5/4/2023 - AJBurt wrote:

A shame. You can sense how good of a wine this is but the TCA gets in the way. A few hours in the decanter and it dissipated by maybe 5% but not enough to enjoy.

Hopefully my other bottle doesn’t show like this one.

1/21/2023 - AJBurt Likes this wine:

Oh yeah, this is the real deal. Best domestic chard I’ve had sub $50 in quite some time, if ever. This drinks like a really good 1er Cru Chablis (meant as a compliment of course). Lots of marine, sea spray, citrus in the nose. Palate is quite round, but balanced. Delicious stuff.

12/18/2022 - AJBurt wrote:

This was a WDC pricing error - $35 - so I loaded up.

First of 6 bottles. On opening, this had an extremely distinctive tobacco leaf note that permeated the red fruit on the palate. Quite distracting to start with but eventually it subsided and showed some dynamic flavors on the palate. Definitely a steal at the price I paid. I suspect at nearer $100 it doesn't represent the best QPR. Curious to see how/if this develops.

9/8/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

Smells like poo. Like when your like super proud of having laid some cable, and you don't quite want to flush it down fast just to admire your own perfumage. Wow. A marriage of VA and brett.

4/30/2022 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine:

For some reason that speaks volumes about the maudlin and quite pathetic nature of what I, laughingly, describe as ‘my character’ (more accurately, lack thereof) I have been most put out, depressed even, by the sudden death of one of my clients. They probably did it to escape me. This wine would not bring them back, but its vivacity and spirit echoes much that was best in the departed.

I have scored this wine on the CT scale as 'Excellent' but it may well be on the road to 'Outstanding'.

Colour is medium deep to dark. Nose has evolved somewhat over 2 days open and decanted - we have a sour cream smell that I associate with ripe fruit, nicely fermented, raspberry jam, a hint of vanilla and cinnamon and some leafiness/tobacco. Good Tempranillo always gives this sense of being very alive and like a strong human emerging from a hot afternoon in the field - there's plenty of complex body smell, but it is not rank or malodorous. Zinfandel/Primitivo can be similar.

The palate is long, intense and very firm. This has many years ahead of it. If you plan to drink now (or in next 5 years) open and decant 2-3 days before drinking. I confess that I would like a bit less oak (I believe this gets 2-3 years in American oak), for I love the Tempranillo grape, which I think needs no, or little, oak. I get that this is not the law in Rioja, but I may buck the law if I so choose.

Drink this and, like it, celebrate life and don't think too long on what assuredly follows.

8/4/2021 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine:

By far the most packed and stacked Haut-Bailly I have ever had, which explains the pointgasms you are seeing from certain quarters. If you are accustomed to the lithe, ethereal house style that distinguished Haut-Bailly for, oh, a good century or so until recently, tasting this will make you wistful and maybe even a little bit sad. Still, I can't deny how impressive it is in its own way and under any other label I wouldn't have mixed feelings about it. It opens with plump black fruit that feels as dense as tar with a scorched, charcoal-singed element that screams Pessac. With a little bit of time some crunchier red fruit emerges in the treble band. If the old Haut-Baillys were rendered in gentle watercolor strokes, this one is a big wet splotch of Midnight Black oil paint dripping off the canvas. Well, truth be told it is not as sloppy as it may sound from that description but it definitely struggles to find its contours and hew to them. The tannin is a fine powder but the sheer volume it's infused with to remain proportionate to its fruit concentration imposes some physical limitations on its claims to finesse. If the mood strikes for something deep and intense, this can be enjoyed now for the way it expresses its Graves character in poster-sized boldface but if you want to see it mellow out even a little bit I think you will have to sign up for an aging cycle that might not be entirely compatible with many buyers' actuarial tables.

5/20/2020 - AJBurt wrote:

This is more like a true 91.5-92 rating but the value here is just so outstanding that I marked up to 93.

As another taster noted, this tastes like quintessential PN. Red fruit, touch of loamy soil, hints of ground coffee, and then the usual spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, five-spice but nothing too prominent. A soupcon of orange peel on the finish. Perhaps the best value Sonoma PN I've ever tried. Bought at $20/bottle.

2/2/2021 - AJBurt Likes this wine:

Great stuff.

Just starting to round into a decent drinking window. Tannins are still there but less grippy than when I first tasted this 1 year ago.

Nose is a bit reticent but after 30 mins in glass it opened up; raspberry, leather, hint of tobacco.

Palate is remarkably fresh. Wild berries, leather again, red fruits primarily but with acidity and freshness keeping everything ticking along.

I’d say this probably had another 2-3 years until peak but it’s already drinking wonderfully. Good QPR @ $55 I paid.

1/23/2020 - AJBurt Likes this wine:

Popped and poured, no decanting this time. Still fresh on entry, wonderful balanced acidity. Red fruit, iron, touch of earth. Fruit is still there. Easy 92.

2/29/2020 - PAOK Wines Brussels wrote:

Outside temperature: 17oC, inside temperature: 21oC, body temperature 36,4oC. On these conditions the wine performed very well. Decanted for 2h42 but i should have kept it for 2-3 minutes more. Big cork, size doesn’t matter though. Drinkable. Good wine.