11/3/2022 - learningandenjoying Likes this wine:

Side by side with '06. G30; 4.5*+9*+4.5*+9*+9+4.5+4.5*=96+; Dark purple color. This was great from the start, but needed G30 to harmonize. After that it was improving with aromatics leading the way; more dark berry than leather and smoke. Palate certainly followed, but the evolution seemed most apparent in the aromatics with the palate continuing to smooth while maintaining really great complexity. No flaws, just change and evolution as it opened. Super well-balanced wine with good complexity and finish. Strong tannins and acidity on the finish until it has time to mellow in the glass. This is likely years away from its peak and 10 more beyond that for a plateau. No hurry.

8/28/2021 - Neurowine1 Likes this wine:

Garagiste mystery wine. Gorgeous nose of honeyed pear, white grapefruit, and tropical flowers. In the mouth, absolutely lovely peach, green apple, toasted almonds, herbs, and white pepper. Exceptional acid balance. Crazy long finish. Very much in balance. It is certainly reminiscent of white Bx and reminds me a bit of Ch. Carbonnieux, but there is something unique here that may come from its own unique terroir. I also feel there is more subtlety here than many white Bx and is not as heavy handed or glycerin-y as some. Overall, this is very much a style I love. I have no experience with this producer and very little experience with Washington white wines in general. This is truly spectacular and drinking perfectly but clearly has the stuffing to last. I can't get over how well this is drinking tonight, esp with roasted barramundi. I have some bottles of the '16 I am now very much looking forward to. Zimmerman got this one right!

2/27/2020 - JS1056 wrote:

Northern Italy Wine Dinner at Sidney's (Sidney's East Berlin PA): Interesting Nebbiolo blend.
By adding the Cabernet it really took away the thing that makes Nebbiolo unique. It was richer than a normal Piemonte wine and in this case I don't think that is a positive.
I didn't dislike this wine, but it was like any other ordinary red table wine.
It didn't help that this really didn't pair well with the sweetness of the carrots and also the onions in the fricasse.

4/25/2021 - Bob H wrote:

Somewhat reticent but vaguely pleasant nose. Seems a little thin/dilute on the palate. Popped and poured - this is my first time trying the new vintage, and on opening, I’m somewhat on the fence - I don’t hate it by any means, but at first glance I’m not sure I would make a effort to track more down either.

So I’m revisiting this wine 2 days after I originally opened it, and liking it more today. Still young and primary, but I can see the potential here.

11/1/2020 - markd.shipley wrote:

Extremely young. Will settle out with time but afraid there is far too much oak and extraction on this to begin with. Noticing an over extraction trend with Delille.

11/15/2020 - JJYoyo Likes this wine:

2.5 hrs air. An exceptional wine in a so-so year. Beautiful sweet smells of maraschino cherry, violet, vanilla, allspice. Palate had abundant cassis and cherry, coffee, roast beef. Tannins not particularly strong, and acidity solid but not high. Good energy right now and though it has years ahead of it, I don’t think this wine will get better from here. In a very nice spot right now.
Score: 94. Relative to expectations: ++

11/10/2020 - Neecies Likes this wine:

An exceptional showing of what IMHO is Washington state's most iconic white wine. Everything's right in this vintage: lemon, apple, minerality, tension. It's the best young Chaleur Blanc I can remember.

11/11/2020 - msuwine wrote:

This white blend is more settled and honeyed than when I tasted it three and a half years ago (5/17 - 95 points), but it is just as good, if not a little better, albeit for different reasons than before. This wine does not fade into the crowd of California whites, many of which begin to taste strangely similar after a while. This wine has matured, more than aged, and it is completely wonderful.

Darker yellow in color and more full in body, the wine offers compelling aromas of baked almond, gooseberry, lemon marmalade, and beeswax (no more grapefruit here!). Flavors of honeysuckle, pecan pie (cue the Billy Crystal), lime rind, and mandarin orange, with a finish that is more viscous but just as energetic (read: the acidic backbone has held up remarkably well for a wine this full). Blend of 66% Semillon, 32% Sauvignon Blanc, and 2% Muscadelle. 14.8% alcohol. 95+ at the moment. Drink in the next few years, depending on how much you value freshness (now) as opposed to creaminess (later).

P.S. I wholeheartedly endorse csimm's suggestion to pair this with more savory and funky fare (read: blue cheese), since the viscosity of this wine is undeniable - and delicious. This enveloping wine is made for a cold winter's night, when the woods are lovely, dark, and deep...

