2/25/2024 - Champagneinhand wrote:

I bought some of this and left this comment in case people unfamiliar with a label that states a vintage and has solera behind it. Over time there certainly is less of the older juice circulating but the solera systems are all a bit unique and the blends marked solera will always have some variance much like multi vintage champagne and in that same manner the winery that maintains this 1927 or whatever base vintage solera unit tries to tune their batch so it represents what will ultimately come to be as close as possible using these unique ways to capture bigger units of time and all the things that happen over 5 years. It’s going to show, but you have to marvel that all of these wineries develop styles that they hold even in some off years. Soleras are much like insurance against any one year of devastation.

I look forward to sipping these down a half glass at a time watching time move and the seasons change. I feel fortunate to be in these circumstances. These are fairly easy on the wallet considering how long I can get the amazing bouquet and flavors/textures from while enjoying some ripe cheese, nuts and dried or cut fresh fruit.

1/25/2020 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Stunning. This really impresses, especially since I considered giving most of my CdPs away. Beautiful blackberry fruit, with some plummy compitiendo. Nice hint of Asian 5 spice, smoke along with curing charcuterie. Impress, until it gets too warm. High ABV so it’s best served at cellar temperature.

12/22/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Even smoother and more flavorful than the last bottle. Very solid wine.

10/5/2019 - Champagneinhand wrote:

Much more sweetness that still needs to integrate. I know most people are happy getting declassified Spatlese but not why looking for dry.

8/17/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This was a very enjoyable GR Rioja. Smooth velvety tannin. Typical dark fruit.

The one thing I couldn’t pick up was the American oak I so often associate with the better aged Rioja. Still very, very enjoyable.

7/31/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Solid and very reasonable Pouilly-Fume. Nice light citrus and very notable just ripe kiwi with fine acidity.

7/25/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Much better than I anticipated. Really up there with the better 90%+ CdP wines. Beautiful fruit, textures and not too hot.

6/17/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Not too dissimilar from recent tastings. I think these should hold up for several more years but I think these are near their peak.

6/8/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This was really drinking nicely last night. Great red and black fruits with integrated oak that’s a bit of milk chocolate in there with some light baking spices. The tannins are very soft as is the acidity but it all works to make a nice Bordeaux blend CA style.

Not a 98, but probably 93-94 today.

6/4/2019 - Champagneinhand Does not like this wine:

This bottle was only enjoyable for about the first glass. After that the heat coming off the blend made the fruit seem more compote style. I ended up pouring out a third of the bottle. This did not fair well with a cheese burger or pizza. Go figure. I’m glad I didn’t buy a case of this wine.

5/29/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Easy drinking Alsace PN from Alsace while in Cologne. Quite lovely for under 15 quid.

5/20/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Tonterías really inexpensive, but when buying a wine at Harrod’s you aren’t bargain hunting. Just wanting a decent qpr. Not bad with dark fruit, cassis dominating with wood, minerals and oak tannins keeping it young but expected.

What wasn’t expected was the crappy cork. Yes I had a lame oil rig type of opener, thanks TSA but it literally pulled up sawdust time and time again. I would have returned it had I an extra day. Still, whatever, blew the cork dust out to the best of my abilities and pushed the cork in.

Very drinkable now. Swirl for 40 minutes and this is quite tasty in its primary phase. Pr witty much a $15-$20 wi Th a pedigree that lets a big store charge £30ish.

5/17/2019 - Champagneinhand wrote:

I quite enjoyed this, but it seemed to be fading. I liked the under ripe nectarines, citrus and white florals along with the stony sensation which some would call serious mineral, or at least feeling that way.

Enjoyable but not overly impressed. High 80s.

5/12/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

A very enjoyable Carmenere at a nice price. Deep dark fruit with some uplifting spices. Nice tannin as well as acidity. Very enjoyable.

