5/29/2023 - Dalex Likes this wine:

This is really in a good place and worth opening. Plenty of dark blackberry fruit. Some tar and creosote surrounded by refined tannins. Not austere and drank well on its own or with food.

5/27/2023 - Dalex wrote:

This is unique to say the least. Consumed over 4 hours. There were times when this was almost sweet, with bright lemon fruit, but at the end it’s lean and astringent. Well made wine with all the grower qualities one might like such as pure crystalline fruit and such a long clean finish. I like it and would enjoy exploring other wines from this grower.

5/26/2023 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Large scale wine. Fig, currants and ripe blackberries. Some tannins present so a few years would help. Italian version of a Turley zin. This is great but it’s a beast.

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
elegant and refined, pretty cherry and plum fruit

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th

entirely too young, good potential

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
Short finish, not sure what’s going on here. Not showing well

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
beautiful wine with sweet dark plumb fruit

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
not ready, thin and not showing well, shocked to find out it was opened and decanted 6 hours prior. This needs another decade if not more

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
Asphalte on the nose, some violets, very long finish

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
-spicy nutmet and curry flavors, gorgeous long finish, Christmas fruitcake flavors, contendor for top wine of the evening

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
elegant and silky, refined, absolutely gorgeous, arguably the top wine of the evening

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
meaty and rich, slightly restrained nose, slightly acidic, sweet finish, pretty strawberry fruit

5/16/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th
Faint nose, so Burgundian, like a 10 year old vosne romanee, so pretty and elegant. Amazing quality considering the age of this and being the base wine.

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th.
Gorgeous nose, palate of blackberry and fig. Full and long finish.

4/13/2023 - Dalex wrote:

Gaja Dinner with Yarom and the gang at Locanda Veneta on April 13th. 12 Gaja's opened.
Secondary flavors on the nose, not my favorite of the evening.

2/14/2023 - Dalex Does not like this wine:

Consumed over 2 days. Better the first day as there was some brighter fruit. Second day, this is just a large scale syrah-like wine sign very dark fruit tones. Not interesting and way too heavy handed for me.

1/8/2023 - Dalex Does not like this wine:

This felt candied and cloying. Like they were going for the big house style but missed the oxidative nutty notes. And just a sweet cloying taste under some nice lemon fruit.

8/27/2022 - Dalex wrote:

This was silky, polished and elegant with bight dark cherry fruit. The bottle quickly disappeared. Stunned at the quality here.

7/9/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Drank as part of the Kutch vertical with Frank. This is a gorgeous wine picked before the fires so no smoke damage here. This is pure class with big cherry fruit, a long silky finish and a ton of refinement. I loved it and it should drink early with a long drinking window as well.

7/9/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

We drank a vertical of the 2017-2021. The 2020 is more lean then the 2018 and 2019 and more akin to the 2017. This is as close to Chablis as you are going to get in the new world with piercing minerality, sharp lemon fruit and such a clean finish. Picked before the fires so zero smoke damage or influence. This is lovely.

5/17/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Another amazing bargain from the balanced wine close out sale. This had some serious weight to it yet balanced enough old world expression and character to keep thing interesting. Pepperoni pizza wine here.

5/8/2022 - Dalex wrote:

Score Fatigue is a real thing. I just had 2 glasses of this. While I liked it, Here’s the kicker: RP 99 And it’s A 92 at best in my opinion.

But it’s bright, clean, has a gorgeous nose of thyme and sage, with a slight lingering of oak on the palate. It’s not the wine’s fault that Erin from Parker hung a 99 on it, but just warning everyone not to expect Coche or Roulot here.

Chasing scores is for fools and I feel like one for expecting the wine to live up to the score.

2/21/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Consumed over 2 days. Initially it was much brighter and round and after a few hours, almost seemed to become more lean and reticent. Remaining 1 glass into the fridge and the next day it was consumed. It blossomed a bit overnight with brighter more fruit but still a ton of acidity. Hold other bottles 3+ years.

2/6/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Consumed over 2 days and best today. Especially as it warmed up. A bit too acidic when it was cold and just opened. With an extra day and a bit warmer some nice strawberry fruit emerged

2/4/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Gorgeous wine. Bright strawberry fruit with enough acidity and brioche to keep things in balance.

2/6/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Very pretty wine. Not a ton of acidity which makes me question its age worthy ness. But great fruit, just a hint of oak and nice lemon and citrus

1/23/2022 - Dalex wrote:

Sitting in a wine bar/store across from our hotel in a ski town in Austria 6 bottles of this were for sale at a reasonable price so we had to try, even though this was infanticide at this point in its life. Taking the notes of other posters here, we opened on one night and poured 2 small glasses which we let sit open for a few hours. Cork went back into the bottle which sat overnight at room temperature.

Day1- obviously this was tight and highly strung with piercing minerality. Good Lord the nose was gorgeous-hay, wildflowers and freshly cut grass.

Day 2- probably should have left the cork out all night. Still tight but wow this showed so much better as the fruit was soaring and so many tropical fruit flavors. Slightly off-dry this wine has so much going on.

Summary-hold for 5+ years and still give it plenty of air.

