4/21/2024 - nsellen wrote:

Absolutely lovely. Rich dark colour. Nose recognisable as Tempranillo without masking by oak, although I’m sure there’s some there. This is young but it has such a deep nose of concentrated red fruit and something lactic followed by the smoky earthy vibe. In the mouth you feel power, ripe red and black fruit cherry and plum. A bit of green and peppery leafiness. Has a prickle of heat from the 14.5% but wears it well. Great mouthfeel, again with the creaminess and some fine but noticeably drying tannins. This is a peach even at this age. Is it better than borohoquez? Maybe more rounded and powerful and you takes your choice.

4/3/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Last of only two bottles bought. This has moved on since my last note. It’s put on weight, richer and a touch more phenolic but otherwise similar profile to last review. This has cream, smoke and a background of brassica but the ripe green fruit lends a precision and cleanliness to the taste. I like.

4/3/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This is doing well at the moment. Poured light straw. Nose rich creamy and floral. In the mouth you get the creamy entry, a rolling florality with notes of aniseed or fennel and the closest descriptor for fruit would probably be apricot or pineapple chunks. There is a medium minus acidity and a drying sensation akin to tannins which ends in a bitter tang. It all adds up to a well structured wine with plenty of interest and great food matcher. Not on the downslope but I’d say drink now with food. We had it with a seafood and fennel risotto. Perfect.

3/19/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Poured clear on decanting. Very little sediment. Colour still vibrant. Garnet. Nose very pronounced. Rich fruit, smoke, ash herbs and leather. Plenty of fruit left. Rich tasting. Plenty of secondary notes, some chocolate creaminess, super fine tannins of medium length. Good acidity. Nothing tertiary and seeming to have loads left in the tank. I was foolish to think this wouldn’t make old bones. Good for 5-10 years if you like your GR rioja properly aged, as I do.

3/3/2024 - nsellen wrote:

Signs of age on the rim. Nose starts with red fruit and cumin (other spices are available…). Earth, decay, a tickle of pepper and some green wood. It’s quite pronounced and warming. Really inviting. Mouth has a bright, zippy entry. Fruit indistinct. Perhaps cranberry or red cherry. Exotic, alluring mid palate. Oh my gosh, this is turning sexy. Rich, mouth coating, fine but persistent tannins. Good acidity. Weighty, long lasting. Good. No, very good.

3/3/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This is quite reductive, giving both match strike and cabbage soup aromas. Not making it sound fun, am I? But behind that wave of brassica is a purity of green fruit and a buttery almost lactic edge. In the mouth, rich, rolling creamy apple and citrus. Long and rolling finish. The nose lends a sternness to proceedings as if to say “we’re not here to have fun, this is serious”. But the fruit gives sparky vibes, like a cocktail dress hidden under an overcoat. In the end the overcoat wins. I hope that time will be kind and let this wine live a little.

2/25/2024 - nsellen wrote:

First note but fourth of six. This is now past its prime. Looks fully mature and has some attractive savoury elements. The fruit is a ghost, clinging on to its corporeal form but destined to live on only in the memory. Not unattractive for what it is but not as balanced and interesting as earlier bottles. I fully expect someone to tell me that its best is yet to come and the joys of old chianti have yet to be revealed to me but to my taste, keeping these was a mistake.

2/14/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Dodgy cork required some ingenuity to remove. And then the nose. Oh, the nose. Room filling floral, tarry, camphorous. A touch of cream and plenty of spice. The mouth is full, rounded, unmistakable. The finest tannins caress the black fruit and fresh acidity. Tart, cranberry, strawberry and then full black cherry. A bite of acid and alcohol prickle. I haven’t mentioned the cocoa, coconut and vanilla because they are allusive, expected but not really there. This is the real deal and still some way off the finished article. Give it another 5 years and save up for a Durand or be prepared for a crumbly cork. I wish I had more.

1/29/2024 - nsellen wrote:

Oooh. This is good stuff. Weight, body, richness and clarity. A welcome zing of electricity and that floral, vegetal aroma. I took a chance and went with goat cheese salad and this repaid my faith. The next day the semillon is to the fore giving me a rich rounded mouthful. A very good wine.

