DAL 9000

9.2

Pale salmon color. Bouquet of citrus and apricots? Mild strawberry tartness upfront that builds in the middle. Finishes with a creamy mouthfeel and a mild strawberry/apricot taste. — a month ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.3

Light, limpid lemon color…very light nose. Clean, crisp, lemon, tart apple notes with a hint of stem. Delightful long finish with a smooth, supple base note and hints of savory basil. Structured, layered, complex and lively. I love Chenin… particularly Californian with early summer simple lemon roast chicken and cucumber/onion salad. I like the producer and wish I had more. Easy to like as a young vibrant wine. — a year ago

Jay Kline

9.4

If you’re as big into Italian wines as I am, Biondi-Santi is a name you hear about, read about and then dream about someday getting the opportunity to experience. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that today would be the day. After the LdH Rosado, I was already on cloud nine and then this gets low-key poured in my glass and for a moment, time stopped. Is this real life? In the glass, the wine looks like classic Brunello with a bright ruby color and a transparent core. And the experience was, in fact, just that: classic. The first impression was that this was a bit austere; a wine that liked the chase. With some gentle coaxing: bright red cherry fruits, dried herbs, black tea, orange bitters, dusty earth and a kiss of spice. As expected, the structure is significant with firm tannins and racy acidity. That being said, everything is perfect harmony. A wine I wish I could have spent the whole weekend with to be honest. This was paired with a simple tomato toast which was lovely and quite tasty. After this experience, it really comes as no surprise that this wine has been the model for the DOCG. A benchmark for sure. — 2 years ago

Rufus King

9.0

Refined Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, served before dinner in Toronto — a month ago

Raul Puga

9.0

Excellent value. Delicious — 6 months ago

Tom Garland

9.5

+2 hour decant(lots of cloudy sediment). A monumental dark purplish magenta color. On the nose: dark fruit, spearment, licorice, boiled meat, milk chocolate. Taste: smooth, creamy, velvety intense wine with cherry, plum, dark chocolate espresso, anise, black pepper, orange peel and a decent long finish. YUM! — a year ago

with Brenda

Michael Lavely

9.0

I have been drinking this for years and each year it has different notes. Great wine, great buy. — 3 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Forgot I opened one of these earlier in the year. Whoops. Wish I had more.

Hour decant, then consumed from decanter over the next 3hrs.

My note here is fairly similar to the 2014 note, but there is more concentration and power going on. Dark purple in the glass, with aromatics of both sweet oak as well as a kiss of whole cluster stem inclusion. Loads of dark floral notes, ripe blackberries, and smoked jerky. Large-scaled mid palate depth and richness of blue and black fruits with plenty of herbal flair and spice but it’s more iron fist in a velvet glove style. There’s black peppercorn and iron, as well as big central coast Rhône style with its rich and textural palate.

I love Syrah in all expressions. It’s natural to compare these wines to SQN (and Andremily), and rightly so. These are dialed up to 9, but pull back, whereas the others aren’t afraid of going to 11. No right/wrong answer, just style preference. I happen to love both. — 5 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.2

Reminds me of Bollinger. — a year ago

Ian Hamel

9.1

2021/8-9. Based on some disparity among notes I had read, I was a little apprehensive about the style of this, but it wasn’t annoying (read: not overrripe, no noticeable oak), and the notes suggesting elegance and vibrancy turned out to be the right ones. — 3 years ago