3/6/2024 - Trickyone wrote:

As I looked back at my note from 3 years ago, I thought more about screwcaps and better wines like this. There was no evolution of this wine. It was still pretty one-dimensional. The fruit was correct but still youthful, but not in the best way. At 10 years--and a legitimate 10 years since the harvest in WA would have been this time of year!--there should be at least some tertiary notes, but there weren't. The wine poured almost purple into the glasses, and that's not necessarily what I want from a high-midrange Bordeaux blend at this stage of its development. Two more bottles in my stash, so I'll give them more time, but I'm beginning to believe that screwcaps shouldn't be used on ageworthy wines. As I've said before, I like a soft pillow when I go to sleep. Why shouldn't a good wine have the same?

1/6/2024 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Violets so apparent in the early nose. Absolutely lovely texture and integration of oak. You can tell some of the flavors come from the oak, but it's not sweet or exceptionally spicy. Something in the fruit affects the oak as much as the oak affects the wine. Guess that's why Grands Crus are Grands Crus. Looking forward to more evolved pleasures as my remaining bottles age.

12/12/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Perfect with fish meuniere. Really zippy acidity to complement the buttery goodness of the sauce.

11/17/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

On the sweet side, but plenty of acidity.

11/4/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

At last! A fruity, cedary bottle from this case. Hoping the rest are like this one because if they are, there's definitely aging potential.

10/7/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Needs to be 10 or so degrees above refrigerator temperature. Not much to offer if it's cold, by my word, what a pleasure as it warms. Incredible richness. Tongue-tickling acidity. Enjoy with food or relish it on its own.

9/2/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Very Merlot-dominant blend and a good, reasonably priced dinner wine. No complaints, but no major kudos, either.

8/26/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

See note for 2005 "Ten".

8/26/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

See 2005 "Ten" note.

8/26/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

See note on 2005 "Ten".

8/26/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

As with every aged Sea Smoke, vinegar. I'm ashamed I fell for the hype years ago.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/19/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Les Premiers Crus (aka Schrödinger's Tasting) (The Ridge): More details later.

8/5/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

A little oxidized on opening, I thought of the words of Francois Audouze: Air heals all flaws. Counterintuitive it may be, but it worked in this case. Turned into a nice match to orange roughy amandine (can't get trout here) and ginger-lemongrass rice. Lioco has Burgundian aspirations and is well on the way to meeting them.

7/28/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Maybe a little flabby, but fruity enough to be a good food wine. Short-term enjoyment, but the enjoyment is at least there for a few years.

7/8/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Sadly over the hill. Drinkable with massive aeration, but I should have popped this cork years ago.

6/23/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Ageworthy California Cab. with some age on it. Old-wine deep color and pleasant tertiary flavors. Not too much more in its run, but definitely a pleasure even in decline.

6/16/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Mainly picked to pair with some Stilton with blueberries after the meal, it worked well with the steak 'n' potato as well. Very fruity and not overly alcoholic. Alexander Valley's cooler climate paid off for sure.

6/8/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Excellent QPR. Very dry and very Riesling. Early drinking window, but don't we all need that while waiting for top-tier wines to come around?

6/3/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Lots of backbone and somewhat oaky on opening. The longer it was in the glass, the more resolved it became. Looking forward to future bottles as they age.

5/24/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Oxidized but drinkable. Would like to have had it at peak.

5/14/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

A stunning surprise. Kept under temperature control, but still, a village-level wine this rich at 32? Perfect old-wine balance (alcohol/fading fruit/VA in the best sense of the term). Good storage paid off this time for sure!

5/13/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Better body than the '18 and my favorite N. Island Pinot.

5/12/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Lighter than previous vintages but still displayed good earth/fruit Pinot characteristics. Other years with meats, this one with salmon.

4/30/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Looking for a nice Cab. to go with dinner and I saw that I'd had a sister bottle of this 10 years and 1 day ago. My note then more or less applies now: Leather and fruit combine to produce a lovely finish that lasts and lasts. Sorry it was my last bottle, but grateful both provided so much pleasure so far apart.

4/23/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Wonderful pairing to grilled salmon with pistachio pesto. "Gris" may mean "gray", but to me it means "grit", as in something to help grind through the fatty fish and nuts in the best possible way. Only complaint is the 14% alcohol, but Weinbach farms for the best quality fruit and if it's a little extra ripe one year, so be it. The best possible balance with fruit and acid was definitely achieved.

3/22/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Really hard to believe this is the entry-level bottling from Kumeu River. Perfect balance of oak and fruit at the price point.

3/18/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Light, with Burgundian aspirations. Very atypical California Pinot in the best possible way. Kudos for not trying to overripen fruit in pursuit of "extract" or whatever those sledgehammer wines tout as virtues but are actually signs of betraying what the grapes can best express.

2/16/2023 - Trickyone wrote:

Really great potential here, but it definitely needs more time to reach its caramel-y destination.

2/12/2023 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

The wine went into the decanter looking very purple and almost opaque--this was an absolute baby. Fortunately I have more bottles stashed away and I will give them a few more years before opening them. Still, the wine showed very nice fruit and the tannins were smooth despite its youth. Better after the steak with some Petit Basque cheese.

