Adam

9.0

My review may not be beneficial to all because of my drinking style. I drink the bottle myself over the course of a week. With this Freakshow Cab Sauv, my review changed from the first to last glass. The first glass was strong, thin, and barely enjoyable. With subsequent glasses tasted a developing sweetness and thickness. I realize this is counter intuitive to wines normally being best when being allowed to breathe a bit after opening. Just wasn’t the case for me with this one. Rating was a 6.5 to start and a 9.5 at the end I’m grading with a curve to give it an overall 9. Will buy again based on Freakshow reputation and hope for a better early result. — 6 months ago

Jess

9.0

Medium ruby color.
Aromas of red fruit, cured meat.
Dry. Flavors of red fruit, cherry/strawberry, spice, soft earthiness.

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 2/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

One of the great monopole/vigneron combos in all of Burgundy. Nose is mega elite. Gorgeous mid season cherries that are so vivid it’s just crazy but then you smell flowers and you’re just like ”whoah, man!” This is a ridiculous nose. Volnay in all of its glory. Some black cherry sneaks in there with some air. Beyond floral. So expansive and complete. Wow that palate is just gorgeous. Amazing dark red cherry fruit and stunning clarity to the fruit. Clamps down on your palate with a vice like intensity where the gamey flavors are also introduced. So much more structured and classic than the 19 which was stunning but more in an ethereal drink me now type of way. Superb complexity and structure. Grippy and sappy. Awesome fruit skin flavors as well and so gamey. Like it’s got hints of Gevrey. Spectacular and needs age. But wow, baby!! I’ll be back as it airs out. This seems like it needs 5-7 years to be drinking well.

As this airs it gets a wonderful baking spice element. Forest floor and so much more. Oh my!

This is so supple now and deep. Sultry and fresh and slippery. Awesome fruit and roundness. Awesome concentration and purity. Really long. So close to a 9.7 and no doubt with age. Tiny berry fruit is brilliant on this. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

I’m sorry I’m advance. I have 1/5th of what I had in 2018 and it’s still largest allocation in the world. So some of you will get shafted.

The usual brilliance on the nose. This is the best BB in the world. Others come close I hear but this is really it for me. Superb florality on the nose. White flowers up the wazoo. Lemon pith, tree bark, superb minerality. Matchstick, flint, lime zest, crushed rocks, a hint of creaminess. And I mean a micro hint. But it’s still there. Huge expansive minerals. So so pretty. Yea that’s the ticket. Superb minerality, texture and more minerality. Superb iodine and salinity. While 18 was more fruity this is more mineral and structured. Just tremendous purity. Amazing balance and terrific delicate concentration. Sappy and mineral sweetness on the finish. And what a finish it is. How does this man make 9.5 BB’s? Just miraculous. Finish is 1er cru level but not as complex. Wow this is so fresh and the acid is wonderful. Just so compact and complete. Sick. Just sick. — 5 years ago

Will

9.2

Shake well. Pour from height. — 6 years ago

Michael Herzog

9.6

Man, did this one open up incredibly. Started out a bit reticent but a few hours in, it was singing. Tension in a good way, so many flavors and a finish that went on and on. One of the best Cali chards I have had to date. I have more thank goodness. — 7 years ago

Jess

8.9

Pale straw color.
Aromas of subtle citrus, herbaceous.
Dry. Flavors of snap peas, creamy lemon, soft tropical fruits underlying.

Intensity: 4/5
Complexity: 2/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

I love what Girard does with this cuvée. Gorgeous nose of sour cherries, wet moss, flowers and mid season perfectly ripe cherries. Little earthy, feral vibe as well on the nose. So Savigny. Palate feels so alive and has terrific fruit and texture. Sweet, silky, gritty and feral all at the same time and has that stunning balance that is a signature of the 23’s from Girard. The best vintage here since 19. So fresh and sappy with great acids and remarkably sweet and velvety tannins. Let’s see what air does but man this is good on the pop and pour. Long, chewy finish. The energy here is top notch. Love the mid palate opulence here. — a year ago

Byron C Mayes

8.9

Dark reddish purple with near black core. Inviting nose and medium full palate of ashy blueberry, red blackberry, and high-cocoa dark chocolate. Dusty, medium plus tannins present (but not assertive) from entry. Medium acidity wrapped up in it all, and a lengthy finish wraps it all up. Classic California PS with enough stuffing for the connoisseur, but still enough approachability for the novice. Drink now through 2030. — 4 years ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.5

v10. Very nice wine. Soft candied cherry and smoked meat nose. Bold, rich, blackberry, plum and a hint of tar fruit. Smooth, soft, slightly tart , chocolate finish. Nicely balanced — 5 years ago

Steven

9.1

Smells of true Napa. Nice fruit forward, smooth going down, nice (light) amount of tannins for us. Silky. Special dinner night with the fam before my big man goes back to school. — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.4

Man. This wine is a petulant genius child. When it was young was amazing. Now on open it’s a child hiding in the corner.

