11/10/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Interesting port-like dessert wine made with cab sauvignon grapes. Raspberry and pomegranate strong streak, but with some subtlety underneath. This wine is really hard to rate, because it is definitely unique. Therefore, I won´t try.

11/10/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Complex, serious wine. Structured fruit with redcurrant, rhubarb and cherry notes, herbs of brush and thyme, perfume and violet, youthful new french oak influence and a noticeable streak of charcoal and mesquite. I bet that those notes would do nicely with a nice roast. Medium plus acidity, strong but integrated alcohol and a full body. Needs time but enjoyable now.

11/10/2012 - DSaeedi Likes this wine:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Beautiful cab franc blend. Subtle and classic. Soft fruit notes with a little refinement, some chalk, blueberry and lavender, some mint, and a little greenness. Medium plus body with a soft, elegant finish.

11/10/2012 - DSaeedi Likes this wine:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Now we are talking. Justin knows their reds. Blackberry and black currant bright youthful fruit with a slight (and I must say pleasing) jam. American oak influence- some oak sweetness. Natural tannins, chalk and some vanilla. Wild berry? Great effort.

11/10/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Some mild french oak influence, with sub-kissed fruit, honeysuckle, light corn and toast and a little chalky minerality. Slightly hot. Subtle harvest notes. Has some class, subtlety and body, but lacks sufficient acidity and balance, in my opinion. Only good. Not great.

11/10/2012 - DSaeedi Does not like this wine:

Wine Seminar with Justin Baldwin of Justin Winery (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): First wine of the lineup. Citrus lemon, some grapefruit and pineapple warm notes and a little other tropical. Almost a tinned variety of greenness. Noticeable alcohol and some diminishing acidity. A little too hot for my taste.

12/9/2012 - DSaeedi Does not like this wine:

I normally don´t enjoy many California Cab-Syrah true blends. This one is no different, and deserves its name. The two grapes never, in my opinion, fully integrate, and both make their presence known without allowing any melding with the other. A true bar fight in the glass. Such conflicts are never pretty to watch, and especially not pretty to taste.

12/9/2012 - DSaeedi Likes this wine:

Refined and elegant, with balance and a sophisticated long finish over a medium plus body. Soft raspberry and rhubarb with forest floor notes. Seamless balance, with present integrated tannins with acidity that will give this wine firmness over the distance. Early but very enjoyable now.

12/9/2012 - DSaeedi Likes this wine:

Fruity and soft. Watermelon and strawberry cream, with some soft toast. Pleasing and great value.

6/8/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Beautiful nose of some ripe wild raspberry, perfume and violet, plenty of black pepper, herbs and some earthy brush. Also a little charcoal and wood ash. Palate is medium bodied, peppery and carrying a long finish. Quite nice!

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Dark raspberry and blackberry, plenty of black pepper and other subtleties. Some ash and smoke. Long spicy finish. Excellent.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Layers of brown sugar, baking spices, dried fruits and some nuttiness. Rich palate.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Rich and layered, with plenty of nuance.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): In my opinion the wine of the night. Easily. So powerful, yet so subtle and complex. Enigma of a wine. Rich red fruits, plenty of fragrant rose and deep blossom flowers, seductive perfume, lavender, herbal notes, and plenty of other subtleties. Plenty of length and am expressive palate. Beautiful, rich, seamless and profound. Wow! What a wine!

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Beautiful ribera in a modern rich and extracted style. Plenty of new oak influence and subtlety. Balanced palate with a long finish. Outstanding but drinking very young.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Seductive, hedonistic right bank with plenty of subtlety and depth. Long silky but full tannin finish. Sexy. One of the best bottles opened this night and everyone loved it. Still young.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Absolutely delicious, with plenty of complex and developed notes. Palate is rich and fragrant. Also long. Pleasant surprise of the night and probably the consensus favorite white.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Not typical California merlot. Plenty of depth and appealing to cab lovers.

5/18/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

May Fiesta (Casa): Serviceable red with pleasant showy fruit and some medium body and a little nuance to match. Solid QPR wine. First of the night and not a bad start.

5/11/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Confirmation Celebration on the Porch (Casa): A plush, deep and suave cabernet with prime valley floor fruit and a velvety, smooth palate. Long finish. An incredible value. Would not be surprised if this is Far Niente. That is my educated guess.

