2/17/2024 - theusualsuspect wrote:

In the traditional style. Starting to come good. On the red fruit side, finely balanced, and with plenty of grip, which is what sets today's Brunellos apart from Bordeaux etc. I find the french oak brunellos from this and other vintages have plenty of silky polish but not so much grip.Plenty of life ahead. And it will be a good life. 92 in the context of the vintage, a stunner in many other vintages.

11/23/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Opened 2 nights ago, had a taste, into the fridge, tried again last night with a medium full glass, back in the fridge. Took the remainder
to Thanksgiving dinner tonight - a beautiful wine in great shape very much on the red fruit side. Clearly extracted but also clearly elegant. Superior to the 2015 Petit Village Pomerol which was also served, and that wine was no slouch.

11/22/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

This extra brut is another champagne that is convincing me that we should appreciate champagne on two levels. The first is the celebratory champagne which you open with hopefully massive bubbles and toast with and such and then drain the bottle, or simply the meal opening bottle which you open and drink, which in many cases is the basic culinary if you will use for champagne. The second level of appreciation is that it is simply a bottle of wine. And on that level, I find, as I do in this bottle, that opening it, tasting it, putting a plug in it, and putting it in the fridge for an hour or so, results in a champagne with much more in terms of richness and complexity, albeit with plenty of bubbles. Going for the celebratory bubbles is fine, but if you are going for the best champagne as wine, a little time in the fridge after opening with a plug will I think go a long way to getting you there. In essence in my view, if you pop and then or shortly after evaluate a champagne, you aren't really evaluating it remotely near its best.

10/30/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

My interest in the 2016 Brunellos - great vintage that it is - starts with the idea that they have a start, a mid palate, and a finish. Most recent Bordeaux going back to say 2009 or earlier, in contrast in my view are still comparative blobs. No doubt they will work out at some point, but when that point is is your guess or mine. That said, these 2016 Brunellos have their own problems as interesting as they are - they are still sorting out the formula -do we go with two years or one year in french oak, or maybe 18 months in stainless steel followed by 2 1/2 years in the traditional giant casks, with the rest of the time in french oak, etc. etc, and then of course there is omnipresent clone issue.
This wine is stainless steel and traditional casks. What I get from this really mouth filling wine is a bit of red fruit overlay on what I can only assume is is an interesting albeit a bit coarse terroir minerality. Slatey maybe. If wine is an adventure, you can do a lot worse than the 2016 Brunellos.

9/30/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

This has promise. 3 hour decant. Quite pale and thin in terms of color, looks aged at the rim, but nicely rich and concentrated on the palate. Very much red fruit on the nose and palate. Finish has plenty of length with a way to go. Strikes me as a very pure expression. The expectation is that Brunellos as often as not come into the window around ten years of age. I expect this wine will be there.
In terms of style this reminds of a similar style in red burgundy - very light in color early on looking aged at the rim but very rich and incisive (right down Broadway) on the palate. Drouhin Laroze would be an example. Those wines from a good vintage last for decades.

8/14/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Unimpressive on opening - sort of blurred, not offering much. Half of the bottle two days on the sideboard with a cork in it, shows excellent clarity and offering much more, but more years will bring out more. Beautiful structure now and tannic. Concentrated finish. Not particularly on the red fruit side, more black cherry with a bit of earth (terroir?). This is a gran selezione vintage I'm guessing where "I drank it too early" becomes a refrain.

5/15/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Beautiful precise extract not clearly on the red or black fruit side. I find this a bit behind their GS Ermo Colle of 2016.More than a bit succulent. A great future. A question. I find succulence a really positive measure of the quality of dry red wines. To me it speaks of great balance and a great future. It's a word that seemingly never shows up in these professional reviews. So my question is - is succulence in any way a plus or minus when you taste wines.

5/4/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

To me, the 2016 Brunellos are starting to sort themselves out. This one has a noticeable cruddy note and is perhaps a bit short on extract compared to others. Unimpressive.

