4/25/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Another great bottle. I drank this with minimal food but a full 30 minute decant and it showed good fruit and good acid. Then got better with the food. Lean red berry, earth and orange peel. Nice.

4/22/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Not sure what everyone else is drinking, but this is a beautiful and exciting Tempranillo field blend that is excellent right now and still has plenty of time to improve. I didn’t decant this much and it improved mightily in the glass. Bright acids and little tannin here. Fresh cherry fruit with a base of earth. Drank this in a burgundy glass which is a good choice. This has evolved nicely since 2018 and it still has room for upside. Easy to drink now but will get better. If you have lots of this drink now but it won’t go downhill any time soon.

4/20/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

First bottle of this. Decanted 30-40 minutes but it should have been longer. Seemed very soft and simple at first although quite pleasant, but by the time we finished dinner this was much firmer and the tannins more apparent. Still, I won’t expect this to improve a lot beyond the next couple years. Good red berry fruit, some cedar notes, rather soft and supple fruit. Easy to drink.

4/19/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Decanted one hour. Structured but lithe and elegant at the same time. Light black pepper with violet, fennel, earth. Still tannic finish but very fine tannins. This drinks well now with food but has several years to evolve. Very good. If you have a case try one now but don’t worry for the future.

4/19/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Drinking beautifully right now with still time at this level. It needs some air to really get going, but once it does it has a light petrol Riesling character with green apple, stone and orange blossom. Very fresh, round and steely at the same time. For those who are not familiar, this is a white field blend with Riesling predominant and I am. It sure they know what else. They did a DNA test some years back and found that the Riesling was a much larger percentage than originally suspected but there are other old California Germanic whites in here too.
This wine always ages well and in 2016 it has well balanced ripeness and acid so it likely has time.

4/8/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Last bottle but this still has time ahead of it. Wonderful. Searing acidity balanced by real depth of flavor. Firm bright fruit - passion fruit, lemon peel, good dense extract of chalk and stone. This is everything that Chablis should be without that je ne sais quoi but i bet it would be hard to tell the difference unless you did a side by side comparison. Stunning wine and still young.

4/7/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Yet another pristine and beautiful bottle of this. As was my next bottle. Glad to see this given the hit rate on this case is now about 75% very good to 25% tired or bad. When good, lemon yellow color with bright citrus, chalk, and white flowers and balanced acidity. Excellent. One bottle left, hope for the best.

4/6/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Beautiful right now. While the tannins are still mildly present they have receded to the background and this is now a crisp, medium structured beauty with cherry, fennel, menthol, tar and rose notes underlaid by an attractive earth base. While this will hold longer I suspect this is peak drinking now. Well balanced and nicely acid. Lovely.

4/5/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Brick red color with a clear rim. Decanted 30 minutes and it improved as we drank it during the meal. Sour cherry with woody notes although the wood toned down during the time we drank it. Sleek, smooth and pretty with great depth of flavor. This deserves a lighter meat dish like veal or pork or even duck with no spiciness. Very light bodied and delicate but with finesse. As I mentioned back in 2018 when I drank the last bottle, I expect this will hold here for many years but I don’t expect improvement. Lovely.
Label says this is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Tinto fino y Albillo. Bottle 05988.

4/3/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Gold color. No significant decant but this definitely improved with air. Floral notes but really more about hay, earth and bitter citrus peel. Tasted like licking the inside of a mango peel - sour and bitter with a tropical undertow. No real sweetness here which is awesome. Sufficiently but not overripe, but well balanced by acid. Perhaps candied citrus peel. Might be the best Viognier I have ever had.
Paired this with a Japanese style fried trout in a vinegared sauce with bamboo shoots and vegetables. The earthy and sweet-sour dish did well with this wine.

3/29/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Disgorged 10/21. Mid-gold color. Very good champagne blend of PN 57%, Chard 28% and Meunier 15% with 70% aged in barrels. Good balance between freshness and weight. Floral, citrus, light toast flavor, some leesy notes with crisp acidity but no harshness. Good aperitif wine and you can drink this all day.

3/28/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Perfect drinking window right now. This still has a bit of tannins on the finish but nothing obtrusive. Very elegant style, with nice ripeness, broad cherry and raspberry fruit and very little green pepper at all. Smoky notes. Nicely balanced. This will hold here for awhile but I can’t see a reason to wait longer if you have a few bottles.
This has a lot of sediment!

