12/21/22, 6:04 PM - Given “youthful exuberance”, and comparable temperature, why was it more open and better on Day 2? And why wouldn’t that be a sign of “too young?”
12/8/22, 1:49 PM - Great note. I’ve ordered a bottle for tonight at Charleston in Baltimore. Owner loves the wine and says decanting before first course, at this point, is the way to go. I had thought an hour or two before, but I’m taking his suggestion. Some Celestins are in my top 10 Hall of Fame when they’re right. Thx for taking the time to provide details.
11/14/22, 9:40 AM - agreed; yes, but seeming ethyl acetate and mercaptans appear and blow off in her wines quite often. Even when that doesn’t happen, there’s enough left to enjoy the bottle with food, as I did here.
9/6/22, 1:01 PM - Thank you for your thank you!
7/11/22, 1:48 PM - 11 precious words from the winemaker more helpful than 100 of my purple prose! Lol. We brought this to great new NYC haute korean restaurant this week and a spirited discussion arose whether XOMNI was more LesClos Chablis, or Bouchard Chevalier. Good arguments for both; at the end of the day, it’s superb Oregon juice! Thank you!
6/18/22, 7:36 AM - Less Cab Franc than usual in the blend, but still about 17%, not 100% merlot.
6/18/22, 10:03 AM - It’s a common misconception ; the CF adds much needed acidity and brightness to enhance drinkability
5/25/22, 5:43 PM - I just noted this on CT w comparable enthusiasm! I’m so glad a few others get how wonderful this is! Great note!
5/25/22, 4:35 PM - Great note, just starting to taste a welm stored bottle now, and you are spot on
3/23/22, 2:59 PM - 🙏
12/13/21, 2:24 PM - You may have gotten your Cristal mixed up with your De La Couronne?
11/10/21, 12:38 PM - An old tasting note of mine noted the incongruity of deep body funk in a superbly elegant Gentaz Cote Rotie, as if “observing braided armpit hair hanging from a gorgeous runway model”. It was just a silly image that made a point. Let’s not let PC sensitivity take the fun out of CT notes, like it has already withered comedy, satire, and academic freedoms. Benefit of the doubt that there was no misogynistic intent to that note…
9/27/21, 7:15 AM - You are too humble. I stand by “experiment” because: a) you did it for a still wine in Oregon! and b) you selected 5% perfect pinot fruit which didn’t only create lovely rose color, but touched the texture and flavor without diminishing chardonnay dominance. Kudos!
9/20/21, 5:50 PM - You are so right! Korean bbq marinades frequently contain sugar or honey, and lean sweet. Ripe zinfandels, like Turley, are also a good pairing.
9/3/21, 10:37 AM - Are you sure you are well and not having trouble with your eyes? Before you rip me a new one, you might choose to read the review I actually wrote on Rombauer, the 2018 vintage, not the 2012 referenced in your comment. Silly me, I thought when I referenced the review I wrote that a commenter would like actually read it before projecting their own biases on a vintage I DIDNT review. I appreciate your honesty, though, and your interest in engaging, but if you are going to be condescending and arrogant, at least be accurate!!
9/3/21, 4:09 PM - There is no “rule” about decanting. Some wines benefit, others don’t. Try decanting fragile old burgundies and riojas for more than an hour, if at all, and you are likely to have abandoned their best. Some too young Cali cabs benefit from a 12 hour decant. The best “rule” is to treat each bottle as its own universe, sniff and taste as you go. I’ve made wine, written about it, taught it, and judged it, so keep an open mind. The Rombauer ‘18 scores on CT range from 85-94; it’s sometimes about stylistic preference, not about you being right.
9/4/21, 10:37 AM - You don’t drink great old burgundy or rioja? No self respecting wine “snob” (your words, not mine). would ever utter those words! Most cabs are driunk a few years too young, hence extra decant helps. Of course there are well aged Calicabs and bordeaux that benefit from the extra long decants you deem a necessity. But not all of them , or even most. Be careful crafting “rules”. based on the self limited universe of what you like to drink!! As for great chardonnay, if you don’t start sniffing swirling and tasting after a half hour or so open, (assuming cellar temp) you are missing it’s evolution in the glass: part of the joy of the journey of wine!
7/15/21, 4:29 PM - My sentiment exactly; typically, I like others to be excited about wines that thrill me. With this gem, at its great QPR, singing its praises feels counterproductive. But what vibrant juice this is!!
