Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Back @BalancesRestaurant - Lucerne. Yes, it is that good.

A little backstory on this 2nd wine of Clerc Milon. This was made by my friend Jean Danjoy. He was the Asst. Winemaker at Opus One for 10 years before making the decision to go back to Bordeaux to redesign the winemaking facilities at Clerc and making his first vintage, 2009. A grand Bordeaux vintage to make his first Clerc Milon. He now overseas all the Rothschild properties, including Mouton. He is uber talented and perhaps the nicest human being I have met. He is also the one that showed Sofia & I how to taste & judge vineyard fruit for harvest in 2012.

Jean decided to make this second wine primarily for restaurant lists.

The nose shows brilliant red & dark florals. Dark cherries, poached strawberries, blackberries, black currant core, black raspberries, pomegranate, oak barrel powder, some anise, black tea, gentle baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanillin, caramel notes & dark chocolate, dark, rich, subtle earth, dark withering flowers.

You could make a case for rounding this up to 93.

The fruits are ripe…special. Even glorious. Very soft and rounded M-M+ tannins. Dark cherries, poached strawberries, blackberries, black currant core, black raspberries, pomegranate, oak barrel powder, some anise, black tea, cola, beautiful, round dark spice that long sets w/ the most gentle palate heat, gentle baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanillin, caramel notes & dark chocolate, dark, rich, subtle earth, some fresh & dry tobacco, soft leather, very soft graphite, dark withering flowers. Excellent rainfall acidity with a well balanced, softly structured, elegant finish that last 80 seconds and lands on gentle dark spice, loamy earth and fruit.

Great pair with the Venison. — 9 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2021 vintage. Yeah. Medium-heavy bod. Tremendous richness in the frontal palate finding a durty backstory on the finish to complete the project and destroy the competition. This is one of those "I've never had a" wines that catapults tasters into believers/disciples. Forget the Kool-Aid and pour this instead. 7.17.24. — 2 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.2

I’m kinda over Pinot Gris Ramato and then I come across a wine like this that makes me rethink everything. Yes, it has those classic notes of skin contact Pinot Gris (rose hip, red currant, candied strawberry) but it’s so fresh and clearly comes from a place — in this case the volcanic region of Hungary’s Lake Balaton — it’s flinty, with that volcanic licorice spice / allspice — and clearly from a cooler climate. The story behind the winemaker — a brave man in his 70s who has a former wine director for a Soviet Co-op, who now just wants to make good, natural wine his own way—and the label “Abeles” named for the Jewish family whose abandoned estate he found himself making wine out of before discovering an underground cellar and digging up the history of a family whose members were nearly all murdered during the Holocaust. It’s a just a great fucking wine without knowing the backstory; the backstory makes it profound. — 3 years ago

Ethan Karas

9.0

Good wine. Cool backstory. — 4 years ago

Jay Green

9.0

Incredibly annoying backstory but very delicious wine! — 6 years ago

Roman Sukley

9.9

2016 Sine Qua Non "Rätsel 16" Syrah, originally “Cypher 16,” renamed because of potential legal problems with the rock band? Not sure of the backstory on that one, but it’s pretty clear that Rätsel (enigma, mystery, puzzle, riddle) is simply the German word for Cypher (a secret or disguised way of writing; a code). The wine however, not the band, is a monster. Gargantuan really. Typical SQN nose, and black as a moon-free, starless night sky in the stem. Tonight’s photo should not to be confused with Katie Bouman’s Black Hole masterpiece, although no light can escape from either. Very tight upon opening, singing an aria 36 hours later. SUPER concentrated with unlimited upside potential. More detailed tasting note to come. Yet another stunner! — 7 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.3

