows in the future? But as Burgundy Al commented in July, it doesn’t taste like Burgundy. Just took a taste using a Coravin and while the nose is interesting the rawness of the wood tannins overwhelms the finish. The Faiveley style or the vintage? I’m 72-wines like this should not be sold to anyone above the age of 50 on release.

12/25/2020 - essconsults wrote:

While neutral this not yet the great example of a supposedly top flight 1er Cru Puligny from an excellent vintage. It’s a bit hot and alcoholic but as this is close to seven years old, the real disappointment is the lack of nuance and real complexity, although it does show a long finish. Primarily it is showing top notes of orchard fruit with some Meursault like hazelnuts on the back end. Perhaps I’m being impatient but shouldn’t this drink better with a more linear mouthfeel? It’s getting more and more disturbing to be disappointed in WB, not just qualitatively but stylistically.

12/3/2020 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Same bottle. This wine needs to open up so my first note while accurate at the time is misleading. Since I used a Coravin that obviously prevents the wine from breathing. But even with a Coravin some air will inevitably deep in and that’s all to the good. Though the wine doesn’t reach the heights that Keith thinks it’s very pretty and classic WB in its profile.

11/19/2020 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Bottle opened several days ago, uncorked but refrigerated. Not the most intense or complex Kabinett as yet, but richer and more weighty in mouthfeel. You feel there is a lot hidden but I would still have preferred a little more sweetness and ripeness. Opened a Donnhoff ‘17 Oberhauser Liestenberg Kabinett at the same time, which has that extra zing, albeit not quite the complexity. Still how can you go wrong with any really well made Kabinett especially in today’s world of completely insane wine prices.

11/20/2020 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

Bad wine or bad bottle? Heavy, Bretty, shoe polish tannins, hot alcoholic finish. Ugly!

11/20/2020 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

From a Coravined glass. Very high acidity and ripe but tart and one dimensional tropical fruit. This may be my last attempt at finding value in French Chardonnay. For the same money and probably less, you can find a GREAT Kabinett that will blow away anything below a top 1er Cru WB that will set you back $85 minimum and probably much more. Perhaps this is just an off bottle, but I doubt it. Assuming that Keith Levenberg whose taste I trust isn’t egregiously wrong on this one it could be a bottle variation thing. Or it could be that my palate has changed. But it could also be that “climate change” and lack of phenolic ripeness has killed Chardonnay in Burgundy.

10/21/2020 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

Perhaps this is an off bottle but this is very disappointing with stewed fruit, gritty tannins, and poorly integrated acidity. Generally speaking, other than Merlot, I have felt that most international varietals don’t perform all that well on Italian soil. Of course there are exceptions.

I have one more bottle but I’m going to hold that with the possibility that this wine is still too young.

7/5/1996 - essconsults Likes this wine:

I can’t believe I never left a note on this. We had this at the Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence. Easily the greatest white wine ive ever had and among my top three most perfect wines of all time.

5/4/2020 - essconsults Likes this wine:

I am substantially upgrading my score as this has completely changed after being open a week. It may deserve an even higher score. I have one more bottle of this and several other Schaefer ‘17s. I will not touch them for at least three, maybe five years. I apologize for my hasty review, and while Riesling can change and needs time this was much more dramatic than usual.

4/25/2020 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

How can I give this wine an 89 yet say I don’t like it? Well, just that probably some people will like it-I don’t. Should a 1er cru WB, 6 years after the vintage, taste like this? No sign of oxidation, but no sign of development, complexity or nuance. Too much apple/orchard fruit and too much acidity, and too much alcohol so that it tastes out of balance. Did this not finish its’ malo?

JG insists that WB hasn’t changed-I completely disagree.

1/19/2020 - essconsults wrote:

Totally dead.

12/10/2019 - essconsults wrote:

POXED

12/10/2019 - essconsults wrote:

POXED

9/7/2019 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

And I'm being generous. Absolute swill. A hot alcoholic mess. Not even wine. Super ripe, super extracted. What a joke some of Rhone varietals are-in the wrong hands.

8/31/2019 - essconsults wrote:

I'm only giving this a 89 since it has some elements of taste. But my concern is: is this wine or is it apple pie with some crushed pineapple and alcohol? This is blowsy and imprecise and no way is this borderline grand cru as JGs 95 score would have it. I am about to sell all of my WBs if this is what they have become. For $25-30 in almost any vintage you can find exceptional Kabinetts that are more structured more delicious and more complex.

Forget PREMOX-If WBs are like this in what is supposed to be an outstanding vintage then they are basically crap.

8/17/2019 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Let's say I admire this wine rather than really liking it. Maybe it needs a few more years to meld together, and it was served too cold, but even when it had opened and blossomed at closer to room temperature it was still missing something.

As the price of French WBs have gone into the stratosphere, I guess this is a good value, but I think she is trying too hard with this blended approach.

While I enjoyed it I would much rather drink a Kabinett from a good producer and or something in a Trocken style.

8/17/2019 - essconsults Likes this wine:

92+to 93. As we know there are no great wines just great bottles. If tonight's wasn't great it was darn close, and got better as the night wore on. It was opened 5 hours earlier but sealed back up so technically open for about 3 1/2 hrs. My suggestion therefore would be about a 3 hour decant if the bottle is pristine. Then again, who knows until it's open.

Spices and sous bois dominate with some elegant raspberry and violets. Very nice, and with a long finish. If there's a nit, it isn't the most complex GC out there, but I thought it was delicious as did the others in the group.

6/7/2019 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

A hot, overly extracted, alcoholic mess. This can't be a 95 point wine, can it? Even Sine Qua Nons, which I despise, are more interesting than this.

I don't get it.

