Bought from Kermit Lynch, $19.00(?) and cellared since, 4 btls left, thought it would be nice to open for brother in laws visit. Made some slow cooked duck legs. The cork came out cleanly, in two pieces. No off smells, lovely nose, opened an hour before dinner. Definitely an older wine, but superb it was. I’ll let Frank do the review, “But now the days are short, I'm in the autumn of the year And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs From the brim to the dregs, and it poured sweet and clear It was a very good year” Yum!
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A mature wine but not in decline. Intense spiced plum fruit with a silky body; the rusticity of youth is gone and this is now a wine of great sophistication, worthy of the highest tables. Cellared since original release.
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An absolutely gorgeous showing. Completely clean and pure with only faint rusticity and smoke. Floral and perfumed. Some olive and brine but mostly a huge floral bouquet. Rosy but also intense. A perfect bottle. Texturally silky, soft edges, very elegant overall. Thank you to Captain Coche for sharing these special wines.
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Gorgeous, gorgeous nose of red fruit, savory notes, smokey campfire in the best possible way, and gamey notes. The palate is awesome with nice acidity, bright red fruit, a bit more smoke, and tons of complexity. Long finish. Just a phenomenal wine, what a pleasure to drink it!
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This is the first Verset I've had that didn't have some flaw to it. Wow! so this is what it's suppose to be! Meaty. Gamey. Peppery, mixed with beautiful red fruit, and integrated tannins. Incredible compexity. Wow.
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Beautiful, medium body, sweeter strawberry/raspberry fruit, streak of light strawberry sweetnees; with air a light spice note comes out to play. Beautiful and ethereal wine. Sadly, a bottle of 88 was corked, but I sampled it and could tell through the TCA that it had much the same character as this wonderful 90.
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From the wine list at Charlie Bird. Really excited to try this and tasted alongside the '90 La Chapelle. This was definitely more advanced in comparison, lean and taut with bright acidity, the dark fruit has faded more to background and the earth, minerals and acidity are more prominent. Lovely to try but not as generous as the '90 La Chapelle.
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Everything you want in a wine. As much as I dislike the term this was quite Burgundian. Light, airy and full of complexity and depth. Meat, grilled notes, campfire, spices on the nose. The palate is the same. Elegance and power wrapped into one. Amazing bottle with plenty of life to go.
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A bottle generously brought by a local wine shop owner, acquired on release, so perfect provenance. Has what I describe as the typical Verset slight pickle jar stem nose, with lovely medium cherry fruit on the palate, a fabulous streak of light fall spices, elegant and airy but with great flavor and complexity, nice soft acidity, totally resolved and mature but still fresh, not at all tired. One of the best Syrah wines I've had, ever.
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Rhone Admissions (Vaucluse): Wowza. This is a pretty stunning wine. Opened and decanted and it was evolving and changing throughout the night. Sourced from Sothebys who got it directly from the winery so perfect provenance and it was just spot on. Like some other Cornas there's just a salt of the earth feeling to this. It's like fresh dirt in the spring. Some less ripe berries. This just tastes like a place. I can imagine the terrior as I drink. Glad to have gotten a chance to try. Prob WOTN.
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A beautiful youthful expression of Syrah. Full of fresh acid and bright sweet red fruit. Textured and pure, just glides through and flows down the palate. The wine has depth and class. A fully enjoyable wine in its prime right now.
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Amazing complexity and balance. Great flavors of grilled meat, red cherry, spices, pepper and hugely nuanced. The poupouri of scents coming out of the glass are mesmerizing. An amazing wine. Still in stride.
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Rare Northern Rhone Dinner (Tocqueville): Huge nose of dense driftwood smoke and damp tobacco. Wild and rustic. The intensity and intricacy on this projecting bouquet is comparable to Laphroaig, which is to say that it could actually be a bit much for some. On the palate this is comparatively subdued with more of the classic and mature black cherry and blueberry fruit. Immensely flavourful but also delicate. Brings back memories of a '91 Gentaz enjoyed a year or so ago... So yeah, this was good.
