2/7/2024 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Decent Alsatian Pinot noir, berry flavours, not too light though at 14%.

4/24/2023 - barrkel wrote:

I hope it was flawed. It's undrinkable with a really rough aftertaste.

3/11/2023 - barrkel Does not like this wine:

Second bottle, picked from cellar without reading previous review. Poured half away with no regrets. It's just not very nice.

3/11/2023 - barrkel Does not like this wine:

Very average wine. Lacks flavour and concentration straight from popping the cork, is acidic and thin. Adequate for washing down pizza but not for much else.

3/6/2023 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Needs a lot of air to loosen up, but has good tannic and acid texture with cherries and vanilla oak once it does. Some length of flavour, a lingering sweetness.

2/28/2023 - barrkel wrote:

Good. Quite fruity and needs some air to loosen up, but it has good complexity. Depth of cherry fruit, leather, undergrowth. Mild tannins.

2/12/2023 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Good and enjoyable. A little high in tannins on its own, it's cherry juice and black tea with those tannins lasting some time, not green or over extracted. A hint of herb or garrigue. Oak is mild, integrated. Good value.

1/11/2023 - barrkel wrote:

Average quaffer for tomato sauce meals. Quite acidic, not much oak, fresh juice and fairly simple, with a hint of iron. Medium to mild tannins.

12/8/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Solid Shiraz, serves up rich fruit without being totally jammy. Good.

12/7/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Simple wine but tasty and clean. Not much complexity or length or depth, good with food, decent everyday wine.

11/29/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Not quite as good as the El Ciruelo, but not bad at all. Strong peppery volcanic note from the Listan Negro, which is pure in the Ciruelo, but cut here with Castellana Negra, a simpler fruitier grape. This is probably more approachable than the Ciruela as a result. There's a bit of funk, wild yeast and all that, but it's not a natural wine (thankfully). Low alcohol at 12.5, somewhat translucent but not as much as Ciruelo, bright juicy acidity with a savoury acid tail, tannins medium and just about balancing the acid for drinking on its own.

11/27/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Serviceable friendly oaked chardonnay. Mild brackishness, what I think of as the signature of Chardonnay (also in mourvedre rose), peach, lychee - not much apple here, round mouthfeel from alcohol & glycerine, and a sweet note that feels more glycerine than sugar. Vaguely reminiscent of a gewurztraminer. Acidity is enough to balance it but it's not mouthwatering. Oak is reasonably subtle. At 14.5% it's not light drinking, but the wine is round enough to drink on its own.

11/26/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Short, shallow, simple but not actively unpleasant to drink. There's a faint suggestion of boiled cabbage, a bit of smoke, some sweetness. No concentration.

11/25/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Quite tasty monastrell. Deep dark fruit with herby garrigue and some length of dark greenness and oak and a hint of those herbs. Tannins are mild and balance the mild acidity.

11/22/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Decent acidity and drying tannins give it good tension / energy and there is a balsamic savoury note, blending with the oak, and almost a hint of molasses in the aftertaste, but it tails off to a slightly green note. I like this a lot, it has a lot of the energy of a Brunello though lacking some depth.

11/20/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Good Syrah. Warms up to a bit of meatiness, a hint of pepper, but is relatively light overall. Oak is mild, acid is quite strong but not obtrusive, tannins are mild. It's more of a food wine than sipping, but is good.

11/18/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Great smokey oak. There's a lovely smokey note from the oak, which is not subtle. Tannins are fine and somewhat persistent, acidity doesn't fully balance the tannins, there's a hint of plum fruit beneath the oak, but this is not a fruity wine. It's lopsided and would be quite good with some sticky bit of roast beef, was not bad with the greasy food I had it with, and it's ok on its own.

11/17/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Not bad Bordeaux. This first bottle was a little musty shortly after open, but smoke and cedar was evident. The next day it it was better, smoke still there but more crunchy fruit, more juicy acid.

11/16/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Good wine, good on first day, not bad on second day. Cherry fruit, a bit of garrigue, some body and energy with acid/tannin tension.

11/14/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Perfectly acceptable wine in a pinch. Sweetness is unsubtle, like it had grape juice added, and the oak is like it had a pinch of vanilla added. Fruit is bold without being jammy. There's a hint of greenness in there, but the tannins overall are very mild. Flavour is short and overall it's a low energy, low tension wine. It's not fine wine, but as a cheap drink it's not bad.

11/13/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Not very typical. I associate Valpolicella with plums and sunshine in a glass, but this isn't that; it feels over-extracted, stemmy, a bit green, lacking in fruit. It's like it's watered down by generic 5 buck a glass house wine. That makes it sound a bit worse than it is, but it's the direction of travel; it's less typical, more generic. It's ok to drink. It's not worth seeking out and I would not buy it again, it's not what I was looking for.

11/12/2022 - barrkel Does not like this wine:

Weak stuff. I can't have gotten the same bottles Jeff got. This tastes like a wine a third its price. A brief splash of berry fruit and some mild tannins and off you go. Oak is barely discernable, there's a suggestion of cedar, but served blind, I'd think this was something Spanish and not Bordeaux. The aftertaste is quite green and lingers somewhat unpleasantly.

I have five more bottles, bought on high rating. I hope they turn out better but they won't be drunk soon.

11/11/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Soft and gentle on first sip, but very long flavour. Acid doesn't really hit until after you've swallowed, a minor explosion in the back of the throat and the tongue, it takes time to build. Toffee, mushroom, caramel, apple melange. Aftertaste is over a minute. Very nice.

