11/23/2023 - soychick Likes this wine:

Excellent all around.

12/25/2023 - soychick Likes this wine:

Solid GSM, wasn’t blown away.

11/15/2023 - soychick Likes this wine:

This one has ratings, and reported prices, all over the charts. It’s nowhere near as good as its supposed 91 rating from WE, but it’s not dreadful either, just not what you expect from a CA Chardonnay with an Australian name. It’s got little noticeable oak, no malolactic butter to speak of, some bright acidity and a hint of residual sugar. A reasonable alternative to a pinot grigio or light rose as an afternoon party wine or with a salad. Won’t stand up to serious food. Easily worth $5, not worth $15.

9/25/2022 - soychick Likes this wine:

This was extremely good, but I might just be more of a left bank person. Served with an excellent filet. Extremely structured for a 19 year old wine, still some tannin and plenty of oak. Some spice, allspice, cloves or nutmeg on the nose. Needs an hour or two of air. Fruit starts to come out after an hour or two. Very dark fruit Cab Franc, pomegranate, mulberry and sour dark cherries. Personally I’d prefer a cheaper, younger second or third tier Margaux from a better year, but this is an excellent wine by any standard.

4/24/2021 - soychick Likes this wine:

This was solid. Black fruit and leather with lingering cherries. Needs air though.

9/27/2020 - soychick Likes this wine:

Excellent, complex, earthy Pessac-Leognan showing very prominent tannins and deep red color. Drinks like a very young wine still. Wonderful with 2h of air then served with steak. You might want to hold off opening for another 3 to 5.

1/28/2020 - soychick Likes this wine:

Extremely subdued and closed, with only acid and tannin detectable, at first opening. Surprisingly for a 2007, it really opened up after an hour or two after a vigorous decant into an excellent food wine, with a rich rounded leathery texture without much fruit. Not terribly subtle and I wouldn’t serve it on its own, but not bad after lots of air.

5/26/2019 - soychick wrote:

Very impressed for the (Trader Joe’s) price. Complex, full bodied and definitely BdM, gives you the experience without most of the bucks. Drink now.

3/16/2019 - soychick Likes this wine:

Solid pinot, nice full body, drinks very nicely. Not terribly complicated.

12/25/2018 - soychick wrote:

Delicious, showing complex dark fruit and earthy Pauillac. Personally I’d drink this now while the fruit is still there but the tannins are tamed. YMMV depending on storage temperature (ours cellared at 55 F).

9/16/2018 - soychick wrote:

Past its best. If it had one.

3/23/2018 - soychick wrote:

Very smooth, flawless SB. Lacks overwhelming melon factor of NZ SB and this is a plus in my opinion especially when served with fish. Makes it more like poilly fume at much higher price. Highly recommended.

12/25/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Very enjoyable, dark fruit dominates but not overly forward. A bit one-dimensional though, and starting to lose it’s stuffing. Drink now.

11/11/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Drinking very well still. Oak, citrus, tropical fruit and very easy drinking with no discernible flaws and a long finish.

6/18/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Delicious and unusual. Very dark in color and full bodied for a pinot with complex dark berries and a fairly subtle cherry undertone. It /is/ fruit forward but wouldn't call it sweet. Great value.

4/20/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Very nice Chianti, lovely nose, great qpr

4/2/2017 - soychick wrote:

I had a bottle of this purchased mid-2016. It was one of the best bourbons I ever tasted. Really. Magnificent. Think 15-23 year old, wheated, Kentucky, amazingly complex. It was gone in a flash. Then the exact same bottle with THE EXACT SAME BATCH # showed up at the same Costco in March 2017. Had I noticed the same batch #, would have bought a case, fortunately bought just one bottle. The new one is not bad exactly, it just tastes like what it says on the bottle (Tennesee, 7 YO, charcoal). Costco reuses labels with the same batch # that probably did not originate even in the same state or year. Caveat emptor.

4/1/2017 - soychick Does not like this wine:

Vile. And not spoiled either. Just really bad wine.

2/11/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Very good wine. Complex earthy berry nose and full bodied berry mouthfeel, but the aftertaste is a touch sour and metallic. Might benefit from a longer decant (it had half an hour) but the high acidity won't change. Better with food.

2/4/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Solid Sancerre, nice and buttery, dry and smooth. Just what you want with your sole meuniere. Not anything unusual or spectacular.

1/1/2017 - soychick Likes this wine:

Nice. Elegant, restrained, dark fruit and earth, a touch of spice. Clean finish. A bit closed even after a longish decant, maybe another 2-3 years.

12/18/2016 - soychick Likes this wine:

Nose is still very closed on opening, some distant berries there. After a day, opens up with heavy blackberries, some cassis. Mouth is big and chewy, all dark fruits and heavy, prickly but not unpleasant tannin, grippy blackberry finish that goes on for a while. Benefits from significant air, and will likely benefit from a lot longer in the cellar.

Phenomenal value for a $18 Bordeaux.

12/18/2016 - soychick Likes this wine:

On opening, this had a wonderful, subtle cassis / cherry violet nose. Unfortunately also a little hint of vinegar (but not spoiled) as others also noticed, and a fairly unpleasant finish with an odd metallic note. Tannins have mellowed nicely though and the wine is nice and smooth, chewy. After 4h of air, the vinegar and the bad aftertaste were gone, but so was the fruit and some of the beauty of the bouquet. Score 90 after 4h of air, when flaws were much less apparent.

