4/13/2024 - Sotto325 wrote:

A literally perfect eiswein—almost any wine— in one of the greatest vintages in 50 years. This of course has 40 years left but now is truly breathtaking! A Riesling acid backbone that screams elegance and lively support of the melange of fruit; a viscosity that has now thinned out with that wonderful Mosel blending tropical flowers and fruit, some of the typical minerality of the site—not floral Wehlener but some mix of stone minerals and light flowers— in a package of light medium gold color. A rare treat.

3/24/2024 - TaylorandBarbara wrote:

Long time reader, first time note submitter....my skepticism forced me to open a bottle. I'm also getting asparagus notes - especially as the wine warms up! Might need to make the other 2x bottles mimosas...savory mimosas... ):

To clarify, the asparagus becomes pronounced as soon as the wine warms past ice cold. Pro tip: only drink this when it's freezer cold!

3/14/2024 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: from half-bottle; fridge temp; white wine glass; pop and pour

Look: medium- straw with a slight yellow tint

Nose: key lime, tropical fruit (guava?), salinity, minerality; very expressive

Palate: lemon, lime, gun smoke; long finish strong minerality, fresh parsley, bit of oyster shell; bone dry; medium+ body; high+ acidity

Overall thoughts: nice, expressive nose, but the palate is mainly sharply acidic citrus and minerality, and I'd like some riper flavors and some more complexity. Also, there's a ton of acidity, but nothing on the other end of the spectrum, so there's none of the tension I love in a great Riesling. I don't drink enough dry Riesling to know where this is on the aging curve or if it's shut down. Pretty good wine, but a half-bottle is more than enough for me.

3/9/2024 - Burgundy Al wrote:

From a magnum I opened six weeks ago (see my 1/25/24 TN) and has been sitting on my kitchen counter ever since (cork re-inserted), revisited occasionally since. Nothing has faded since. I could cut-and-paste. This might have gotten ever-so-slightly sweeter over the 6 weeks.

3/9/2024 - Decanting Queen wrote:

Opened this in response to the other notes —wanted to check before I accidentally give this to someone or bring to a party. Glad I did because the asparagus was there on the nose before I even tasted. Something must be wrong because this is not on par with any other ultramarine I have tried, even the ones
that I didn’t love.
There is a nice texture and some fruit underlying, but the asparagus makes it undrinkable.

3/16/1991 - bestdamncab Likes this wine:

8 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignons Tasted at the Mondavi Reserve Room (Robert Mondavi Winery Reserve Tasting Room): Open, fruity, huge fruity nose, big fruity taste, lots of acid, medium, soft tannins, needs time to peak.

2/14/2024 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine:

Second bottle tasted of my 2015's, same note as October, 2022: Dark garnet, completely opaque. Pronounced aroma, easy to smell well beyond the glass. The aromas are typical Cayuse but even more intense...roasted meat, bacon fat, pepper. Classic Northern Rhône style of Guigal's single vineyards. On the palate very rich and full, bacon and black fruit predominate, but not at all coarse and heavy. Perfect balance of fruit, acid and tannin make for an extremely drinkable wine but one which will last years. Drink or hold. Perfection in the glass!
Ric

2/13/2024 - Eric Becker Likes this wine:

At restaurant Les Avisés in Avize from a split bottle.
The wine with the strongest scent of bacon fat that I have come across. Add sweet dark cherries, olives and stemmy and floral notes to the mix and you have a most beguiling perfume of the northern rhone, though I detected no pepper. In the mouth the wine is surprisingly accessible. Medium- to full-bodied, moderate acidity, a very classy texture, the wine literally glides over the palate, satiny tannin and a long finish with sweet fruit, stems and earthy scents and a slight and comforting warmth. Everything perfectly harmonious and there should still be some upside. Lovely!

