Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2003 vintage. "Spongy" cork so used the Durand. Decanted and tasted after 30 minutes, 1.5 hrs, 2.5 hrs and 4.5 hrs. Some sed but not too much. Heavy body. Massive structure and fruit to carry the 15.8% ABV along. Ridiculously concentrated. Will likely take this effort another 12-15 more years to noticeably "thin out" even slightly. It's that bigg. Don't feel that it is still climbing the charts but, with tonight's effort, proving it can stay top of the pops indefinitely. With all that said, the passage of time finds this 2003 in better balance than some 2010+ SQN red efforts. 2.15.24. — 2 months ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.8

Seamless, beautifully transparent and light, tannins fallen away and left a surge of transparent energy. At first, an animal quality, horse stable notes, musk, and mincemeat. Then this resolves into pure, incisive peony, lavender and white truffle. Stunning.

Wow. Can’t keep my nose out of the glass. Every sip is like a new passage. With time, I’m increasingly taken with this wine. Increasingly acknowledging it may be as close to perfect as just about anything else I’ve tried. — 3 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

This is a young wine that I opened last weekend and enjoyed but, had to seal it up and put back into storage until tonight. It’s a touch faded (10%) but, like all young wine, resilient.

The nose reveals, ripe & candied; blackberries, dark cherries, plum, well extracted pomegranate, the blue fruits he does so well and I love in Pinot, dry cranberries, poached strawberries, raspberries, beautiful layered baking spices, medium intensity dark spices, steeped fruit tea, red fruit cola, hints of dry crushed rocks, limestone, dark, blue, purple flowers with hints of lavender.

The body is full with a fair amount of tannin presence. Nicely knitted structure, tension, length and balance for such a young Pinot. Ripe & candied; blackberries, dark cherries, plum, well extracted pomegranate, the blue fruits he does so well and I love in Pinot, dry cranberries, poached strawberries, touch of cooked rhubarb, raspberries, beautiful layered baking spices, medium intensity dark spice with shades of palate heat, steeped fruit tea, red fruit cola, saline notes, dry herbs, menthol, eucalyptus, hints of dry crushed rocks, volcanic minerals, dry & moist clay, limestone, leathery, wood staves, amazing dark, blue, purple flowers with hints of lavender. The acidity is excellent. The ripe, elegant, balanced, polished finish is delicious and persists nicely for minutes.

Paul makes beautiful expressions of Pinot, Rhône styles & Chardonnay. If you have not had them, well worth your time & investment to seek out.

Photos of; his Sierra Madre Vineyard...netted to keep the birds from eating his fruit, fruit near harvest time, my picture meeting Paul for the first time last week weekend at a “Matter of Taste” in Napa last weekend and their barrel room. — 5 years ago

James Carter

9.1

This bottle came through a fraught ocean passage in 2018, with heat and humidity extremes. It has retained its fruit, structure and more. Lush blackberries, with a tannic kick. A ton of other flavors in there they you can discover. Thrilled that it survived so well. — 3 years ago

Morgan O’Brien

9.0

Smooth, no bite, full bodied — 3 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.5

I get it, I get it, I understand the hype now. This was the last bottle of the day, the crowd thinned down to 3 from 7 and 15 bottles had already been consumed. The color of the wine was the first hint that let me know this was going to be different. In the glass this looks like water. However once your nose gets into the glass you know this cannot be water. Notes of lime, oranges , herbs and stone fruit blast their way into your nasal passage. You almost feel there’s no need to drink it, just snort it. Everything that your nose was treated to is amplified on the palate. Pure fruit and electrifying acid. I now know what Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction experienced when John Travolta stabbed her in the heart with a shot of adrenaline. — 4 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.7

Is it possible to drink a cloud? A perfumed nose of honey and hints of caramel that never overpower but instead tickles your nasal passage . You feel it enter you mouth but instead of exploding it just expands and covers your tastebuds with incredible freshness that defies its age. Honey, apricot , salt and that chenin wax appear in a flotilla of flavors . — 5 years ago

Steven Heydemann

8.9

Picked up a bunch of nice QPR summer wines from CSW. First up - Great fruit, all out front, with enough structure to hold it together. — 3 years ago

Brian S

9.6

This plot cuvée was created jointly by Delphine and her father, Claude in 1995.

Its grapes come from the oldest vines of Clos, planted by Claude Cazals in 1957, located in Oger.

Clos are very rare in Champagne, there are only about twenty (21). Delphine Cazals owns one of the largest clos of the Côte des Blancs (3.70 Ha).

A passage in oak barrels is carried out for all vintages in order to bring subtle and delicate aromas.

Aging on slats for a minimum of 10 years in a vaulted cellar in Mesnil-sur-Oger is required to develop the full aromatic palette of this exceptional cuvée, highlighting all the complexity of the 100% Oger terroir.

A fine and elegant champagne with notes of white flowers and citrus fruits with an appreciable roundness and revealed by a minimal dosage between Extra-Brut and Brut Nature depending on the vintage.

Terroir: Le Clos d´Oger - GRAND CRU

Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay — 3 years ago

with Ellie

Julia Geisler

8.9

Thank you so much to Holly at The Whitby for sharing this pick! Very pleasant to talk with and a wonderfully versatile palate.
I received for Xmas one of those nice sunlight alarm clocks that goes off with chirping birds in the morning and weirdly that’s what I thought of when I took the first sip of this. Acidic but not in a way that makes you want to throw it out the window. A nice little wake up call (but for the evening! not the morning) with just a nice lil fruity kick to make it pleasant for sipping.
A reminder that I’d really like to try more orange wines for the sake of simply Understanding. — 4 years ago

with Chantelle