4/19/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

First check-in for this vintage. I also tasted the 2019 at around the same age. The fruit in the 2021, while certainly present, is more muted by comparison. I notice more acidity now than I remembered from before. The fruit note is predominantly a very pleasant sour cherry.

The nose is also more muted than I recall (but it is also allergy season, so take that for what you will). Floral-ish.

The mouthwatering finish is decently long.

Overall, this is a very pleasant glass of wine. It feels less approachable than the 2019, but then Thomas' wines have a reputation for needing lots of time to develop. I can't wait to see what this becomes!

(popped and poured; if things change significantly with air, I'll come back to update.)

4/16/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

Beautiful deep, clear, red color. No bricking. The cork was fragile, but at 21 years old I'd expect it.

The nose is very Bordelais; cedar, pencil lead, leather, and spices dominate.

More cedar and leather on the palate, mixed with red fruits and mostly-resolved tannins. No noticeable heat. The overall effect is very pleasant - the components are well-integrated.

A nice finish lasting 10-20 seconds for me.

Drank with a steak, some rice, and a lotus-root stir-fry. I really like this bottle! Looking forward to more in the future.

4/9/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

so good

4/6/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

What a splendid bottle of light red wine! Floral nose, and electric, candied acidity on the palate. I should have bought cases of this.

3/22/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

This is in a really good spot right now.

3/19/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

Muted nose, but that might just be my my stuffed nose.

Sappy, long finish with a hint of pine. Fascinating mourvedre. Probably needs more time.

3/17/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

A nice chardonnay. I'm not a very experienced drinker of this varietal, so can't comment on its relative merits, but I enjoyed it - which is more than I can say for most chardonnay I've tried!

3/17/2024 - bendb wrote:

corked. 3/4 of my bottles ended up this way.

3/9/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

Lovely little riesling. Good acidity balanced by sweetness. I didn't get a ton of complexity and missed a bit of minerality, but also wasn't paying tremendously close attention. Regardless, delicious wine and a great value.

3/8/2024 - bendb wrote:

Good mouthfeel - love that chenin texture. On the palate, this is still just a giant beam of acid, and other flavors are muted right now. I'm not sure if there's upside to be had with time.

2/12/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

What a lovely bottle! My second of three; I didn't enjoy the first one that much, so I wasn't expecting too much, and WOW. Beautiful flavors - red fruits, strawberry jam, spices - with just enough of a backbone to tie everything together and still keep the wine light.

I'm suddenly regretting not having bought more. Three years in the bottle did wonders here!

Seems ready to go, from my point of view.

1/26/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

A beautiful wine in all respects.

Fruits and spices and cedar on the nose, which emerges readily after opening the bottle (no decant needed, IMO). The palate is thick and full-bodied, coating the mouth pleasantly. More red fruits, leather, cedar. A fine and long finish.

This is an impeccably well-made wine, and really does stand out from other 2017s I've had. I even enjoyed this more than the 2018 I drank maybe 2 years ago, which is a testament to what time will do to these bottles.

These feel ready to go, but who knows - I'm sure they'll continue to improve with age.

1/14/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

On my third of four bottles purchased, I've finally found one that's rather good! I suppose the first two were flawed.

For a 14-year old wine, this has some gentle secondary aromas of cedar, spices, and a little tar.

On the palate there's more of the same - cedar, graphite, some tar, and even a bit of fruit left. The finish is a bit drying, and lasts about 10-15 seconds. Overall impression is of a wine that is fading but still has some spark left.

This has ended up being an enjoyable bottle. Even so, I still maintain that the value just isn't there - for around $45, I can find better and more-reliable bottles with ease.

1/11/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

Hot _damn_ this was good. Peppery, with gorgeous fruits, and a refreshing bit of acidity. Everything came together beautifully in this bottle.

Someone told me once that schioppettino wine tastes as if someone made Beaujolais in Italy; after this bottle, I wholeheartedly agree.

1/8/2024 - bendb Likes this wine:

This is my first time tasting Cornas, so I don't have much in the way of benchmarks. This was spicy, raw, meaty. It actually felt like my tongue was tingling with acidity.

Overall this wine was interesting and moderately enjoyable on day 1, but it definitely feels like it needs more time and air to smooth out. What a beast of a wine.

12/20/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Popped and poured, and wow what a wine! The wine opened up with 10 minutes in the glass, yielding lovely aromas. The palate was out of this world - big, brawny, but somehow also smooth and refined. I don't know how they pulled off that seeming contradiction, but there it was. Gorgeous fruits.

Still have the rest of the bottle waiting for tonight - can't wait to see where this goes!

11/24/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Decanted for 4-5 hours after standing upright for a few days; there was a bunch of fine sediment, which surprised me.

This is a remarkable wine! The nose is immediately interesting, with vivid strawberries and lilacs and baking spices, and maybe something a little vegetal too.