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For a 25 year old wine to still retain its deep ruby robe and only a flicker of garnet in the narrow rim is amazing to see. Popped and poured. Notes of dark fruits, wood smoke and a savouriness were all prominent the first hour. The mouthfeel was complex - velvety tannins, compact and unctuous, with a sturdy backbone - elegant and textured. Somehow Verset has created a fuller, concentrated and textural wine, which never fails to delight and never feels heavy or plodding. Into the second hour, the nose is persistent, a cornucopia of gamey and beefy notes took hold, with hints of pipe sweet tobacco and feldspar. The palate gilded with velvety and rich tannins and a savouriness and mineral iodine moouthfeel that ambled and glided to a perfect finish.
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Super fantastic. Popped in honor of the legends recent passing. Fruit still fron and center with plums and dark berries mixed earth on the finish. Again a big wine that can go forever if you like but certainly drinking great now. Maybe best of the night which is saying something.
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A recent brett-tainted 1988 led me to take a bottle of this for a casual occasion to see how it's doing. Cellared since release as part of a case purchased on pre-arrival. The bottle bears no lot number, but it was imported by Kermit Lynch, which means that it was the spring 1992 bottling (i.e., the first of two bottlings, with the second taking place after the wine spent a second summer in Verset's above-ground garage.
Amazing layer of sediment all along one side of the bottle, reflecting the fact that the bottle had not been turned once it was placed in the case, notwithstanding the fact that I had stood the bottle up 2-3 weeks prior to its consumption. This is great Cornas with finesse of an old wine and tons of complex subtleties including iron, cocoa, red cherries, a light body, smooth texture and great length. Just great wine, and holds up in the decanter, although I think bottles will be best drunk in the next ten years or so. $228/case on pre-arrival.
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Nice, but not earthshaking, as it was a little dull and muddled relative to what it could be. If it was a competition, the Souhaut would have wiped the floor with it.
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Slightly tannic, clear fruit, earthy base, opens to violets, dark fruit, sinewy, quiet power, ageing fruit compote. Delicious, very good for Cornas, but not an Hermitage... Will last
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Started off very well, clean and heady, with real depth. Great balance on the palate with that animal quality that you want from cornas. Dropped off a bit towards the end but a joy to drink.
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A hush descended around the table as this was poured. We all knew straight away that this was a very special bottle. It is difficult to describe because the whole experience is so seamless from start to finish. It is perfectly resolved and has no rough edges. It has smokey meaty notes, overlaid with earthy, minerally and exotic spicey nuances. Served next to more overtly rustic and carnal 1995 and 1998 it was more polished and seamless. But it makes no concession to modernity and is one of the finest and purest expression of Cornas and the Syrah grape.
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Completely resolved, harmonious and polished, it certainly had the carnal and bloody notes of good old syrah, and devoid of those wild edges and rusticity often ascribed to Cornas. This was, in my opinion, almost Burgundian with a very long and graceful finish.
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A perfect wine in its own right. Seamless, elegant, almost Burgundian. Beautiful expression of Cornas. Not as rugged and wild as the 1995 and 1998. What a treat to be able to drink this wine with good food and with good friends. At Bruno Loubet in London with Asher, Nicoas, Ian and Maureen.
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A Ledbury Lunch (The Ledbury, London): The perfect foil to the 95 Chave alongside. Wild, rustic, sauvage and distinctly agricultural initially, this cleaned up (within reason) and settled down to show classic cornas typicity. The wild child alongside it younger, more cerebral brother. Meaty, a touch of iron that's slightly rusty, long with lovely acidity. Lovely with the pigeon and snipe. Very very good, but by definition not quite the class (or the polish) of the Chave, but then it shouldn't be. One to enjoy rather than take home to meet the parents. ****1/2
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Exceptional wine. Very ripe black fruits, with touch of blueberry. Harmonious balance and polished texture. Long and graceful finish that shows what syrah can achieve.
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Second and last bottle of this the last one drunk 5 years ago. It is still a lovely wine but was better in 2007. Nose develops that lovely raspberry scent that comes with the best Cornas but there is a little tea too suggesting this is starting to fade a bit. Same impression in the flavour, lovely clean raspberries, tannins completely melted away, long, complex finish but signs of age showing - tea/oatmeal notes just creeping in. A lovely wine still but needs drinking up pretty soon based on this showing.
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Verset Dinner: Riper and richer than the 88, some autumnal character to the aromas, dried leaves? Again, great balance, good acidity, bloody, an with a prominent minerality, stone and iodine. This wine after a few hours became almost entirely savory - still lovely, but very tertiary.
