Jan de Weerd

9.4

Smooth, rounded and perfectly balanced. But there is a powerful core that slowly reveals it selves as the layers open up. Spiced dark blue fruit with fine fully integrated tannins providing structure and a soft finish. You want to hear the story of how this wines was borne in a far away place on an ancient soil? Watch Spoken Wines story on YouTube @Spoken-wines: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mLTsMOqxcSE — 4 months ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.5

Rich juice squeezed from the Royal Slope in Columbia Basin. A sweet edge upfront turned into an earthy, mineral plethora of flavors with very soft tannins fully integrated. Pleasant finish. I had to score it high because it vanished pretty much by it selves. Nice start to the Easter weekend that concluded a week with a kick in the rear from my second Covid shot that took a few days to shake off. — 3 years ago

with Tammy

Thomas Brenner

9.2

There are some places in the world where they view present day America as a place where we expect to be happy. Should we feel bad they live in places where you should just expect hardship? We live in a time and place where we can focus on building our inner selves and have a chance at....When we're not constantly putting out fires we can really focus on...should that be a source of shame. When the desperate struggle to find food and shelter is finally behind us, we can turn our attention to other sources of pain and truth.
This is the kinda wine you feel bad about being able to enjoy. I feel privileged. — 6 years ago

Jan de Weerd

9.8

Unbelievable!!! A Cabernet that only can express it selves like this in Barossa Valley. Basically a Shiraz “wanna be”. So expressive, so rich, but fresh and focused grounded by a solid vibrant, mineral backbone. There are warm, Mediterranean spices filtering through this fresh dark fruit. A cab in a category by its own. — 6 months ago

with Tammy, Andrea and 1 other

Jan de Weerd

9.6

On to the 2012 Pontet-Canet from Paulliac paired with grilled lamb chops and made from scratch boulonese sauce. Fantastic. The wine expressed it selves very well after a good hour and half of decanting at about 60 F. The earthy umami flavors of the food propelled the wine above its weight. But the absolute best ever tasting quartered, seasoned potato wedges/fries from our guests brought the wine into outer orbit. The duck fat tasting fries revealed herbaceous floral notes on the mid palet and created a soothing long finish. With smooth fine grained tannins. — 2 years ago

with Skip and Tammy

Winny

9.5

I tend towards dichotomous labeling. I struggle: How can something be both light and dense? For the new year I’m going to focus on letting things be their complicated selves... so when you ask me: What’s good fam? I might say: a multiplicity! 1 <3 — 6 years ago

with Lola and Addison

Jan de Weerd

9.3

A Syrah that became more powerful with each sip. We experimented with different foods on our charcuterie board. Winner in a class by it selves was the pairing with these small sweet spicy gurkins. Brought out layers of dark fruit and carried the wine a bit further to linger longer in your throat. Combining it with the Irish Dubliner cheddar type cheese covered by sour cherry jam exploded the somewhat hidden forest floor earthiness. — 2 years ago

with Tammy

Boris Plutov

9.1

Chateau des Selves Le Sillon red blend — 5 years ago

with Maria

Boris Plutov

9.0

Chateau des Selves Cuvée de Baron Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon — 5 years ago

with Maria

Charlie Abbott

Sommelier Casa Mono

9.1

For a long time I bashed these wines as being thin and insipid. Joke's on me, Lòpez doesn't (and never will) give a fuck and these wines will always be their regal, timeless selves. Dried strawberries, palo santo, marjoram. Wait if you can! — 7 years ago