4/23/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

New wine from this producer. Blend of four grapes. Spontaneous fermentation, no sulfer. This is a tiny bit funky, but it's fresh and fun. It can scratch the itch of natural wine people, but also be a nice intro for those curious about what the scene is about. The price is good and the label is great. Nice effort here. I would want to try a bottle again once it crosses the ocean, but looking forward to this.

4/21/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Pretty aromatics. Light pink/salmon color. Lovely fruit. Dryish, with good acidity. Here's a shocking description of a Paul D wine: Fun and easy. This will also pair with so many foods, like many of these wines? I really like that it's showing the Zeigelt fruit, and not just badly aping a provencal rose, like so many roses these days.

4/21/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

4.4 G/RS. Very aromatic. White flowers and citrus, very soft bouquet. On the palate, this is light and easy, with a little textural weight on the back end. Again, there's a theme here. This is fresh and easy, but it's a well made wine using quality grapes. And it's a liter bottle, so what's not to love here?

4/21/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Nice label. Fresh and easy. It's simple, but exactly what you need on a sunny day. Forget the Prosecco, drink some sparkling Zweigelt Rose!

4/21/2024 - hutch wrote:

Pretty raspberry aromatics. Juicy, bright, and easy. A bit simple. This is fine, but doesn't reach the levels of the white wines. It drinks easy and balanced, so there really isn't anything to complain about considering the price.

4/21/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is really good for a liter bottle of wine, especially given the entry level price. Lovely fruit aromatics, with a lot more interest then I would expect. Has that GV white pepper and celery thing. Terrific zippy, fruit. When I go back for another sip I am surprised at how complex it really is. This is a step up from the entry level Gruner expected of entry level. 87-88

4/20/2024 - hutch wrote:

This wasn't my favorite. More international in style. Ripe red and black fruits with hints of Vanilla. I can only blame myself, as the name should have warned me but I couldn't help myself.

4/20/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Apologies, guessing the vintage. This was a fun wine, and my first Austrian Syrah. I see no reason why they shouldn't grow more. Cool climate style, reminiscent of a rhodderinnes (sp). Easy and fun with fresh fruit, peppercorns, and maybe even olives. A little greeness. Very nice.

4/18/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is just wonderful. It's so great that this family ages the wines for us and still sells them at a reasonable price. Still quite primary with dark red fruits, but the tannins are so perfectly integrated at this point. This is such a wonderful Bordeaux, and a stellar value.

4/14/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is still fun and easy and terrific for the price. In my head, it's not quite as berrylicious as last time I had it (2019?). But this has great fruit, is well balanced, and is a a terrific value.

4/11/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Fresh, super light, with great acidity. I love this for being fun and easy, real, and utterly delicious. It's the perfect weekday wine. We need more wines like this!

4/9/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is still so young. The first CDP I've really enjoyed in a while. A hint of garrigue, some savory notes, and lots of dark fruits. At 14 years old this is still very primary, with lots of fruit and medium tannins. I would have guessed something from the late teens. Really not getting much age here. With a couple hours of air the fruit veers toward boisonberry. This is lovely stuff, and it's sad that this estate doesn't exist anymore.

4/8/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Jadot Seminar: Lovely aromatics. There's some purple in here. Rocks and also cool tones. Really lovely aromatics . That's great Beaujolais. Complex, great fruit, well balanced. This is serious. I'm digging this. Easily worth the $30. The bargain in Jadot's portfolio

4/8/2024 - hutch wrote:

Jadot Seminar: Pretty Gamay notes that belie a little seriousness on the nose. There's something that bothers me about this. It has great acidity, and nice fruit, but there's a slight saw dust thing going on that bothers me.

4/8/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Jadot Seminar: The richest nose of the three burgs. Pretty but powerful. This has a little sweetness on the front that the other two did not have. Really showing well. Great acidity. This is a wonderful Burgundy. Not incredibly complex, but well balanced and delicious.

4/8/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Jadot Seminar: Red fruits, some spice on the nose. Very pretty. Still a little hardness, maybe give it some time. But this is good. Better than the Pommard for less money

4/8/2024 - hutch wrote:

Jadot Seminar: A little musty on the nose. Red fruits. Rich, big PN. Savory. I like this, but I don't want to pay $75 for it. Maybe even a little heat? Finishes a little hard.

4/8/2024 - hutch wrote:

Jadot Seminar: A little richer than Chassagne. Fuller, rounder. This is a preference thing for me. I prefer the brightness of the Chassagne, but if you want a little more broadness in your Burg, go for this. I wonder if it's going to age as well, it doesn't seem as put together to me.