This is one of those lucky finds that just don’t come around very often. Sorry for the backstory but I think the context helps explain my excitement. There’s a small wine and spirit shop in a little beach town I drive through about 2-3 times a year and I’ll usually stop and get a bottle or two because they had a great and unique selection. Sadly, the last few stops there have been a bit disappointing as their variety seems on the decline. What was once a great range of wines with a lot of unique bottles, is now a lot of cheap high volume offerings on one end and on the other a nice selection of super high end bottles that I’m not picking up on a whim. While the high end selection is commendable, the magic of the shop seems to have faded. And if I am going to go high end I would rather do it with a shop I frequent in Charleston. Anyway, browsed a bit and didn’t really find anything I was interested in. Was on the way out and came across a 50% off rack and found this marked down to 9 dollars. Grabbed this and a few others thinking 🤷🏻‍♂️.The second it hit the glass it was beautiful on the nose, continued with deep richness on the palate. Great clarity and balance. My research suggests a 70/30 Cab/ Cab Franc blend. Have to assume this a nod to the famous Cab/Cab Franc blends in the region, and it’s a heck of nod. Have a half bottle left and I can’t wait to see how it held up for night two. — 8 years ago

Doug Powers

9.1

[40% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Counoise] So, quick backstory on this one, the proprietor of Montfaucon and my brother spent a year together at UCD in whatever degrees they each got, but it was Viticulture and Enology, about 35 years ago, which about 20 years ago led to their producer/importer relationship. Anyway, Rodolphe (Rudi) always labeled this as a Côtes du Rhône, but most of the fruit was actually grown within the confines of Lirac. Eventually Rudi decided to join the Lirac grape growers association, and separated this cuvée into Lirac “Baron Louis” and Lirac and Côtes du Rhône. So, bottom line, this 50-90 year-old-vine cuvée (apparently 12 months in small oak barrels, but I’d guess NOT new) Lirac (CdR in this case) has always drank like a mini-CdP, and this 2009 is mature, or close, but still shows great acidity and balance (14% ABV), medium-long finish, very, very fine Côtes du Rhône!! K&L in SF (direct import) and I believe Kobrand on East Coast import these wines!! Finally, for full disclosure, Rudi is a friend, I have NFI, but I do have a lot of his wines in my cellar. Anyway, not sure what vintage was “relabeled” Lirac instead of CdR, but at least starting by 2014 the “Baron Louis” you might see at retail will be “Lirac”!! — 10 months ago

with Jim

David Kline

9.5

26 degree brewing in Pompano Beach, FL. Oktoberfest Marzen Lager.
Auburn amber, hibiscus tea colored marzen with a red-cream head and sharks tooth lacing. Honey-pecan nose also shows molasses and a hint of maple with a bitterness backstory verging on brown bread or coffee rye. Rich palate shows coffee and Brazil-nut, dark roasted almond, root beer, cream soda and chicory. This Marzen brings all the adumbrated beer hall’s charm and rustic gestalt. Thoughtful and authentic.



#26degreebrewing #26degreeoktoberfest #26degree #flbeer #pompanobeach #marzen #marzenlager #beer #bier #biere #birra #cerveza — 2 years ago

with Courtney

Izzy J

9.0

Great Hungarian backstory about the strength of bulls blood making them strong against the ottoman.
Pleasant wine — 4 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.6

Some backstory, but a bottle I had been after and stumbled into two and couldn’t wait long to open one. Did not disappoint. Lower alcohol - 13% - really suits this wine. Great acidic balance. Always rewarding when a long anticipated bottles hits. — 4 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.5

Absolutely incredible bourbon with an equally as impressive backstory 🥃 Aged aboard a marine wildlife research vessel operated by nonprofit Ocearch, this bourbon has gone through rapid aging due to the constant movement that characterizes time spent at sea, and has accumulated a host of complexity and oceanic tasting notes in the process; a gift from Poseidon, no doubt. This technique of aging bourbon has now been conducted for 22 unique voyages around the globe, this bottle being from the most recent voyage. Drinking like a gorgeous union between bourbon and rum, this spirit offers a litany of desirable and exotic notes like salted caramel, roasted nuts, toasted coconut, glazed figs, molasses, and savory winter spices. This is super good. — 6 years ago

