1986 vintage, Above average fill. Excellent cork with bottom quarter fully saturated. Decanted with respectable sed. Dark cherry skins color. Tasted after 15 mins. Light-medium body. Nose the usual aged/faintly cigar box intro. Flavors melded together nicely but ever so slightly tart. Delicate, long finish. Thinking the tartness would buff out after 45 minutes open but no chance to prove that theorem. 6.1.24. — 2 years ago
Completely alive!
Quite deep still , medium garnet core , medium narrow garnet rim . Rounded smoked plum , undergrowth , touch floral . Plump and round in the mouth , mix of red and dark fruits , quite elegant and medium bodied , pretty good length . Still a touch of noticeable but very fine tannins, though very much integrated into the wine. Elegant and well balanced acidity . Based on this magnum , the wine is fully mature but with a lot of life left. Not the most complex or large scale Petrus by any means , however it has great texture and elegance , harmonious powder fine tannins , just a joy drink now and over the next 10 years perhaps. This was opened and then decanted just before service , followed over 2 and a half hours and was still going strong at the end. Magnum had a level of bottom neck . Drank at Noizé, London . — 3 years ago
More complex fruit profile than the Bourgogne Blanc. Seems less mineral but really takes off after 24 hours. The bottom end fills out and the classic nutty component appears alongside more tropical fruit. — 5 years ago
One of those wines that makes you say “huh, so that’s why they blend Sémillon with Sauvignon Blanc”. Although the Sémillon makes up slightly more of the blend the greenery of SB punches throughout not obnoxiously so. Like the Semi was holding out the plank of wood expressly for the purpose of SB breaking it in half with its bare hands. All the green things and citrus but there is depth and warmth and a bit of weight. And dang it’s a bargain. — 5 years ago
Lovely, well balanced blend that tastes mostly like a cab franc to me from Willamette. Plum and simple spice. Very enjoyable lightly chilled. — 6 years ago
Blinded and my WOTN. You know when a wine's open for business, it's simply unbeatable. That being said, even the KR crew was surprised how well this showed. I mean it technically sits near the bottom of their wine range, but we absolutely annihilated the bottle. This line from a CT user pretty much sums up the wine - "Quite intense, but gives the refreshing feeling of mountain spring water". In fact, I thought it was a Spatlese trocken.
Nose of sea spray, grapefruit, pear, anise, fresh green herbs, chamomile and that typical KR dirt. The palate's just so saline, juicy, and spicy. Like biting into the juiciest white nectarine by the ocean. Finishes tart, mineral, and long. Pure finesse! — 7 years ago
It’s a night of first year consecutive decades, 90 & 80. Enjoyed in reverse order
From the same technical team as Leoville Las Cases.
Another great Clyde Beffa direct purchase from the Chateau or Negociant.
Still ripe older Bordeaux fruits with smoothed out lead pencil. Blackberries, black raspberries that lean into pudding, black plum, darkest, cooked cherries, raspberries edges, baked rhubarb and hues of poached strawberries. There is nothing that bites back. Dark chocolate, smooth mocha, caramel, soften baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, old tobacco w/ ash, used leather, dry top soil, limestone powder, black licorice to anise, dry river stone, fresh & withering dark, red flowers, amazing, rainfall acidity and a well; balance, structured, knitted and smartly polished finish that lasts 90 seconds.
Steak slow cooked in the oven at graduating low heats and then seared at 1300 degrees, 30, 30, 30 & 30. .
“The Truth is Inside” is an expression about the very bottom of a bottle of wine. Tannin soaked & it never lies. Typically the best part of the bottle. 93 that lands 94 in truth. I always leave two-three inches of wine in bottle just because it is always slightly better than the rest of the bottle. It is more concentrated. — 2 years ago
Always impressed with this producers wines from top to bottom. His Monvigliero is legendary but his regular Barolo is drinking way above its weight class showing its whole cluster, red cherry, strawberry, savory spice, floral with rose petal, violet, leather & tobacco — 2 years ago
The 2017 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru has a wonderful, focused nose: lean, mineral-driven, very flinty and very Chablis. The palate is taut and fresh, with sharp acidity, and very citric and powerful, with immense weight and penetration toward the finish. Very persistent, very sophisticated; this is what great Chablis is all about. But the bottom line is that it is very uncompromising. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2021)
— 5 years ago
Another go to n/v Rosé Champange because of quality & availability in 375’s. Although, most people think their recent price increases are unwarranted. In large part, I agree. They just haven’t passed my threshold.
Lots of strawberries, black cherries, blood orange, uncooked rhubarb, blackberries, peach, Rainer cherries, loads of white spice w/ heat, sea fossils, dry yeast, some bread dough, weighed, crispy, crunchy minerals, excellent, powdery chalkiness, red flowers & both pink & red rose, lively, crisp acidity, great length and balance with polished, ripe fruits and falling onto pronounced minerality on the long set.
The bottom photos tell you all you need to know as to why the region of Champange is so excellent. Not many places in the world have that kind of chalk & for me, that’s what makes them special. — 5 years ago

