4/11/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Interesting Champagne, a couple of years ago we had a comparison of the white label Pol Roger and this one. All agreed that the more basic white label (a.k.a. Reserve) is outscoring the Vintage.

This time to my surprise, the Vintage beats the Reserve by a bit. The roundness of the Reserve was a bit boring - but don’t get me wrong, both are super-sexy.

N. Elegant, Brioche, Almond but also herbs and mineralic notes (wet stone in the sun), nice complexity underneath

T. Boom! Really cool acidity (5 days open) and great complexity, still a curvy beauty with also some butter hints and oak, all very well built in!

4/6/2024 - Thomas D. Does not like this wine:

Quite boring wine that lacks acidity and balance

3/17/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

The wine has no vintage.
Lot: L010422

I guess it has been bottled 2022.

I drank a Magnum a couple of weeks ago, which was a little bit difficult.

This one is very good (normal bottle) with aged notes and an elegant taste. Champagne-rivaling and sexy!

2/29/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Oh, open for 5 days (vacuum) and such a star.

I bought this wine at a restaurant in Zürich, we could not empty it so I kept it in my fridge. Good decision, now it is has changed - and really not to the negative side 👍👍

N. Balanced, green, flowers and herbs, mineral, crunchy, a little bit Veltliner-like (freshness, white pepper) but not in a negative way

T. Smashy but good acid, nice spicy note, minerals, balanced; really good fruity notes, exotic, fresh and dryed…complex with long but alcoholic aftermath.

All indicators point to longevity 🤗
Warning: the wine is more a loner, combining with food is tricky, I just had some risotto with it, pulls it down…

2/29/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Nice label 😉

The wine has good acidity and balance, complex nose and a waxy taste, that I like so much with some Spanish wines, good complexity and middle long finish

1/26/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Three weeks open (only cork, no vacuum or Argon) in the fridge , still good and much fun to drink —>good aging potential. Elegant wine, good depth and acidity, skillfully combining Blaufränkisch, Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah.

1/7/2024 - Thomas D. wrote:

Very good other tasting notes, super high ratings at Falstaff, what should I say?

First of all, this wine was now open for several weeks, vacuum, in my fridge. It still has a great and nearly equal to the first day (!!) taste.
Wow!

Bought in „Weinhaus Trier“, one of my favorite places in Trier.

I like the mineralic and earthy notes, the structure and the oiliness, flintstone and fungus, chalk and the ultralong finish - all hint a wine made for decades and a real giant. Twenty years ago I would have killed for such a wine.

But…
This is 2024, this world is having many problems, the wine is to earnest…let’s compare (of course I did that already, but not yet a direct competition)

Dr. Loosen, also 2021, also GG (Grosses Gewächs, Grand Cru) this time „Lösnicher Försterlay“:
Same Glas (Riedel Chianti) but more fun, speed, sex nice acidity and fruits, still this aristocratic behavior…

Falstaff says that Foersterlay is one point lower, I rate it 2 points higher at 95, as it is the perfect wine for this time.

1/7/2024 - Thomas D. Does not like this wine:

N. Fresh and mineralic
T. A bit unbalanced, spicy notes but not too sexy.

The label is nicer than the wine, unfortunately

1/4/2024 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Lot:
„L0451 SPOCC 2023-1“
Open for one day…

N. Brioche, round, complex, nearly perfect, also with spicy hints (mineral, white peppercorn) and interesting fruit notes like apricot and buttery apple (cake) and always in the background this lemon peel notes…great!

T. The perfect sip, very good acidity, perfect minerality (like a cold mountain stream with moosy banks) and a long green (twigs, ivy) finish. Lemon again (dryed, peel) and salty notes as well… Elegant and cool! sexy!

So much better than the other vintage that I had years ago - don’t buy, I need more :))

12/17/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

Served in a wine tasting dinner at Buon Padre restaurant in Vergne, Barolo.

N. Typical, not very complex but ok, lemon flower, fruity notes

T. Grassy notes, elegant bitterness, but not to complex, mid-long finish.

12/17/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Served in a wine tasting dinner at Buon Padre restaurant in Vergne, Barolo.