3/27/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This is fantastic wine and in prime drinking window. That being said, I would not wait longer as I expect no improvement from here and it is a ripe vintage for sure. Color is light gold. It shouts “Chablis” straight out of the glass, that indescribable flavor of stone and salt (and, to me, grape or green apple Jolly Ranchers) that marks Chablis. We had a very good Santa Barbara county Chardonnay as an aperitif wine and I loved it but the characteristic flavors of a top Chablis are obvious. Even in a riper year like 2009.
Besides the stone and salt and Jolly Rancher, this is full of white flowers with jasmine and honeysuckle. The acid is good although I would prefer a bit more. Deep, well structured wine which is not a surprise for Le Clos. If it had a bit more acid I would give it a higher score but this doesn’t mean it is flabby as it certainly is not. I am not even sure about the acid. It probably has plenty of acid but a lighter weight on the other side would make it more attractive. But these are minor quibbles. I would opt for a 30 minute decant to blow off some minor reduction but not more.

3/25/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This was excellent and potentially deserving of a higher score in a few years. This wine seemed restrained and leaner in style which may be because of the vintage or maybe because it is just too young. Today it is filled with salty oyster shell and citrus and is a very intense wine even after time in the glass. As my husband said “this is why we drink Chablis “. I am glad to have more of these because I think it will improve.

3/25/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This is wonderful. It has the typical Heintz tropical notes of pineapple and passion fruit but it has the restraint to pull it off without being heavy. A lot of 2015 Chardonnays from California seem “chunky” to me but this does not. Firm and structured for sure, but balanced as well. I think this is terrific now but I think it has the stature to age for a few years.

3/23/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Light gold color. This is restrained to start but has good body and a nose of red ripe raspberries that is compelling. The first taste is also of raspberry rounded by cream and fennel with a bitter quinine finish. It finally leaves a sweetness on the tongue. Make sure not to drink this too cold. This continues to evolve in the glass but is still keeping something back. I detect a slight hint of the greenness mentioned by others but don’t find it unpleasant. I know this was a challenging vintage but I think this will get better with more time. As others have noted, this is 100% Pinot Noir for the first time due to problems with the Chardonnay. I am a big fan of CdG in general and this isn’t the best vintage but is still good to drink with pretty raspberry and strawberry sweetness and medium structure. Disgorged 3/20.

I decided to try decanting this as recently people have been telling me to decant Champagne. First time at it and it was messy pouring it back in the bottle as this has a prodigious mousse which kept rising quickly. Perhaps i shouldn’t have tried to put it back in the bottle but I wanted to close it up. I don’t believe I will do it again. It did open up the wine but the bubbles flattened out too much. I would prefer to let the wine sit in the glass a bit instead.

3/21/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Early days as the wine was just released. Right now the oak is overwhelming and hard to drink, but there is fruit underneath so give it time. It has structure too.

3/21/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

I had this at a walk around tasting so no detailed notes, but it was the wine to which I kept returning when my glass was empty. Good fruit and acid, tannins evident but in the background. Drinking well now but I would hold it longer if it were in my cellar as the structure is there. Well priced too.

3/21/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

We decided to pull an early bottle of this since we have two cases. I rarely expect much from top level Bordeaux at 10 years and this was no different. Still, very enjoyable now and I expect the score to go up in the future. Decanted 90 minutes and drank with dinner. First whiff was decidedly oaky! This tempered over the decant but was still prominent. Good black fruit and cedar notes but clearly very young at this point. Good acid. Still very reticent. An interesting test, but not a wine I want to drink in less than 5 years and more likely 10 for my tastes. I want to see the oak integrate and the wine relax overall. I expect it will be much more enjoyable and I look forward to it.

3/20/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Light bodied and easy to drink. I can see a bit of the softness in this bottle but it still retains the leaner style while having sufficient ripeness and body. Fresh cherry and raspberry with loamy soil notes. Drink now. It will hold at this level for a few years but I don’t see a reason to wait much longer.

3/19/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

I belatedly found the last bottle of this in my cellar. It was still quite good if past peak. Very dark gold color, almost alarmingly so. It had reduced matchstick notes to start but this dissipated with time in glass. Sweet but not too much so, balanced by light but adequate acid. The flavors were less about fruit and more about brown sugars. We drank this with a Thai pheasant green curry with spice and it really was a good counterpoint to that. This should have been drunk a few years ago but still nice today in the right setting. The dinner combo was perfect.

3/18/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Strikingly good bottle. Bright brick red. Decanted one hour. Deep ripe black cherry framed by the faintest old American oak. Leather, rich black earth, cigar wrapper and iron. Fine acidity. Long finish. Very elegant. So Rioja and so good. This is wonderful now but will probably stay at this level for some time. Not sure it is worth waiting though. Terrific now.

