3/8/2023 - chateauderaisin wrote:

Bland and acidic. Flat, no texture...it's cheap Bordeaux at $7. Didn't really disliked it nor enjoyed. Don't expect much.

10/23/2021 - forceberry wrote:

100% Nebbiolo from Sinio, right outside of the Barolo region to the east. Cold-soaked with the skins for 30 hours, then fermented and macerated with the skins for 15 days in stainless steel. Aged for a year in old Slavonian oak botti. 13,5% alcohol, 4 g/l residual sugar, 4,8 g/l acidity. Tasted blind.

Somewhat translucent cherry-red color. Fragrant and very varietally correct nose of ripe cherries, some brown spices, a little bit of old leather, light licorice root tones, a hint of wild strawberry and a touch of tar. The wine is medium-bodied on the palate with quite intense, savory flavors of fresh cranberries and sour cherries, some licorice tones, a little bit of old leather, light fragrant notes of dried flowers, a hint of earth and a vague, slightly smoky touch of tar. True to the variety, the wine is quite high in acidity with firm and moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long, rather tannic and slightly warm with savory flavors of cherries, crunchy cranberries, some licorice root, a little bit of old leather, light meaty notes of umami and a hint of tobacco.

A very nice, clean and balanced Nebbiolo that punches above its weight - this doesn't feel like a declassified Barolo, but instead a wine that could actually pass off as a Barolo, only if the fruit came from the appellation. When tasting this wine blind, the first sniff took me immediately to Langhe and the first taste confirmed that this must be Nebbiolo. However, based on the somewhat lighter nature of the wine, I guessed lesser Barbaresco, probably from 2016 (as the wine felt quite young, but not too ripe, hence excluding 2015 and 2017 from my guesses). What surprised me the most was how the wine didn't feel primary at all, even though the wine is only one year old and bottled within the past month or so. Very nice stuff that is drinking remarkably well right now, but will most likely improve for at least a handful of years, if not much more. At just 13,90€ this is an outright steal.

3/2/2023 - Salute Likes this wine:

Wow - so much better than what I remember from our first bottle in October.
Decanted. Glorious expression of California Cab. Rich, long finish. Great wine - buying more of the 2020 now.

9/26/2022 - JimTaft Likes this wine:

Delicious. Fruit forward with fine and balanced acidity. Good as aperitif and very good with food, even spicy challenging food.

Interesting blend of grapes, very dry yet fruity, kind of a perfect Eurocentric white wine. At 12%, easy to manage on a hot afternoon.

Plan to buy more ... If I can figure out where I got it !!

11/8/2022 - Michael Mackenzie Likes this wine:

From a famous little corner of Fleurie, but ironically the word 'Fleurie' does not dominate their iconic yellow labels, this is because the domaine was created before the Fleurie Appellation existed and the label still retains the original, classic design!
In fact up until 1926 the vineyard owners felt they were in Moulin a Vent and were a little disappointed to be put in to the 'new-fangled' Fleurie appellation,
The soils here are an unusual mix of manganese and clay, this gives wines with more structure and power than most Fleuries. This wine is named after a favourite racehorse 'La Roilette' owned by a previous owner of the farm in the early 1900s. This is why the unchanged label from the 1920s carries the silhouette of a horse's head. The Couderts own the largest part of this old estate, and pick from old vines at maximum maturity to make fully coloured wines with great juicy richness. They are without doubt one of the finest domaines in the Beaujolais.

Fleurie Cuvée Christie - is named after Alain's two children 'Christine and Alexei' and was originally labelled "Cuvée Crystal", until he received a 'cease-and-desist' letter from a well-known Champagne house.
Source: Lea & Sandeman, London.

Colour: med deep cherry red, thin rim, purple tinge.
Nose: at first straight brambles that says Tassie Pinot to me.V full, fresh, ripe and full of fruit. Cheeries, blackberry, cinnamon, touch of brooding darkness.
Taste: light body, rounded, fresh, full on fruit, blackberries, good acidity, long finish, soft tannins, blackberries and griottes.
Overall, a great discovery. Now to try the La Roilette that is marginally more expensive than the Christie.

11/7/2022 - Bhob160 Does not like this wine:

Found the oak to cover up the fruit in a very unpleasant way. After a day in the fridge opened a bit more and the palette was better, more integrated. After all the love given to this producer a little disappointed. Maybe needs more time?