4/6/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Very few, slow-moving bubbles compared to other champagnes that I’ve opened recently. This was very bracing at first, but after about 30 minutes, it came together with nice apple and pear fruit flavors and good creamy, lemon curd flavors. I tasted this with Tom and Kim and didn’t get great notes. I think some age would have been nice for this wine, as I suspect it would have developed more creamy notes and the acidity would have calmed down a bit more.

4/13/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Lime, fresh flowers, and a mineral/salinity that reminds me of Chinese Green teas. There’s some nice green apple, pear, pineapple and guava fruitiness too with just a hint of hazelnuts and toasted almonds on the finish. On day 2, I get more peach and stronger mineral sensations in the mouth (from the volcanic soil). This acidity and minerality really make this wine feel alive in your mouth. With some air, you get a nice honey, marzipan, cotton candy flavor on the finish too. The acid isn’t too strong, but it’s great with food. It was a good match with Green almond and chicken khoresh from my Persian book and a cheese ravioli with snap peas. This is really fantastic for the price and I would say a step up from the other Italian whites from the region that I’ve tried recently (falanghina, etc.). It’s great with food.
 

4/13/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This seemed like it was in a good spot as the fruit was beginning to develop rotty and oxidative flavors, but the honey flavors have emerged and there was still enough freshness, distinctive fruit flavors, and acidity to hold everything together. I get baked apple and pear with honey and spice with some chalky minerality, white tea, and lemon acidity on the finish. I wouldn’t want to age it any longer than I did.

This is nice, though I was a little disappointed by the pairings with labneh balls and babaghanoush. Ok but not amazing with smoked herring. Decent with green almond and chicken Khoresh and cheese ravioli, snap peas, and a creamy sauce. In the end, I think that I liked it better on its own. In fact, I tried it alongside a Greco di Tufo from San Gregorio and the Greco, while the inferior wine in terms of power and complkexity, was the better match with food.

The acidity was too bracing in the Zalto white wine glass, so I liked it better in the Riedel Loire glass, where I detected more honey flavors salty minerality and the acidity wasn’t overbearing.

This was good, but I’m not sold on Montlouis. I think that I would rather pay more for the big names of the other Chenin regions.

4/4/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Cherry with cough syrup, bitter coffee, leather, mushrooms, and spicy cayenne on the finish. This is very nice, but it needed several hours to come together and, I think, would have been better with more age. Compare to the Dolcetto, it was the better, more sophisticated wine, but I like the Dolcetto better with food. This was better for sipping at this point. I wish I gave it a longer decant (still improving 2 hours in).

4/4/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Strawberries, ripe plums, and faint mushrooms and that “Dolcetto taste” which I don’t know how to describe (it’s like a mix of popcorn, mushrooms, graphite, magnesium, volatile acidity, caramel, and plums). This was very pleasant with a roast chicken dinner. Nothing complex, but brings a smile to your face. It was the better “food wine” compared to the Nebbiolo Santa Rosalia, but the “inferior” wine in terms of complexity.

4/1/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

More on the red wine side of the spectrum, this is all fresh strawberries, but with a tinge of vegetal and bitter notes, like rhubarb and bay leaf. Ernestas on CT is right on with the notes: “herbal in fused red fruit flavours, candied and vegetal hints, touch of pleasant bitterness, medium acidity, mellow grip of tannins.” I liked this and would buy it again.

4/1/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Typical Cinsault flavors of leather, animal fur, meat, olives, cough syrup, but also a light texture and nice fruit flavors. This was fine for the price.

3/17/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

69% Mourvèdre/27% Grenach/4% Counoise. This had solid acid and strong tannins still, so I think it would have been better with age (though everything was well-balanced). Nevertheless, it was drinking well after about 2 hours of air. This tastes like Mouvedre, with leather, olives, smoke, tobacco, roasted meat, iron, and provencal herbs. Faint hints of raspberry and blackberry in the background, but the fruit takes a back seat here. I don’t think that it has the flash of some of the more notable regions from California, but it was clearly a good wine and a welcome old-world style. If this is what Sierrea Foothills can do, then I’m impressed. It really grew on me and, in the end, I wish I had some more bottles to experiment with (especially extended ageing). Excellent match with roasted duck with olives from my Provencal cookbook. The olives and the duck were just right with the savory characters of the wine.