3/16/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

March 2024. Open for about 10 weeks now with a few inches of airspace and it is shining. Walnut skin, lemon peel, dark Hokkaido brown sugar but less bruisingly dense than it was at first open. The flavors wash across the palate and the complexity defies description. There are sweet spices here too - star anise, allspice and nutmeg. Light coffee too. There is a unique smokiness here as well. Still very tight and acidic on the finish. One of the greatest Madeiras of the early 20th century. I could probably drink half this bottle on my own. I have heard the earlier bottlings are even better and I have a few to try someday.

3/16/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Full bodied with medium lemon yellow color. More on the Meursault weight and style spectrum but lots of acidity to keep it balanced. Says 12.9% ABV but drinks like more than that. Nice flavors of lemon peel, anise and lime marmalade.
It lightens up a bit with air, so worth decanting this prior to drinking.

3/15/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Interesting wine. I am trying to figure this out as I have no experience with the Areni grape. Light body, relatively fresh. Some smoky notes. This kept changing as I drank it - light red berry fruit, spinach-y vegetal notes, then bubblegum. It went back and forth and sometimes I really liked it and others not so much. I left the rest of this for tomorrow to see how it goes.

3/14/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Best bottle in a while. Light yellow color. It was very good at the first glass but even better the next day. Classic Chablis stone and chalk with high acid. Jasmine flowers, lime and dense structure. An excellent example. My hit rate on these versus premox bottles has been about 70% good to 30% bad but this is clearly a superior one.

3/12/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This was lost in my cellar or I would have tried this a couple years ago. Mid-red color with pretty red fruits. Some spice and herbal flavors. Pleasant to drink but misses some density. A bit light weight and lower acid than I like. Happy to drink this but ultimately a bit disappointing. But I should have drunk this earlier so my own fault. Drink up soon.

3/12/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Light gold color. Green apple skin flavors, with some lemon and floral notes. Intensely chalky. Plum and plum skin. This needs a decant as it is still quite young right now and will age longer. It has some earthy and faintly leesy notes but very much under the skin.

3/10/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Medium orange red color with a watery rim. Decanted 30 minutes. Still fresh and high acid but the tannins are light. Rose aromas and taste, with some sweet spice and coffee flavors. Very nice with food and drinking well now. Great value and typically Nebbiolo.

3/9/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Deep dark intense and tannic still. I don’t see any of the pruney notes that someone else mentioned. This is fresh but unforgiving right now. With an hour decant it shows some dark cherry and anise which hints at better days ahead, but the tannins are still blocking. I would not drink this for at least 5 years and maybe 10, but I do think there is something good underneath and it will improve. I expect the score to go up with age. Better with food and at minimum 60-90 minutes of air.
Lot 10.161 with 50% Riserva cru wines included.

3/9/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Still drinking well. This is the 11/2016 disgorgement which you should note well. I had a few bottles in this case that were earlier - 2013 and 2011 I think and they were not nearly as good. This one is still fresh but also benefiting from time in bottle. Light lemon, with a creamy base along with white flowers like jasmine and honeysuckle. Some leesy notes but not pronounced. I am sure this will do well for a few years but I expect to drink most of mine in the next year or two so as not to lose that remaining freshness. Allegedly the 04/05/06 vintage blend.

3/7/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Bright red color. Raspberry, anise, earth. Sweet lilac pastille. Nice acid and still well structured but drinking very well now. In a good spot.

3/3/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Terrific Cornas. Decanted an hour prior to dinner and needed it. Glossy bright red color with no sign of age. This loved a dry aged steak as the tannins were still apparent although not disturbing the enjoyment. With time a deep blackberry was evident. This sung of violets! What amazing aromas. I could just smell this for an hour. Good acidity. Earth, iron, light menthol , herbs. This is still a firm wine with lots of time ahead but still very enjoyable now. Love it.

3/2/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Medium body. Medium sweet and not particularly viscous. Almond skin, orange peel, buttered toast. Excellent acidity but not razor sharp. An easy to drink Madeira with lovely flavor, and not as intense as some. I agree that this would pair well with food. A great choice to introduce someone to high quality Madeira.

3/2/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Medium yellow gold color. Still drinking well although showing age of course. Good acid. Pretty fresh. Mineral, citrus with an underlying density. You could mistake this for an aged white burgundy or richer Chablis. Remarkable and impressive. I wouldn’t keep this longer but it is quite good now. My other bottle a few weeks ago was slightly more advanced.

2/27/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Light golden color. Clearly from a riper vintage, but the flavor is correct for the age and vintage. Definitely not premoxed. Classic Chablis flavors of stone and white flowers but with a heavier tone and too much richness. Very good drinking now but I would drink this soon. It is just a bit on the first side of the down hill slide.

