Isaac Pirolo

9.4

More like Jolata. Explosively rich, but with a bitter edge that keeps it contained. Lots of reverb. Dark, black fruit, incense, cacao nibs, crushed rock, and laced with Herbes de Provence. — 14 hours ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.6

The bad thing about a Monday birthday is that it's Monday. The good thing is that you get to celebrate it all week. The show goes on... La Grande Année is Bollinger's tête de cuvée. It's both traditional and beautiful, providing the full array of rich brioche, roasted almond and hazelnut, baked apple, lemon zest, and finishes with a rhubarb chutney that real seals the deal for me. At two hours open all the components have aligned, resulting in an absolutely gorgeous expression of Champagne. — 11 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.1

Ditto my last notes, but I'll add that this is probably as good as it gets in terms of a gateway Italian for those who only drink Cali Cabs. — 15 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.0

Strawberry and citrus, with rose petal and salt water. 40oz. to freedom. — 18 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.1

This pulls no punches when it comes to under $20 Northern California reds. Rich fruit of mostly black cherry and a touch of blackberry, along with mocha, and a bevy of spices, including nutmeg, clove, anise, and vanilla. There's a wild, herbaceous character that makes it clear this is mountain fruit. — 2 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.7

So after swirling and sniffing and tasting and thinking, and then doing it again and again for an hour or two, only then, when it still gives you goosebumps and raises the hair on the back of your neck, do you know you've found a good one.

Thomas Rivers Brown leaves his invisible fingerprints all over this. Ethereally dense, with a savoriness that is difficult to put into words. Vivid blackberry, rich cassis, and crushed graphite conduct a symphony of mocha, licorice, incense, spice, flowers, and iron with both precision and character. This is a glass you won't put down. — 12 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

Second bottle in three days. Pungent, face-melting aromatics led by ginger, peach skin, orange peel, roasted beet, lavender powder, star anise and fig paste. Strikes the palate with vivid plum, adding notes of concrete, chalk, incense, clove, and sandalwood. A prime example of how a medium-body can accentuate complexity. Bound with verve. — 16 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

When I come across Kevin Harvey's Rhys Vineyards I always think about this excerpt from a piece Jon Bonne wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2011: "The depleted soils of Harvey’s Skyline vineyard, planted at the winery, are so densely planted and demandingly farmed, at about 7,000 vines per acre, that its 14,000 vines yielded just 660 bottles of wine in 2009. Which explains a revealing harvest moment that stuck in Harvey’s head: “One guy comes out of the vineyard and says, ‘Why do you hate money?'”"

This is strawberry at its perfect ripeness. Exotic, perfumed, pure, and wild. A Pinot Noir like this probably makes Cali Pinot producers wish they were in Burgundy and Burgundy producers awkwardly self-conscious. It's cerebral hedonism. — 10 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.2

Dark, rich, and dusty. It's hard to avoid the power of suggestion, but this really is liquid velvet. — 14 days ago

Isaac Pirolo

8.9

Codorníu was founded in 1551 in Catalonia. They are the world's oldest and second largest producer of bottle-fermented sparkling wine. Enjoyable and balanced sparkler that brings plenty of cherry, almond, and yeast, but also offers an unexpected menthol note (think mint oil, not Kools) that gives this a unique edge. — 15 days ago