3/6/2024 - jkscully wrote:

I get the Malbec plumminess, but not the jamminess. I get some cocoa powder and Indian curry spices, alolng with graphite, tobacco, and herbs. There’s some lilac and sandalwood notes too. I think this bottle is a bit flawed. I get too much VA and some old wet t-shirt as well. The flavors seem muted. It came more alive after a few hours of air, but this felt too rustic for what this is supposed to be (new world and all new French oak, etc.). If it were Cahors, it could be right on. I don’t know what to think. I’ll have to give Achaval Ferrer another shot sometime.

3/1/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Jammy fruit and deep fruit flavors, like I would expect from a Malbec. This is like a Strawberry/raspberry/blackberry/cherry jam with prunes, tobacco, leather, licorice, cocoa powder, wet rocks, and fairly strong spicy heat—like cayenne—on the finish. The 14.7% alcohol is present, but not overwhelming. Probably would have been better with more time. It needed some air to open up, though it was better on day 1. This is really impressive for the price and I wish I had more. I think it can compare to top Argentinian malbecs.

Great match with a Gorgonzola and Broccoli pie (Goldstein is right about blue cheese pairing). Also nice on its own.

2/25/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Smoke, fall leaves, wet earth, olives, carob powder, but also candied cherry, kirsh, vanilla, and bourbon flavors that remind me of New World Pinot Noir. Faint cayenne pepper on the finish. Strong acidity. This is all red fruits rather than the inky purple I sometimes get with Virginia Petit Verdot. I like the best of Virginia better, but this was still enjoyable, though I think it would have been better with additional bottle age. Good match with Pheasant.

9/26/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Compared to a gruner veltliner, this is more steely, less opulent, a little more abrasive, more seltzer-like. The lime blossom is there in abundance and I get some ripe peach, quince, and apricot with it. A little honey as it warms up. There’s a touch of the lentil and cornflake thing that I get from gruner veltliner too. Dried herbs and minerals on the finish. A fine wine and interesting because it’s only the second roter veltliner that I’ve ever had, but nothing special.

1/9/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Dried cherries, blackberries, and plums (a little more red fruit than inky purple) with some dried oregano, leather, cocoa powder, vanilla, and a whiskey-like sweetness and warmth. A touch of cayenne on the finish along with a strong and attractive undercurrent of minerals (wet rocks). Good acidity and drying in the mouth. You can taste the red clay terroir from Virginia. So good.

This was a bit disjointed on day 1, but came together very nicely on day 2. These Barboursville wines age really well and while I normally think that a good Virginia bottle needs about 10 years, this probably would have been even better with additional age (tannins were a bit tight and the wine was overly tart on day 1). I’d also like a little more plushness and body.

Great match with a potato/sweet potato gratin (the earthy sweet potatoes, herbs, and cream was just right for this) and a roasted pepper salad (capers, salty pecorino, peppery watercress, and balsamic all went really well).

I would consider it a great QPR if I had paid the release price (probably around $30), but I paid more for the back vintage.

2/5/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Nice caramel and buttery oak to this, but otherwise a bit simplistic. I get some baked apple and poached pear along with some stone minerality and lemon acidity. Nice for the price.

5/19/2017 - jkscully wrote:

This wine starts with strong lemon verbena and salty acidity and these flavors are followed by creamy tropical notes. On the finish, there is a distinctive Virginia grassy/hay field taste, which marks the terroir. This is mostly dry, but the small amount of remaining residual sugar gives this wine a nice thick texture. The 15.8% level of alcohol is amazing for a white wine and a bit higher than I would like.

2/1/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This has the typical PM flavors of pineapple, fresh papaya, baked apple, ginger, toasted coconut, macadamia nut, caramel, honey, and dried herbs. There’s 3% Viognier in this, but I feel like I sense the floral flavors of Virginia viognier. It could use some more acid, especially for a Petit Manseng (it’s missing that lemony cut that I usually associate with this grape). I’m impressed with the 13.5% abv (low for a PM) and the toasted coconut and caramel flavors that they coaxed out of the grapes without any oak. Well done, but not amazing (and it wasn’t as good on day 2).