4/16/2022 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: 30 minute decant; slightly chilled; Cab glass

Look: deep purple with a dark ruby rim

Nose: red fruit, raspberry, sage, cigar box, cedar

Palate: raspberry, blackberry, dried herbs; long finish of dried herbs, pencil lead, cedar; dry; medium+ tart acidity; high- smaller, drying tannin; medium+ body

Overall thoughts: This has a lot of stuffing, not a ton of complexity, and a good body. I thought this showed a bit tart, which is not ideal for me. Hopefully, this just needs some more air or time in the bottle (I imagine it'll improve to some degree). Good wine.

Update: After revisiting this a coupe months after the initial Corivan, after a very gentle evolution has occurred, as it often does with the Corivan, this is a great wine (at this point). Definitely quality stuff here, but it needs a lot of time, in my opinion. Hold and enjoy in a few years.

1/3/2024 - Ghoulardi wrote:

This was shockingly bitter and off putting, delivering a bouquet I’ve never experienced in any sparkling wine. I’ve had just one other bottle of this cuvée (but not this vintage) and don’t recall anything like this, so I’ll just chalk this up to a flawed bottle.

12/3/2023 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: pop and pour; 55 degrees; Cab glass

Nose: lemon meringue, banana, tropical fruit medley (guava, mango, papaya?), whipped cream, vanilla; very expressive

Palate: tropical fruit medley (guava, mango, papaya?), banana, minerality, Meyer lemon; long finish of white and black pepper, light fresh herbs, banana; dry; full- body; light- tannin; medium acidity

Overall thoughts: Wow! So wonderfully expressive right out of the bottle. The tropical fruit notes are so expressive and rich, but the minerality, herbal and rather exquisite pepper notes on the finish add just enough complexity and seriousness to this wine to make it more than "just" a hedonistic indulgence. The full body adds to the overall rich and powerful tone of the wine, but the slight tannins and moderate acidity keep everything in check. All 10 or so people at the tasting were very impressed, as they should be. Excellent wine! I wish I had more.

Does this get better with age? I'm honestly not sure, but it really delivers right now.

12/10/2023 - ERU wrote:

Made a huge meal for my husband’s birthday; beef tenderloin was the star. I was thinking perhaps we could have a Clape to go along with the beef and all the heavy accompaniments. But it’s his birthday, and he said he wanted something, “Huge and with stank.” Now, a Clape can fit this bill, but, really, just, really: If this wasn’t a Sine Qua Non request, then I don’t know what is.

Decanted 3+ hours. I wish we would have gone more, because this improved as the glass got shallower. Pepper, bacon fat, plum compote, and leather from a horse saddle that has been ridden by one hell of a cowboy fills the mouth. First couple of sips the 15.9% alcohol made its presence known, then, poof! was gone.

Thoroughly enjoyed this; wish I had more. Almost gives me the strength to hang on for, oh, 13 to 37 more years until I finally make the SQN mailing list.

11/23/2023 - Sagan99 Likes this wine:

TBD - looks to be a good one!!

Been cellared in place since arrival... (Right there with a few Clos du Val and other old Napa bottles soon to come knocking)

Said by my CT brethren, the color remains and it's just turning to...

Rich
Elegant
Dense
Earth
Mushrooms
Cola

Significant characteristics change after 60-120 minutes of air... Mushrooms, earthiness changing to more....

Structure remains for several hours upon opening.

Alcohol
Acid
Tannin
Viscosity
Finish

CS 100%
13.2% abv

How long to keep this is always the question... But having held many bottles of not only Naps Cabs too long, there's no time like the present on this wine.
It's likely not going to improve, but it may be following a very leisurely descent from it's peak to the benefit of us all.

Score
92 at PnP.
88 after 20 hours.

It might have some short term ageability IN THE BOTTLE, shown by color and structure and remaining acid, but that tell-tale cola character says it's not long in the cellar either.

As mentioned above, drink up.


PS- Drink The Rainbow!!!