12/31/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Great start to NYE dinner. Plenty of depth and body, especially for a BdB.

12/31/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Unmistakably Syrah on opening, this bottle mellowed toward the sensitive, as opposed to overpowering, side of the grape's tendencies. Decanted several hours before serving, the peppery notes took a while to emerge but the wine always continued to say "Syrah" as opposed to "SYRAH!!!!" A nice complement to roasted beef tenderloin.

12/31/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

As is the case in other winegrowing regions, great properties or winemakers show their class in "off" vintages. Such was the case with this Dunn Howell. A beautiful experience with pure Cab. fruit accented properly by oak and mature flavors. This got better and better as it sat in the glass, having been slow-oxed for a few hours before serving. A pure pleasure with a roasted beef tenderloin.

12/31/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

As the wine warmed in the glass (served at about 55F) more and more nuances appeared: Spiciness from the oak and long finish. The wine's pedigree was shown by the texture in mouthfeel, which was thick without being unctuous or unappealing.

12/30/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Very dark for a rose' Champagne. The unexpected level of color belied the suave nature of the wine, as everything was in balance: Fruit, acidity, carbonation and a nice, long finish. Much life left for well-stored bottles.

12/25/2022 - Trickyone wrote:

Paired with cream of mushroom soup and a holiday rosemary bread, the wine seemed to be all right. However, after the food was gone it seemed a little rough around the edges--definitely too much oak. Maybe some bottle age will moderate this unpleasantness, so it will be a while before I go back for another bottle.

12/11/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Surprisingly rich BdB. Very pleasant and persistent mousse never overpowered the "wineyness" that implied this was a pretty good Chardonnay before it went through fermentation #2/dosage. Glad to have another magnum to enjoy sometime in the future.

12/10/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

A big step up from the village-level Carillon bottlings--much bigger than I expected, frankly. Very subtle oak and the long finish is dominated by clean Chardonnay fruit. Should cruise along for some time but it's very hard to resist now.
One odd thing: When I pulled the cork, wine flew out of the bottle. It had been overfilled and the suction of the cork being removed pulled some wine with it! Nice to give me a bonus fill, so I'll be on the lookout for this "problem" in future bottles.

12/9/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Really nice, mature Bordeaux. Old enough to have developed leathery notes but still retained enough fruit to stay in balance.

11/28/2022 - Trickyone wrote:

Not off to a good start with this case. First bottle was very ungenerous and this one was corked.

11/23/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

The bucket list gets one step closer to completion. Bought this as a curiosity years ago so I could say I'd had a wine older than I was, the "someday" to open it became 11/23/22. Shared over dessert at an early Thanksgiving lunch, the sweet caramel notes paired shockingly well with a cinnamon-y cherry pie. After the pie was gone, we continued to nurse the remainder of the bottle until it was empty (except for the large amount of sediment clinging to the bottle's side). Thankfully, the wine had enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. It's now twice in a few weeks that bottles I made as "what the hell?" purchases (the other being a 1971 D'Oliveiras Sercial) turned out to be real pleasures on consumption. Should I start caring less about what I buy?

11/12/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

When you find a unicorn, the real problem becomes: When do you drink it?
Luck provided this bottle a dual purpose on its consumption. Our branch of Arkansas International Wine & Food Society staged a wonderful event at a historic home in Van Buren, AR. Link if you're curious:

https://www.iwfs.org/americas/arkansas/event?event_id=4815

The home happened to have been added to The National Register of Historic Places in--guess when?--1971!
What better way to get dinner going than by using this 1971 to toast our hosts and the home which is under their conservation efforts?
I arrived before the guests and poured everyone's portion into copita-like glasses. The bottle had been double-decanted the day before and of course I'd sampled the droplets left behind. Great potential.
By the next day it had blossomed to the point that when the guests entered the front door, the aroma from the filled glasses welcomed them from probably 30 feet away--in another room. The Madeira "tang" didn't overwhelm the candied flavors of the wine, which smelled far sweeter than it tasted. Being on the low side of off-dry, it turned out to be a spectacular palate cleanser for the meal that followed; we had already been welcomed with bubbles 'n' bites at another location on the home's campus.
Some in our group sipped so slowly--including me--that they went back to it again and again during dinner and it continued to provide nothing but pleasure.
In short, this Unicorn did not die in vain. This was the first of two D'Oliveiras bottlings of old wine in my racks, so my next problem becomes: When do I open that 1907 Malvazia?

11/4/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Rich but dry Riesling that paired beautifully with crab cakes and green goddess soup with jumbo lump crabmeat garnish (yes, I got some beautiful j.l. crabmeat at the Dallas Central Market). The backbone is still very firm and this should last for several years at least if properly stored.

10/7/2022 - Trickyone wrote:

Sweet and decent acidity but I was expecting more heft in the glass. It was surprisingly lightweight but still made a good sipper with some excellent chocolate tres leches cake.

8/28/2022 - Trickyone Likes this wine:

Surprisingly good, and that's not a backhanded compliment. Drank this over lunch and we'd had a bottle a while back and I recall it being good, but not memorable. This was up there with a good bottle of Lioco or a decent 1er Cru Burgundy. Let it warm a little from the refrigerator and enjoy.