4/19/2019 - Sotto325 wrote:

In 375,tired and past its once nicely balanced simple offering. Discard.

8/21/2016 - Frank Murray III wrote:

What I enjoyed about this bottle was the balance I perceived. It seemed built well, gentle and while not overly complex, for vintage bubbly from 08, and 40 bucks US, drinking great now and a good value.

1/25/2019 - thesternowl Likes this wine:

First of a small tranche of six bottles supplied directly from the importer and my first experience with Musar’s Blanc. Opened an hour before serving...should have been much longer. Light golden color...striking to behold. Wild aromas of marmalade, stone fruits, orange blossom. On the palate it’s much the same with lovely acidity and minerality. This bottle came across remarkably young. The late Serge Hochar once said that his white wines seemed to become more fresh with age. That statement, at the time, seemed absurd to me but what the hell do I know. This bottle seems to prove he was right and that he had and incredible understanding of his wines. I’m in no particular rush to drink my five remaining bottles but one thing is for certain, I will likely decant my next bottle for an extended period, similar to the way I treat their Rouge. World class.

9/23/2018 - Kirk Grant wrote:

Hello old friend...it has been far too long. This had a lovely ruby core with bricking leading to a clear meniscus. Robust scents of mushroom, concrete, orange rind, with hints of clove & spice. The palate leads with sour cherry, wild strawberry, and raspberry followed with a mid-palate burst of lavender and clove before the mouth starts to water and the finish starts to draw out. This went brilliantly with a morel mushroom risotto, oven roasted carrots, and pan seared steaks with chanterelles and onions. This is just plain lovely...and I couldn't be happier to have a few more bottles socked away. Extraordinary.

2/24/2019 - mhauser Likes this wine:

Simply awesome. The nose is ethereal and really opens up with some air. There’s still plenty of fruit, with good, earthy depth. Simply a treat and drinking at its prime.

2/15/2019 - Klugi Wine wrote:

Barolo Ginestra: Slightly disappointing, this still excellent Barolo was missing some tension and fragrance. The tannins where allready quite smooth and melted away. It was not overly developed, so I’m wondering if it was in a weird stage.

2/13/2019 - aagrawal wrote:

Dinner at Home (Millbrae, CA): Light ruby; slightly oxidative, some red fruit, honeyed mint; palate is medium bodied, red fruit, currant, surprising amount of medium tannin, medium-plus acid; medium finish. Really interesting, and the only example of blueberry wine that I know of. Definitely interesting, and enjoyable. 91
Day 3: This is just as good without any dropoff. Just lovely plush fruit throughout, easy to drink but with plenty of complexity. I underrated this. 92-93

1/14/2019 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine:

A slightly friendler and more generous rendition compared to the trocken version from this plot, also called '1896' but in a standard white label instead of this stylish black one. This is technically a feinherb (though it doesn't say so anywhere on the label), but it's on the mostly-dry end of feinherb that dials in that same Goldilocks zone as many of the Peter Lauer wines - to which it tastes somewhat similar as well. It features pale citrus fruit ranging from grapefruit to yuzu with a sparkling, shimmering freshness, but it's rich enough in body (perhaps helped along by that smidge of sweetness) that it feels weighty and ample on the palate. Not so weighty as to compromise its drinkability, though - this is a pretty hard one to put down.

12/31/2018 - OneForTheStairs Likes this wine:

Very good and still going strong, no sign of a tertiary stage yet.

12/29/2018 - MaineMark wrote:

Beautiful aromas, deep rich flavors, and soft tannins with just enough bite left to suggest this can go a few more years in your cellar. We found the nose to be much more expressive on pop-and-pour, than after a brief decant. We certainly enjoyed this, but having recently purchased this from WineBid, we did not feel it was a great QPR.

12/28/2018 - Rosengoo Likes this wine:

I thought about this overnight as my original scoring on this was 100. I really wanted to give this some time to sink in and now that it has, I cannot find any reason to lower that score so this is only my third perfect scoring wine in all my Cellar Tracker notes. This was a spectacular wine that was on it's game. Decanted prior to dinner for 3 hours and then decanted again for approximately 1 hour, it was clear and inky purple in colour. The nose had a bouquet of ripe cherries, some smokey bacon as well as a tinge of honey. In the glass were these same flavours mixed with some mixed spices. During my first sip of the wine I commented that the only "flaw" found was a small amount of hotness in the end. From that point on, this was gone and what continued was an amazing silky wine. All the flavours blended wonderfully with perfectly balanced tannins and acidity. Although very strong in alcohol content, you would never know it. The wine had a long finish and I will remember this bottle for a long time. It was certainly in my top 5 wines of the year.
Although these are still young wines, should you have any, do yourself a favour and open one now.

