4/25/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Excellent wine - I've gone through a half case of it at sale prices below $20 per bottle, and at that price it's an outstanding value. Light bodied like a Jura red, but the fruit is darker and there are peppery notes too, and something leafy. This comes from old vines and has good intenisty without any real weight. Needs a bit of air but not so much, especially now. Two years ago it needed a decant, it's pretty much good to go now.

4/25/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Pulled the cork at noon and poured off a taste - pretty tight. Decanted at 6 an hour before drinking. This is excellent wine, as it is in every vintage. There is plush dark fruit that is completely shot through with dried flowers and smoke. It reminds me more of some right bank Bdx wines more than it does of the green pepper and lead pencil that other Picasses vintages can show. Its perfectly balanced and at 12.5% I think this will age gracefully for a long long time, and should become a beautifully expressive and harmonious wine. The thing is, it's so delicious and satisfying now after a decant that it will be hard to keep my hands off it...

4/22/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Absolutely lovely! The nose is mostly secondary now, very mineral, but there is good fruit still, and it’s quite complex and pungent. Good balance on the palate and although not super impactful or long, it’s got good intensity of flavor and it’s entirely delicious. And it’s 15 year old barrel X. Very cool.

4/19/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

As always and in every vintage, I love this wine. The old vines intensity brings verve and subtle complexity to the very mineral and salty fruit. It’s slightly effervescent, refreshing and gulpable, and very delicious.

4/15/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Medicinal and a bit simple upon opening, seemed like maybe past its prime. But it just needed a bit of air - not something I remember from previous bottles. After maybe 45 mind open in the bottle it showed the same vibrant spicy fruit, herbal and mineral influences that I remember, and now with a bit of a savory streak running underneath everything. Lovely, joyous wine.

4/6/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Pulled the cork at 4:30 and poured off a taste. Seemed expressive enough so that I didn’t decant. We got into it at about 7:30. This is a truly lovely wine that is expressive and harmonious on both the nose and the palate, and also shows a real sense of place. The wine is more mineral than anything else, on both nose and palate. Smoke inflected stone, and a forest floor element permeate the dark blue and black fruit. It’s a cylindrical and focused nose and it’s suave rather than explosive. This all carries through to the palate which also has this wonderfully firm structure. This is definitely of the Bonnes Mares family of chambolle. I loved it. But those looking for a panoply of fruit and flowers will be disappointed.

4/6/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

An expansive, airy, and heady perfume that shows vibrant floral, stone fruit, and intense mineral elements. It’s a gorgeous nose, one that created a quiet at the table when it was first poured. The palate, oddly, doesn’t show the energy that is suggested by the nose, nor the complexity. It’s perfectly fine, but indistinct. We popped and poured and finished the bottle in an hour so maybe it needed more air time? My instinct is no though, and I would open and enjoy these if I had more.

4/2/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Gained a bit of aromatic complexity after an hour open, showing some hard spices, but this is a one-dimensional fruity bubble wine. It's not too sweet, it's perfectly drinkable, which is the best I'll say about it.

4/2/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Tight upon opening Double decanted, got into it a few hours later, and it was lovely and prototypical chablis, with marine inflected and bright green apple fruit and white flowers. Balanced, good density and body, energetic and refreshing. Lovely.

4/2/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Another fantastic bottle. The aromatics glow with gently pungent truffle-y forest floor, tobacco, cassis, and leathery scents, and the whole of the nose is complex, absolutely alluring, and worth the price of admission alone. Balanced on the palate and with a dollop of sweetness that isn't fruity, somehow. It's more articulate on the nose than on the palate, but it’s a delicious and expressive wine that shows the roundness of the right bank and offers the beauty of a mature Bdx. We were three-for-five on this wine, however - other bottles were not as great.

3/31/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

I love this wine. It takes maybe 15-30 minutes to harmonize but when it does it's a beautiful rose. Even those who do not find joy in the gentle flor-induced tang will enjoy the tiny mountain strawberries on the nose, the freshness and purity, and the complexity of the aromatics. The palate is snappy with acidity in an elegant way, and the flavors finish in the marine and savory realm. This is high class wine.

3/31/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Tasted and it felt a bit tight, so double decanted about 90 minutes before serving. Then it was just gorgeous on the nose, with a floral component that permeated everything, from the red and dark fruit to the savory mineral tones, to the meaty and olive-y scents. A complex and very pretty nose. Palate is balanced, shows good density of flavor without excess of any sort, and is long and impactful. Without the detail there compared to the nose, but this is a lovely wine with many, many good years ahead of it.

