Allied Electornics
Weingut Riehen
Le Grand Pinot Noir 2018
Best Swiss Pinot I’ve ever had courtesy of Hanspeter Ziereisen. Freaking unreal nose. Dark violets, alpine scents galore, the best and most pure, vivid black cherries I’ve ever smelled. Wow. Just stunning. Smells rich but alpine rich! This is only just beginning as air is always the friend of anything HPZ makes. Wow that palate. Incredible freshness and density allied with just the most amazing finesse. This is as grand as any burgundy grand cru. Man, I could smell this forever. Amazing structure and the sweetest most velvety tannins. Amazing fruit concentration. What a finish. What complexity. Just stunning. Super young but super incredible. 18 is the best vintage of Riehen I’ve ever tasted. As it airs the fruit comes more Into focus on the palate and the nose. What clarity. Just a tiny hit of opulence and then unreal freshness, leanness and sweet fruit. Unreal juxtaposition. — 4 months ago
Kühling-Gillot
Reserve Chardonnay 2020
All aboard the German Chardonnay train. Nose is super crisp and clean almost like a Chablis crossed with cote de beaune and German engineering thrown in. Nose is so clean. Mineral and complex. Not a hint of wood. Not sure if this sees any wood actually. Palate is just terrific. This is crisp yet rich, tangy yet opulent, and mineral yet also approachable and herbal. This is the closest thing to German Chablis I’ve ever had. This is so good. Concentrated and pure. Silky and slippery. This is just terrific. Long finish. This is such an over performer for the price. Lemony lime finish and just wonderful richness. That richness allied with playfulness is what makes this so special. And it’s such a value! — 9 months ago
Pierre Brisset
Les Noirots Chambolle - Musigny Premier Cru Pinot Noir 2020
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 months ago
Dominus Estate
Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2018
The 2018 Dominus has really shut down over the last year. I underestimated its imposing structure and density, both of which are on fully display today. The 2018 is a potent Dominus endowed with superb depth and tons of vertical explosive energy allied to a feeling of elegance that becomes increasingly apparent over time. Dark fruit, spice and a whole range of earthy, savory notes add layers of complexity. Superb. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, January 2022)
— 6 months ago
Dönnhoff
Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Beerenauslese 2007
Jaw dropping length, purity, elegance, and filigree. Tremendous weightlessness allied with massive flavors that felt like looking through a kaleidoscope orchard and fruits, flint-slate like minerality, luscious acids that buffer everything in this wine perfectly. — 10 months ago
Domaine Sebastien Dampt
Les Beugnons Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2019
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! — 3 months ago
Georges Lelektsoglou
Vieilles Vignes de Gervans Crozes-Hermitage Syrah 2017
Have not had in 2 years. It’s awesome now. Nose is olive and game. So wild. Black and red berry fruit. Granite galore. So fine. So refined. Gorgeous and wide open. Palate is a wonder. Super juicy and decadent but allied with terrific freshness and a smoking granitic finish also with notes of game, herbs and olive. The nose is a 9.6. Outrageous. Wow this is juicy. I’m going 9.5 here. The purity and clarity of fruit puts it over the top. — 5 months ago
Château Montlandrie
Castillon Côtes De Bordeaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2016
2016 vintage. Expressive from the start. Roasted cashews along with cocoa powder and cherry in the nose. Medium body with some oak fat. Finishes relatively lean but fresh with that cherry looming large and allied with dark plum, watercress, mint, lite green tea and some earth. Pretty and concentrated but not a powerhouse. — 8 months ago
Domaine Gramenon
La Belle Sortie Côtes du Rhone Syrah Grenache 2019
Gorgeous red Rhone with Southern Rhone sunshine and ripeness, but allied with freshness, poise, transparency and excellent grape typicity of the Grenache (70%) for flair and the Syrah for savory and structure (30%). Great value at around $32. — 10 months ago
Delectable Wine
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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)
— a month ago