5/2/2024 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

now rich, round, fragrant, slightly plummy perhaps, utterly delicious; my wife feels it is the best she has had since our heyday of purchasing and later consuming select big guns from the 1980s

4/4/2024 - davidrmoran wrote:

better and better

4/4/2024 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe 94

how can this last bottle be so different, or perhaps it just a little more age (can it be??)

terrifically deep and sharp or at least with that yummy edge CF adds

had w rare-lamb sandwiches sauced w light mustard-horseradish-garlic-mayo-yogurt spread, could hardly stop drinking it

12/27/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Better with lots of air. I found it meh (like many others) at pours day 1 and day 2, but then following another cold cycle and day 3 pour into a proper large bordeaux glass and an hour of air while I toasted v good whole-wheat bread and prepared salted garlic oil, voila !

Possibly 88.

RVoss long ago said drink 2023ff, and guess what.

I would analyze as lots of cabernet sauvignon (it finishes like it) but he says a fair amount of cab franc, and from its being near St Emilion one might also conclude lots merlot?

Anyway, it does not taste like most St Emilions, and while not complex does have good, not great, nose and good, not great, finish. Sturdy, deep blackcurrant, low tannin by now (end of '23). A case for $8 ea? sure.

12/24/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

I expected a little bit better. Tasty and fully of the VN type, meaning deep, good sangiovese with no chianti acidity (of course, smooth and rich. Kind of one-note au fond, or at least there was nothing but the same all the way down and to the end. I see that I was expecting a touch of complexity through the finish, as I have experienced with other VN. Whatever. A nice Italian red which will please and prove instructive to naive drinkers.

12/8/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe 91, as on the label

a nice balanced low-fruit bordeaux, $8 at costco, dry with no particular flavors one way or the other, pleasantly chalky but not grossly tannic

improves with air, of course, and on day 2 (refrigerated)

it is so ungrapy and neutrally balanced that you will want to have it with roasted things and nothing too acidic or red-sauced (of course)

11/6/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Maybe higher, Had over several nights with various dishes. A little (faint) grapiness and vegetal for a bordeaux of this age, maybe but a fine finish otherwise and some edgy stone and complex currant fruit.

11/6/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Nice start, nice nose, and nice finish with some edge and minerality and complexity. But in between, drinking with food (pasta and chorizo) simply too big and blunt and fruity-grapy. Almost syrupy.
For some reason I did not cut with a bit of water, which should help.

10/19/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Ah, patience! Who among us has that?

Anyway, this is, now, a top-tier, comparatively simple, yummy cab bordeaux. Not cab in the California sense, of course, being drier. Also complex, though many cabs elsewhere around the globe can be that. (Going way back, to 1982, I have drunk a '78 Stags' Leap, and while I don't know if that was the one which won the competition in France, I do distinctly recalled being totally knocked out by its finesse and layers and complexity and all that.) Anyway2, readers who have any of this left can probably ignore previous downgrades here and elsewhere. This is wonderful drinking, at least with roasted meats and such.

10/11/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

I have never had a better bordeaux at 3yo. It too is of the style I favor, austerely mineraly, tending to the low in fruit, complicated and balanced and quite refreshing at the finish. (Inexpensive at Costco.) All sorts of foods it will not complement, but it matched superbly w chicken and sweet onions in dijon-yogurt sauce. It is so tasty now that I fear what might happen as it ages, that it might go through awkward stages and be less pleasing and classy than now. :)

10/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

perfection of the type --- dry, austere, not fruitless, just modest and restrained, almost severe (stony, sour, while still complicated)

I love this kind of classic old-school bordeaux, medoclike, frankly, but care in pairing is entailed (roast meats chiefly, etc.)

9/30/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

plummy --- fruity-plummy on the first two days and then drier, haut-medoc plummy the next two servings

some complexity, but plumminess dominated

I assumed all merlot and not particularly of a dry French treatment either, more some other country ... but then was v surprised, to put it mildly, that it is like half cab and has some CF thrown in with the merlot

so nothing like every other bordeaux blend of those grapes, hmm

also not much like other complex austere somewhat stony haut-medocs I have had

others mention cocoa and herbaceousness below, and yes to both

9/3/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

A deep, tasty, rather one-note, rounded bordeaux; I see some bottlings are a blend of cab and merlot and a touch of pv, and I would say (would have said) this was merlot-heavy or at least the cab rounded so much as to resemble something merlot-heavy. Long deep nose and general depth of experience, though not notably complex. I expected a bit better (more variety perhaps) but was glad to have several of these and now finish them off.

8/30/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Terrific now, exactly what I want in a modest bordeaux --- deeply flavorful with a fine sour edge, duly complex and richly finishing to the extent that it is hard to believe it's only merlot. Not a big nose, but a fancier reviewer than I speaks of its 'iron-laced satin', a phrase worth recycling for sure.

