1/18/2023 - wine guy Likes this wine:

Just superb white burgundy. This is in a great drinking window right now.

11/8/2012 - wine guy wrote:

This is in a great drinking window. I don't see it getting more complex, but there is good fruit and length. Nice nose, roundness and finish. If I had any bottles left, I'd drink them up over the next year or so and enjoy it at this stage. BTW, had it with broiled salmon, green beans and a Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend that worked well with the wine. Sometimes, those old "natural pairings" like salmon and pinot noir really do have merit.

7/18/2012 - wine guy wrote:

This is in a great drinking window right now. Full, deep fruit. Smooth as an aged bordeaux. Cedar notes are fully integrated into the fruit. Big enough to stand up to a grilled strip steak. The only negative is it's my last bottle. Simply outstanding wine.

12/29/2011 - wine guy wrote:

You're never quite sure what you'll get with an aged Kistler chard. This one delivered in spades. Kistler can taste oaky unless you let them age, but this was very integrated and full. The hazelnut always comes thru for me because of the aging. This still had great apple fruit and a butterscotch-honeyed finish. Just a great bottle of wine. Good to the last drop.

11/19/2011 - wine guy wrote:

Delicious! Blown away by the concentration of fruit and balance. Strong berry and cedar. A wondeful aged CA cab. Don't see this wine advertised much. I bought this bottle back in 1999 at the Bottle Barn in CA when I was out visiting a friend there. Wish I had more and will definitely look up the current vintages.

1/7/2011 - wine guy wrote:

This wine is in a GREAT drinking window right now. Have not had one of these for a couple of years. It's all come together exquisitely. Nose of white pepper and black fruit. Spice box, black fruit, cinnamon on the palate. Great mid-pallet and a finish that last 30 seconds. Really outstanding. Paired with broiled pork chops, baked apple and Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend (made with chicken stock, curry and basil). The meal was fantastic, especially on a cold, snowy Wis friday night.

10/26/2010 - wine guy wrote:

This wine is still going strong. Great price to quality ratio. I highly recommend it.

9/17/2010 - wine guy wrote:

First time having this wine. Very pleasant - not killer. Had it with a steak and baked acorn squash so it had some competition. Nose had notes of red fruit and muskiness (but not unpleasant). The midpalatte was firm with good friut and fullness. The finish was not extremely long, but the wine IS 13 years old and you don't hear Treana tossed around as a monster wine. I enjoyed the wine, but it did not WOW me. Just pleasant. Don't think it'd going to improve. Drink now.

9/14/2010 - wine guy wrote:

Absolutely the best chardonnay I've had in some time! Flawless balance & mouth feel. The oak is totally integrated - Why can't any other CA winemaker accomplish this? Ripe fruit but I would not say "fruit forward". Incredible complexity. I'd have to rank this up against great white Burgundies to make it a fair fight. My first bottle of this. A bit pricey at $80 / bottle ($93 with shipping and Wis tax) but I don't think I'll be passing on my allocation of this. Good bye Kistler - hello Aubert! Wow! Wow! Wow!

1/19/2010 - wine guy wrote:

This is in a great drinking window right now, if you properly aged the wine. The wood, that was so predominate in the past, has been absorbed and the fruit is still there, creating a very satifying period where neither rules. The nose has nutmeg and cinnamon. The full, viscous palette doesn't eplode but lathers the tougue with apple, carmel and a feeling of fullness. We had this with a chicken breast that had been stuffed with greek seasonings, spinach and dijon mustard before being baked in the oven. Served with a baked sweet potato and apple, cabbage and onion compote it was a great dining experience. I think the wine is in it's prime and won't improve with additional aging. Drink up! Unfortunately, it was my last bottle - i wish I had more.

11/22/2009 - wine guy wrote:

Great bottle of wine. Decanted for an hour before dinner. Went especially well with the pan seared pork loin and goat cheese polenta. Bright black fruits and spice evident. Has gained some secondary complexity with earth & mushrooms also, although the cardomon and nutmeg spices (and fruit) trump those characteristics right now. This may get better, but I'm thinking this is a great window to be drinking this wine. It's pretty damn good NOW.

