4/25/2023 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Decanted off just a little sediments. This is a wine I bought on release now the last bottle. Paid good money 20 years ago at close to $50. The wine showed a very bright color. Fresh looking still. Quite red and with hardly any tile color. Medium bodied now but still with good tannins. Fresh nose but with a little dried herbs and dried flower. Tasting much younger. The nose is recessed with only light perfume. Excellent now. We brought it to an Italian steakhouse. Very fitting. Not the best older Barolo I have had but very nice. Impressive is that it showed so little age. Been in a cool cellar for nearly 20 years.

2/25/2023 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Bought in May of 2015. The wine is probably a 2013 or 2014 but labeled NV. At almost ten years, the wine is pale in color and fresh tasting. Surprised. Excellent wine making it has to be.

2/10/2023 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

At age 7.5, this wine shows no age at all except the nervy severity is toned down and the wine is drinking beautifully. It is softer than I remember it. For sure less severe and less angular. It shows no age. The color is still completely pale. Gorgeous Assyrtiko.

1/27/2023 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

At age 19, this wine shows only a tiny sign of age it its color. Medium weight now, light tannins and a blue fruit nose. Pleasant enough for a mature petit chateau wine. Pleasant to drink with dinner with people who aren’t wine enthusiasts but just wanting a glass of decent wine. This is exactly that. Ring a magnum, the occasion for which this was opened was perfect

11/21/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This wine is drinking beautifully now. Light but so full of flavor. It has shed its green-ess and now with a lot of secondary flavor of earth and tobacco. Almost sits half way between a mature Bordeaux and a mature Burgundy, except lighter. Wonderful with our lamb burgers in a brioche bun and seasoned with Greek herbs and spices. Very pleased. This is the best bottle so far since owning them at release.

11/3/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Decanted off the sediment and the wine looked just a tiny bit of a warmer red but still deep and fresh looking. The bouquet was tarry and rubbery. Initially I thought this may be a problem. I double decanted back I to the bottle and began consuming it about 90 minutes later. With some aerating and swirling, that rubbery bouquet began to dissipate to almost completely gone. The wine was alright my high in acidity. The oak was white recessed. Still bright once that tarry aspect dissipated. Dried fruit and black fruit. A bit of leather. Quite enjoyable but not my top BV Private Reserve experience. May be a better wine ten years ago.

8/27/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

I tasted this wine before it was bottled. The wine is very balanced in acidity, sweetness, alcohol and body. It actually has a very traditional port flavor profile, despite using local varieties (Vinifera hybrids). The wine was fortified with a high proof brandy that had been custom distilled locally using the winery’s own wine. It is truly a monumental effort, doing it right with all the traditional practices of the Douro Valley. This wine was aged in oak for two years before release. Excellent effort with no shortcut taken. Excellent.

7/29/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Mature but in great shape. Tile color but left very little sediments. Beautiful clarity of decanted properly. Very scented bouquet. Cedar and mocha and mostly secondary aromas. Fully mature with a softer body and very soft tannins. If the fruit is there, it is a very evolved fruit. A little meaty bacon and tobacco. Very enjoyable with a simply prepared beef or lamb roast. Wonderfully mature but vibrant in a geriatric way, sort of like someone in retirement age but plays good tennis and can still ride a bike for 15 miles (I will let you guess if this is me or not). It is a lovely wine.

7/24/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This wine is simply fabulous. The color and golden-amber. The sweetness is appropriately high as a unctuous dessert wine. On the palate the wine is viscous and rich. It is sweet enough to be a genuine dessert wine. Caramel notes mixed with pineapples and dried pears. It is a blockbuster Sauternes. Enjoy. Don’t need to rush as this will have a very long life

7/24/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Three years later since opening the first bottle, we decided to open another one. The 1995 Lascombes is now softer and full of mature nuances. The color is slightly brick-ish. The nose of leather, tobacco and cedar. It is so scented that it oozes out of the glass the body is medium but the wine being so flavorful and balanced that it is a great joy to drink it. I am so lucky that there are still four bottles left from the original half case. At age 26, this wine is at its peak and will hold well over the next five to ten years. Please take note that this wine was bought en premier and has been in a cook cellar ever since release. Less ideal cellaring condition would mean hastening of maturity.