2/25/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Last bottle and one of the best. This has added a touch of richness and oxidization but it is to the benefit of this wine as it was always very lean. Still has the hay, chamomile and pear flavors. It needs some air to shine. Great drinking spot right now.

2/24/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Another excellent bottle of this wine. Started light yellow and deepened to a light gold after time in the decanter but there is no sign of prem-ox at all. Reserved at first but opens up with air to show stone and salty profile with grapefruit and quinine. After two hours in the glass some white florals and faint passion fruit show. This is not a soft wine at all. I think a few years will give it more time to relax. Great now with food.

2/23/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

After my last bottle I decanted this for 90-120 minutes and I think this is correct. This was medium red color, no sediment, almost no tannin. Light blackberry flavor with violet. Some menthaceous notes on the finish. (Apparently Apple doesn’t recognize the word “menthaceous” which is really pissing me off because it is a useful descriptor.) This is in a perfect place to drink now.

2/13/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

One hour decant, recommended. Color is light red shot through with orange highlights. First smell is deep black cherry and menthol. Raw earth and forest floor. Licorice. This is lovely and complex and over the next hour the fruit changes but doesn’t diminish. Some orange peel enters and the black cherry turns to cherry pit/almond. This is excellent wine. I am glad to have another bottle. I will probably drink it later this year but I think I could wait a few years longer.

2/12/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Good bottle. Light lemon yellow color. Classic Chablis flavors of jasmine, stone, citrus. A touch of smoke too. This is rich but also high toned and fresh. Great with food. If it weren’t for the one premoxed I have had I would say you could keep this, but I will drink my last few over the next year. Still, you won’t lose much by this and a safer bet. This is very good now.

2/11/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Every time I drink this the first thing I say is “stunning”. It really is. 17 years old now and I really think I should keep my last two bottles for a few more years. It has kept the structure and balance, and the flavors are still bright and distinctive. Hay, quince, chamomile, lemon, apple skin. An interesting melon flavor that reminds me of the smell from scraping the inside of a pumpkin at Halloween. Chenin Blanc ages so well and so does Huet, so this has every reason to last and develop longer. This bottle supports that view.

2/6/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Pale orange pink salmon color. An interesting mix of lactic creaminess, earth and strawberry and blood orange fruit. It didn’t pair as well as hoped with a pork tenderloin in pomegranate cream sauce mostly because the pomegranate was a bit harsh but the cream side went well. I suspect this is really a creamy butter chicken or salmon pairing. This would also go well with a cream heavy cheese course - Délice de Bourgogne for example. Lovely wine and really unusual style. This bottle says drink soon - this year or next.

2/6/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

5 years on, this has developed nicely. It has actually tightened up a bit and was more closed than I had expected. Fresh acidity but not overdone. Slight creaminess to the S&B fruit shows the characteristic vineyard notes and AR handles it well. This will improve for another year or two. Very good indeed.

2/5/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

5 years after my last bottle. This is still a good mid-weight Cabernet with flavors on the herbal and vegetal side. The blackberry has become more prominent which is a plus. This is fully ready to drink now and I would not hold longer. Good with food and a good first vintage for Ceritas. I like the 2013 much better however.

2/3/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

Bright, light red color with no apparent age. With only 20 minute decant this had a gorgeous dark cherry smell. Earthy to start and then the cherry enters, paired with a faint menthol and licorice. Some faint tannins still evident, but otherwise this is fully open and drinking beautifully right now. I can see a couple more years of improvement, perhaps, and then many years at this level. Lovely.

2/1/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This is a lighter bodied style, which I prefer in any case, and at 10 years old it is drinking nicely. Slightly bitter cherry fruit, sandalwood and earth. Tannins have faded. This has good balance and can be drunk with food or without.

1/30/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

My TN from back in 2022 is still apt. Fresh, lean, citrusy and good quality as expected from AR, but this is not a good vintage for the Watson Ranch. Thin in the middle. I suspect that the fires forced some early picking as this just isn’t as ripe as I would expect to see, even by AR standards. Drink now with some air first. It won’t degrade but I don’t expect age to fill this out much.

1/28/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

First bottle. Decanted 30-45 minutes. Lighter bodied than I expected but I liked it. Black cassis. Some earth. Rather elegant presentation. Still tannins but not too much to enjoy now. My husband said “ you could drink this with a burger or a $100 steak and it would be great with both”. I agree. This is very good. I also think you could keep this for at least a few more years and be happy.

1/27/2024 - acidqueen wrote:

This has some nice flavors that would be good if the wine weren’t buried under 15.8% alcohol. Very disappointing. I had this soon after release about 8 years ago and liked it very much despite the alcohol but it hasn’t survived the onslaught. There is no reason to do this.