4/13/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Heavy minerality and acidity. Refreshing and fruity. It could earn higher score if nude works be more open. Good QPR as I paid only CAD $21

3/15/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

I know it's still young at less than 10 years but still want to try at its adolescent stage. Decanted for two hours and drank over another two hours. At opening, it gave lots of red fruits (cassis, cherry and plum), dominated by nose of vanilla, cigar box, pencil shavings and light new leather. Tasted complex and definitely high tannins. Two hours past it was still fruity with enhanced vanilla and cedar fragrance, which gradually faded when into the last hours with spice and more leather kicking in. Overall an excellent Pauillac with upside ahead. Won't open my last two bottles until 2028+.

3/3/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Typical okay Californian Chardonnay, oily, buttery and full body with lemon, tangerine and mineral aroma. Quite a long finish. A well made Chardonnay if you like that style.

2/24/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

This bottle is much better than last one that I had two years ago. Balanced with smooth tannins, red fruits, pepper, and cigar box. Finish is long with fineness and elegance as opposed to ripe and jammy hot climate Australian reds.

2/18/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Wow, if blind tasted, I'd say it's a Grand Cru Champagne BdB. Yeasty and brioche. Zesty and refreshing. Full of green apple, lime and kiwi. A bargain but quality sparkling. Bravo.

1/5/2024 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Opened this to pair with a reverse seared New York strip. Was afraid of opening it too early with less than 1 hour of decant, but I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it over the hour and half at dinner. Rich and smooth with sweet tannins, which were not excessive nor bitter. Satisfying nose of red fruits and mocha. Thanks to the use of very old oak vats, it is not a tannic or jammy style typical of Australian shiraz.

No idea what the price is for current release, but I paid CAD 68 at Costco five years ago and still thought it was a good deal.

11/17/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

I drink a lot of Riesling from Mosel, South Australia and even Okanagan but first time cracking open an Alsatian Riesling. The first glass right after uncorking, I sensed rich aroma of white flowers, citrus fruits (lime, tangerine, grapefruit), honeysuckle, kiwi and starfruit. Typical high acidity and minerality of Riesling. Surprisingly, very little or no smells of petrol making it a very clean wine for food. Like it a lot 😀

11/12/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Wow, so much concentrated and tannic that I could easily mistake it as a young Californian cab or South Australian Shiraz. Still very young. Will attack my next bottle in 2+ years

9/18/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Better than my last bottle opened 3 years ago. Beautiful nose. Tannins were smooth. Oak was well integrated with fruits.

9/9/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Still young and quite tannic. Oak dominated with rich red fruits. Great potential but not now. Will try my next bottle at least 2 to 3 years later.

9/7/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

I might have opened it too early. Quite tight although I saw much potential in 3+ years away. Honeysuckle dominated. On a more dryer side than I expected. Will try another bottle in 3 years.

8/18/2023 - FredericoWines wrote:

Very ripe, concentrate and spicy in a good way although I didn't expect such fit for a Beaujolais

8/14/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Quite restrained and not as much fruity nose as last time I had it about a year ago, maybe needs some air time (this one was opened half an hour before drinking)

7/15/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Typical New World wine style from U.S. Very fruity and jammy in the right way. Spicy and medium body. Great to pair with braised beef short ribs.

7/8/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

High note of lemon zest, toast, brioche and yeast. Sharp minerality and acidity. Copper gold yellow colour. Very nice. Disgorged in Oct '19.

6/1/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Still young but has everything to be great

2/25/2023 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

This bottle is still quite tannic, which is not too bad

11/9/2022 - FredericoWines wrote:

Nice nose of green apple, tangerine and star fruit. Palate was a bit thin, straightforward and simple. Low in acidity and bubbles dissipated within minutes. Easy drinking lacked of depth. Good for its price though.

8/27/2022 - FredericoWines wrote:

Full of lime, passion fruit and wet stone mineral. Very fresh with cut grass freshness and enough acidity to pair with sashimi

8/5/2022 - FredericoWines wrote:

Decanted for an hour. A matured claret. Chocolate, cinnamon, leather and pencil with red fruits at the back. Very smooth due to its age. Yummy.

6/18/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Straight forward and easy to drink. For $25, a good everyday Chablis

6/13/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Same tasting note and is equally good as my last bottle opened last April.

5/29/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Decanted for two hours still had prominent nose of soya sauce and mushrooms (Brett?) with little fruits and floral notes. Two more hours gone by, dark fruits, rose pedals and minty spice came out. Tannin were silky smooth without edges. With long decant, it's drinking beautifully now.

5/14/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Was worried if it's not ready with tough tannins. Decanted for two hours to pair with a pan-seared ribeye. My worries were gone. Tannins were smoothed out. Floral nose with a variety of red fruits. Palate was complex with lots favours of tabacco, chocolate, oak, spice and mint. Very balanced. Finish was medium long. So good now and I believe it will get better with couple of years. Yummy.

4/24/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

I found this bottle did not really need decanting. Fresh nose of raspberry and strawberry. Light body as typical for Gamay. Hints of spice and earth notes. Finish is clean and precise. Really lovely.

4/16/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Decanted one hour and drank over another hour. Very rich in red fruits nose. Fresh and long. Tanins are obvious but no rough edge. Very structured and rich mouth feel. Fragrant cedar box. May improve in next couple years but who cares. Already so nice today.

