1/10/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:

A Study of Falletto di Serralunga (La Pizza Fresca): The 2001 Le Rocche riserva was a model of grace and balance with the classic Giacosa sweet florality that we all seem to crave. The nose was dark and generous, verging on rich, yet lifted by sweet spice, floral tones and tart, savory cherry. Earth, undergrowth and hints of animal musk developed in the bouquet as the evening wore on, adding further depth. On the palate, I found silky, refined textures with classically lean red fruits, inner floral tones, sweet minerality and fine tannin. It was impressive on its balance alone and still so youthful, as the long finish displayed dried floral tones, smoky minerality and tart red fruits over a coating of sweet tannin.

7/28/2017 - Dave Mosko Likes this wine:

This was a phenomenal bottle of wine.
Fresh and vibrant, much more so than my last tasting in 2003 in which I felt that bottle was a bit too oxidized and even maderized. This bottle was neither. Fourteen quiet years in my cellar did wonders for this bottle. The cork needed a slight pull, the hiss of breath was minimal and the wonderful smells of biscuit and bread were easily evident as the wine sat for a half hour on top of the ice to gather itself.
The color was light golden straw, young appearing for a 27 year old wine, with fine bead and mild effervescence in the glass. It was exciting and inviting, and validated the life of this bottle. More bready aroma now, more like tea biscuits and slight creme brulee rich and significant. The first taste was amazing and full in my mouth and spread all the goodness of the wonderful smells all over my palate with perfect acidity carrying the flavors and textures for a long dance. As time passed, the wine morphed into a richer and more pronounced version of itself. Ever changing and growing. So much freshness, power and stamina with elegance and stateliness. Awesome. I am ruined from this bottle against all other Champagnes. About two hours in it peaked, then the acidity took over and slightly edged out the rest of the players. This outstanding bottle was a celebration of a birthday, and also honored the life of my friend Al of 20 years who just passed.

7/20/2016 - Sourdough Likes this wine:

Really lovely medium body red. Earthy red fruit nose. Smooth but complex. Integrated tannins, Long complex finish. Absolutely lovely.

12/10/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote:

Ramonet Montrachet and Leroy Dinner (goosefoot - Chicago IL): Some thought it slightly corked, others thought it somewhat stripped of fruit vs expectations. I'm not sure what was wrong, but this was a shadow of what it has been in the past.

4/9/2015 - Rob MacKay wrote:

Just a quick note on this first bottle. This is the best $30 Pinot Noir you can drink. Did I mention that it's $15?

1/4/2015 - wineismylife Likes this wine:

WIML94

Tasted non blind. Decanted 1 hour before serving.

Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of lavendar, plums, currants and berries. Flavors of plums, currants and juicy raspberries. Medium to bright acidity, medium tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold. Expressive wine.

8/10/2014 - Paul S wrote:

2001 Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner (Park Palace, Grand Park Hotel): The wine of the night – this was truly breathtaking. It had an amazing nose, fanning out from the glass in a multiplicity of beguiling scents, from cigar smoke to glorious woody spice – cedar and sandlewood, burnt ends and cherry wood over a warm fire – all drifting over a sweetly perfumed core of dark cherries and violet flowers, and then a little tail of minerality kicking on behind. Glorious stuff. The palate was just about perfect on the night. It was deep, delicious and powerful, with all the sinewy strength of a great Vosne Grand Cru, but this was also soft, seductive and lushly elegant, showing a superb clarity in deep, creamily textured reservoirs of dark cherries, wild berries and orange peel. For all its strength and depth, this was a wine with an absolutely feminine shape, it was so pure and transparent that one could imagine seeing all the way through the fruit right through to the terroir even as it enveloped the palate in layers of silky flavour. There was a serious backbone behind all that though, with lovely integrated acidity and the finest tannins running right through the entire palate into a tremendous finish, where juicy wild berry notes were wrapped around a seemingly endless tail of fragrant wood spice, savoury herb and a lovely floral perfume. Wow. An incredible wine, drinking almost at peak, this took my breath away.

1/26/2014 - Heywood_ja Likes this wine:

Decanted through a Soiree and venturi into ships decanter. (I remember the first bottle needing time).

(edited because I confused two wines opened same time (374))

My wife didn't like the first bottle, (drank shortly after release from CH) but loved this one . I liked both, but this seemed to be better.

It seems there may be some bottle to bottle variation base on the reviews.

4/1/2014 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:

The nose showed dried flowers, intense raspberry, herbs, hints of coco, and mineral laden stone. On the palate, it's youthful tannins left a lean impression, yet there is a focused, powerful core of red fruit, which pulses across the taste buds. The senses remained dry and saturated with red berry fruit through the finish, followed by hints of dried spices and earthy soil tones. There is a lot of potential in the glass, which just needs time in the cellar to blossom.

7/20/2014 - Loren Sonkin wrote:

Screagle, Kapcsandy, SHS, Abreu, Maybach, Donnhoff, etc., etc. (Downtown Cleveland): What a great winery. Every bottle flirts with perfection. Sometimes I think because it hits perfection 2 or 3 times a decade the wines scoring only in the high 90's don't get the respect they deserve. This was amazing. The WOTN for many. The nose has cassis, pencil lead, tea leaves and some vanilla. On the palate, lovely texture. seamless. Cassis, complex layers of earth and fruit, medium silky tannins. Long finish. This bottle had been slow oxed for 12 hours and I think that worked well. even then, it got better and better in the glass. Sadly, everyone took large pours, so there was no going back for seconds. This is a wine that deserves First Growth status.