5/10/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Weird. Not as memorable as the first bottle. Much like a shut down phase. Pleasant enough with spicy food. Decent petrol, White florals and a massive apple, citrus and tropical fruit blend meshed with acidity. I guess it could be called grapey as well which I don’t really associate with decent Riesling.

I think I would hold these another few years. It could just be a dull period. It happens.

5/5/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Still very young compared to 1990 and 1989. A bit more modern probably because of the warm vintage dark fruit dominates the red. Good structure/ mineral and some nice tannic grip.

I would hold another year but that was my last bottle.

5/6/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

We had 1989, 1990 and 2003.

All were good and consistent but with their own highlights and minuscule cons that can actually be attributes depending on the situation.

The 1989 tasted very young when first uncorked and poured. It’s differential was higher acidity, but it gave the wine its structure to go with food. Sweet tannins that were chewy. Long finish and highly recommended.

5/4/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Holding up well. Decent but nothing mind blowing. After the big bottle and such it feels a bit of a let down. At least it didn’t taste too jammy or seem to be overwhelmed by the ABV. I wouldn’t pay more than $25 for this type of CS. Ripe black fruit, a bit of cassis. Some baking spices and smooth tannin.

4/22/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I was quite blown away as how this wine improved dramatically on a PnP with an Easter dinner with lamb. I expected this to be closed down, heavy handed with oak and white tannic. To some extent it was all that pouring and taking a sip without swirling but using my glass and following this over 2.5 hours, I was impressed what a wonderful wine this was and how the new oak, though not yet integrated, framed the red berry, red cherry and chassis driven fruit. The tannins were very pleasant in texture coating the mouth yet having just a hint of sweetness as opppsed to being overly chewy or grippy. Good acid and mineral made the earth deco day and slight touch of baking spices fill out this young wine.

I can’t see this doing anything but improving over the next 5-10 years and I’m thrilled I grabbed a case based on the very nice decanter review. I plan on drinking another bottle tomorrow night with a steak to see if the bottles vary by much.

It seems that when a petit Château pulls off this kind of extraordinary effort it should be celebrated and rewarded. I’ve had wines costing 5x as much taste much worse in youth.

It reminds me just a bit of how surprising the second wine of 2015 Calon-Ségur was drinking almost one year ago. Stunning as I have not had many great experiences with second wines either.

4/5/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Day one this was not great. All disjointed, warm, flavors and aromas popping up everywhere but no great fruit. Mostly secondary basalmic notes with some black cherry. Herbaceous but not smooth very disjointed. Strange oak pops up. Mostly tasting like a bad home brew.

I am always suspicious of a Spanish wine that has a full description in English. Especially when it’s clearly opaque rather than translucent as the descriptor states in the first few words.

Day 2 this was much more than integrated with deep cherry, herbaceous and black tar with some funky oak notes. Truly I e had many $15 wines that were more fresh, crisp and enjoyable. However this is Tinto de Toro, a variety I am not as familiar with.

With all the English notes on the front and the little gold medal sticker always makes e weary.

In the e d it was acceptable table wine on day two. Day one was a bust.

Maybe this has long aging ahead of it but I wouldn’t buy another bottle. I didn’t hate it, but it was educational. I’ll steer clear of this as I love more defined wines of CS, Merlot, PN or Syrah.

I’ll keep looking for good Tempranillo rather than Tinto de Toro.

3/31/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Upon opening it had a familiar funk and wasn’t pleasant at cellar temperature. As it airs, things are starting to open up as the nasty funk floats off. Deep red fruit, dark plum skin, touch of leather, dark chocolate promising more. I expect that by the time this has been open an hour that the Klipsun merlot will have shaken and signs of sleep and be drinking nicely. Decent chewy tannin that is starting to sweeten up. Minerals were also apparent in the mix. Decent drinking wine. With various cheese and some dinner tbd, later.

2/16/2019 - Champagneinhand wrote:

This clearly wasn’t ready. Pretty shut tight even with plenty of swirling. I should have given it a 24 hour slow-ox or let it rest.

