Tree Kilpatrick

9.0

Pretty label. Beautiful color. Euro smells. Smells of rosehip and gojiberry. Complex. High ABV. Deceptively strong cider. Pretty dry. Flavors are tart, but full. Tannins. Cukes and bit of cherry surprise. This is fancy cider for the connoisseur. — 10 days ago

Michael Phillips

9.3

Rich ripe fruit some tannin would benefit from a few more years of aging. — 4 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped in poured, consumed over a several hour period. The 2016 Clape Côtes du Rhône pours a deep purple color with a nearly opaque core with medium+ viscosity with significant staining of tears. There are slight signs of sediment. No signs of gas. On the nose, the wine is initially pretty funky. It has that nearly poopy diaper sort of thing going, but it’s so typical in reductive Syrah. This blows off within minutes and reveals a tremendous amount of dark bramble fruit, black plum, blueberry, deli case, olive brine, lavender, dried herbs, and baking spices. There is a bit of the animal that’s sticking around too. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and includes quite a bit of black pepper. A lovely wine and it’s almost unfair to have it labeled as CdR. This is drinking so well right now but could very well impress through 2030+…but why wait? — 10 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.3

The 2020 Cornas Renaissance is delicious. It bursts with crushed violet, cured meat, menthol and black fruit aromatics. Peppery layers add more complexity. Offering increased concentration and an even riper profile than the 2022, I have no doubt that the powerful and neatly balanced 2020 Renaissance will be a long-distance runner. Medium- to full-bodied, it concludes with persistence on the complex finish. (Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous, March 2024)
— 21 days ago

Serena Wu

9.6

Such an exceptional marsanne. Complex, rounded, and a hint of salinity. — 7 months ago

with Brad

Gabija Blake

9.5

Easy drinking — a year ago

John Tan

9.2

Xmas day 2022. Opened for grandma. Perfumed nose w rose petals, sweet berries, orange rind.

100% Pinot Fin, extremely rare massale selection from 1964. From the walled vineyard (Clos) of six hectares, 2 ha of this comprises the Pinot Noir for the Cuvée Auguste. It is blessed with a hard limestone soil with pearl slabs called aragonitic limestone. Yield is a scant 20 hl/ha. Semi-carbonic whole-cluster fermentation with cold pre-fermentation, natural yeasts, no SO2, no chaptalisation or enzymes. Matured in barrels, no racking. Assembled in a large vat 40 days before bottling. Bottled using nitrogen, no filtration.
“Bursting with aromas of peonies, orange rind, sweet berries, plums and rose petals, the 2019 Bourgogne Rouge Cuvée Auguste is medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with lively acids and a perfumed core of fruit that's framed by melting tannins. While this cuvée sometimes behaves erratically in the cellar, Guillot assures me that more attention to detail when racking and the use of a new, in-house bottling line will help to improve consistency. Today, this is certainly a beautiful wine, the most delicious Cuvée Auguste I've tasted.” William Kelley, WA 91 — a year ago

Delectable Wine

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9.6

The full-bodied 2020 Cornas is a wild thing. Concentrated and expressive, it combines all the elements that Clape-enthusiasts rave about: a juicy core of fruit, ferrous gradations, crushed flowers, meaty undertones, rustic funkiness and an herbal edge. Remarkably round tannins lend solid structure to the delicious 2020, an instant classic that shows excellent persistence on the savory finish. (Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous, March 2024)
— 21 days ago

Justin Bothur

8.9

Pretty delicious and balanced Syrah — 6 months ago

John Tan

8.9

Wildcard. Prob my fav cuvée from Julien. Tasted aged even tho it’s a 21. Flowery quality to it, like roses, potpourri.

[2019 Vintage:] “A captivating, translucent ruby red hue. Even on the nose alone, there is already a suggestion of ripeness, yet it is utterly enveloped by fragrance: white flowers, grapefruit, cherry, even stony minerals. Really classy and effusive, replete with sapid pinot-esque flavours of enviable concentration. The vintage is quite magical here: all pure, palate-staining but also inexplicably airy in the mouth. The mouthfeel is silky, culminating in a persistent, gentle and thoroughly sweet-fruited long finish held together by an invisible frame. Like the ethereal cuvée Auguste, trails of crushed flower petals replicate and repeat on the lingering finish.” AC
“Guillot brings a unique perspective to gamay—not quite Burgundy, not yet Beaujolais—not only in his Mâcon Rouge and Mâcon-Cruzille, but the mysterious, radiant, field-blended Cuvée 910.” Jon Bonné — a year ago