I liked this quite a bit on its own. I was disappointed that it didn’t pair well with oysters (not enough acid or minerality) or curried Shrimp. It was, however, a good match with smoked kielbasa, carrot salad with cumin seeds, and roasted winter vegetable couscous.

1/25/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

All the flavors of Carmenere are there: dark berry fruit, purple plum, cassis, chocolate, fresh fig, smoke, dusty minerality, wet earth, fruity coffee, leather, pencil lead, oregano, and that distinctive note of licorice. I get a touch of burnt toast on the finish along with some whiskey and vanilla bean sweetness. The tannins are very drying and give the taste and feel of freshly cut wood in your mouth. As always, it reminds me of petit verdot, except without the acid. This is chewy and sticky in a nice way.

I think it was in good spot, 19 years into its development, though it was fin as a PnP and best in the smaller Grassl Liberte glass. Predictably, since it’s a low acid wine, I didn’t love this wine with food (cassoulet, caramelized fennel with dill and goat cheese, and sweet potato cakes), but it was super delicious on its own. I could sip on this all night and be very happy.

I thought about this wine for hours after I finished my last sip. It stays with out a long time. There’s something very addictive about it. I want more, but this was my only bottle and it’s not super easy to find.

1/20/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Honey, straw, pear, almonds, and a touch of pine and herbs on the finish, which is slightly salty. A decent match with Italian antipiasti (artichokes, giardinara, olives) on bread with cheese. This is a pretty good wine for $11 and these Falanghinas should be considered good food wines for a budget price.

1/20/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

I feel like I managed the wine pretty well. It was plummy and reductive at first, but after about 2.5 hours of double decanting in bottle and then 30 minutes in a decanter, this was drinking very nicely. It’s not super sophisticated, but it has a nice velvety texture that is reminiscent of milk chocolate (it tastes chocolatey too) along with fresh berries, a touch of pencil lead, herbs, and jalapeno on the finish. It has an attractive taste of wet stone minerality. I enjoyed it quite a bit and it was a perfect match with Cassoulet. Well done.

1/17/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Now I understand the creaminess that you want in a good champagne as well as the small bubbles (“sweet but persistent”). Needed half an hour for the reduction to blow off. I get green apple, green tea, blanched almond, brioche, fresh ginger, and lime blossom honey flavors. I had this open for a good 4 hours and bubbles were less intense by 3 hours in. Unfortunately, the fruit was rotty and there was an oxidative smell. It just seemed past it’s prime, which was disappointing. Nevertheless, for rotty fruit flavors, this was surprisingly still pretty good due to the creamy almond flavors.

1/5/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Needed 30 minutes to settle down, but it was very nice: strawberry and cherry candy with cinnamon spice and an attractive pomegranate and cranberry finish. I enjoyed it, though I imagine it will improve with age.

1/5/2024 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Needed about 2 hours to come together, but it was very nice once it did. Blueberry and blackberry fruits with just a hint of chocolate, but then bay leaf and thyme herbs and liveliness in the mouth. There’s a nice metallic mineral current and dustiness that elevates this wine to a nice level. Drinking well now, but probably would improve even more with further ageing.

12/30/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

I opened this with Tom and Kim. Very fruit with attractive peach notes. Even though it is very dry, the fruit flavor is so ripe and fresh that it gives the perception of sweetness. However, the minerality, lemon acidity, and dry austerity all work together to keep it focused and interesting. At the same time, you sense the custardy creaminess that you would want in a nice Champagne. Lots of life here (I liked it better than the Margraine Demi-Sec the next night). Good match with smoked salmon over cream cheese with dill and capers, decent match with Chickpeas and Roasted squash, and really nice with Manchego (just ok with aged gouda). Next time, try it with scallops, sushi, and especially foie gras (the fruitiness might be really nice with foie gras). I think ageing this for a little longer would help unify the different pieces and maybe create even more creaminess and complexity. I’m a fan, though.

12/31/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

ear, ginger, rose, honeydew melon, and lime blossom honey. Audrey Frick says Parmesan and I see it, along with toasted coconut flavors. Musty notes when first opened, but this went away after about 60 minutes (and it was way better at that point). You can taste the sweetness. This is pretty good, but it really needed some air and even then, I liked the Vergnon slightly better. Excellent match with strawberries and just ok with smoked salmon and mushrooms.

