2/12/2024 - El_Dougo Likes this wine:

Very impressive house wine. Vibrant salmon pink in glass. Nose of strawberry and raspberry. Med + flavor intensity follows the nose. Effervescent bubbles and high acidity. I def plan to buy more.

7/12/2022 - libero wrote:

Light red color and a nice floral sweet aroma. At taste too much acidity, bitter and tart. No pleasant to me. Looks like a poor Chianti, but the grape is Areni.

2/2/2024 - AaronMaxwell Likes this wine:

Why didn’t anyone say the nose is 100% durian? Jesus. This is quite nice. Had by the glass at Gozu in San Francisco.

Easy drinking with a touch of acid. More mellow than some other field blends.

1/26/2023 - kostaslonis wrote:

Pure Spirits Champagne portfolio tasting (360 restaurant): 50% pinot meunier 50% pinot noir, 1er cru, extra brut
Fresh, dry, nutty, a bit less fruit than Les Pres Dieu, the palate feels different, wide fruit profile, creamy, more in balance than Les Pres Dieu too

11/8/2023 - MikeCW wrote:

Opened to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Undrinkable. Properly stored since purchase. Second undrinkable bottle of a four pack I purchased years back.

9/17/2023 - pavel_p wrote:

Same place as PSPatrick below. The usual large Champagne house industrial plonk. Plenty of mousse and a fairly thin underlying wine despite all that added sugar

7/29/2023 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

Yet another new batch for me. The usual 2011 base, 20% from solera, dosage 3.3g/l. This time disgorged 10/2021.

It seems to me that as the time on lees the richness is slowly increasing. This bottle has a very rich buttery nose, with some notes of honey.

On the palate there's a very nice balance of brioche, citrus, creamy, apples, lots of different notes coming to the fore with each sip. Overall there's a slightly less toasty/yeasty element than previous batches which I sort of miss, but this is a bit different, not worse.

The finish is clean, crisp, and just slightly drying.

This continues to be a main house champagne for me and excellent QPR at ~US$37.

8/25/2023 - Paul852 wrote:

Briefly, on first opening this is very rough, acidic, raw, young. I put it aside. On day 2 it's rather smoother, albeit still very raw and in your face. I enjoyed the 2020 about 6 months ago, but at the moment this is far short of that vintage. I have a few more of these and I'm hoping they rapidly come round.

EDIT: with a second bottle I double decanted it, then left the bottle for about 72 hours. On day 3 it is substantially better than when first opened - smoother, better integrated, lighter, less in your face. Going down rather nicely with some slightly flavourful cheese.

5/29/2023 - dhtabor Likes this wine:

Exciting acid liveliness with mellow fruits and balanced tannins. Very good

3/19/2023 - Barolo Freak Likes this wine:

I received this bottle as a gift from a wine novice, I popped it open and I poured. I think that this is my first time tasting a white Bordeaux. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. The wine was very fruity and very tasty. I detected Apples, Pears and a bit of Lemon. A very nice find and I plan to add a bottle or two to my collection.

3/19/2023 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

60/30/10 PM/C/PN, 40% from reserve wines. 6 months sur lies, disgorged 11/2020; dosage 4.5g/l

This is rather nice. Yeasty notes on the nose, with a touch of minerality, perhaps a hint of meadow flowers. On the palate yeasty brioche is to the fore initially with a slightly tart bite of unripe apple, this leads to a crisp, cleansing mid-palate of apple and citrus, then a quite long finish which is slightly mouth-puckering but rather more-ish with notes of sour lime and a little of that yeastiness returning.

EDIT: with 60 minutes air this has evolved quite a lot; now the tartness of the entry and, particularly, the exit have smoothed out quite a lot and the overall mouthfeel is somewhat rounder, with a lot more earthy apple and a lot less puckering.

At the ~US$45 that I paid this is decent, but not great, QPR for me.

10/20/2022 - ant-1 wrote:

Sumpa mais pas un rachat.