3/19/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Wow a decade has been good to this bottle. I expected hot goey mass, but quite the opposite. Structured, classic merlot fruits good tannin that is resolved. Stellar WA merlot. So much better than other vintages of Foregeron I have had.

With Kim-Chi covered steak.

3/16/2019 - Champagneinhand wrote:

QPR CA Cabernet. Some deep dark cherries, Casiss and scorched earth. A bit of bay leaf, sage and maybe a splash of Grenache in this. But not enough to violate the 85% Cabernet rule. Perhaps a bit of Cab Franc too where the underbrush is coming from. There’s some bitterness towards the end.

Meh, I’ve had better at the same price level but considering it’s going on 10, whilst it’s not asleep I don’t think this has long bones. A bit over extracted. But the more I sip it the more intriguing it becomes. I have to think with tiny bits of dark grapes and loads of skin contact the winemaker was trying on this. A warm vintage. Props for trying to take this somewhere unique in a sea of cheap Cabernet. I wouldn’t rate near excellent but an E for effort.

Just slightly above middle of the pack. I agree with the 85 or 86. But again E for effort.

2/21/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Great $20 wine drinking like a Spatlese.

2/21/2019 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Fading a bit. Drink up.

12/25/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Always a good value SB from Bordeaux. Sub $15 with ripe SB fruit, and decent mineral where acidity isn’t over the top but quite pleasant with chicken French.

12/25/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Still very enjoyable food wine. Maybe tasting a bit better than 6 months ago. A bargain sparkler.

12/25/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Enjoyable table wine. Mostly barbera with nice red fruit, decent complexity for such a young wine. Decent acids to make the wine food friendly, but almost comical that it has a printed 98 score on the bottle. More likely reversed to an 89 at best. Still a crowd pleaser at Christmas dinner. I wouldn’t hold this for 10+ years but drink within 5 for maximum enjoyment of the red berry /strawberry fruit.

12/26/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

One if the reasons why I like this wine is that while citrus dominated, it’s not just lemons, but toss is some tangerine and orange zest. It has a nice mousse and fine bubbles. Not terribly spicy for a Drappier, it is elegant with its acidity holding firm, a great mouth cleansing feel and quite pleasing as it slides down your throat.

Very different from other Drappier champagne which are mostly PN. Definitely cellar worthy and very much in its own style. Great with grilled Octopus.

12/26/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This was very nice, predominantly red fruited, but with some dark plum from the merlot and a touch of crane de cassis. Thus wine was drinking very nicely. Tannins were mostly resolved but still enough to let you know they were there. Good structure of acid and mineral, especially on the finish where the mineral almost tasted gravelly. Earthly, some aromas and taste of integrated oak, in the form of dark cocoa is present.

I did decent this and removed the small amount of sediment from the bottle before pouring the wine back in a taking it to the restaurant. It seemed initially closed when I opened the bottle but aromas were quick to come forth once the wine had been poured into the decanter. The wine was a nice opaque garnet in color.

I think this wine could cellar a good 10 more years if the cellar is a damp cool one. The cork had very little sine going up into it. Along with the fruit, acid, oak tannin, I can’t see this degrading any time soon. A very nice Cos.

12/18/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I was a bit disappointed in this wine. After so many glowing reviews I guess I expected a lot. It had nice dried apricot, white peach and a touch of sweet apple. While quite acidic, it’s sugars meld to make it appear more round than it actually is. Perhaps having this as an actual dessert wine after some great Chardonnay and a Ridge Cab made for the let down.

Perhaps it was just needing a decant.

12/15/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Excellent value Chassagne/Montrachet that lunches well above it’s tariff. Drinking very nicely now there are beautiful stone fruits, subtle orchard yellow apple and Anjou pear. Nice but if creaminess and that touch if butter and resolving oak makes for an enjoyable white.

