Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Pale golden color, complex aging, 34% new French oak-15 months, 30% stainless-4 months; 18% in Foudre for 9 months; rest concrete egg for 14 months. Aromas of stone fruits, oak, nuts, floral and spice. On the palate flavors of peach and pear with honeysuckle, integrated toasty oak and nice citrus tang. Long finish, ending with a wet stone mineral character. Outstanding! Will age well! — a month ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

My last bottle of this deliciously weird Napa blend. Nose has an olivey herbal note to accompany ripe cassis, and in that regard reminds me of some Napa Cabs from the 1970s when that was a (nice) thing. Also some warm gravel notes and a touch of subtle wood. Soft and mouthfilling, it’s got equal part dark fruit and savory notes. Great balance. Long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Grenache, I believe. — 2 years ago

Thomas LD

9.2

Légèrement fruité dans aller jusqu’aux moelleux classique, leger côté minéral. — 3 years ago

Frank Artale

9.4

Stellar wine. Deep ruby. Black fruits across the board. Acid down. Still some tannin but unwinding gracefully. Bitter chocolate. Sweet tobacco. Cedar. Vanilla. Baking spice. Dried fig. No signs of slowing down. — 7 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2021 vintage. Big-bodied and smooth. Not for everyone and a pinot for Cab drinkers. Nice once in a while tho. 3.19.24. — 8 months ago

Avery Plank

9.0

After 30 minutes of decanting all of the sharp acidity rounded out & it is like a baby CdP. Great value wine. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

This was a fun one. A friend of mine, a wine guy that predominately drinks new world Cabernet Sauvignon, was visiting my place and wanted to try something from the old world. I figured it might be fun to try two different expressions of Syrah from the Rhône; one from the North (Auguste Clape’s “Le Vin des Amis” with vines located in and around Cornas) and one from the South (Chateau Fortia “Reserve” from Chateauneuf du Pape). Both bottles were from the same vintage and aged (at least partially) in foudre. Popped and poured. “Le Vin des Amis” appears as a deep, glass staining purple color with medium+ viscosity. On the nose, high intensity with purple flowers and a powerful bacon fat/deli case smell. Funky, but not in a barnyard sort of way; more like a reductive sort of way. The funk eventually blew off after 15-20 minutes. There are blue fruits with a generous amount of black pepper. On the palate, blue and red fruits with black pepper, lavender and iron-like minerals. Medium tannin, Medium+ acid. Medium alcohol. Long, lip smacking finish. A very giving wine that punches way high above its weight class considering this is Clape’s “entry level” wine. Clape’s “entry-level” offering — 3 years ago

RJ Stefanski

9.4

Stunning. Delicious. One of my fav wines of the last 1.5 years. Godello aged under flor that competes with white Burgundy/ Sonoma Coast chards that cost double. Sourced from two tiny plots of 80-100 yr old vines. 80% old foudre, 20% amphora under flor, no malo, no stirring. Sunny bouquet, honeycomb, Asian pear, gun flint, crushed stone, brisk, seamless, cool and classy. $55. — 7 months ago

Kiran K

9.5

Complex wine. Earth, leather, med tannins and intesnse finish. Every 30 mins was a chapter and was fun to see it open up. — 10 months ago

Johnno Harris

9.6

Awesome! Is this the best Foudre Ferment Rizza from Best’s to date? I think so. Impeccable balance and tremendous flavour intensity. — 3 years ago