1/23/2024 - Schweigaard wrote:

Needs a lot of air to open up. Better on day 2.

1/14/2024 - Schweigaard wrote:

Fruity and flowery style of Syrah, with less of the classic pepper and meat. Decent structural backbone, noticeably Cornas in that regard.

Alcohol (14%) too prominent at first, but less so when given air. Completely gone on day two - where the wine was at its best.

Would hold if I had any bottles left.

5/15/2023 - Schweigaard wrote:

Citrus, white flowers, wet rock. Precice and complete, with good ripe fruit, some butter, some salt and an overall upbeatness to it despite the rich fruit.

3/18/2023 - Schweigaard wrote:

Red fruited and bright, with delicate use of oak. Light touch on the extraction - it's completely transparent. The red fruit shines throughout nevertheless, with lots of nerve and energy. Love this style of Pinot.

10/9/2022 - Schweigaard wrote:

Not a good vintage of this wine sadly. It's too dark, and the alcohol (14%) is too present. For me with this, and elsewhere in Beaujolais - the warm vintages is not doing the grape any favours.

2/18/2022 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Harmonious aromas of dark cherries, black tea and anise. After some air, I got almonds too. The taste follows up nicely with similar associations. Lovely structure with fresh acidity and fine but gripping tannins. A very nice bottle of wine that feels unique and is probably a nice representative of its vineyard - but interestingly there is much that reminds one of Nebbiolo here too.

4/2/2021 - Schweigaard wrote:

Gained a lot since my last bottle two years ago. Nose way more expressive, with apples, pears and citrus dominating. Flint in the background. Superb balance between the sweet and the acidic, both on nose and on the palate. Gained some fat too, without losing any freshness.

This can probably go further than currently suggested by cellartracker (2023).

1/27/2021 - Schweigaard wrote:

Same impression as VinoMomNola's note.

1/15/2021 - Schweigaard wrote:

This is a forceful, rustic and for me a very untypical Pinot Noir. Aromas of strawberries, cranberries, earth, tobacco and licorice. Concentrated dark fruit, with fine tannins throughout. The exit is very long, and also very warming in the throat which gives associations to high alcohol.

I can understand why people like it, but for me this is so far from what I want a Pinot to be. Unelegant and dissapointing.

9/20/2020 - Schweigaard Does not like this wine:

Had a glass of this, and found it very lacking sadly. Unbalanced and sour, with no redeeming features. Dissapointing considering I've been impressed by previous vintages. Maybe it was just a bad bottle, but the guy I bought it from said he'd had a similar experience with it 3 months ago.

(Tried to give it air over several hours, to no avail).

8/12/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Concur with previous notes.

8/8/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Wonderful, gentle aromas of cranberry, cherries and licorice. Savoury wholebunch style done right. As far from the "sweet candied" Pinot Noirs as possible. Concentrated, balanced and clean fruit with lots of nerve and freshness. Incredibly refined tannins in the finish. Just an overall great wine.

7/3/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Reductive smell that blows away quickly. Nice redfruited aroma with a stony minerality and black pepper. Concentrated, redfruited with strawberries, red currant and especially cranberries. Very intense and fresh. Will improve with age, but very good now.

6/2/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Similar to the Ahrweiler Spätburgunder 2017, but not as open for business now. More acidity and debth. Will be great in some years.

5/24/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Slightly closed at first, but gradually opened up with air (though not fully). I got citrus (with heavenly lemons), wax and fennel. Didn't get any minerality/saltiness that I expected. Fantastic balance despite its high acidity, everything in complete harmony. Sublime.

5/24/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Very expressive aromas of strawberries, flowers and spices. The fruit has a persistent sweet taste throughout, with plenty of juiciness and debth, but also a bit too much weight. It feels somewhat bloated and unelegant.

4/18/2020 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Unique and attractive aromas of red berries, flowers with notes of sweet rhubarb (?) and spices. Elegant, nimble and quite intense. Fresh, and feminine. Long finish with some salinity.

4/18/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Floral nose, supported by herbs, caramel, grapefruit. A pretty robust Pet Nat, with a fresh breeze in the form of acidity and light bubbles. Slightly bitter finish. Better than most Pet Nat's I've had.

4/4/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Needs air to fully open up. Beautiful aroma of red berries (raspberries day 1, candied cherries day 2), supported by some spices, some saltiness, and a general "boreal forest" character. Juicy and fresh, with good concentration. The taste follows up on the nose, with layers of the same stuff in good harmony. Long finish.

4/2/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Surprisingly rough, heavy and coarse. I'm missing both purity and vibrancy here. I've much preferred Leroux's 1er Crus when it comes to his reds.

4/2/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Blackberries, flowers, black pepper with hints of smoke and meat on the nose. Clean and fresh fruit that feels alive, with layers of taste that matches the aromas. Nice tannin bite at the end. Will likely get better with time. Very good QPR.

91-92p now

3/14/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

The best part about this wine are the aromas. Dark cherries, earth, mushroom and leather. The wine is intense in its tightness and grip, but the fruit is really hollow. Short ending.

2/16/2020 - Schweigaard Does not like this wine:

There's nothing wrong with this structurally. However, the aroma and taste just isn't that appealing with oxidised apples dominating over everything else. I don't get any citrus, flowers or minerals that I see other refer to. Could be a flawed bottle?

2/9/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Pleasant aromas of citrus, apples, minerals and white flowers. Pure and juicy fruit with debth, and a taste that matches the smell. Fresh, with a dry and long finish. Everything in perfect balance.