3/26/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Decanted four hours before drinking. Really a lovely villages wine, complexity and depth on the nose and the palate, the richness and density one wants and also the balance and articulation. Just a classically styled and very mineral delicious wine. The finish is where the wine shows its limitations - a bit thinner and without the complexity or articulation. But that's not a knock, it's in comparison to a 1er cru or higher, which this is not. I'd happily buy this again

3/24/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

This is perfectly drinkable, and that the best that can be said about it. Won’t scratch the Txakolina itch. Kind of like a very dry wine cooler.

3/24/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Slow to open on the nose but got there beautifully with orange oil, eucalyptus honey, candle wax, and that particular slightly funky and pungent minerality of this place. All of this, though, is delicate, not explosive, mature. The palate is not as articulate as the nose and while I want to say that it’s because it’s perfectly harmonious, I think it’s more that the wine just isn’t very strong any longer on the palate. It’s a bit salty in its mineral expression. There’s no fruit whatsoever, which is fine, but there isn’t enough detail to be compelling.

3/24/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Very pretty nose, bright red cranberry raspberry and a leafy complexity. Good acidity and balance, juicy and vibrant in the mouth but after 45 mins open loses some brightness, particularly on the palate. Drink now and very enjoyable, art that.

3/18/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Decanted less than a half hour before drinking. Beautiful nose showing menthol, tobacco, leather, cassis, and with another 15 minutes a candied floral aspect. A fully mature and gorgeous nose. Balanced and delicious - sweet, on the palate and quite complex. But the palate begins to tail off about 45 minutes in, becomes drying on the finish. Nose stays strong though. I’d decant as I did if I were serving for 4 people but would get into it earlier for 2 - palate falls off.

3/17/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Darkly fruited like a Crozes hermitage or something, almost black licorice in aroma, with mushroomy scents that emerge on day two. It’s quite an interesting, balanced, and drinkable wine at this price. Not a solo sipper though, this wants to sluice your palate while eating lamb or other bold food.

3/17/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Needs air. And then it’s a fine wine with truly vibrant aromas of green herbs like tarragon, lemongrass, and scallion. Also grapefruit zest and lime rind. It’s a complex and rewarding nose, just enticing and lovely. The palate is well balanced and focused, and had a delicious bitter edge on the finish. Very high quality.

3/17/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

I’ve had this wine several times in the past few years and this bottle showed least well. The fruit is less vibrant and there’s been no emergence of interesting mature characteristics to compensate. Comes off as a bit simple actually. Two and three years ago the fruit was bright and complex, and the wine well balanced with acidity. It’s still good but the fruit is quieter and in this vintage perhaps there’s not a whole lot else going on. Or maybe I caught it on an off night. Based on this, I’d enjoy these sooner rather than later.

3/15/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Opened 90 mins before drinking, decanted for a half hour of that time. Reduced to the point where it was hard to tell what else was happening with the wine, at first. It’s a vaguely skunky kind of reduction, not off putting, but definitely distracting. With time some green herbal scents emerge, and mineral aromas of chalk too. Three plus hours in, the reduction fully blew off and the wine showed some lovely floral aromas. It’s a complex nose at this level. Palate is just barely medium bodied, well balanced, and quite elegant, a pure expression of mineral. It’s a very good wine, albeit one that requires a real decant, and one that loudly carries the producers signature.

3/13/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Very, very tight on day one, coiled and constricted. Not much less so on day two. I can smell and taste the potential but the wine is turned inward. The day two lack of change worries me. I want to love this wine at 12.5% but it’s not lovable now. That said, at some point with every vintage, I realize that it’s great and I should have bought more. Maybe it’s a bottle shock issue right now?

3/9/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Really great. Pulled the cork and tasted at 5, let sit til drinking at 7. Beautiful nose showing very floral and also with dark fruit, gravel, and hints of cocoa. Day two even more harmonious but less pungent. So well balanced on the palate, perfect harmony of fruit, structure, and mineral elements and it’s just lip smacking delicious. Great now with a little air but lots of life ahead. Should have bought more….

3/13/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Really fantastic showing. Fragrant with a blend of tropical fruit like guava and passion fruit, and also mineral and slight petrol notes. A complex and vibrant nose and stayed that way for three days. Balanced and delicious on the palate, comes off as full bodied and richly fruited but not sweet. Long, pungent, delicious wine.

3/9/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Opened and poured off a taste at 4:30, first glass at 7. Lovely wine but quiet, no spark to it, no real vibrancy on the nose. It’s delicate and elegant and classy but also not complex articulate or pungent. The palate - similar. Balanced, suave, not super detailed, and the tannins are a bit harsh on the finish. It’s hard because you’re sitting there drinking Roumier and it’s easy to criticize when it isn’t great. This is not at all great. But it’s good. At current price it’s not close to good value. But it’s still good wine and quite surprisingly the last bit was the best by far on the palate. Perhaps this does need a decant for an hour before drinking.

