5/11/2024 - salil wrote:

Stupid good value at around ~$19. Starts out slightly reductive but that blows off within minutes while a core of fresh dark fruited flavours emerge. There's a light spiciness to the aromatics, but beyond that it's not super complex. But it's absolutely delicious with the same brightness and joie de vivre to the fruit I find in many Bedrock wines, it's medium weight with a silky, gentle texture on the palate, and the whole package is very easy to drink for both wine geeks and non-geeks.

5/9/2024 - salil wrote:

Starts off showing bright red and black fruits with green tobacco and leafy characteristics, but there's a strong burnt rubber-like reductive note that distracts at first as a background note, and gets stronger with air. There's a fair bit of coarse tannin and a grainy texture (none of the finesse here that I've found in the Baudry or Breton Franc de Pieds), then it turns thin and lean on the finish and falls away on the back end. The overall package makes me wonder why this is priced near/above $50. I see another note comparing this to Pinot Noir; the only one I'd compare this to is Meiomi. Yes, it's that mediocre. Perhaps the most overrated thing since someone referred to the Senate as the world's greatest deliberative body.

5/6/2024 - salil wrote:

Similar impressions to kenv (it was the same bottle) - not quite the powerhouse of black fruit other bottles have been; this one is gentler, more red fruited, and more medium weight, but also showing plenty of that Cordier savoury leathery/earthy funk around the fruit. Very enjoyable, though I think on the night I preferred the '85 by a hair.

5/6/2024 - salil wrote:

One of the best showings I've had from this wine. Bottle was a purchase from HDH auctions ~5 years ago, fill was base neck. Decanted a couple of hours in advance, and just kept getting better and more intense with air - started out more red fruited with plenty of earth and dried tobacco/herbal notes, but with time the fruit turns deeper and blacker, and some of that old Cordier leathery funk also emerges. Drinking perfectly now with tannins fully resolved and an incredibly silky, polished texture. Gorgeous wine.

5/6/2024 - salil wrote:

Not much to add to kenv's note, other than this made me long for the old days of Dellchen being vinified as Spätlese, rather than *sigh* GG.

5/3/2024 - salil wrote:

More impressive than genuinely enjoyable right now. This didn't live up to the praise I've read for this wine elsewhere, and seemed quite a step down from the gorgeous 2016 version. There's a lot of pretty red and black fruit here that comes out with time in the decanter and lightly floral and spicy notes, but it's also more oaky and extracted than the '16. It feels like a medium-weight wine that's trying to be a heavier blockbuster, rather than a more medium-weight claret, and it doesn't work. At the price, I'd much rather just buy Ferriere.

5/1/2024 - salil wrote:

Very similar to my last bottle - perhaps not quite as rich/oily on the palate as the last one, but stunning aromatics and balance again. Tremendous.

4/29/2024 - salil wrote:

This isn't just primary, it feels like drinking a barrel sample with the structure dominating entirely. That said, I love the raw material here - it's a lean wine in a way that feels like a throwback to old school Northern Rhônes from the 80s and 90s that weren't overly ripe and would show a bit of green olive or similar greenness, rather than just bigger red/black fruit. There's a similar quality to the fruit here with a lightly green tinge that adds freshness, and the stems are quite noticeable here on the nose. Plenty of tannic grip and acidity too, this feels like a wine built for the long haul but the overall balance here is excellent and I'm excited to see what this wine develops into with time.

4/27/2024 - salil wrote:

Bought this on Robert Alfert's gushing praise for the producer, and *sigh* this is going to be another "Alfert was right" note. Dammit Alfert, are you happy now? This is a really red-fruited expression of Bordeaux - it's all sappy cherry fruit and sweeter floral notes up front, with more savoury earthy, smoky, and faintly leathery notes emerging with time in the decanter. It's a medium weight wine, Bordeaux in that old-school style of claret, and very easy to drink even this young with a graceful, silky texture and very fine grained tannin.

4/27/2024 - salil wrote:

Terrific wine, each sip starts with youthful red fruit and florality and turns more mineral and stony on the back end. It's obviously very primary right now, but I love the sense of freshness and lightness here - there's some fine grained tannin apparent, but most of the structure comes from the acidity which gives the fruit an incredibly light, crunchy sensation. Delicious wine, and I'm realizing that I need a lot more from this producer in my cellar.

