8/17/17, 12:13 PM - It was a very good vertical tasting at Beaulieu with the winemaker there. This was the best of several bottles of the '75 I've tried, with pristine storage at the winery itself.
5/18/17, 12:12 PM - Was this actually a non-vintage bottling? In all my experience with Silver Oak for many years, I've never heard of them producing a non-vintage Napa Cabernet.
5/18/17, 12:11 PM - Was this actually a non-vintage bottling? I can't find any other indication that Plumpjack released a non-vintage bottling of the Estate Cabernet.
5/18/17, 11:58 AM - Was this actually a non-vintage bottling of the Heitz Martha's? If so, that's very interesting. It would be helpful if your review indicated what vintages this was a blend of, or some time frame for the bottling and the circumstances for Heitz producing a non-vintage edition of the Heitz.
2/16/17, 2:51 PM - Chris,I think it's a question of the styles of Pinot you favor. For those who like savory, more "Burgundian," ageworthy and high acid versions of Pinot, Caleras tend to be popular. --Richard
1/7/17, 11:20 AM - Chris,Thank you for the confirmation. Interesting observation. One of the reasons I avoid eating anything when I'm rating a wine, as food can very much influence how I'm judging a wine.
1/7/17, 11:18 AM - Chris,I think this is ready to drink now. I usually only indicate a "hold window" when I think the wine is too tight for drinking now. I'll say "needs 2 years" or something like that. From the body, acidity and palate length on this one, I felt comfortable indicating it was going to be a long ager.
3/23/16, 8:58 AM - This bottle was brought by the distributor for Musar in the U.S., so the provenance was direct from Musar. It was quite advanced, as indicated by my note, which is not surprising for the age and vintage. I'd say this should be opened sooner rather than later.
2/27/16, 11:58 AM - I think it's surprisingly ready, but would certainly reward two or three years of aging as well.
1/8/16, 4:13 PM - Hi Tim,I've had similar experience with Brazilian wines over the years. They've also had an unusually high percentage of corked bottles in my experience, up until the last few years, due to dumping of bad corks there by unscrupulous Portuguese cork producers. The vast majority--90%--of wines made there are poor quality table wine. There are, however, several producers making world class wines--both sparkling and still. Salton is a solid producer which has a little U.S. distribution so far. The top producers are Lidio Carraro, Don Giovanni (amazing sparklers), Cave Geisse and Pizzato. I visited virtually all the producers worth visiting on a trip organized by Wines of Brazil & Evan Goldstein the first week of December 2015.
7/21/15, 4:53 PM - A few places have the '08 in the U.S. for $50-60.
6/2/15, 10:04 AM - You have good taste. ;-) I definitely see a lot of aging potential in these Syrahs. Have you tried their Zins too?
3/12/15, 8:54 PM - Thank you Sir. It was a good hiatus, but I'm back.
3/11/15, 7:33 AM - Thank you Stud. Fabrizio Bianchi opened that bottle for us from the estate's cellars in honor of the young camera man who was with us, whose birthday was that day. It was a delight.
12/20/14, 9:52 PM - Great note Dude. Definitely conveys a sense of the wine. Cheers!
9/9/14, 3:13 PM - Jim,Thanks for the catch. The cuvee percentages have been corrected.--Richard
5/18/14, 8:52 PM - Thank you. Enjoy your 2004 Latour. I tasted it at Pebble Beach at a Latour seminar with Frederic Engerer.
4/7/14, 8:18 PM - Zach,In magnum, I think the wine probably has another couple of years to get to this point of maturity and savory qualities that I found on the 750 format. It should then go 7 to 10 years.
11/5/13, 10:56 AM - I think you might have responded to the wrong note. This is not Bollinger, it's Taittinger's prestige cuvee. In no way is this on the decline. It's extremely young yet and capable of serious aging.
11/4/13, 10:10 AM - Good question. It is a current release in the new packaging, designed to invoke the days of "Champagne Charlie," as Charles Heidsieck was known in the U.S. in the 1850s for his many visits here that helped popularize Champagne in this country. On the back it says it was disgorged in 2012.
11/4/13, 12:55 PM - Now that you mention it, I think that's a pretty good approach with C. Heidsieck. Their vintage wines are generally ready to drink on release. The others in their lineup are always among the best values in Champagne, for those of us who go for the autolytic style.