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Gorgeous stuff, but fading. Smoke and bacon fat on the nose, light bodied. Probably not what it used to be, but still very enjoyable. If I had more, I would drink them soon.
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Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): A massive contrast to the prior wine and a textbook old-school Cornas. Incredibly savory, animal and dark with an insane nose of black olive tapenade. Really lovely wine.
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Drank at a Cornas evening at 28-50. This wine just gets better and better. Cornas often described as a masculine, rustic, tough, tannic, old fashioned (whatever that means), winter wine. However this is just a fine wine, with hints of smoke, aniseed, exotic spice and then a smooth mouthful, hints of sweetness, spice, little white pepper and long length. Noel Verset was a one man show and his hard work in the vineyards shows in the finished wine. Seek this out if you can.
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The Kesslers visit NYC and I roast a little piggy to go with some terrific wines. (Dougherty's): I’ve loved this wine in the past, but was mystified by the few folks at the front of the table who were raving about this showing as I didn’t think it was a particularly good one. There’s the classic green olive, tart red fruit, iodine and herbaceous character, but I found this bottle a little too unbalanced in the acidity department. Normally there’s enough fruit to balance things out, but, while still offering some nice things, the acidity was just too screechy in this bottle. Even Coad agreed with me. B+.
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Off the list at 28-50 (28-50, London): Lovely nose. A mixture of blood, green pepper and a touch of sweet northern rhone syrah. Proper Cornas. Nicely rustic edge. Sauvage. Good acidity. A touch of black olive coming through on the nose. Long. Proper, slightly old-fashioned. ****
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This is not a shy wine. Black, powerful, incredibly meaty and still largely primary, but with complementary spice of licorice, pepper and rosemary. Large-scaled tannins and acidity provide additional support without getting in front of the fruit. Long and powerful in every way. Still evolving with plenty of room to soften a bit and get even better.
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The Grand Crew- French Wines 10 years and older (Lockwood Restaurant, Chicago IL): nose: good lord the nose is so deep on this that almost belies words. It smacks you around, but yet is so balanced and just hits you with a 2x4 of rich and insanely deep tones of asphalt, leather, tobacco, animal hides, blackberries, smoked meats, and char grill tones amongst the menagerie of other tones that are hard to really describe. This is near blow away stuff, but at the same time still feels like it wants to give more
taste: Full bodied doesn't fully begin to describe this as its a behemoth on the palate, but with great depth to boot. Good tannins still persist, but aren't obtrusive along with very deep tones of charcoal, tons of bacon fat, smoked meats, char grill tones, black cherries, animal hides, leather and blackberries. Its extremely big on the palate, but yet flows across very well and just doesn't seem to want to stop with the depth
overall: To say that I've been lucky to have this twice in a 6 week span is an understatement. This was a mind bending wine that, while utterly stupendous right now, can easily go a lot longer. This comes across as a teenager and still possesses a dark red color to it. The tannins are still very much there, but they more let you know that they are there as opposed to crushing your palate with them. As good as this is now, I'd love to know how this will be when it hits 30 as it only seems like it's started to really get going
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Aged Rhones with the bad boys (Bistro Champagne Lincoln Square Chitown): A life changing experience! This wine was simply a big wow from the get go. Smoke,meat,animal hide,plums,a bit of olive. Very deep and very intriguing nose. The palate was big and complex with meaty broth flavors lingering along with mesquite charred wood flavors and really elegant dark fruits. This wine shows what aged Northern Rhones can bring it has plenty of life left but this came out punching.
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Northern Rhones 90 and Older (Bistro Campagne, chicago IL): nose: ridiculously deep nose filled with big and balanced tones of animal hides, scorched earth, pipe tobacco, loads of bacon fat, leather, black cherries, along with bits of mesquite tones and some various funky tones that are hard to place. Very well layered that is very intriguing and beguiling at the same time. A nose that can't come from anywhere else
taste: great medium/full feel with good tannins still present that give really good grip still with well balanced and deep tones of pipe tobacco, scorched earth, loads of bacon fat, black cherries, and tones of mesquite
overall: a wine like no other that provides much intrigue. An absolute beguiling nose that is very deep and rough with a real edge to it, but a sumptuous quality at the same time. Certainly seems like it has a ways to go, but is an absolute delight right
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Verset Vertical, Avec Others: A total wow. Totally pure pork brothy goodness. This has transsubstantiated wne into something else. Even on the initial decanting this had the most emphatic and most enticing aroma in the lineup, seeming to punch right out of the bottle. Finessed and fine-grained, and under the meatiness there's a bit of that exotic wood flavor that also surfaced in the '94.