15.3% abv. Always good. Bold smooth rich. — 2 years ago
This Lagier Meredith Syrah (2016) is stunning!!
It presents red, black, and blue fruit characteristics, such as fresh mulberry, redcurrant, strawberry preserves (like fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt), black cherry, cassis, ripe blueberry, next to black tea, anise, fennel, clove, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cacao, crushed white and black pepper, and earthy, potting soil notes.
On the palate it’s dry, smooth, and balanced with a lingering finish. Alcohol (14.5% ABV) and tannins are notable and well-integrated.
This wine hails from higher elevation sites of Mount Veeder in Napa Valley and is delicious! — 2 years ago

A stained cork from bottom to top gave me pause. Phew! All good. Dusty notes dominate early on with stewed plumbs and Aussie scrub (underbrush) not far behind. Let’s see where we are in an hour. Sixty minutes on firmly delivers with a weighty 65% Cab Sauv with, dare I say it, a slight nod to Napa. Chewy tannins with continuous dust rounds it all out. I like this wine. As to down the road…I think we’ve arrived au point. — 4 years ago
When winemakers devote themselves to the mastery of one grape, every bottling from top to bottom tends to be exceptional.
Such is the case with Raul Perez and his consistent ability to make Mencia bloom.
Vico is aromatically rich and complex. Cedar, new leather, blackberry, black currant, cinnamon, cocoa, coffee.
— 5 years ago

Earthy aromas with ripe plum notes - a very Otago nose albeit in the lighter spectrum. Same notes transfer to the medium bodied sappy palate. Not as full bodied as I was expecting. Quite Burgundian in weight and texture. Made by the equally earthy Nick Mills, owner and winemaker who made his presentation at Pinot NZ 2018 in Wellington in bare feet. Rippon is biodynamic and chemical free. I subsequently had a nice chat with him - a genuine bloke. Must be one of the prettiest vineyard scenes anywhere in the world sloping up from Lake Wanaka. Whilst this is classed as Central Otago this is not as full bodied as the Bannockburn/Felton Road district. — 6 years ago
Have been enjoying this over the last few months and finally reached the bottom tonight on a lovely evening out back. It was delicious. Lots of other reviews here with descriptions which I echo. Grab some if you can. — 7 years ago
Tasted at the estate with the owner, it has been an emotional explosion. It's hard to describe... Authentic, elegant and complex, although still young this wine is pure emotion, with an endless aftertaste that favours meditation. The vines are grown according to respectful and natural methods, Flavio is a true depositary of piedmontese ancestral viticulture. The vineyard itself is idyllic, bursting with biodiversity and showing all the mastery of the man who works it. The winemaking technique is traditional, slow, the cellar is carved in the tuff soil, extra humid with the bare stone still visible. For me it is a perfect match — 7 years ago
Elle West
This wine blew my mind. A complex wine with brighter fruits and warm oak, earthy and light and tanginess softened. What a trip! — a year ago