2/17/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lots of limey, herbal pithiness. Floral notes. Slight hole in the mid-palate but finishes with real energy. The texture not as impressive as previous vintages. First of 6 so should improve. Preferred a recent glass of 2020 at Noble Rot

1/19/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Tomato and olive tapenade flavours. Fresh acidity and crunchy fruit. A touch drying but very good

1/17/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Delicious wine. Fresh minerals and cherry spice.

1/17/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Delicious, light, smudgy juice bomb of a wine.

1/17/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

No rush but already delicious with steak. Dark cherries, minerals and spice. Serious.

1/15/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Peaches and raspberry. Lovely acidity and freshness.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

110 yo vines from the oldest part of the vineyard. No sulphur. “Sometimes it works” the winemaker tells me. Well it does this time. A magnificent wine. Crackling with nervy energy. There is flowers, red berries and minerals. It’s a wine that smacks you in the nose as soon as it enters your mouth. Compelling.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Classic Saumur champigny. Crunchy redcurrants and lemon acidity. A simple pleasure that would be ideal in a Parisian bistro to refresh the palate of duck fat.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Riesling-esque power and acidity. Some petrol notes to the nutty marzipan. A bit of furniture polish. Unbelievable length. Great wine.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon wrote:

The smoky acidity is softer here than in the 2018. This has more of that peppery spice. Much rounder and flabbier than the 2018 and a bit less exciting.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Nutty, Smokey, floral marzipan. Real energy here. The oily texture is lovely. Impressive.

1/14/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

One of the standout wines from the St John Vignerons lunch. Absolutely delicious claret. Fresh, floral, red berry fruit. A linear, precise and focussed wine. Very impressive at this stage. The freshness is quite astonishing.

1/12/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Peachy nose. Caramel notes on the palate backed by piercing pineapple and grapefruit acidity. Salt and pepper then floral hints on the finish. A pleasing lemon pithiness lingers. Brilliant wine.

1/11/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Young Nebbiolo doesn’t get better than this. Floral, cherry fruit as pure as the driven snow, glistening over the palate. Fresh, spicy and plush. Essential drinking.

1/7/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Oxidative, manzanilla nose. Nuts, shoe polish and apple. Amazing with olasagasti anchovies.

1/5/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Dark, earthy, cherry fruit with a fair bit of peppery spice. Mouthpickering, sappy tannins. Quite full on but none the worse for it. Finishes fresh and long with hints of floral violets.

1/1/2023 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lovely translucent light red cherry colour. Crunchy bright fruit made it very easy to drink with food but the acidity took over a little at the end. Nice wine but not as joyous as some bottles of the Burlotto version I have enjoyed.

12/31/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lots of reduction which eventually blows off. Classic smoky lime flavours. Pithy texture. Last glass really started to show its class. Shame it’s last of the case. As ever, could go on forever. Indestructible wine.

12/31/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lovely wine. Fully mature but still in great nick. Light colour. A touch of exotic fruit with the pear and apple. A honeyed richness to the fruit on the palate but there is a lovely line of lemon acidity to keep things fresh.

12/25/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Best port I’ve had in years. Decanted for about 4 hours. Lovely herbal fruit. Fresh and long. Hard to beat for the money.

12/28/2022 - Wineloon Does not like this wine:

Not worth the calories

12/27/2022 - Wineloon wrote:

Tough to rate just now as it has a combination of harsh reduction (which does dissipate) and screeching acidity that makes it a bit of a chore to drink. Will ignore the rest of the case for now

12/27/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

In a great spot now. The acidity and fruit working in perfect harmony. Very good with spiced salmon fillets. A real crowd pleaser.

12/31/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Quite wild and rustic. Acidity is good and the herbal cherry fruit makes for a good bistro wine with a bit of interest.

12/31/2022 - Wineloon wrote:

Struggled a bit with this. The fruit was initially a bit stewed but did freshen up. Acidity too prominent and overtook thinks after a while. Feels like a good wine in there somewhere but needs time to come together.

2/27/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

So good I could weep. Dried flowers and cigar box nose and then really dark cherry with a confected menthol flavour. Reminiscent of cherry flavour Tunes. More crushed flowers to finish and an everlasting freshness. It’s in a perfect place now. The colour in the glass as it ends is that beautiful orangey brown.

2/13/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

A typically glorious “last bottle of the case” moment last night. Perfect Sangiovese with burgundian poise. Delicious floral, sweet and sour cherries with imperceptibly soft chalky tannins. Finishes fresh, satisfying and long.

2/6/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lovely wine this. Peaches, white flowers and a touch of grapefruit pith, but mainly peaches.

