David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

This 09 was upgraded to 100 points by Lisa Perrotti formerly of Robert Parker in 2020. I didn’t taste a 💯 & the first time she & I have been this far apart.

This 09 was velvety, smooth, beautiful & elegant with nicely ripe fruits. But, it really lacked the depth & complexity I have come to expect from this producers bottling.

Touched into 94 with a few sips. Decanted a 1 1/2 hours & enjoyed over the next two hours.

@NepentheBigSur If you haven’t been there, well worth the time to visit. — 4 months ago

Joe Fischer

8.9

Had this for $23? At Al Giardino in Taormina Sicily. A bargain and a different blend. We thought it was great for the price/value consideration. Dark berries and plum. A bit of leather with the tannins just fine. You can pick apart the two grapes in the blend. — 2 years ago

Brandon Boesch

10

I may have given other sour beers a 10, but this takes the cake. Insanely well balanced. What sets this apart is the underlying creaminess with tannin. I wonder if it’s from apricot pits. Huge apricot flavor and sour complexity. Perfect bubbles coat your entire palate. I was not expecting to buy into the hype of this so hard. Would love to do an apricot sour tasting to see what others (SARA, Rare Bareel) are like next to this. — 4 years ago

Connie Radwanski

9.9

Nice tannis and smooth finish! — 9 months ago

Victor Charcan

9.0

This 2021 is the freshest Pago I can remember. Expressive nose, with red tones, apart from the plums and blueberries. Good acidity and length. Pleasant. — 2 years ago

Zack Hall

9.0

Tannins that we’re falling apart, smoky/meaty, high acidity — 4 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

Nose has ripe blackberry, fresh black cherry, cherry jam, mashed cherries, toasted anise seed, sweet smokey cedar, cherry liqueur. Rich and beautiful.

Palate has bright black cherry, old milk chocolate, cherry jam reduction, ripe fig, dried fig, black currant jam, moist garden soil, licorice and grape Jolly Rancher candy. Rich palate with mild tannins and long finish. This wine is in an outstanding spot with years ahead of it still, enjoy 2024-26, in proper storage. Decanted 6H.

Paired with pulled pork sandwiches, a Superbowl Sunday tradition for us. A local pork shoulder (Mill River Farm, New Marlborough, MA), dry spice rubbed and rested for 24H, then 10H in the slow cooker; it's just falling apart...so beautiful, our kitchen smells amazing! Garnished with our garden bread & butter pickles, homemade barbeque sauce, pickled red onion and a dash of cilantro, all a worthy combination. — 4 years ago

Vino Joe

9.4

Okay … cork completely fell apart on opening. Wine seemed unaffected though. Deep color but not yet dark. It was not as thick as I would have expected for 16 years. It was a bit underwhelming vs expectation. Not lengthy in its finish and missing the array of tropical flavors but was still good. Just not great. — a year ago

Chris McClellan

9.3

Graceful yet powerful…black and blueberry, menthol, vanilla spice, lead pencil, slight jalapeño, mocha, brick color, acid diminished, tannins super smooth and finishes like cali cab…fruit forward and lush…cork fell apart but wine fortunately did not… — 3 years ago

MaJ CappS

8.9

Smells like a spiced pastry

Lively! Red stars dance across the tongue for only a meaty mingling moment, before the tannins start smacking every part of the mouth, up, down, left, right, Jab, Jab, Ka-pow! Those knock out tannins longer on and on.. and on..
Wish I had bought 2 bottles, this needs at least 5 years to relax those teen tannins.
I mean, don’t close your mouth for too long on these tannins, as they act like a vacuum and super glue. You’ll never get your jaws apart.. — 4 years ago