5/11/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Confirmation Celebration on the Porch (Casa): Not a crowd pleaser tonight, given its high animal and barnyard complexities. But that is why I really enjoyed this wine. Dark cherry fruit with earth, mushroom and brett aromas throughout the nose and carrying through the finish. Full bodied and complex, but only for those who decidedly love the old world brett notes of traditional burgundian winemaking. Plenty of rustic notes.

5/11/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Confirmation Celebration on the Porch (Casa): Beautiful wine of incredible complexity, frozen vegetal notes and lengthy richness. Plenty of structure and depth on this incredibly rich Gruner that offers up delicacy and richness (at the same time) like a fine riesling.

5/11/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Confirmation Celebration on the Porch (Casa): Offering up some nuance and a little concentration.

5/7/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Dinner with Friends at Fridas (Frida´s Restaurant): This wine is simply outstanding and incredibly hedonistic. Very long, complex and highly concentrated finish. Palate is incredibly deep and dark, and offers plenty of tightly wound aromas at this time. This will one day be a stunner and my score may be low.

5/7/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Dinner with Friends at Fridas (Frida´s Restaurant): Sensual palate with plenty of dark complexity. Long nuanced finish.

5/17/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Intricate and pretty nose of baking and anise spice and delicate but pinot-dark fruit. Plenty of fruit and acidty on the midpalate and a salivating med plus finish. Clear Willamette style.

5/17/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Deep and opaque, with dense and plenty of black fruits and a dark chocolate nose and finish. Brooding and broad, with nice concentration and a good amount of modern style extraction. Pair with grilled meats or chocolate. I always love what comes out of this winery.

5/16/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Red cherry notes, some slightly darker fruits, earth, some hints of cola and a pinot nero-like nuanced nose but fleshy cherry round palate. Some baking spices. Medium tannins with plenty of acicdity. Solid wine to accompany food. Paired well with my roasted duck.

5/16/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Aired for three hours. Gorgeous and elegant wine that showcases dense but sexy cassis/blackcurrant and black fruit notes, ground coffee bean and espresso, plenty of mintiness and some blue fruits. The palate has suave tannins and the alcohol and acidity are beautifully integrated. Long finish. Delicious wine that is still quite young and needs years or serious time in the decanter. Nevertheless, it is quite sophisticated, structured and elegant. Plenty of concentration and depth.

5/6/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Complex bouquet and full palate of stone fruits, honeyblossom and green melon. Also a slight nuttiness. Long finish. Powerful and rich, complex and full.

5/6/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Beautiful wine and an incredible value.

5/3/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Light strawberry, canteloupe and some watermelon. Minerality and plenty of zip. Light bodied, but with some nuance. On the lighter side, but pleasing. While it is delicious, I feel that some of the scores here are on the high side. But I might be missing something here. Maybe because I am drinking this as it is slightly on the downclimb from its peak. No reason to hold onto it.

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Last of the lineup, this was just beautiful. Way too tight and wound up to be drunk at this stage, so somewhat difficult to approach. Recommend hours of airtime. Nevertheless, this is pure poetry. Fine, fine blackcurrant fruit, deep floral, toast, balsamic qualities, charcoal. Certainly a very noticeable exotic quality that deserves a very high score. All of the above mentioned notes are of the finest quality. And, like the best estate or single vineyard Napa cabs, there is almost a blue quality to the fruit. Supremely high concentration of fruit, and a seamless palate, with a long, pencil lead finish. Simply stunning, but again, not nearly ready to drink. Wait three to five years to even approach, and many more to enjoy.

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Geez, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. Oh boy. Worth every penny that it costs. The aroma is intricate and layered, seductive and elegant, and tight at this stage. Lots of blackcurrant, and a noticeable but gorgeous oil and meat grease fat quality, with tobacco, musk and cigar box. Some sprinkled cocoa powder for good measure! The nose is beautiful, but the palate is nearly perfect, with a seamless, very long finish that needs to be tasted to be believed. Perfect harmony of tannins, acidity and fruit. Plenty of concentration, structure and depth. This was a stunner, a surprise and a revelation. Go buy it, and watch it kick the crap out of wines that are priced double. Even though the Winston was beautiful and more "perfect", this was my favorite of the lineup. Easily. Tour de force!

