5/12/2024 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Mellowed and more well integrated than the last bottle in 2020, with secondary notes showing. Was good value but Tignanello prices have since increased.

5/2/2024 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Rich yellow stone fruit, slightly reductive, good length. Enough acidity to avoid being flabby.

5/6/2024 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

A fruit forward and full-bodied style of pinot but balanced nonetheless. Red fruits prominent with earthier notes in the background. Very easy drinking, hard to fault this wine. Great value.

5/3/2024 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

By the glass at L'Effervescence in Tokyo. No detailed notes but very elegant and complex with an extremely fine bead. Stone fruit, apple, and floral notes dominant but delicate. An intellectual champagne that was perfect for the menu on the night. This was a treat to drink.

12/25/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Another Christmas Day bottle, first one in 3 years. The coiled tension from my first bottle in 2019 appears to have dissipated, but the wine was still primary with toffee apple and brioche notes dominant. Bittersweet, medium intensity. Perhaps this lacked the wow factor, but enjoyed it nonetheless with Chinese cuisine at Jiang-Nan Chun.

10/30/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Rich yellow colour. Sarawak pineapple, grated coconut and vanilla. Initially flabby, yeasty and oily before revealing a slightly more focused core.

10/20/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Bordeaux 1985 Grand Tour; 5/5/2017-10/20/2023: Prominent nose with earthy/woody notes. Cassis, cherries, dried plums, cedar, camphor, menthol and herbs. Medium to full bodied with good concentration. Softly textured. Tannins were still present but well integrated. Cork was protruding by a couple of mm and crumbled upon extraction but no issues with the wine otherwise. In a very good place at the moment and will hold for a couple of years but unlikely to improve further.

10/9/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Lots of plush ripe fruit and concentration. Tannins softening and integrating more fully. In a good spot.

9/29/2023 - Isaac L Does not like this wine:

The first bottle I had of this at 67PM drank well (91+), but the next two bottles (retail purchases) were letdowns. Bottle variation/provenance perhaps?

9/27/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Bordeaux 1985 Grand Tour; 5/5/2017-10/20/2023: Celebrating the incorporation of KW LLC. Dark magenta with an opaque core and some bricking at the rim. The nose showed aged leather, sweet plum, blackberries, and mint. On the palate sour cherry initially followed by black fruits, cedar, tobacco, and soy. Fully integrated, well-balanced and elegantly concentrated. This bottle needed a 2-hour decant to reveal itself.

9/16/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

At Claudine. Drank beautifully with steak tartare and roast pigeon.

8/11/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

This was a knockout at this price point. Fruit forward without being ripe, the oak treatment frames this wine beautifully. Balanced with fine tannins. Came out firing on all cylinders following pnp. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot. 92+ with lots of upside.

8/6/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Birthday bottle. Had with smoked brisket on the bone. Good fruit concentration with noticeable garrigue and tertiary character. Blackberries, tar, cocoa, cedar, pepper, smoke, and caramel. 14.5% alcohol was present but not obtrusive. Well integrated with tannins still present, this has easily another 15-20 years of life on it.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

By the glass from magnum @ 67PM. Tar, soil, minerals, black fruits. Elegant. Medium to full bodied, but not unctuous. Enjoyable now.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Most typical MR producer profile on the nose (sweet rose petals), which also made this the most atypical Diana Madeline at the tasting. This was in fact more similar to the Vanya, but obviously less polished. Aged in amphora which apparently results in increased liveliness of the tannins on the front palate. Nowhere near ready - lay this down and pick it up in 10 years.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Distinguished, very concentrated, perfume, roses, but slightly green and woody nose. Approachable to a slight extent, but best laid down for another decade at least. As noted elsewhere, 2018 is head and shoulders above any other vintage in MR. WOTN out of the vertical comprising '01, '11', '13, '14, '15, '16, '18, and '21.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. This wine was entirely shut down and didn't show up for the tasting at all. NR.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Wow. Powerful and textured. Long. Cassis pure and prominent, albeit the wine has more black fruit and darker tones than most MR cabernet which tends to be red-fruited. Everything in balance. Outperformed Latour blind, according to Vanya. Second favourite wine of the vertical comprising '01, '11', '13, '14, '15, '16, '18, and '21. 94-95 in 10-15 years?

6/8/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. First vintage of the tasting to show MR typicality, and the first with all Bordeaux varietals present. Fuller, forward leaning, although tannins appeared to be completely integrated. Not much fruit showing. 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc.

6/9/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc. Green, woody nose. Obvious heat. Thin. Weakest vintage of the vertical.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Candy floss(!) on first sniff. Powerful nose with the cabernet franc just about peeking through. Unfortunately the palate didn't match up and showed a sherry-like character.