1/29/2024 - nsellen wrote:

Gosh. I was a bit unkind in my last review wasn’t I? Time moves on and a year later I had another go. Bang average. I think I’m mellowing.

1/27/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

I’m going to be generous and say I clearly had this too early. No nose, red fruit, minimal tannins. Barely pinot. Closest match would be a Mencia. Nothing going on. £53 and nothing to show for it. Well, almost nothing. It was a good if unremarkable table wine. My gripe is the cost, which shouldn’t matter. But of course it does.

1/8/2024 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Cork destroyed on approach. Recovery involved a sieve and a muslin. Wine poured dark, thick and mercifully, clear. Extravagant nose, room filling. Dark plums and bright cherry, wood, leather and wardrobe. Did I mention thick? Mouth is rich, coating and persistent. I’m getting more secondary and tertiary than fruit but what there is is black and slightly caramelised. It’s got a lot going on, meat, polish, leather, eucalypt and herb. In comparison I’d point at CNdP, Brunello, Musar and Priorat. This is not a small wine but it repays your time. Good with food and a sipper on the sofa.

1/8/2024 - nsellen wrote:

Dark ruby, clear. The nose dominated by savoury elements and dark red fruits. There is a direct line between the nose and the char on my ribeye. Not enormously pinot but to my mind essentially burgundy. Mouth has rich sweetness from raspberry/cranberry fruits, a bosky hum and the meatiness I found on the nose. This is not a simple wine. It’s a winner.

1/4/2024 - nsellen wrote:

As described by Henry Jeffreys below. This is the kind of light tawny I crave. Not overpowering, layered, complex and without the spirit making a holy show of itself. More of this kind of thing.

12/28/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Gold coloured, heady nose of wax and almond, some floral notes. Mouth a hot mess. Fruitless, bitter and caramelised. Alcohol pokes out. Not nice. Down the sink.

12/27/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This has lost the flush of youth. Now led by the oak treatment and its lactic profile. This worked extremely well with a cheese board. On its own it felt harder work as a phenolic bitterness dominated.

12/26/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Looks pretty good, ruby with a tinge of orange at the rim. The nose is super-encouraging. Black fruit, and sour cherry. Earthy. Creamy but not over oaked. Rich and inviting like a Victorian study. In the mouth this has clean fruit entry chased hard by the earth, leather and pencil case. Again a lactic/creamy mouthfeel balancing out the acidity from the black cherry and strawberry note. Medium plus body, tannins are fine and persistent. God I love this. It’s quite alluring and sensual. In no sense over the hill, this is opening out and ready to give more.

12/26/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This is a big wine. Like Chandler’s Moose Malloy who famously had a wide frame, difficulty negotiating doorways and always getting into fights he didn’t start. It’s huge. And hulking. And like Moose. It has hidden depths. The fruit is glossy, part stewed, in an interesting caramelised fashion and part clean red fruit. Strawberry and cherry. There’s a touch of va and some medicine chest. Bit of tar, bit of cherry cola. But also layers, and a sincerity which keeps it honest. Interesting, not without faults but with a good heart. Good old Moose. This will keep and become…… Musar?

12/19/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Little to add to the notes of my fellow commenters. This taken at a meal which started with a 2004 Taittinger CdC, then a 2018 Danbury Ridge Octagon Block chardonnay which both set a high bar. The Leeuwin sailed over it. Focussed, taut, rich without tropicality, long, fresh, complex, unforced, delightful. This is astonishing value for a world class chardonnay.

12/18/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Only one thing worse than a much anticipated final bottle being DOA… This had a slightly bulging cork which came out in one piece but was soaked through. Wine poured clear and yellow/green. Nose of apple and honey. So far so good. A quick tester sip is called for. In the mouth this is now off-off dry. Rich and unctuous with apple, custard, wax and a tickle of some bitterness. I’m looking forward to tucking into this. Over the course of 20 minutes the bitterness increased markedly, the sweetness began to cloy and the alcohol bite was laid bare. Fruit gone, aromas mute, I’m no longer smiling. Compared to my others this is a mess. I’m going with flawed rather than dead.