11/29/2018 - Kirk Grant wrote:

This is lovely, it's really bright and vibrant on both the nose and the palate. Initially it leads with robust and a vivid melange of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries with hints of earth and wet stone. The palate leads with bright red and black fruits followed with notes of dark chocolate and tobacco. This is one of the most exciting producer's Barbara d'Alba that I've come across in the past few years. I need to buy and try more wines from G.D. Vajra. Outstanding

12/14/2018 - acyso wrote:

HDH December auction; 12/13/2018-12/15/2018 (Chicago, IL): Dumb and mute, and it never really perked up. A bit of volatility on the nose at first, but that blew off and there was just a pile of dirt. The palate never fleshed out either, and this was mostly just devoid of fruit. Never got better over the course of the dinner -- pretty consistent with my experience with this wine. No overt flaws here though, so I don't really know what to make of it.

12/14/2018 - Kirk Grant wrote:

This is one of those moments where you kick yourself for not buying a full case when you had the chance. An opaque core leading to ruby rim with a clear meniscus. Scents of smoke, dried meats, olives, and a hint of red fruits. On the palate it leads with a bitterness that soon transitions into a mid-palate burst of red & blue fruits, spice, clove, and a lingering note of black pepper and blackberry. This is a lovely medium bodied, high acid, medium tannin, with intense notes of red & black fruits. It's so easy to drink this...the bottle barely lasted 90 minutes between the two of us. I hear others saying that this may not last...I don't know why it wouldn't with the balance this shows...such a lovely and compelling wine. Outstanding!!!!

11/9/2018 - Brentw1 Likes this wine:

Had a dozen of these this week in two batches and one bottle had a wet protruding cork and was weeping slightly. No problems with fill Level in any of the bottles and the rest are fine. I phoned the merchant (Robersons in the UK) and they were excellent, crediting my account immediately and saying that they did not want the bottle returning.

So....... nothing to lose folks! Out came the corkscrew with the sink in close proximity in case I got that wet cardboard, wet dog, mouldy potatoes experience. What a lovely surprise! Loads of fruit, tons going on and half the bottle left in the decanter to see what develops after 24 hours.

There is no doubt that the bottle would not have kept with the cork in that condition but on the other hand, I was not expecting to enjoy a 19 year old Musar this evening. Let’s see what the other 11 bottles do over the next few years.

10/19/2018 - foobarski Likes this wine:

Massive. Bright candy-coated nose. Rich cherry cola, with quietly firm tannins. Wish I had more! (At least I do have other vintages of their Roosevelt offering.)

9/16/2018 - BillyT wrote:

At dinner with my beautiful Bride so no copious notes. What can I say, it’s Dageneau. It’s sleek, elegant and expressive albeit way too young. Excellent aromas, body, structure, balance. Excellent Pouilly-Fume and worth the money. Sorry not much help beyond that.

Note: Please forgive my errant reference to white burg prior to this edit. It as an obvious ‘brain fart’ since the wine is from the Loire Valley. Thanks to Kirk for catching it and very tactfully asking why I referenced white burg.

10/5/2018 - Poisey wrote:

A little more wood influence showing through upon initial opening. Cleared up with air. Beautiful structure and balance. Concentrated and long. Lots of life left here. Drink 2020-2028.

11/28/2017 - Kirk Grant wrote:

Opened for a friend's Birth-year surprise...what a shame. Clearly it's tired and past it's prime. As much as I love aged Bordeaux blends...this seems like it's about 3-4 years past peak. The nose was lovely for about 2-3 minutes then everything...everything fell flat, dried out, and was just a little too late to this party.

8/23/2018 - mr_swirl Likes this wine:

Sweet red fruits, elegant texture just a bit austere and dusty. Not really what I like

8/18/2018 - PSPatrick wrote:

The 1998 Musar was medium garnet in colour and red fruit-driven, cedary, leathery and balsamic, with fine, mostly resolved tannin, lively acidity, a good, smooth mouthfeel, and good length. The wine improved with extended aeration and became very balanced, integrated, harmonious and super-smooth on day two. The wine had a mature profile, but I disagree with some of the previous notes in that I am positive that the 1998 Musar will still go a long way, and maybe even live forever.