12/23/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

It tastes like a Spanish wine made in a New World sort of style. It has that Spanish dusty/metallic minerality and balsamico flavors: chocolate, licorice, fennel seed, laurel, curry, sandalwood, incense, spearmint, and bell pepper along with plum and blueberry fruits. It shows it’s age with leathery notes, though it still has nice fruit. It’s very polished, but it’s also not super exciting (reminds me of Washington State Cabernet in that way).

In my opinion, it needs more acidity because it doesn’t pop like those Virginia Cabs I just opened and it was just a bit dull with food (a roasted squash and seared halloumi salad and an anchovy stuffed roast chicken). The tannic structure has resolved and loosened up and the wine is full bodied, but it isn’t as silky as I can get from top Bordeaux. I gave it a few hours to sit in the bottle with the cork off, but I think less air would have been better. In the end, I didn’t feel like I got the best of both worlds: I got an ok Cab and an ok Spanish red rather than an exceptional Spanish cabernet. This was fun to try, but I think that I would rather stick to traditional Spanish grapes or traditional Cabernet locations.

This was a good wine, but what it makes me realize is that a good Bordeaux wine from Virginia (I opened a 2014 Keswick Cab Reserve and a 2014 Linden Avenius just before this one so they are on my mind) are very good because this wine paled in comparison to them. Better in the larger Riedel over the Zalto Bordeaux and better with less air. I’d say it was in a good spot for drinking and wouldn’t want to age it too much longer.

8/26/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This is more reticent at first, but starts to get good after a solid hour of air. I get dried apple, dried apricot, quince, and peach along with volcanic ash and some chalky minerality. There’s a nice creaminess too—something like a hazelnut flavored choux pastry. You get just a touch of lime blossom honey too. There’s acidity on the back end, but I wish I had more cut at the front end.

It didn’t pop with the sauerkraut and smoked trout and andouille sausage with an apple/blue cheese salad wasn’t the right thing, but I really loved this on its own. In the future, I would stick to paprika and Hungarian pairings with Furmint. In short, just ok with food, but really beautiful wine to sip on its own (closer to room temperature). Lots of depth to it. Best, by far, in Riedel Montrachet glass.

12/14/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Tasted on 12/14/23: Cherry and plum fruit with lots of vegetal/ratatouille flavors (maybe a bit too much on the vegetal and jalapeno flavors). Faint hints of vanilla and carob. I like the acidity—this was really great with an Italian sandwich (chicken cutlet, eggplant, roasted red peppers, and fresh mozz), the rustic brightness was just the right thing. I also liked it with a tagliatelle with spiced butter. I didn’t compare this with an Octagon, but I did have it after two Virginia Bordeaux style wines and this was similar in style, but probably a step up from both of them. There’s just a little more life. I’m a fan.

12/15/2023 - jkscully wrote:

Melon on the nose. Pine tar, straw, bitter almond, honey with quince and chrysanthemum buds. Pineapple and papaya with minerals. Salty finish. I didn’t care for this too much on day 1, but I liked it better on day 2 with a spiced butter tagliatelle. The spices and richness of the butter helped this to be pleasant.

12/14/2023 - jkscully wrote:

Petit Verdot (62%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (8%) come from 16 year old vines while Merlot (30%) comes from 7 year old vines. Once-aged French oak barrels. Linden says that cooler and cloudier October days produced lower than average sugars and higher than average acids for the grapes. I get chocolate and violet with plum and blackberry fruits with bell pepper and cayenne. These flavors are mixed with cedar and balsamic vinegar with red fruits emerging more and more as it sits. Drying tannins. I opened it as a PnP and I think it was best that way and it lost most of it’s pop by day 2. This is restrained but polished and very pretty.

Good in Zalto Bordeaux (but didn’t try it in other glasses) and a nice match with Saffron Pappardelle with spiced butter. Compared to the Keswick Cabernet Reserve from the same vintage (opened just two days ago), I think the Keswick was slightly the better wine (though it was also $20 more expensive so this might have been the better QPR). I was disappointed by how this wine showed on day 2 though.

