4/8/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Give it some time to open up. It started to shin re after a four hours.

4/2/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Big tannins. Had with grilled steak. Full big round cherry on palate.

3/30/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking really well right now. Lots of fruit and very smooth. Well-balanced. Great value.

3/25/2024 - OhioNerd wrote:

I was expecting so much more. Double decanted, and tasted over several hours. Not much change from beginning to end. Rather thin and simple.

3/17/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Enjoyed. A little bit of damp cellar on the nose.
Still good fruit

3/17/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted.
Big long legs. Some fine sediment.
Nose: on opening- lots of wood. After 30 min this settled down some. Leather, dark fruit and vanilla.
Palate: Alcohol, big full fruit, blackberries and black pepper. Soft tannins and tobacco. Fairly well balanced.
Finish: moderate.
Very reminiscent of California wine with big fruit and high alcohol.
Won’t improve any from here.

3/3/2024 - OhioNerd Does not like this wine:

Meh
Serve to the wine chuggers in the room.
Most everything else they make is outstanding.

3/3/2024 - OhioNerd wrote:

Ok NY cab franc
Just passing peak.

3/3/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted 1 1/2 hrs prior to tasting.
Medium bodied, BIG floral nose, moderate tannins - softened with time.
Herbal with greenish red fruit (?) rubarb maybe?
Love the floral nose!
Enjoyed.

3/2/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking well.

2/25/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Seeing bottle variations. This one shows age but still has fruit without the strong leather and musk of my last bottle.
This bottle had good rich fruit long finish.

2/25/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Still drinking very well!
Fresh. Good acidity. smooth tannins. Good fruit.

2/25/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted 2 hrs prior to tasting.
Beautifully full round balanced dolcetto.

2/23/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Day 1: awkward and tight, even after over an hour in the glass.

Definitely a food wine (as expected)

Day 2: showing much better.
Nose- Floral raspberry and some menthol
Palate- bright cherry and raspberry, good acidity and moderate yet still harsh tannins. Moderate finish.

Needs a year or two in the cellar and will likely improve.

2/21/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

My first Nebbiolo from ‘22 vintage - hot and very dry.
Double decanted and tasted after 2 hrs.
Nose: dark cherry and floral
Big legs portended the big fruit and round mouth feel.
Palate: much more fruit forward and concentrated than a typical Nebbiolo langhe. Tannins are still a little harsh but should smooth out with a little cellaring. I had to go back and taste for acidity and balance because the fruit was so big - it’s good and I’m expectantly waiting to see how this wine will evolve with time.
91 for now but could increase over time.

2/19/2024 - OhioNerd wrote:

Double decanted 3 hrs before notes made
Nose: dark berries, menthol, vanilla and wood
Palate: fruit is not prominent, blueberry, blackberry, tannins still a little harsh early on. A little high on acidity. Finish is moderate.
Not sure it will improve much.

2/19/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted 45 minutes prior to tasting
Nose: Blackberry, blueberry, and wintergreen
Palate: dark, Barry, fruits and spice with moderate tenants. Big full and balanced with a moderately long finish.

2/19/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted and tasted after 45 minutes
Old vine garnacha.
Nose: dark cherry, raspberry and sage
Palate: Cherry raspberry and herbs with fresh mild tannins. Good acidity with a long finish.

2/19/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted for 45 minutes prior to tasting
Nose: floral, soft, baking, spices, and tart cherry with a hint of menthol
Palate: raspberry, tart, cherry, mild tenants with a moderate finish
Well, balanced and fairly typical Nebbiolo Lange

2/18/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Double decanted 1 hr prior to tasting.
Super Tuscan: Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.
Nose: spice, smoked oak, pomegranate/elderberry (dark fruit)
Palate: dark fruit, spice, moderate tannins, (harsh on opening w/o decanting) vanilla on finish, full yet balanced.
Long finish

Better and better as evening progressed. Wow!