Nose at 2 hours just reluctantly gives you a glimpse. Reticent bastard. Just a peek of gorgeous flowers. But they are glorious.

Palate is gorgeous. Cherry flower more than cherry. I love you. Yes I do. So silky. So elegant. Yes you are holding back on me you annoying young genius bastard. But I am old and wise. And can enjoy your promise and can wait for it become apparent. Because I am old. And I have nothing left but patience. And you in the impetuousness of youth will be out lasted by me.

Bought from fass selections. — 6 years ago

Arden Barnett

9.1

I could drink this wine every night. Not too simple, not too complex. Notes of vanilla, baked red apples, fluffy lemon curd, and the right amount of minerality. Served with fresh bay scallops, sautéed spinach, and a tomato Beurre Blanc. Benjamin Leroux is the man! — 7 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Faboosh! What a nose. Unreal Gevrey perfume of big cherries, violets, meat, spice and more. So complex and expressive. Really really perfumed it’s actually intoxicating. So juicy, sweet and dense with insane tiny berry fruit intensity and such purity. Wow the energy on this is off the charts. It’s super clean and the finish is all elegant limestone. Needs to open but man is this stuffed and aristocratic. Lipstick like intensity on the nose. So juicy and so concentrated with that just unforgettable Naddef fruit. Unreal sweetness. Picking up finesse as it airs out. — a year ago

Jan de Weerd

9.6

If I could use just one word? Intense! Still tight but the layers of dark fruit are starting to shine through the angular, lead pencil soaked tannins. Everything is super balanced and leads you to a grippy, lingering finish. Drinking it right here in the Idaho Mountains! What a life. Oh, talking about Idaho. It finally got on the map of Wine Folly! Do you want to personally visit some of the best Idaho wineries and try their outstanding wines? Go to www.spokenwines.com 😁. And while you are there signup for our monthly newsletter. Every month you will get intimately introduced to a new winery we visited somewhere in the world with exceptional wines and captivating stories. Cheers! 🍷🥂 — 2 years ago

with Tammy

Peter Sultan

9.0

Total Wine, Fla lineup: for bout 16$ on sale, am rather intrigued. Plenty of stuffing but all pillow soft & round with some serious oak aging. Solidly medium bodied, dill & crushed red fruits. Am a Lopez or Rioja Alta man typically, but when in Rome… — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Our final long lunch in Cairns at the Salt House on the waterfront. No formal notes but i have always loved this Shiraz from Waiheke Island in the middle of Auckland Harbour NZ. Plummy spicy and savoury with supple tannins. Overtones of Northern Rhone and easy to drink. — 5 years ago

Jeremy Pollard

9.3

This was a cracker tonight! Undecanted, but a standout in the lineup. Distinctive with its balance of dark fruit, savoury herbs and tannin grip that beautifully paired with aged beef. — 6 years ago

with Sam

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Owes name to man of the cloth born in 1264, Bertrand de Goth, Bishop of Comminges, in the Pyrenees, later became Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1299. Blend, 57% Merlot, 38% Cab Sauv & 5% Petit Verdot & Cab Franc, aged in new French oak for 18 months. Pronounced youthful black fruit aromas with earthy baking spices. Blackberry & plum palate flavors with cedar & spice integrated with firm tannins, long ending, earthy oak with a mineral tang. Needs more bottle age! Tasting Sample! — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

In hills of Paso Robles, not far from Hearst castle, there is a man with a Homeric vision. His name is Daniel Daou and he is devoting his life to creating outstanding Cabernet’s. Deep red with dark berry nose, aged for 11 months on French oak (60% new). On the palate blackberry, black cherry and licorice, pepper spice with savory fine tannins. Medium+ finish ending with cacao and earthy herbs. Great value. The ‘17 is a bit richer than ‘16. Tasting Sample. — 7 years ago