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Long, at its apex, with that magical combination of deep ripe fruit and loads of secondaries. Nothing anyone would confuse with a refined wine like Hermitage, but exactly the complex rustic brilliance of top notch Cornas.
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Classic Rhone Syrah with lots of smoke, spice and bacon fat on the nose. Not as tannic as I would expect this is drinking great and appears to be 100% mature. Terrific wine.
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Truly excellent Cornas. Rustic and huge, with loads of fruit and tannins. Lots of blood, game, and complexity. Absolutly mature and a point. The archetype of Cornas. The anthesis of an international style wine.
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Decanted and drunk over 3 hours. A magnificent wine. Essence of raspberries on the nose, so clean and pure - sweet, intense and perfumed. In the glass no sign whatsoever of any fading in the colour - perfection. The wine was at its best between 2-3 hours, wonderful raspberry flavours with a bit of mineral complexity in the background. Nothing gamey or muddy about this at all. Pure, sweet, precise and quite intense fruit all the way. This is as good a bottle of northern Rhone I've had in a very long time, comparable in quality to a Chave Hermitage in a top year. Only a little unintegrated tannin on the finish reveal the rustic origins of this wine. Superb.
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The theme was Chenin Blanc and Northern Rhone. (Applewood): Now this is more like it and stands in sharp contrast to the Tardieu_Laurent as this is classic old school Northern Rhone. It sports a rich nose of black fruit, iodine/seaweed, olives garrigue and cement dust. Chunky on the palate with lots of personality. A little testy with a bit of sweetness, like a tough uncle. Nice ripeness to the fruit, though there's good acid balance here, especially for a '90. Still pretty primary and tough and it would certainly benefit from further aging. A/A-.
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A combination that I usually like: traditional producers in ripe years. Not decatanted. Intoxicating animale notes on the nose, took 20-25 minutes to open up, really singing right now but no rush.
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Hugely, concentrated. Essence of ash trays. Really powerful and impressive, but I would have found it more enjoyable if there was more of a fruit character to balance the smoke.
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Deep dark colored wine. The prevalent aromas reminded me of smoked meat and barbecue sauce. Very animalistic. Big and full bodied, not for the faint of heart. It was a good wine, but stylistically, I did not care for it.
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4/13/2024 - Brain Capers Likes this wine:
Bought from Kermit Lynch, $19.00(?) and cellared since, 4 btls left, thought it would be nice to open for brother in laws visit. Made some slow cooked duck legs. The cork came out cleanly, in two pieces. No off smells, lovely nose, opened an hour before dinner. Definitely an older wine, but superb it was. I’ll let Frank do the review, “But now the days are short, I'm in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs, and it poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year” Yum!
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1/8/2022 - cfk49 wrote: 95 Points
A mature wine but not in decline. Intense spiced plum fruit with a silky body; the rusticity of youth is gone and this is now a wine of great sophistication, worthy of the highest tables. Cellared since original release.
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10/27/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 96 Points
An absolutely gorgeous showing. Completely clean and pure with only faint rusticity and smoke. Floral and perfumed. Some olive and brine but mostly a huge floral bouquet. Rosy but also intense. A perfect bottle. Texturally silky, soft edges, very elegant overall. Thank you to Captain Coche for sharing these special wines.
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10/16/2021 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 98 Points
Gorgeous, gorgeous nose of red fruit, savory notes, smokey campfire in the best possible way, and gamey notes. The palate is awesome with nice acidity, bright red fruit, a bit more smoke, and tons of complexity. Long finish. Just a phenomenal wine, what a pleasure to drink it!
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4/21/2021 - mye wrote:
This is the first Verset I've had that didn't have some flaw to it. Wow! so this is what it's suppose to be! Meaty. Gamey. Peppery, mixed with beautiful red fruit, and integrated tannins. Incredible compexity. Wow.
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11/11/2019 - nywine68 wrote: 95 Points
1990 Dinner Hosted by Cedric Nicaise at Eleven Madison Park (Eleven Madison Park): Pop 'n pour so a little tense and closed. Very nice flavors of figs and licorice. Slightly green note but great intensity.
