3/14/2020 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Delicious paired with spaghetti with bottarga. Perfectly balanced right now.

1/10/2020 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Yet another divine bottle of Filippo Sobrero, as good as an incredible bottle of the 64 some years back. Delicate, spicy, fresh.

1/3/2020 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

An extraordinarily vigorous and youthful wine for its age. Explosive. Double-decanted for 3 hours. This 1990 far outshone a recent bottle of the 1989.

11/22/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Another very good bottle of this wine. By contrast, Ledru's 2009 Cuvée du Goulté is less ready to drink at the moment.

10/29/2019 - Ben H. wrote:

The B. Mascarello Dolcetto usually ages well but I preferred the 2016 better on release based on multiple recent bottles.

11/1/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Drinking very well at the moment.

10/29/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Powerful, long finish, marvellous texture. Still relatively youthful.

11/1/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

2 recent bottles were less expressive than on release. Maybe the wine is entering a closed period. It is still lovely.

10/24/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

One of those bottles of wine that seems to have an extra level. Alive and shifting, eluding description, it would have been hard to pinpoint if drunk blind. (Decanted for 2 hours after seeming oaky upon opening.)

10/28/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

A bottle that was full of vigour, with the typical laciness of older Cappellano Barolo. Even better on day 2 despite having been double-decanted for 7 hours the first night.

10/14/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Everything in harmony. Younger than Ledru's 2006 Brut Nature, but very much ready to drink also.

10/10/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Lived up to the hype. Extremely delicious and complex.

10/6/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Very enjoyable now, so vibrant and light.

10/7/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

One of the best bottles of Overnoy-Houillon I’ve drunk. An electric wine.

10/9/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

A more sweet-fruited vintage. Delicious all the same.

10/11/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Such a beautiful wine. Double-decanted for 6 hours. Reminded me of Poulsard with its rose petals.

10/2/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Still young. A powerful style.

8/23/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Drinking very nicely, smelled just like a spice bazaar.

8/13/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Previous bottles last year were ungiving but this svelte wine has now opened up and is drinking beautifully (based on two more recent bottles).

8/13/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Powerful almost pungent Champagne with a remarkably long finish. Didn’t pair that well with delicate fish.

8/8/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

As good as ever. The 2014 Briords is the complete package.

8/8/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Delightful but I made the mistake of decanting, which shortened the window of enjoyment. Won't decant in the future as Lopez de Heredia Gran Reservas of this age don't seem to have any sediment and can be fragile.

8/8/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Drinking perfectly just now.

8/8/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Not so long ago the 2015 hadn't shut down and was lovely. Not anymore, judging by this bottle.

7/18/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

A beautiful, nervy, and also very savory vintage for this wine.

7/14/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Liked this very much. A little fatter than the 2014 Montbenault but also more ready to drink.

7/16/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

I find this to be a comforting wine, year in and year out. Nothing loud about it but deeply satisfying.

7/17/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Drinking great now with a short decant. Vibrant, shimmering wine. This and the Chitry have been my favorites of the De Moor 2014s

7/19/2019 - Ben H. wrote:

Either an off bottle or the wine is going through a closed period, unlike a recent bottle of the 1996.

4/20/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Very expressive now. This bottle reminded me of lemon meringue pie.

4/18/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

This has opened up and is drinking great now. A little flesh to it, in a pleasant way.

4/20/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Best after an hour open when it was singing.

4/2/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

In perfect shape after a short decant. Powerful while remaining fresh. My previous bottle, drunk in 2017, was too young.

3/7/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

A wine that was somewhat stern upon release but this bottle suggests it's now ready. Barbera resembling Barolo.

2/19/2019 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

2010 base. This bottle was in a great place, no longer austere, less evidently Brut Nature. Maybe the 2010 base could age longer but I like it the way it is now.

12/25/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

A typically electric Ledru champagne but where aging has softened its edges a little.

12/16/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

2012 base vintage, disgorged 06/2015. Racy and austere at first, this bottle showed very well after about an hour open. Shellfish, and amaretti biscuits on the nose, a creamy texture.

11/23/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Tasted, appropriately, like cranberry. A crowd-pleaser. Stony, very delicate for Trousseau.

11/16/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Delicious at the moment. Spices and crystalline fruit.

10/30/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

This bottle seemed remarkably young when decanted for several hours. Fresh, elegant, some perceptible tannin. Brambly and digeste.

10/23/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

In a great place now.

9/26/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Large-scaled initially but fresh and balanced after being decanted for an hour. Brambly fruit. Lovely, rounded texture.

7/2/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Like coiled energy. More lemony and creamy with time open. Faintly burnished in color.

6/28/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Fresher than my previous bottle several years ago. Not stern but still young. Bursting with fruit. Delicious.

6/23/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

The 2014 Silex Noir currently seems a lot less giving than the 2014 Déronnières.

6/19/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

In a great place now with a short decant and could improve further. The 2009, unlike some other vintages of this wine, seems to have needed a few years after release to fully harmonize.

6/15/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

9 hours double-decanted. Mesmerizing energy and power for a wine of its age. A deep color (like other notes on larger format bottles), darkening further with air. Aside from cherry and clove, an atmospheric smell, strong but hard to pin down. A pungent taste of cherry and its pit, initially a little astringent but smoothing out as the texture turned to satin. The wine filled the mouth, puckering clove and mustard seed in addition to the fruit, and was more savory toward the end of the bottle.

6/14/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

This showed well after being open for an hour, the texture a little more plush than it was on release. Pure, raspberry fruit.

5/30/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

Like some other bottles of Cappellano Barolo I've had from the 60s and 70s, this 1970 was both delicate and remarkably intense. The bottle had a short, inch-long cork. After about 8 hours double-decanted, the smell made me imagine a freshly-baked cherry frangipane tart sitting on the counter. Earlier the wine was sweeter but bright: roses, fennel seed, and kirsch. Lacy-textured, almost transparent in color.

5/16/2017 - Ben H. Likes this wine:

More delineated on day two, and seeming like it would benefit from further aging, but very enjoyable now all the same. Texturally, both light-bodied and faintly oily, echoing the wine's vivid, fresh fruit and green olive.