2/8/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Earthy, dark red spiced fruit. Balanced acidity. Open and quaffable due to lack of tannins, but not as attractive, deep and seductive as Cru Beaujolais can be at the same price point.

1/11/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Agree with previous notes. I found this to be good, but I think this wine is in a weird spot pricewise ($60). If it was cheaper I'd recommend it in a heartbeat.

1/4/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Delicate smell of roses, fresh raspberries, with some earth and spice. Sweet and fresh fruit, with some minerality. Nimble tannins, long finish.

A very good wine, which could almost be mistaken for a good village Burgundy. Drinks well now.

1/1/2020 - Schweigaard wrote:

Aromas of blackcurrant and cherries, with flowers and vanilla. Fruity and smooth, with balanced acidity and soft tannins.

Decent, but overhyped.

12/22/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Beautiful, ripe aromas of black and red fruit. Elegant and balanced, with deep and pure fruit. Fresh acidity. Integrated tannins in a long finish.

12/22/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Perfumed aromas of red and black fruit, along with 5-spice powder. The entry is juicy and delicate, but the wine tightens significantly up in a very dry exit. Good, but quite constricted.

12/22/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Very rich and dense aromatics here, with strawberries and some integrated spiced wood.

Good concentration, good fruit quality, with balanced acidity. Long lasting with fine tannins. 91-92p.

10/7/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Leather lies as a veil over more subtle and delicate cherries, pepper, and some earthiness. It combines elegance and power brilliantly. Long ending with integrated tannins.

10/7/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Super pleasing nose with strawberries, raspberries, vanilla, pepper, roses, with an earthy vitality to it all. Very concentrated, with sweet fruit, balanced acidity, and a good tannic bite in the end. Very long. 93 for now, with even greater potential.

10/7/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Aromas of blackberries and blackcurrant with good fresh- and sweetness. There's crowberry and pepper, with hint of earth and smoke. Everything is tethered together harmoniously. Elegant and juicy fruit, with medium concentration. A pretty energetic wine, with good structure and dryness in the finish without being too coarse. Will get better with age for sure.

9/17/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Very expressive nose of delicate raspberries and flowers, with some hints of spice. Fresh, delicate round fruit without edges. Fine tannins. Medium length.

Easy to like. Could buy several bottles of this.

9/17/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Delicate and shy red fruited smell, somewhat veiled by a stony minerality. Elegant and lean fruit with balanced acidity. There's a very earthy and stony, almost strict expression to the wine, that works in tandem with the otherwise elegant and transparent style. Dry and long exit. Overall a bit too shy at the moment - but still a very good wine.

9/7/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

This one has a quietly confident aroma of plums, cherries and licorice. There is some funk, but it blows away quickly. Fresh longlasting fruit. Fine tannins. A very balanced and good wine overall.

8/30/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Aromas of strawberries, cherries and pepper, with hint of mushrooms and stem. Very dry, with red fruit and a sharp acidity. Long exit with light tannins.

8/22/2019 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Pleasing aroma of fresh citrus, white flowers and sea associated minerals. Fruit of high purity, concentrated yet lightweight with delicate acidity. Saline and dry finish.

This is great stuff. Impressed me more than the Muscadet's I've had from Loire.

7/27/2019 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Very different this time around. Aromas of apples and citrus. Light bodied. Playful dance of fruit, acidity and salinity in a nice balance. I liked the stony mineral expression even better - but this is still very good.

7/16/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Interesting mix of aromas. Smoke, minerals, apples, flowers and wax. Together it almost feels like some soap from the far east. The taste is in the same vein. Smoky and saline , with a rich fruitbase, and a long dry ending.

7/9/2019 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Mineral aromas with fruit (peaches, nectarines) subtly hiding in the background. Quite concentrated mouthfeel. Balanced and clean. Long and dry ending. 89-90p.

7/9/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Aromas of peaches and nectarines, with white pepper. The wine is playful, light, easygoing. Dry and long finish.

7/9/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Lovely concentrated nose of strawberries, pomegranates and roses. Tight but voluminous red fruit in the mouth. Balanced acidity. Moderate tannins (for a Burgundy wine anyway). Good length. Will get better with age. 89p for now.

6/16/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Nose of ripe cherries, with hint of anis and pepper, and classic Silician-soil notes. Has more flesh than Occhipinti SP68 or COS Frappato in the same genre. Vibrant acidity. Agressive tannin bite, but the bite of a poodle rather than a rottweiler, so it isn't too much to handle. Even so, I can imagine this being even better in a couple of years. 89p (90-91 potential).

6/16/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Nose dominated by citrus. Petroleum in the background. Fresh and fruity. Dry and pleasant ending, full of lively fruit. Manages to delight without feeling spectacularily complex - could easily buy more of these. 87-88p.

6/16/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Aromas of green apples and lime, wet rock, with salt tones. Tastes similarly, with nice acidity to boot. Has a good weight to it without feeling heavy. Long vibrant aftertaste.

Lacks the complexity and the complete balance of its big brother (Xistro Cru), but a good wine in its own right, and well worth the price.

6/9/2019 - Schweigaard Likes this wine:

Nose of flowers, green apples and beeswax. Lies there calm and collected. Lean and fresh. A bit hollow in the middle, but with a long dry ending.

Apparently the last vintage of this wine ever, which is a shame. Only 11% alcohol.

5/29/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Appealing aromas of strawberry, coffee and leather. Balanced oak. The taste matches the smell. Wonderful thirst-quenching fruit, with good acidity and refined tannins that binds it all together brilliantly.

5/22/2019 - Schweigaard wrote:

Pleasing perfume with raspberries and candied cherries. Lean, with prominent acidity and round tannins. Very quaffable.