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9/2/2019 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Ripe and round, this was less evolved and had less current complexity than hoped for. Still promise but quite a one note bottle at this point.
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6/12/2019 - alanr wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful, medium body, sweeter strawberry/raspberry fruit, streak of light strawberry sweetnees; with air a light spice note comes out to play. Beautiful and ethereal wine. Sadly, a bottle of 88 was corked, but I sampled it and could tell through the TCA that it had much the same character as this wonderful 90.
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5/16/2019 - retired_and_roving Likes this wine:
From the wine list at Charlie Bird. Really excited to try this and tasted alongside the '90 La Chapelle. This was definitely more advanced in comparison, lean and taut with bright acidity, the dark fruit has faded more to background and the earth, minerals and acidity are more prominent. Lovely to try but not as generous as the '90 La Chapelle.
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3/31/2019 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Everything you want in a wine. As much as I dislike the term this was quite Burgundian. Light, airy and full of complexity and depth. Meat, grilled notes, campfire, spices on the nose. The palate is the same. Elegance and power wrapped into one. Amazing bottle with plenty of life to go.
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1/29/2019 - alanr wrote: 96 Points
A bottle generously brought by a local wine shop owner, acquired on release, so perfect provenance. Has what I describe as the typical Verset slight pickle jar stem nose, with lovely medium cherry fruit on the palate, a fabulous streak of light fall spices, elegant and airy but with great flavor and complexity, nice soft acidity, totally resolved and mature but still fresh, not at all tired. One of the best Syrah wines I've had, ever.
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12/20/2018 - fcxj wrote: 86 Points
Game night. Not a great showing, smelled like burnt wood and high acidity.
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9/5/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine: 98 Points
Rhone Admissions (Vaucluse): Wowza. This is a pretty stunning wine. Opened and decanted and it was evolving and changing throughout the night. Sourced from Sothebys who got it directly from the winery so perfect provenance and it was just spot on. Like some other Cornas there's just a salt of the earth feeling to this. It's like fresh dirt in the spring. Some less ripe berries. This just tastes like a place. I can imagine the terrior as I drink. Glad to have gotten a chance to try. Prob WOTN.
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5/31/2018 - clayfu wrote:
A beautiful youthful expression of Syrah. Full of fresh acid and bright sweet red fruit. Textured and pure, just glides through and flows down the palate. The wine has depth and class. A fully enjoyable wine in its prime right now.
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12/18/2017 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 95 Points
Amazing complexity and balance. Great flavors of grilled meat, red cherry, spices, pepper and hugely nuanced. The poupouri of scents coming out of the glass are mesmerizing. An amazing wine. Still in stride.
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5/4/2017 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 95 Points
Rare Northern Rhone Dinner (Tocqueville): Huge nose of dense driftwood smoke and damp tobacco. Wild and rustic. The intensity and intricacy on this projecting bouquet is comparable to Laphroaig, which is to say that it could actually be a bit much for some. On the palate this is comparatively subdued with more of the classic and mature black cherry and blueberry fruit. Immensely flavourful but also delicate. Brings back memories of a '91 Gentaz enjoyed a year or so ago... So yeah, this was good.
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3/11/2016 - Smooth Jazz Likes this wine: 98 Points
I was going to write a note and then saw MEK's note below - nothing more to add
Phenomenal wine - heavier than the 2000 and 1993 - but supremely elegant
12.5% alcohol
Why don't winemakers make wines like this anymore!
At its peak - but could hold for another 3-5 years without fear of decline
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1/1/2016 - MEKWINE Likes this wine: 95 Points
For a 25 year old wine to still retain its deep ruby robe and only a flicker of garnet in the narrow rim is amazing to see. Popped and poured. Notes of dark fruits, wood smoke and a savouriness were all prominent the first hour. The mouthfeel was complex - velvety tannins, compact and unctuous, with a sturdy backbone - elegant and textured. Somehow Verset has created a fuller, concentrated and textural wine, which never fails to delight and never feels heavy or plodding. Into the second hour, the nose is persistent, a cornucopia of gamey and beefy notes took hold, with hints of pipe sweet tobacco and feldspar. The palate gilded with velvety and rich tannins and a savouriness and mineral iodine moouthfeel that ambled and glided to a perfect finish.