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Oh boy, now for the big guns. Todd Graff is bringing it with his cab lineup! The first of the three, the Napa Valley Cab exhibits red currant, some black tea, a streak of greenness and eucalyptus, subtle spice, and a fleshy, plump and long finish with plenty of tannin that is slightly rough at this stage. Nevertheless, this is a subtle, beautifully-constructed wine with plenty of concentration. Outstanding QPR. Beautiful.

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Beautiful, and dare I say, elegant Zin? The intricate aroma reveals dusty blackberry, some darker currant and some darker raspberry Has an almost balsamic note, which I especially consider prized, and which can be found in some of the fine wines of Italy. Deep and toasty character with a little bit of an exotic streak. Charcoal ash. Deep integrated spice. Lots of concentration, and a long, pencil lead, cabernet-minded finish. Again, a wine that is made with a cabernet mindset, and, unlike the pinot in the lineup, the Zin is all the better for it. Plenty of depthwithout the overdone extraction, it is an elegant, gorgeous and sophisticated Zin that really represents what I hope to be the future of the varietal. Highly recommend!!

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Red cherry and raspberry fruit (not a fan of dark raspberry fruit in my pinots), some cinnamon baking specs, a deep floral and some violet. Fruit has some fleshiness and umph. Plenty of tannins here and some warmth. This wine is unfortunately made like a cabernet by cabernet-minded winemakers, and has none of the elegance and grace that a pinot should have. Probably too much oak and maceration, and not enough gentleness. It is a solid wine in its own right, but not displaying too much of the grace of the varietal. Medium bodied, with the clunky tannins of a fuller wine. Slight disappointment in a lineup filled with wonderful wines. Neverhteless, cab lovers should be pleased with it. Pinot drinkers beware.

4/27/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

An Evening with Todd Graff of Frank Family Vineyards (Lincoln Park Binnys Tasting Room): Clean, bright and especially warm lemon, some toast and kernel, vanilla and hints of light tropical, particularly cantaloupe. Lemon peel. The style is subtle and elegant, crisp and balanced. Medium to med plus body, with medium plus acidity that shows itself on the palate. Very elegant effort.

4/29/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

I can´t decide whether I am pleased with the note or not. On the plus side, there is a lime and lemon peel freshness (mostly on the lime side), some grapefruit and melon, very light ginger and white peach lwhiffs, some (more noticeable) artichoke (there is the greenness) and a predominant lemon balm herb note. On the other side, the traditional green notes of the varietal are mostly subdued here, and the citrus note almost takes on a lysol quality. After about an hour, this blows off, but so does many of the wine´s subtleties. I conclude that the pleasant side carries the day, although make no mistake, this is a different type of Sauvignon Blanc than the Bordeaux, California, Chile or NZ types. Very lemon-balm like. The palate is creamy and full, with some hidden acidity lifting the medium plus to full body. Medium to medium plus, lemon peel and bitter (in a good way) finish. I would imagine that this pairs well with some fuller white dishes with lower to medium intensity of flavor. Rating would be higher if the wine didn't remind me so much of lysol. Oh well. 88 seems just right.

4/24/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Solid and moderately elegant Corton with a medium plus body, suave medium tannins, good acidity and some backbone. Fruit notes of red and black cherry, a little musk and some soft spice. Elegant but not incredibly complex. Was hoping for something more. This Corton subplot, like many others, is not really deserving of Grand Cru status. But it is a pleasing wine, a little tight perhaps. Wait for a few years for the subtleties.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Probably the best pinot of the night, which is not saying much. Balanced, nuanced and carrying a rich but elegant palate.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): White floral, white peach. Medium bodied.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Interesting salty brine note, along with the blood red fruit and lamb gaminess. Pair with lamb.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Mandarin orange, floral. Salivating acidity but perhaps a little thin.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Subtle, integrated french oak notes. Pretty bouquet. Pleasing.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Fleshy, black pepper dominant notes, some vegetal.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Supple red fruits, red currant.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Beautiful floral, complex and rich bouquet. Nose and palate still tight at this stage.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Intricate and complex aromas, frozen peas and white stone fruits. Good complexity.

4/19/2012 - DSaeedi wrote:

Austria Uncorked Wine Tasting (Event One - Chicago): Beautiful floral, some peach and orange blossom.