4/27/2024 - salil wrote:

One of the better Bordeaux second wines I've had, and a nice value too. This is terrific, showing plenty of tart citrus and green apple fruit with lightly waxy/lanolin notes and oak playing supporting roles. Medium weight on the palate with bright acids, finishing perhaps a bit short, but overall impressive quality and value here.

4/25/2024 - salil wrote:

Not as open and enjoyable as my last bottle; this one feels somewhat closed aromatically and needed a lot more air for the aromatics and fruit to emerge. It's a lovely wine, though it gives the impression that it's starting to close down for a bit.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Apparently I had this wine ~12 years ago - my descriptors for it are very similar to my CT note from then - motor oil, yep. Intensely powerful, yep. Raisiny, chocolatey, figgy, etc - yup, all of the above. But I found myself enjoying this one a lot more, as this was absolutely delicious and I even reached for a second glass (something I rarely do with PX, given the sheer intensity).

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): A dinner with Seth, Jay, and I - of course, Seth brought an old Catoir, and the only question was whether he'd bring a Riesling, Scheurebe, or Rieslaner. Ludicrous amounts of sweetness and richness; absurdly high acidity; somehow it all comes into balance and it works. I have no idea how, other than that Hans-Gunter Schwarz is a wizard. It's packed with ripe tropical fruit, those fiery spicy notes of Rieslaner (and the slight rough phenolic texture I usually associate with it), layers of botrytised honey and caramelly sweetness, and the whole package is just spectacular - intensely rich and sweet, yet feeling absolutely electric and shockingly light on its feet. A Cronenberg of a Rieslaner, and a goddamn delicious one.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Quite the contrast to the Grünhäus that preceded it - whereas that was all crackling electricity and vibrancy, this is a gentler, quieter wine. Beautiful aromatics - riper peach and white cherry mixed with tarter lime and pear fruit, and gentle floral and honeyed accents. The palate is very similar, dominated by the youthful fruit with a mineral undercurrent that becomes more apparent on the back end. Lovely wine, the kind of Auslese that's perfect at the table with food, rather than a botrytis-heavy dessert wine.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Spectacular Riesling. I'd say this is near the platonic ideal of aged Spätlese for me, but Seth kept insisting that he had a bottle recently from the same lot that was somehow even better (!!!). But this was just thrilling; the fruit still remarkably fresh and vibrant with that electric '90 acidity beneath giving it plenty of lift, layers of more savoury smoky, honeyed, and creamy flavours, and those more herbal, faintly minty, and pine cone-like notes I always find in older Von Schubert. Incredible balance and depth, very much a wow wine.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Seemed heat-damaged, or at the very least unreasonably advanced and not representative of what this wine should be. Tastes more like stale apple juice than anything I would expect in a mature Riesling. Shame, because old Von Schuberts can be so thrilling. (WineBid sticker on the back.)

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Seth's bottle - he said he decanted this around 9 AM, and about 9 hours later it was only just starting to open out. First impressions were of a wine that was still somewhat tight, showing a beautiful core of red and dark fruited flavours accented by savoury herbal, floral, and tarry notes, but with a firm tannic spine dominating on the back end. Still more air helped ease out the tannin a bit more (though it never entirely relents), and brought out more aromatic depth as the various non-fruited elements became more prominent around the core of bright fruit. Lovely wine - even if it needs a lot more time to be 'ready', I'm glad for the opportunity to drink it now.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Just a stunning bottle of Burgundy - a hauntingly complex and beautiful fragrance, a palate that's so graceful and polished with fine grained tannin beneath, and somehow it keeps getting better and better with air. There's no sense trying to describe the various flavour components, because this is so much more than the sum of all the various flavours - I'll just say it seems to show equal parts fruit, earth, and more savoury developed tertiary notes, with everything coming together into a seamless whole.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Leftovers from the bottle that Seth posted his 4/19 note on. It's still holding up quite nicely, though doesn't show quite the same array of aromatic depth Seth described. The red fruited flavours here are quite gentle and play a supporting role to more savoury dried floral, herbal, and faintly leathery elements. Feels fully mature and perhaps slightly on the downslope, with the structure fully integrated here, and a graceful, silky texture on a mediumweight frame.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): Kabinett my ass, there is some serious prädikat creep happening here - this has the weight and intensity of a rich Spätlese, bordering Auslese. But labeling aside, this is delicious. The fruit flavours span a spectrum ranging from riper white cherry and peachy flavours to the more classic Mosel apple and citrus notes, augmented by an array of floral, lightly honeyed, and gentle mineral notes. Generous sweetness here but it's balanced by bright acids, and the whole package is incredibly easy to drink.