11/3/2009 - wine guy wrote:

Decanted a half hour before tasting. Nose had camphor and gasoline. I thought it was corked at first. But with an additional half hour of breathing it opened up and revealed spice, pepper, red fruits, bacon fat. We served it over the course of a couple of hours with dinner and it continued to smooth out and gain elegance. A great bottle of Chateauneuf. I came away very impressed with it. I don't think this is going to bottom out any time soon in a properly stored environment. I'd say the professional's estimate of another 10 years is pretty accurate. Interesting was the taste comparison to a 2007 1/2 bottle of the same wine we tried the same night. Huge fruit and a thick, one-dimensional wine. Even after a couple of hours it kept it's best attributes close to the vest. I think all the elements are there to blossom into a profound wine, but it was interesting contrast to an aged wine's ability to intrigue and interest the palette on so many more levels.

10/14/2009 - wine guy wrote:

Pretty funky smell when I opened this but that burned off after 1/2 hour or so. Then continued to open and provide pleasure over the course of dinner. Had with steak, sweet potato and asparagus. Was an excellent foil for the sreak as the tannins are still evident, but not overpowering. Has plenty of life left but I would not hesitate to have with any dinner in place of a CA cabernet or Aussie syrah. It's big and meaty but gaining some elegance. Very enjoyable.

9/10/2009 - wine guy wrote:

Awesome, as usual. The interesting thing was how good it was the next day. Left on the kitchen coun ter with no wine preserver, it was still extremely complex and balanced, with wonderful fruit. Drinking great now, but I predict it'll age gracefully for another 3-5 years.

2/28/2009 - wine guy wrote:

This wine just keeps on keeping on. Popped & poured. Thought it might be too big for the dinner of garlic shrimp and oven baked squash but the wine opened up and behaved. Medium cherry coloring and a great nose of spice and red fruits. It was light but flavorful with cinnamon, cherry and currents notes and a medum length finish lasting 30 seconds or more. Drinking really, really nice right now. A couple of years ago, I would have thought it would be on the decline now but now I think this has 3-5 years more to give. We drank over a couple of hours and it showed no signs of fading. This has to be one of the greater PQR values in pinot noir in CA. I'd give it a 92 - 93 right noe.

12/7/2008 - wine guy wrote:

When this bottle was first opened, I thought it was past. But with some breathing for about an hour, the funk blew off and this was a great example of an aged, elegant wine. Although there was some cherry fruit notes in the background, the predominate impression was of chocolate and cocoa (probably due to the 50% merlot). The wine actually improved over dinner and continued to gain stronger fruit flavors. I was completely floored! I had fully expected this to be dead. I'd give it an 89. I may have gotten lucky. I have 3 bottles left. I'll be very pleased if they all show as well as this one.

9/7/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Deep puple color. Blackberry and other dark fruits on the nose. Very smooth wine with a strong mid-palette and long, clean finish. I don't know what was blended with this sangiovese to keep it from being called a brunello, but it was a superb choice, making this wine more accessible earliy and really rounding out the flavors -- not that I'm against the unique terrior of place when it comes to wine. This wine just works very well. It also shows no sign of falling off. I think this wine has a long life ahead, at least 5-7 years. We enjoyed this a lot with whole wheat pasta with a red pasta sauce featuring ground veal and lamb.

7/26/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Decanted for an hour a head of a dinner of seared pan fried steak, corn on the cob and oven fried potatoes. Had some fresh market melon to lighten things up a bit. The nose during decanting suggested I may me getting this at a good point in it's life. Plenty of black fruit and vanilla scents. I had read that the fruit may not outlast the tannins but this wine is shining right now. On the palette, deep fruit flavors of blackberry and blueberry to start. Cedar notes added spice and vanilla evident on the back end. This is drinking incredible right now. There's a little tannin on the finish suggesting this wine has more shelf life to it. I'd put a drinking window at 1-5 years. Why tempt fate -- this is one of the best 97 cabs I've tasted in a while.

7/19/2008 - wine guy wrote:

This wine took about a 1/2 hour to reveal any nose at all, but then it really opened up. The color was light red -- no sign of bricking. Earlier reveiwer had traces of rose petals on the nose and that was definitely there. Spice and red fruits also evident. The palette had bright cherry and strawberry prevalent. A very juicy wine. Had it with pork tenderloin and fresh fennal roasted in the oven for about 15 minutes. Delicious! Didn't pickup any tannins on the finish. Although all this is drinking great right now, I think this wine has several years left. Unfortunately, this was my last bottle.