I have had good luck w cotes de bordeaux over the last 45y, and this is one peak without question. Refreshing, crisp, strong, dark and sour, with zero grapy roundedness. Actually probably has some years left.

I will note (this is an edit / add after night 2) that it tastes quite like any number of other equally tasty bordeaux. So I guess part of my enthusiasm is that I have been drinking a lot of my fancier 2015s the last half-year, and alas many of them (however pleasing) have been kind of imbalanced to my taste, with different overall tendencies toward thickness, fruitiness, grapiness, ... unrefreshing. Not this guy. So possibly discount my findings a little or put them in that context.

8/20/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

3y later on, rather different --- a tasty (showing a bit more finesse and seriousness) but a rather one-note and uncomplicated pour. Not grapy, exactly, dry-fruity though pronounced fruit, and now awfully strong in its single merlot note. (Writeups say some CF, but you coulda fooled me.) Improves w a splash of water for sure. 15%, eesh. Why, Lord?

8/19/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

On the label they write of its being near St-E, but even with the high merlot it does not taste like most St-Emilions. While typical and dry in the French-style treatment of merlot, it has a grave accent (sorry) of serious earth and sober deep finish. I love that part, surely due the cab franc.
Anyway, pretty fine, must be paired carefully (low acid, to this palate anyway), but a tasty and satisfying drink of the type, and might age for another year or three. Possibly 92 to some tastes.

7/29/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

**this is for the 2017**

Maybe 88. Underwhelming, nothing initially outstanding at all or even notable, but then it grows on you as a solid, no-fault, quaffable bordeaux. I expected and hoped for better given the age, but tasted no complexity or burred edge or depth. Nose prominent, simple; finish simple and of the many grapes. Interesting such a blend over time only became simple(r).

7/25/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe 91

very fruity but the least-offputting of fruitiness one can find (no grapiness, no imbalance, no 'one-noteness', no bomblike excess)

over the evening it seemed to become slightly drier, in fact, developing crispness and complexity

will be buying more

7/21/2023 - davidrmoran wrote:

I sure would like to know the size of the bonus the Mondavi marketing kid got a few years for saying in a meeting, 'Hey, I know, let's age one of our cab offerings in bourbon barrels. Big sales pitch point and what can go wrong?'

I'm dumbfounded at the multistar reviews this gets from customers of large chains. The cabernet tasted undistinguished to me, but with entirely detectable (not large) grapy and slightly vegetal notes. Otherwise flavorful, thick California cab. And then the grapy-vegetal tinge gets augmented / tinged by the faint popcorn-caramel thing that all bourbon provides. The result: not good, not good at all. Maybe 85; going to have some more tonight, seeing whether I don't wince.

6/26/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

yummy and also refreshing, none of the grape types notably, meaning a fine blend of nominally the rustic sort, if that's not a contradiction. Wish I had more.

6/26/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

one year later, a very refreshing drink --- how I love well-cone cab franc, and the merlot is the perfect complement. With good chicken in a lightly spiced salsa-type sauce. Wish I had a case. Dry and tasty finish and flavorful in 'opposition' to the food.

5/29/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Rather imbalanced and syrupy, the merlot not dry as in most other bordeaux and the 1/4 cab franc unable to add enough spice (acid, gravel, etc.). A bit of a grapy nose for something 8y in.
Still, pretty nice washing down sirloin, more than other menu items. I would however be bummed to have bought a case.

5/1/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

still austere and deep and not so easy to match with foods other than the most serious roasts, I thought

long finish but only of a deep haut medoc well, not complex with bouquets

satisfying and tasty, not refreshing; has time left, imo

5/1/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

not as strong w grass and grapefruit notes as some SBs, giving a classy and comparatively restrained feel

ultimately a bit grapy by the end, though

4/27/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Now it seems to have come more into its own, just the classiest and tastiest and 'savoriest' --- while still restrained, not big and strong --- barolo I have ever had. (This isn't the voice of huge experience, please note.) The bruited barolo flavors are all present in harmony and complexity, florals and a touch of burned dirt or something, but nothing too pronounced or in competition w the foods. Maybe a 94. Wish v much I had a case and more.