11/11/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

This was a surprise, after reading notes on other vintages. Pronounced cassis fruit but not jammy, fairly stiff tannins balanced by juicy acidity giving it lots of energy, and a darky smoky burnt note in the aftertaste. There was a hint of damp cellar in this bottle so other bottles might be better.

11/9/2022 - barrkel Does not like this wine:

Not very distinct or flavourful. Hot from 14% alcohol. Forced steminess, medium acidity, mild oak, and a dark note of burnt something lingers in the back of the mouth.

10/19/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Quite nice Gruner. Full in the mouth with glycerine, and an illusion of sweetness, then spice and umami come next, with some acidity to clean up. Very food friendly.

10/16/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Tart, cherry fruit without a lot of depth, very mild tannins, quite high acidity. Some steminess adds complexity. Overall a simple wine for food accompaniment and is probably a bit overpriced at 12 CHF.

10/14/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Tasty berries, some undergrowth, smooth mild tannins with a lot of sweet vanilla oak (American?). Crowd pleaser and very drinkable.

10/10/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Drinkable, inoffensive Syrah that tastes of red berries, a hint of tannin but backed up by fairly substantial acidity, tempered by some lactic elements making it smoother. Has a slightly stemmy aspect, like aggressive extraction, but it lacks concentration. No noticable pepper. Overpriced at over 20chf.

7/29/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Very tasty Pinot. Herbs, bright red fruit, mild tannins with a hint of green, good acidity but not too much for drinking on its own. Good length. Had on Glacier Express.

6/6/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Surprisingly tasty red blend, of Gamaret, Diolinoir, Pinot Noir, Merlot. Slightly meaty, good balance of acid and tannins, berry fruit a bit like a muted grenache but the blend is hard to pin down and I think it's the first I've had of the first two grapes.

5/29/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Good. Not overly fruity, but fairly well balanced acid and tannins, plenty of graphite, cedar, and overall polished. Moreish but not brash.

5/23/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Full fruit flavour and a slightly bitter edge (the bottle suggests dried prunes and a hint of cocoa) on a relatively simple wine. 8 months in barrel but not big oak. Tasty. Strong powers of tooth staining, mind.

5/1/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Another fun tasty bottle of alcoholic fruit. Good with a barbeque.

5/1/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Not great bottle

4/15/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Slightly sweet with a hint of spice and a suggestion of exotic fruit. Not too floral.

4/5/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Very tasty wine. Cab sauv and Merlot with oak but the wine is a lighter style than Bordeaux and is vaguely reminiscient of a Pinot Noir. Pronounced cherry fruit, undergrowth, stems, savoury acid, mild fine tannins, hint of bacon, some age complexity. A spicy vanilla note from the oak but it's well integrated. Flavourful. Quite dry but it's very drinkable on its own.

4/1/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Opened my first bottle. Very nice. Cedar, coffee, cocoa, fruit, good tension with acid / tannins, nice texture. Very much enjoyed.

3/27/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Vanilla oak, a hint of butter and a suggestion of apple, but it's the oak that dominates. Not very acidic, lacking in concentration and flavour. Inoffensive, not harsh, very mild, slightly sweet. It could be a lot worse for the price but it feels like a stretch to call it wine.

3/27/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Ok "big" wine if somewhat overpriced. Needs some air, a bit metallic out of the gate. Quite primary, fruit in the grenache territory, but with some depth and a hint of pepper. Fairly smooth, low tannins, not too acidic.

3/23/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Very nice zweigelt. Toasty oak, berry fruit, a hint of funk, earthy minerality, lively acidity, medium to mild tannins. Good with bacon, good on its own, got some substance and complexity to it.

3/21/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

This is like a wine cocktail. Quite sweet with heavy fruit flavours, black mostly, with bitter edge. Layered in a constructed way, it's unsubtle, almost brutal. The bottle is similarly inelegant, a thick glass slug enclosing this stuff. I have premonitions of a headache hangover after a single glass. The wine is fun, though.

3/20/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Acceptable Malbec. Smooth, simple, not harsh, fruit and oak, a bit weak on acid and tannins, not very intense or concentrated but easy to drink.

3/20/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Interesting, not the usual rioja. Got a good dose of American oak but with a spike of hay/fruit in a way that defies description, almost like a cross between a natural wine and ripasso. I liked it but trying to analyse it makes me wonder if it's not a lucky flaw.

3/19/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Later bottles have been better. This is sometimes decent rioja. It's not as nice or reliable as Ardanza but it's ok.

3/19/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Second time this was better but not by a whole lot. I suspect some bottle variance. Still fairly substantial tannins, but cherry fruit and acidic energy too. On day two, was a bit washed out. I won't seek this out again.

2/14/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Good. Not the most exciting 2019 I've had so far, perhaps it's in a muted phase, but it lacks some tension and concentration for me. Good length tending into green tannins, which are a little bit grainy. Some black fruit and earth, a hint of rubber, some bell pepper, good cedar. Good.

2/6/2022 - barrkel Does not like this wine:

Rough stuff. High alcohol and tastes like it. A little red cherry, some earth, and a heavy hot burn of alcohol with medicinal, industrial overtones. A wine I don't want to revisit.

1/31/2022 - barrkel Likes this wine:

Very nice. Perfumed with garnacha fruit, the perfume elevates it and it's quite enjoyable to savour after food.

1/31/2022 - barrkel wrote:

Very nice. Blackcurrant, primary juice, but with smoke and leather.