Scott Kieser

9.7

First time with this bottling and I have deep regrets about buying only four bottles. The acidity is extreme. It swallows the residual sugar, leaving just a hint of sweetness, though the sugar makes the fruit burst on the palate and gives the wine density. Shockingly concentrated and intense with salty, mineral depth and a very long finish. This is closer to a generous Grosses Gewachs than my conception of a Kabinett. Thrilling wine! @Lyle Fass is this typical or an anomaly of the vintage? More importantly, do you have anything like this to sell me? — 14 days ago

romo

9.0

Objectively an outstanding CF-ey anomaly. Just not for me. — 2 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

Cubillo is a beautiful anomaly in a sea of $25 wines.

It’s the youngest of the lot, but the signature stamp is there, so obviously LDH Tempranillo.

Velvet milk chocolate, ripe black cherries, brand new leather boots. Rich and loaded with cocoa and coffee and raisiny red berries.

It looks like motor oil. Heck it has almost a decade in bottle. Plenty of acid to smooth out over time.

We should be stock piling this - quality and price don’t intersect so well very often. — 3 years ago

Wulf Losee

8.9

Citrus on the nose with a sweet honey subtext. But there’s some overtones of cooked onions and eggplant on the nose. I can’t explain tbis because it’s not a musty corkage scent. The Intense frontal assault on the tongue overwhelms any of the umami notes on the nose. A distinct taste of Peaches on the front of the palate with lemon zest on the mid palate. Intense flower and citrus finish. I need to try another bottle to see if those umami notes were an anomaly. — 2 months ago

ESF

8.9

Wild stuff - big bold brash - you don’t expect that w/this varietal, but this had all kinds of body & texture. Austere nose til it warmed up then it was throwing aromas like lime peel, green tea, Granny Smith, kiwi - green things… plenty of acidity, mineral & resoundingly dry finish. Anomaly / interesting, not sure we loved it — a year ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Had forgotten about this one in the cellar. It’s a really nice “aged Southern Rhône” experience. So fragrant, with loads of rich mahogany and leather scents, iodine, sultry rich berries, crushed rock. Intense flavors that still show nice fruit. There is still a whack of tannin in the finish, which isn’t really drying out at all, amazingly. Probably an anomaly because this was a great and stacked and packed vintage when young. — 3 years ago

with Angelo

Martinez

9.1

A winemaking anomaly, Palo Cortado is a rare and mysterious Sherry style that “occurs” when a Fino fails to develop flor normally and begins to oxidize. Historically, these “deviant” casks would be marked with a crossed slash (“palo cortado”) to differentiate them from the rest, have their flor killed by fortifying the wine to 17-18 degrees and continue their life aging oxidatively like an Oloroso. They combine the aromatics of an Amontillado with the structure and smoothness of an Oloroso. This is a superb example by Cayetano del Pino, a venerable “almacenista” and one of the top Palo Cortado specialists. Intense nose with notes of orange peel and varnish. Smooth and powerful, with flavors of hazelnuts and a very long, subtly salty finish
— 4 years ago

Wulf Losee

8.9

The 2019 isn’t aging as well as I expected it would. The limestone minerality that characterizes the Law wines has mostly faded. Sage and chocolate on the nose. Without the calcaire, the fruit and the thick tannins are fully expressed. It now has the consistency of a high-end cab or zin. It’s still very nice, but I miss the mineral astringency. I’m giving it an 8.9. I need to open another 2019 to see if this is a pattern or an anomaly.  — 3 months ago

Jake Hajer

9.3

An intense elegant monster that needs lots of air. From the vineyard next to Beckstoffer, Los Piedras- heady with a bolt of iron mineral, black raspberry, red licorice. Savory. Complimentary color of brilliant dark garnet that looks like it would stain everything it touches. Classy and distinctive. — 5 months ago

Paul T HB

9.3

K&L notes, At the very top of the Haut-Médoc, embedded in a sea of gravel just next to the Gironde River north of St-Estèphe, sits the anomaly of the Left Bank: Château Coufran, the "Pomerol of the Médoc," so-called for its high propensity of Merlot vines in a region where Cabernet reigns supreme. While practically all of its Left Bank neighbors are making structured and powerful clarets, Coufran continues to make softer, silkier, classically tailored Right-Bank-style wines. Owned by the Miailhe family since 1924, the wine has been prized by those in the know for its early approachability and fantastic value, which is part of the reason it’s been a staple of K&L’s Bordeaux department for decades. Not only does the wine historically drink well at a younger age, it evolves beautifully over a five to ten year period. The 2009 is currently in a gorgeous spot only eight years after the vintage, showing secondary development and complexity beyond the primary fruit of its youth — 2 years ago