4/23/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

superb 'unimportant' drinking

as before, and maybe a 93

all the savvy bordeaux drinkers at table raved (w roast lamb, potatoes, garlic-mustard-yogurt-hummus sauce) more than the last time

as I have preached elsewhere, the cab franc and hint of petit verdot must be what does it

complex, deep, refreshing, light touch (not overwhelming taste), savory upon reflection, yada

4/18/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

wonderfully tasty dry and long-finish sour-dry cahors, with the merlot adding complexity and class to the malbec

nothing at all like the one-note malbecs from SA (save for bousquet)

a wonderful bordeauxlike red with various meats, wish I had over a case

4/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe higher depending on your inclination toward dry and restrained SB

despite all my kvetching about big and rich SBs, this was simply not enough for me, and became grapyish by the end

4/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

depends --- big rich classy SB, grass and hay and straw, oh, my,

ultimately too much for me (spoiled by the restraint of say giesen)

for some reason did not blend well w kiwi cuvee, which is an exceedingly dry and restrained SB

4/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe 89

big but not too, fruity but not too, fat but not too, exceedingly tasty very good california chardonnay, not oily, some crispness ... ultimately still too much by the end, for my taste

it improves cut with a little water or a little plain good pinot grigio (belvino in my case, but you can't ever tell anyone)

4/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

crispy spritzy at the start w good chard taste, but unpolished and grapy by the end

4/10/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Now an austere and rather somber pomerol, not really what one would call complicatedly tasty or packed with variety, but fine of the type, elegant, smooth, polished, deep straightforward nose; again w roast lamb leg sauced w mustard-garlic-oo-lemon-soy-yogurt-hummus-thyme+rosemary.

3/15/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

this is actually for the 2017, not an option here

just a very nice non-austere bordeaux-style red, chiefly cab franc, a yummy taste and good gulpy food wine

perhaps a bit one-note, and faintly sweet w some acidic foods (not fruity, really, but I am trying to convey something w 'non-austere')

good nose and finish and complex smells

again, recommending buying modest wines and letting them age

maybe 90

3/15/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

The high rating is only because (something I don't always do) I followed my wine-life guideline of buying modest bottles and then leaving them alone for a few years, probably more than the consumer norm.

Anyway, this is now become an interesting and deep and complicated-tasting modest CdR, not past prime at all, though I would not cellar it another 4y. About to have w red-lentil pasta w spicy garlicky pesto.

3/2/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

perfectly fine classic drink, not a ton of complexity, but without any faults; at its peak (not a lot of fine time left probably); powerful enough for red sauces, maybe a 91 now

I do wish I had more, but would want to pay <$15

2/23/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

wonderful light bright nebbiolo, perfect drinking now and should be for a while, cherry and similar flavors and smells but with seriousness of finish

color is like fake movie wine, more than any nebbiolo I have ever had

had w whole-wheat pasta w red sauce, and it has enough acid to cope with that easily, though possibly a 91, I suppose

no sweetness per se to my bottle, although no, it is not french

1/29/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

It's not that it's light, thin, small, or flat, just level and even and muted. Improves greatly with air and no need to drink soon, it'll last. Not like other merlots, not like st-e or pomerol or anything from this country, a refreshing bordeaux but without flavor distinctions or indeed other distinction. (Tastes good, just not complex or fruity or acid or tannic or anything.) If you do acquire be sure it is a good price, like $15 or less.

1/27/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

v nice red blend which as someone pointed out sure does modulate over time

started out pointedly spritzy, the way some reds do, a bit strangely, to throw one off

then (and the next days) that wanes and the wine becomes complex and pleasing with different foods

(weak vague review, sorry!)

1/27/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

wine-flavored chocolate milk

very nice if you like that sort of thing

the next day and two it grew a bit more complex and less monolithic in its shiraziness

certainly can overwhelm a wide range of food, so wee sips, wee sips

1/27/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

What he said.

I had hoped to be knocked out more, had w good rare steak, and while it did not seem so pomerol-y, it was mature and well-balanced w leather and some fruit and carob notes at the finish.
And now I know I do not have to drink my last bottle of it soon.

1/6/2023 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

perfection

(some newbies gotta newb)

balanced, full, typical, with crunch, with leathery complexity in the finish from the touch of CF

So much so that you would think that all straightahead high-value cab-merlot bordeaux would add some CF, just based on this alone

fine drinking now, and will be really something in a few years (still holding my 2015)

12/27/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

My learning experiences w nebbiolo continue.

Enjoyed this with rare tenderloin and onions. Still a fair amount of tannin but atop that was a thick drink, not maderized but close, not past-prime but maybe close (who knows?), an almost old-bordeauxlike wine with deep 'solventy' nose and long legs. The color of diluted prune juice almost; see photo. Not an easy match with other food.

I was almost put off by its singular strength and power, but in a restaurant everyone would have raved about its depth and class.

All this in year 7, for heaven's sake.

So drink now or let age further several years and then report whether it has gone completely solventy.

Ultimately it reminded me of a few years ago when I helped excavate a large wine cellar for auction sale, numerous famous growths, myself retrieving the stray 1950s and 1960s burgundy and bordeaux bottle whose label degradation made them unsuitable for redealing. Impressive liquid, instructive, not pleasant, not turned and not sherried but approaching that state, viscous and notably brick-edged and rich in oils and alcohols. I gave one such bottle to one of my favorite vintners, with some apology, and he said he had seriously enjoyed it but most of all had learned further about the natural course of serious wine in its 5th-6th decade.