11/30/2016 - Ombibulous Likes this wine:

Delicious. Wood and a hint of varnish on the palate. This isn't made from Tinta Negra Mole grapes as currently indicated above. When a Madeira is made from those grapes, it is a red Madeira. Wine definition request submitted.

2/18/2023 - SixHedgehogs Likes this wine:

Red/brown. A Sherry aroma when opened, but clearly not oxidised after two hours of decanter time. Aroma of tobacco, leather, hot earth and blackberry jam. Very dry. Flavours of oak, red berries, roast meat, blackberry again. Complex, but also austere. Not a crowd-pleaser. Very good with slow-cooked lamb, middle-Eastern style.

8/27/2021 - IvanLi Likes this wine:

Somewhat thin, watery and simplish wine. Rhubarb, red berries, strawberries on the nose and palate.
However it drinks extremely well. I sort of like it, despite the low score.

7/21/2021 - IvanLi Does not like this wine:

Somewhat bitter yet simple white with a strange salinity. Quite unremarkable, unless you count unpleasant taste as remarkable.

10/7/2022 - Jimothy Brown wrote:

Deep purple, opaque. 100% Grenache! Rich, ripe, slight grip on tannins. Quite a blockbuster, lacks elegance. No savoury flavours- all fruit and tannin. A taster not a drinker.

7/20/2022 - Paul852 Does not like this wine:

I've had two bottles of this now I really don't get the scores here. For me this is an over-ripe, over hot fruit bomb that is nothing like CdP is supposed to be. It is the epitome of Parkerisation in the extreme. I've tried drinking when opened, when decanted for various times out to 48 hours and it doesn't get much more palatable. It's just about drinkable with 24+ hours of air, but if what you look for in a CdP includes elegance, complexity and sophistication then steer well clear of this wine. My ~US$100 spent on two bottles of this could have bought me 6 bottles of far superior wine.

12/29/2022 - WineGrrrl wrote:

I’m so sick of redoing my tasting notes. Pretty pink. Yum.

4/25/2021 - prof b wrote:

I took a random shot in the dark on this one and it was worth it. Some slight oxidative notes were present but bright white fruits brought this together. Very interesting.

11/27/2022 - lozatron Likes this wine:

Popped and poured - the idea being to have a glass from the bottle and have the rest with tomorrow's sausage and mash. On the nose - hint of brett, some decay, and a core of red fruit. On the palate - tannins fully resolved, that kind of glyceroly non-tannic / non-acidic Musar structure - I think that there's just enough brett to keep this interesting but it doesn't overpower. If this were another wine I'd advise drinking up your stocks now but for Musar - this is just another interesting facet. Interested to see how it shows the next day...

11/30/2022 - signotim Does not like this wine:

Baked, stewed cherry fruit which is not my favorite.

11/24/2022 - OneForTheStairs Likes this wine:

So good. I didn't make notes, but even the fact that I opened on a jiggly train, broke and then destroyed the cork, and drank it out of paper cups with my mother-in-law could not spoil the enjoyment. Deep leathery goodness! A warm cedary hug! Delicious.

11/23/2022 - AMT Cellar Likes this wine:

Nice change of pace from a cab. Smooth, not dry.

10/29/2022 - SimonG wrote:

Blind. Opened and poured straight away. Really bright and vibrant mid ruby. Different on the nose (cf the old Rioja). Slightly sweeter, more lifted with a herby edge and a touch of VA providing lift and complexity without being overdone. First thought is a Garnacha based on the texture, but then a couple more sniffs take me to 98 Musar. Oh well! This 99 is in a lovely spot in bottle format if this one is representative. Fully resolved, complex, very drinkable and good to go from the off. Bright long finish with some acidity and glycerin in perfect harmony. **** with upside potential.

10/10/2022 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine:

April 2021 disgorgement. I think my last bottle of this had an earlier disgorgement date and maybe older vintage base, and was more ready to go from the pop of the cork than this one. This is bright and bracing, a laser beam of a blanc de blancs. But it's actually significantly better the day after, when the fruit turns thicker and yellower, still laser bright but with richer elements like lemon jam (and resembling that aforementioned prior bottle).