On the palate, the green note is a little more prominent, along with cedar, pencil shavings, and oh those tannins. This is definitely young, even seven years after bottling. The finish is moderately long, and a little drying. This would hold up nicely with steak or lamb, but I'm drinking it on its own and it holds up fine in solo mode, too.

I like it, though more for the nose than the palate right now. Let's see how it does tomorrow.

Day 2:

Mostly the same. The tannins have receded a bit, as has the floral nose. On the palate, the same foresty notes are a little more pronounced. I don't want to call the flavors "minty" or "piney", because they aren't, but those are impressions that I have.

Tonight I drank this with a ribeye, and indeed the two go really nicely together. Beautiful wine.

11/18/2023 - bendb wrote:

Corked :sob:

10/17/2023 - bendb wrote:

This tastes past its prime. Unyielding nose, a bit of a vinegar-y note on the palate that didn't resolve with time in the glass. Maybe a bad bottle? I didn't much care for the first bottle of this I had last year either, but it's hard to know for sure.

10/12/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Ah, the stalwart defender of my cellar, how fond I've grown of you. This is just good juice - everything is in balance. Dusty leather on the nose belies the more-complexe palate - tannic, acidic, beautiful dark fruits. Decently long finish.

Every bottle of this that I open is better than the last; alas, I'm down to my last two. Surely there are better wines in the world, but how often do you find them for $15/ea? DN hit it out of the park with this one.

9/2/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Plush, creamy, velvety-smooth. It's hard to believe that this is actually a California Syrah! None of the bracing peppery nose that I'd expect of syrahs from the Santa Cruz mountains, or the Rhone. Instead the fruits are deep and rich and satisfying, and the finish just goes on and on.

That's just on pop-and-pour. I can't wait to see where the other bottles go from here.

8/8/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Blueberry and baking spices on the nose. Plummy, blue and black fruit on the palate. A bit of astringency keeps things interesting; the finish is sweetly acidic and not too short.

Astounding QPR on this - it's better than many wines two or three times the price.

8/6/2023 - bendb wrote:

My first bottle of this wine was a kaleidoscopic marvel; this one feels different. Hot alcohol, jammy fruit - not quite "stewed prunes" but candied, fruit-forward, and rather more disheveled than I remember.

Not sure if this is subject to bottle variation, entering a muted phase, or what.

If this note sounds disappointed, it's true, but only due to the high standard set by my first bottle. From anyone else, this would be a pretty decent Cali pinot.

7/30/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

This wine still has the most amazing aromas I've encountered. Tropical citrus, pith, space dust - it's hard to imagine that this is "just" grape juice. The palate is bracingly acidic, fresh, and citric. Pomelo, I think.

This remains my favorite "unusual" wine in my collection; it's not one that I reach for often, or for friends who are uninterested in wine, but when the mood strikes there's nothing else like it.

7/28/2023 - bendb wrote:

Eh, it's okay. For $20 I feel like I overpaid. Popped and poured, and followed a glass for an hour.

Notes of leather and cedar on the nose, and some spices. On the palate, the wine is thin, astringent, and acidic - not much in the way of fruit. A medium finish.

None of this points to a _bad_ wine, but the sum total for me was less than I'd expected for the price. Maybe this would be better with food.

7/8/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

"Quaffable" as they say, but also interesting both on the nose and on the palate. Strawberries and melon on the nose, zippy acid on the palate, and a decently-long finish. What a great summer rose!

6/1/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Delicious! Pure fruit, juicy, and light. Everything I could have wanted from a pinot on a Thursday night. What a steal!

5/28/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Tasty, pleasant, but otherwise not so remarkable. Very drinkable but I'd want more for the price.

5/14/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Absolutely delicious - interesting florals and fruits on the nose, and finely detailed on the palate. So gratifying to find a rose to satisfy the diverse set of preferences in my family - this will be a go-to from now on!

5/11/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Holy smokes. I'm not a big Chardonnay fan but this was *delicious*. Popped and poured, then drank over an hour or two with Vietnamese food - it was taut, mineral, juicy, and just... good. I wish I'd taken notes, but it was gone before I even thought about it.

Very glad to have another five bottles - this one's a winner, and the first chard I can remember that has me wanting to buy more.

Bravo to the Di Constanzo team!

4/30/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

I liked this bottle considerably more than the last - don't know if it was the bottle that was different, or me. Still simple, but quite enjoyable.

Popped and poured, more or less; I poured some first into a pan while making garlic shrimp, then poured a glass maybe 20 minutes later. Fresh, zippy, interesting fruit. I didn't get pine or eucalyptus this time.

4/24/2023 - bendb Does not like this wine:

At $15 I don't know what I expected, but this was nearly undrinkable. Sour, alcohol heat, and none of the good stuff I expect from a chianti.

Not all was lost - it contributed to a fine beef stew, giving the lie to the saying "only cook with something you'd drink".

