Peter van den Besselaar

9.4

vintage 2012 | Each day we eat outside we think it is the last time. But today we celebrate the autumn in the garden, in the sun, with a lentil and carrot gratin with parmesan/panko crust. This Merkelbach is excellent: much butterscotch and tingling acidity, phenomenal balance. — a month ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

vintage 1995 | Enjoying history ☺️ — 5 months ago

Scott Kieser

9.5

Very elegant, textured and mildly creamy with extroverted berry, mandarin, and spice notes coating the palate with typical Gratien electricity on the persistent finish. Paired beautifully with a NY Strip. Nice way to celebrate my 50th Birthday. — 10 months ago

Tracy Hall

9.5

Last bottle. Love this! Blue fruits, good texture but smooth. Can’t get enough of it. TBL — 3 years ago

Penny Wild-perkowski

9.1

Crisp and delicious — 6 years ago

Romain Fitoussi

9.2

90% Pinot Noir, 10% Gamay. Biodynamic. A light wine with beautiful aromas of red berries acidulous type currant, raspberry. with a good decantation this wine deploys rich and varied nuances, it is absolutely necessary to do it to appreciate it at its fair value. that's wonderful ! well done — 7 years ago

Steve Dixon

9.2

Benchmark gamay. Dark fruit and graphite, plenty wild. — 8 years ago

brando cox

9.0

Very nice St Emil with balanced Plum leather cherry oak and a nice earthy backbone. Drinking this 2014 in 2026 and its 👌 perfect now. Outstanding vigneron independent find. — 25 days ago

romo

9.4

Likely my last consistent-notes bottle. 😢 - at Dean’s — 2 months ago

romo

9.4

Last night’s Merk nightcap a success. — 6 months ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

Vintage 2010 — 3 years ago

Vanessa

9.1

Marcel Couturier, La Cour des Bois, Saint-Véran AOC, Vintage 2015, ABV 13%.

This is a Chardonnay from the Saint-Véran appellation in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy, France 🇫🇷

Mâconnais is generally known for its richer, fuller-bodied Chardonnay expressions, in part due to its more southerly positioning in Burgundy and its warmer temperatures; this wine is an excellent example. 💕💕💕

This wine was produced using older French oak barrels, softening the edges of the orchard and stone fruit characteristics and imparting complexity. A little exposure to oxygen happens naturally when fermenting or aging wine in oak barrels and this exposure may be responsible for the beautiful golden hue I see in the glass, along with time spent in the bottle. 🌞

👃 On the nose this wine has a medium intensity of developing aromas. The aromas include primary notes of tart peach, apricot, yellow apple, lemon rind, also chamomile, orange flower, white blossom, flint and wet stone, also secondary notes of toast, cream, brioche, delicate vanilla and baking spices, and tertiary notes of caramel, butterscotch, and honey. 🍐 🍑 🍎 🍋

👄 On the palate this wine is dry. It has medium(+) acidity, a medium(+) body, medium alcohol, medium intensity in flavors consistent with the nose and a medium finish.

I love the weigh, richness, and complexity of this wine, which we bought at @france_44 recently.

We have paired this wine with sautéed shrimp, roasted veggies, and jasmine rice. It’s a lovely pairing, but I suspect this wine could stand up to an even richer meal or white meat.
— 5 years ago

with Deked1

Will Hendrick

9.2

Top tier Cour-Cheverney producer. — 7 years ago

Martijn

9.0

Paired nicely with a piece of Reblochon. The sweetness is there but not overdone (anymore). — 2 months ago

with Eric

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

vintage 2012 | Perfect balance | paired with Sichuan shrimps and squid with vegetables in a spicy sauce. — 5 months ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.3

2016 vintage. — a year ago

romo

9.3

Smitten. 🤗 — 5 years ago

Ed Ryder

9.5

This is awesome ! One of the best champagnes I’ve ever tasted — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Pontet Canet tasting and dinner with Alfred Tesseron.

The 13 was a brutal tannin vintage when I tasted it at En Premier. The tannins are still bitty but, nothing like they were out of barrel.

The fruit in the 13 shows the difficulty in the vintage. They are duller and it’s really stands out from other vintages and not in a good way.

It’s lean and there is nothing that really draws you in. Fruits are; dark cherries, rhubarb, blackberries, some blueberries@and the strawberries show some ripeness the other do not. Lots of dry earth, dry stones, some herbs, dark withering florals, decent acidity and a uneventful dry finish.

Photos of; Clyde and Alfred at the bar, their Amphora style cement tanks they ferment part of each vintage now, road signs of the good neighbors they keep and Chateau Pontet Canet. — 7 years ago

Elizabeth Kinney

9.4

Medium body. Good acidity. Nice with cheese plate — 8 years ago