10/16/2022 - Cake & Fine Wine wrote:

Sometimes these are sublime. And some come through a bit sweet. The nose on this was great (cherries, leather, tobacco, menthol). But it was too sweet, bit of the wet dog too. Some aged cat breath on the final straight…enough to make you flinch. Lacking a bit of length. Maybe it was stored badly…aged Musat can go either way.

7/28/2022 - vagrantone wrote:

Another under-performing Rose wine from Minuty continuing a long trend.
Lacked intensity, complexity and freshness.
Disappointing

10/7/2021 - Collector1855 wrote:

Another one of these Brut Nature that after all the hassle smell like a Cava or a dryer Version of a Prosecco. I like low dosage but let's face it. Champagne is a manufactured drink and its strength are the mix of the fruit and autolytic notes. If they are missing bottle aging on lees is pointless and often with zero dosage they are missing.

8/31/2022 - Reg634 Does not like this wine:

Unfortunately for me this tasted like a $14 bottle of wine.

10/8/2022 - Seafoam Manor wrote:

This feels like a Bordeaux take on Pinot Griggio. There's a bit of gooseberry and cat pee on the nose, just to let you know that there's Sauv. Blanc in there, but that's about it. On the palate, there's a bit burst of acidic lemon, the slightest hint of passion fruit and then a ton of mineral notes on the finish. Unfortunately, the fruit totally drops out, so the finish really feels like mineral water, making this feel super dilute. Had to double check that this wasn't corked. Disappoints, even at $17.

8/25/2022 - kfrench150 Likes this wine:

Long haul, multi-course tasting experiment.

Decanted and left to breath in between notes. Otherwise the wine itself is nice and clear. Some chunky sediment in the bottle.

First note just after opening at 6 pm: Hibiscus tea in colour grading to a faded blood orange and thin rim. The nose expresses sweet rose hips, dried strawberry, desert dust, light cherry cough syrup and some underlying earthy / animal / funky notes. Sweet and sour on the palate, very smooth and clean, medium bodied, delicate finish with juicy acidity. Dried and tart, fleshy red fruits, rose hip, hibiscus, soft leather and a bit of cedar at the end. Finishes long and tangy. Great with falafels and olives! 92 points

Second pour and note at 7:30 pm: The nose has now more cedar and dried herbs to the fore with the sweeter fruit notes taking the back seat. Also some dried floral (violet), spice and still those rose hips and hibiscus. A bit fuller on the palate with seemingly more red fruit extract. Still sweet and tart, ripe red fruit, some slight astringency from the tannins, mouthwatering acidity and a smooth, long, dried red fruit finish. Great cleansing acidity and no real tannins to be found. This was great with Mediterranean seasoned grilled lamb chops, but they made the wine seem drier than on its own. 93 points

Third pour and note at 9:30 pm: A bit more funkiness is now starting to emerge, but still not as much as other vintages. There is also a little bit of VA and iron showing on the nose now as well with only just a shadow of the fruit now in the background. The palate has not changed much from the last time. Still dried red fruits, rose hip and hibiscus, a bit of iron and leather, ans even some black olive, as well as that juicy acidity and a steely, dry finish. OK with stuffed grape leaves; better with black olive bread sticks. 92 points

Last pour and note at 11 pm: The VA is a bit more pronounced on the nose now. Smelling more like a Musar! Less funky notes; more spirited red fruits. Cranberry, red currant, rose hip, slight tar, some charred wood and warm spices. The most complex the nose has been all night! Sweet red fruit entry on the palate. Maybe medium-full bodied now. The wine has put on weight over time. Great acidity, no tannins except for a slight bit of tingly bitterness on the finish. The flavours are back in the dried red fruit spectrum. I really like the mix of sweet and tart that comes across on the palate. Everything is quite seemless and in balance. The finish lasts a good 30 seconds! This is equally good with food as it is on its own. Now up to 94.

This was an interesting experiment to undertake. I just finished reading the book in Chateau Musar and the late, great Serge Hochar always said to take your time with his wines and get to know them. He was right! The changes in the wine over the course of 6 hours or so was eye-opening. And I would say that the last sip was by far the best!