4/1/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Surprised that it's not over jammy or a fruit bomb. Very reserved and very earthy. Very much Burgundian or Beaujolais like.

2/23/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

At first I mistaken it as a Pinot Noir with strawberry and raspberries nose. Color was translucent light ruby with light body. Tannin was soft but with dry finish. Overall an elegant and floral Grenache more resembling a red Burgundy. Very weird but I quite like it.

2/6/2022 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

As good as last bottle drunk two years ago. Very dark color and concentrate juice. Exposive nose of rasberry, red plum and blackcurrant fruits. Spicy long finish. A classic Napa style without overshooting like recent bottlings

1/11/2022 - FredericoWines wrote:

Exposive nose of strawberry, which yielded to earthy, mineral and leathery aroma. Light body and color but has enough structure to hold everything together. A great Beaujolais at reasonable price.

1/2/2022 - FredericoWines wrote:

decanted 2 hrs and drank over the next hour. Dark fruits, leather, spices, oak and mushrooms. Hints of soya sauce. Tannic. Could be benefitted by 2+ years of cellaring.

11/29/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Decanted for 2 hrs but still felt the alcohol heat and tannins. Hope it'll get resolved in a year or two of cellaring. Overall a good medium to light bodied BdM with touch of elegance.

10/29/2021 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Yesterday night this "young" king was opened and enjoyed after a three and half hour decant. Expansive aroma of rose, tar, pomegranate and cherry. Hints of spices, smoke and herbs. Tannins were definitely still present but gave more structure to the wine. I pondered this wine could be better with more years but I wasn't regretted to kill it at this young age.

10/22/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

This bottle I got lots of bread and yeast nose.

10/5/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

First, mango! Tons of mango in nose and palate. Second, looong finish and aftertaste lasting for a while minute. Third, the sweetness is fresh and untiring. Good amount of acid complemented the sweetness. Other aroma are apple, peach and pineapple. So complex. Color is deep gold yellow. Best Prum Auslese I had so far.

9/26/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Similar notes to thebottle last June but more ready and better.

6/26/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Still young and not ready. Muted and tight. Maybe because I had to open it early as I found leakage on cork.

6/12/2021 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

I was hesitated to open this wine so young. But as I have a few bottles of it, it wouldn't hurt to waste one in worse case. Decanted for 3 hours and drank over the next hour. Colour was beautiful bright but deep dark ruby with no faded rims (still young I guess). Explosive nose of dark fruits, tobacco and moist earth. Tannin was crisp but no rough edge. Spicy and long finish. Strong and concentrate but with a touch of elegance. I'm glad I can open one each year over the next 5 years.

6/5/2021 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

It's light in terms of color and body for an Amarone. Not quite as dry as I expected. Lots of red fruits and smooth tannins but lack complexity. A good but not wow wine. Went well with beef short ribs stew though.

4/5/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

This bottle is much better than last one I had almost half year ago.

4/1/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Had high expectation. Decanted for two hours. It was good but not as great as hyped. Not typically jammy and bold in your face Australian cab. Nose quite reserved with mixed red fruits. Tannins are soft. Medium body and concentration. Some woody and leather but lacking complexity and depth of a top wine. Finish is medium. Heard that this wine could age for decades. Hope my next bottle in 2 years will be better. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice cab nevertheless.

3/14/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

This bottle was not as good as the last one I had last year. Less fruity and complexity. Hope it's just one bottle variation.

2/13/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Decanted for 2 hours and drank over the next hour to pair with strip steak. Rich nose of dark fruits, smoke and black pepper with touch of oak and vanilla. Long finish. Excellent. Sadly my last bottle of six.

1/29/2021 - FredericoWines wrote:

Went so well with sushi

1/2/2021 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Big mousse. Very fresh and youthful. Lots of citrus (lime, lemon), green apple, apricot and peach. Mouth feel was crisp and zesty. Surprisingly not much taste of yeasts and bread. Overall a great sparkling wine.

11/27/2020 - FredericoWines Likes this wine:

Decanted 2 hours to go with beef shank stew on red wine sauce. Very elegant floral nose with stewed cheery and blackcurrant. Oaky but not overly dominant. Tobacco and cinnamon. Peppy spice. Tannic finish. Could improve for 2+ years on bottle.

11/12/2020 - FredericoWines wrote:

A nice Australian CS but not as hyped. Good amount of red fruit, spice and tobacco but lack of complexity. Finish was just ok. Maybe a year or two will elevate it. But overall a nice cab given that I paid $30 Cdn.

10/31/2020 - FredericoWines wrote:

My first Australian cab from Margaret River and it didn't disappoint. A reputable winery from a good vintage. Color was deep ruby. It's fresh without jammy fruits. Very much like an old world red. Tannins were smooth and sweet (two hour decant). Finish was just right. A very cab indeed.

10/18/2020 - FredericoWines wrote:

Such a nice Pinot! Very fruity nose of strawberry with a lychee (yes, lychee!) and spicy finish. Color was mature brownish and body was light to medium. Tannins were still present and it would benefit from either 1-2 year bottle age or 1+ hour decant (PnP tonight). Went nicely with pan fried Salmon and prawns. Will crack my next and last bottle at least one year from now.

10/8/2020 - FredericoWines wrote:

Blueberry, dark cherry and plum. Spice finish. Decanted for 2 hrs and consumed over an hour. Ready to drink and can last for a decade. Body is medium geared on the lighter side.