1/23/2022 - Dalex Likes this wine:

This was interesting. Highly recommended by our waitress at the hotel we stayed at on Saint Anton. She decanted this for several hours in advance. A really interesting funky barnyard nose. Almost Cayuse-like (Bionic frog came to mind). There was more oak present then I like and I dropped a few points for that. This is a Bordeaux blend and the Cabernet really blended well with the Austria varietals. Like the nose, their was a palate of meat with bright blackberry fruit and spice. Great and unique wine.

12/27/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Initially upon opening there wasn’t much fruit. Later in the day the dark brambly blackberries emerged. This is no blockbuster but a pretty wine. Some nice spices and nutmeg to round things off.

12/24/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Possibly past prime, but the yeasty brioche notes pulled its weight through a meal. Ok on its own but it lacked fruit or much finesse. Much better with food.

12/27/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

While this was enjoyable, it drank like a $50 grower champagne. Poor qpr here and didn’t really live up the Prevost name. Consumed over 2 days. Air and time made minimal impact, which was a bit odd. Thought it would show more the following day.

12/25/2021 - Dalex Does not like this wine:

Geeze this is so so marginal. What a disappointing way to end 13 years of aging a wine

Thin, minimal vosne spice (would have been nice to have that against Christmas stuffing), minimal fruit and an awkward finish.

11/24/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Gorgeous bottle. At or slightly off peak. Drank great for 6 hours with no decanting at all. Still great fruit and plenty of backbone including some smoke, garrigue, dark plum.

11/17/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

A pleasant wine but nothing exciting. Some light strawberry notes and a clean finish. Kind of biased as this was consumed next to the Ulysse Collin Maillons which is a crazy good wine so not a fair comparison.

10/3/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

This was amazing. And….my wife opened it last night when I wasn’t home so, after a day of being in the fridge, it’s still singing. Wow

9/16/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Ripe Napa cab made in typical mike smith style. Not overly extracted but certainly ripe and sweet with nice blackberry notes and some milk chocolate notes. This is interesting as it’s stayed at the same level for over 24 hours and it was heavily decanted.

9/7/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Wins the completion of worlds heaviest bottle.

What’s inside isn’t nearly as exciting, but certainly a well made wine from great Santa Maria fruit. Smoky nose, tart and sour cherry, and a nice lingering finish. Slightly heavier then the average Pinot but very balanced with barely a hint of oak

8/19/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

This was enjoyable and is well into its secondary stage. Fruit is mostly burned off and some nice charcoal and plum fruit. This is a bit more austere then I expected. Opened up slightly with a few hours to just deliver a bit more cinnamon on the finish

7/31/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

This is a delicate and very lovely Pinot yet retains tons of bright fruit. Love it.

7/6/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Wow. Glad I have one more. This has such rich raspberry fruit. Can’t believe it!

7/2/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

So clean and bright yet just enough of the brioche finish to remind you that this is a multi layered champagne from a top vintage. Consumed over two days. Drastically better on day 2. Love this.

6/26/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Wow is this amazing. Popped and poured and this does a bit better with a little chill.

Hard to really describe how gorgeous this is. Nose has a potent cinnamon and earthy almost vegetal (and I know that might not sound enticing) nose. The palate is filled with nutmeg, all spice, turkey (funny it reminds me of thanksgiving turkey and the flavors of the spice mix in the stuffing, yes this is unusual). Finish, nothing remarkable but clean, long and lovely

This is the most bizarre note I’ve ever posted but this is a unique wine and deserves your attention.

6/19/2021 - Dalex wrote:

Potentially this wine is going through a dumb face as it’s heavily reduced. Consumed over 4 days with some improvement at the end but this is tight and not yielding much which is really a surprise. Big Aubert fan but not sure what to make out of this wine.

6/25/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Big rich wine. From corovin so hard to say if it’s been steady. lemon curd flavors. Not my favorite showing but still a beauty

6/25/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Drank well immediately with no major change over the next 2 hours. Absolutely stunning nose. Beautiful mouth of typical burgundy dark fruits, grilled meats and forest floor flavors. the weakness was a relatively short finish.

6/23/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Most pycm are really reduced but this was generous, almost rich, and has a great peppery nutmeg finish that was interesting as it was almost a separate taste, like drinking two wines at the same time. Loved it.

6/23/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Fabulous and was at its best 2 hours after opening and after It warmed up a little.

6/23/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Poured blind to a group of champagne drinkers. None of us could guess this. One guy thought it was a domestic sparkler. Another guy couldn’t tell. I guessed some sort of hip Jura wine. This is such a unique wine that it’s hard to describe its very singular flavor profile.

6/24/2021 - Dalex Does not like this wine:

Tasted blind with all European wines, which may have been why this came across as a hot mess. The nose was very medicinal, iodine or anticeptic smell. We couldn’t figure out what it was. I guessed some sort of odd cab franc and syrah blend.

In summary, this is high end Meiomi. Close to 16% alcohol and drinks more like a syrah. Clearly I’m in the minority based on all the love for this wine but this was not for me and everyone at my group despised it in comparison with everything was poured last night.

6/21/2021 - Dalex Likes this wine:

Consumed over two days. Remarkably better the second day. More refined, delicate and interesting.