3/7/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

The nose was flat upon opening and that along with the golden brown color - I thought I missed the wine by five years or so. But a little air and it’s quite alive, an hour in and it’s vibrant even. It’s very intense on the palate with sweetness and stone fruit, and also acidity. Good wine that I found myself not wanting to drink a lot of - just so sweet at this stage.

3/3/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

I love this wine. It was never reduced but it was pretty tight at first so decanted for about two hours before drinking. The nose is so elegant, so fine and delicate in expression, it requires attention, would be lost at a tasting or a dinner with multiple bottles open. But it’s just beautiful, very savory with sea water and white flowers that turn musky after another hour open. This delicacy and gentleness sets one up for a surprise on the palate because it really pops with energetic and vibrant flavors that have real impact and length. This is classically styled and just an excellent wine. That said, there’s no fruit to speak of and no richness and no gloss. Stripped down essence of white burgundy mineral beauty.

2/26/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Update to my previous note - decanted again for an hour and it’s not underripe at all, it’s a very good wine. It’s just not as great a wine as the 19 for example, which has a density of aroma and flavor that this wine doesn’t match. But this is lovely, lighter, and still perfumed and delicious. It thins a bit on the finish.

2/24/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

I like this better than the fancier Guercio (which is twice the price). This has clean cherry fruit and isn’t too glossy, the acidity and tannins are prominent but not too much. Doesn’t hold up well overnight, unwinds and loses any sense of harmony. Meh.

2/24/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Dull at first but needs 10!mins of air to brighten. The fruit is towards baked apple and there is nice acidity but it’s a bit simple, even with the 13 years in the bottle. It’s a good and drinkable wine but not very interesting, and very likely was better 5-8 years ago.

2/17/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine. A bit of reduction at first in the form of tire and bacon but blows off quickly and is just gorgeous. Secondary on the nose, mostly, with savory tones but there is still some gentle dark fruit and dried red flowers. It’s such a harmonious and seamless nose, all class, and with real depth and impact. This all carries through the palate, which is balanced and pungent while still so very elegant. First class wine.

2/17/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Serviceable rose but I didn’t care for it. With two hours open the nose showed a floral aspect but also a strange almost talc like powdery scent. Just not terribly enticing on the nose, and the palate showed two dimensional. Maybe I shouldn’t compare to Bandol because it’s a different animal. But it’s priced more than Pradeaux and the same as Terrebrune, and it’s not in the same league as a wine.

2/15/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

In perfect condition, and I know this is too often not the case. This bottle was gorgeous. Bright aromas of seashell, iodine, and green apple, very fresh and complex on the nose, and completely harmonious. Th nose alone is worth the price of admission here. Lovely too on the palate, which is quite narrow in shape and light in body, but with plenty of density, power, and length to the flavors. This is what I am hoping for when I have the chance to drink a Dauvissat Forest with some bottle age. It was ready to drink immediately upon opening, did gain in the glass for maybe and hour, by two hours open staring to fade a bit.

2/14/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Serviceable and perfectly good. Not articulate or detailed, and not terribly rewarding. But nothing wrong with it either.

2/11/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Needs a decant - at least an hour. There’s reduction and it does blow off. After that it’s quite balanced and good.

2/9/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Decanted an hour before drinking. Nose was lovely immediately but felt closed on the palate. The first glass was way better, and the second glass at maybe 1 hr 45 mins in was better yet. Decant for 2 hours next time. This wine is lovely, with a leathery and soil driven nose that also shows beautiful menthol and minty notes, very savory overall. Completely resolved on the palate, silky in texture, great balance and composition, and somehow comes off with a lovely natural sweetness although there is no fruit. Good impact and density to the flavors. This is not a wow wine at all. It’s soft spoken and very delicious.

1/29/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Opened it a few hours before we drank it and decanted maybe an hour in advance, we drank it over a few hours. I like the absolute clarity of the wine, the pure and bright cherry fruit, the intensity of the perfume on the nose and also on the palate - which felt more perfumed than flavored, if that makes any sense. I like the balance, I like the structure, I like the unadorned clean feeling of the wine, even with the inclusion of stems (although I wonder if he de-stemmed more in this lighter vintage?). It’s easy to see that there is a lot of wine here in a light package. I found it to be rather one-note though - all about the (very lovely) cherry fruit - there just was not a lot else happening. Very intense, but one-dimensional. What I at first thought might be rosemary oil or sage on the nose was actually volatile acidity, which became more and more evident with air. It did not improve over 4 hours open, and my instinct is that it will disappoint the person who cellars this in the hope that it improves in some dramatic way. I would have been stumped if someone poured this blind for me. I'm glad I tried this, but for me it's not a re-buy.