12/10/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Looks young still. Nose not complex but traces of metal and pepper. Medium weight in the mouth. Good balance, of fruit acidity and that tang. This is a good unpretentious Syrah. Everything you’d want it to be.

11/19/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Colour showing its age. Nose is fully savoury. Earth, farmy, bosky. Great. Mouth shows what fruit remains is still at the red end and is ripe and sweet. No tartness but still fresh and zippy. Tannins absolutely homeopathic. This is good.

11/14/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This is good. It is light, at the savoury end of PN but with good levels of well defined red fruit. Little interest on the nose but the mouth is a delight. Not sweet or cloying but pure and linear. Very good indeed.

11/13/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Worryingly yellow. Nose promising, yellow fruit and lemon. Mouth a mess. Seering acidity and cooked fruit. I have no idea what the fault might be but this is such an outlier to previous bottles that I can’t score it.

11/12/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Light gold/green. This is a rich, luscious wine. Green apple, touch of lime, hint of yellow fruit. Smoke, cream, nuts. Intense, focussed and long. I am in Puligny but I am a fan so your mileage may vary. Got a round endorsement from all at the table and absolutely meshed with the smoked fish pie. This died that I might live.

11/11/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Everything I hoped for. Early but a mix of clean ripe black and red fruit. A well rounded mouthful of fruit, smoke, earth, wood and intimate musk. I really didn’t expect such a well rounded package so early. At the top of its development for me, before the fruit starts receding but with proper complexity. Bravo!

11/11/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Cork exploded under screw. But what’s underneath? Sex in a glass. Fully meshed fruit, acidity and tannins. Something feral, a sort of hum under the fruit. This is showing that development I want in a glass and so early. Super. A singleton, so massive regrets that I don’t have more.

11/11/2023 - nsellen wrote:

A very nice expression of Chenin Blanc from Vouvray. It’s clean, fresh, a whiff of sea air with green apples. Touch of sweetness on the palate. Apples, dare I say tart tatine? Cream coming through on the finish but leaves a freshness. This is excellent.

11/9/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Light gold, nose of honey and spice. Rich mouthfeel, clean, dry and long. Again with the honey and yellow stone fruit. Very good.

10/28/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Pale straw. This is mineral led with a rounded apple spine. Quite rich, intense and fully delicious. I want to go on but I’ve said enough.

10/22/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

I’ve not much experience of Marsannay so reference points are limited. This is dark ruby, perhaps a tinge of brown. Nose not expressive but recognisably pinot. Mouth is a delight. This is a rounded, fruity earthy pinot, unchallenging and uncomplicated. Tannins smooth, minimal oak notes. I admit to a preference for a rather more feral experience in my burgs but this was the perfect foil for fillet steak with cauliflower cheese. Undemanding in everything but price.

10/16/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Got this in a fire sale for pennies and fully expected to have been overcharged when I opened it. Had never heard of the producer and the merchant is not known for its generosity. What a surprise. It pours clear and gold/green. A whiff of reduction soon blows off and leaves a fairly muted apple/butter mix on the nose. In the mouth, no discernible fruit notes but there is something in front of the creamy, oaked mid palate. That something is super refreshing, lifted and I’m going to call it green for the want of an actual fruit. Not overly fat, quite balanced in acid and weight. Longish and really very good. It rose several notches on my scoring system when paired with a godminster cheddar. But that’s probably cheating.

10/10/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Taken to The Pipe and Glass, South Malton for Mum’s 90th birthday. This poured clear, light gold with a touch of green. Light mousse and perle. Nose of cream, nut caramel and apple. After a minute this turns around and becomes apple, toffee and cream. Balance in the mouth, lots more secondary notes but still that clean apple and some lemon or lemon sherbet freshness. This is bringing tears to my eyes. It’s so good. Length! My goodness this persists. Wow. No need for food but wasted solely as an aperitif.

10/4/2023 - nsellen wrote:

This is excellent for the level. We have a complex autumnal nose and enough fruit to balance out the profile. It has elements of musky apres-congress in the background and a sweetness to the strawberry led fruit. Very soft tannins and medium minus acidity. Long finish. Rich almost creamy mouthfeel. Overall package is impressive.

