1/14/2023 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine:

I tried this with a 2000.

Unlike the 2000, I decanted this - it was clearly in need when I opened it. I gave it five hours, which helped, but it’s not really ready yet. Blackberry and black cherries on the nose, with some earth and tobacco. In the mouth, quite different to the 2000: intense blackberry, then the dark cherries and a little plum. Very intense, but it doesn’t rise to the top of the palate like the 2000, it goes straight for the jugular, with lots of depth. More refined and elegant than the 00, more polished too, but also more tannic. The tannins are still a little fiery, hence the need to decant. The finish is wonderfully persistent but the flavours never really get out of second gear. It needs to loosen up, which I think it will in another two or three years. Still, in its own way, very enjoyable. For now, 91 points but I think it will deserve more in the future.

Trying them together, it was hard to believe they came from the same producer, such was the difference in taste profile. The 2005 is a promising wine but it never stood a chance next to the 2000. However, the 2005 is a whole lot better than any other St.Emilion 2005 I have tried, which admittedly is not difficult. Unlike the others, the Vauthier family refrained from turning everything up to eleven and the refined, restrained elegance came as a welcome relief.

3/27/2022 - Kei SHIOGAI wrote:

You guys can find my wines in Atheneaum in Beaune and You can drink in Soufflot in Meursault and Manfoux in Chablis and Beaune.

2020 is my first vintage and I'm so sorry nake you guys taste my vintage young but I don't have any choice....
For my domaine, I should sold my wines a little bit first because I am not in family vingeron in here. But all of my wines are so aromatics and I made them have a good balance. So you guys can drink now and you can feel a terroirs of Meursault, Gevrey and Pommard.... thanks for read and your interest for my childrens.

7/16/2022 - Satoshi Nakamoto wrote:

LC10. Decent enough. Moderately rich nose with oxidative notes and lemon on the palate. Didn't pick up much weight with air and came across a bit too thin for my liking. I've always preferred younger Beguines (always has more stuffing and energy) and this confirms it. Drank like a Champagne worth its original release price.

8/17/2022 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Tasted blind. Clearly a Blanc de blancs with good tension, minerals and Cut white fruits. Solid champagne but don’t believe the Instagram hype.

6/29/2022 - drwine2001 wrote:

Medium yellow. Medium weight with pleasing glycerine feel. Melon and herbs, excellent freshness and acidity. Another wonderful bottle of this.

6/24/2022 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:

It’s been three years since my last note on this wine. Back then I scored is 99. This time around I’m less enthusiastic but nonetheless still beautiful Napa wine. Like I’m finding in many 16’s a powerful cassis note has come into the foreground. Fortunately this one is still massively structured and tannic and will grow out of it. Syrupy raspberry, red cherry, vanilla, graphite, tobacco and cassis. Lots of lift here from the acid.

I had the 2013 a few months back and it was starting to fade but this one is just a baby. Hold for another five years.

1/27/2022 - MichaelSy Likes this wine:

Not for everyone, but I loved this. Almost like drinking a dirty gin martini - that beautiful olive saline note forms the back bone of this wine and it is delightful. Mushroom, nuts and pear dominat here. I think it is goos quality price ratio and is a good lesson on why Palamino is so versatile.

6/4/2022 - B Paul wrote:

Opened and followed over 5 hours. A nice, strong olive note dominated at first, but with air that gives way to pepper, berry and iron notes. This is drinking very well at the moment, but has years to go.

2/13/2022 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

Opened this thinking it would be fairly mature given the vintage; not so. The color is deep; the nose is full of dark, ripe fruits, still with a tiny hint of oak spice, some smoky and savory meat, violet, and mineral notes. Very explosive. The palate is also full bodied and rich, deep and powerful, tannins are certainly fading, but still plenty of structure and fruit here to age for quite awhile. With about 2 hours of air it became more elegant and the fruit turned a bit towards the redder side of the spectrum. Finish was lovely. Great stuff. Thoroughly enjoyable with a leg of lamb.

1/2/2022 - Sean Tay Likes this wine:

I had a mini vertical consisting vintage 1982, 1989, 1996 and 1998. The overall impression for the 4 vintages are well make and in fact a marvelous vintage with good ratings.