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9/23/2015 - nikos wrote:
Super fantastic. Popped in honor of the legends recent passing. Fruit still fron and center with plums and dark berries mixed earth on the finish. Again a big wine that can go forever if you like but certainly drinking great now. Maybe best of the night which is saying something.
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7/31/2015 - cfk49 wrote: 95 Points
A recent brett-tainted 1988 led me to take a bottle of this for a casual occasion to see how it's doing. Cellared since release as part of a case purchased on pre-arrival. The bottle bears no lot number, but it was imported by Kermit Lynch, which means that it was the spring 1992 bottling (i.e., the first of two bottlings, with the second taking place after the wine spent a second summer in Verset's above-ground garage.
Amazing layer of sediment all along one side of the bottle, reflecting the fact that the bottle had not been turned once it was placed in the case, notwithstanding the fact that I had stood the bottle up 2-3 weeks prior to its consumption. This is great Cornas with finesse of an old wine and tons of complex subtleties including iron, cocoa, red cherries, a light body, smooth texture and great length. Just great wine, and holds up in the decanter, although I think bottles will be best drunk in the next ten years or so. $228/case on pre-arrival.
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12/29/2014 - MikeATL Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nice, but not earthshaking, as it was a little dull and muddled relative to what it could be. If it was a competition, the Souhaut would have wiped the floor with it.
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4/15/2014 - presterjohn Likes this wine:
Slightly tannic, clear fruit, earthy base, opens to violets, dark fruit, sinewy, quiet power, ageing fruit compote. Delicious, very good for Cornas, but not an Hermitage... Will last
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3/13/2014 - MarkR Likes this wine:
Started off very well, clean and heady, with real depth. Great balance on the palate with that animal quality that you want from cornas. Dropped off a bit towards the end but a joy to drink.
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1/12/2014 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 97 Points
A hush descended around the table as this was poured. We all knew straight away that this was a very special bottle. It is difficult to describe because the whole experience is so seamless from start to finish. It is perfectly resolved and has no rough edges. It has smokey meaty notes, overlaid with earthy, minerally and exotic spicey nuances. Served next to more overtly rustic and carnal 1995 and 1998 it was more polished and seamless. But it makes no concession to modernity and is one of the finest and purest expression of Cornas and the Syrah grape.
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1/12/2014 - MEKWINE Likes this wine: 95 Points
Completely resolved, harmonious and polished, it certainly had the carnal and bloody notes of good old syrah, and devoid of those wild edges and rusticity often ascribed to Cornas. This was, in my opinion, almost Burgundian with a very long and graceful finish.
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1/10/2014 - pbaek wrote:
A perfect wine in its own right. Seamless, elegant, almost Burgundian. Beautiful expression of Cornas. Not as rugged and wild as the 1995 and 1998. What a treat to be able to drink this wine with good food and with good friends. At Bruno Loubet in London with Asher, Nicoas, Ian and Maureen.
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1/10/2014 - SimonG wrote: 94 Points
A Ledbury Lunch (The Ledbury, London): The perfect foil to the 95 Chave alongside. Wild, rustic, sauvage and distinctly agricultural initially, this cleaned up (within reason) and settled down to show classic cornas typicity. The wild child alongside it younger, more cerebral brother. Meaty, a touch of iron that's slightly rusty, long with lovely acidity. Lovely with the pigeon and snipe. Very very good, but by definition not quite the class (or the polish) of the Chave, but then it shouldn't be. One to enjoy rather than take home to meet the parents. ****1/2
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4/3/2013 - nyscottmcd Likes this wine: 95 Points
Exceptional wine. Very ripe black fruits, with touch of blueberry. Harmonious balance and polished texture. Long and graceful finish that shows what syrah can achieve.
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5/22/2012 - bg2167 wrote: 96 Points
Smells like a Chinese herbal shop - mushrooms, tea leaves, musk. Palate was savory with bright raspberry, funk, and smoky dimension. Loved it!
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5/13/2012 - kevin h wrote: 92 Points
Second and last bottle of this the last one drunk 5 years ago. It is still a lovely wine but was better in 2007. Nose develops that lovely raspberry scent that comes with the best Cornas but there is a little tea too suggesting this is starting to fade a bit. Same impression in the flavour, lovely clean raspberries, tannins completely melted away, long, complex finish but signs of age showing - tea/oatmeal notes just creeping in. A lovely wine still but needs drinking up pretty soon based on this showing.
