8/18/2023 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: medium ruby, hints of Garnet
Nose: red apple, blackberry, blueberry and plum, ripe but not too much. Hints of pie crust, smoke, bitumen and rhubarb pie. There is a hint of octane, or hydrocarbons anyways at the end of every sniff
Palate: at this stage it's very endearing and balanced. Hint of sweet, medium-high acidity and medium tannins that are however close to resolved. Body is medium full, leaning full. Follows the nose with hints of liver and blood that I must guess are from the aglianico
Finish: medium-long

In a fantastic spot, fruit is there but so are tertiaries. It still has tension but it drinks easy and charming. There is nuance but it's subtle, in aglianico form, a reverberation you must pay attention to. Excellent, though I prefer unblended aglianicos in this age group to be fully honest

12/30/2022 - VeniceCalif wrote:

What standard to use in evaluating is an issue here. Decanted off of a fair amount of sediment. Pale ruby/strawberry color. Pleasant but simple nose of cherry, strawberry, a touch of earthiness. Bright and lifted on the palate, delicious and ingratiating. This is a natural wine, and it’s one of the best I have tasted in terms of pure freshness. But the score reflects a lack of the complexity that can come from more orthodox winemaking. I wonder what the aging potential is for a wine like this. I’m guessing not long.

6/4/2022 - stet wrote:

This shows prominent smoke taint.

And yet, in a crazy way, this could be had as an aperitivo chilled. Think of Laphroaig and Drambuie.

Not a wine for dinner, that much is certain.

5/7/2022 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: medium ruby to the rim with hints of brown
Nose: cherry under spirit, smoky log, lightly toasted nuts. I get herbs as well, and some darker fruit. Some presence of mushroom and damp soil
Palate: clean medium-high acidity and medium tannins still with some bite to them. Body is medium-full. Blood, iron, sage, along with the same notes from the nose. Very balanced right now, present, with aromas and structure taking turns on the palate
Finish: medium-long

This is in a very good spot. It had a hint of sulphuric taint that came and went, and I wish it wasn't two of us so that I could have saved some for day 2. Purity of fruit, very nice balance. Great wine with some fuel in the tank surely left

3/20/2022 - BlueDevilWineLVR Likes this wine:

Took me a few tries to get the temperature and decanting just right. Nice darker color and lovely nose of citrus and butter. I would say it tasted better on the second day and definitely with food. I had a glass with seared scallops and that was heavenly. Overall it is a lovely wine and drinking well.

12/23/2021 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: brown garnet. Medium
Nose: that burnt pie crust and cherry that talks to you about old barbaresco. This was not a good year I surmise, and you can detect the oxidization - the madeirization almost
Palate: tannins high and acid high, fruit receeding. Nice tertiaries in the dry raisin space
Finish: medium

Old nebbiolo over the edge here i would guess. Still I polished up the bottle so? Best 1h out the bottle room temp

11/10/2021 - JonnyG wrote:

"Imposter Night" (Los Olivos, CA): A hard wine to figure out, not very generous in terms of fruit flavors at this early age, and there was a significant bitterness on the finish. If truly underripe, time will not cure these ails. Easily called out as the "imposter" Burgundy in its blind pairing flight.

10/21/2021 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: medium straw with green
Nose: well there is a lot of stuff. Diesel and plastic wrap; ripe yellow peach, lychee. Tarte tatin. Lemon and candied orange
Palate: full on sweet, but balanced with good acidity. Body here medium full. Very prominent ripe peach, nose confirmed
Finish: medium

Nice German Riesling here, but I thought off dry and it's just quite sweet. It still worked well with a chicken tagine but let's be honest, this thing is just going to cut through anything. Power of German Riesling

8/19/2021 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: medium ruby
Nose: ripe red cherry, dusty. Small black berries. Rhubarb. I get very interesting notes here like parsley and wood varnish, they unfurl with time and air. I do not get oak. Menthol and Thai basil, moth balls.
Palate: quite seductive with medium acidity and soft tannin, for a medium body. Fruit here too, black sugary licorice candy, coats the mouth very oily.
Finish: medium

I am very much of a novice on morgons. This one strikes me as a pleaser already, but it evolved a lot in the glass and it had whiffs of really interesting primary things that make me think that i am early. That said the structure here isn't towering, this is nice and friendly. Definitely want to see if I can find some with a bit of age here, as well as get a second bottle and do a long decant. But I enjoyed what I had tonight

2/17/2021 - viking92067 Likes this wine:

As we know wine is sometimes a magical mystery tour. On February 13th I was less than enthusiastic about this wine. I have been buying Rhys since 2008 and store them in commercial grade cellar in my home, and I said "I continue to await my Alleluia moment from Rhys Pinots."
Tonight this wine was signing. Go figure. This is why we drink wine I guess.

8/16/2020 - stet Likes this wine:

Color: medium gold. Green reflections
Nose: minerals and honey. Wet stone and white pepper. White peach. Something green, like green bellpepper or a fresh leaf, broken. Powerful and focused. Note of sour almond too. Vanilla pretty strong.
Palate: medium-high acidity, medium full body. Quite mighty. Beautiful almond peach and spice. Strong mineral backbone.
Finish: medium

Very serious wine. This would need 3+ more years to really show its full detail. Right now the oak is a bit overpowering. Still, loved it