N. Fruity notes, hints of ash/dust, mineralic, aged/orange wine notes and therefor complex, cooked notes, plumcake

T. Well done with chocolate and whisky/smoky notes. Nice finish. Keeps well up with the big orange winemakers in Istria like Roxanich. Sexy!

12/17/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Served in a wine tasting dinner at Buon Padre restaurant in Vergne, Barolo.

N. A bit green notes, but overpowered by a subtle wood-toast-butter punch in your face.Not unbalanced, but very California-20-years ago style :)

T. Good acid and compactness, a bit undercomplex but elegant and a good match for the mussels with black truffle

12/17/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Tasted in La Gemella Restaurant in Barolo - nice wine list and good traditional food of Piemont with a certain kick…

T. Overwhelming component of drying rose flower pedals, chocolate, fresh fruits (physalis) and quite elegant, also soapy perfume…

N. Straight, nice acidity, can stand for a longer time. Mineral (chalk!), coal, tannin, antique furniture/wood, plums (partly cooked), bitter nuances, elegant (!)

12/17/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Tasted in La Gemella Restaurant in Barolo - nice wine list and good traditional food of Piemont with a certain kick 😊

N.buttery and waxy, yet not fat, more sexy, white chocolate, piment, vanilla/tonka, green notes, very complex and really elegant

T.good acidity and mineralic notes, lemonpeel, long and buttery finish with the (furniture) wax again; sexy and unicorn-ish in Piemont.

Or do you know more like this from the area?? Please comment 🤗

11/28/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

N. Typical, leather, dark fruits (cooked partly), earthy notes of soil in an old forest, undergrowth, some green notes, pipe tobacco with a lot of dark flavors

T. A bit on the sweet side as the acid is missing, charcoal, dusty cellar, fermented fruits, rotting flowers

Interesting but not balanced, living dead infants ;)

11/28/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

N. Bandaid, leather, tobacco, dark (graveyard) soil, bark,

T. Tomato (concentrated), black current, bread, not very elegant (maybe a bit tired), short to medium finish with some cooked fruits

I have read with great interest what others wrote about the wine and where it was grown, that the PN was used for a Bollinger Champagne and that this 2009 vintage is the first year they produced a still wine of it.
Lots of money (ca. 100 Euro) for a great name, we have let it settle and breath for 2 hours now and still… it gets worse :(

84-88

11/27/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

A star on its way down…but still high on the horizon of our nightly sky.

Wine was bought by a friend at a Frankfurt (Germany)wine trader in 2019 and was before that stored for approximately 20 years in the cellar (classic old villa).

N. Very complex, unfortunately with age notes.
Black tea, cooked fruits (cherry and more, even cherry cake „Schwarzwälder Kirsch“), walnut, soil (woods), Bordeaux like notes: tabbaco, wood, hints of butter, rose / violet pedals (dryed) (a bit like a Barolo); wine changes a lot in our tasting session

T. Elegant with a faint hint of tannins.
There is black currant, dark chocolate, hints of butter (in the nice and long finish), young haselnuts, coffee powder, cherries again, green notes, black tea (even earl grey and hints of herb tea) , nice acid balance with the „old sexy lady“ sweetness,


Maybe that others can award 92 or even lower, but the wine is a masterpiece compared to other Barbera that reach this age, absolutely remarkable!
I was a few times at the vineyard and many more times at the restaurant of the brother of the founder…. I have to admit that I am a big fan of the elegance of those wines. After around 2005/2007 the wines became to alcoholic and heavy but this one is from the old times, when climate change was not a „reality“

11/27/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Backlabel reads
Tirage: 23.06.2017 (hence the base wine is from 2016)
Degorgiert: März (March) 2022

N. Aged Champagne, very sexy. Brioche, Apple cake, spices ( like in Christmas cookies „Spekulatius“ and „Nuss-Schnecke“), antique wood made furniture, dry attic (wooden beams), nuances of yeast and butter

