Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

Super young and grapey nose to start with but also more generous than the 2022 with olive (green and black), violets, lilacs, meatiness, granite and really high tones. Mint and blackberry fruit with gorgeous red berry tones intermingled. Seems riper than 2022. Wow that nose is a 9.7-9.8. Wow, holy crap this is amazing. The palate is a masterpiece. Still has those Bancel Bordeaux like tannins and such a granitic footprint but more generous and round on the palate. Fruit is blackberry and red berry with some blueberry as well. So juicy and has great width. Huge concentration and structure but all the pieces are there. Seems more complete than 22 out of the gates but they both have something so unique. Just exquisite purity and freshness and so classic. Wow. Wow. The fruit is unconscious as are the olive, granite and meatiness. This is genius. So complete. Deeper than Sozet. Like Sozet crossed with 20% Beliando. Just brilliant. Now after some hours nose has intense cinnamon, mushroom, a real earthy feral living aroma thing. Beyond a sense of place. Smells like an ecosystem. So unique. That palate is just crazy. Unreal juiciness and silkiness. That rich opulence but only a component and never dominates. Just integrated. That black olive tapenade slick. But that granite is still there but softer. It’s so good. Really no other Cornas like jt. Such an amazing appellation.

Day 2 - Nose is bright and red fruited with that herbal, earthy ecosystem smell that smells like a scene in nature. Wow so juicy and generous and a loose texture and such purity. Much more forward than 22. Generous. Good tannins but sweet and voluminous. Excellent length. — 2 months ago

Muralee Murugesu

9.0

On the bottle it says 100% Syrah but on the palette it is a Shiraz! It is an interesting wine from Corsica. Fruit forward with red cherries and fresh raspberries but totally lacks of any minerality. Did we loose the “savoir vivre” in France?. It is old world making new world wine. Evolution is not bad. — 6 years ago

Paul Weil

8.9

This is what drew me into the Fresno State wine club to begin with... a perfectly crafted Cabernet engineered to showcase the San Joaquin Valley terroir rather than an attempt to ape the homogenized pseudo-Napa style so beloved by big corporate wineries. It is a big but subtle wine, with creamy mouthfeel and bright cherry and red currant flavors. Bravo to the students for crafting this excellent cocktail quaffer! 😼🍷🎉 — 8 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.9

Sick nose. Red cherries, strawberries, so floral. Just insane. Like a whisper being shouted: Some mulch and wet earth. Watermelon. Cranberry. Pastille. Red fruited. Lilacs. Minerals. This is insane. Juicy and clean with some wood but achingly gorgeous palate. So juicy and young but unreal finesse and a loose texture. So clean and pure. Unreal texture. Will track. Best red fruited nose maybe ever. The mineral energy is off the charts. Sweet red fruitiness. Stunning. After 7 hours open the nose has integrated into an orb of roses, florals and strawberry all equal. Palate is integrated between mineral and fruit with just the most stunning velvety tannins. Wow. — 2 months ago

Devin Bostick

9.5

Ocean, leather, loose leaf chewing tobacco, green smoothie (generically) smell, dark brown and some red, the taste is delicate and raising before then getting caramelly, succulent, some tarragon, slight medium dark coffee but like java, the taste swirls and that makes it complex, and it ends with an abrupt and straight forward wood, it’s like slight shotty and best port I’ve had (but I don’t drink a ton of port) — 5 years ago

Jon Robinson

9.2

This is a really big Pinot with an alcohol over 15%. The wine is fruity and delicious with plenty of lenght but does loose some of what I would consider “pinotness” I.e. acidity, brightness, juiciness.... — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.0

Loose, frothy, hoary, blonde dome built on big bubbles. Navel orange, lemon dough, tangerine, and ruby grapefruit with a sweet side to the bouquet. Texturally perfect with a zesty pizzazz. Yellow grapefruit and lemon prevail here on the citrus flip side. All aboard, because every car of this train strains under the weight of these fruits, and goes on as far as the palate can see! There is a softer, lime interplay, and an interesting wheat germ moment that races by the windows of this Shinkansen. The lacing has devolved to pterodactyl heirlglyphs with dance moves painted by Dubuffet. Finally, after acclimation to the break-neck speeds of the time travel train, we arrive in the land of the lemon poppy eaters! Doest the Dust? Linger on! #elysianbrewing #spacedust #ipa #hoptillyoudrop #spacedustipa #indiapaleale — 7 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Lovely nose of lemon pepper, mild oak, superb expressive minerals and salt. Herbs as well. So clean and elegant. Refined. Chewy and dense but also refined with an elegant sweetness that is more wood and sweet ripe apples but finishes with a bit of opulence and some terrific cleansing acidity. So well made you are blown away that is is Bourgogne. Wonderful loose texture and just perfect balance. Opulence works in this wine’s favor. Such a long finish. Clean and elite winemaking. — 3 years ago

Fredrik Finn

9.5

A showstopper, an act impeccable concentration with a finish that goes on forever and ever and ever.
The Little Wine #9 is a vintage blend that range from 2015 to 2019. Drop dead gorgeous and absolutely outstanding. One of those wine that takes your breath away.
Day two and it’s reached it’s climax, like hearing Pavarotti breaking loose for all he’s worth.
I wish there was more..

..👃Pronounced intense, very concentrated aromas with a layered complexity that is driven by sun drenched and generous fruit but with plenty of tension. Blackberries and bramble-like strawberry fruit. A perfumed lift with plenty of floral aromas, violet and roses followed by fresh herbs, sweet licorice, raw meat and a warm stone foundation.
👅A deep fruit intensity drives the palate and is balanced by a fresh acidity. Plenty of round tannins brings further structure and is completely balanced and almost totally masked by the concentrated palate. An expansive compexity that opens up with sweet licorice, blue flowers and plentiful of very concentrated ripe dark fruit, over a stone-like base note. Muscular yet graceful impact and full attention on the mid palate through a long and complete finish. — 4 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose, ruby, ripe and almost liqueur fruits; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum, dark chocolate; great baking spices, loamy clay, spice, dark moist soils, black licorice and fresh dark floral with violets.

On the palate, the body is full. The tannins and dusty and just a touch sticky. Beautiful but needs to age. ruby, ripe fruits; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum, dark chocolate is crazy good; great baking spices, loamy clay, spice, dark moist soils, black licorice and fresh dark floral with violets.

Photos of, another side of their Estate vines, very old gnarly vine and olives trees waiting to be picked as soon as their done with processing the 18 vintage.

Mendel makes some very nice quality wines at an excellent price point.

The Finca Remota Vineyard is located in Altamira, Valle de Uco at 1,040 meter of elevation. The vineyard has a sandy- loam and stony soil, very loose of alluvial origin. The climate is cold in winter with occasional snowfall, and temperate in summer with cold nights, which provides the region with a great thermal amplitude daily. The average annual rainfall is just under 6 inches. Our “Semillon” and “Malbec Finca Remota” are produced from grapes grown in the oldest and smallest part of this vineyard planted in 1947. It has superficial irrigation and a traditional management of the crop. It is conducted in low French trolley system and the yield is lower than 4 tons. per hectares. The rest of the vineyard receives a modern management: the vines are conducted in medium height French trolley system and it has drip irrigation. In this vineyard there are 8 hectares of Malbec, 3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 hectares of Semillon, 2 hectares of Cabernet Franc and 2 hectares of Petit Verdot. — 7 years ago