5/1/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Had high hopes for this wine as I've had some of Baumard's other whites and I really like Loire Valley whites anyway. That said, I was disappointed in this wine, at least at this stage of it's development. Had a little of the wet towel funk when we opened it, but that gave way to some white fruit and citrus nose. But it closed down again on the palette. Had it with Tilapia so I'm pretty sure we didn't overwhelm it with food flavors that were too strong. I've got a couple left of this and 2002 was a great year in Loire Valley. Maybe with some bottle aging it'll blossom? Right now it's about an 85.

4/4/2008 - wine guy wrote:

This wine was delicious. Maybe bottle variation with the prior notes. But for declassified gigondas (at $18/bottle) it weas a great bottle. Color was light ruby -- it looked like a pinot noir. But the nose and palette had raspberry botes and some white pepper. We had it with pork chopsd braised in fresh tomatoes and green beans and it held up well. I don't know what the shelf life would be, but I wish I had a couple more bottles to pull out with pizza or just to drink.

3/12/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Decanted and had with steak and oven baked sweet potato. Good nose of strawberry, red currents and cedar. The wine has really mellowed since I had it last. Great mid palette and finish, although there are still plenty of tannins evident. It has almost a dusty finish, like a Rutherford cab. As my dining partner said, this isn't like drinking a merlot -- it's more like a cab. Big fruit here! No need to rush and drink your last bottles. This wine , properly stored, has 3 -5 years left. Impessive for a merlot under $50.

2/11/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Opened and poured immediately. The color was pale rose. The nose offered little. After a 1/2 hour, the wine opened up (and warmed up a bit) to reveal light cherry, spice and rhone charicteristics. We had with short ribs and polenta, yet the wine held it's own! After an hour, the wine filled out and white pepper and cranberry became prevalent. There was no evidence of bricking color, even after 1 & 1/2 hours. I'm not sure how much longer this wine has, but I'm confident in saying it has at least a year. But I plan on drinking my last 3 bottles over that time frame. I don't think this is going to gain additional complexity or weight. But I'm always amazed by older CDP. It looks thin as dishwater, yet has wonderful full flavors.

2/8/2008 - wine guy wrote:

A very interesting wine. Decanted for an hour before dinner. We had with steak and neither one of us could quite put our finger on the exact flavors we were tasting. The wine's tannins are perfectly integrated. There were notes of plum , cedar and spice, but none that were predominate. Our overall impression was that this was a BIG wiine, but perfectly balanced. I have 2 more bottles and, like the previous review, can't wait to try another bottle in a year. Overall, I liked the wine very much.

1/30/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Maybe not a fair comparison to other 98 CDP's I've tasted lately, but this was very thin on the nose and palette. It had a pleasant nose of faint red fruits. But no spice, black fruit, pepper or any of the highlights of most 98 CDP. And I got no mid-palette or finish. It wasn't off-tasting, but for a vintage like 1998, this was somewhat unremarkable and thin. This was my secong bottle of 4 and my tasting notes for the 1st bottle (pre-cellar tracker) were consistent. Hope I get lucky with one of the last 2 bottles I have.

1/21/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Much better than the last bottle we had, a couple of years ago, upon release. That one was way too oaky. The oak in this bottle was much better integrated. But this is so different from French Viognier. This reminded me of a good CA chard after a few years. The fruit trumped the oak and you have a pleasant, buttery, full chard to drink. But I much prefer Viogier to be crisper, lighter and distinct white fruit predominent. As a straight up winr, I'd give it a 92. But as a fine example of vigionier, I'd have to give it an 85.

1/19/2008 - wine guy wrote:

This wine is drinking great right now! The nose was earthly with some black fruits and mushrooms. The wine looked thin (like pinot noir's sometimes do) but the palette exploded with sweet cherry and black fruit and a stong, pleasurable white pepper on the back end. Finish was impressive, lasting 20-30 seconds. Incredible when I look back and see I spent $25/bottle on this. I don't have any idea what the 2005 is selling for. But I must admit, after having this bottle, what is better than an aged rhone wine, especially in superb vintages like 98? Gotta give this around a 94. Great bottle of wine.