4/10/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Beautiful melon, pith, and plenty of acid on the palate. Poured thin and pale, but gained color and heft in the glass over an hour. Totally drinkable, interesting, and well-made. I'm really happy to have stumbled on to this one!

3/12/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

This is like my Platonic ideal of Napa Cabernet. It's just delicious, with all element in perfect balance. Good fruits, tannins, not too wild in any direction, and what a heavenly finish.

I don't know why Dalla Valle doesn't get more attention than they already do.

3/12/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

This was good! Drank with family over dinner. It poured almost colorless, put gained color and weight in the class with some air. I didn't pay super close attention to flavor components, but after the first sip I said "wow" without meaning to.

Good lengthy finish. I'm not a huge Chard person but enjoyed it.

2/4/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Delicious and easy to drink; it's got the beautiful golden fruit notes I love in a riesling, and an invigorating acidity that keeps it interesting. What a steal at $22!

2/1/2023 - bendb Likes this wine:

Simple but drinkable wine. Zippy acid and simple fruits on the palate, but the nose had an interesting eucalyptus/pine thing going on - can't quite place it.

At $20/ea in the US it's not really the QPR buy it ought to be, but it's enjoyable enough.

12/25/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

This is *everything* a Cali cab should be. Delicious in every capacity, lots of good fruit, an herbaceous undertone on the palate, killer finish. Quite nearly a perfect bottle.

Decanted for two to three hours before serving.

12/20/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Delicious, even brand-new as this is. Popped-and-poured, and boy this didn't disappoint. Tart and juicy on the palate, with some interesting spice on the nose to complement the bright fruit.

It's just so drinkable! This could easily be my "house wine". It would go nicely with pastas, pizzas, barbecue - just about anything really.

12/13/2022 - bendb wrote:

Drinkable but unremarkable. The nose was muted. The palate was soft, with leather and red fruit notes. The finish was rather short.

Popped and poured, and consumed over a few hours. Maybe next time I'll decant more and see if that improves things.

12/6/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

The spongy cork disintegrated, leaving a hole in the center and little bits floating in the wine. I was worried, but pushed the whole thing in, then filtered the wine and drank it anyways. Boy am I glad I did!

For a ten-year-old wine, it was big and fruity and elegant, with tannins not yet resolved. It's everything I love in Napa, but still improbably youthful. Knowing what I do about the cork I'm glad to have opened this up, but it seems like this could have gone for another decade or two with ease.

12/3/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

The first act of a lovely birthday dinner. Electric melon, stone fruits, hints of creme brulee and burnt marshmallow. This wine is *lit* and I can't effuse enough about it!

12/3/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

What can you say that hasn't already been said about such a storied wine? It was everything you'd want from a perfectly-aged claret. Cedar and spice and leather on the nose. Graphite, black fruits, leather on the palate. This was the platonic ideal of a Pauillac wine.

One point deducted because the cork split in half and partially disintegrated, even when gently using an ah-so.

Decanted for 1.5 hours before a dinner of steak with bearnaise, lobster tail, roasted asparagus, and mashed potatoes.

11/20/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Less sweet and more acidity than I'd expected of a TBA, even one this young. It's a very promising sign of things to come!

This has all the requisite complexities one would hope for in a wine like this - apricot, nuttiness, ample body, and yes, ample sugar. Even so, the acid streak on the finish adds a delightful zip and leaves you wanting more, and not overpowered.

For $25, this is an absolute *steal*. We'll have a few stickies at dessert on Thanksgiving, then I'll bury the rest for the next decade or two.

11/18/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Consistently tasty.

11/13/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Decanted for two hours in a decanter, then followed over the next 2-4 hours in a glass.

Plush, jammy, very fruit-forward. The nose is sweet with violets, berries, and plums. The body is surprisingly light, with berries, plums, and alcohol heat mixing pleasantly. Not nearly as tannic as I'd expected. Overall the impression was *incredibly* primary.

This is still quite young. It's hard for me to guess how the Onda will evolve in the bottle over time, but I'll still give it another few years before popping another one.

9/30/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Pop-and-pour, consumed over three days. Just got better and better! Like a great Beaujolais, with a nice white-pepper note on the palate.

This is probably too young, but still very enjoyable! I'll revisit these in another three years or so.

9/21/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

This just gets more interesting with every bottle. Tonight's was especially good - I don't know if it's bottle variation, or whether this wine is turning a corner. Either way, delicious!

9/17/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

Drank over two days. Intense candied strawberries and cream on the nose. On day one, the palate was quite acidic and it was tough to get much more out of it. On day two, it mellowed and was rather tasty. A fine mousse, similar to the first bottle.

This is certainly tasty, but not very complex. I can't tell whether it needs a lot more time to develop, or if I'm seeing this wine at its full potential.

7/23/2022 - bendb Likes this wine:

What a remarkable wine! Sweet golden pears and apples on the palate. The wine coats the mouth and, I swear, it felt like a sparkling golden summer evening for minutes after each sip. I was utterly transported.