3/14/2014 - jkoenen wrote:

Tasting of 100PP wines (Restaurant Bottles, Sas van Gent): Classic, yeasty, oxidative style, exciting, length and focus

2/18/2014 - Winetex Likes this wine:

Having a tannic moment that wasn't in previous bottles. Root day? Same lot L9.105.

12/4/2013 - pilot360 wrote:

Krug Champagne Dinner (Denver): There were 4 distinct bottles of the Grand Cuvee floating around. Disgorged on different dates. I am pretty sure that this first glass I had was the bottle had the vines on the label (meaning much older possibly a 2001 base, per the Krug Ambassador). Tis was the winner in comparison to the later Grand Cuvee I had.

You could really appreciate the depth, structure and integration. Paired with Duck Mousse Pirogue. Best pairing of the night. I was so glad to have this pour with this awesomely savory dish. I'll leave all of the descriptors alone as this was so complete a whole I don't want to break it down. If this is what happens to aged Grand Cuvee, count me a believer.
Easily classic

8/7/2013 - Winetex Likes this wine:

A very good Salon - Other than being a bit singular this was a terrific bottle. Intense orange marmalade flavors with a very long finish. Purchased recently at a wine store not temp-controlled from our anniversary year. A special wine for a special occasion as Salon is always a favorite!

1/26/2013 - wineismylife Likes this wine:

WIML93

Tasted non blind. Opened and decanted 2 hours, double decanted for another 2 hours before serving.

Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of talc, berries, currants, plums and flowers. Flavors of berries, cherries, raspberries and plums. Medium acidity, medium to firm tannin, full body. Drink now with plenty of air or continue to hold.

Starting to come around. The nose is attractive now and the palate is just hair short of being there. Patience should be rewarded with this wine.

8/29/2011 - wineismylife wrote:

WIML95

Tasted non blind. Opened and served immediately.

Light yellow color in the glass, clear looking throughout with medium, steady beading. Nose of lemon verbena, crisp yellow apples and yellow pears. Flavors of lemon drops, Grannie Smith apples and a bit of dried pineapple on the medium to long finish. Bright acidity, full bodied. Drink or hold. I think I'll be extending my next drink date out a little bit.

10/15/2010 - Phin wrote:

Few hours of air. Average prformance in all categories. Red fruit, black currant mix. Medium body. Little disjointed, short finish.

10/6/2010 - Eric wrote:

STG does Right Bank Bordeaux (Seattle, WA, USA): From 375ml. Is this utter perfection as Mr. Parker suggests? Well that is going a bit far. I have a clear preference to d'Yquem, Rieussec and Suduiraut in this vintage. Nonetheless, this is clearly a stellar, stellar wine. Deeper color than I might expect for such a young Barsac. Exotic notes of coconut (ala Hawaiaan Tropic suntan oil) and mandarin orange move to a palate that is far more honeyed, intense and syrupy than I would expect. There is a very pleasing and surprisingly unexpected note of smoky brewed coffee at the finish with a sort of orange peel note on top. This is quite unctuous and much lighter on acid than I would have thought given the usual more delicate style of Climens. Actually, this is really this is quite a shockingly ripe bruiser at this stage. As I work at it and concentrate I can find the very ample and mouthwatering acidity, but at this stage the rich, ripe unctuous aspect of the wine is simply swamping the acidity. This is a seriously ripe wine that is far, far from shy.

5/7/2010 - silton wrote:

Last bottle! One of my favorite smells ever. The alcohol is not noticeable on the palate (served @ ~60 degrees) but a half-bottle got me nearly drunk.

4/1/2010 - Winetex wrote:

Dark ruby with a red rim; Sweet spice and kirsch aromas with kirsch, spice, dark chocolate and blueberry flavors. Long tannic and acidic finish. After the decant this was very disjointed but after some time in the decanter started to come together. There was some disagreement whether it was acidity or too much alcohol on the finish. I voted for both. Hopefully a few more years will help the integration with this wine. Decanted about 30 minutes and needed quite a bit more time. Note that the score was for the final glass.

2/19/2010 - TheOtherPoster wrote:

This was an incredible bottle of wine. Given a quick double decant just before serving to poke it and wake it up. The nose is green apple liqueur... does that make sense? It was just wonderful. The palate is absolutely outstanding; as Tanzer would say, it is 'palate staining'. Fantastic balance, tremendous weight, in a class by itself. The palate showed green apple fruit, minerals, citrus and what Jen thought was 'white chocolate' lurking in the background. Can you tell we loved it? Great, great stuff.

3/17/2010 - Winetex wrote:

Medium+ gold color; Rather large bead with more yeasty than fruit flavors as expected from a Champagne of this age. I find this style to be "masculine" and inelegant but it was a good Champagne on both tasting occasions. However it lacked overall complexity. Not a wine I would buy in large quantities but this is a palate preference. Maybe this bottle was not representative of others but I would drink this now as it probably won't continue to improve. Change yes, but not improve.