12/11/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This was really perfect for PnP with beautiful fruit and all the attractive qualities of Va terroir. But then I decanted it for about 1.5 hours (which seemed like the right choice because the tannins were still fairly tight) and it wasn’t as good. The fruit flavor dissipated and turned more plummy and the tannins became more bitter. I get velvety chocolate, graphite, espresso, mashed blackberries, faint hints of strawberries, plum, violet, allspice, vanilla, Virginia bell pepper and red clay (but in a good way here), and red bricks (imagine licking a brick and getting the mineral taste). This is a very pretty wine that was almost great. If I had another go at it, I would drink it sooner than 9 years and as a PnP. It needs a simple, light palate for the food pairing. Chicken worked better than smoked duck breast.

I actually liked this better on its own than with food. Pretty impressive for a Va Cabernet Sauvignon, which is not necessarily the best grape for the climate. This was worth the $65, but it also doesn’t make me think, “I need to buy more high end Va Cabernet.” Let’s see how it compares to some upcoming California and Bordeaux wines.

Best in Zalto Bordeaux glass.

12/3/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

The honey is more intense and the lemony acidity has toned down (compared to the bottle I tried in 2018), so now and it feels fairly sweet. I get sweet papaya flavors with white peach, dried mango, baked apple and then macadamia cashew nuttiness and toasted coconut. There’s also some caramel candy sweetness in there. On the finish, I’m also getting I get some hints of dried herbs, like pine needle, dried sage, and thyme along with white pepper. The acidity reminds me of burnt orange peel at this point. There’s a slight fizziness and faint oxidative notes, which weren’t determinantal to the flavor, but also makes me think that there’s not a ton of life left on this. This is pretty impressive for a $20 bottle—there aren’t too many from anywhere that can age this well—although it wasn’t a super great match with food (I paired it with scallops and chanterelles).

11/25/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This was nice. You can taste the chalk along with some pine needle. Very dry. Good with thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich.

4/17/2022 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Deep fruit flavors with lots of licorice. “Wet animal hair juice” was the word of the night, but what we really meant is that this wine has the typical Carignan meaty flavors. This felt like a Syrah except not so pedestrian like many new world Syrahs can be. The fruit concentration is really pretty incredible, except that I thought it thinned out with food.

11/20/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

You can taste the alcohol (14.9%), in terms of heat, brandy flavor, and opulent texture. Dark fruit: imagine blackberries, red plums, Morello cherries, and blueberries all baked together in a pie with some vanilla bean and then eating the oozing conglomeration of the cooked fruit. I do get a bit of violets, graphite, leather, tobacco, and attractive vegetal characteristics on the finish, especially as it got more air and in the larger Riedel Bordeaux glass. The 25% Petit Verdot comes through, lending an a nice inky character to the wine. I didn’t realize this was going to be a fruit bomb, though the “fruit-bomb” qualities tend to fade somewhat with 1-2 hours of air. I’s delicious, but less nuanced than I was hoping. I do suspect it will become more sophisticated with further ageing. Good acididity makes me think that it will hold up well for another 5 years and gain some sophistication.

Ok-good match with Roast Pheasant and stuffed portabellas with melting taleggio. Best in large Riedel Sommeliers Bordeaux glass with about 2 hours of air.

10/22/2022 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Raspberry and plums with mushrooms, tar, and baking spices on the finish. I like the vibrant acidity on the finish. Tannins are still a bit bitter (imagine coffee grinds). Some nice stewed fruits on day 2. Better on pop and pour because more of the fruit is there but it helped up ok through the evening. I paid $60 to buy this bottle with 21 years of age on it. While I consider that a pretty good deal, I wouldn’t have wanted to pay $60 on release. I like these Bagas from Pato, but I want to like them more than I have so far (I’ve tried a few different bottles from different vineyards and I have more in the cellar). It just didn’t pop with food (a Greek lamb stew with dill, artichokes, and green) in the way an acidic wine like this can do. Nevertheless, this is still really delightful, although for this rustic, high acid style, I probably prefer Northern Piedmont.

9/27/2021 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Dark fruits, like I would expect from Morgon, but then delightful cherry and strawberry flavors emerge. Lots of licorice, stony minerals, iron, black tea, and cocoa powder with just a kiss of violet on the finish. Instead of cayenne pepper, which I sometimes find in Beaujolais, I get a good dose of herbs. Plenty of power for further ageing, but already silky smooth. Exactly what I want from good Beaujolais: it’s so delightful and, even if it doesn’t reach the highest possible eschelon, every sip brings a smile to my face.