T. Good acidity (little bit on the high side), nice spine, lemon peel, hints of dryed orange, good finish with a hint of cognac notes (even as this wine has no dosage), brioche again…

Wonderful wine with a nice price/quality ratio

10/11/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Fruity, balanced , yeast nuances , mineralic notes, a bit buttery

T.bittery again, elegant, good acid balance, green notes (broken twigs) nuts, a bit bitter in the finish, a very good Rosé

10/9/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

in a Restaurant not far away…

N.
Fruity, flat, grassy, a hint of bitterness, lacks complexity

T.
Grassy again, steel note, mineral hints, citrus, nothing special, sorry to say

9/7/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

I am a big fan of the vinyard, their label art and the wines itself since a couple of years. So I am not 100% neutral, but I will do m very best.

N. Nice and complex, not at all overdone in alcohol or sweetness. Sexy nose with spices, freshness, raspberry and other fresh (you put them in your mouth in the early morning while it is still not so hot in summer)

T. A clear good flexing of the muscles of the wine. Good balance between fruity (some cooked) nuances and a nice tannin, acid and leather, soil(earth), quite a long finish.

Disclaimer: the wine might not age well, to be checked

9/7/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Open for many (~23) days.

N. A bit overdue, cooked fruits, was better when fresh STILL, this wine with all the air is in good shape and I see an astonishing (for this kind of modern wine making) aging potential, Chapeau !!

T. Buttery, but with a good acidity balance. Nice fruity flavors and dark leather, antique furnish, even pipe tobacco …

The label is not sexy for me but maybe the wine and vinyard is very well worth a second look.

A strong 18+ , Congratulations !

8/21/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

One day open, last bottle.

Very round, see my first tasting note for details, a very good Franciacorta.

Some thoughts are different in this tasting:

- wine is not so heavy/broad anymore, is that because of the glas? This time I have Zwiesel extra cool Franciacorta glass. They produce it in cooperation with a very famous Franciacorta producer, great stuff!

- as it is not that broad, I wonder whether it is a Saten (pure Chardonnay) and a check on the website of Bosio showed: extra brut, no Saten.

With the Franciacorta glass it tastes a bit more elegant, more towards a 93. Big time fun!

7/26/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Porta Rossa is a safe provider for Barbaresco and Barolo that last for decades, unfortunately I should say „was“ - I was there when the winery closed and bought some bottles from the owner in the last minute. This is one of them.

The cantina Porta Rossa seems to continuing in Alba, I need to check that, at my last visit all equipment was sold and the cantina (winery) was shut down, I was very sad.

N. A bit acidic after 48 hours (opened the bottle and kept under vacuum), typical rose notes, earth, mossy, fungus, berries and cooked/rum-bowle fruits, leather hints, pipe tobacco, very nice and balanced

T. Very much alive, like always in Porta Rossa. Complex wine, nice acidity, well built in tannins. Long finish.

On the peak but still good for another 10 years at least.

93-, then going down to 91, after 48 hours

7/26/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Ok, Quadra is gone and here comes a bombshell!
Not sure who suggested that wine to me, but my friend at the „ Questione di Gusto“ in Iseo is a good guess…
Just found it in my cellar two weeks ago and wanted to give it a try. Surprise well received 😇

N. Fat and sexy nose with brioche and sweet fruits, yet nicely balanced. Yeast, breadcrust, decent wood hints, also bitter & green notes and a bit mineral…wonderful and still typical for a Saten.

T. Sexiness continued, more elegance now, less broad - a real superstar, if you like the more heavy Saten style of Franciacorta wines.

92- (Zalto DenkArt Burgund-Style red wine glas)

7/26/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Always a good choice, the Quadra Saten, we discovered that a few years ago in the Erbrusco Franciacorta Wine Shop.

Elegant and complex, need to check the second bottle next week in detail, could be up for more than 90 points… 😉

(Open since 48 hours)

7/12/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Cooked berries, earthy notes, moss, herbs,

T. Good acidity, the wine is aging very nicely. Wonderful marmelade/jam taste, hints of dryed strawberry, complex and balanced; long finish with green notes, flintstone and bitterness , quite interesting.