Andrew Gallo

9.2

Lemony orange peel tastes like great backstory here maybe made by a 19 year old hmm hmmmmm??? — 7 years ago

Scott Rowe

9.0

This blend seems to be on fire in the Yarra right now.
@Bob McDonald can tell you the backstory.
Superb sessionable Pinot/Syrah with enough depth to keep you interested. — 8 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

This was one of those rare nights where I had zero obligations…so I decided it might be fun to grab one of the relative newcomers to my cellar and head down to Mertz, sit at the bar, and share with the staff. Upon arrival, I was met immediately by the incomparable Matt Brown who asked if I would like to sit next to Dan Morgan. “Morgan Ranch Dan Morgan? Uhhh…yuh!” I duly handed my bottle to Matt and he kindly introduced me to Dan. After exchanging some pleasantries, I sat down and suggested we open the Brisset and see what it’s about. Dan was game so we proceeded to enjoy the evening, covering a range of topics from travel to the state of our education system and much more. It should go without saying that we each enjoyed a couple of steaks from his ranch too. I mean, obviously.

Initially, we popped and poured a single glass. It was beautiful, particularly on the nose, but seemed a touch reticent on the palate so we elected to splash decant. We enjoyed this bottle over the course of several hours where it really started to thrill after getting a nice bit of air. The wine pours a deep ruby color with a deep but transparent core; medium viscosity, with very light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous, even unctuous, notes of ripe red (and some black) fruits: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, Bing cherry, red flowers, licorice, warm spices, and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. Wow…such a youthful beauty…and it’s already giving me some sugar. The quality is obvious, almost startling. Drink now with patience but better after 2032 and through 2052+. Thanks for the assist @Lyle Fass

P.S. I should provide the Morgan Ranch backstory. Located in Burwell, Nebraska, the Morgan Family were one of the very first producers of Japanese Wagyu cattle outside of Japan; Dan brought the first herd from Japan back in 1993. They are, to my knowledge, the only Wagyu producer that exports back into Japan. — a year ago

Kimberly Sebby

9.3

So good! Red blend with a great backstory — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2019 vintage. The backstory of this wine is essential. The powers that be pushed the A7 highway through Châteauneuf-du-Pape back in the day and relegated this wine/area to Côtes-du-Rhône status. Freeways/highways being the new geographical rivers/mountains/boundaries. Same soil. Same grapes. Same winemaking. The ‘19 vintage not to be missed in Southern (or Northern) Rhône. A “baby” Châteauneuf at roughly a third of the usual Beaucastel CDP pricing. Explosive, dark and dense fruit with particular emphasis on plummy qualities. Some sweetness due to the vintage. Absolutely lip-smacking and undeniably, super-drinkable. — 4 years ago

Sean Driscoll

8.9

Day Wines 2020 "Lemonade" Great backstory from a not great year that included smoke from Oregon's fires - but no smoke here. Story aside, great pinot noir rose; cherry, strawberry, good acid and a little mineral. — 6 years ago

Randy Fuller

9.0

This North Coast red blend offers up a dark nose of smoke, tar, plums, cigar box, vanilla, cedar and an old baseball glove. The palate shows huge black and red fruit, also with plenty of oak spice. BTW, the wine is said to pay homage to Abraham Lincoln. He may have been Honest Abe, but he was not a Federalist. But whatever. You’re not really drinking it for the backstory, are you?
— 7 years ago

Hayden B. Oothout

9.2

Excellent Zinfandel blend from Orin Swift. The backstory of this wine is almost as great as the wine. Non-compete in a contract from selling of a vineyard, didn’t allow Orin Swift to produce a Zinfandel for 8 years. Hence 8 years in the desert. Just spectacular on the nose with hints of blackberry and cherry. On the palette it is enticing and young, bountiful fruit. Would probably benefit from another year or two in the bottle, but is spectacular now. — 7 years ago