9/4/2016 - soychick wrote:

Utterly disgusting. I am not sure if this was truly spoiled. It just tasted like extremely bad wine.

7/23/2016 - soychick Likes this wine:

Not bad at all. Good party wine.

2/10/2016 - soychick Likes this wine:

Quite delightful. Cellared for a couple of years and decanted half an hour. Oaky, with a woody nose and stone fruit palate. Showing Pomerol which is not common in this price range. Great QPR.

12/25/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Not the most subtle or nuanced wine, but delicious and few if any flaws. Needs a 2h decant at least. Classic hardcore CA zin berry nose. Refreshing acidity and unexpectedly food friendly. Will buy more.

11/26/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

This was worthy of age. Spectacular, well integrated Zin with a surprisingly Cabernet cassis note and oaky maple flavors.

11/8/2015 - soychick wrote:

After half hour decant, very enjoyable with spicy fish. Not great on its own, but decent qpr for Carneros. Typical cherry spice etc, not remarkable but good.

9/12/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Improving and will continue to do so. Needs at least an hour decant still.

8/11/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Very pleasant, understated, well made pinot. Nothing earth shattering, a bit standard but excellent value.

7/19/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Really not bad value, but lacks the depth and complexity you might expect from Barolo. Also still surprisingly tannic for an 04. Might say hold for 5 more years.

7/17/2015 - soychick wrote:

A very pleasant, refreshing wine to drink cold in hot weather on its own. Subtle and moderately complex palette although one-dimensional fruit nose and no finish. But very insubstantial and will not stand up to any food, even fruit salad will overpower it.

4/16/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Smoother than some other Taits but still huge. Berries predominate but complex and dimensional. Will buy again ASAP.

3/29/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

This was very impressive for a bargain wine from Costco (twelve bucks if I remember right). Kind of a Margaux style; aromatic, fairly light and elegant. Bouquet is berry and rich floral with sour raspberry and cherry dominating the palate, some tannic sourness on the finish not noticeable with steak or cheese. Might last and even improve.

3/14/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Well, we are Shiraz people, so bear that in mind, but this for us is the ultimate spicy grill wine. Strong, slightly sour berry fruit edge but without being notably acid and no hint of roughness. Delicious Shiraz nose. I thought 89 drinking before dinner, but with a stellar spice-rubbed steak and Indian vegetables it soared to 92+. Blend of 75% Shiraz with 22% Cab and 3% Merlot, and you can detect the presence of all three. But it's not really a ball buster, don't let the name put you off. It is utterly perfect for spiced steak, but was overpowered by a mature raw milk cheddar. Your balls may tingle but they will remain intact.

3/7/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Very impressed with this. Same kind of quality and style you'd expect from Ordonez products, but interesting, different grape. Good wine to drink solo or go with lighter cheeses, pork, maybe stronger flavored fish (sardines say). Rating reflects price tag under ten bucks.

3/5/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Aldi is starting to have some compelling wine buys, and this is one of them. Very attractive dark berry nose, tastes as good as it smells, smooth, light bodied and quaffable. No detectable flaws. Not incredibly complex, but heh, its six bucks, and I've had less interesting barolo.

2/7/2015 - soychick Likes this wine:

Not bad for the price. Almost no bouquet. Otherwise similar to a Douro red wine (not port); dark berries and alcohol. Very full bodied and perfectly pleasant, but not complex in any way. A bit of burn on the finish.

2/1/2015 - soychick wrote:

I've still to find a port I didn't enjoy, but this is closer than I'd like to get. Roughly tannic, overly sour, and a distinct aroma of rubbing alcohol. It's still possible to enjoy this, especially with fruitcake, and it would be great for culinary purposes. Probably I'd prefer this to ruby ports in the same price range, but next time I will pony up for an LBV from Fonseca, Warre's, Graham, Noval etc..

2/1/2015 - soychick wrote:

Better than you might expect, but still not what you'd call good. Fairly complex but too acidic.

12/23/2014 - soychick wrote:

Very reduced. Almost undrinkable at opening. One or two days of air shows a very reasonable pinot. Might mellow with age. Acidity is fine.

12/23/2014 - soychick wrote:

Not perfect, but very enjoyable. Kind of like a young Priorat.

12/22/2014 - soychick Likes this wine:

Well I liked this but SO did not. It's a new world / old world thing. I thought it was excellent value. Very complex and deep. SO did agree it tasted like a 3x more expensive wine, just not enjoyable...

12/22/2014 - soychick wrote:

Not bad, but complex and vegetal. Serious wine but not a crowd pleaser. May improve with age and air, but not as good as the 2012.

12/6/2014 - soychick wrote:

This really improved with 4-5 years in the cellar. Comparable to a big name Napa or Sonoma zin.

12/6/2014 - soychick wrote:

Good port, and highly drinkable, but still a bit rough at the edges and lacks the finesse of a vintage bottling. Might improve with a couple more years.

11/30/2014 - soychick wrote:

Well, we enjoyed this tremendously with a roast beef dinner. Elegant, understated, complex and very good QPR which is not something you hear much about Margaux. Needs at least an hour decant though as there are some off odors on opening.

11/29/2014 - soychick wrote:

We love this wine. Not sure we will buy champagne again while we can get this.

11/28/2014 - soychick wrote:

Meh. Drinkable, but overly acidic for us and bone dry with it. Not a lot else going on. Might be more enjoyable paired with shellfish as suggested on the label, but still think you'd want something less sour. Had much better wines at much lower price points.