8/26/2022 - Paul852 wrote:

18 months on from my previous note it seems that, sadly, this vintage is far from the best.

What we have (even with a double decant for a couple of hours) is a very pleasant, easy drinking, but utterly unmemorable wine. White stone fruit on the nose; soft, fruity palate, but rather thin and light on acidity. Very short finish.

At ~US$15 this would be great, but at ~US$33 it's not a repeat buy for me.

8/21/2022 - kevin h wrote:

A touch of va but it settled down after a 3-4 hour decant. Lots of sous bois, hints of cassis. Gamy fruit. Nice but worth 15 years in the cellar? I’m not sure.

4/21/2022 - byzero Likes this wine:

I love Australian Shiraz, especially with 10+ years of age. However, this bottle was advanced more than I expected

👀Purple color with clear browning
👃Dried cherries, anise, dark chocolate with a hint of
volatility
👅Same dried cherries, maybe slightly stewed, and anise/allspice. Good acidity. Was generally drinking pretty well

I have a few bottles so I will check in on another one soon to
see if this was an outlier. I was expecting this to be at the
front of a long drinking window. Was this a volatile acidity
issue?

4/7/2022 - Paul852 wrote:

Very ripe dark red fruits on the nose , and these continue to the palate. For me this is too ripe and Parkerised, no elegance. Not a repeat buy for me at the ~US$21 I paid, although I can see that it might appeal to those that prefer big, unsubtle, in your face type wines.

EDIT - on day 2 the "in your face ness" has moderated a bit, but it's still a bit over ripe for my taste. Maybe an 84/85 on day 2.

4/3/2022 - Barsacpinci Likes this wine:

Quite lovely. Beautiful very pale rose color with a slightly floral nose. More full bodied on the palate than I anticipated. Very fine mousse. Peach and apricot showing through with touches of honey. This wine was enjoyed very quickly.

12/25/2021 - Goldstone Likes this wine:

Christmas Day Family Lunch at Home (Our House, Hong Kong): On opening - Really impressively high quality cork, untouched by the wine except for the underside. Reddish-purple colour. Translucent. Slight sediment. Immediate nose of blueberries and tomato vine, anthracite, cold bitchumen and green peppercorn. Palate is very bitter 95% cocoa black chocolate, cold black tea, very bitter dried black Chinese medicine ingredients, gall bladder.

Xmas lunch - After overnight double decant....jeez, this is a stunner… stops you in your tracks. Tons of mellow fruit and a lot of complexity. Everyone loved this. 95

It remains in Runny's and my top place from some 20 wines we investigated as contenders for "The Next Grange?" 13-14 years ago. Hold.

2/25/2022 - forceberry wrote:

Made with Merwah (65%) and Obaideh (35%) grapes sourced from ungrafted, low-yielding vineyards over 50 years of age, located at the altitude of 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level. The winter of 2003 was the rainiest in 15 years in Beqaa, but after April, no rain fell. A long heat wave in May decreased yields by 30%, concentrating the acidity and sugar levels in the remaining grapes substantially. However, July and August were cooler than normal, delaying the ripening process. Still, the harvest was carried out by normal schedule. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for 9 months in partly new French 225-liter barriques, bottled in September 2004. 12% alcohol. Tasted in a Musar Blanc 2012-1994 vertical.

Moderately deep and wonderfully luminous burnished golden yellow color with a pale bronze core. The nose feels a bit restrained but also wonderfully nuanced with subtly sweetish aromas of zesty citrus fruits, some evolved nutty tones, a little bit of chalk dust, light woolly notes of lanolin, a bright hint of fresh nectarine and a touch of cloudberry jam. The wine feels moderately evolved but also remarkably fresh and lively on the palate with a moderately full body and complex flavors of mealy red apple and ripe, zesty citrus fruits, some developed waxy and creamy tones, a little bit of stony minerality, light oxidative notes of chopped nuts, a hint of savory wood spice and a crunchy touch of quince. What always surprises me with this vintage is its high acidity that is almost at odds with the rich, ripe and developed flavors, lending the wine wonderful sense of freshness, vibrancy and precision. The finish is dry and lively with fresh and quite acid-driven flavors of ripe citrus fruits, stony minerality, some evolved nuances of sweet, wizened stone fruits, a little bit of savory wood spice, a hint of apple peel bitterness and a woolly touch of lanolin.