2/17/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Too young but wanted to try while I could still get more.
Wow! Opened up into a beautiful floral and spice nose. Big round fruit - blueberry and blackberry.
Tannins are a little harsh at first but should mellow out nicely with some cellaring.
Well balanced with good acidity should give it plenty opportunity to improve over the next few years.

2/5/2024 - OhioNerd wrote:

Heavy leather nose.
Palate was good.
Hopefully the next one is better

1/29/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Definitely improving!

1/28/2024 - OhioNerd wrote:

Simple but good Italian wine. Needed a little time after opening to open up and give what it had.

1/27/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

I agree with Sleepyhaus notes. Nice, but I was expecting more.

1/26/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

50/50 blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera.
Still young - it took a full 2 hrs to balance out after opening. I’ll wait a year or so prior to opening the next one and then decant. High acidity at first along with being disjointed. After a couple hours the Barbera started rounding out the palate and the wine started to show off what it may become. This is definitely a wine for food - I had with flatiron steak and it paired well.
I’d give it a 87-89 right now but hoping it will improve once it gets out of its awkward phase.

1/16/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Started off a little rustic. Transformed over the next couple hours into a beautiful Grenache.

1/16/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking beautifully.

1/16/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Big spicy and jammy.

1/14/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

My first four bottles had some must on the nose upon opening. Couple did not blow off.
This one opened up beautifully. Definitely the best of the half case so far.
Nice big round full Barbara d’Alba.

1/8/2024 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking very well. Much more acidity and brighter than I expected. Lots of raspberry.

12/19/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking well after 2 hours from opening.

12/14/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Comments from last two reviews are on target. Tannins there but softening.

11/28/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Beautiful big balanced Malbec. Good on 1st and 2nd day.

11/20/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Very nice well-balanced and round Barbara d’Alba.

11/20/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Hand carried this back from the Loire in 2012. I was told by the village shopkeeper that it was very tight and that if I wanted to drink it soon I should open it 48 hrs prior to drinking. So I decided to cellar it for a decade.
My patience paid off. I opened the wine about three hours before our meal. Very perfumed with a some vegetable and medicinal flavors on the palate when first open.
I then decanted into a wide bottom carafe for 3-hrs prior to dinner.
The vegetable and medicinal elements faded away leaving a beautifully balanced, big and smooth old world wine.

11/20/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

From a magnum. Decanted 2 hr prior to serving with our meal. Drank extremely well throughout the evening.
Smooth integrated tannins, well balanced, long finish and evolved so wonderfully during the meal.
No signs of age on this bottle. In a perfect place.

11/19/2023 - OhioNerd wrote:

Showing its age. Drank fairly well the first night not so much the next.

11/19/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Still drinking well.

10/28/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Decanted and gave it a couple hours to blow off some funk.
Definitely in the aged wine category and drinking well. Leather and plumb on the nose. Big and round on the palate.well balanced. Won’t improve much. Long finish.
Drink up with a nice meal.

10/22/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

No ideas what to expect on this auction buy (that got buried in my cellar.)
Drinking quite well. Super smooth Rhône blend. Nice color. Leather over raspberry and cherry. Still has nice fresh fruit and well balanced with nice minerality and very smooth tannins. Medium to long finish.

10/14/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Took a bit to settle down after opening but still drinking well.

9/18/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking very well !

9/11/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Drinking very well. Big and round.

9/11/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

A little past peak. Better on day 2.

9/4/2023 - OhioNerd wrote:

Big, juicy, too much oak imho.

9/1/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Same as before. Wonderful Barbera d’Alba.

9/1/2023 - OhioNerd wrote:

Elegant Vibrant Beautiful
Evolved and improved through the evening.

8/31/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Still drinking fairly well but showing its age. I think I enjoyed it more when it was younger. I need to finish off my last bottle.

8/31/2023 - OhioNerd Likes this wine:

Still drinking well, but showing his age. Drink up.