I bought this wine at the vineyard nearly ten years ago, what a pleasant journey it made. Hopefully not the last bottle, need to check in my cellar in Germany…
Warning: the journey is nearly over, the wine goes down after 30 minutes and the acidity decreases, wine starts to bore you… DRINK NOW 😅
90-

6/29/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

The wine is not bad, but I was as not inspired as with other very nice Aligote. I love the grape, a hidden champion, but with this wine from J-F Protheau it was hard for me to distinguish the Aligote grape in the fluid.

One of the best is done by Coche-Dury, just to give you some idea what I call „very good“ 😇

6/28/2023 - Thomas D. Does not like this wine:

Ok, there were these old ABC times, people were saying _A_nything _B_ut _C_hardonnay, and I believe that it happened because „New World“ winemakers that just try to put as much taste into the Chardonnay and thereby ruining the wine. Fresh oak barrels or even chips were used for this „tuning“, some of those wines were awful others were not long lasting…

This wine is like a renaissance of this style, overdone and perfumed, beaver-wine.
Don‘t try this :)

6/28/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Always a bank, typical and with the old label, only the label is a bit dull, not the wine. I am keeping my last bottle for just a little bit longer… 😉

91+

6/28/2023 - Thomas D. Does not like this wine:

More a 70ies in Parker points, but the wine has no exact flaw, so 80.

The whole wine is boring, perfumed artificial wood (probably chips) which is totally overdone. Like a cheap damsel that wants to die - why on my palate?? A huge disappointment!

4/2/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Round, the classic bread and yeast, but also a nice spice and herbs department. Also a bit of wet stone /mineral. Complex x 2 :)
T. Nice acidity and a real kick, yet a nuance unbalanced, an ugly sexy kid, hints of earth/soil/wood. Where there cheesy notes? :)
91+ for the special moment

The label is, well, invite your professional wine lovers, not the usual neighborhood 😉

4/2/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Round, bread, dough, yellow fruits and flowers, more on the sweet side and therefor sexy, yet very elegant
T. Real star on the acid side, no more sweetness, fresh and clean, wonderful - the roundness in the nose combined with the nice taste and long finish - wow!

Nice label, good for a dinner with your normal neighbors…

2/24/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Fat, a bit of chocolate, leather, cooked fruits, smoke, ham, conplex,

T. An interesting salty note, sweet wood, a fruit-rum bowl, chocolate again, long finish, very nice finish, a bit of sex appeal :)

Overall a bit to dark and to much into the face

2/11/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Tasted in St. Anton/Arlberg, Niki‘s Winebar, kept in good conditions (climate room)

N.
Bordeaux-like, with tobacco and leather, wonderful aging hints, herbs, red fruits and Marmelade made of red fruits, a bit rum bowl notes, balanced and sexy

T.
A bit on the sweet side, still balanced, full bodied and sexy, good finish with good tannin, a bit smoky, red fruits again, i.e. plum.

2/11/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Tasted in St Anton/Arlberg, Niki‘s Weinbar

N.
Elegant, mineral, nuances of peach, a bit petrol colors, white pepper, good freshness
T.
Very balanced, good mineral taste with a super nice long finish with some rust notes, sexy wine

1/16/2023 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

In comparison to the more expensive(?) Arneis from Bruna Grimaldi, this one from the well known cantina Fontanafredda is better, more spicyness and mineralic tones…

1/14/2023 - Thomas D. wrote:

Very normal quality Arneis, really nothing special

1/1/2023 - Thomas D. Does not like this wine:

To make a long story short:
nose ok, but tired maybe some TCA
Taste is where the problem really starts, damaged acidity balance, whole wine tastes to much like straw and not like green gras and herbs ( which would be typical for Chablis), all very uninspiring

12/24/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Very lifelike with typical notes like brioche , mineral (chalk), almonds, fresh, hay, Camilla , earth, tea, even meaty notes, open for 2 hours, really cool now, give it some time :)

T. Again the freshness and a good bite, green notes, quite masculine, good mineral, spice and bitterness in the finish, I actually like the wine!