9/28/13, 9:45 PM - John,I haven't yet heard about any upcoming Madeira tastings like there were the last two years in San Francisco. I'll check with the organizer of the last one to see if she knows anything.
7/27/13, 6:00 AM - I'm having trouble understanding your comment, Kdog. My TN did not say "tart tart tart." "Tart black currant" and "tart blackberry" are pretty typical descriptors for Cab Sauv based blends and not at all negative, as far as I'm concerned. The TN also says "medium-plus finish" not "medium finish." Are you in the habit of misquoting a wine reviewer and then asking him or her why they gave a score based on your complete misquoting? What a peculiar way to occupy yourself. At any rate, I'm the most recent professional reviewer of this wine by far (I think the other most recent review goes back to '08), and I think it's in a good place now. Did you hate it recently or something?
8/10/13, 10:56 AM - Kdog,Thanks for following up. Thank you also for the very kind words on my Santa Barbara pieces. Sounds like we're both excited about the region. I'm headed back for another week of tastings there at the end of this month. Great stuff!
7/8/13, 3:32 PM - Excellent info Tomas. Thank you for the link to your blog.
3/13/13, 6:52 PM - My estimate, with the amount of whole cluster inclusion that it has, would be three to four years. Its relatively high acidity and tannins should sustain it for a number of years after that, I'm guessing 15-20.
3/12/13, 5:39 PM - I got my information from the Valdelana Marketing Director, who conducted our tasting of the bodegas's wines after the owner took us on a tour of the vineyards. Usually the official representative of the winery is pretty accurate in the info they convey to visiting journalists and wine writers, but not always, I suppose. That much Russian oak is highly unusual for a high end Rioja, but since you've pointed me to an authoritative source, in writing (which may also be wrong), I've changed the info in my note. I appreciate the apparent correction. I'll also be writing the Valdelana staff for an explanation.
3/5/13, 9:34 AM - Thanks for the reinforcement on the score. 89 is not a poor score for me--it's very drinkable, enjoyable stuff. I tasted this along with nearly 200 other Zins over two days at ZAP, so my scores are very much comparative. At ZAP, one gets to taste the very best and worst of Zin.
2/14/13, 8:56 PM - Greg, this Amarone is delicious now, and should go 20 years or so. A decant of one to two hours should help bring out all the complexity. Enjoy!
2/8/13, 5:41 PM - Steve,I'm glad you got to try the wine, and I agree it is quite special. You are incorrect, however, in saying it is a second wine. This is the first, and primary wine of Il Carnasciale. They make a second wine called Il Carnasciale, from barrels not deemed as ageworthy as those that go into the Il Caberlot.
2/8/13, 8:46 PM - Steve,How cool that you've been there, and have a good stock of vintages set aside. Lucky you! I had dinner in SF with Bettina this week and was thoroughly charmed. The wines are pretty fabulous too.My name is Richard, BTW.
1/27/13, 10:30 AM - Hi Peter,Where the wines at the recent UGC Bordeaux tasting were approachable already (i.e., good to drink now), I didn't indicate that. I only put in an estimated number of years to hold on those that were tight and clearly needed some time. It was remarkable how many of the 2010s (like the 2009s) appear to be ready to drink on release. That said, this is a fine Bordeaux with good acidity which should age quite nicely. If you prefer secondary and/or tertiary aromas and flavors on your wine, you'll definitely want to wait 8 to 10 years to start getting that kind of development. If you just want something good and drinkable, no reason to wait.
12/18/12, 8:00 AM - That's a good question. I mean six years from the date of tasting, so 2018. That may still be too soon for people who like mature wines, but that's my best guess as to when the tannins will be resolved enough so that tasting it will be more of a pleasure. Obviously a wine like this can age for decades.
4/4/10, 10:38 PM - Great descriptors Dan. Sorry you didn't have the right food with it. I tasted it this evening with a fish dish -- poached grouper with fava beans and morels -- and it went rather well. Best experience I've had with the wine so far.
3/5/10, 11:48 AM - Your experience with this wine is so different from mine and the group I blindtasted it with last night, in a lineup of 11 1997 Brunellos, that I just have to comment. Among other things, our bottle of this wine had the longest finish of any of the 11, and you're reporting a shortish finish. Seems like it must have been an off bottle.
3/4/10, 4:21 PM - Looks like a very interesting tasting, Rupert. You mean "horizontal" though, as you tasted through many producers of the same year. A vertical is when you taste multiple years of the same wine.
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