7/20/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Cork came out well. The wine is still relatively deep and purplish red in color. It shows no age at age 17. Quite deep nose of dried fruits and black berries. On the palate this wine tasted very young. It is still completely in the fruit stage. Very much a California Cabernet with obvious American oak and extraction of flavor. Very bright and vibrant.

7/20/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The cork came out very well. The ullage level is quite high. I have had this wine since release and has been on a cool cellar. The wine now shows a warmer red color begins just the edge. The noise is complex of dried fruit and tobacco. On the palate the wine has lost some body. It is now only medium bodied with light and evolved tannins. The taste is consistent with the bouquet. It is a lot like a Bordeaux of a little 30 years old. This wine could have fooled me that I would not have ide tidied it as a California Cab. Complex and enjoyable. I do t think this wine will get better. Drink now and enjoy.

7/14/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

A beauty with complexity a tiny bit high in acidity. So far not showing a great deal of aged notes. Still bright garnet color. It is a great bottle but needs more time.

7/14/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Better than 6 years ago. Now more complex. Balanced wine with nice blue fruit and a bit of dried fruit in the nose. No hint if tile color. Still fresh and young. It doesn’t display note of aged quality at this stage perhaps another 5 years.

7/14/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Still drinking well. Pale color with no sign of age. Fresh and balanced with a hint of oak. Complex wine at age 12. A beauty.

6/20/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

A decent enough wine with good black fruit. No green flavors with some spices and a hint of leather. This is an excellent house wine and for service to a large group at an affordable price. We used it for a wedding. Excellent for that and drinkable at this stage despite its youth. It would compare very well in the petit chateaux range and would certainly beat most that are in the $10-$15 range. This one is at the upper teens but well worth the few extra dollars.

6/14/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

We opened 24 magnums of this wine for our daughter’s wedding. Also used it a few years ago for our son’s wedding. Forget about the negative comments here. As a wine educator, I can absolutely assure you that this wine is excellent. It is fresh, crisp and flavorful. It is of citrus and apple on a very light color. The bottle is also beautiful. Not only the guests liked it, it was a bit. I have also used it for an art museum event for a large groups and in a few days we will do another museum event pouring this wine I believe it is made by a cooperative in Alsace but the wine’s appellation is simply Blanc de Blancs of France. That means the grapes are from France but not enough of the blend is Alsatian to get tbe Alsace AOC. Excellent.

6/10/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Garnet color. Warmer hue of red. Good mature bouquet. Good complexity of black fruit and plenty of tannins for a Rioja Crianza. Very competent and enjoyable. Must be older barrels because the wood does not stand out. Not much on the line of vanillin. It is a good value $12-$14 red wine displaying some mature flavor (from storage at the winery to meet Crianza requirement). Will gain complexity in another five year.

6/8/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The cork came out nicely which is pretty good considering the age of well over 40 years. The wine is golden but very bright. On the nose is beautiful petrol, a little flower and stone fruits. The wine has some level of viscosity but it is generally speaking in the less sweet end for an Auslese. Light on the Palate due to a very nigh level of acidity. It is a delight to drink but I prefer an Auslese to have some quality of a dessert wine but this is more like a sweeter table wine. The searing level of acidity makes it food friendly

6/8/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Second time out of my half case. Classic Pauillac. Tannins have resolved after nearly 30 years. Nice bouquet of dark notes but not a huge nose. Slightly austere on the palate but still enough lushness to carry the day. Some earth and leather and briary. The fruit is still there. Very balanced. It is at its peak now but will hold in a cold cellar for a very long time. 1993 was a middle of the road vintage so prices en premier were excellent. I have lost the invoice but I am guessing that I paid in the low $30s. There were many mediocre vintages of the 90s that were excellent value buys. The top houses like Lynch-Bages will make good wine. The color is still quite firmly red and not much tile was noticed. This is a very good and mature wine but you don’t have to hurry either.