4/19/2019 - essconsults Likes this wine:

My fifth bottle of this over the past 7 years, and possibly the best. Far superior to the last two. The cork was totally stuck and came out in pieces. But the wine is in perfect condition. Honeysuckle and Meyer lemon but also some beautiful floral overtones. Perfect acidity. 2005 California high end Chards are still amazing. This puts a lot of WBs to shame.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

This wine is probably still young, but there is a bit of greenness and herbaceous that I think will stop it from becoming a top wine. To be frank I don't really love Dunn Howell Mountain despite its reputation. The wines of the 1970s from California are still unsurpassed IMHO so it could be the vintage.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

92-94. I was just slightly disappointed in this showing, but perhaps the wine is still too young or it was the bottle. The nose is pretty classic, and if there wasn't a bit of sweetness in the attack it might pass for a Bordeaux. But as we were drinking a number of top Bordeaux you could tell the difference. The initial impression is strangely very muted but the midpalate and finish are deep and long. The best showing I thought of the Cali and Washington State Cabs, but I may be prejudiced.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

This wine deserves a 92-95, so I'm giving it a score of 94. It was 92-93 last night but I think will get to a 95 with another 10 years of age. Big and powerful although not terribly complex at this stage, but that is often how Latour can be in its relative "youth". Not the greatest year but much better than how it drank 6 years ago.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Very very good, classic aged Bordeaux. Not a big wine, but seamless, good entry, nose, finish, fruit, acid, cedar, lead pencil all in balance. Superceded by a 1995 Latour, but still delicious. Made most of the Cali Cabs seem unbalanced and/or lacking in fruit.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

Perhaps 92-93 in the future. This wine is still too young as is true of many 2008 WBs and just seems to need time to meld its components together. We drank it after it had been opened about 3 hours, but it was much better after 4-5 hours and completely at room temperature. Still not classic Puligny but pretty. A bit too much fruit and not enough acidity to get a higher score.

12/12/2018 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

I'm not sure if this was an off bottle but if it wasn't this is a sad joke of a wine. It's a hot alcoholic mess, and I have had Chave Blanc before so it isn't just the style.

10/13/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

91-92. Peach more than anything now, and pretty for sipping, but not terribly interesting or complex. Way too low in acidity. Let me reemphasize that having bought 6 of these on Wine Bid for a song-or so I thought, ($40) sometimes you get what you pay for. I still can't figure out what JG and MFW were tasting.

9/28/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

92-93 My best bottle of this by far. Opened about 1 1/2 hour ago and initially extremely elegant with just the right balance of acidity, maraschino cherry, violets and forest floor. As it opens it does seem to put on weight. A really nice drink.

9/21/2018 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

Harsh tannins, unripe but still alcoholic fruit. This is an absurdly overrated wine.

9/16/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

I have had this wine three times. The first was in 1996, and while completely undeveloped it had the greatest concentration of any young wine I can remember. Strangely the second bottle was in 2002, and seemed complete ready. As these '86s were so brawny and tannic that seemed odd, but a good friend of mine said he had a similar experience with the '86 Mouton, so perhaps there was a window of drinkability.

My last bottle was in 2004 and was shut down tight and was almost Cali Cab like. Again my Mouton friend told me the same thing. After that, with the price going through the stratosphere, I decided to pass.

If I'm going to spend that kind of money I'm drinking a '90 Cheval Blanc.

9/11/2018 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

I'm not sure if the bottle was off but the wine had little fruit to go along with very rustic tannins. That shouldn't be as this is a good producer and Maranges was favored by the vintage.

9/8/2018 - essconsults wrote:

Completely POXED

9/8/2018 - essconsults wrote:

Actually I don't like it, but that's a qualitative not quantitative choice. It's more about the vintage than the producer although that may also be an issue. Hazlenuts, buttered popcorn and Meyer lemon sounds like a winning combo, but this wine is too fat, lacks acidity and has no complexity. For the most part 2010 WBs have been very disappointing and this is no exception.

8/30/2018 - essconsults wrote:

This was a better bottle than the last one but still a little disappointing in terms of JGs score and the vintage. The fruit is a little muted and savory which while attractive doesn't really make it a delicious wine. Of course it's possible we are drinking them too young. I have one more bottle which I will put away for a few years. Perhaps I'm bring a curmudgeon but so far I don't believe that these LaFouge wines deserve the adulation and scores they receive. Their main virtue is their low price, so perhaps you get what you pay for.

6/28/2018 - essconsults Likes this wine:

This is my 5th of 6 bottles and it's very possible we've drunk the others too soon. Finally we get some expressive grapefruit, quince, peach and mineral notes, and a nice finish. Not a great wine but more interesting than it's been. Possibly it still needs a few more years although at this point I can't see it earning Gilman's score

5/19/2018 - essconsults wrote:

This is a brute of a WB, as are most 2010 1ers I've had. There is way too much popcorn, roasted orchard fruits and a bitter Meyer lemon pithiness. I'm giving it a grudging 88, although perhaps it needs more time. But should any 1er cru WB need more than 8 yrs?

Again I am increasingly disappointed with WB especially the 2010. '09 and '11 are superior, IMHO.

5/12/2018 - essconsults wrote:

Last night: Interesting to read these varying notes. I agree with Coremill. Very weird for a Pommard 1er cru from a top vintage with no structure and no complexity. I've had other bottles that were superior and still have two more, so perhaps it's just bottle variation.

Tonight: this has put on weight and is much better-greater density and soil overtones. 91 tonight-87 last night so 89 average.

4/28/2018 - essconsults Does not like this wine:

Blowsy, fat and tropical. Heading to oxidation? Poor excuse for a top flight Meursault.