5/1/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

This is actually a gran selezione, and a great one. Better than the estate's Assai gran selezione easily by a few points, and actually just a step behind the 16 Monsanto il Poggio. Not so much on the red fruit side, great balance with grip and nuance. That said, would be totally blown away and overwhelmed by any Bordeaux Superior you can put on your table (and I don't necessarily mean that as a complement).

5/1/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

I guess. A long life of drinking wine gives me, and this is always the case, a different and longer perspective. If you are young these wines are the only perspective you have. Now that Bordeaux has if you will, while balanced, reached a sort of VERY modern style Bordeaux stage where in my view it has reached a scale where it has become entirely one dimensional - overblown if you will. These wines have no grip or nuance - just in your face mouth filling fruit. The worm has actually turned. I am reminded of the day when California cabs were viewed as "contest wines" because they blew away Bordeaux - and yes that was the case back then. Today I think many of these Bordeaux will compete with, if not blow away, lots and lots of Cal cabs. Not really for me any more.

4/30/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Three bottles left over from a tasting - about 1/5 full - 2015 il Poggio GS, 2016 il Poggio GS, 2016 Fontodi Sorbo GS. Tasted the following night - 24 hours in give or take. The 2015 il Poggio was an also ran - clearly the lesser of the three wines - maybe a 92. The remaining two were very very close. For now I give the 2016 il Poggio the edge....for now. These two are in my view as good as chianti gets and both have a great future.

4/29/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Brunellos have a tough mountain to climb in the 2016 vintage. This one has plenty of extract, but I think it didn't quite get it right. More than a bit coarse compared to many others, but I doubt this will wear off over its long life.

4/29/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

The longer these 2016 Brunellos sit in the bottle the more it seems I am impressed with them. This bottle combines red fruity fineness with wonderful grip, a descriptive in my view that reflects great structure. Found this quite drinkable within an hour of opening. That said, it has a long life ahead.

3/6/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Very very precise like no other gran selezione I've had and on the red fruit side. What I mean by precise is right down Broadway as opposed to mouth filling. Great precision reflects great structure/balance to me. In wine tastings, I find that precise pretty much always beats out mouth filling. Terrific purity of fruit; wood is there but subtle. That said....pricey in context.

1/19/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

In a long lifetime of wine, an especially memorable wine. Purchased on release, it was at that time not particularly well received - minerality and ungenerous/austere - nice but nothing special. Makes two points. First, Dancer's wine need time - at least this one did. And second, Dancer is making great white burgundy without a noticeable impression of wood. I understand he uses some, but very little. The preceding note (Melvinyeowq) is spot on. I would add it retains a bit of minerality and it is incredibly mouth filling.
The reference to Ampeau is interesting - Robert Ampeau produced stunning Meursaults that were stunning in no small part because they were released long after the vintage-fully realized if you will. To me, blew away the Compte Lafon's and Coche Dury. Back in the day bought every bottle I could find. In a few vintages, some wines were released under the name Potinet Ampeau, which I always assumed was produced by the person or people who cared for the vines. An early release and excellent.
In any case, hats off to Vincent Dancer.

1/3/2023 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A profound Brunello. beautifully extracted and beautifully balanced. Really impresses from the get go on the palate. Sort of in the middle of the red fruit back fruit characterization. One of those wines that lands on your palate as something special, even if Brunellos aren't one of your particularly favored wines. When Brunelos are really good, as this one is, they are special. The problem is, in my view, is that far too many Brunellos, especially given the high prices, are not really good - far too many second raters; notwithstanding the high ratings.

12/6/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Cork back in on the sideboard for a day. My concerns over fruit quality have cleared. What is left is a core of quality extracted fruit wrapped in the most tannic Brunello I have tasted from the vintage. It should sort out into a first rate Brunello. Waiting is required.

12/5/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Bit of a woody nose. Closed tight, needs lots of time. But I'm not sure what you see of the fruit quality/expression rises to the quality level you expect from a Brunello costing these $$$.