1/17/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Lot's of white fruit & citrus on the nose. It almost seemed like this was a blend of chard and sauv blanc, it had that much citrus. But we liked the wine very much. I agree with the previous note. I think this is only beginning to develop. The palette was crisp and refreshing. White fruits were dominate. I'd give it a 90+ now, but I think it'll be low 90's when mature.

1/7/2008 - wine guy wrote:

Decanted for an hour before serving with steak. The color is a dark purple. Intitial nose had blackberry and cedar. Secondary mint and chocolate were detected on the palate. It's a full wine without being heavy. As always, the last couple of sips were the best. I'd say it still has lots of life ahead, although you wouldn't be "chewing" it if you wanted to drink it now. The tannins are perfectly integrated at this point. After 3 hours, it was still holding together nicely. This is a really nice CA cab. I'd give it a 94 score.

11/25/2007 - wine guy wrote:

I really like the way this is drinking right now. Opened about 30 minutes before dinner. Flora & vanilla on the nose. Creamy and thick on the pallette, although it didn't seem heavy at all. Flavors of smokey hazelnut and pears came through and blended great with a dinner of talapia and braised whole shallots. Still has decent acidity. Although I think this will hold for a couple more years (it showed no signs of breaking down), I think my last bottle will be enjoyed over the coming holidays. It's really good right now. For ChicagoBagley, the RRV chard is available at the new Sams in Chicago's South loop. I was there the friday after Thankgiving.

10/25/2007 - wine guy wrote:

Nose showed red berries and spice. As the wine opened up, the was a lot of up-front red fruits but more raspberry than cherry. We had it with a chantrelle mushroom pasta dish. I idn't get the earthiness I was looking for, but this is a wonderful fresh pinot noir. If you matched this with turkey for Thankgivings, it woul steal the show!

4/27/2007 - wine guy wrote:

I think this wine is past. It doesn't taste bad, but the fruit is hardly evident. We paired it with oven baked chicken and sliced oven baked potatoes and it added nothing. I've got one bottle left. Maybe it'll surprise me.

1/17/2007 - wine guy wrote:

WOW! I can't remember when I've tasted a more complex wine than this! Even on the nose, it was constantly evolving and offering new scents. It had plum/red rasberry/spice/molasses/pepper/saddle leather on the nose. We had this with porketta and sauteed red & yellow peppers seasoned with fresh thyme. It was one of those great pairings you constantly strive for. The wine matched each of those tastes and upped the ante. And the sauteed peppers really brought out the pepper notes of the wine. On the palette the wine had multi-layers of intensity and viscosity. You wanted to chew it. A taste revealed initial white pepper before giving way to red fruits, black fruits and an earthy, mushroom mid palette. Did I detect some tropical fruits? What was that sweetness - molasses? kirsch? It was so hard to keep track of everything that was going on! This wine is incredible right now but the professionals seem to think that it will last until 2015. I don't doubt it, but is it going to be any better than it is right now? I stocked up on the 1998 CDP and they are all hitting their stride now. But this was exceptional and outstanding among the other CDP I've pulled out of the cellar in recent months..

1/13/2007 - wine guy wrote:

Unfortunately, I think this wine is past or I got a bad bottle. Most likely, it's past. The color was still light red and after a half hour it had some pepper notes and faint dried cranberry notes. Mostly it was flat. After an hour it was turning brick colored. I'd give it an 80. I still have a bottle. I'll find out if it's past or this was a bad bottle soon enough.

1/5/2007 - wine guy wrote:

Had this bottle after drinking some of the 2002 over the holidays. The 01 os very different from that vintage. The nose held apple and pear, spices and flint. The palatte had initial white fruits but mid-palette was steely, flinty and minerallly, not unlike a chablis. In fact, I'd call the 01 reminiscent of a Chablis while the 02 was more Montrachet like (fuller and more viscous). While I think the 02 has several years left, I plan on drinking the 01 over the next year. I don't think it will be as long-lived as the 02, 03 or 04 from Forman. That's not to say I did not like it. Serve it with a hard cheese course or with shellfish and you'll have a marriage made in heaven. Overall. I'd give it a 90.