8/6/2018 - melzar wrote:

Opens slowly. Perhaps a dumb phase. Tasted along side the JOBLOT Givery 2005 Cellar au Moines, this wine barely held it's own. Opened with time in glass. Elegant wine, hinting of future greatness. Hold this wine and enjoy in the years ahead..

12/19/2008 - Kirk Grant wrote:

What a knock-out! This was a beautiful golden hue in the glass with a great back-bone of acidity, pears nectarines, and minerals...an absolutel show stopper!!!

7/29/2018 - Hanibal Likes this wine:

Very impressive. Still has great acidity to balance the sweetness. Entry is on orange peel and the finish is nutty. Very long and delicious. None of our invitees ate cake (except one maybe) they all decided to just sip on this as we listened to Edith Piaf. A very memorable experience. This was the wine of the night

1/27/2015 - forceberry wrote:

A sweet Jurancon white made by the Loire Sauvignon Blanc legend, Didier Dagueneau. 100% biodynamically farmed Petit Manseng.

Deep and obviously quite developed bronze color with almost reddish mahogany hue. Very big, open and distinctive nose with fascinating, haunting aromas of golden raisins, darker-toned fruit aromas almost reminiscent of dried dark cherries, some tangerine, a little bit of candied rhubarb and a hint of wildhoney. The wine is very sweet yet incredibly intense and racy with bracing acidity. The body feels remarkably light despite the sweetness, basically just because of the acidity. There are waxy, powerful flavors of leather, honey, some buttery tones, a little bit of sappy grassy character, a hint of sweet apple jam and a touch of kumquats, passion fruits and other exotic fruits. The finish is tangy, bright and noticeably sweet with piercing acidity and incredibly powerful, intense flavors of lemony citrus fruits, tart green apples, some tangerine, a little bit of nectarine, a hint of leather and a touch of golden raisins. The aftertaste is sweet, but not sticky at all, thanks to the bracing, mouthwatering acidity.

A ridiculously concentrated, powerful and immensely racy Jurancon sticky. Even though Petit Mansengs tend to show incredibly high acidity levels, making them perfect wines for making sweet wines, the intensity here is on a next level altogether. This is a powerhouse without peers. The color promised wine that was aged beyond its years, but on the palate it is evident that the wine is mere baby, capable of aging decades more. Although a stunner now, the wine will need years and years more before its bracing acidity and sappy green tones start to get integrated with the fruit. Rather expensive at 100€, but the wine manages to deliver.

7/12/2018 - Bruno DALBIEZ Likes this wine:

Simply amazing. Smooth, round, very present yet not dominating. Silky, elegant, with discreet notes of red fruit and tobacco. Really loved it !

7/7/2018 - James Kim Likes this wine:

Dinner with Brian and Monica. From memory. Decanted for 2h prior to bringing it to restaurant and started drinking about 1 h into dinner and everything came together at the 2 hr mark. Just fantastic. Bright red and blackberry fruit, baking spices, flowers, hints of leather, earth with mild tannins on the end. Elegant and silky. Complex but with a bit of wild, alive edge. WOTN for me.

7/6/2018 - Kirk Grant wrote:

This was a lovely bottle, but it tasted a bit more oxidized than I expected it would. I find this to be really enjoyable, but find myself wondering about how long this might be able to age and continue to improve. I will definitely be drinking these sooner rather than later. Light-medium body, high acidity, scents of green apples, brioche, and lemons...and the palate offers up pears and citrus along with a nuttiness that I think as long as it remains mild can offer some complexity, but too much more and I would find it to be distracting. Outstanding...but if you have more than 4 of these in the cellar, I'd suggest checking in on them. SIDE NOTE: This was the original bottling with the black label not the newer ones with the gold and white.

2/9/2018 - Kirk Grant wrote:

This was such a lovely and elegant vision of what Barolo can really be...a more elegant and poised version. There is tannin present, but it was not overtly tannic and there was enough acidity to offer lift and balance with the floral elements on the nose and the tart red fruits on the palate. Outstanding!!! Not drinking this now may prove to be more difficult that I might want.

6/27/2018 - AndrewSGHall wrote:

This is such a quietly brilliant wine. All the elements of great Riesling are gently aligned and the grapefruit/quince/mineral of Kirschspiel just tickle a harmony of specifics. Add the Keller complexity derived from structure and you have a masterpiece. I could quibble that it is young and definitely a long pause to cart the half emptied bottle home was worth it, but there is seldom such a combination of sheer delight with depth in a wine.

