Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.0

1995 vintage. Great aging cork in good shape. Decanted and tasted immediately, after 30 mins and after 2 hours. Decent amount of sed. Slight brickish color. Initially and generally throughout, reticent nose and flavors. Very tightly wound overall. Eventually able to coax a small amount of black olive out of the nose along with minerals for days. Some dark cherry and plum allied with baking chocolate in the transition from mid-palate to finish. It was tough sledding in the frontal palate. Super dry with summer earth/dirt at the start. Obvious class but never really flashed more than a few cards to play. Perhaps a different bottle shows a little more love? Producer is always on the leaner side so unbridled optimism on that front is likely wasted energy. 10.25.23. — 6 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Yes. Just yes. Nose is super confectionary and has outrageous pure meyer lemon drop. Gorgeous minerality. Wonderful honeycomb with air. Elite elite elite. There is a primal aspect here that hasn’t been in previous vintages. Lanolin like. Palate has stunning depth, power, concentration and sapidity. Unreal tension. So so electric and the finish is epic. As usual Chassagne 1er cru quality. So juicy and complex and supernal balance and purity. So fresh and deep. Genius. Flavors are all tense green apples and a hint of delicate and sweet citrus. Has that roundness allied with tense acidity and periodic table of element levels of minerality. The balance is god tier. Genius. What one wants. As this airs the finesse just thrives. 9.5 — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

2020 here we go. What a nose. A terrific follow up to the stunning 19. Dark black cherries, huge sous bois, what breadth and depth. Just insane. Gorgeous clarity of cherry fruit that you cannot possibly think this comes from grapes it is so clear. Riper than 19. Such depth. Deep ocean as I like to say. Palate is ripe and juicy and so so elegant. Energetic and rich but also fresh as a daisy. Wow that concentration is wonderful with all the tiny black cherry fruit intensity and a treacly texture that has tremendous sweetness and building tannins. Wow this is long and dazzlingly pure. Now the flowers pick up on the nose and this is just utterly transcendent. It’s opening and opening. This since 19 has become a top 2-3 red at Brisset. Stunning inner mouth aromas and intense but tactile minerality. Wow so sweet and so intense and grippier than the 19 at this point but wow that icing on cake, treacly texture is really the star here along with the deep black cherry fruit that is allied with freshness and length. This needs to open big time but a stunner.

Now after 2 hours the nose just stanks of minerality. How can a wine be this sweaty and classy at the time? — 2 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

No formal notes ….Medium straw colour . Quite intense slightly smoky lemon peel , flinty , oyster shell nose . On the palate quite surprising intensity and excellent length , refreshing acidity . Nice yellow fruits and roundness allied to great freshness . Drinking surprisingly well , though better in 5-10 years and should hold for a further 5-10. — a year ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.3

Outstanding, this is all about the density allied with elegance. Tasted over 2 days and was level up after 2 hours open on day 1 and then another gear on day 2! A Domaine to watch! @domainelarue — a year ago

Delectable Wine

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9.1

Toasty, sweaty and smoked meat notes vie with dried cherry and red currant for aromatic attention on the nose of the 2019 Red Wine Niedermenniger Herrenberg trocken. The palate perpetuates those impressions with an alluringly silky feel allied to just enough juiciness. Rose hip, cherry pit, black tea and black pepper lend complexity to an impressively sustained finish. (For why this 100% Pinot Noir is labeled simply, in English, “Red Wine,” consult my review of the corresponding 2017.) (David Schildknecht, Vinous, May 2022)
— 2 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Wow has this opened. Stunning nose of red berry fruit, herbs, granite, red plum, tobacco and so so much granite. Wow the aromas are so potent they are going up my nose and massaging this huge schnozz of mine. Clay pottery studio developing now. A 9.7 nose. The essence of Mauves St. Joseph. Just amazing. It’s ripe but within the context of the vintage. Some malted aromas as well. Palate is ripe, rich, silky and so fresh. The acids in 15 are truly what define this vintage. Allied with the ripeness. Perfect balance with not a hair out of place. Long granitic finish. Wonderful focus, precision and powdery tannins. Amazing length. Superb concentration and insane purity of red berried fruit. Treacly texture. Out of this world. 9.6 for now. After 3 hours it’s gained unreal finesse. So decadent yet also so nimble. So close to a 9.7. — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.2

Nose is intensely mineral. Some Apricot and melon. Palate has nice viscosity and richness allied with intense contrasting minerality and lovely apricot fruit and honeyed note on the very long finish. Terrific. Very juicy and compact as it warms up. — a year ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.5

A top flight of Cimarossa while visiting the winery last month, all were great but the 2018 Rian really struck me. Purity, elegance, structure, allied with density, complexity and length. Black currants, blackberry, cherry, graphite, and spice. I have been a long time admirer of their wines, especially the best ever from outside Italy nebbiolo they make called Foglet. Mia Klein makes these beauties and you can't get them anywhere except from the winery. — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Neal Martin has to be smoking crack for his review of this wine. Anyway. Stunning nose of seashells, lemon merengue, Meyer lemon, airy minerals, oyster brine and so much more. Fantastic! Some wet stones as well and tree bark and semi wet soil. Big time Gout de Terroir. Palate is super elegant and has loads of salty, concentrated fruit and is energetic as all can be. Dense as this bottling usually is. What texture and richness but allied with salinity and a licking a rock finish that is very long. Ideally this needs 3-5 years but what a smoker now. What length! — 2 years ago