10/22/2011 - PIR wrote:

so far probably my red of the year. This wine is just in a fantastic place, decanted about 90min-this has to be the most ripe Giacosa I can recall. Deep macerated cherries, smoke, rich velvet on the palate. Awesome. So good I'm inclined to have another.

8/15/2011 - PIR wrote:

really outstanding, if served blind I think everyone would have guessed nearly 10yrs younger. A bit of diesel on the nose, lemon cream, white flowers very dry but a hint of sweetness. I've got to check how many I have left I'd like to leave 1 for another decade and see how it is doing.

8/5/2011 - PIR wrote:

clove and spice on the nose, nice weight-great food wine. lovely.

7/5/2011 - PIR wrote:

not nearly as bright as it was in the past-don't know if these rhone varietals are tightening up/shutting down. Good, but a bit unremarkable.

2/20/2011 - PIR wrote:

90 might be a bit conservative but in fairness I popped/poured out of a cold cellar (53ish) and the wine just seemed in a deep slumber. The wine was smooth but there was virtually no aromatics-again probably the fault of the temp but such is life.

11/18/2010 - PIR wrote:

upon opening I was pretty concerned, virtually nothing on the nose and the mid palate was a bit hollow. Initially if I'd had to rate it would have been 70pts. About 1hr later it started waking up, 90min later it was vastly improved. Huge nose of smoke and and grilled meats, dark fruit in the core and the mid palate filled in and the finish lengthened.

It was a classic example of being patient, we often taste blind and had this been drank blind it may not have gotten the time it was due. Most of us kept some in the glass throughout the evening, and those that did were well rewarded.

I don't see this wine getting any better.

8/12/2010 - PIR wrote:

good to go now, served chilled w/out decant/air. Still young, delicously complex.

8/12/2010 - PIR wrote:

awesome, almost reluctant to post score-I'd like to find more. served blind you could probably trick someone for burgundy.

5/9/2010 - PIR wrote:

still firm w/good gas. Nice notes of hazel nut and apple.

2/20/2010 - PIR wrote:

a good wine, but certainly not a great wine. Lacks the structure of good bordeaux, lacks the fruit and mouth-feel of good CA cabernet.
I have more and I'd happily sell them at my cost if it were possible.

1/1/2010 - PIR wrote:

one of the better aussies I've had. They are a bit too big & obvious for me, but this was a very fine wine. Still quite young filled with dark fruit and oak

12/30/2009 - PIR wrote:

this wine is just too much for me-frankly too much of everything. Had this after some older european wines so the contrast was just that much more stark. Great fruit, great weight, nice finish but I don't know of any food that could stand up to this massive juice. Some will love this wine, but it is just too port like for me.

12/30/2009 - PIR wrote:

good, not great. Still fresh but lacks depth and seemed a bit lean. Not sure if this had any viogner, seemed to lack the aromatics and mouthfeel that they typically would. A nice wine, not much more. this was from magnum, if I owned more I'd wait another 10yrs.

12/26/2009 - PIR wrote:

toasted oak on the nose, a bit too much for me-but others hardly noticed it. Dark cherries and belgium chocolate, a bit sweet but all in all very good. Did not decant.

12/26/2009 - PIR wrote:

surprisingly fresh, it has aged gracefully and shed the heat it had in its youth. Classic napa cab with dark fruit.

very nice

11/23/2009 - PIR wrote:

I don't drink much cab anymore as I find them too big with not enough complexity. This a good wine, not a great wine-if you are a cab lover it could be scored higher. For me it is just too ripe and too dense. I prefer older ie 20yr+ wines so I'm not the best judge of this wine. Opened a couple hours before and double decanted. Had with cheeseburgers and tater tots with my kids so I wasn't looking for anything profound.

I wonder how this will be in 20yrs-either great or a disaster, I can't imagine anything in between.

if you are a cali cab lover it is probably great for you, if you are a burgundy lover-probably not.

11/2/2009 - PIR wrote:

came home and wife was cooking with it(making a sauce for salmon)-she said "the label looked ugly"...time to mark the shelves that has the drinkers. ouch....although the sauce was pretty good.

8/10/2009 - PIR wrote:

out of mag-much better than I had expected, soft and approachable. light fruit and stone-do I think it will be one for the ages?-not likely but the relatively low acid makes it an easy and delish drinker.

I was also in an awfully good mood when I started.

6/22/2009 - PIR wrote:

served a bit warm and should have been decanted-despite the less than ideal serving the wine still showed well. A bit tighter than other 00's I've had recently. Strong nuits character-dark fruit with nice layer complexity. I'm on the fence about buying more-I probably should but would like another shot-but then I'd have 1 fewer btl for now.
Given today's mkt this is undervalued.

5/26/2009 - PIR wrote:

sorry for the brief note but this was off the charts good.

2/28/2009 - PIR wrote:

stunning nose-complexity of aged white burgundy, violets and tea-the downside is the heat. This wine seems to have a fair bit of alcohol and if not served quite chilled it seems a bit flabby

2/28/2009 - PIR wrote:

shockingly good. No percepbtible heat, just beautiful dark fruit. A very 'clean' wine, no chance you would ever mistake this for French-just ripe ripe fruit without it being over the top.