Summary: there is always this cloud of „aged wine“ around, subtle nuances of aging all around, but clouds can be beautiful, the longer I enjoy this nice journey, the better, so my rating is going really high for a Pommery, as I am not the biggest fan - well done indeed!

12/4/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Antique! woods/furniture, pipe tobacco , plumcake, cooked cherries, apothecary notes, old flowers

T. Impressingly fresh, lots of tobacco without hurting the balance, dark soil, long finish with fruit tones (strawberry, cherry, bananacake)

12/4/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Petrol/paint, sexy, flowers, perfume, rocks

T. Mineral, clean, good finish with hints of tropical fruits, lemon peel, hay

11/24/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Hay, Straw, flowery notes, reminds me of Roero Arneis, a Bit bitterness, lemon peel, fresh

T. Round, a bit mineral, cooked/ salty lemon nuances, middle long finish, nice & straight

11/24/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Meat, boos, mineral, freshness, spices, ok in balance

T. Nice and round, a bit buttery but with a kick

11/24/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Meat, dark fruits, leather, dark stone, alcohol (nicely built in), complex, elegant, balanced, almonds (partially roasted)

T. Elegant, almonds again, well built in Tannin, long finish, bitter notes, lemon(dryed)?, raspberry, conplex, cacao, coffee, antique wood, very sexy, not overloaded, not to fat.

8/22/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Madeira-like aging notes in a good way, green nuances, flower, dryed lemon peel (with wax), butter, cake

T. Ok bubbles, still good acid, finish with bitter notes and lemon, some sweetness (sherry), coffee

Found the old bottle in restaurant Lido at the ACI harbor in Umag, Croatia

6/28/2022 - Thomas D. wrote:

N. Typical, fresh, fruits, slight grassy notes, a bit too sweet

T. Balanced, fruits again, nice complexity, a bit unbalanced with some notes of straw/wheat, short finish

6/22/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Tasted with a „normal“ Gattinara 2010 to check the quality of my stock.
24 hours open
C. Ruby red with an orange hint, oily viscosity
N. Sexy, ripe and cooked fruits, clean, waxy and mossy notes, green hints, interesting and complex, yet balanced, but also notes of sweat and blood
T. Green, complex, astonishingly young, tannin, yet sweetness, good acid balance, spices (not offensive), more to come; finish with coffee and butter/bitter-chocolate (was more present yesterday when there were hints of sweet latte macchiato)

Clear winner with a bright future until 2035(?) 93-
If you are not into the blood/smoke/sweat, 90 will be your vote at best ;)

6/22/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

Elegant wine, bought it at the cantina, needed to check how the wine evolves. Good, really, on a ten years high (until 2030+) but I don’t see further improvement.


C. Red with orange and brown hints
N. Typical Nebbiolo, dryed roses, earthy notes, dryed fruits, some mushroom nuances
T. Elegant, nice built in tannins, red fruits and no cooking notes or age indicators, long life…lacks a bit of sweetness

Edit(bottle open for 24 hours): 90+ instead of 92, elegance but lacking the punch

6/9/2022 - Thomas D. Likes this wine:

N. Citrus-Sweet (drops), perfumed, flowery notes, green, passion fruit, beeswax, Vitamine-C- add-on-fizzy-tablet, star fruit (carambola), unripe fruits (grapefruit), peel of lemon, orange-flower honey notes

T. Fizzy Tablet again, green notes, hardwood, fresh, good acidity, middle long finish, green/bitter notes, good complexity and balance, grows a lot after being open and “on air” for two hours (88 > 90 > 91+)

Definitely a very good Greek wine, with all the perfume and citrus notes it needs some good food pairing, most probably fried fish or seafood, maybe chicken.
After reading through notes that judge older vintages We have a feeling that the wine needs more time, some of the described notes like flintstone and apricot are not yet present or very much in the background.