Matt Waring

9.2

Star of Thanksgiving. 🦃 After a two hour decant, showed out with black cherry, rhubarb, clumps of dirt, and leggy tannins. Medium plus acid. Just delightful — a month ago

with Christine

Adriana Fabbro

9.3

Levet is always one of my favorites. unfortunately these wines are getting harder and harder to find.

Black pepper, pastille, “Australian licorice”, black currant, black cherry, dried thyme/sage. It’s showing more fruit than I remember (this vintage? The point in its development?), but the fruit is pretty and lifted and not overripe. Of course, this wine is still showing the dirt under its fingernails—just enough barnyard filth to make it a proper syrah. Ripe, silky tannins. So much finesse.

Cote Rotie was the perfect red to pair with everyone’s entrees: duck, pork chop, wagyu, roast chix. — 3 years ago

Brett Rogosin

9.1

Dark and thick. Age has done wonders for this wine. Over extracted years ago and mostly mellowed now with good fruit and some earth showing over time. Nose of dry dirt, black raspberry, blackberry, red currant, cherry, rainbow peppercorn. Good acidity with mellow tannins, oily, a bit tart on the tip of the tongue. On the palate more earth, a touch of mushroom, more black raspberry, very similar to the nose with maybe a touch of dark chocolate. — 3 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.6

Blend of Grenache (78%), Mourvèdre (11.5%), Touriga National (7%) and Petite Sirah (3.5%). Dark ruby/purple color. Aromas of kirsch, herbs and graphite. Black berry/currant flavors with notes of black pepper, those fresh herbs and graphite. Pleasant earthy flavor on the finish Full bodied and powerful but quite austere and elegant at the same time. Intense complexity and depth. Incredible!! Thanks for sharing, Petey P!, — 3 months ago

Daniel Bloom

9.4

Rented vines, 1.5 hectare, limestone.fresh* grapes brought up for a year in 25*hl botte, once used.then a year in btl
N: The woods, loam, wet dirt, mushrooms, slight cherries, eucalyptus, herbaceous.
P: Currants, black peppercorns,pink as well, wonderfuly balanced acidity, med-long finish,juicy! That’s some beautiful wine. — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Reddish tawny. Interesting nose. Notes of coffee and molasses, black fruit, earth and dirt, and some slate stone. Decent finish. Guessed "old Rhone" which was all I had at that point, which was better than other guesses given the smells and notes were complex. This had a heavier profile and was a little darker than the 83, but the 83 seemed to be the better bottle today. Still a great treat to try this (but drink up soon if you're sitting on bottles!)... — 3 years ago

Daniel Bloom

9.1

N: Tobacco, gravel, tar, coffee, wet earth,
Black plums.
P: Black plum, dirt, tobacco,(maduro),mid weight but voluptuous,
Chewy. Really nice. — 4 years ago

Jason Williams

9.0

Nose: leather, horse blanket, black current
Taste: black current, blackberry, chocolate, black dirt, subtle mint on the finish, followed by cherry — 2 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

I bought this for the winter months and finished the last of it over the weekend. This is a blended malt named in honour of Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese Whisky. He was the first Japanese who mastered Whisky making in Scotland and brought this expertise back to Japan. It was an incredibly pure and rich Whisky with a certain smokiness. I don’t drink enough Whisky to know the difference but this could easily have been Scotch to my palate. 43% ABV. — 2 years ago

Willie Carter

9.0

It’s always fun trying a Coteaux Champenois still red wine from such an a wonderful house as Paul Bara. A clear ruby color with a wide brim and the smallest touch of purple. Blind, it would be easy to confuse with a nice good quality Burgundy.

The nose shows lingonberry, strawberries, and black cherries. Some really nice fresh soil and underbrush. With plenty of air and decanting time delicate perfumed flowers and olive pits.

A Bouzy Pinot Noir with a few years on it is a real treat. Light bodied with round tannins and enough depth. Generous and inviting throughout, this is never really closed off. The palate has a ton of herb goodness and cigar smoke. More red and black berries along with dirty dirt and a dash of vanilla. This is a fun, summery light Pinot. Drink chilled and sit back and enjoy. — 3 years ago