4/30/2022 - Wineteacher Does not like this wine:

This wine is cloudy. Very cloudy. The labels says something about minimal intervention and unfined and unfiltered. There are a lot of wines that are made unfined, unfiltered and with less intervention. But those wines are clear (by gravity over the bulk storage period) and good. This wine looks like a pink-ish peach juice (something you make Bellini with) and less clear than a German wheat beer. On the palate the wine is quite flat, uninteresting and without much of the charm of a dry Gewurztraminer, the best being of Alsace. A cloudy wine means it is full of suspended yeast cells. The yeast cells will breakdown and go through autolysis. This process will spoil the wine. At minimum, this wine needs to be stored in chilled condition to slow down the onset of the yeast breaking down and certainly not to be stored for long. A Alsatian dry Gewurztraminer is a great wine genre and will age gracefully for many years. It will also give you pleasure right now. This wine does neither. It is one of the most gimmicky bottles on the market today. Don’t touch it. Not worth your time or money. CellarTracker has a box to check when the wine is flawed. I did not check it because this wine isn’t flawed accidentally. It is flawed by intention which is even worse. I rarely write such a long review but this wine deserved it. I only tasted it because an unsuspecting friend follow the bad advice to buy this. I was unfortunately served. My host regretted serving it as he also firmly disliked it. Is it at least interesting? No. A bad wine isn’t interesting. It is just bad. This is just my opinion and I may be dead wrong but it is still my opinion.

6/7/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This is an example of how well a Santorini Assyrtiko ages. At age 9, tbe wine now has the color of a mature Sauternes. It is amber with the nose also like Sauternes. On the palate, the wine has some viscosity, rich, creamy and honey like except it isn’t sweet. There is no oxidation or maderization. It is an unusual taste. Even odd but one can find so many interesting aspects. This won’t be to everyone’s taste but is is an interesting wine to experience.

5/21/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Still fresh and showing no age.

5/21/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Completely light in color and fresh after almost 7 years. A bit acidic but nice green apples and crisp. So fresh with no sign of age.

5/13/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

To summarize about this wonderful wine could be done by what it isn’t. The wine isn’t sharp. It doesn’t have a kick or a bite. This isn’t overly grassy or herbaceous. It is simply a smooth wine with great balance. It is almost creamy due to lower acidity. The village of Saint Brie is close to Chablis. It is even more amazing that this Sauvignon Blanc comes from Burgundy, the land of Chardonnay. Lovely wine.

5/7/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Excellent wine of medium color and body. Nice red and black fruit with a touch of inky minerality. The Bobal intensity came through and it is very dry (no sweetness whatsoever) with good berry notes. It is an excellent wine made by the very large winery, Murviedro of Requena, in the Valencia region of Spain. The label doesn’t say anything about Murviedro but it mentions Schenk on the back label which is the Swiss company that owns Murviedro. I very much like this very European style red wine. It is no fruit bomb but excellent a wine of balance and concentration for the price point.

5/4/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Medium bodied. Beautiful color of garnet. Red fruit nose. Oak not detected although it had new American oak for a year. This wine has a lot of the flavor profile of a Côtes du Rhône. Not a surprised as it is 40% Mourvèdre, 40% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet. This isn’t exactly a Rhône combo but it has a lot of the elements. It isn’t anything like a blockbuster but a very good everyday wine to enjoy. Aerating it will help. While ordinary, there is nothing to dislike.

5/3/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The is a wonderful wine for the price lighter and more elegant than the typical Cava. A lot of large bubbles. Very pale color. Apples and lime notes. Great balance of body and acidity. Quite dry but not sharp without any bite or kick. Goes down easy. Great value.

4/23/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Medium bodied but light on tannins. Dark shade of red. Bouquet of black fruit and lots of non-fruit types of flavor. A ton of spices but yet white fruity in an dark way. The flavor profile is of a serious wine that Marimar Estate is known for. No pretty Pinot Noir light weight here. Another great job.

4/23/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

A wonderful wine of medium/light straw color, clean and bright without the sharpness of too much acidity but just enough to stay fresh and crisp. Chardonnay has gotten out of fashion for many but when you have a good one light this and absent of all the faults, it is a great wine. The lemon curd and very gentle oak comes together. It is a wine to search to someone who says I don’t like Chardonnay.

