Bob McDonald

9.5

The first of 4 from the 2018 vintage. One of the best new World Pinot Gris, if not the best. Over the last few days on the weekend I had a bad chest cold and lost much of my sense of taste but I could taste the palate intensity in this wine - brilliant concentration. Low acid. Pear, apricot and spice but mainly pear. Difficult to see this improving from the stellar level it is at now. I’ll probably drink the remaining 3 bottles in the next year or so. — 17 days ago

Jay Kline

9.0

As far as I’m concerned, these School House Mescolanzas are like, the anti-Napa Zinfandel. They are just so different from anything else out there. Until they get close to 10 years from vintage, they are backward; lean, green and mean. But if one has the patience, they eventually become quite charming. For this bottle, I did not follow my own advice.

Popped and poured, consumed over four days. On Day 1, this was completely coiled and the oak seemed a bit out of balance. I finished my glass and placed the cork back in the neck of the bottle. I checked in for a small taste on Day 2 and 3. By Day 4, it had opened enough to really enjoy. The 2016 School House “Mescolanza” Zinfandel Blend pours a deep ruby color with a near opaque core. Medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. There appears too be some very faint signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing. Expressive of dark bramble fruits, stone minerals, and baking spices. On the palate the wine is dry with medium(+?) tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes on the nose. The finish is medium(+). This has all of the trappings for very nice expression of this wine but it’s a little young to my taste. Best after 2025 and these will drink well through 2037…and possibly longer. — 8 months ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

Outstanding! A befitting wine to break a somewhat self-imposed 3 months dry spell.
Open for business from day one, yet it constantly evolved over the next three days. Red cherries, apples, and brioche dominated the bouquet at the start, which eventually progressed to one lead by smoke and salinity. The palate explodes with a "sweet" core of red cherries and raspberries, finishing with heaps of spice (cinammon in particular) and dried flowers, all wrapped up in an incredibly salty package. Like the nose, day two and three saw salinity take centre stage, along with some apparent wood characters and bitter citrus in the finish. Olivier's wines have always brought a multi-dimensional complexity that's undeniable to any wine lover, but it's that balance of power-without-weight that makes him such a great winemaker. Safe to say, Ulysse Collin is fast becoming one of my favourite champagne estates. — 3 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Nice evolution and well integrated. 92 that pushes 93.

The other wine from the great Napa producer, Philip Togni.

The mouthfeel is supple, round, soft, yet meaty and tarry tannins. Ripe, juicy, rich; blackberries, baked plum for days, dark cherries, black raspberries, hues of raspberries & boysenberries. Black licorice, berry cola, muddy, volcanic clay, herbaceous notes, soft baking spices, slightly, melted chocolate, dark spice with a touch of heat, coffee, dry crushed, rocks, dry stem, dry tobacco, new leather, oak to cedar shavings, volcanic ash, dark, slightly withering, red, blue flowers framed in a field of endless violets, rainfall acidity, great balance, nice tension/structure and a smartly polished finish that last a full minute.

If you own, I would drink over the next 3-4 years before it starts to slide.

Photos of; Philip Togni vineyard, barrel room, vineyard soil & Philip Togni and his daughter Lisa. — 3 months ago

Joshua Fisher

9.4

My first glass of wine in 3 days…. Just circumstance — 2 years ago

Ruud Verhagen

9.1

(94-96 RP, 93 Vinous)
Tasted over 3 days and changed a lot, but what a massive wine this is. New style Bordeaux(?), if it is i liked it. Full bodied and velvet on the last day. First fresh with some good acidity, on the second day more austere with tannic structure. On the nose it has graphite, tobacco, some smoke, fresh flowers (violets, lavendel). Palate of cherries, plums and blackcurrant, chocolate, mocha and licorice. Give it 5 years or a long decant. Superb p/q (91++…) — 2 years ago

ESF

9.2

Really started to shine 2-3 hrs in, very tight out of the chute, eventually showed gorgeous cherry, rose hips & crushed flowers, some asphalt, slight lift, minerals & sweet spice - big rigid tannins - blind I might have mistaken for Barolo... recall this being a pretty good vintage w/long life ahead (purchased in Montalcino) — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; consumed over three days. Best on Day 3. The 2019 Cavallotto Barolo “Bricco Boschis” pours a deep garnet with a translucent core. Medium+ viscosity and no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with super expressive of fresh red and dark fruits: Montmorency cherries, cranberries, pomegranate, blackberries and lingonberries. There is also some balsamic notes, cedar box, roses, tar, green herbs and dry earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with monumental tannins that seemed to build each day. Acid is medium++. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is forever long. Alcohol is medium+. This is a beautiful wine with a very, very long life ahead. The fruit is so gorgeous, so fresh at this stage. Drink now with the patience of a saint otherwise best after 2029 and enjoy through 2069+. Bottle No. 05586 — 8 months ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.2

92+, loads of potential here too for a tick or 2 up. Open 2-3 hours before to give it some air. Consumed over 4 days. Some whole cluster adds a nice lift to the nose of mixed berries, cherries, and garrigue...very FRENCH, plenty of je ne sais quoi! — a year ago

S.S. Mandani

9.5

Celebrating another publication this year, for a total of 13 pieces: 10 short stories and 3 installments of the beverage column, Liquid Carriage at No Contact.

Described to me by the owner and resident vino at Frankly in TriBeCa as an electric Chenin that changes over a few days from slightly bready to fresh and zippy to Burgundian-like.

I had to experience this chameleon of flavors.

Fresh Focaccia on the nose. Bready and boozy in the bouquet. Aromas of tropical fruit, papaya and lemongrass.

Super well balanced, fresh acid, nice RS, beautiful softness like rose petal mouthfeel.

Love this. So much. — 3 years ago