10/5/2023 - Philippe_C wrote:

WOW WOW WOW, huge nose of roasted bacon, lard fumé, herbes de Provence, roasted red and black cherries... Perfectly intergated tannin, BBQ chips, ripe sappy tannin, lenght of 60 seconds!!! Perfect wine :-)

4/18/2023 - AD_jutant wrote:

Personal introduction:
Unfortunately, I did not have an exciting 18th birthday as it happened during the first Covid lockdown, but the fate reimbursed me with the second chance: my 21st in the USA. By now, I am eager to experience and learn more about wine but some things I just can never afford on a college student budget. My own birthday is, however, an exception, so I wanted to get an aged (birthyear preferably) wine. I was disappointed to find out that 2002 was generally a poor year in Italy, since those are the wines I know the most because of Switzerland’s proximity. However, I guess I won a lottery by being born in a great Champagne vintage year. So, I decided it was the perfect chance to try a grower Champagne for the first time.

About the wine: Vincent Couche’s “Sensation” is an equal-parts blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from two separate lots in Champagne. The wine was aged on the lees for over 19 years until getting disgorged last year. I heard it’s good to give a Champagne a year after disgorgement to settle down, so this seemed perfect. In addition, it also ticked off all the other hype-boxes that I was curious about: grower-producer, biodynamic (though certified only in 2008), brut nature.

So, I was excited to try it and prayed that the local wine store did not run out by my birthday. I also thought that a seafood restaurant was the only appropriate place to open this bottle, so I chose one with a bearable corkage fee and a nice menu. The food was great, but can you imagine my disappointment when they brought out those small flute-ish stemless glasses? When I asked for anything with a bigger bowl, I got smirked at: “No, this is it. It’s called a Champagne flute”. I guess it’s my first day of legal drinking in this country so what would I know…

Anyway, notes:

Colour: golden, slightly on a darker side for a dry wine. Bubbles looked very big, and I was surprised until I noticed the little streams of other, tiniest bubbles I have ever seen in a drink. This combination of big soda-like bubbles and the tiniest ones was a discovery and I wonder if someone could tell me more about it?

Nose: I have smelled butter and toast in Champagne before, but this time was different. It straight up smelled like brioche. I could almost think it is a smell of a beer, though of course there were other, more wine-usual aromas: apple, lemon tart, and whipped cream.

Taste: it starts off with a very fine mousse which makes the wine feel almost like only a foam. It is dry and even drier given the piercing acidity, almost like straight lemon juice with water that does not quench your thirst but rather inhibits it. There is a full mouthfeel but also bitterness on the end which I did not enjoy that much. Unfortunately, that bitterness lasts out into the aftertaste. There are flavours of lemon pith and apple skins.

Conclusion: I am not sure I loved this and would ever buy this bottle for the price again, but it was definitely a great experience, unlike anything I’ve tried so far. In the end, it did make me write 700 words on Reddit ;) Oh, and it went absolutely fabulous with my lobster roll.

10/2/2023 - carl.cornaglia@gmai.com Likes this wine:

Classic aged St Emilion but there was a underlying taste of wet cardboard Odd!

9/29/2023 - JRockEsq Does not like this wine:

Method: opened 45 minutes prior; starting at cellar temp; Bordeaux glass

Look: medium garnet

Nose: black cherry / blueberry pie, vanilla, baking spices, very faint cedar

Palate: red plum, dried herbs, graphite; long finish bitter dried herbs, graphite; dry; medium body with hallow mid palate; high- drying tannin; medium acrid / tart acidity that makes it hard to drink

It gets worse with every sip. It’s bitter and tart. Acrid. Drying tannins. I’m tempted to rate this in the 50s, but I didn’t actually spit it out, though I was tempted. I can’t drink this. Is it possible the cork completely failed (although, it doesn’t look like it).? Horrible. One of the worse wines I’ve ever had.

8/25/2023 - Cabernet4me2 Likes this wine:

Did not want to post a score as maybe my "picker" was off, and don't want to give a lower score than rightfully deserves. Had been scoring would have given a 93-94.

We consumed from a 375, and was a PnP out at an outdoor event, so not giving this wine its due time to decant, just seemed a little on the flat side, just didnt seem to have the mouthcoating 'wow" factor i am so used to with these. Don't get me wrong, still an amazing wine and maybe with the 375s they've entered into that "dumb phase" now, so the jury is still out... know those components are there to have this in the high 90s with some time in bottle.