1982 had pronounced notes of mushroom, truffle, spices, earth, toast, cooked black fruits and berries. On the palate, the acidity is medium and tannin is also medium. It's very smooth on the mouthfeel and personally feel that its tired and will not improve. Should drink up now to enjoy maximum pleasure. Rated 2/4

1989 was the WOTN. It had the most pronounced nose with mushroom, truffle, cooked black and red fruits, toast. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. Tannin is fully integrated. This was how I will want to drink for a just about right Bordeaux wine, still have fruits and with tertiary and secondary notes. Rated 1/4

1996 still feel tight to me. With medium nose intensity and with similar notes with 1998 but less concentrated. Notes of black fruits, spices, toast, vanilla. Medium+ acidity and tannin. To enjoy 1996, I suggest to decant or cellar. Or perhaps I got bottle variation, most of the 1996 that i drank are performing beautifully. Rated 4/4

1998 is of the best vintage for right bank. Pronounced nose with strong black fruits, cassis, black cherry, vanilla, pencil, toast. Still very fruit dominated. Medium+ acidity and tannin. Probably only starting on its drinking cycle, will only get better. Rated 3/4.

12/10/2021 - clayfu wrote:

. Definitely the ripest rendition I’ve had of this wine near release out of the last 5-6 vintages I’ve tried on release. initially straight up ripe candied fruit and oak. Was not pleasing. But with air it becomes full on bing cherry and vosne spice galore. That plush ripe candied edge disappeared. The palate is extra rich with dense red berries. There is melange of spice on the finish and the density is insane. Tons of meat on the bones. If you open - I recommend a long decant

1/2/2022 - clayfu wrote:

late disgorgement - a fantastic rendition of one of my favorite wines from Krug. Disgorged in 2017 and released a couple years later. Precise and focused deep yellow fruit with spice and nutty edges. Right now the late disgorgement creates a bit of a disjointed wine, where the oxidative aged notes on along the edges while the fruit is bright and piercing in the middle. They still need to fully integrate but seeing how much of a fresh edge the wine has right now in its core, I don't fear it falling apart like the 85/89/90 collections seem to be

12/31/2021 - rlove wrote:

Gorgeous nose of cherry, blood orange, sous bois, and sandalwood. Medium bodied, bright acidity, but super rich, with dense fruit and minerality, finishing sweet. Very good.

12/11/2021 - steinersing wrote:

Beautifully well evolved. Initially hints of apricots and lemon. some hazelnuts. with time, acidity was even better and classical Chevalier tension and precision showed. Very long. Good wine. Very graceful oxidation only so all in balance. From the Leflaive recorked batch.

And a last glass 5 hours later. The wine more focused and feeling younger. Acidity more dominant in a good way.

12/11/2021 - jviz wrote:

A near perfect wine. In an over the top lineup of Bordeaux highlights (think 86 Lafite, 70 Latour, 90 and 95 HB, etc); this one stood out as best of the best. It was marvelous. Seamless and complete, perfumed, elegant and gentle on the palate, raspberry and red Apple skin with depth of fruit. This is on the long plateau - not even beginning to fade, but already at peak.

9/21/2021 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

I have been buying Thomas since the 2010 vintage and this is the first time I have opened a bottle of the latest release as I have always allowed the wines to sit a few years before trying. Dark burgundy color, nose not so expressive but hints of juicy red and dark fruit and spice, no alcohol or heat. Medium to full bodied, dense palate with purple and red fruit, some gravel and spice. You can appreciate the potential here but better to decant for a at least 6 hours or just wait 5+ years. There are very few better new world pinots than John's take.

2/17/2021 - B Paul wrote:

Bought this recently and the bottle was in fantastic shape. Opened and tried over three hours or so. This was seamless with everything in balance and harmony. Expressive nose and the palate has delicious, sweet fruit. So easy to drink. Great wine in a great spot right now.

6/19/2021 - fcxj wrote:

An awkward phase? Palate felt searing and overpowering. Pop and pour aromatics were heavy on reduction.

5/10/2019 - Burgaddict wrote:

Leiden again in Rotterdam at Fitzgerald: Typical Bachelet nose, fruit with a hint of greenness, I love these Bachelet noses. Taste lots of fruit and concentration, spice, a bit rustique, long finish. Already 9 years old, lovely Charmes. Great to drink now, I think it will develop further in bottle but I am not certain.