6/8/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Tertiary nose showing leather and bush/bramble. Salinity prominent on the palate, accompanied by plums and soy sauce. Touch of heat from the hot vintage. Medium-bodied but still powerful and grippy. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot.

Pity the other bottle was corked, would have loved more of this. Third favourite wine of the vertical comprising '01, '11', '13, '14, '15, '16, '18, and '21.

5/28/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Alcohol and tannins prominent. Put on weight on day 2, but the components of this wine still need to come together. Slightly off balance.

5/26/2023 - Isaac L Does not like this wine:

This was quite unremarkable – provided glimpses of the grand vin on the nose but that was about it. Where 2016 second wines are concerned, Le Petit Lion, Reserve de la Comtesse, and La Dame de Montrose are all ahead of this.

5/25/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Fully tertiary. Showed really well. Best with food.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – darker appearance in the glass, slightly mellower on the palate compared to the 2019.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – classic frame but seemingly needs a lot to come together.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – richer undertones compared to the Salus. Vanilla, integrated tannins.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – lifted by the cabernet franc, medium-bodied, tinge of sweetness. 89+

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – dark berries, baritone, wood/oak present.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – fresh but far from ready. awash with tannins. good components. quality is there.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – rose petals, dark fruits, slightly muted palate.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – more pronounced cab-dominant nose compared to their Mr Evans label. could be better integrated on the palate.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – deeper, darker-fruited aromas and obvious bottle age compared to the 2016. short finish.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – red-fruited, light bodied. easy drinking.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L Does not like this wine:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – this wine presented a very strange, chemical profile that I had never tasted before in chardonnay. Peter Koff MW may have been right. over-made and over-oaked?

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – polished, rounded, dark-fruited. well made.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – nice, cool character. white stonefruit.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – medium-bodied, good structure. Decent wine.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – big, full bodied wine. Noticeable heat and tannins. Good flavour.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – fresh and slightly vegetal. presence of cabernet franc obvious.

5/22/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Napa Walkabout Tasting @ Park 90 – discernible heat on the nose, bottle age somewhat apparent, slightly lacking on the mid-palate.

4/17/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Coravin pour at Tenuta by Park 90. At this early stage, the wine has a moderately aromatic nose that can't be mistaken for anything other than a top shelf wine. Reminds one of Pauillac but with a dollop of Tuscan sunshine. Layered, complex, and very long on the finish. Fine tannins that weren't prominent but comfortably in the background. Very good structure. Showed well over 1.5 hrs in the glass. Very enjoyable now, looking forward to tasting it in 15-20 years.

4/17/2023 - Isaac L wrote:

Coravin pour at Tenuta by Park 90. Ripe blackberries, dark plums, milk chocolate. Lush and silky mouthfeel, ultra fine tannins. Consistent with Tenuta dell’Ornellaia house style (i.e. dark-fruited). Needs time in glass (~2h) to reveal itself.

12/25/2022 - Isaac L wrote:

From 375ml. Still very primary – leave alone for another 10-15 years.

12/24/2022 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Very good. Fruit mostly gone with secondary/tertiary character remaining. Medium-bodied, supple, balanced.

12/15/2022 - Isaac L wrote:

Took a bottle along on a holiday to check on its progress as it approaches 10 years. Had with Balinese smoked/spiced duck. This particular bottle showed very mellow, with tannins almost entirely resolved, and a slightly darker character than I recall with the '13. Still drank well albeit not as outstanding as previous bottles.

10/30/2022 - Isaac L Likes this wine:

Mint, bramble, red cherry, good depth and length. Crashed the party at a tasting of Australian pinots. Relative score to the Australian wines would be 92, but moderating it slightly and scoring it in a Burg context.

10/29/2022 - Isaac L wrote:

[WEA VIC/TAS pinot battle] One can see why this garnered the James Halliday 2023 pinot of the year and other wine show trophies. In a blind tasting, it shows well with ample concentration and is forward drinking (most Australian pinot is leaner/more delicate in style). Plum and dark morello cherry on the nose and palate. Bit of a fruit cake character to it. One experienced taster commented that this drank like cool climate Australian shiraz instead of pinot, and I can see why. This was my 3rd favourite wine out of 6 tasted.

10/29/2022 - Isaac L wrote:

[WEA VIC/TAS pinot battle] This was a strange murky colour and initially all stemmy and woody on the nose. Some red fruit eventually emerged, accompanied by juicy acidity and a pleasant mouthfeel. The recent price hike to ~90sgd makes this poor value. 4th favourite out of 6 wines.