4/8/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Jadot Seminar: Lovely aromatics, not over the top at all. This is beautiful. Some richness, lovely acidity, intense. This is a great AC burg. Finish just goes on. I like this.

4/8/2024 - hutch wrote:

Jadot Seminar: Bright fresh acidity on aromatics. Fresh, lovely acidity. A little oak? There's something like that here. It's fine, but I don't know why anyone would pay $40 for this. There are other Aligote's available for much less that serve the same purpose.

4/8/2024 - hutch wrote:

Jadot Seminar: This ups the richness and oak quite a bit from the Chablis. This is a little rich for me. It's good, but a little too toasty without enough intensity for be. It's not working for me.

4/8/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Jadot Seminar: Nice aromatics. Some yellow fruit in here. Nice intensity. Fresh and lively. I would like a tad more intensity/mineralty, but this is well done. Reasonably priced at $30.

4/7/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is a classic throwback Napa Cab. I would imagine the percentage of Cab is above 90, if not 100%. There's lots of green, herbal notes. Not in an underripe way, just in a Cab way. Red and done darker fruits, well structured, and a bit of food helped this quite a bit. It's actually a little lean, which is surprising considering the 14.5 listed alcohol. I enjoyed this, but anyone expecting the chocolate and blackberry Cab prevalent in Napa is going to probably be disappointed.

4/5/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Wow, I'm inputting the first red wine from Christophe Patrice, that's exciting! This is really nice, fresh and red fruited but not screechy. There's actually some weight here. It looks like climate change is making Irancy and Chitry the place to find value Burgundy, maybe? Anyway, it's clean, fresh and lively, ready for food, and I would like to try this in a half year or so just to see if it gains a little bit of savory or stays so fresh.

4/4/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is fun. We've got some Romorantin here. There's a little bit of Rhone action here to me, in the sense that's there's a little bit of waxiness to the wine, and the fruit veers from white to yellow. It's midweight, and offers some unique qualities that would make it a fun wine to pair. I wonder if you could put a little tropical fruit in a dish with this wine. Nice acidity.

4/4/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Nice bubbles. Lots of flavor, and finishes dry. This is the type of sparkler that's easy to enjoy, a step in the direction of Champagne, and usually in the high $20s. At closer to $20 this a great value for bubbles to have on hand.

3/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

I feel like this is the Riesling that over delivers in the Wiemer portfolio. Dry, intense, with fruit more yellow than white. Tried this next to another Finger Lakes Riesling and stylistically this was the Austrian as compared to the others Germanic qualities. This is a really fun, well balanced Riesling.

3/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Disgorged 11/23. Very nice sparkler. Great acidity, fresh and lovely. Nice bubbles, well balanced, and a high quality traditional style bottle of bubbles.

3/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

First time trying this wine and it is a pure delight. Generally my problem with a lot of finger lakes wines is they don't distinguish themselves enough for the extra cost as the same varieties from Europe. Well, not this wine. It is most definitely Gruner Veltliner, but it has a personality all it's own. An absolute delight aromatically. Lots of green. Not underipe, but I associate the color green with this wine. On the palette there is white pepper and other Gruner notes, but it is so vibrant and delicious. Based on this bottle, there should be a lot more Gruner planted in the Finger Lakes. Also a great price.

3/16/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This wine seriously over delivers. I am pretty sure if served blind I would call this as Brunello and feel pretty proud about my ability to get that. And there are plenty of Brunellos I've had that aren't at this level. This is a serious wine, amazing with food, and can benefit from aging.

3/13/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

I prefer the white to the red, but this is also a really tasty wine at a more than fair price. It fits squarely in that bistro style red. The combination of both Bordeaux and Rhone grapes (which I believe is required by the appellation), makes a tasty wine, but one that is hard to really narrow down outside of a French red. There's a little meatiness here, nice acidity, and on the whole it seems more Rhone than Bordeaux. It should pair with a wide variety of foods, and is pretty tasty by itself.

3/13/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is super fun. The fruit of the Viognier really came through on the aromatics. Lots of bright peach. On the palate this is medium bodied with really nice acidity. There's a lot going on here for a sub $20 wine, especially considering the producers pedigree. A great sunshiny wine that will be terrific in the Spring and Summer.