7/14/2020 - rlove wrote:

Hugely reductive at first, only begrudgingly revealing dark fruit and roast meat notes. Delineated and pure, interesting to see that rustic, savory Northern Rhône profile in a fresher, more forward style.

2/22/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Peach, white flowers, raw apricot, Canadian honey on the nose, on the palate, white peachy fruits along with some green apple and lychee, the acidity was very lingering and not overwhelming, modest touch of creaminess on the finish. Very enjoyable and I prefer this over 2011 vintage

7/10/2020 - Isaac L wrote:

Bordeaux 1985 Grand Tour; 5/5/2017-10/20/2023: GE2020 wine. Cork was crumbly but remained intact. Poured, filtered and let breathe in the glass over 3 hours. The nose was reserved but showed smoke, wet earth and a slightly medicinal note. The palate showed dried fruit, cedar and cigar box. Texturally, the wine was precise, elegant and distinguished, with tannins fully resolved. A classic example of Claret at 12% abv from a moderate vintage.

1/1/2020 - acyso wrote:

New Year's (Chicago, IL): In some ways, this seems to taste more like Dujac than it does Chambolle-Musigny, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Quite a bit of brown spice is laid over a gossamer layer of delicate and perfumed red fruit. It's actually an interesting dichotomy, because it does seem like you get a bit of both worlds. Fairly ripe but not overly so; good balance and a touch of acidity make this drinkable even at this young age.

5/11/2019 - acyso wrote:

"Wines that don't suck" (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. The triumph of Quercus spp. and Homo sapiens over terroir, vintage, and grape. Good job! Someone call the firefighters to put out this dumpster fire.

10/8/2019 - acyso wrote:

A Survey of Allemand (Chicago, IL): In a pretty solid lineup of Allemand, this was the proverbial runt. It's a little simple and just not particularly expressive at the moment. You get some of the Cornas juiciness, but not much of the complexity nor the perfume. I think this does have the correct amount of material, but this is a wine almost certainly caught at a very, very inopportune moment that I think will be able to develop very nicely with sufficient time. Versus the 2012 Reynard, this again had a brighter, red fruited profile but was also far simpler and just not as compelling.

9/23/2019 - acyso wrote:

Pausing for the Cause 2019 (Chicago, IL): A fairly solid Krug, but one that is still young and needs time to fully integrate. Bright white fruit, as well as a slight bit of tart apple. The palate doesn't have the full density I expect, but I think the material is coiled under it and will emerge with time.

9/6/2019 - Satoshi Nakamoto Likes this wine:

Second bottle from a case purchase.

Decanted for an hour in the morning, then poured back into the bottle to serve later that evening. This worked well, since it didn't show as tightly as my first bottle, which was only double decanted.

Beautiful and elegant aromas on the nose with sultry and terroir driven characteristics on the palate. Lovely fragrances with the inner mouth perfume, as well. This is an nuanced and complex wine that will clearly reward aging. Even though it's too early to drink now due to its tremendous upside, it's already delicious.

9/8/2019 - acyso wrote:

Vinetasters: 1997 Super Tuscans (Skokie, IL): Served double blind. What the hell -- smells like doubanjiang. Hot peppers?! A bit grassy and herbaceous too. Better on the palate, but that’s not saying much. Very prickly tannins; low acid, nothing commendable here. If this was flawed, I have no idea what’s wrong with it. My 11th, group's 12th.

9/4/2019 - Tony Ling Likes this wine:

1 hour upon opening into Zalto Burgundy glass (“Flower” day): Medium golden with copperish hues to the eyes.

Mature orchard and citrus fruits, good spectrum of fruits indeed. Some yeast too. Very nice and rich.

Petillance started to dissipate but great concentration and balance.

93 points at least.

7/11/2019 - B Paul wrote:

Enjoyed over 3-4 hours. Very open and giving at this early stage. Similar to the '15 but with everything dialed back just a tad. Great now but should be excellent with some bottle age as it develops more complexity.

5/31/2019 - m_arcon wrote:

Keller Open Afterparty (Weingut Keller, Flörsheim-Dalsheim, Germany): Very strong showing although the wine is still super young. Reductive, flinty with a pronounced acidity and tons of stone flavors in the after taste. Needs at least five years more time.