11/5/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

While this doesn't have the scale of a good number of other 16 Brunellos, to me it more than makes up for it with its precision/balance and clarity. Very much on the red fruit side, my sense is that it will age better than most. Second bottle. Tried it a while back and bought a few more bottles.

10/31/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Maybe an off bottle for one reason or another, but if not, I find this on the coarse side without focus - diffuse. Not what it should be. On the red fruit side, but doesn't remotely offer in terms of structure, fruit, and generosity what other Brunello Riservas from this vintage offer, let alone what other non Riservas offer. Has an acid backbone, but I very much doubt there is enough here for this to astoundingly come together as a great Brunello down the road. First of maybe ten different 2016 Brunellos tasted that I have found disappointing.

10/29/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Much preferred to the 2015. Beautifully structured and beautifully generous with a red fruit edge. Complete in every sense, and in my view, the first vintage since (haven't tasted them all) that harkens back to the great early vintages of Il Poggio. Sits on the palate with a silky fulfilling smoothness. Easy and thoroughly enjoyable now notwithstanding the structural tannins , but ten years and more out, this bodes well to be a truly great, and as a result, truly rare in terms of memorable Chiantis.

10/4/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

This wine is basically a fruit bomb - low acid huge fruit, but very atypical for a 2016. That said, it is after all a Pomerol fruit bomb. A real mouthful. You could (I could) drink nothing but this for a week, or at least 2-3 days.

7/31/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

This is clarifying as a huge wine, albeit very very much Bordeaux, and 2009 Bordeaux seems to be emerging as the hugest in your face Bordeaux vintage of my lifetime. The wines across the board are very well made and correct in the context of the modern style. In some people's ballpark big time. In others, not so much. For my part I have no problem drinking them because they are it seems across the board very much Bordeaux. I'm thinking a great vintage to sort out Bordeaux. Plenty of life ahead.

3/29/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A real mouthful. White flowers and a bit of anise on the nose. Creamy white burgundy on the palate with a bit of biting acidity at the end (never seen a temperature above 47 since acquisition upon release). This is another wine that tells me that in my view we have to put the old idea of Puligny "minerality" to bed. I go back to pre modern style and that was indeed the case then. In well made Puligny it was quite recognizable. In modern style Puligny the gigantic fruit compared to back then totally overwhelms historic terroir. White burgundies were much more lean back then. Terroir was more visible. I'm thinking the best shot at seeing terroir in modern white burgundies is Vincent Dancer. The difference between his Tete de Clos and La Romanee is dramtically clear, and it reflects the different plots. Try to find any difference remotely like that in say Niellon's several Chassagnes for starters. Some are better than others in every year, but they all have the same profile, and it has nothing to do with terroir.

3/19/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Left a quarter of the bottle on the sideboard last night. Tonight still quite fine.. Modern style/global warming has taken burgundy to a far less compelling place than back in the day - white and red. Smaller crops, nature's acid, whatever.

3/18/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Deep gold in color with no browning. Immense minerality with a buttery overlay. Length and then some. Still a tiny bit astringent.Rock my world.

1/16/2022 - theusualsuspect wrote:

The Niellon wines went off the boil in the mid 90's if not before, and that continued into the first decade of this century. You held a Niellon wine for 5-6 years at your peril.
Starting maybe around 2010 they started to show a more ambitious structure offering a bit more longevity. This wine since release has never seen a temp above 47 degrees., as was true of the Niellon wines I owned going back to 1990. The vintage certainly plays a part in this, but this wine is barely in mid life with years ahead. This wine will easily outlive any Niellon wine I've ever had.

12/23/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

After this difficult vintage the Clair Dau estate was sold to Louis Jadot. Clair Dau it turned out was a fine success for the vintage. On opening the wine looks perhaps a bit past its prime., On the palate, not at all the case. Wonderfully extracted and rich on the palate in the earthy lightly beefy sense. Super length.
The wine was purchased on release and stored in a refrigerated cellar at 44-47 degrees since. By and large, not a wine to take a flyer on at this point.