12/15/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This wine is drinking fantastically right now. Deep, structured with great mix of red and black fruit. The Merlot gives this wine a nice balance with a good acid to mineral ratio and backbone. Very much worth seeking out. I wish I had bought more than just a 3 pack of the ‘08 vintage. All the oak has integrated nicely.

11/25/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

A truly fantastic Ornellaia, but most are quite good. Still quite youthful. As others have commented, the hint of Can Franc really makes this a top notch wine that I consider to rival any super second from the Left Bank and is amazingly consistent. This could probably go another 15 years an only have subtle changes. Gorgeous red and dark fruit with that CF showing the darker fruits seem to win that battle. So smooth, silky tannins in the mouth, and on the finish. All the oak has nicely integrated and this has a very long finish with no sense of flabbiness and filled with elegant structure. Everything I expect from a big boy Ornellaia.

Costly but well worth the wait. Considering that a solid second growth of similar quality, in a stellar year costs between $125-$300 I think this is a solid investment if you grab them around $150.

I do think, and have invested in, Orma and Oreno as much more economical choices, and even have a good quantity of the 2nd wine Le Serre Nuove on my shelves, but I’m happy I still have some Ornellaia from 2006,2007,2009 and 2010, which I will age as long as I can.

Highly recommended at least once or twice. The 2091 vintage remains in my top 5 Bordeaux blends from both France, Italy or the new world. I would put this up with the likes of Montrose, Dulcu-Beacalliou, Leoville Poyferre and while quite different than the Pessac’s style of greatness it would hold its own against most of the wines given that they are known for their silky mouthfeel. Not as much scorched earth.

11/23/2018 - Champagneinhand wrote:

I brought this to a dinner of wine geeks. It must have been good as I didn’t even get to drink any. I had to go pull a bottle of Z-H too have some dessert wine.

I should have brought something else as this was my only bottle.

11/23/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Similar to other notes. But I’m questioning whether the price tag for this MV/NV is worth buying it again. I know what NV I really like and MC, VC, Roederer and Pol Roger make as good if not better in a different style for far less than $50US.

Still the Vilmart is good but I think it’s a darling that’s tariffs are unjustified.

10/27/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Drinking very nicely. Notes of citrus, yellow apple, freshly churned butter and as with most CC Chablis the great mineral and acidity. Also a note of saline which I enjoyed.

10/27/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

96 or better. While terribly young the fruits aromas and flavors do not disappoint. Z-D makes such lovely SGN wines that it’s hard to pick a favorite vineyard or vintage. This had great acidity and mineral. It reminds me of the 1995 where you can drink much more than you could, even with it carrying such aromas, and sweetness.

I love Clos Jebsal but this is very close. I hope I can find more.

10/27/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Disgorged 10/14. Solid effort from Vilmart. Apples, toast and autolytic flavors and a nice mousse.

I wish I could have had multiple glasses.

10/28/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This supposed off vintage was wonderful. Tasted alongside a bunch of French heavyweight reds and it was just fine. Good Grenache based fruit. Blackberry, boysenberry. Decent viscosity. Not as much silt as in some vintages and it’s still quite young as no real tertiary notes other than a touch of pepper and Provençal herbs seem noticed. Compared directly to a 2007 Clos de Ducs.

10/27/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I just love this wine. It’s seems ageless. Great fruit an it’s ever changing as great wines should be. Resolved tannins and oak with good stony mineral.

Just a great bargain in this commune.

10/27/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Solid P-M. Great fruit which is still shiny bright. Not as much plum as in some other Merlot, but dark and red cherry, blackberries and some cocoa and vanilla from the oak. Tannins have resolved but a touch of bitterness that isn’t necessarily bad on the finish.

This could hold another 5 without changing a lot. Nowhere as great as the Pavie-Decesse from 2000, as it was much more weighty, but P-M always seems more of a middleweight wine compared to its neighbors.

10/23/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Not amazing but not weak. I’m torn up on my different exposure to 2007 CdP. Some way to bretty. Some just not ready. Some perfect.

