3/23/2019 - Topper wrote:

Deep, savory, rich and seductive. A full and serious wine that could warm you on a cold, damp night. If you like serious wine where the dark and complex flavors slightly overshadow the fruit, this is one for you.

12/9/2015 - Topper wrote:

I hadn't opened any of these bottles thinking them too young but a friend opened one and it was just fabulous. Textbook burgundy already full with dark fruit and secondary flavors of mushrooms, moss, leather and maybe a hint of licorice. So glad to have a few of these and will open one every few years to see how they evolve, but this one was completely ready and strutting its stuff.

8/4/2008 - Topper wrote:

Very nice mature brunello. Flavors have softened to the point of being very easy to taste and consume. Very popular at the table.

7/10/2014 - Topper wrote:

Was very fortunate to attend a tasting of recent Bertani Amarones with Stefano from the winery. Along with some recent releases and the 06 Classico (which is worth buying if you know you will be around to drink it in 20 years), we were served the 75 and 67 Classicos. The 75 was what I would expect from an older wine from this house with raisiny warmth and a fruit compote profile but the 67 was something else altogether. It was one of those magical wines that combines medium weight, beautiful subtle fruit and and a cornecopia of other flavors that just keep coming at you. Reminded me of an old Lopez de Heredia rioja that goes on and on without ever being a tannic monster. This one may go on forever in the manner of the mythical 1928 version of this wine. Thanks so much for serving it.

12/8/2016 - Topper wrote:

Really great wine in great form. Medium full with lots of sparkle. Cherries, tobacco, old leather and a touch of molasses. Big crowd pleaser that seemingly could be served with a wide variety of foods, or without any. Quality stuff.

5/29/2015 - Topper wrote:

I bought this a few years after release and when opened now the cork was dry and crumbly and the wine, while palatable, was just a shadow of what was in a well-kept wine that I had just a month ago. Sad, but we'll just move on to the next bottle of something else.

7/1/2015 - Topper wrote:

Very tasty but predominantly yeast and brioche flavors and aromas overtake the fruit. Fairly light on its feet and the acid is prominent. It just hasn't all come together yet.

2/2/2015 - Wine Poor wrote:

We enjoed this with Groundhog. This again was classic Bordeaux. Nicely matured, and an hour in the decanter helped it along. This time we noted some leathery taste as well. Actually, we had this with leg of lamb, but it was Groundhog Day, so...

5/22/2014 - Topper wrote:

The theme of this flight was - one grape, four countries, served blind. The grape turned out to be syrah, and the countries were Australia, France, Italy and the U.S. Wines ended up to be 02 Clarendon Hills Astralis, 01 La Turque, 02 Sine Qua Non Just for the Love of it, and 01 Macchiole Scrio. The first three were all terrific and only the Scrio couldn't stand up to the competition. For me, the SQN just squeeked out a victory over the Guigal, with the Astralis just a whisker behind. People were able to easily pick this out as the Aussie on account of the sweet blue/black flavor profile, the big impact of the wine and highish alcohol, yet they were surprised at the relative softness and balance of this wine compared to the same wine in its youth, or to other Australian blockbuster wines. In the end, it couldn't quite match the complexity and verve of the SQN and the La Turque but it definitely belonged in their company.

8/23/2013 - Topper wrote:

This is a big, bright, spicy, mouthfilling, cherry tinged wine. Somehow, if I had to show someone a a representative bottle of Chateauneuf and they had never had one, I might pull this out. Not the best, not the biggest, but a very good modern version of this region's wine.

2/16/2013 - Topper wrote:

This bottle had died and gone to heaven and since it was my only one, I can't compare to other bottles of the same vintage. Came in dead last at a tasting of 11 wines where it was by far the costliest. Stinky nose, off flavors (but not corked), off nose, drank as though it were poorly made, which would be out of character for this producer. I'll call it an off bottle, but not because it was obviously corked or oxidized. Others have had better luck with this.