2/5/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Haunting wine this. Smoky nose of tobacco, marzipan, cinnamon and dried flowers. Sweet and sour black cherries and Parma violets on the palate. Long, chalky tannins. Refreshing but with a pleasantly boozy feel. Very complete and moreish.

I know it’s generally compared to Nebbiolo but I think this is closer to the other Nebbiolo clone, Xinomavro.

2/4/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Delicious Pinot from morningtonpeninsula - perfect development of fruit, acidity and earthy notes. Love the murky orange colour too.

2/1/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lovely gooseberry yoghurt nose, quite grassy almost like a kiwi Sauvignon. On the palate peaches, leafy herbs, salt and oyster shell. The acidity is brisk. Still young for my tastes but impressive. In a similar style to the Patrick Piuze wines I thought.

1/29/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Acidity still a bit too present, the material is all there but needs time.

1/29/2022 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

It’s an absolute beaut. Flowers, cherries, dirt and acid in perfect harmony.

9/12/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

The best vintage of cartology I’ve tasted. Quite rich nose of aniseed, toast and tropical fruits. The palate is so precise it makes you shudder. The acidity is pitch perfect and the concentration on the mid-palate is astonishing. There’s a honeyed beeswaxy thing on the finish alongside searing grapefruit acidity. But it’s all in balance. Seamless. Back up the truck.

7/19/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Beautiful floral, violet nose. Then crunchy red berry fruit with leafy herbs and that bloody, iodine Syrah flavour. Bags of peppery, spicy energy on the finish too.

7/18/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Really deep, dark fruit, with a big herbal rinse. Lingering flavours of liquorice followed the fruit and then a cool minty freshness on the finish. Seriously good.

7/15/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Floral, violet nose. On the palate strawberries, cherries, cinnamon and liquorice. Soft and fresh. Almost stemmy, sappy character. Lovely orange rind acidity on the finish. Glorious.

7/12/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Intense, mineral-laden, apple chewit nose. Burst of lime acidity on the palate backed with the energy of white pepper. The finish is long with salty lime rind and a touch of straw. Has that signature Dönnhoff texture too. Really delicious.

7/11/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

This is just lovely. I don’t need much more than this from my burgundy. When it drinks this well, village level burgundy is such a treat. Glacier cherry nose, a lovely earthiness and sour cherry acidity on the palate which continues into the finish.

7/9/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Nostril hair singeing nose of spicy, boozy, floral plums but a meatiness too. There is a lovely saline edge to the fruit that is the opposite of jammy but the overriding flavour on the palate is the herbs of Southern France. There’s a lovely orange rind acidity on the finish with some raspberries too. Enough to turn me back on to CNDP

7/5/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Cork buggered so had to poke it in and then decant through a coffee filter paper. Orange brown Nebbiolo colour. The nose is very tertiary. Spice, orange rind and polish. Lots of acidity on the palate and cherry spice. Nice mouth coating texture and finishes with peppery spice. Interesting more than enjoyable

7/4/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Beautiful rose petal and violets on the nose. Dark cherry and lots of spice on the palate backed by lots of fresh acidity. Really pretty, clean and refreshing stuff. Lots of life ahead.

7/3/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Glorious, just glorious.

Pale straw colour. Herbal, dried grass on the nose. Mild botryitis, slightly dirty rotten peach notes. On the palate there is an explosion of tropical fruit and citrus acidity. Really intense, concentrated and long. The grassy, herbal notes linger on the finish. Finally grapefruit pith lingers in the mouth for minutes. You can almost chew the white pith and there is a deeply saltyness too. Ooft!

7/2/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Lovely light mornington peninsula Pinot. Earthy, leafy herb and berry compote nose. Strawberries, cherries and orange rind acidity on the palate with a blast of white pepper energy and the leafy herbs come back on the finish. Juice!

6/28/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Beeswax-y tropical and stoned fruits on the nose, definitely lychees in there. Both the flavour and that almost grainy texture of lychee continue on the palate before alternate waves of dark honey and pithy lime permeate your mouth on the finish. Glorious.

6/27/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

It is tight as hell initially but opening up a teeny little bit. Not much fruit at this point, quite saline with fierce lemon-tinged acidity. Margarita-esque... I do like the 2008 a lot so am hopeful this comes around with time

6/22/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Superb after a good 90 mins in the decanter. Olive brine, mint leaf and dark berry fruit. Long and satisfying.

6/22/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Quite low in acidity and the oak is quite evident but an enjoyable chardonnay rather than Chablis.

6/22/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

Very good now. Honeyed apple with real freshness and drive.

6/21/2020 - Wineloon Likes this wine:

a bit like a mature claret with an Iberian twist. Double decanted about an hour in advance. Delicious.