Matt Austin

Owner/Winemaker, Grosgrain Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA

9.5

Open for business. Should hold for another 5 years or so. Like many 2011’s not a long term ager. — 6 months ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Pretty good for a ‘17, avoiding sharp tannins and astringency. Nose has a lot of forest floor notes, spice, plummy fruit, lots of dry stony gravel. In the mouth it’s soft on entry, and well-managed tannins assert themselves on the back half of the palate. Macerated ripe cherry fruit and crushed stone flavors, with old barrel/old library notes. Medium acids. This will soften further over the next few years but doesn’t strike me as a long ager. — 3 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2017 vintage. Plummy, summer oak woodlands/forest nose. Medium body. Slightly more fruit-driven than the excellent 2016 that was sleeker with a little more acidity and a long-ager. This effort is still really nice and another beautiful entry into the historical, Antinori wine library. 4.5.23. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

A great wine. Nose is god like mineral perfume. Crushed rocks. Lime zest. So mineral. Wafting. Confectionary lime rock candy. Layered. Palate is dense and chewy with terrific elegance and superb structure and concentration. Amazingly pure. Such balance. Incredible depth and a tight mineral core that will make this a great ager. Unreal explosiveness and complexity. So juicy and refined. Amazing length. Just a stunning wine. Superb mineral sweetness on the finish. This is elite as it gets in St. aubin. — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

This is Cabernet Franc in a Beaujolais style. Nose of this wine alone is worthy of 89. Bing cherry, brambleberry, oregano, white flowers, honeysuckle, full of cheer! Entry is medium bodied. Touches acidic for about 0.2 seconds and then goes to a brambly mineral dense red cherry fruit and wildflower. Gets quite a bit more brambly in the middle. Finishes with a candied cherry minerality almost like a dusty Luden's cough drop. Would have almost expected some bitter notes here but it never went that direction. Really quite a complex wine for the price paid. Although I don't really think this is a long term ager, it did require about 2 hours to fully express itself. Really neat wine. — 7 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.3

The 2006 ‘Blewitt Springs’ by Clarendon Hills shows tremendous energy and verve despite being more than thirteen years of age. Brandy soaked red cherry, cigar box and bright guava puree aromatics fill the glass. Showing a seamless texture and a wonderful sense of minerality, this dazzles on the palate. Red fruits and rose water packed with mineral-driven flavors excite the senses. A long-ager, this will continue to beautifully evolve over the next decade. Drink 2019-2029- 93 — 7 years ago

jason carey DipWSET

9.2

Really coming into its own. Not a long ager but will probably peak in a couple of years. Pure dark fruits, earth, leafs, so much more. A real winner — 8 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.2

High acid that seems to be a long ager showing lemon, pear, mineral & white flower — 8 months ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

A classified growth Bordeaux is not normally my Thursday evening tipple but for some unknown reason I felt a little like celebrating. This is drinking quite well right now. Nose opens with just a little air to show cassis and blackberry, leather, moist gravel, and a subtle graphite note. In the mouth, it’s got medium concentration, with soft but abundant tannins in the background and surprisingly good acids. In the drier side. Not a blockbuster or long ager, but quite elegant. — 2 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.1

Not a long ager but always delicious — 5 years ago

Jason and Jennie

9.2

First vintage where i prefer myriad, quivet, and becklyn over the scarlett. Not big tannins so probably not an ager but it’s tight on opening that gives a sense of thinness. Double decanted it back in the bottle and it has more viscosity. Tastes pretty good now — 7 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.4

The 2016 ‘Two Barns’ is another gorgeous wine by the superstar winemaking team of Domaine Serene. On the nose there is really good range from deep dark fruits to forest floor and shades of dark truffle that all connect in the glass. The palate shows excellent weight with a sumptuous mouthfeel. Black tea, blackberry cobbler and earthy tones with light citrus rind accents all collide on the palate. A long-ager, this beautiful wine will cellar well over the next fifteen to twenty years. Drink 2020-2040- 94 — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.3

YOUTHFUL. Hedonistic fruit, but still locked up. Chalky youthful fruit. Finishes with a lot of acidity and a lot of youthful tannin. I think opening up one of these ultimately was a mistake, as this needs probably five years before it will show well. After two hours of air it did improve quite a bit. Shows the power that this well made cabernet from northern Alexander Valley can give you. A 20 year holder/ager without a doubt, should be packing a solid 1-2 punch in 5 years. But still a 93 with this impressive red fruit characteristic — 7 years ago

with Dan and Shay

Jon Ebsworth

9.3

A delight - light but expressive red berry fruit. Great with the food at Camille. — a year ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Darn solid for $37 at WTSO. An open, friendly style, the nose leads with dark berry ooze, coffee grounds, low-toned stony minerals, toasted baking spices. Rich and soft in the mouth, it’s got lots of dark, clingy fruit and dark earth notes, with a saline echo. Tannins are rich but buried in the voluptuous texture. Pretty decent acids. Not super complex nor an ager, this will be fun to drink with daubes (what I have on the stove) and the like over the next few years. — 2 years ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

PnP: Deep Blackness, mix of jammy fruit, olives, soil. Something vaguely red poking up on the nose. Lots of brambles and gravel. Great mouthfeel with slightly cheek gripping tannins. Would be a long ager, I’m sure.
Thanks @FirstBottleWines — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Another new or rejiggered bottling by Schätzel. What a wine. Step up in refinement and subtlety over the Kabinett bottling. Bottle is a bit taller as well. Nice detail. Nose is unreal. There is a distinctive Nierstein vibe here which to me is the “Mosel of the Rheinhessen.” Lifting aromas of fresh herbs and limestone with huge deep and delicate citrus and apricot fruit with an exotic hint of papaya or persimmon. That hint turns it from very good to very great. Also a confectionary sugar aroma. Just “extra” as the kids like to say these days. Gahhhh. This is beautiful. Juicy and dripping with lime infused apricot and juicy citrus fruits with sweet green apple. Great energy and gorgeous purity here. Just a perfect Kabinett with great concentration and raw materials. This is an ager and just so epic. Will age 20 years. Exceptional . — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

D7. Pours a dark maroon. Nice aroma of cola, fig, plum, black cherry. Entry is mostly black cherry, good acidity with tobacco, clove, plum, fig. Medium bodied wine. Finishes with good weight and has a nice finish. This wine is a 15 or so year ager. But why not drink now? Was very good with minimal decant. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

8.9

A really interesting wine. Even though I know these can be everything from black fruit dominated to more of an ash dominated type of wine, the notes here were a little bit tart and even a little on the sweeter side. Dates, sweet plums. Had a hint of tobacco, very ashy in the middle and finish. There is suggestion that this one may even be on its way down, and I definitely question that now. Left remaining 25%of bottle for 12 hours later and although the nose had markedly improved, the wine had not. This doesn't seem to be a good ager. — 7 years ago

Berg

9.4

This is fantastic, pure fresh natty wine. Like susucaru made of pinot. Glorious and without SO2 of course, so just drink it, not a long term ager, and so good now. Just got this in the mail today and Pobega'd it. — 8 years ago