A delicious, wonderfully bright and beautifully evolved vintage of white Musar. Although the wine felt somewhat evolved, starting to show the first signs of oxidative nuances, the overall feel wasn't as developed as with the previous bottle I had (in February 2020). It feels this wine is slowly getting close to its plateau of maturity, but there is still some ground to cover, so there is definitely no need to hurry with this vintage; I sense there is still room for further improvement and this wine will keep just fine for many, many years more - bottle variation permitting, of course. Although not as profound as the bottle I tasted in May 2016, this is nevertheless a fantastic vintage of Musar Blanc. At just 29,70€, this has been a steal.

12/25/2021 - Halfeel Likes this wine:

My nephew brought this wine to Thanksgiving dinner and I really enjoyed it. Picked up 6 more bottles recently and this was confirmed. It is kind of a hybrid wine similar to high quality, complex and more full bodied Sauvignon Blanc that you would expect to pay $30-40 for with an unoaked Chardonnay that lacks any of the annoying malolactic buttery crap flavors/aroma.

2/2/2022 - dannyg Likes this wine:

OK wine. I bought this with the group. Nothing like its prodigal 1998 Musar which is still my benchmark. This one is lighter, medium body red wine with a slightly short finish.

1/31/2022 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

A new batch for me. 100% 2014 (which I suppose makes it a vintage wine, but the producer doesn't "claim" it), 100% PN, disgorged 8 October 2019, dosage 5g/l.

This is quite different from the batch I tasted earlier (see notes below). It seems to me that the colour is darker and the character much more towards a red wine, presumably indicating more "bleed" time on the skins.

The palate is rather mineral, the fruit rather darker, and it seems to me a little austere overall.

This is still a very good wine, but I preferred the style of the earlier batch.

1/3/2020 - jenniferhahn wrote:

Opened it on 1/3/2020 and the wine went bad!

1/27/2022 - Paul852 wrote:

Well this is interesting - my latest bottle says 2019 on the label but the Diam5 cork says 2018 on the end. I am awaiting feedback from the distributor.

1/28/2022 - FiggySmalls wrote:

pristine condition bottle, but cork fairly worn/soaked and almost slipped in.

very light in color--like over 50% translucent. on pnp, shy nose that's honestly reminiscent of DARK cherry punch. zero funk or VA evident.

palate similarly closed on pnp

at 1-3 hours, delicious but still not delivering any fireworks--rather tired tbh. with air, the nose broadens (rather indistinctively) and the palate wakes up with some savory aspects and firmness.

day two=???

12/24/2021 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

Just a note to say that for the first time for me in a few years of drinking this wine my latest batch came in a screw-cap format, but the wine is much the same.

7/31/2020 - Tartiflette wrote:

Funny how I seem to be the only one who has discovered this wonderful wine here. One of my favourites in its price range (33 €)

12/16/2021 - Paul852 Likes this wine:

I recently enjoyed the 2018 (qv) and this 2019 is in much the same vein. But it definitely needs a few minutes air to open up and mellow from an initial tartness. The flavours also evolve as it warms.

The nose is fresh, quite tart. On the palate, crisp apple, pear and a touch of citrus bite, lots of minerality as well in good balance. Very mouth enveloping. Refreshingly crisp, more-ish finish.

Drink as an aperitif or with light fish dishes.

I managed to grab 6 at ~US$17 which I find pretty good QPR.

1/3/2022 - Ajvandet wrote:

I wasn't blown away. The wine was nice enough, although it weirdly felt too young at 13 yrs old

11/15/2021 - jprachar@yahoo.com wrote:

Drank at italimissimo with Ken and lori