12/19/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Purchased upon release and stored in a refrigerated cellar at 44-47 degrees since. Rare for me to drink top end wines by myself - great wine like this is to share unless you have many zeros in your net worth. So given the Cellar Tracker reviews I thought why not see what I've got with the most likely outcome being not much. This is at the back end of the window, but it in my burgundy ballpark. Very light in color with pure reddish mouth filling pinot. No earthiness, no barnyard, no beef (literally and figuratively) Think Drouhin Laroze of the past if not today. Immensely tasty right down Broadway. My wine friends will have harsh words.

12/8/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

I initially thought this a lesser wine, but with time it seems to have fleshed out with all the precise and pure extracted white burgundy palate message that sets white burgundy apart from the rest of the world . In my view, champagne and white burgundy are the only wines that search as you might, you can't really replace. Dancer's wines are now really way up there price wise. And he isn't carrying the not inexpensive cost of new wood to ferment and new wood to age. I wonder when other producers are going to get the message.

10/19/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Really good in terms of what I'm seeing in 2009 Bordeaux. Really pleasing although someone closed at this point but not much more. Likely to show more down the road.

10/19/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Dancer. Refined purity of chardonnay. Little, almost imperceptible wood. Wonderfully extracted. The purity defines the palate impact. Not for nothing that the price of Dancer's wines have gone through the roof. But of course if your measure is wooded wines starting with Niellon and going to say Coche Dury, this wine isn't really in the hunt in your view. Your preference as to white burgundy is the measure of of course, but I'm guessing if Niellon and whoever is your measure, you are perplexed why people are paying prices the far beyond -say twice -Niellon prices for Dancer wines.

4/2/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Gran Selezione extract - powerful - tight and red fuity on the palagte, but a touch of dirt, organic, whatever.I'm guessing will clear at some point.

My question about the Gran Selezione Chiantis is whether they will in due course be rated and appreciated above Brunellos. Price factors into this of course, but I think the answer will ultimately be yes, inless of course the Brunellos go the Gran Selezione rout e at say $250 a pop.

I'm confident the Brunello producers have this on their radar.

3/19/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Very much now in the shell. Astringent tannic although what you see of the fruit is excellent. The 2013 Barolos are starting to remind me of an old observation. The longer it takes to go into the serious shell, and with many 2013's it has taken plenty of time, the longer it takes for the wines to come out of the shell.

3/13/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Unfocused on opening with plenty of fruit. Over the next four hours nicely rich fruit a bit on the red fruit side emerged yet all the while with a note of tannic astringency in the background. Six hours in much more open and seemingly ready for business, but there remains a slight note of tannic astringency in the wine. Expect it will offer a bit more in a few years.My sense is this is less extracted and maybe more mouthful of fruit than some other gran selezione. Very polished.

2/12/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

When I bought thi upon release and tasted it, I thought it a disappointment - on the insipid side. Not today, Modern chianti emerged in 1996 and we had to wait many years to fully see it again. Now the norm and not the exception. Being perceptive in terms of appreciating these modern chiantis is almost like starting all over again.

2/12/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A wine that puts Vincent Dancer in focus. Upon release, this was nothing special to many. In retrospect, at $45 with the discount at Binnys, one of the great white burg values of the last ten years. What this has is the unique quality of white burgundy, and without the qualifiers, we all I think know what that is, delivered with really profound on the palate precision. Backin the day, and I go way back in terms of days, white burgundy imprtoved with age. This one has. Hats off to Dancer.

1/1/2021 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A recent purchase retail. Much further advanced than the bottles I have in my cellar which were purchased pretty much upon release. Nicely extracted , but more traditional - darker - not as red fruity as many 2013's.. How these 2013 Barolos evolve may prove to be more than a bit interesting.

