Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

What a wine. Nose is so complex with unreal aromas that honestly are at once mineral and at once so utterly unique I don’t have the vocabulary to grasp them. Apricots is about all I got but the nose is still a 9.7 even if I can’t explain why. Palate is vivacious, rich and elegant but with so much tannin from what I assume is skin contact but also reads as textured and fresh. So brilliant, complex and utterly distinctive. It’s rare I can’t find words to describe wine but here we are. — 24 days ago

Ira Schwartz

9.5

Finally lost my Heitz MV virginity. One word, wow. The mint-eucalyptus was there on the nose. A very powerful wine that smelled powerful and tasted powerful. Besides the mint , hints of earth & cigar notes but clearly in the background. I was having a hard time trying to grasp how youthful and balanced the wine was on the palate. I found the fruit was on the darker side with lingering tannins. I left this in the decanter for three days. The nose really never diminished, the palate grudgingly. If I had to nitpick I felt it was lacking some of the complexity that I would have expected at this stage. — 2 years ago

Fredrik Finn

9.2

Clean, medium intense but concentrated aromas with a good spicy and savory complexity. Tart at first, but gets more round wirh some air. Red cherries and plums, crushed pepper, dried spice (thyme), bacon, and a pronounced mineral characters of warm stones.
Dry palate with a high acidity, medium well balanced alcohol and medium + tannins with a firm texture that is well encapsuled by a high intense fruit profile with complexity from an earthy and spicy base note. The mid palate shows a good fatigue as the fruit levels up and grasp around the fresh acidity and stony center core through a slong finish .
Brilliant!
— 4 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.3

Doing “research” for an upcoming trip. I was worried about the ‘21 vintage after seeing all of the photos of hundreds of burning smudge pots lighting up the night on the hill of Hermitage, but this is the second bottle (the first was a 21 Côte-Rotie on Christmas Day) that show it’s an excellent young drinking vintage for reasons I don’t fully grasp. An elegant, light-footed Cornas (do these words belong together?), a little lacking in midpalate stuffing and length but no worse for it. Opens up with time - garrigue, black olive notes, cedar chest, fresh black plum. Acid is fresh and bright but not harsh (not like the acid is on so many 21 Burgundies that sadly feel clipped and mean). Really damn pretty. The sort of wine that makes you truly sad when you get to the last sip. — 4 months ago

Ely Cohn

8.9

Soft, quiet, trades time and air for a shy personality - only after the bubbles have long said goodbye. And they go quick. Most of the Riesling DNA is hidden underneath. For a couple days, I had a hard time finding something to grasp onto, but we got there.

At its peak, soft scented yellow apples and lemon. — 2 years ago

Carol Poarch-Blagburn

8.9

Bright Cellar. It was alright — 4 years ago

Michael & Lauren Keller

9.2

Deep in flavor. Smooth well balanced wine. Juicy cherry with bright blackberry and plum, cinnamon and baking spices. — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2021 vintage. Hints of richness throughout but never a safe space. Ultimately lean with a massive tannic howdoyoudo but always balanced. This wine will challenge most palates to the moon and beyond. Pretty phenomenal for QPR, yet so distinctive, thinking the general wine public needs a solid two decades to grasp. Screams for food except for the cork dorks that would gobble this up 8 days a week. Oh Sicily! 11.20.24. — 8 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2010 vintage. Thinned out somewhat, body-wise, yet still packing a punch. Lots of complexities still in the tasting grasp. 9.20.23. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Served blind alongside what was eventually revealed to be the 1971 Mouton Rothschild. This almost had me leaning Napa by a classic producer due to the gorgeous fruit and generous, scratch that, lavish use of new French oak. After careful deliberation with those at the table with more experience drinking Mouton both young and old, I was able to come alongside the others that this was indeed young Pauillac. All the cassis, cigar box, tobacco and baking spices ones heart could desire with some of the loveliest acid. Speaking of, the structure still has quite a grasp of this one but with all the lovely fruit, everything is in brilliant balance, even at 18 years young. Given that, I expect this wine to drink well for decades to come, particularly since secondary characteristics have hardly entered the chat. Definitely a wine I hope to enjoy many more times over the years but so grateful I got to try now. — 2 years ago