9/17/2011 - DLighto1 wrote:

Color: straw/hay, little bit of neon, translucent

Nose: Spring wildflowers, lemon, wet rocks, under-ripe peach, chamomile tea, ammonia/cat pee

Palate: Fat and silky mouthfeel with razor sharp, bright acidity. High minerality, with hints of spruce, juniper, and lemon peel. Strong finish dominated by excellent acidity.

11/2/2009 - DLighto1 wrote:

Smoked meats, forest floor, and mushroomy notes on the nose. On the palate, black fruits are strong, round, and long. Peppery and meaty on the finish. Classic syrah. Oak well integrated, walks the line between tradition and modernity. Recommended.

5/20/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

meh, use it for cooking

5/18/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

nothing special. Not in the least

5/13/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

really a crazy wine. Menthol and apricots on the nose. Bizarre for a red wine, a little of that tanginess on the palate as well. Truly an experience. Not to be missed.

5/13/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Very tannic and grippy for a young burgundy. Really showing its pedigree nicely. Drinking fine right out of the bottle, but will be more graceful in a few years. Lovely fruit

5/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

uninteresting

5/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

I think it is fair to say that this wine is past its peak. That said, it was an experience to drink. It was still chocolatey and rich after all these years. A little bit of mushroom on the palate, and a slightly metallic nose. Needed considerable decanting!

5/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

still young but offensively boring and over oaked. I didn't know californians lived in Libournais

5/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

run of the mill rhone

5/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Kind of a love or hate wine. Very sweet mid palate, but a dry finish. Beautiful floral nose, with a little mushroom and manure. Sweet clean fruit and velvety texture, with big fat mouth feel. Buy it by the case.

4/28/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

CORKED!!!!! NO!!!!!!!

4/28/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

killer nose. beautiful wine

4/21/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

impressive for the price

4/21/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

yum

4/8/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Parker is way off on this. A good enough wine, but not changing my life. Tannins from the 1996 vintage are still very present, and they are certainly protecting some of the fruit; however, I don't see this wine offering what it purports to, even ten years down the line. Not the oak bomb I expected, because the balance was excellent, but this wine did not possess the character or excitement I would expect from the proprietors of Beau-séjour Bécot.

4/8/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Delicious wine whose tannins appear to be resolved, but who does not, however, possess the bottle age to offer tertiary flavors and the intoxicating nebbiolo aromatics. Rather restrained nose, with a touch of the high alcohol coming through. I don't think I would have pegged this as nebbiolo in a blind tasting. On the palate, it was pure cherry cola. A little modern in style, but definitely outstanding wine.

4/5/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

deep fruit. too young. Should have waited. Other tasters were wrong regarding this bottle because it definitely needed time. One of the longest finishes i have ever encountered though

4/5/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

i feel like i had different bottles than other people. This wine was simple and perfect. Not complex, but complete. I lovely brambly raspberry nose. Good clean bright fruit and a surprisingly long finish. Bottle variation?

4/1/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

poor showing. Heat Damaged?

3/25/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This is nothing like what I expected. This tastes nothing like california, or any other garage wine for that matter. It has rather a shy nose, but on the palate it is well balanced, well structured and quite elegant. Performed very well with leg of lamb on Easter. Dries out a little on the finish, but this is an enjoyable if not a great wine.

3/25/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

An incredible value from this 4th growth estate. Beautiful nose of cedar and coffee with a vegetable component as well. On the palate, the wine has fresh, well structured fruit with strong, balanced acidity and a long finish with hints of mushroom and black truffle. I have never tasted such a complex wine from such a humble estate. Ignore the other tasting notes! This is great wine.

3/22/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

no character, shy nose, no finish at all. Too modern in style for my taste.

3/22/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

classic claret. A little hot? Shy nose, but scores points for good firm and well integrated tannin. Great food wine. Drink it with olives.

3/18/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

everything that is wrong with new world style wines. Thick gloppy heavy syrupy fruit. No acidity, can't stand up to food. Sweet even. My last post was way off

3/18/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

too young, but decent potential. 30 dollars for a languedoc wine that isn't kicking ass? Sorry.

3/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This wine was nuts. No way to begin to describe it. Insane color. Honey, grapefruit, bubble gum. If served blind though, I am certain I would peg this as a red. Everyone has to try this. Not be missed!!

3/5/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This wine really had it all, I was amazed. Straight out of the bottle, it was showing major tobacco, cedar, and blueberry jam on the nose, with similar fruit and an olive component in the long warm finish. At this point it was showing wonderful balance and symmetry, but as the wine oxygenated it changed completely, the nose became more vegetal, showing some brussel sprout and seashells, and the palate became more unctuous and thick, with rich st. emilion like fruit. It fell apart a bit after that, so if you own one of these, pop it and drink up, dont waste time aerating, just watch it evolve. A wonderful experience.

2/27/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

PBaird said it very well. This is not my style wine. The acidity was too low and it lacked the structure and balance that a wine of this extraction, concentration and silkiness should have. It was superb in some regards, such as silkiness and finish, but this wine was incomplete. Well made, but not for me.

2/24/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This wine had an intoxicating burgundy nose. I won't try to describe it. Fans of burgundy will know what I am talking about. On the palate, everything was there, just a little high on acidity and alcohol. Long beautiful finish. Wonderful with Tarte Flambé.

