Bob McDonald

9.7

Nutty Aromas of cashews and almonds. Leesy / some sulphides - struck match. On the palate a note of pineapple along with all of the other complexity of flavours. See previous Delectable notes for this wine. This won the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge in 2016 from over 600 entries proving that Penfolds white program is catching up to its esteemed red wine program. My last of the 2015 Chardonnay. — 6 months ago

Jamie Lauder

9.0

Okunomatsu kura was founded in Fukushima in 1716 and is now led by its 19th president Joji Yusa. This sake won the International Wine Challenge (IWC) Gold medal award in 2018 beating out 1,639 other sake labels.
Lychee, orange blossom and white flowers on the nose.
Bright, silky and a bit viscous with honey dew melon, white chocolate and minerality.
Ya ya karakuchi describes a sake as a nice balance between acidity and sweetness. We had soba with duck, shiitake mushrooms and grilled leeks. — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

A very good modern Chardonnay from the Margaret River. Smoky Leesy Flinty Mealy , struck match aromas. Lean to medium weight palate with mainly citrus and ripe grapefruit flavours. Barb thought nectarine notes as well. Still quite delicate but with great length and persistence. This Chardonnay won the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge in 2014 from 680 entries and 98 points from James. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

The colour is a quite pale Ruby. Red fruited (cherry) aromatics with Sous Bois. Light to medium bodied but with M plus intensity. As Bob Campbell MW said this wine has good vinosity (or Pinosity if you prefer). Pinots like this and Ata Rangi, both from Martinborough , challenge the Pinot dominance of Central Otago and Canterbury in New Zealand. — a year ago

Barberry Garden

9.0

Tasted blind while knowing the list of wines. Guessed the wine. And I found it beautiful and refreshing, especially in contrast with the previous atrocity. A charming bouquet of cherry, white pepper, mushrooms, dill and pickled tomato. Relatively funky, fresh and elevated. Not simple, rather a challenge, but a pleasant one.

Tasted on 2023-07-21 — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Over the last few years, I’ve grown quite fond of Raul Pérez’s wines. The challenge is, some of them can be rather elusive. “La Penitencia” is one of those wines. So I was pretty excited to try this. Popped and poured; consumed over three days. Wine pours deep ruby bordering purple and slightly turbid with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity. There does appear to be a small amount of fine sediment clinging to the side of the glass. On the nose, the wine is intense. There’s obvious presence of VA and overall, comes across natty; more than any other Raul Pérez wine I’ve had before. That being said, it is remarkably fresh with notes of cherry and blackberry; the pits, seeds, stems and all. There’s also spices, cinder block, and un-excavated basement. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+, bordering on high acid. Again, bright red and dark fruits along with pomegranate, grapefruit, and basil. The finish is a touch mousey with a biscuity sort of thing happening but it’s tolerable and I’m pretty sensitive. This would be too wild for many. Reminds me a bit of Fabio Gea’s “Onde Gravitational”. Plenty of life ahead for these. As it stands, I have another bottle and I won’t be in any particular rush to drink it. Lovely stuff. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

At my 2015 Chardonnay Challenge the Giaconda was a consensus 3rd. Easily the most smoky, sulphidic, struck match of the 6 wines. I loved it. On the palate a powerful wine. Opulent. This wine is becoming difficult to source and sells out in a flash upon release. — a year ago

Vittorio Veronelli

9.2

drinking a 2011 Dogliani in August 2022 could be a challenge for most of dolcetto’s, but not for this! — 3 years ago

Patricia Schnitzer

9.0

Dec 14, 2020. W/ Caitlin. Wine Folly tasting challenge, Bordeaux. C got this at Last Bottle. Definitely needs more time but should be beautiful in a couple years. Cedar, cherry, black fruit. Complex and well balanced. — 5 years ago

J. Kim

9.0

The aroma is similar to Azelia, authentic and pure, but missing some bass components. It even shows some natural wine tendencies, slightly volatile and gassy, which settles down quickly. The structure lacks the authority and the weight but it scores high in transparency and dynamics. It will not challenge the supremacy of Conternos, Mascarellos and Odderos because its aroma is less complex and powerful, but its structure is built on radically different geometry, which makes it very exciting. There is also a Burgundian sense of mastery of texture, and distinctiveness of aroma that separates it from more pedestrian Barolo’s. Also worth noting that while it shows the authentic character of Barolo it does not forego a strong individuality of the winemaker. — 5 years ago