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11/3/2011 - brooklynguy wrote:
Verset Dinner: Riper and richer than the 88, some autumnal character to the aromas, dried leaves? Again, great balance, good acidity, bloody, an with a prominent minerality, stone and iodine. This wine after a few hours became almost entirely savory - still lovely, but very tertiary.
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6/8/2011 - Catnapped wrote: 94 Points
Gorgeous stuff, but fading. Smoke and bacon fat on the nose, light bodied. Probably not what it used to be, but still very enjoyable. If I had more, I would drink them soon.
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2/14/2011 - bristol411 wrote: 93 Points
Delicious, mouth filling proper wine.
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1/11/2011 - Eric wrote:
Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): A massive contrast to the prior wine and a textbook old-school Cornas. Incredibly savory, animal and dark with an insane nose of black olive tapenade. Really lovely wine.
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11/8/2010 - bristol411 wrote: 94 Points
Drank at a Cornas evening at 28-50. This wine just gets better and better. Cornas often described as a masculine, rustic, tough, tannic, old fashioned (whatever that means), winter wine. However this is just a fine wine, with hints of smoke, aniseed, exotic spice and then a smooth mouthful, hints of sweetness, spice, little white pepper and long length. Noel Verset was a one man show and his hard work in the vineyards shows in the finished wine. Seek this out if you can.
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10/9/2010 - BradKNYC wrote:
The Kesslers visit NYC and I roast a little piggy to go with some terrific wines. (Dougherty's): I’ve loved this wine in the past, but was mystified by the few folks at the front of the table who were raving about this showing as I didn’t think it was a particularly good one. There’s the classic green olive, tart red fruit, iodine and herbaceous character, but I found this bottle a little too unbalanced in the acidity department. Normally there’s enough fruit to balance things out, but, while still offering some nice things, the acidity was just too screechy in this bottle. Even Coad agreed with me. B+.
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8/20/2010 - SimonG wrote:
Off the list at 28-50 (28-50, London): Lovely nose. A mixture of blood, green pepper and a touch of sweet northern rhone syrah. Proper Cornas. Nicely rustic edge. Sauvage. Good acidity. A touch of black olive coming through on the nose. Long. Proper, slightly old-fashioned. ****
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7/28/2010 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Like the 88 on steroids! Gorgeous, sweet, black fruit with perfect balance. Sublime.
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9/17/2009 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
This is not a shy wine. Black, powerful, incredibly meaty and still largely primary, but with complementary spice of licorice, pepper and rosemary. Large-scaled tannins and acidity provide additional support without getting in front of the fruit. Long and powerful in every way. Still evolving with plenty of room to soften a bit and get even better.
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9/17/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 96 Points
The Grand Crew- French Wines 10 years and older (Lockwood Restaurant, Chicago IL): nose: good lord the nose is so deep on this that almost belies words. It smacks you around, but yet is so balanced and just hits you with a 2x4 of rich and insanely deep tones of asphalt, leather, tobacco, animal hides, blackberries, smoked meats, and char grill tones amongst the menagerie of other tones that are hard to really describe. This is near blow away stuff, but at the same time still feels like it wants to give more
taste: Full bodied doesn't fully begin to describe this as its a behemoth on the palate, but with great depth to boot. Good tannins still persist, but aren't obtrusive along with very deep tones of charcoal, tons of bacon fat, smoked meats, char grill tones, black cherries, animal hides, leather and blackberries. Its extremely big on the palate, but yet flows across very well and just doesn't seem to want to stop with the depth
overall: To say that I've been lucky to have this twice in a 6 week span is an understatement. This was a mind bending wine that, while utterly stupendous right now, can easily go a lot longer. This comes across as a teenager and still possesses a dark red color to it. The tannins are still very much there, but they more let you know that they are there as opposed to crushing your palate with them. As good as this is now, I'd love to know how this will be when it hits 30 as it only seems like it's started to really get going
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8/5/2009 - LeatherPalate wrote: 96 Points
Aged Rhones with the bad boys (Bistro Champagne Lincoln Square Chitown): A life changing experience! This wine was simply a big wow from the get go. Smoke,meat,animal hide,plums,a bit of olive. Very deep and very intriguing nose.
The palate was big and complex with meaty broth flavors lingering along with mesquite charred wood flavors and really elegant dark fruits.
This wine shows what aged Northern Rhones can bring it has plenty of life left but this came out punching.
