Since Fass is offering the 2019 as a cellar release from the winery i went back to taste the vintage. 2018, 19, 20, 21 are all excellent and different. The 18‘ is more wild and rich, the 19‘ quite elegant and the 20‘big while the 21‘ is probably my favorite a combination of 19‘ & 20‘. The 19 is classic E&M i would drink the vintage and not keep it. Light and elegant, dark cherries, lime, chalk and this hard to define E&M signature best described as black forest meadow with thyme and other herbs. I could drink this by the bucket. — 3 months ago
Great 05 fruit with classic Bordeaux profile.
Starts with the bright, ripe fruits that 05 gave. Blackberries, black raspberries, very, dark cherries, black plum, raspberries, plum, perfect graphite for days, cedar, fresh & slightly dry tobacco, forest floor with dry leaves, perfect, dark spices, dry crushed limestone, dry river stone, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, salted caramel, dry, dark chocolate bar, steep tea with fruit, anise to black licorice, haunting herbaceous notes, saline notes, dry to moist clay, bright, mid to dark florals framed in violets, excellent acidity with amazing tension, beautifully balanced & structured, polished, wire to wire finish that lasts close to two-minutes. So round on the palate. Great with the El Salciciero ribeyes.
Corn picked today from my organic garden. Ten to fifteen plus year left. — 8 months ago
This is 93-94 this young. I was a little surprised they slotted this last in the tasting. I would have led with it. However, it didn’t end up being our last wine. Leslie was kind enough to open another.
Both plums, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, mix of dark berry cola, nice, soft baking spices-nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, vanillin, grainy limestone, wet clay, dark, rich, forest floor, some dry herbs, excellent fresh & withering florals that are a combination of; dark, red, some blue and violets, nice round acidity, a smooth, elegant finish that softly structured, balanced and wire to wire smooth and elegant with a full minute finish.
Photos of; a pano of their stunning view of Pritchard Hill, Their dual sided wall of fame of bottles the staff at the estate have enjoyed and their tasting room table. They did an excellent job curating it. — 2 months ago
Ruby color, slight purple edges, with aromas of red fruits, forest floor, floral and smoky spice, aged in 50% new French oak. On the palate flavors of cherry and raspberry with cedar notes, tea, cola, black pepper, cinnamon spice and earthy herbs, very complex. Full-bodied, fine tannins, long finish ending with fruit, oak and a spicy earthy character. Needs more bottle time, will age well! Pair this with a grilled salmon or maple glazed pork chop! — 6 months ago
Deep Ruby with aromas of black fruits, spice and dried herbs. On the palate flavors of blackberry, currants and ripe cherry with cedar spice and forest herbs. Fine firm tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit, cedar and earthy character. Good value! — a year ago
The 2008 Cheval Blanc is one of the go-to wines of the vintage. Now at 15 years old, it has retained the energy and focus it displayed from the outset: black fruit, crushed stone, wilted violet petals and touches of forest floor cohere wonderfully in the glass. The Cabernet here is more expressive. The palate has a slight chewiness on the entry, but it "relaxes" in the glass. It shows off its delicate lattice of tannins and perhaps a bit more backbone than I have observed on previous bottles. It's very intense on the finish where, as before, the Cabernet Franc takes charge. Superb. Keep it another three to four years if you can. Tasted at the Lia's Wings/book dinner at Medlar restaurant. (Neal Martin, Vinous, December 2023)
— 3 months ago
Nose starting to bloom, dark fruit, tobacco, leather. Dark ruby. Fruit starting to mature, cassis, blackberry and black cherry. Sweet tobacco, leather, forest floor, oak. Acidity strong, tannins chalky but tight. Grippy mouthfeel. Needs air to open up a bit but still lot of time left to go. Gonna save my next bottle for at least 5 years. Nice long finish. — 7 months ago
Time to drink a bottle of my favorite Priorat.
A blend of 60% Garnacha and 40% Cariñena from 110+ years old vines!
Decanted for 4 hours!
From Gabriel glas!
Gorgeous nose with ripe black and red berries fruits, flowers, very fine cedar, authum forest, fine herbal touch, layered fruit flavors on the full bodied palate, impeccable balance, fine ripe tannin, great acidity, long creamy yummy aftertaste! 96 DSP — 2 years ago
Pinotman /// Andreas
Tried side by side. Tasting these since 2009. These are now classic wines. The vineyards are very close to the tree line of the western slope of the black forest in Baden. Who knows what these clones are? May be the Cluny Monks brought them up from France. These are world class Grand Cru level Pinots and are stupid underpriced. With age they turn into incredible beauties which easily match GranCru Burghs. Will be a 10 in 5 years from now. The Muschelkalk is always lighter in color ethereal and elegant. Black forest thyme, touch crushed marble, wild sour raspberry, hint of black forest morello cherries, cranberry, Mexican lime, green moos. This needs to uncoil over night to really get the potential of this. Quite acidic. 12.5%. A stellar vintage. And sleeping beauty. I would say not approachable for a novice at this point. Lucky for me my neighbors get it. Revisit in 2031. — a month ago