4/21/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The cork didn’t want to come out so the two-prong extractor was needed. The corked looked smooth and in good shape. Decanted right away and left very little sediment. I only left behind about a little less than half an ounce of wine. The color is quite freshly red. Very clear and almost no sign of browning despite over 30 years. The bouquet oozed out while decanting, showing leather, tobacco and black fruit. Some briar and cedar. Absolutely balanced. Moderate tannins and acidity. Alcohol in check. For a weak vintage, this is an an absolute charmer. It is a much better wine than the 1991 Mouton which I bought en premier along with this one. Paid $40 a bottle and I hear it is worth close to $900 now. Even the last ounce was as good or better than when it was first opened, through a two-and a half hour meal. This is a incredible 1991. Absolutely no hurry to drink this wine. It is still in the fresh stage. My cellar is very cool which may cause the wine to evolve so slowly.

4/9/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Wonderful. Full of spices and leather. Earthy and gorgeous with secondary flavors. Black fruit. Medium weight but hugely complex. No too many American Pinot would have this level of complexity and balance of fruit, secondary flavors, acidity and alcohol. A very complete wine.

4/5/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Very impressed at this price. Petit chateau wines of Bordeaux have improve hugely in the last 15 years. Warmer climate, better cellar practices and technology have all contributed. While the low end Bordeaux wines have added brawn and concentration, complexity is still the domain of the better crus. This Tertre du Moulin is actually a negoçiant bottling based on grapes grown in the St Emilion grand cru area, not to be confused with St Emilion grand cru classé. The level of grand cru of this wine is much lower in ranking than the grand cru classé wines. That said, this wine of medium body, garnet red and nice clarity gives an impressive combination of black fruits, leather, earth and tobacco. Albeit these complex elements are in lower doses than the great wines of Bordeaux but they are there, nicely earthy and spicy with enough interest to enjoy through a main course of good proteins. As with negoçiant bottling, a picture is allowed but it has to say what it is of so as to not create the impression that this wine comes from the property pictured. The wine is simply a blend of wine from designated grand cru land in St Emilion. Ranking or not, I like this wine.

3/29/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This is really a negoçiant bottling and not a specific chateau bottled wine. The picture of a chateau is a generic picture without connection with the wine. It is a St Emilion grand cru, not grand cru classé. The standard is anything grown in the area designated as grand cru so the status isn’t granted to specific chateaux like other grand cru Bordeaux designations are. That said, the wine is beautifully packaged. The color is medium garnet. The nose is spicy and with some briar, tobacco, leather and earth. On the palate the wine has a high degree of structure from the brisk acidity and moderate tannins. Very balanced with the acidity being slightly on the high side. It doesn’t detract. The body can handle it. The taste is consistent with the bouquet of black fruit and some complexity from the wood and earth. The touch of briary and cedary notes is very attractive. It is ready to drink but could evolve through another five. At $16, it is a good buy. As a unknown Bordeaux, well below $20, it is a very good wine for everyday uses, receptions and weddings. I think it would work well on a restaurant wine list, being able to offer an attractive and affordable Bordeaux. It is a Trader Joe’s wine but this wine has appeared outside of the Trader Joe’s stores.

3/28/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Bright but deep ruby color. Clear. Beautiful to look at. Blackberry bouquet and same on the palate. Much tannins but greatly balanced with firm acidity. Cool weather red wine but very deep and clean. Excellent example. Nice extraction for a Pinot Noir, Cab Franc and Côt (Malbec). No overly bright and candy notes but old world charm. Very vinous and evolved but fresh.

3/21/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Light true pink. More color than most but still relatively pale. Slightly sweet despite labeled triocken. Good complex taste. Bright with more depth than most Provençal rosé wines. Bright and clean. Not a light wine. Quite full and with some interesting intensity.

3/17/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The cork was in great shape and it came out intact. Moderate amount of sediment which was decanted off after standing up the wine for a day. The color is deeply red. There is only slight degree of brick color on the edge. The nose is pure smoked bacon and black/blue fruits. The taste is consistent. Moderate tannins. Soft tannins. Delicious and satisfying. This wine was purchased in 2005 and had been cellared in excellent condition ever since. Our colder Minnesota cellar tend to sow down the maturation of wine which may explain our bottle. Wing on better shape than some of the reports have indicated. Wonderful bottle.

3/10/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Dry, a little hot. Not as dark as some Tavel. No tannins to speak of. Not one of those sophisticated and pricier Tavels. Good red fruit and very serviceable.