5/24/2018 - fcxj wrote:

Quite gross.

4/29/2018 - Bordeaux_Jon wrote:

From a half bottle. I’m no Port connoisseur. This tasted like Port, rich, fruity (grapes? Strawberries?), some heat, and quite easy to drink. I was surprised by how light it was, medium ruby that dark purple. I would have hoped for a bit more complexity but I’ve never really seen that much in Port. Perhaps more age will help? I once had a flight of 1963s which essentially all the major houses and this was about as good as those. Perhaps it’s not you Port, it’s me? ��

4/19/2018 - sfqwino Likes this wine:

Good but not great. Starting to dry out so I would choose to drink up.

9/12/2017 - CamWheeler wrote:

Negociants Australia Portfolio Tasting 2017: Earth and smoke, raspberry, cherry, violets and meaty elements. Complex but also youthful - very savoury/smoky profile. Excellent!

4/8/2018 - Hanibal wrote:

Third defective.... not buying anymore 2001 this is an insult to the consumer.

4/6/2018 - jwsmith wrote:

This bottle had some crazy fruit flavors maybe just needs some time.. not sure what to think not classic elegant Thomas a little bigger rustic wine.

3/23/2018 - AACollection wrote:

Decanted. Notes from about 2 hrs open. Perhaps the single greatest young OPN I have ever tasted. The nose is spellbinding, with intense sweet strawberry, and cinnamon, and that haunting burnt orange peel I always associate with Thomas. On the palate, perfectly silky with more pure red fruit and fantastic density. In your mouth, you feel the acidity, and it crescendoes into an amazingly finely grained tannic finish that just lingers while it fades. Now in the running for one of my best wines of the year.

Maybe I should add: looks very different from any other Thomas I have had recently. Doesn't have that pale translucent red color, but much denser looking...denser than 12, 13, or 14 at a similar stage. 13.3% ABV, and just amazingly pure and flavorful. Of course it's a matter of taste, but I find this much more compelling than the 14 or 12 at a comparable stage.

Day 2: open, unrefrigerated, on the counter overnight (no vacuum sealing either). Just achingly beautiful today. Pure Thomas nose with a hint of rose and soft nutmeg, with sweet strawberry and cherry too. Fantastic acidity on the palate and just seamless delivery. No real tannin on the finish, but amazingly elegant. Now my favorite vintage of Thomas...I just can't get over how well this bottle is showing.

3/3/2018 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:

A private dinner (Café De Klepel, Prinsenstraat 22, Amsterdam, NL): Decanted. Effortless, seamless, “ruht in sich”, pure, precise, rich and deep, chalk and complex ripe fruit with a tropical edge, elegant, such ease and finesse, perfectly harmonious, bursting with energy but perfectly relaxed, intense and long. No words of mine can do justice to it. Only the G-Max will top this?

2/5/2018 - wineordeath wrote:

Tight nose that gradually reveals aromas of particles and violet. Not very giving on the palate right now. Dry. Not hard, the tannins are ripe and almost silky, but the palate is still a bit tough. There is dark plum and blackberry fruit in the background, but now it's iron. Classic Cornas, but with more modern tannin.

11/9/2017 - RajivAyyangar wrote:

Ex-Chateau via F+R. I don't recall the fill - I think it was fairly high.
Cork soaked through, 2mm dry.
Out of the bottle a slightly reductive burnt toast note with some yeasty notes - like peptone extract or maybe LB broth? There's a slight dried dark fruit to it and of course oxidation, Brett, balsamic, VA.

Based on the yeastiness and slightly burnt quality I'm going to double decant and let it sit for a bit at room temp, then refrigerate corked.

At dinner it initially was lighter in fruit - resembling the '98. Over a few hours the darker core started to emerge, and it was stunning as usual, but didn't reach the heights of previous bottles. I have a feeling I should have let it sit open for the whole day. It was best later that night.

11/8/2017 - Kirk Grant wrote:

Interesting...the sediment in this wine was not settling at this stage in the wines development...but the wine is no worse for the wear. In fact...this seems like it might possibly have been the best bottle I've had to date. I think this is in a really great space right now...I'd decant and if there's any sediment just give the decanter a quick shake...a beautiful and elegant wine that's doing quite well now. I really wish I had bought more.

