Peter van den Besselaar

8.9

Vintage 2017 | the Bulgarian domain of Stephan von Neipperg. 52 Merlot 26 Syrah 14 Petit Verdot 8 Cabernet Sauvignon | two hours decant | Sultry amarone cherries in smell, spicy taste, at first not so easy, but with food smooth | with a ovendish of pointed cabbage and minced meat — 7 months ago

Leah Weisman

9.1

Fruity with a silky body. Great with chocolate — 2 years ago

Victor Hsu

9.2

Rich and mouthfilling, grapey but not raisiny, dark fruits and subtle spice, delightful nose advertising the flavors to come, a tad bit of alcohol on the finish but that’s my fault—I was so eager to drink this beauty that I chose not to decant first. I had the 1995 vintage and it tasted amazingly fresh for a 26-year old bottle. Paired with a flavorful French blue, Fourme d’Ambert, and a Welsh Cheddar, with good bread, toasted walnuts and fig preserves. Bliss. — 2 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.0

Took a chance and while I don’t regret the purchase (my local wine shop hadn’t changed its price since first released, so a relative bargain), this 2001 Cote de Rotie is one step away from the next wine afterlife. The fruit has all but burned away revealing notes of burnt cherries, beef jerky,& balsamic. Pretty garnet tinged cherry color. Tannins still strong in the background- in its youth it must have been a beast. As my friend noted, drank like an aged Burgundy at the beginning. Did not decant. Paired beautifully with a grapefruit roasted chicken. — 3 years ago

with Owen

Douglas Waites

9.1

Very tasty cab 🍷 — 8 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

This Local Vineyard Series is a step down from his flagship 864 series. Struck match and other sulphidic funk characters. Somewhat of an Oakridge hallmark. The medium bodied palate is cleverly constructed with under ripe stone fruit, grapefruit and citrus. The first of 6. — a year ago

Shay A

9.5

This was opened for my good friend, and winemaker for Montagu & Silver Ghost, Weston’s birthday. Our local group has long had many opinions on if Kongsgaard’s Judge is worth the up-charge due to expected lifespan. With Kongsgaard’s “death and resurrection” winemaking style, we’ve come across more overly oxidized bottles of Judge within 10yrs than we’d expect. And the regular Chardonnay bottling at less than half the price drinks just as good, if not better, at all stages. That being said, when the Judge is in that magical spot, it is simply spectacular.

My hopes here were fairly low in terms of vibrancy, but at first pour, I knew I was in for something special. Had that green tinge I come across ever so often (which normally leads to young wine and/or wine not exposed to oxygen…neither of those apply here). Steely and tart initially before turning quickly to a more powdered lemon bar, exotic tropical ripe fruits like nutmeg dusted white peach and juicy stone fruit (a bit Peter Michael Point Rouge like on the nose). Salted honey roasted cashews, pineapple, rich honeycomb and a lanolin type twang on the mid palate. Finish here is astoundingly lengthy. While this was likely profound 2-3yrs ago, it’s fantastic today (assuming you don’t experience bottle variation)! Drink up! — 2 years ago

Seth Masterson

8.9

Incredibly dark almost opaque purple in the glass.
Smells first of dark chocolate.
Fruit forward, jammy.
Good but not multilayered and nuanced like Northern Rhone syrah of the same price and vintage.
$26 Enoteca Direct — a year ago

Mads Møller

8.9

Over this delicious Chenin blanc from Saumur, we are celebrating the last stage of Tour de France 2022 with the prospect of the first Danish winner of the yellow jersey in 26 years 🚴🏻‍♂️💛, who also happens to win the mountain jersey ❤️🤍. 24/7-2022 — 2 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Color me shocked at how good this was. I’m a big fan of Antica Terra wines, and while I’m always impressed, my expectations for this 10yr old OR Chardonnay were vastly blown out of the water.

The main reason I opened this bottle is I thought the age would have been more evident, and it would be channeling a more rich, slightly oxidized type profile, and would go with an assortment of blue cheese I was sampling at a small local event. Upon opening, color is still gorgeously yellow gold. First impression was it came across thin yet still had really vibrant acidity…very steely and mineral driven. About an hour later, this absolutely exploded out of the glass as of it was a different wine. Pear, grilled lemon and lots of honeysuckle aromatics. It bulked up on the palate with supreme texture and balance showing a kiss of oak. Creamy yet weightless. Lemon confit, honeyed golden delicious apple, sea spray, and a rounded finish with plenty of baking spices yet the core of minerality was still there. This left me scratching my head in a good way…I seriously need to find another. This is the best OR Chardonnay I’ve ever had. — 3 years ago