10/26/2022 - Javachip Likes this wine:

Bottle opened at 5:00, decanted at 6:15, tasting began at 7:00. Clear deep dark garnet-blood red color. Brooding bouquet of mixed black, blue and red fruits and their liqueurs; fennel; cigar humidor; violets, lilacs, bay leaf, forest floor. Similar on the palate, seamless, full body, beautiful balance, rich and generous, not too heavy. The best of both worlds: exuberant Napa fruit with the refinement and balance of Bordeaux. Splendid showing.

1/18/2020 - Javachip Likes this wine:

San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline al tartufo, 1/18/2020 (Solare Restaurant, Liberty Station, Point Loma, San Diego CA): Magnum. Clear straw yellow with fine bead. Outstanding notes of lemon, white grapefruit, croissant, dried chamomile, almond. Fresh, crisp, pure and precise. My #2, group's FIRST PLACE in this flight.

7/4/2017 - Javachip Likes this wine:

Outstanding though understated, not leaping from the glass, but taking some time and coaxing. Allowed to breathe in glass 1 hour before tasting. Clear deep blood-ruby red color. Complex bouquet of roses, liqueurs of red cherry and raspberry, potpourri, stony red soil, juniper berry, lavender, wintergreen, lapsang souchong, and leather. Tart on the palate with mouth-coating tannins, balanced, seamless, full body, very food friendly. Some astringency and bitter quinine on the finish, but these improved after a few hours. Held up fine under vacuum stopper in refrigerator for 4 days. Apparently 1995 was not the best vintage for Piedmont. I slightly preferred the normale blended vineyard bottling, tasted last winter, to this single vineyard bottle.

5/17/2014 - Javachip wrote:

San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 5/17/2014 (Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego): Recent library release from the estate. Fill level, capsule, and label condition are like new. Traditional blend of ancient corvina, rondinella and molinara varietals. Gently decanted and served. Heavenly bouquet of rosemary, Christmas relish, cherries and cranberries, tangerine peel, with notions of wintergreen and dressage saddle. Seaquam, who generously shared this bottle, noted some dry chocolate-covered raisins in the bouquet. I found this wine to be bright, fresh, invigorating, nothing pruney or sur-maturite about it. Brilliant purity and structure with endless complexity. Medium body with no hint of its labeled 15% alcohol. A sublime, truly memorable wine. My #1 and group's FIRST PLACE in this flight.

12/27/2015 - Javachip wrote:

Auction purchase with unknown provenance. High shoulder fill. Cork loose and fully saturated, removed in pieces. Sadly this was completely maderized. But that didn't stop the non-oenophiles at the party from drinking the entire bottle, when we told them how rare and expensive it was.

11/7/2015 - Javachip wrote:

San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 11/7/2015 (Grande Colonial Hotel (Nine Ten Restaurant), La Jolla, California): Fresh, pure, precise. Seemed like a lighter, more reticent version of the 1995 Heidsieck tasted just prior. I was impressed by the bright fruit and the minerality, while Seaquam commented on the yeastiness: "like breaking open a baguette fresh from the oven."

8/10/2015 - Javachip wrote:

Disgorged 12/2011. Clear straw color with faint green tint and persistent fine bead. Initial whiff of yeasty bread dough and matchstick blew off to reveal a fine bouquet of apple and Meyer lemon. With air and warming a bit, hints of white flowers, almonds and chalk appeared, with a bit of nougat after another hour. Similar on the palate, crisp and pure, delicious. Group's THIRD PLACE tonight.

2/20/2014 - Javachip wrote:

Label reads "Sonoma County." 50:50 sauvignon blanc: semillon. Faintly hazy light straw color. Notes of pear, golden kiwi, hard-boiled egg, lawn clippings. Noticeable alcoholic heat.