At this point, better with about 2 hours of air, but much better on day 1 (as I’m beginning to realize is often the case with Beaujolais). I liked it much better out of Zalto All-purpose glass compared to Zalto Bordeaux, Zalto Burgundy, and Riedel Chianti glasses. Decent match with Lamb soup, good match with marrow spread over bread, and decent match with Iranian Chicken salad (with a mayo dressing).

10/23/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This took a good 2.5 to open up, but once it did, it was very good. Strong floral notes with strong honey and hazelnuts. As for fruit, I find pear, baked apple, and grilled peach along with some aged white tea notes. There’s a strong spice on the finish, that, to me, tastes like an oaky spice, but there’s also some exotic Indian spices. You also find some flinty, petrol like flavors too. Meyer lemon acidity. Mostly it’s the honey and the floral notes that make this special. Thick texture. Better closer to room temperature and it needs air.

This was fantastic with a grilled fish on a nice autumn day. Best out of Riedel Montrachet glass (compared to Zalto Burgundy and Riedel Chablis).

Very good, but I do I need to buy this instead of other nice bottles of White Burgundy? Fun to try once though.

11/15/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This has new world weight and texture, but with a Burgundy profile. It reminds me of Corton, with its bright cherry and strawberry fruit, though it has the spice and heft of Grevrey Chambertin. In addition to the fruit flavors, I get licorice, garrigue Provencal-like), cinnamon, and black pepper spice. Someone on CT said that is resembled a good Crozes-Hermitage, which I can see because there is a Syrah-like meatiness to it. More acidity and tartness on day 2 and lighter, Burgundian weight as well. I almost liked it better on day 2. I feel like this never fully opened up and should have been aged for longer. Nevertheless, you can see that the quality is there and this was a very enjoyable wine. If I had another bottle, I would have aged it for another 5 years (and I wouldn’t mind having another bottle).

A little too potent for Salmon, but this was a really great match with a roasted chicken withi Palestinian spices (sumac and allspice). This was nice out of all 3 Burgundy glasses.

10/17/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

The fruit is a bit cooked (too hot) for my preference and I’d also like a little more acid for freshness, especially from Santa Maria Valley (maybe I should have opened it earlier?), but this is still very good. Rich plum, strawberry, and raspberry fruit, but with a smoky undertone. Tart cranberries too. There’s hints of violet flowers, chocolate, Syrah-like umami/meatiness, spice bread, leather, tobacco, and wet autumn forest. These flavors are where this wine shines best. The oak is just right: subtle hints of vanilla and freshly cut wood, but not overbearing. Lots of minerality too and some sweet caramel on the finish along with a hint of cayenne pepper. I enjoyed this, but I had really high expectations and wanted to enjoy it more. I’d be curious to try a bottle of this in a cooler vintage. And in general, I would like to try more bottles from Paul Lato.

This drank well right from the first pour, but held up well throughout the course of the day. Good match with salmon, though I liked this even better with Solomonov’s Kale/Nut/Apple salad. The nuttiness, pomegranate seeds, bright sumac onions, and earthy kale were just the right thing. I also really liked this on its own.

11/5/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This reminds me of Oregon Pinot, except much cheaper. The fruit is tart red—cranberries, tart cherries, and strawberris—with wet earth (imagine muddy puddles in an autumn forest), violets (especially on day 2, so floral), mushrooms, and then some distinctive notes from the limeston and Kimmeridgian soils of Sancerre (chalky, minerals, smoke). There’s also some angostura bitter-like flavors near the finish, which has plenty of lime-flavored acid and sea air. Great for the price (plus I bought it with 13 years of bottle age on it). I just wanted to keep drinking more and more of it. The finish really stays with you.

This was a good match with Zatar salmon with garlicky bean mash and with swordfish Bolognese. A good food wine. I loved this on a nice fall day. Best out of Riedel Burgundy (the Riedel Oregon Pinot wasn’t as good for this).

10/14/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Gooseberry, kiwi, honey, fennel, aged white tea. Creamier texture as it warms up like vanilla and macademia nut. Quite nice for the price.

10/14/2023 - jkscully wrote:

This bottle is flawed. Color is dark brown and it tastes like sherry. Most of the distinguishing features are gone. Too bad. Not sure if it was a bad bottle or if I aged it too long, but my 2013 felt young at 7 years in.