3/26/21, 4:30 PM - concise and accurate note; I hope to taste Touchstone in late April, wine is in the bottle but OWC design is delaying release. Next great cult wine?
2/13/21, 1:42 PM - Your 95 score undermines your credibilty. You could argue, as orange wine lovers do, that this is unique, and rich w sulphorous minerals. You could legitimately score it an 86 or 87, if you like that style, if you happily bathe in stewed cabbage, and black volcanic mud for the fiber, detox, and briney island effect. No judgment here; but a 95 score in the universe of great whites suggests you may wish to expand your experience with them before calling anyone “wrong”.
1/14/21, 1:03 PM - Thx for the kind affirmation. I too love Lopez Rioja, and before you give up on Zin completely, try Fred Scherer’s elegant and restrained Zinfandels.
1/14/21, 1:51 PM - I think he now makes 3. The Old and Mature Vines Zin is great every year, but you can trust his tasting notes on their site for the others. Fred’s a quirky perfectionist.
12/15/20, 3:05 PM - nice call on those lingonberries; I use those preserves a lot in cooking, but missed that until you said it. I didn’t get as much sweet fruit as you, or soy/hoisin notes. It makes me anxious to open another bottle! Good job!
12/7/20, 6:32 AM - My pleasure Jake!
11/21/20, 10:45 AM - A tough vintage for Condrieu, but in 2017, elegance for Vernay was attained easier than power.. Subjective style choice, for sure.
11/6/20, 8:52 AM - Enjoy! Add a half cup of Cornas to your bolognese?
11/6/20, 9:40 AM - Enhances the pairing!!
11/2/20, 1:45 PM - Thank you for inspiring me to open a bottle of this tonight!
9/25/20, 5:36 PM - Thanks for the kind words!
8/27/20, 6:58 PM - Great note; enjoying it tonight. It’s as terrific as it was upon release. Great for 20 years I bet. Those with low scores had bad bottles or are allergic to all gruner?
8/19/20, 9:08 AM - Interesting! I certainly hope your 3 bottles of BM turn out to be better than mine! I stopped buying Jadot 15 years ago because of the remarkable inconsistency in reds and whites, not so much with the lesser wines, but with the better 1er Cru and GC. To protect the brand, and because they make wine from 530 or so hectares, I don’t believe they exercise requisite quality control in their negociant activities. Their winemaking has improved, but there’s only so much you can do w inferior fruit. The broad range of ratings on CT affirm their lack of consistency.
7/31/20, 8:19 AM - Thank you for the compliment and the correction!! Much appreciated.
6/6/20, 7:33 PM - I think you want your review with the rose, not the red
7/9/19, 8:19 PM - Thank you for the kind note!
6/19/19, 3:43 PM - Thank you! Absolutely!
3/22/19, 7:02 AM - I too have had better bottles in the last year; I’m chalking this one off to bottle variation. The bottle was a gift, and may have been stored warm for too long.
3/18/19, 8:59 AM - We decanted for 30 minutes, after tasting it, as there is a lot of bottle variation. There was a small amount of sediment. Enjoy!
2/19/19, 5:46 PM - sounds like you had a bottle evolved by temps above cellar range which helped you see its future sooner!
8/15/18, 6:09 PM - Great notes, Motz. I just posted mine without reading others first, and was shocked at the similiarities. I missed the reference point to Rioja Blanco, but I think you are dead on. Also, reminds me of some St. Joseph blanc. I scored it a 91, only because Ive no idea how this will age.
6/3/18, 5:11 AM - I’ll respectfully disagree; it’s not advanced VA, no acetone, virtually no ethyl acetate. But more than a bit of a acetic acid is affecting the flavor in the bottle I opened. Could be a straggler yeast mimicking acetic acid, but unless you know if the wine’s been analyzed for this, then we’ll just have to call it a palate difference.
6/3/18, 7:49 AM - They are different points on the same scale; I don’t necessarily think VA is as negative a term as you might. But, to make peace and for precision, I’ve edited the review. Thanks for your input.
1/26/18, 7:17 AM - Great wine, terrific note!
3/1/17, 9:42 AM - I was at the same vertical tasting, and your notes are dead on!
1/17/18, 6:14 AM - I would guess the Montrose has 7-10 years of stable good drinking left, though I am drinking mine up now.
1/2/18, 11:23 AM - Good luck with that! It was terrible weather in burgundy in 08 until September. Wines tend to have too much acid, rather than too little. I hope I am wrong and that you are correct, and that you will post an updated report! Happy New Year!
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