12/25/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Acquired upon release and stored in a refrigerated cellar at 47 degrees since. Initially very much in the elegant fine red fruit style albeit with a real mouthful of extract. Became meatier and weightier over time. In a perfect place. Incredibly long rich finish. Storage being equal, I would take this over the DRC 85 Echezeaux in a heartbeat, and maybe over any DRC Echezeaux. Affirms why 1985 was my all time favorite red burgundy vintage. As always with older wines, storage is everything.

12/3/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

I underestimated this wine initially (actually not the first time I have done that with a wine, and yes, I do realize I am alone in this). More structure than I originally thought carrying plenty of honest fruit. But that said, there is heat in here. A wine in, as many wines are, in a perplexing mid life.

11/23/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A bit of a puzzle to me. Impressively extracted but in the final analysis - dull. It is full in the mouth, not at all tannic, and my guess is it won't be getting better. Given its pedigree, it is a disappointment to me.

11/5/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Purchased last month from a wine retailer in California. Further along than other nicely well stored bottles is my guess. An unctuous red fruit expression of modern Barolo. Beautifully balanced - tannin and acid integrated, and plenty rich. Your well stored bottles not showing much. Hang in there.

11/2/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Exceptionally well stored. Will be fine for perhaps 3-4 more years, if not more Nicely correct Meursault, nicely extracted. I have always thought 2014 the best white burgundy vintage so far in this century, and I think this this not at all ambitious wine in its way makes the point.

11/2/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

The transition to modern style in a bottle. This wine has a level of extract - mouth filling richness - you would never find in an old style Brunello. The flavors are more pronounced as a result, Cherry, a bit red, a bit black, across the palate.If this is representative, Brunello will do just fine with the modern style.

10/31/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Purchased upon release. Stored ar 47 degrees since, pretty much unmoved. Cork came out whole with no sign of deterioration except at the very top. In the elegant style. Beautiful red fruit aromatics with matching red fruit elegance on the palate. Quite rich and plenty long. Reminds me of a Drouhin Laroze. All said, the wine is showing its age, not browning at edge but certainly headed there., 1985 remains my all time favorite red burgundy vintage, and so it shows so well here.

Note that this is not the Daniel Rion estate, although in the following few years he may have inherited this vineyard. The Rion Pere label locates the producer in Vosne Romanee, and it existed at least through the 1988 vintage. The Daniel Rion label locates the estate in Nuits St George.,

10/23/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Another modern style Barolo that is very much on the red fruit side, and not on the traditional tar/roses dark fruit side. I've said before that modern style Barolo is starting to taste like a more highly extracted version of Valtellina. I drank a bottle of what I think of as at or near the top in Valtellina, a 2010 Marsetti Grumello, about a month ago. This Prunotto Bussia could I think pass for a select cuvee of a Marsetti Grumello.

10/22/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

A very much straightforward red fruit notey wine that shows plenty of fruit initially until the tannin arrives. Beautifully balanced, fine future. Very much a wine to buy in this vintage, but perhaps less so in other vintages. Another of those wines that told me basically if you buy the 2013 Barolos, you'll be quite fine for the next ten years. I add that my view has always been to buy vintages where the wines are of across the board consistent quality. Picking winners out of inconsistent vintages was never my game.

10/21/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

While I no longer travel in the seriously high dollar Barolo market (and that is certainly a factor), this is a remarkably profound expression of modern Barolo. Impressively extracted, impeccably balanced, it is remarkably rich all the way across the palate with red fruit overtones infused with many other complexity adding flavors. To me, and I've been drinking Barolo for many decades, this is actually a what would you want on a desert island wine, assuming I'm allowed say thirty cases. Below that, well I'll have to think about it.

10/17/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

An elegant red fruity precise Barolo in the making, but still pretty much on the mouth puckering side. Elegant, and I think that word is at least somewhat accurate, is not a word ever associated as far as I know with old style Barolo.

10/16/2020 - theusualsuspect wrote:

Not at all on the modern red fruit side. Darker more traditional. Solid, but doesn't inspire.