4/20/2024 - salil wrote:

Grand Sichuan, Jersey City edition (Grand Sichuan, Grove St.): This needed a lot of air and popping and pouring this wasn't the wisest move - a glass much later in the night showed much better and provided more interest, even though the wine was quite a bit warmer by that point. It's an impressive wine with plenty of ripe white fruited flavours, sweeter floral notes, and a firm stony mineral base underneath, showing more richness and sweetness than I typically expect from GGs. Even then, I'm still left wondering how much more I might have enjoyed a Kabinett, Spätlese, or Auslese instead - this is well made, but doesn't show any of the sheer joie de vivre or provide the visceral enjoyment I got from the Wittmann Morstein Kabinett recently (at a fraction of the price of this wine.)

4/12/2024 - salil wrote:

Incredible wine, one of the most thrilling experiences I've had with dry Riesling. The sense of lightness is hard to put into words here. It has a lightness of touch and a weightlessness that reminds me of great, classic Mosel Kabinett, even though it has the alcohol levels of a dry Riesling. There's an intense stony mineral character here, fresh green verdant and herbal scents, and a core of pale citrus and pear fruit beneath that plays a supporting role to the mineral and herbal/floral notes. The balance is impeccable and it still feels very fresh and quite youthful - I'm glad I have a couple left, but it'll take some effort to not open another one soon given how good this was.

4/8/2024 - salil wrote:

Lovely wine; very much what I look for in Chinon with the green leafy and forestal notes front and center, and a palate that's full of bright dark berried fruit and more savoury tobacco and earthy elements that emerge on the back end. There's lively acidity and grainy tannin underneath, and the whole package is quite elegant and very easy to drink. Definitely need to get more.

4/4/2024 - salil wrote:

Off the wine list at Cherry Circle Room. Tremendous, just an outstanding expression of dry Riesling with floral, smoky, and herbal scents leading into a palate that's all fresh citrus fruits and intense, vivid stony minerality. The flavours here might need a geologist to do them justice. Love the balance here - it's bracing and tart with plenty of acidity, but there's also a generous richness to the fruit, and it has a sense of lightness and refreshment that I don't often find in the heavier Smaragds or GGs from Austria/Germany.

4/2/2024 - salil wrote:

AP #11-06. A bit disappointing considering the producer and vineyard, I remember liking this a lot more several years back. It's still quite delicious with lots of ripe Mosel fruit and florality, a faint honeyed tinge to the aromatics, and plenty of more savoury developing/developed notes. But it also comes across somewhat soft and extremely sweet, lacking the crispness and definition I regularly find from Himmelreich, and the finish is a bit odd - showing a faintly bitter tinge, not unlike what I find in some drier wines with botrytis.

3/31/2024 - salil wrote:

Opened many decades too early, because I saw a raised capsule and slightly raised cork and worried this may be a leaker. Silly me, this wine will almost certainly outlive me. This is a jawdroppingly beautiful Auslese. Incredibly clear, fresh fruit tinged with bright floral notes, and lighter honeyed and faintly herbal accents, so complex and fresh, with a round, silky texture and lifted by bright acids. Impeccable balance. The sense of purity and clarity here are amazing - whatever botrytis is here is incredibly clean, this really feels like an Auslese to drink at the table rather than a big dessert wine trying to be a baby BA/TBA. Just an outstanding (half) bottle of wine.

3/31/2024 - salil wrote:

Fully mature, showing just a faint touch of butterscotchy oxidation on the nose, though that clears a bit with air and gives way to an array of other savoury, creamy, and gentle white fruited flavours. Love the palate presence here - it's rich with a faintly buttery/oily texture, hefty in that old school white Burg style, but still carried by good acidity that adds nice freshness to the fruit. I think I liked this more than Ken, but agree that it's definitely time to drink up.