This had good CdP fruit. Mostly aged Grenache. Some tertiary notes of pepper and herbs de Provence. Some Bret that really didn’t blow off but not in a bad way. No massive flaws. No massive “oh yeahs.” A pleasant wine probably meant for food.

Farm funk as well as cigar box and saddle leather seem to be the non fruit smells that have lasted all night. ABV hasn’t been an issue. Which is +1 for 2097. Not a bottle I would seek out again, but I’m picky.

Very good to excellent is where I am leaning. Though inbtruth there are better bottles out there. Maybe not from 2007, though Cuvée de Vatican has been a massive surprise and I still have Beaucastel to try. I sacrificed a Clos de Papes way too young. This vintage has be torn.

10/18/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

So this came from Winebid but was leaking all over. Fortunately WB refunded my purchase. I thought I would bring the half that was left to dinner. The cork was unretrievable but it just fell into the oxidizing juice. We tasted it and while clearly flawed do to the cork issue and leakage it was great to taste that the sweetness of a BA was mellowed and that the acids were still present. Sadly the fruit wasn’t very identifiable but present. I’m sure a bottle that was just pulled from a cellar would have been quite enjoyable considering it’s 49 years old.

Most who tried this were impressed by the fact that an aged German from a great vintage could really hold out this long. It was educational, but bittersweet as I would have loved to have enjoyed this in better circumstances.

I will look for more from that 1969 vintage.

10/6/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

Really one of the best values and best off dry Riesling not from the bigger well known vineyards. Fantastic mouthfeel, slight petrol but acacia, canned peaches, dried Turkish apricot, golden delicious apple with notes of green tea and thyme. Excellent length of finish. Can’t believe these were sub $30 Spatlese. Rivaling most Donnhoff, Prum, Molitor etc.

Maybe I am conservative with this score. Bummer as this was my last bottle.

10/6/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This was showing really nicely. I brought this to lunch as a group of us helped with harvesting Chardonnay and Riesling. The family provided wine and a huge slab of beef. The Cab Sauvignon fans really enjoyed this. The oak was manageable, decent acids, good fruit and not as much sweetness, stickiness you see from places like QC. Fairly impressed. Typical dark cassis based fruit with secondary notes of cedar, baking spices and such. Great mouthfeel too.

9/18/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I knew this would be terribly young, do I decanted the Barsac for about 4 hours. Still this is quite thin. Great fruit of dried apricot, sweet pineapple, a touch of toasted coconut with honey, a touch of butterscotch as well a spices from the botrytis.

I wouldn’t open this wine for many years though I don’t know if it will thicken up. At least the ABV wasn’t bad and the acids were decent.

I paired this with a crab fondue from the wine bars appetizer list. It worked much better than with the bread pudding I choose for dessert. It did pair nicely with creme brûlée that my wife chose for dessert.

9/18/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

This was very tight. It is aging nicely but really better on day 2, like it has been the last couple of bottles.

Great mountain dark berry cassis with a good dose of acid and mineral. Much more of a food wine right now but with plenty of air and a long decant it can be enjoyed solo.

This should hold for at least another decade and when it starts waking up I expect some very nice tertiary aromas.

I had this at a worldwide Cabernet tasting. My bottle. The only other Cab this dry and structure that was even similar was a 2000 Pauillac.

I am happy I purchased this inna full case to follow over time. Nice firm Maycamas mountain Cab. Diamond Mountain is quite reliable.

9/9/2018 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I really liked this CF. Deep dark fruits with just the right amount of underbrush and this 10 year old CF has plenty of tannin although mouth coating but it seemed a bit chalky and it made things interesting. Ideally I would prefer a bit more acidity, but the oak has settled to a deep chocolate making this a wine I wish I had more of.

But plenty of wonderful CF from warm, dry vintages in the NY State Finger Lake regions, if you live close enough to find the better producers.