P.s. Just looked at the current asking price. Maybe I came to this with lower expectations than its cost implies. Still, good.

9/20/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

I’ve been rather unkind about the bottles I’ve had previously. Over the course of this six pack they’ve ranged from dense rich fruited and tannic alcoholic monsters, through shrill acidic fruitless alcoholic harpies and tarry, pruney, baked alcoholic etc. so bottle six was approached with low expectations.

The wine decanted and clear, plenty of ruby with bare tinge of orange at rim. Nose leapt out of the glass, medicinal, tar, eucalyptus or camphor, herb, iron and a bitterish tang. Meat or blood maybe. All very Musar. It’s the best comparator I have to help me land this wine. I loved it. There’s sweetness on the palate a thick almost creamy mouth feel. Prickle of pepper from the alcohol or maybe the Syrah. Rich, rolling herballeatherytarry and something exotic behind it all. Resin? rosemary? Whatevs. I’ll stop now. This wine lasted three nights with no sign of decay. It’s in a great place but clearly only just become drinkable to my palate. Criticism? Only that the alcohol is still making its presence felt but at least it’s not dominating as it has in the past.

I’m glad to be proven wrong and glad to have the 2009s in reserve.

9/19/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

I decided to check in on the 15 as I’m running low on older vintages and they need to be rationed from now on. This is still clearly in its infancy, showing a greenish gold. Fruit is leading with sharp citrus, grapefruit and lime before the richer tropical notes come out. It has the rich mouthfeel and seems to me to marry a saline quality to a sweeter melon style fruit. I find it hard to be objective about this wine as it marked the start of my journey of “noticing what was in my glass” but I have to say it is a delight. Fascinating, multi-dimensional, extremely food friendly and a complete bargain. On the back of this I’ve just bought a case of the 19.

8/30/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Peppery, leathery, meaty, pruny. Not awful but the caramelised black fruit is a bit much. An interesting experiment in aging wine but not one I’m keen to replicate.

8/29/2023 - nsellen wrote:

I found another of these in a bin end sale for £10. My expectations were commensurately low. It poured clear and green gold. Nose didn’t offer much in the way of oak, or of fruit. Just a nutty, creamy, faintly sweet apple. In the mouth this was a delight. No longer buttery Meursault but a light touch tropical fruit and apple. More like a good Bourgogne level white. There is an edge of smoky cream and bread. I guess you could say that the fruit and vanilla was vestigal but still making its presence felt. Really nice and more than I expected after all these years. Good with cod mornay and afterwards.

8/21/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Just found another bottle of this, thought it had long gone. Still no sign of significant age, maybe a bit of translucency at the margin. Dark ruby. Nose of plum and menthol and a touch of dust. Mouth has black fruit, berry and plum, still sweet, together with a medicine edge. Some alcohol bite, good acidity, fine tannins. Fully integrated. I guess it’s into its secondary phase but by no means on the downslope. Creamy mouthfeel and a peppery finish. Really good match with lamb hotpot and as a sipper. Probably got years left but I will never find out. Well made and a steal.

8/14/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Can’t remember where I bought this, which is annoying as I want some more. At the fuller, sweeter end of spatlese. Rich, baked apple, a dash of lime and some caraway seed. Sounds awful, drinks well. Could do with a touch more acidity to cleanse the palate and maybe a bit more complexity in flavour but for a settee-sipper this is vgi.

7/27/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Pretty good. Medium light. At the less intense end of NW PN. This has bright berry fruit, Savoury, earthy tones. Clean, somewhat sexy and considerably better than I’d been expecting.

7/3/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Very happy with this. Light, balanced and a touch of complexity. Not screaming pinot, this has a rich fruit led nose. In the mouth it has strawberry and cherry together with the earth and herbal notes. Did I just spot some cola? If I did it was fleeting, allusive rather than imposing. No, this is a good wine. One that scratches the burg itch for a reasonable price. Incidentally, this was my second Maranges in two weeks. I think I’m becoming a fan.