3/30/2024 - salil wrote:

me: what if there was a wine that had the brightness and oxidative savouriness of Valdespino Inocente, but was lower alcohol than a sherry, and also had more depth and aromatic complexity than the Inocente, and was super-easy to drink with dinner?

this wine: *exists*

3/24/2024 - salil wrote:

A little more polished than I usually like my Bordeaux, with a rather noticeable sheen of oak around the ripe red and black fruit, though the oak does integrate with a couple of hours in the decanter and ends up playing more of a supporting role. But it's well balanced and impressively structured with plenty of fine grained tannin and bright acidity that adds a nice sense of lift, finishing with a savoury gravelly earthiness.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Well, this was disappointing to see revealed as '98 Grange - it's a wine that I'd normally be very excited to sit down and drink but this felt a bit blocky and painfully youthful and didn't really distinguish itself from the rest of the flight. The red and black fruit here feels very dense, somewhat monolithic, though there's a high-toned minty and herbal aromatic topnote that adds a sense of freshness. There's also a lot of apparent tannin on the palate, and it still feels like a wine more about potential and promise than immediate pleasure.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Quite similar to the first wine in this flight (which turned out to be the same producer) with similar intensity and aromatic profile, though the aromatics here are less floral and high-toned and there's more of a savoury, toasty element here. But this also feels a bit heavier and lacks the acidity and lift of the first wine.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Came across relatively one-note with lots of black fruit, though I also didn't spend a lot of time on this - found a couple of the other wines in the flight more interesting and also kept going back to my pours from the previous flight, while this didn't really hold my interest.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Powerhouse of a wine. First impressions are impressive with soaring aromatics - intense black fruited and meaty notes dominate here, though there's a surprisingly sweet floral note (honeysuckle?) that has me wondering if there's some Viognier in this blend as well. There's similar power and intensity of flavour on the palate, and surprising acidity giving it more lift than I'd expect for such a big wine - but the alcohol does stick out on the back end and mars this a bit.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Rather blocky and charmless; there's some red and black fruit here tinged with faintly meaty and spicy notes, but there's also a faint oaky element that hasn't really integrated into the wine, and some woody tannin on the back end that sticks out.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Double-decanted a couple of hours before serving (and it threw quite a bit of sediment already). There's a stemmy character that shows at first, but it mostly integrates with air. By the time this is poured, it's all about fresh red fruits and higher toned pepper and floral notes, with the stemmy notes playing a supporting note in the background and adding a light, fresh herbaceous character. A pretty, welterweight expression of Gonon that still has years ahead with plenty of fine grained tannin and bright acids beneath. I'll give my next bottle a bit more time.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Oh hell yes, this is the real deal. Fully mature and remarkably light on the palate, there's gentle red fruit here but this is really all about the savoury developed character - layers of green olives, dried floral notes, and savoury meatiness all come together seamlessly, and it's far too easy to drink. The tannin here feels mostly resolved (surprised to see this was a '95 on reveal - given the vintage, I would have expected a lot more tannin here), but the structure here comes from a spine of bright acidity that gives it a sense of freshness and brightness. Lovely wine. I need more Barge in my cellar.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): I've had some hit and miss experiences with various La Chapelles, but this was very much a hit. Lovely wine - quite mature, with red fruits, earth, a sauvage meaty character, and more savoury brothy notes coming together seamlessly on a medium weight palate. There's a faintly roasted tinge to the aromas here and it still feels a touch blocky and tannic on the back end, but the overall package is lovely to sit down with and explore with a bit of air.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Another blast of alcohol on the nose, though this clears somewhat with a couple of minutes in the glass and gives way to lots of rich red and black fruit and spicy notes. There's a roasted character to the fruit though, and the wine lacks freshness - I'm left wanting both acidity and a couple of degrees less alcohol here.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Couldn't get past the nose on this. A blast of acetone and rubbing alcohol. A sip tastes blisteringly hot, with the alcohol completely over the top and rendering it undrinkable for me.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Quite nice, easily my favorite of this flight. There's a savoury meaty, bacon fat-like aroma to this that leads into a palate that's medium weight and full of bright red fruit. The fruit still feels quite ripe and sappy, enough that I was guessing a newer Cali IPOB producer's Syrah here. Good, if a bit one-dimensional.