4/5/2019 - acyso wrote:

TCA (Prüm) study (Chicago, IL): An awesome bottle that just kept getting better with air. This is a massive wine, with a heaping quantity of red and black fruit on the nose, as well as a serious amount of volatility in the form of an intense balsamic note. But then underneath that is a core of intense fruit and earthen power. With more air, the volatility attenuated, and the palate profile got richer and broader. For my tastes, this is definitely ready now, but further aging will not be detrimental either. I'll add as a postscript that this got even better the second day -- there was a glass leftover, and I had it with a hamburger. The volatility has mostly dissipated, and the fruit and herbal tones are out in full force, with some really awesome earthy notes as well. Stunning wine -- give this a lot of air if you are opening one now.

3/20/2019 - B Paul wrote:

Another lovely bottle over the course of two nights. Needs a couple hours of air to really get going and then it's great. Worth trying now but should improve.

11/11/2016 - Ultimatewinekick_Andreas wrote:

A rather spicy nose with stone fruit, herbs, apricot, bees wax, white flowers and lime.

Dense and multi layered palate with similar notes as on the palate but also a fresh acidity and mineral structure.

Fantastic Auslese that should be kept in storage for a long time.

7/10/2019 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Double decanted at 2pm and started serving at 7pm. With extended aeration, the tannins have softened with ripe dark currant, herbs, nutmeg, spice cake, graphite and liquorice. Powerful and mouthcoating. I would decant the bottle for 3 hours if I serve this wine again at its youth.

7/6/2019 - fcxj wrote:

Mudan. Delicious. Petrol, honey, acid and balance. More Spatlese in character.

4/6/2019 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine:

Keller Hubacker vertical tasting 2006-2017 plus X (@Private location): Glass: Gabriel Gold
Decanted for some minutes. Never had a Brunello like this and I would never dare to open such a wine so young at its release. But it was really worth it!
Clear, pale cherry red color. More like a German Pinot than a Brunello. Wonderful fresh and young nose with lots of cherries, herbs, leather and hints of tobacco. Certainly not fully at its peak, but already intoxicating.
On the palate a wonderful high, ripe and perfectly integrated acidity. A dream of cherry, crystal clear, mixed with some herbs and leather. Wonderful texture, fine, medium (-) tannin. Very fresh. Drinks beautiful now, but I would say it gets even better in a decade. 94++

7/2/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Had over two days. The nose was very good - gravel, smoke white flowers - all very fresh. The palate evolved nicely over two days with more mineral sensations, some white fruit. Going back to some of the point Our friend raised on drinking Kabinett’s, I enjoyed this on the young side but it obviously improved with time so I think these can be opened to whatever taste and style you like while letting the Spat’s rest.

5/30/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Does not like this wine:

Unfortunately this was not very good. Felt very one dimensional, smokey and disjointed and a hint of plastic.

4/27/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Had this from Robuchon menu, in great condition.
An awesome bottle, wonderful and super aromatic nose with cinnamon wild strawberry, herbs, and rosemary, similar to the nose for Bizot’s wine. On the palate, great structure and pure red currants/purple plum with modest spicy and mineral touch. Really nice. I think for his wine, the vineyard and vintage do make big difference given the natural wine making, they need slightly more powerful plot/ vintage to deliver more expressive underlying structure.

3/31/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Very crisp and minerals, nice green apples and sensation of crushed stones, the fruits were generous yet balanced with strong minerals and modest salinity finish.
I think it is a "GE" bottling. GE stands for Grosse Eule (Great Owl) - the big eyes of a stylized owl keeps a watchful eye on you as you pick up the bottle.

3/9/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead wrote:

Already past peak unfortunately, but really appreciate our friend who brought this, my first Marc Sorrel Le Greal. Nose was very earthy, rustic and a bit dirty, on the palate, fruits already faded, but got modest smoked meat and pepper on the finish, some mature brown tea leaves, quite rustic earthy.