9/23/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, plum, balsamic, bay leaves, bergamot, and rose petals. There’s lots of cinnamon on the finish and a faint hint of curry spices. Wet stones too. You can taste the whole cluster. Cranberry acidity. Nothing super sophisticated, but the acidity keeps this fresh and this is the sort of happy Oregon Pinot that I love to drink. Good match with salmon skewers and tuna with an Asian dressing. I’m happy with this for the price, though you can get better from Oregon. Fine as a Pnp or with about 20 minutes of air.

10/14/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

This was really good, but needed time to open up. Much better on day 2. Blackberry, raspberry and cassis with chocolate, licorice, leather, and faint hints of spice. Not super sophisticated, but it drinks well above its price-point.

10/6/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

chocolate, violet, peppers. Full bodied and somewhat New World in Style, but delicious. Impressive for the price and good as PnP, but also developed over time.

2/10/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Wow, this is in a nice spot. It reminded me of Ramonet Ruchottes, from Chassagne Montrachet. The oak is so well integrated that you don’t really know it is there. Instead, you get a burnt caramel, honey, honeysuckle, and candied orange peel flavors with just enough acidity to make your mouth tingle, like you’ve just eaten a grapefruit. But, it hasn’t been over-aged to the point where the fruit tastes rotty. There’s not much fruit taste left to this—some peachy flavors maybe, but who cares?—the purity and intensity of the other flavors are so delicious that you don’t need the fruit. Compared to a top-level Burgundy, I’d like a little more salinity and minerality in the aftertaste, which is always a special thing when mixed with the caramel flavors of an aged Chardonnay. But, at the $40 I paid for it, I’m not complaining. This shows me what aged California can do (though I suspect this is at peak and wouldn’t be as good in a few more years; meanwhile, I drank Lafon’s Meursault Charmes a few weeks ago from the same vintage, and I regretted it, because it was way too young).

On day 2, still delightful. Nutty flavors are coming out a little more and the honey flavors and salty minerality notes have intensified. Just a touch of oxidation. Again, so good for the price and another early candidate for my wine of the year. I’m sad to finish my last of three bottles of this wine.

Best after about 30 minutes of air and close to room temperature. Fine match with Lobster rolls and Cacio e Pepe, but the real winner was white fish with a tahini sauce. Should have tried the Chablis glass, based on my notes from my last bottle, but this seemed fine in the Riedel Montrachet glass.

9/18/2023 - jkscully wrote:

This was very oxidized and so hard to evaluate. It was better with more air (really, the more the better) and then it tasted like baked apples, rancio, calvados, mushrooms, fall forest, and buttered popcorn. The heavy oxidation prevented it from matching really well with food. I have nothing to compare this too—this is my first taste of Musar Blanc—but I would like to try it younger and try other bottles to know the spectrum of flavors this wine has to offer. I just don’t know if this is what I should be expecting or not for 20 year Musar Blanc. Tried over 3 days. Best in Riedel Montrachet glass.

9/18/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

honey and lime blossom with baked quince, ripe apple, quinine, almond, walnut, straw, and some sweet baking spices on the finish. It has enough acidity to keep it fresh. This is really good on a fall afternoon, but it’s not amazing (I feel like I liked the Baumard Quarts de Chaume from Anjou better and I’m beginning to think that I prefer Anjou Chenin to Touraine Chenin).

9/18/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Very dark Pommard like plum fruit with spices and jalapeno on the finish, which, to me, are to be expected for Chilean terroir. Tobacco, a touch of chocolate, and toasted sesame seed on the finish. This is one of those wines that’s better when there’s only a little bit in the glass (best in Oregon Pinot glass). It’s a fine wine for the price, but it doesn’t make me say, “wow, I need more Chilean Pinot in my life.”

9/16/2023 - jkscully Likes this wine:

Nothing complex here, but really nice fruit (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry) and good acid to give it freshness. I get the smoky taste of Carignan with along with some pancetta flavor, grape stems, and green olives. A touch of jalapeno heat at the end. I love the contrast of the umami flavors from Carignan with the fresh and vibrant fruit flavors. Really fantastic bottle for the price and a good representation of Corbieres Carignan.