1/31/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Took a minute to open up - did not decant. This is elegant and silky with mostly red but some black fruit, and eventually some forest aromas and dried flowers. Intensity without weight. In the end its a pretty seamless wine, and the texture is gorgeous - velvet but well structured.

1/24/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

I didn't exactly follow my own advice from the last note here. I decanted but not four hours, maybe two. The last glass was of course the best. But it was beautiful right upon opening so I didn't want to lose it. Back in the bottle, and then when we first poured it, it took on a green tobacco highly earthy funk - one taster thought it might even be impacted by TCA. But that seemed not to be the case as it cleaned up nicely over the next two hours, and really was a good wine in the end. But next time 0f ollow the note man! Four hours...

1/24/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Wonderful wine. Pungent, mineral, and a little soil funky. Gentle old fruit, good acidity, harmonious and very long. Compelling wine, and it held its own on a table full of very, very fancy wines.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: Drank just after the 98, 00, 01, and 02. Decanted only right before drinking, and it was ready to go, although the wine was vibrant and fresh for the next hour-plus that it was in my glass. This is a wonderful wine, truly excellent. It is without fireworks, but it is perfectly spherical in a way that reminds me of the few of times I've experienced that with a Chambertin. The nose is fresh with tiny red berries and also savory with forest and stone, and none of this sticks out in any way. It's just a well-composed heady perfume. Same on the palate - perfect harmony and silky textural class and elegance, and perfectly firm and yielding at the same time. It's beautiful in both a visceral and an intellectual way. Grateful to have had the experience.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: Served next to a compromised 98, decanted for an hour-plus before drinking. The nose is so very pretty, with delicate and dark and floral-inflected fruit, highly perfumed. Very pretty on the palate too, well balanced and composed, and a seamless silky texture, all class. Without the aromatic breadth of the 01 or the 02, and without the density of flavor, the impact on the palate also. But the wine actually continued to improve over a few hours open, and it is a very, very good wine. It's that the others were better, and by some margin.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: Served after the 98, 00, and next to the 01. Like the others, decanted for an hour-plus before drinking. This was immediately and completely beautiful on the nose, really stunning. It's still fruit, nothing secondary, although the mineral aspect is there at a bass line. But the fruit is luminous and intense, but absolutely pure and without any gloss. Mostly dark fruits, perhaps a bit of rosemary or some kind of forest-y herbal note after another hour open. It's hard to pick out specific notes because the wine was so harmonious, and this is true also of the palate. The texture is all class, just silky and serene, and so pungently flavored, such density without weight. This is a knockout of a wine, at what seems to be the beginning of a good drinking window.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: In the end we felt this was probably a bit heat damaged (thank you Park Avenue liquors, for your crap storage). But it wasn't going to be a great version of this wine anyway - without the balance, grace, and nobility of the other vintages on this night.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: Not as explosive on the nose as the 2002 served alongside, but there are few wines that are, so this is in no way a knock. The nose is savory with mushroomy wet forest aromas and also gentle red fruit too - strawberry and red plum. Its a completely harmonious nose, and also heady and strong. The palate is much the same, with good density of flavor and length, with not even a bit of excess weight, and with a stoney savory bassline. Grand cru class all the way, but not a wine of fireworks, more about elegance and harmony.

1/21/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

BWC 23 - Lignier Clos de la Roche: Completely and totally dead - premoxed to the point of resembling apple cider more than wine. If I sound annoyed it's because this wine was expensive. Lesson learned on Niellon from this era.

1/20/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

An hour decant, the wine is elegant and very fine with well articulated aromas and flavors, and it's very much expressive of place. We loved this bottle.

1/16/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Wow - this held up well. Baked golden apple but freshness too, and the minerality is now mellow, almost soil-like. Good balance and poise, this is a delicious and well made wine, and very very much alive. I left a glass and a half for day two and it fell off a bit - lost some balance, the acidity became a bit more pronounced. Truly lovely wine and seems to be at peak.

1/14/2024 - brooklynguy wrote:

Good wine - dark fruit, black olives, damp tarry earth. It’s dense in every way, but it’s a balanced wine. Good with dinner but close to overbearing in its dense, rich intensity. Maybe some cellaring and this mellows.

1/5/2024 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:

Off the list at Casa Mono. Adding this note as a service to you sherry lovers who still have this wine. It’s lovely still but fading, lacking pungency and definition. Enjoy it sooner rather than later.