6/14/2023 - Hugo Hilde wrote:

Perfection (Tøyen, Oslo): Wow, wow, wow.

After a superb bottle of Cheval 47 did not compell me to grant it a perfect score, I feared I would never be moved to sign off a 100 points to any wine.

This wine, however, defined the word flawless. Immediately after pulling the cork, it was clear I was in the presence of greatness.

An explosion of a nose, I could smell it clearly 25 cm away from the glass. It featured blackberry, blackcurrant, so much mineral, sous bois, umami notes, freshly picked stone mushroom, clove, white pepper, shoe polish, leather and vine smoke. My god, I literally smelled this in silence for hours into the night..

Full-ish bodied, at first bitter, then a growing sweetness before an intense coda of forest floor and nuts.
Perfectly integrated tannins, still a small bite, countered by on point acidity, keeping it so balanced and fresh. Not at all heavy, power and intensity without any heaviness.
Also here blackberry, as well as plums, a crazy mineralité, wet soil. The finish is literally endless with sweet orange rind and cherry pits.

This was firing on all cylinders until the bitter end, (2AM, as I and my co-host sat 2 hours after the guests had left, drinking the sediment from the bottle, never wanting to let this experience end..) not at all worried it's going to fade, but for me, absolute perfect maturity now.

What an experience, quasi religious..

7/17/2023 - Hugo Hilde Likes this wine:

This is just so great for its classification.
Pure nose of blueberries, wild strawberries with pronounced acidity.
Vey fresh and light palate with a long strawberry-sweet finish.

Significantly more advanced than last bottle, perhaps not a wine to sit on forever..?

4/3/2022 - Cailles wrote:

Wow, a great call by William Kelley (93 pts). This is clearly punching above its weight (or above the reputation of the the appellation). Quite intense, layered, great structure. Probably just a touch too ripe to get to the 95 pts. Amazing quality/price ratio.

TN: Very fresh nose with dark red berries, cherries, herbs, smoke and minerality. On the palate this shows very fine with a wonderful creaminess, superb freshness, ultra fine tannins. Ripe, pure fruit core, some minerality, smoke notes around it. Superb from start to finish.

Decanting: This was sitting in the glass for at least 30 minutes. Didn‘t need more air, good from the go.