Maritana Vineyards

La Rivière Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2020

9.2

Light gold in color with a green hue.

Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate and nicely balanced.

Showing yellow and red apples, ripe pears, lemons, spices, oak, almonds, sea salt and black pepper.

Long finish with almonds and limes.

This 4 year old Russian River Valley Chardonnay, is drinking beautifully now. Buttery and rich. Fruit forward with nice complexity and mouthfeel.

Peaking now and will continue to drink nicely in the next 3 to 5 years.

Easy drinking right out of the bottle, and better after 20 minutes of airtime. I had the 2018 not too long ago and loved it as well.

Good by itself as a sipping wine, and better when not too cold.

14% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$42. — a month ago

Ron, Dawn and 8 others liked this

Olivier Rivière

LA BASTID Viura Blend 2020

Fin Jams

9.1

First Rioja white of the year. Impressive. Lots of white peaches and a string mineral base. Nutty finish. — 6 months ago

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2003

Shay A

9.4

One of the better older Bordeaux I’ve had in quite some time. Absolutely at peak with so many layers. It outshined an ‘03 Grand Puy Lacoste (which showed thin), ‘03 Montelena (sadly corked), and an ‘03 BV Georges de LaTour (rich/sweet).

Absolutely on fire from pop, this 20yr old left bank Bordeaux showed none of the overripe/too hot characteristics of the vintage. Deep purple/black in the glass with no bricking. Full-bodied. Mocha, truffle, roasted blackberries and raspberries, graphite on the nose. Ripe (but not overly so) dark berries, plum, cassis with vanilla pipe tobacco and even some iron. Still a good bit of tannin on the finish. This shows as a “modern” style due to the warmth, but balanced. Wish I had more. Pop the corks and enjoy! — 2 years ago

Jan, Steve and 41 others liked this

Deborah M

Bummer about the Montelena. I love Pontet-Canet. Great notes.

Lacoste-Borie

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2012

Peter van den Besselaar

9.1

Vintage 2012 | Not a great vintage but very satisfactory now, a Point. Berries, tobacco, chocolate. Round taste. | paired with pigs neck from the bbq | at Gist Tilburg — 2 months ago

John, romo and 8 others liked this