1/4/2007 - wine guy wrote:

We did not decant ahead of time (too rushed in grabbing a bottle for dinner at friends). But we decanted there for an hour and the wine was shy about showing much. Initially had a vegital nose with hints of underlying fruits. It changed completely with an hour aeration during appetizers and opened up to exhibit a smokey cherry laced nose and palette. We left it in the glass after a few sips to have after dinner and it continued to get better, promising that it would improve with age. This was definitely too early for this wine. I'd give it another 2-3 years before trying another bottle. I'm not worried about it fading before then and I think it will be even better with more aging.

1/3/2007 - wine guy wrote:

I held this wine since release in 2000. Professional view was drink immediately or hold for 5 years. I was disappointed in this bottle. I tasted a bottle in 2000 at a restaurant that rocked my world and forced me to track down some bottles. It stopped conversation at the table! That bottle had great fruit, depth of flavors and a big finish. This bottle was definitely subduded. It may have been too cold but it still did not show much nose or palatte even 45 minutes into a great dinner of broiled salmon, snap beans and oven fried potato wedges. I have three bottles left. Maybe this one was defective, although nothing tasted "off". It just didn't give up anything. Very ordinary, and especially at the cost 6 years ago of $75/bottle. I sure hope the other 3 bottles I have are more expressive.

12/9/2006 - wine guy wrote:

I was expecting this wine to be hot from the 16% alcohol, but I was pleasantly surprised. The nose has plum and prune notes with some hints of black fruits. It took a while to open up - say 1/2 hour. But then some blueberry came thru on the palatte with a little heat on the finish. Overall, I rather liked it. I think these wines take a little while to settle down. I have tried some of my Turley zins right after I get them and they are too jammy and over the top for my tastes. But this had mellowed nicely and I could see it going for another 3-4 years. Alas, it's my last bottle.

12/19/2006 - wine guy wrote:

This wine was rockin! I prefer my whites with a little bottle age on them and this is drinking great right now. The nose offered up all the scents of a well aged california wine with carmel, hazelnuts and creme brule evident. The pallate was thick and creamy and delicious. I don't like over oaked wines. This wine had incredible balance and well balance acidity. There is more than enough fruit to absorb the oak that this was surely exposed to. I think it probably could go for a couple of more years and I'd love to find out what it would taste like, but I'm down to my last bottle. It won't last that long in this house. I guarantee it.

12/16/2006 - wine guy wrote:

I opened and decanted the bottle an hour ahead of dinner and poured the wine back into the bottle. The color was a plum purple, almost black. The nose revealed blackberry, dark cherries and hints of vanilla & cedar. You could definitely tell the blend is predominately cab (and cab from a great year). It's 88% cab. On the palate there was dark fruits, vanilla, and cherry. It's a very dense, thick wine. The finish was 30+ seconds long. This wine is huge, especially for a $35 bottle of wine. I could have (should have decanted this 2 hours ahead of time. It was a little chewy at the start, but the tannins really smoothed out by the end of dinner. I plan on laying down the rest of what I have (only 2 bottles unfortunately) for a minimum of a year. A great bottle of wine.

12/9/2006 - wine guy wrote:

This wine was drinking great! No "in your face" fruit bomb, but a powerful, fully mature and superb wine. Some in our group thought it had a long life ahead, but I tend to think it is at peak now and maybe a little past. I'd drink this over the next 2-3 years. The palate had spice, chocolate and cedar notes. Tannins were still evident but controlled. Overall, I'd give this a 92 now. I'm glad I still have another bottle to test my time frame. I'll try my last bottle in a couple of years. Wish me luck!

12/9/2006 - wine guy wrote:

Drank with our monthly wine dinner group with steak fiortino. The wine appeared to be still young although the power and richness were evident. The nose was earthy with hints of tobacco & black fruits. On the palate, blackberry & spice were predominant and the tannins were smooth. Although this was drinking OK right now, I think the wine will be much better with aging. I don't think it was exactly in a dumb stage, but the hints of a much bigger wine were right below the surface. I'd try it again in a year from now.