7/22/2020 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine:

I adore the La Proportion Doree wine from Morlet, so figured I would give this Sauv Blanc a run, despite obviously not having the Semillon component. Apparently this is made for restaurants but with most of them not buying much wine due to Covid shutdowns, they went DTC.

Nose of lemon curd, melon and other various tropical fruits to go along with crushed rock. Displays that perfect soft, round and silky morlet texture with high levels of acidity and freshness. Gets a tad linear through the mid palate and dives deep into minerality and stone-like flavors. Finishes long and with some bite. This actually can use some air, so decant it if drinking now. Doesn't quite get the depth, complexity or overall sophistication of it's older sibling, but that is to be expected.

7/13/2020 - Minnesota wrote:

Luc Morlet again does not disappoint. I'd pour La Proportion Doree or Peter Michael L'Apres Midi every day if possible. Exquisitely flawless, must force myself to slow down and savor.

6/26/2020 - rocknroller wrote:

Very dark red color. PNP, drank 2 glasses over two hours. The nose is a lovely mix of bright black currants that are buoyed blackberries and a deep graphite note with dried wood and wood spice overtones. The palate is medium bodied with quite pretty black fruits now, black currants with blackberries and a little plum; graphite, fine tobacco, well balanced, beautiful wood framing and the requisite dusty tannins. I love the weight and finesse of this wine. Give me all the off vintages you want if their made like this. 92+pts.

6/1/2020 - JS1056 wrote:

This was ordinary. Really very unmemorable. Considering it’s reputation it was a big disappointment.
Still have another bottle so we shall see.

8/31/2019 - JS1056 wrote:

Had during a meal with friends so the notes are more from memory and perception than anything

The thing that stood out was the complete balance of the wine. Nothing jumped out at you but i mean that in the most positive way. The tannins were smooth and refined. The dark fruit was clear and distinctive but so were the secondary flavors of earth, clove, cinnamon and an ever so slight bit of menthol.
The mouthfeel was rich and smooth. The finish went on for quite a while. The word that keeps crossing my mind is pretty. It was so easy to drink that the bottle was gone before we realized it.
I would have liked to have tasted this after it had been open for a while because I think it probably would have evolved given more time open. Will wait another couple of years before the next bottle.

6/26/2019 - Cailles wrote:

Much improved vs a bottle I had a year ago. This showed fresh and light, great precision and complexity. A year ago it showed rather too opulent, sweet and fat. Remarkable improvement in just a year.... I guess this could even climb higher with more age. I will hold the remaining bottles for at least five years.

TN: White Bordeaux with a new world twist. Citrus, orange zest, whit fruit, flowers. Nicely complex and well balanced of by a very good acidity which cuts nicely through the fruit and a fine layer of salt providing an additional fresh layer. Well round, zesty and fresh.

Decanting: No decant needed

12/15/2018 - VlgJeff wrote:

PnP, chilled. Only one glass each at a dinner for six, so not much air time, which would have helped. A very nice medium plus bodied, Cali white Bdx blend, with white fruits, lemon, mineral, and juicy acidity. Last sip began to show a touch of honey. Should hold for several years.

6/10/2018 - ipp wrote:

Time has treated this wine well. It is soft and elegant. Brick color. Flavors of herbs and dried cherries. It was a perfect pairing at Pepolinos.

1/13/2018 - cephomer Likes this wine:

I've been drinking from coravin this week. Dark brownish/purple color, nose of earth & dried fruit. The wine starts nicely, but fades quickly in glass. Fruit is mostly dissipated, and the wine demonstrates mostly tertiary qualities. A nice table wine for mid-week sipping. I truly believe the coravin does NOT preserve wines for as long as advertised--this wine has slipped in the 3 times I've tasted it this past week.

2/2/2018 - csimm wrote:

...Crisis averted from yesterday's strange Coravin experience. Same bottle as yesterday; Coravin pour again. This was not displaying in any sort of disjointed fashion, but I will say it appears to be a little smoother on the initial pour (compared to the first time this bottle was Coravin'd a month ago). This bottle has now been through 3 piercings of the cork over a month's time. This leads me to believe that some minute amounts of O2 are getting into the bottle at this point. This time it is just slightly less powerful. Just FYI when using Coravin; this doesn't preserve indefinitely and is obviously more vulnerable to spoilage the more you pierce the cork. No fault of the wine of course. Still awesome.

10/13/2016 - JS1056 wrote:

I just can't get my head around this grape, and find it funky but not usually in a good way. And though I liked this one more than most carmenere, it still left me wanting.
Having said that, it did improve remarkedly when the duck was added.