Some information:
Marc Sorrel Le Greal comes from vines in the Le Meal vineyard, on a terroir of steep hillsides with granite, limestone, sand and clay soils. Many of the vines, perhaps up to 90% are planted around the middle of the slope for the Le Meal vineyard which is a warmer micro climate than other parts of Le Meal.
85-90% Syrah and some Roussanne, Marsanne from Le Méal, 10-15% Syrah from Greffieux, about 50% destemmed Depending on vintage
Source: drink Rhone and https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/rhone-wines-cote-rotie-hermitage-chateauneuf-du-pape/rhone-wine-hermitage-producer-profiles/marc-sorrel-hermitage-rhone-wine/

3/5/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Pnp, drank it over 4 hours. Similar to my last experience in December last year, Bizot wine really offers insanely incredible nose, cinnamon, potpourri, red cherries, wild purple berries, crushed dark roses, purple lily, and lightly smoked herbs, on the palate, it was not as complex and layered as the nose, texture was round and silky and acidity was nice, but lack of the same complexity as the nose it presented. To me, it is 100-point nose wine, but slightly less attractive on the palate in my view
Note: organic style, whole cluster grapes (not destemmed), a minimum of SO2, new oak usage

2/22/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

From half bottle format. I was very impressed by the wine considering the vintage, the nose showed Asian spices, coffee, tar, soil, mineral, dark berries, and licorice, on the palate, there was modest smoky sensation with firm chewy tannin and modest acidity, making the finish lingering and complex.

1/11/2019 - Ms. Bubblehead wrote:

Drank it over two days.
First day was a wow, elegant, red fruits, good tannin and modest tar. The Burlotto you would expect.
Second day - the wine seems just totally close down. Didn’t got much from the nose, and showed a lot more oak on the palate.

11/23/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Decanted to serve which was the right thing to do in my opinion. The nose had spice, herbs, sweet red fruit and beetroot. Palate was the highlight to distinguish itself from other bojo I had. Very deep and dense for a bojo with delicate layers. I do not agree that it is very burgundian-like. But this is a top top bojo. Thank you Ms. Bubblehead.

11/17/2018 - Ms. Bubblehead Does not like this wine:

Not impressed, maybe a bit young to consume but the wine does not offer much complexity and the finish was fairly thin and slightly dry on the palate.

Was originally quite excited to try it based on a few reviews and it is a small one hectare, single-vineyard wine - Cornas Les Eygats site is situated at a relatively high 250 meters of altitude. The vines are 20 years old.

10/23/2018 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:

Three Substance wines side by side, interesting comparison of different disgorgement years - 2008 vs 2014 vs 2016.

2008 - golden brown color, clearly the modest oxidative among the three. on the nose, toasted almond, walnut, caramelised apple, extremely nutty, baked honey, modest yeasty, it was very complex on the nose, on the palate, caramelised dried flowers, a touch of asia spices, roasted walnut, treenut, and toffee. The acidity was still quite vinbrant and dynamics on the mid to back palate. Wow! What a wine.

2014 -light yellow color, the most elegant among the three, drank very well on its own, but not as refined / complex as compare to 2016 and 2008 disgorgement wines. On the nose, white flowers, Canadian honey, mint, rosemary, citrus fruits, on the palate, white fruits along with citrus peel and lemon zest, acidity seems slightly higher along with lighter body weight. Still an awesome wine but I prefer 2008/2016.

2016 - medium yellow color, fresh roasted almond, white flowers cream, modest sense of toffee and baked salted nuts, light butter almond cake, on the palate, citrus flavour macaron, light yellow fruits, peppery spice, the bubbles were the most refined among the three, I would say it offers the highest complexity on the nose and the palate among the three, see great ageing potential ahead.

10/22 dinner - Selosse Substance (disgorgement years 2008, 2014, 2016) and JJ Confuron RSV (2000, 2001, 2011 vintages) dinner with BurgNick and The Littlehorse. All 6 wines tonight were beautiful.

7/28/2018 - Ms. Bubblehead Does not like this wine:

He is a Japanese winemaker in Cornas, used to work with Allemand.
We had his 2015 vintage a couple months before and it had too much menthol and was too powerful for me on the nose, so I didn’t enjoy it. This time the 2011 shows much nicer on the nose, quite floral and lots of exotic spices, however, on palate it was a bit raw and it was quite green on the finish. I think the acidity was also volatile.

9/14/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine:

Truly impressed by this wine. For a young napa, this wine was an elegant expression of an extracted cab. Lots of black currant, violets, white chcocolate, vanilla and white pepper. Sweet and ripe but light on its feet. It lacked depth and intensity of a great napa. But it was very nice for a 65usd wine. 91+