3/4/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This wine has brilliant clarity but virtually has no color. It is a Rosé but there is little of the pink or salmon color once poured. The nose is red fruit and berries, mostly strawberry. Good acidity. Thin and light but completely dry with a little salinity. It is a perfecy serviceable wine with a rosé characteristic but nothing distinguished about it. It is a base line wine that doesn’t offend but doesn’t impress. Good for Provençal chicken, soupe de poisson and other garlicky southern French fare.

1/30/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The cork is in great shape. The color has an orange edge but otherwise light-ish in the way an old style Barbaresco is. The nose is dried leaf and dried flower. A bit of dust. On the palate the wine is high in acidity with very firm tannins like an old style Barbaresco. The aroma and taste is complex with dry flower and dried fruit notes. Not sense of tiredness but probably won’t improve from here. I think this wine is great to drink now.

1/13/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

The color is richly golden. The mouthfeel is viscous. Deep bouquet of caramel and stone fruit. On the palate the wine is rich, sweet and complex with notes of coconut, toast, peach and apricot. There is a caramelized layer also. It is quite sweet but balanced. It is a big time Sauternes of great complexity.

1/6/2022 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Fading red color starting to pick up a bricky hue. The aroma and taste are consistent. Dried flower. A little smoke and earth. Medium weight and body but with a very good dose of tannins. It is an older style Barbaresco. Not sure if it will improve. I like it but it isn’t quite enough.

12/24/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Perfect cork. No issue extracting with a good cork screw. Decanted. Not a large amount of sediment. Good color with only a hint of tile. Been in a cool cellar since release. Firm and moderate tannins. Earth and black fruit with great complexity. Not yet fully mature. Still room to move up.

12/22/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Beautiful wine. At age 11, it is still completely fresh. The color is pale like a new wine. Bright and acidic balancing quite a bit of sweetness for a Spätlese.

12/14/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Amazingly good for the price. Quite dark and deep. Interesting flavors and an excellent petit chateaux wine.

12/11/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

I still have a few magnums since buying this wine more than two years ago. This wine hadn’t shown much age since then. It is still light in color and fully effervescent. The taste is crisp of apples and citrus. Bright and on the acidic side with fresh notes. It is an extremely good bargain now at $12.99 for a magnum. I have just bought a few more but plan to drink the bottles from 2019 first.

12/11/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

I wrote about this wine 5 years ago, a positive review then. This wine is probably at its peak now. The color has taken on a warmer tone. The wine is still white dark and slightly opaque. On the nose the bouquet is black fruit with a hint of earth. On the palate, the wine has good structure and body. Dark fruit and a bit of earth shoen on the palate. It isn’t a sophisticated or complex wine but it did grow and open up on a few hours. It is an excellent wine for the barely over $10 price. It is better than a few years ago and it shows how much lower end Bordeaux wines have improved in the last couple of decades. Of course being a 2009 doesn’t hurt either. Not saying this is a great wine but it is a very nice everyday wine.

12/9/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

This wine is drinking beautifully now. For such a low cost, it is magnificent.

11/4/2021 - Wineteacher wrote:

Soutard style is traditional with a bit of rusticity. From such a celebrated Right Bank vintage, I had expected a lot. The wine was medium bodied and decanted well, with minimal sediment. Nicely red with a bit of tile on the edge. The wine smelled rubbery at first but double decanting got rid of that. The disappointment is not that the wine is not good but It fails to delivery complexity and more multi-dimensionality than what it has turned out to be. Too much neutrality and short in fruit and lushness. Lots of structure but short on flavor complexity and mid-palate body. A bit hallow. Hard to say if it is too young. But at this point, I might as well wait to see if more stuff comes along.

9/13/2021 - Wineteacher Likes this wine:

Very lucky to have a chance to drink this wine which was brought to a restaurant in San Francisco by the wine merchant I have worked with for decades. The cork was in relatively good shape. Albeit broken in two, all came out without breaking up into small pieces. The color was quite bricky but for the age, it isn’t unusual. Medium weight by sight but again to be expected due to the age. The bouquet is huge. It oozes out of the glass of mature and dusty notes with spices, leather and herbs. Also notes of tobacco. Soft texture and low tannins but the acidity is firm. Balanced alcohol. The taste is consistent with the nose. A touch of clove. Evolved red fruit. Its bouquet really contributes to driving the pleasure of drinking this wine. It just wouldn’t stop. Fully mature but will hold in a good cellar.