8/14/2023 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine:

Trying to make a Monday fun (Richmond district): Nose of dark, creamy red and black fruits, dried sheets of tree bark, dried top soil and a light sprinkling of shiny minerals. Night brightness with some air time.

Palate has dark red fruits with a nice brightness to it, nice richness with a lift, and dark and deep earth that is somehow gently spiced. Love the weight on this body as well, has heft but not heavy.

A handful of years will do this good.

8/9/2023 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:

Decanted 6 hours prior to serving. Enjoyed over a 4 hour period and still slowly improving at night's end. As with old Schaefer Auction Auslese- this needs a good 8-12 hours of airing to show its best.

deeping gold color, elegantly aged nose of succulent ripe peach, pear, a hint of crisp apple, key limes and softened chalk, on the palate serene and full with fine length, layers of orange cream, soft but notable acids and a persistent note of peach with peach pits, with extended aeration the acids became more lively to well-counter the persistent sweet fruit, lovely wine in full sail with time in hand.

****, ready to go

8/6/2023 - Berge65 wrote:

Not sure what I’m missing. This is my first bottle of Aubert and not impressed. I’ve heard it’s one of the best Chards in CA. I am a Kistler and Peter Michael fan and this doesn’t stand up. I have 7 more bottles and 3 different vineyards to try so hoping this was a one off deal.

6/23/2023 - ebuckley wrote:

Solid wine for the money. Goes particularly well with BBQ.

5/9/2023 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:

Rhone Candidate dinner - Hermitage Theme (Essential by Christophe): Very fresh and young (interesting that both of the 89’s drank younger than their 98 little brothers). Peppery. Bright in style. Again more of a mouthful than the Chave and a slightly different style but there was something almost comforting in the structure of this wine. The kind that makes you think about a cold night and this is almost a warming mechanism.

4/28/2023 - jgreco Likes this wine:

Bretty nose. Pure strawberry flavors on the palate. Lengthy finish. Gorgeous. The best rosé bubbly I’ve ever had.

4/27/2023 - SchlaepDog Does not like this wine:

This wine is well past peak, waited too long. Any vibrant fruit has now faded to a honey-like quality and earth/minerals. A little dry/astringent on the finish, tough to enjoy this bottle.

7/20/2022 - CamWheeler wrote:

SLDS July 2022: Passionfruit, orange rind, smoke, honey and apricot - heady and lifted aromatics here. Lovely mix of rich sweetness impact on the palate and that tangy acid cut. Excellent length and superb style. Delicious now but patience will be rewarded further.

1/30/2023 - AlyssaRock12 wrote:

Wine ranked #11 of 12 for 2019 CdP tasting.

Nose: blueberry, pie, baking spice

Palate: high acid; med+ body; blueberry

84 pts

4/13/2023 - Philip67 Likes this wine:

Blend: 65% Syrah, 22% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache and 3% Viognier. Just love the rose and exotic perfume on this. It really is the stand out feature of this wine, I think it is the Viognier. Great silky and unctuous mouthfeel. Like a Northern Rhone stylistically but better in many regards. So drinkable, amazing fruit, though still elegant despite the wonderful fruit being quite full-on in the Californian way. High tannin and acidity but disguised and covered by the ample fruit. All of that said this has a slightly astringent finish which prevented a much higher score. I think this will dissipate with age and it will score north of 95 points. Long finish, some complexity. Drinking now and over the next decade or two. Think it will become attractively funky with time.

3/18/2023 - Nacnud wrote:

Cork was moldy and fell right thru into the wine. Another old wine bites the dust...