6/19/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

This is good. It’s a deep ruby, suggesting a big wine. On the nose it’s all pinot and savoury pinot at that. This is well fruited, quite balanced (prickle of alcohol lets it down or suggests a quick chill) and fully savoury. There’s rich red fruit, earthy, perfumed middle and a suggestion of ginger in the finish. Fully ready and a dream with food and on the sofa. Bravo.

6/3/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Last one. Poured clear and light straw. No real sign of age although the perle didnt last long. On the nose this led with bakery and noisette. In the mouth I didn’t get any fruit but Mrs S said apple and lemon. To me this majored on nuts, caramel and brioche with a good cut of acidity. Rich, tasty, a good base wine with just a tickle of spritz. The finish reminded me of the aftertaste of a good hoppy IPA. Somewhat bitter and floral. Nice but unusual. Day two, last glass had that richness and a more citric, fruity profile in front before the bready honeyed finish. The florality had gone. I’d say this was fully secondary with some tertiary notes and for my money it’s drink up. But your tastes may differ.

5/28/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Last of these. Poured rich straw or light gold. Nose of honey, almond and apricot. Couldn’t call the fruit fresh, this is on the savoury end now. It tastes rich, mouthcoating. The fruit is there, apricot, greengage and a floral perfume edge. This is all wrapped in a phenolic bitter-ish, honey and nut casing. Acidity is bare med- and could be more prominent for balance. I had this with seafood risotto, heavy on the fennel and noilly and this paired like a dream. No upside for these so drink up if you haven’t already.

5/25/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Bought as a bin end. Low expectations were massively exceeded. This has real character. Deep ruby. Nose tertiary, red fruit, camphor, hint of tar. Fresh in the mouth. Sweet strawberry (tinned not fresh). Absolutely fine tannins providing shape to mouth, along with med minus acidity. Fruit compote. Almost a creamy mouthfeel at the finish. This is wonderful.

5/25/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Second of two bought from a bin end shop. The first was way past its best before date and had nothing good to say for itself.
This one had plenty to interest me. It poured clear, a dark purple edged with orange. Nose was a heady melange of black fruit, warm spice (nutmeg? cinnamon?) tar and hot wood. In the mouth this all followed through. It was rich, a bit thick in texture, some drying tannins but no texture to them. The fruit was undoubtedly cooked but not stewed. There’s prune in there but it’s a background rather than core. I’m getting medicine cupboard and a lifting floral note which may be violet but is most appealing. OK that’s long enough. I’m impressed with this wine. Not just because my expectations were so low but also that it shows how Zinfandel can show such complexity and finesse with age.

5/14/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Deep ruby colour, looks dense and new but clear at the rim. Nose is red fruit, pond water and some celery/curry leaf. I have to be misreading these aromas but they’re the best I can come up with. Not giving much away. In the mouth this redeems itself. It’s got a strawberry tinkle over a plummy bassnote. Wood, (school desk, not cedar), spice, earthiness. What I love most is the balance of sweet fruit, integrated, fine tannins and acidity. and the tertiary notes adding a sort of background hum of savoury complexity. Very much better than I’m making it sound and stood up well over 3 days.

I know, it shocks me to see this in writing. Three days? What was I thinking? Should have done it in there and then but in my defence I had others bottles on the go.

4/26/2023 - nsellen Likes this wine:

Poured clear with plenty of sediment adhered to the side of the bottle. Initially mute on the nose this this started to show earthy, savoury notes. A little farmyard, a metallic element. No fruit on the nose. In the mouth this had a balance of tannins and acidity, black fruits and tertiary elements. I got the blood and iron thing. Silky smooth. A slightly sexy edge, almost creamy. As the evening wore on the fruit diminished, leaving the floor to the feral, savoury notes. This was clean, complex and somewhat decadent. I loved it but I wouldn’t want any further development, I need some fruit for balance.

4/23/2023 - nsellen wrote:

Has weight, savoury led with a rich creamy mouthfeel. Fruit is indistinct although there is a perfume/fruit aroma hovering. All the Bordeaux characteristics although not screaming Margaux. I like this a great deal for what it is and am not going to fret about what it is not. Will buy more.