2/25/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Wow, this is quite delicious, and a great value. Also, in a terrific place right now, with lots of dark fruit but I feel like this has probably mellowed a bit. Really nice, really complete, lovely Bordeaux

2/20/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Ok, so I think this retails for close to $50. I'm not sure I can get behind that. It is very interesting, and it's quite delicious, but what is it exactly? Ie, what is it representive of? It's clean, and fresh, and very well made. There is a wonderful textural feel to it, a richness from the skins I guess, that pairs wonderfully with the the freshness and the acidity. It's a really fun wine to try. If it was $25-30 I would probably be gushing about it. And Brundlmayer is a great estate that should charge wherever they feel suitable for their wine. Maybe I just want a little more of a track record with this wine, and maybe it has that and I am just unaware. But I am not feeling the Austrianness from this wine that I do with other labels in the Brundlmayer stable

2/15/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is a nice Cab. Pretty serious. Bright acid. Red and black fruits. Well done. Good.

2/15/2024 - hutch wrote:

This is fun and easy. Lots of fruit, a little savory. Kind of like a Rhonish Pinot Noir. A little spice. This is fun. Would like to see it under $20

2/15/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is fun. Has a nice roundness to it. Clean and fresh, With lots of cool aromas and flavors that I associate with orange wines. This would be fun to pair.

1/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is so fun. Could smell this forever. Is it perfectly balanced and elegant, etc? No. The acid is high. It's a little in your face. But it's so delicious. Crazy baking spices. I love this. So fun. Wish it was $24.99.

1/26/2024 - hutch wrote:

I'm not really digging this. It's fresh, and bright, but there's not a lot going on and it could use more acidity.

1/26/2024 - hutch wrote:

Off dry. Great acidity. I don't know what to think of this. At times, it was amazing, at other times, a little much. I'm struggling with this right now.

1/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

How good is this? Really, really good. Lots of fruit. Super fresh acidity. This is intense. It fits the Geil mold in my mind, which is not super knowledgeable, but I think if his wines as sport cars. They are full of lots of flavors and usually super delicious. This fits that mold. It's not the most elegant wine, but it sure takes you on a ride.

1/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

So I opened this up, and it was a little wild a crazy and I wasn't sure what I thought about it. After a couple hours though, this is a totally different wine. White fruit and white texture. And seamless! All the flavors and textures jumping around settled into place and this is crazy good, bro! World class, stunning wine. Wow! I say God damn, I love Riesling!

1/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Umm, amazing? Just so intense. So harmonious, so intense, so much going on, such a long finish. Seriously, this is a wine to pour to someone who says they don't like Riesling, and you say "Fuck you, try this." Then you watch their head explode and know that you did a great job expanding someone's palette Suffice to say, I really like this.

1/26/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

I have nothing mentioning kabinett on my bottle, but ok. This is delicious. Lovely medium bodied wine. Dry, with medium acidity. White fruit and beautiful texture. This is just a super fun lovely wine. Really delicious.

1/16/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Minimalist Wine Tasting: First off, it was a delight how different this wine was from the Stars in the Dark, despite being vinified similarly. At first, it was very savory, in a different way from Stars, but with more fruit and aromatics that made you want to sit there and just sniff it. With time, it reminded me more of really great Syrah's from (cool climate) Australia or Spain. Lots of fruit, lots of peppercorn, even a little citrus. The aromatics are still otherworldly. But for me, it doesn't hit those highs of Stars in the Dark. However, I think a lot of people would prefer this, (and did at both the tasting and later in the evening). This would be WOTN at many a tasting, but unfortunately it went against a Wine of the Year contender with Stars in the Dark

1/16/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Minimalist Wine Tasting: This is such a show stopper. It is fully in the savory spectrum, but not bc it's under ripe. This is the Northern Rhone styled wine of the two upper tier wines for me. At the tasting, it showed no fruit aromatically, and was a little mean. But the palette was incredible, with saline and peppercorn notes everywhere, along with raspberry and spices and more. Hours later it reached a whole other level, with green and white peppercorn emerging from the bouquet, along with red fruits. This is really incredible, world class stuff. If you can find this, buy it.

1/16/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

Minimalist Wine Tasting: This is a super lovely wine. It is really tough drinking this next to the Stars and Home wines and not have it be overshadowed. Very clean, fresh, and perfectly balanced. It doesn't have the complexity of the other bottles but it is delicious. I wish the price was a little further apart from the single w.o. wines (like $30/45 instead of $40/45).

1/12/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is a very solid Pinot Noir, and quite the value at $24.99. it's classic Cali PN without being over the top in any way. Nice acidity, lots of red fruits, and everything in balance. Just a very nice wine.

1/5/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is fun. Easy going, fresh white and citrus fruit. This would be perfect in the summer by itself or with apps.

1/4/2024 - hutch Likes this wine:

This is a little crunchier then the '20 I had last. Still delicious, just a little edgier. This screams Loire Valley, and in fact I would have wondered if there was a little Cab Franc in it. Very different from previous vintages that I have tried. Makes me curious to try more '22 vintages from the Loire.