3/17/2023 - JRockEsq Does not like this wine:

Method: pop and pour (Coravin); 60ish degrees; Cab glass

Look: deep ruby

Nose: raspberry, bramble, faint violet, faint black pepper

Palate: raspberry, boysenberry, unripe blue berry, orange; long- significantly bitter (raw cocoa? bitter herbs?), tar, dry leather; dry; medium+ body; medium+ tannins; med+ to high- citrus-like acidity

Overall: Hopefully it improves with air, but what a mess right out of the bottle. The finish is pretty long, but unfortunately, I find it quite off-putting as it's significantly bitter. Other than the bitter finish, the wine is simple, though I get a surprising orange/citrus juice element. While every element of this wine isn't horrible, I'm not sure I find any redeeming qualities. Maybe it's in muted phase, maybe it needs more air, but as I drink it right now, this is a pretty bad wine.

3/7/2023 - 559Cheers Likes this wine:

Nice but needs more time in bottle. Drank a lot of Aubert bottles over the last year. Didn’t seem like all the others. Perhaps I was thinking it was a warmer year or too young.

3/2/2023 - Nucdoc wrote:

deep amber
Nose: promomced fig, priuns, orange. Jest.
Palate. Sweet. Med plus acidity. Luscious Full body. Low alcohol
Promounced. Figs. Prunres coffee.Rancio. Tofee caramel
Long finish

8/28/2022 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: pop and pour; cellar tempt; red/bdx wine glass

Nose: barnyard, black cherry, wet forest floor, faint mint

Palate: ripe darker cherry, baking spice; long finish of mineral, a light dried herbs; dry; medium- dusty tannin; medium- body; medium acidity

Overall thoughts: The nose is great, but the palate, while very good, is not a good as it lacks a bit of complexity and the tannins are very good, but not great. Great wine.

2/25/2023 - Mattmifron Does not like this wine:

Yet another example of the non-ageability of these Horsepower and No Girls wines from the 12, 13, 14 vintages. Extremely bitter finish. This was present upon Pop and Pour, as well as after a 2-3 hour decant. The wine was thin on the pallet, didn't appear like a Syrah. It seems these wines must be consumed upon release, or shortly thereafter. Not a single person at the party where I brought this found it drinkable.

2/5/2023 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: semi-blind (I knew one was this and one was 2021 ZD Chard); I brought bottle out of town, so no decanter and drank out of Bordeaux glass; started too cold at fridge temp; opened 3.5 hours before tasting;

Look: Medium key lime

Nose: Lemon custard, vanilla, lemon grass, guava

Palate: Lemon custard, key lime, black pepper; long finish;dry, full- body, med+ acidity

Overall thoughts: besides the nice acidity and youthfulness, nothing really stood out a ton for me. It has a lot of things going for it and I was pretty impressed overall, but it didn't really wow me. Less flamboyant and opulent than I was expecting, but also not conplex or thought provoking. I think it needed more air (or more bottle age) and a significantly warmer serving temp. Great wine, but a bit tight for me. I hope/think my next bottle will be significantly better in 5+ years.

1/23/2023 - Jason Wu Likes this wine:

Cassis, dark cherry, toast, savoury, rose petals, dusty, herbs. Medium plus flavour intensity, medium plus finish. Has developed some tertiary notes already that is increasingly charming. Still quite young. Will age at least another decade. 93+

1/15/2023 - Kozakofthewest Likes this wine:

Oh boy the sweetness ballance and flavor is just excellent integrated and flowing. I would decant if you have a chance if not it still doesn't disappoint. Glad a have another bottle on order yet sad its not a case.

1/8/2023 - peternelson Likes this wine:

Darker, much finer bubbles than the Henriot; brioche, fish-oil, tangy fruit, nice pedigree, balance. Tied for #9 and #10th place. I thought it was quite good. guessed '07 DP. Yarom Group DD Champagnes at Blooming VIP Chinese.

12/18/2022 - JJB007 Likes this wine:

wonderful and surprising merlot
baking spice, cherry fruit, chocolate

12/13/2022 - iamandyc wrote:

Definitely past prime -- best on day #2. It has lost a lot of the energy and intensity. At its best, it was an easy drinker with good dark fruit and nice mouthfeel. Maybe bottle variation?