3/28/2024 - salil wrote:

WCC Syrah from around the world tasting (Clifton Park, NY): Wasn't much of a fan of this. The aromatics are quite unpleasant – strong oaky and slightly reductive, burnt rubber-like notes dominate dark fruit beneath. But the palate is better, showing cleaner black fruit and some coffee notes, though it still feels rather extracted and alcoholic.

3/25/2024 - salil wrote:

Another showstopper. I've had some variation with this wine, but this might have been the best showing I've ever had from it. A soft cork with a slightly odd smell had me worried for a second, but that worry dissipated once I poured the first glass. All the honey, orange marmalade, crème brulée, vanilla, and tropical fruited goodness of Sauternes in spades, and that luscious richness and power of Yquem. This isn't a light dessert wine and it's not trying to be one, it's showing off its power and intensity and botrytis, and it's absolutely spectacular. Just a perfect match with canelés de Bordeaux. I can't think of many wines that mirror the flavours of a dish as perfectly as Sauternes and canelés mirror each other.

3/25/2024 - salil wrote:

Ken double-decanted this a couple of hours before we had it. It was still tight, but kept opening aromatically after we decanted it again, and really hit its stride about 4 hours after being opened. Just a spectacular bottle of wine with haunting aromatic complexity, and a remarkable combination of power and finesse on the palate. The aromatics keep evolving - redder fruited at first, then turning darker and more herbal with some air, and eventually taking on more savoury sandalwood, balsamic, lightly spicy, and dried floral notes along with with a low-toned earthiness. The palate - well, just wow. Seamless. Everything comes together into a whole that's far beyond the sum of the flavour components, and there's a sense of restrained power here. Lots of intensity to the fruit, but still some tannic grip and faint bitterness on the back end. An incredible, thrilling wine.

3/25/2024 - salil wrote:

Double decanted an hour and a half before serving. Terrific old school claret here - black fruit, cedar, tobacco, greener herbal notes, and a more savoury earthy/graphite character all come together seamlessly on a medium weight frame. It's not a big wine, but there's remarkable intensity to the aromatics, and a striking palate presence with bright acids giving it a sense of lift and vibrancy. Lovely wine that still has years ahead - I'll hold my remaining bottles a while longer.

3/25/2024 - salil wrote:

Opened one to check in after I was a little alarmed by the note from MoselFineWines (and others) hinting at some heat. But this is showing beautifully - still lots of youthful, bright fruit, floral, and herbal notes framed by the start of more savoury developing smokiness and creaminess. It's not quite the mineral bomb that other Steinertals are - this one's a little more fruit forward, rounder on the palate, but absolutely delicious. Glad to have a few more of these.

3/22/2024 - salil wrote:

Showstopper of a Grüner, and a wow wine from the first sip. The aromatics are stunning - there's the classic Grüner white fruit and greener herbal/lightly vegetal character, but also sweeter floral and faintly honeyed and brown butter-like scents. And then there's the palate, which has a remarkable texture - broad, silky, almost oily in the way those old school white Burgs can be - with such intensity to the fruit and mineral flavours. Yeah, I definitely need more of this.

3/21/2024 - salil wrote:

Reductive and bitter, with a stinky burnt rubber topnote dominating the red fruit beneath, and a surprising amount of astringent tannin on the back end giving it a sour, slightly greenish (not in a good way) finish.

3/18/2024 - salil wrote:

Not quite the knockout that the '18 Langhe Rosso was, but still a very impressive wine and striking quality for this price level. This really needs time - initially rather mute aromatically, but a couple of hours in the decanter bring out bright floral and red berried flavours with higher-toned orange zest and herbal accents. The palate feels a touch lean with the tannin always clamping down a bit on the back end, and doesn't deliver quite the same depth or joy that the aromatics do. Still, a lovely wine with roast chicken and this has me excited to try out the higher-end Roagna bottlings at some point.

3/15/2024 - salil wrote:

Superb wine that just kept getting better and better as the evening went on. Double-decanted a few hours before serving and it clearly needed the air. First impressions at dinner were full of red fruit, both fresh red cherries and richer, macerated black cherry notes, but time brings out more high-toned floral and herbal notes, as well as a more savoury earthy aspect that emerges on the back end. It's surprisingly accessible - there's still some grainy tannin on the back end, but the texture's quite silky and it's very easy to drink with roast chicken.