Made me almost regret dropping the mailing list.

2/21/2009 - PIR wrote:

a beautiful wine, great balance albeit with very delicate red fruit and flowers. Nice fresh stone background. A subtle well balanced wine, not for the big big turley crowd but a great transition wine for the big bold fruit lovers to transition with.

1/1/2009 - PIR wrote:

again from magnum, better than the last btl but ultimately a bit of an underperformer relative to expectations. Although didn't much of a chance to spend time with it since I was cooking and it was popular.

1/1/2009 - PIR wrote:

This wine is nailed shut. I will wait several (at least 3-4) years before the next one. Opened for 12/31 with high expectations, beautiful dark ruby/port color. Elegant/fragrant nose of red fruit, stone, and scorched earth. Palate was tight as a drum so dbl decanted for 2hrs, then decanted for several more. After about 4hrs or so it started to budge but didn't give up much. Others liked it far more than me, but they didn't know what it was -so while it was a good wine it didn't meet expectations.

12/6/2008 - PIR wrote:

distinctively marcassin. Full buttered popcorn with crushed stones and faint hint of citrus. Color is turbid, these wine should be treated gently and decanted if possible-all the marcassin whites of this vintage have a faint green color. Outstanding.

12/6/2008 - PIR wrote:

3rd time in the past year, always an outstanding wine. The sweetness is toned down, deep marmalade hints of ripe pineapple and honey. Fully integrated-still has 20++yrs to go.

12/4/2008 - PIR wrote:

From magnum-a bit disappointing as I have a high bar for August West wines. I bit disjointed, not nearly as complex or full as I would have expected. Mid palate was a bit hollow but nice red fruit-short finish. August West is still a favorite

10/3/2008 - PIR wrote:

atlantis continues to impress-my favorite sqns to date. Can't keep my hands off of them-cheers'

9/22/2008 - PIR wrote:

a very good wine, improves after about an hour or so of being open. Not particularly big, nor particularly well structured-needs a bit of acid. Pleasant red fruit, a wine blind I would have guessed to be 2003 or 2005 bourgogne rouge-which would have cost less.

I would not re-buy this btl.

9/13/2008 - PIR wrote:

burgundy-esque as far as CdP goes, but that certainly isn't a bad thing. Nice delicate red fruits, good acid-if you are a big fan of 03 CdP this may not be for you.

8/8/2008 - PIR wrote:

served at celler temp, popped & poured. A bit tight, nice acid & some fruit & tar. Young, but not sure how it would evolve, I will likely try to get my balance in the next 5yrs

6/9/2008 - PIR wrote:

pleasant, simple, not particulary complex-fairly dry. Not worth the nearly $100/per freight. I admit I bought after I read that Parker said it was the best young champagne he'd had in some time.

You can do better with $50ish better spent.

6/9/2008 - PIR wrote:

I was going to rate this 92? but CT can't accept the "?" -this wine really is a "?"

this is a wine that reallllly needs a chill. The conumdrum is I generally like my whites slightly warmer than freezing cold-this wines needs to be extremely cold.

I put this in the frige post cellar to chill it a bit (cellar is 57), out of the frige I thought it was exceptional-great complexity, substancial weight, great depth. I had plans to serve it to some white burgheads blind. I even decanted it to see how it would open up.

Fast forward 1hr it has been in a decanter on the counter:flabby cloying oak. Really flabby-not much acid to carry it through.

6/5/2008 - PIR wrote:

exceptional nose, wine looks like it is at least 5yrs younger than its age. Lots of red fruits-wild rasberry and strawberry, lots of balsam and iodine. Roasted red meat completes the package. I think I will wait another 10yrs to try my next one.

12/29/2007 - PIR wrote:

big big wine. Needs several hours in the decanter. Far from a burgundy, nearly as far as you can go; some discussion as to the extraction level-which is big.

12/29/2007 - PIR wrote:

best after open 30min+, cellar temp is too cool for this wine. With time and temp wine takes on much greater weight. This was a screaming buy at $18 alas it is now more like $29. I'd buy a case at $18 if I could find it.

12/29/2007 - PIR wrote:

hasn't disappointed yet-exceptional.

12/29/2007 - PIR wrote:

sexy as hell, unique in the world of champagnes.

12/29/2007 - PIR wrote:

cooked...feared it when I rcvd it, had leakage. Som didn't think it was cooked, but it was devoid of fruit & the other 00's I've had have been very nice. Shame.

9/6/2007 - PIR wrote:

first dehlinger claret-thought I should try one before ordering more. Nice nose, beautiful color, seemed to lack a bit of depth. Nice front end, just didn't seem to have the depth or weight. Extremely hot finish, wasn't sure if somehow it was the food (cheeseburger & onion rings) but it just couldn't have been.

Couldn't get past the searing finish. Don't know if several years would help it-certainly couldn't hurt it. Guardedly optimistic, but I don't think I will order more this time around.

*Note-I love dehlinger chards.

7/9/2007 - PIR wrote:

new mailer arrived so I thought I'd give one a try to see if I should re order. Too much oak, soft mid palate and short finish. Varietal correct but lacked the acid that I need in white wines. Too much oak, too much butter and softness.

for me 85=varietal correct but lacked any significant interest or punch.