12/22/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Whoa, this may be really something: big, fruity but not excessively, very well-balanced, and with tannin. Exciting to find, and just unbelievable value. Refreshing now and fully of the type, only less restrained.

When younger and foolisher I drank several 1982s at year 3 or so, a wonderful learning experience but dumb (I'd bought many futures), especially (say) with Pauillacs. I would not go so as to say this is that, but the memory came immediately to mind, that the odds are high this is going to be major down the road. If I had more predictive confidence I would give it a 93.

Costco's 4-packs of bordeaux appear gone, but they also have Ch Ribebon at very low pricing, and it too is solid (bright and quite dry and restrained), but this is the one I am going to get more of.

Day 2 add: I always suspect my enthusiasms, and it may turn out that this lacks the depth and complexity and nuance yada yada of the greats (it better!) and attests to the triumph of formula. Still, it was something, big and full and mouth-filling with less fruit and the same pleasing tannin. (Nebbiololike in that regard, actually.) Gonna get more regardless.

What are we consumer drinkers going to do if we are entering a golden time of inexpensive bordeaux?

12/8/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

A very smooth and tasty langhe, perhaps a little one-note and, while deep and rich, not complicated.
The producer is reliably yummy and tending to the soft, in my experience.
I don't know if there is year consistency, but I assume so, and would buy cases at low pricing ($20US or so).
This bottle was wonderful, again simple but so yummy. Had w speedy bolognese over mirepoix.

12/8/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

maybe 88

Blunt, fizzy, so I fridged it for several months and then revisited, and while it was improved, it was still tending to the blunt and fizzy, nothing like what I hoped or would expect as to complexity or nuance or finish.
If I had paid $80 or whatever at a restaurant I would've been bummed.

11/20/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

Tremendously tasty. Has more deep earth and leather (orange tint) notes than others of the grape. Akin (slightly) to an older tempranillo or lighter aged bordeaux, but w more nebbiolo bright bite in the long, smooth finish. A lovely, yummy wine (roast chicken and potatos, provence herbs), and I wish I had several cases. Long and deep nose also, again compared w others nebbiolos. Wow. Maybe a 93, actually.

11/15/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

As with my last fancy aged nebbiolo, I found this drink simply blunt and bright. After lots of air this is ! Not unsuitable w food, just kinda uninteresting.

The other reviews have been helpful, though I wish the most recent had scored it.

I had it some w parmesaned peppers-celery-onions-garlic, and stopped, to stick in the fridge for a month or three, alongside the first Carema or whatever it was. I gotta get smarter about nebbiolo and leaving it alone for ... a decade always ??

So blunt and bright was it that you would never ever know it was 7yo, even if you were a way more experienced nebbiolo drinker than I.

[Critic tasting note: "Underbrush, tilled soil, camphor and new leather aromas mingle together in the glass. Firmly structured and austere, the linear palate features sour cherry, orange zest and licorice alongside tightly wound fine-grained tannins. Drink 2021–2027.
(91/100, Wine Enthusiast)]

I concur in all this, hopefully, looking ahead, but especially the descriptor 'tightly wound'. Everything about my bottle was tightly wound, everything. (87)

Update 4 days later:

As so often happens, you'd think I'd learn, several fridged days later and an hour-plus of air at table, and it calmed down and became a fully enjoyable nebbiolo. Not terribly complex maybe, and not something you (I) would enjoy alone, without food, but very pleasing with slightly spicy ground chicken and salad.

11/8/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

tremendous stuff

I opened before commencing lamb rack barbecue and with an early sip thought it was unexcitingly superdry and low-keyed w a flat profile ...

and then an hour later served it w the meat and minted garlic potatoes and it was a knockout, really something: deep and intense, perhaps slightly one-note, but the powerful essence of unfruity st emilion.

10/15/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

... but not yet!

Had it the other night w chicken cacciatore, and while it was tasty of the type and style it was more blunt and big, approaching relaxed yumminess and complexity only with 90min or more of air. Wife liked it greatly on first pour (20min after opening) and noted its smoothness. I expected it to be a little more settled and inviting at nominal year 6. I am putting the second bottle I brought up back into the cellar for another year or 4.

9/17/2022 - davidrmoran Likes this wine:

2y later, a fine exemplary st emilion --- big and soft, thick-tasting and maybe even a touch syrupy, but very tasty (good tastes, no drawbacks) if not complex merlot as handled in france and nowhere else

of the type only fatter, and at a noticeable 15% it does benefit w a cut of cool water (there oughtta be a law)

I am readily swayed by experts, so perhaps I will have my last bottle in a few more years, given this historical gush:

https://www.klwines.com/p/i?cid=EML-4pg&i=1253274

and you coulda fooled me about having any CF