10/19/2017 - dchain Likes this wine:

Deep translucent ruby. Interesting nose of ripe strawberry, cherry, tobacco, pine and leather. Takes some time to open up. Seems very young and tight still. Impeccable balance, ripe but good acidity to bring freshness. Lots going on in the palate, still quite closed and young there too. Will last for ages and lots of upside improvement from here. Picked this up at an average of $120/bottle but getting expensive if the latest auction prices are anything to go by. Beautiful and thought provoking wine.

10/14/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote:

Saturday Lunch with Friends and Wine (Beacon Tavern - Chicago IL): Opened several hours in advance with some decanter time. Rich and intense black fruit, very good weight, length and balance. Got better with more time in glass. Probably my top wine of the lunch, with upside from here.

7/24/2017 - Christoffer78 wrote:

This my friends is a wine to die for! It is perhaps in need of a decade or more in the cellar, but it surely provides that goose bump sensation a true wine aficionado can never get enough of. The Abtserde GG is a top of the line effort from perhaps the best winemaker in Germany. As written earlier it is very young at present, but you can certainly already now understand what is going to happen in the future if given proper rest in the cellar. The nose offers up rich litchi, classy lime and lemon zest and as the lavishing 'dot of the i' the flowery nose you only get in very good dry Rieslings. But then the epitome of this effort emerges: minerals - or so much minerals I get those goose bumps described earlier... Deep profound wet granite accompanied by an overall sublime complexity. This is a nose to die for! The palate has a close to perfect balance with balanced and extravagant acidity and of course a perfect structure. The final impression is a length on the finish which seems to go on forever. This wine will continue to age well for perhaps 20 years or more. One of the best wines from one of the best winemakers in the so far best vintage in this century... What could go wrong? Well - absolutely nothing. This tasting was just a confirmation of that!

9/8/2017 - karl.1480 Likes this wine:

Pale, garnet color.
Very volatile upon opening and needs a few hours in the decanter to settle down. Ultra-traditional nose with layers upon layers of dark cherry, raspberry in liquor, new leather, moist forest floor, rose hips, potpurri, balsamico, porcini, stable and so on.

Bone dry, medium(+) acidity, medium(+) fine grained tannins and rather full bodied for a Barolo. Very rugged and a bit all over the place on the palate. The fruit has great concentration but it can't really hide the alcohol (15%!). The finish is long and drying with a bit unpleasant heat.

As always with the Baroli from il Cavaliere this is wild, rugged and untamed in a very personal and charmig style. They are wines that makes me happy to drink but they are definitely not for everyone.
As many other 09's this wine is ready to drink now (but will last for a long time if you want). The only problem is the alcohol but some rich, hearty food will solve that problem quite easy.

8/26/2017 - Midmar Likes this wine:

Just had a case of 6 delivered and just had to try one. Decanted 3 hours. Very reticent nose at first. A lovely long wine but still too young. Did not quite have the body I was expecting but should have left to settle after its journey for a few weeks. Will leave 2-3 years before trying again.

8/20/2017 - lukaduke Likes this wine:

Blood orange, leather, violets, old wood, tobacco, brown sugar, date, lemon rind, green coffee beans. Mouthfeel was silky and a touch viscous with bright acidity playing counter balance to the wood soaked mature bass notes. A pleasure to drink bringing aspects of vintage sercial madeira, tawny port and vin santo.

8/6/2017 - blackcrowb wrote:

Cherry and cigar ash in the nose. Definitely denser and richer than most barolos. I don't like rating on potential because some wines are dumb and some wines are just ok. The palate is more cherry and a bit metallic. I found this underwhelming considering the price and producer. It may be a ways from peak but it should be more indicative of where it is going.

7/28/2017 - Midmar wrote:

Opened 4 hours before with quick decant. Nice enough but didn't have the intensity or length of a GC. Admittedly the last glass was the best but still well short of what I expected. 5 bottles left, will leave a couple of years.

7/15/2017 - ricard Likes this wine:

The 1995 vintage, at this point in its evolution, displays the characteristic reddish-brown terracotta colour of most Musars, with a soft orange rim. At 22 years old, it's now a little bit cloudy, but that's part of its rustic charm. Dominant notes are clove, cinnamon and nutmeg, with secondary aromas of molasses - typical Musar, really. A remarkable sweetness and treacly unctuousness. The acidity is immediate and almost overpowering, but there's also a slightly challenging sourness that won't be to everybody's taste. To add to the already serious complexity, accompanying the sweetness there's a salty, briny character, like seawater or iodine, that makes this wine even more interesting. Musar is not a normal wine by any standards. It's an exotic, maddeningly imperfect, but intensely distinctive and special wine. Lots of sediment in this bottle.