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8/1/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
Northern Rhones 90 and Older (Bistro Campagne, chicago IL): nose: ridiculously deep nose filled with big and balanced tones of animal hides, scorched earth, pipe tobacco, loads of bacon fat, leather, black cherries, along with bits of mesquite tones and some various funky tones that are hard to place. Very well layered that is very intriguing and beguiling at the same time. A nose that can't come from anywhere else
taste: great medium/full feel with good tannins still present that give really good grip still with well balanced and deep tones of pipe tobacco, scorched earth, loads of bacon fat, black cherries, and tones of mesquite
overall: a wine like no other that provides much intrigue. An absolute beguiling nose that is very deep and rough with a real edge to it, but a sumptuous quality at the same time. Certainly seems like it has a ways to go, but is an absolute delight right
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5/8/2009 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 96 Points
Verset Vertical, Avec Others: A total wow. Totally pure pork brothy goodness. This has transsubstantiated wne into something else. Even on the initial decanting this had the most emphatic and most enticing aroma in the lineup, seeming to punch right out of the bottle. Finessed and fine-grained, and under the meatiness there's a bit of that exotic wood flavor that also surfaced in the '94.
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5/7/2009 - henrychinaski wrote: 96 Points
My overall favorite wine of the Verset tasting. This had it all - smoked meat, game, penetrating fruit and elegance.
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1/9/2009 - BFG wrote:
A forward nose of plums and a bit of smoke. The wine is fairly sweet on the palate with a long finish. Still has some unresolved tannins.
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12/20/2008 - Tree512 wrote: 95 Points
Long, at its apex, with that magical combination of deep ripe fruit and loads of secondaries. Nothing anyone would confuse with a refined wine like Hermitage, but exactly the complex rustic brilliance of top notch Cornas.
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5/16/2008 - 60ouvrees wrote:
Classic Rhone Syrah with lots of smoke, spice and bacon fat on the nose. Not as tannic as I would expect this is drinking great and appears to be 100% mature. Terrific wine.
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5/6/2007 - Tree512 wrote: 95 Points
Truly excellent Cornas. Rustic and huge, with loads of fruit and tannins. Lots of blood, game, and complexity. Absolutly mature and a point. The archetype of Cornas. The anthesis of an international style wine.
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5/6/2007 - kevin h wrote: 94 Points
Decanted and drunk over 3 hours. A magnificent wine. Essence of raspberries on the nose, so clean and pure - sweet, intense and perfumed. In the glass no sign whatsoever of any fading in the colour - perfection. The wine was at its best between 2-3 hours, wonderful raspberry flavours with a bit of mineral complexity in the background. Nothing gamey or muddy about this at all. Pure, sweet, precise and quite intense fruit all the way. This is as good a bottle of northern Rhone I've had in a very long time, comparable in quality to a Chave Hermitage in a top year. Only a little unintegrated tannin on the finish reveal the rustic origins of this wine. Superb.
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1/5/2007 - Tree512 wrote: 91 Points
Very good but somewhat dilute. Not as rich as I would have expected, but excellent balance. Good food wine.
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11/29/2006 - BradKNYC wrote:
The theme was Chenin Blanc and Northern Rhone. (Applewood): Now this is more like it and stands in sharp contrast to the Tardieu_Laurent as this is classic old school Northern Rhone. It sports a rich nose of black fruit, iodine/seaweed, olives garrigue and cement dust. Chunky on the palate with lots of personality. A little testy with a bit of sweetness, like a tough uncle. Nice ripeness to the fruit, though there's good acid balance here, especially for a '90. Still pretty primary and tough and it would certainly benefit from further aging. A/A-.
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8/6/2006 - Les Alpilles wrote: 96 Points
A combination that I usually like: traditional producers in ripe years. Not decatanted. Intoxicating animale notes on the nose, took 20-25 minutes to open up, really singing right now but no rush.
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2/19/2005 - Rupert wrote: 90 Points
Hugely, concentrated. Essence of ash trays. Really powerful and impressive, but I would have found it more enjoyable if there was more of a fruit character to balance the smoke.
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6/8/2004 - Jeff Leve wrote: 87 Points
Deep dark colored wine. The prevalent aromas reminded me of smoked meat and barbecue sauce. Very animalistic. Big and full bodied, not for the faint of heart. It was a good wine, but stylistically, I did not care for it.
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