11/24/2022 - Bodyfxr wrote:

Pale straw colored. Citrus predominates on the nose. Very fresh and dry with citrus and pear but being unoaked left it a bit thin imo. This wine seemed a bit more interesting at the winery earlier this year. I purchased it as I thought my wife would like it yet she found it to be mediocre at best. She obviously prefers chards that spend some time in oak. If you abhor oak then this wine should be right up your alley. Drink or hold.

11/23/2022 - vpiedrah Likes this wine:

Delicious juice. Wildflower and fruit tart nose with a little wax. Tastes of stone fruit, pineapple and a bit of fat, but with bracing acidity to cut it. Love this.

11/19/2022 - JRockEsq Likes this wine:

Method: Coravin "pop" and pour; fridge temp; white wine glass

Look: medium gold

Nose: white grape juice (sorry), white peach, honey, fresh stream water, light ginger

Palate: yellow peach, fresh ginger, minerality; medium+ finish of lemon, ginger, floral, touch of fresh herbs, honey, salt; medium sweetness; medium- body; high- acidity which is balanced out nicely by the RS at first but leaves your tongue tingling a bit on the finish

Overall thoughts: Great balance and tension. Very nice complexity as the flavors transition from fruit to more spices and mineral notes. The spice notes and the acidity leave a wonderful lasting impression on my palate. There aren't any tertiary notes, but this is nicely integrated and showing very well right now. Excellent wine!

9/11/2022 - hoservin wrote:

Decanted for one hour. Nose of black cherry, black raspberry, toasted oak, earth and spice. Black and red fruit, earth, toasted oak, spice and fine tannins on the palate. Long ripe, fruit-driven finish. Medium bodied. Served with smoked salmon.

10/29/2022 - bsumoba wrote:

Wine: the Gathering Old World, Bordeaux (Château de Chris et Melissa): I should preface this TN with the fact that we had this in the middle of a BDX tasting, hence no score given. My palate could have and probably was conditioned to BDX wines and when throwing this wine into the fray, the only thing I could think of was dark fruit syrup. Super fruit driven and a bit of heat. This baby was a beast. I love the Materium, but do not make the same mistake and drink this alongside BDX as it will most likely be too big and too monstrous of a wine.

10/23/2022 - mflesh wrote:

This 2020 Andremily white wine cuvée is real stuff! It's about a third Chardonnay and the balance is made of old world white varieties from central coast. A massive white wine with even more massive structure. Honestly, for the first 45 minutes, the thing this wine needed most was a decanter (yes, a white wine in a decanter). This wine was like watching a baby giraffe run for the first little bit and even was a bit flat. Awoke very nicely to a nose and palate of lemon herb white peach creme brulee, very rounded mouthfeel from start to finish. Gooseberry, a touch of brambly apricot preserves. Finishes with a little herbed toast, white pepper and more tannin than I would have imagined. At the upper end of the white wine prife point for me. The QPR on this wine is pretty neutral. But without a doubt if you forgot you had these and didn't discover them for 4-5 years, you would be JUUUUST fine. Drink with a solid decant, or hold for up to 7 years.

10/1/2022 - RBurgundy99 wrote:

This is good wine, but unfortunately I wouldn't classify it as great, or even worthy of its price point. I agree with exactly zero of the last 5 notes.

Decanted 2 hours and did improve slightly as we drank it, but I have come to expect a lot more from Torrin than this restrained offering. Again, not that it's terrible, but was really expecting more. Can a wine be both disappointing and still pretty damn good? Apparently, yes.

9/17/2022 - berlinhotel Likes this wine:

Versteigerung Bernkastler Ring

9/21/2022 - wineaficionado Likes this wine:

Color: Medium yellow with green reflexes. Nose: Botrytis, exotic fruits. Mouth: Quite viscous. Very concentrated. The sweetness is beautifully balanced by a vivid acidity. A fruity sourness that I adore. Exremely long. Honey in the finish. Even better 2 days after opening the bottle. Now there is a lemon aroma, too. It is a liquid lemon tart mixed with exotic fruits.

8/25/2022 - gymnastpro wrote:

Not a tasting note. Heard the price is going to be 325 per 3 pack min. Worth the steep price? Thoughts?