5/21/2016 - PDD907 Likes this wine:

Great w spicy food. Light not to sweet

5/15/2016 - NickHBailey Likes this wine:

Enjoyed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of my parent's business. Extremely enjoyable but was expecting more from a 100 point rating. Dry, clean, great mouthfeel and structure, maybe some honey, floral notes. Served this too cold and not familiar with this style so could be ignorance on my part. Luc Morlet told us to sit previous vintages of this wine down for 15-30 years so very excited to see this evolve. Couple more bottles left to test my patience!

4/2/2016 - JS1056 wrote:

WITF Dinner

1/31/2016 - JS1056 wrote:

Tre Bonne Annee Best of Italy Dinner (Bricco): Bottle opened for an extended period prior to pouring.
Big nose of briar, leather and spices.
Way too early, however this is a very good wine in the making. Already pretty lush and velvety, there is lots of nice fruit layered with spice and some earthiness. Still the classic Super Tuscan

7/31/2015 - JS1056 wrote:

Greenish gold in color with a slightly reserved nose, (at least compared to the Aubert)
More Chablis like than the Aubert, the wine took a little while to open. Pit fruit with an acidic backbone and wet stone.
Unfortunately this was my only bottle, because I think I opened too soon.

6/20/2014 - L_McNichol Likes this wine:

Give it time to open up. It may be near or past its prime.

4/23/2014 - JS1056 wrote:

Almost black in color with crimson edge. Nose is all red fruit and a hint of alcohol. Plum and cherry with very little else. Tannins are still noticeable and the finish is still a little hot.
I think I would still give this more time in the bottle or a long decant.
PS. Had a little in the bottle and saved for 4 days corked(no vacuum). Really started to open into something different. Notes of earth and tobacco with spice notes.

11/1/2012 - tp096255 wrote:

THIS IS NOT A TASTING NOTE BUT, RATHER, A STRONG RECOMMENDATION:
Please, please, please, for the love of all things good and pure, please carefully decant your Aubert Chardonnays while on their sides. If you fail to do so then you will likely encounter a "raw" edge to the wine due to the lees that invariably precipitate out of the wine. This may prevent you from experiencing the absolute elegance and sophistication that can be achieved by Mark Aubert in his Chardonnay program. Please trust me when I tell you that by sacrificing that last 1-2 ounces of wine (just as the dregs start to appear in the stream) you'll be so much happier with the end result.
HOW TO: Remove the bottle from your cellar, keeping it in a sideways position and moving it as gently as possible to a towel on the countertop. This will keep it from rolling around. Put a decanter and a glass next to it, along with a white paper towel beside the decanter to provide a visual contrast underneath as you look through the bottle. Remove the capsule and using a standard "wing" corkscrew (the kind with two handles and a round piece of metal to rest against the lip of the bottle) insert the worm as far as you normally would with any other bottle. While the bottle is still in its original position, begin pushing down on the handles until you have all but about 1/2 inch of cork remaining in the bottle. Now comes the tricky part. SLOWLY incline the bottle neck upward just until you see the wine no longer touches the cork. Hold it in place and then wiggle the cork out the rest of the way. Insert a plastic/crystal pourer and begin pouring the wine into the decanter very gently so as to avoid any agitation by the incoming oxygen. As you get down to the last 3 ounces or so you will see the lees will begin to enter the stream. If you're using a crystal pourer you will be able to see the exact moment when those lees start to leave the bottle. STOP. Pour the rest of the bottle into the extra glass nearby. It's still decent wine, just with lots of yucky lees. ENJOY!

11/28/2013 - K88888C wrote:

Very tannic and tart. Needs at least another 3-5 years in the bottle. Color and smoothness holds good promise.

This bottle was opened and aired for 3 hours followed by decanting for another hour at the restaurant.

Perhaps the vineyard's different process of grinding and including the seeds brought its bitter finish forward. Bottle was not fully enjoyable and tastes like it is not yet within the drinking window. The wine drinkers at my table declined a second glass due to the bitterness.

Would sample again but not before 2020. Also, would like to learn more about the use of the seeds in their processes.

3/1/2013 - JS1056 Likes this wine:

Had at a Chilean Tasting. Wasn't decanted long enough so that the nose was a little muted. There was some berry, tobacco and a touch of eucalyptus. The best way to describe it was thick. The tannins were still young and this wine needs at least another couple of years in the bottle. By the end of the tasting it was beginning to round into shape.