2/20/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Drinking beautifully as a young wine. This is really textbook syrah. A little reticent on the nose, some good cedar and some blackberries but nothing to enticing. In the mouth this wine is a beauty. Lush, opulent fat mouthfeel that is so refined it could only be French. There is a very solid backbone of acid, and surprisingly little tannin. The finish was all syrah, blackberries, cured meat, and that classic gaminess. Points off for lack of bacon fat though!

2/17/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

I think I overrated this wine last night. Some nice pininess and forest floor in it with ripe fuit and great acidity, but it's a little hollow int he mid palate and the finish is underwhelming. Good wine

2/17/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Killer chinon. Did not display a lot of the vegetal qualities so often associated therewith, but beautifully focused cabernet franc. Great structure from acidity. Oak caused the wine to open up a little too much for my tastes after some time int he decanter--it got a touch flabby. I love this style young. Don't wait to drink this. It's great now.

2/17/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Excellent wine is a full bodied, ripe st. emilion style. Great fatness and dark fruits, especially plum and blackberry. Sometimes these merlot wines can suffer from lack of acidity but this one had a solid balance of tannin and acid to make it stand up to the new york strip steak and ratatouille. This is really a tremendous value of a wine and should be sought out. It kills lots of wines from st emilion that are twice the price. a no brainer. Deep rich nose too

2/12/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Aged Bordeaux, Old School to a tee. Decanted 2 hours, helped it open up a lot. Nose was not expressive at all, maybe a little bit of cedar, but nothing complex or enticing. On the palate, wonderfully silky aged texture. Body and tannin are still there, but I think some of the fruit has gone. Vibrant, dark color might say otherwise, but this wine was olives all day, with some cedar and smoke in the finish. If you own this, drink up. If you are not a fan of old school, veggie driven bordeaux--sell it.

2/3/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This wine is a behemoth, forget about merlot being early maturing. Tannins are overwhelming, but the intensely aromatic nose, redolent of blueberries, tobacco and leather bodes well. Come back in 2010.

2/3/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Drank with cassoulet at home, I could tell there was some beautiful fruit hiding behind all this tannin, but this wine is wrapped tight, 2 hours of decanting didn't even do much! Potential to score a lot higher in the future. Aromatics were extremely limited though, which was a major disappointment. Come back in a year or two.

2/3/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This wine was aromatically challenged, but the rich mouthfeel and lovely buttery texture helped make up for it. The finish was a little short. This is a nice bottle of wine, but I don't think it is worth the money, a shame because Condrieu can be so good.

1/30/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Deep rich color. This wine does not appear to be 18 years old. While it did fall apart a bit in the glass, we had no problem making quick work of this wine. It was rather reticent on the nose, but on the palate, there were deep brambly blackberry flavors with lush extraction. This bottle tasted more like a rich valpolicella than a Chianti. Very little sangiovese character here in fact, it was much more opulently styled and less woodsy than most examples thereof. The finish was spicy and slightly herbal. This was an elegant wine which i would never have pegged as a chianti. Delicious.

1/27/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

elegant but pretty boring too young

1/22/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

off balance and unpleasant

1/22/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

I liked this wine very much. Aromatically, it was extremely pleasing. Notes of époisses, creosote, broccoli rabe, and cedar. The palate is very adequate, with bright slightly under ripe cherries, but did not have enough to get me really excited. More époisses and vegetal notes on the finish. I was surprised that this wine is medium, rather than full bodied because it is almost exclusively mourvèdre.

1/21/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

wasn't crazy about it. Lead pencil was there, a little glycerin, but I didn't get any of the tar or roses. Not the blockbuster I had hoped for.

1/21/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

From memory, this wine had glycerin, cherries, and some woody, forest floor notes that made it really an elegant burgundy. Not out of this world--but really excellent

1/21/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Call me crazy, but this 1993 burgundy is too young. It is wrapped tight. Tannins are not huge here, but they certainly protecting the fruit and complexity that i hope this wine will offer in 3-4 years. I never much believed that Burgundy needed cellar time to drink well, but I also had never had anything from Dugat-Py. 87 now, but i can't believe this wine won't show in the 93-95 range once it opens up because the nose is really haunting, ethereal--the kind of bouquet that an internet blurb won't begin to do justice.

1/17/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

new world style, but walking the line with bordeaux. Really beautiful minerality on the subtle but solidly expressive nose. Deep, dark concentrated fruit on the palette. Complex finish. Some vegetal notes. This is excellent wine. Seek it out. Excellent for the money!

1/17/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

very solid barbera. silky mouthfeel in a modern style. Deep dark fruits, concentrated and pretty hedonistic. Points off for some overbearing alcohol, but a very enjoyable wine. A barbera to seek out undoubtedly.

1/14/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

This is a very good bottle of wine. Wonderful chocolatey aromas enveloping cherries and strawberries covered in a little dirt and wood. Finish is long, but in the late mid palette early finish there is an acidic, unsavory alcohol note that I found pretty off putting. Maybe this wine is still too young? I can't tell, but this is a style that I love, it is built for me! Maybe check out other vintages from Quintarelli, or I had a bad bottle, but this was not life changing. It was big, ripe and chocolatey with too much alcohol. Not enough refinment for the $80

1/11/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

Drank at the estate today with Mr. Bussola himself and his wife. An absolutely explosive beast. Serve with pastissada de caval. This is a full bodied, fruit forward blend of cabernet and merlot whihc is sure to at least elicit a response. I loved it. Others might not. Definitely worth trying. I think it is appassimento. Drink up!

1/10/2008 - DLighto1 wrote:

smoky nose. smooth on the palete. other review is way off. good wine