Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over several hours. The wine pours a deep garnet color with a translucent core and a brownish rim. Medium viscosity with no staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with powerful notes of desiccated and stewed cherries, leather, cocoa, teriyaki, anise, sandalwood and old damp basement. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with monumental tannin and relatively modest acid. I’m placing it at medium-. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. I don’t have a lot of experience with Gaglioppo but I can see the appeal, particularly if one wants a burly wine with relatively modest acid. Drink now. — 5 months ago

Justin Bothur

9.2

Loving where the ‘14’s are right now … with an hour of air all of the incense, rosewood, fresh leather, cherry chutney, and dried blood orange come out. This one can keep chillin in the basement but with a decant is great now too. — 3 years ago

Jim Nelson

8.9

Eataly bargain-basement surprise — 3 years ago

with Camille

Boris Mathiszik

9.2

Beautiful blend from Paso. Balanced and elegant. 60% Syrah, — a year 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. — 2 years ago

ESF

9.3

As a friend accurately noted: color of dehydrated urine sample, but man did it smell & taste great! These are amongst the oldest vines in Mosel and it showed: stunning depth & complexity here ranging from a parade of yellow fruit: mandarin orange, cling peaches, apricot, quince all drenched in clover honey to slat-y minerals, allspice, cinnamon, grandma’s dusty attic and basement cellar & marzipan. No petrol here, just a hedonistic journey. Silky & sexy, round, still w/acidic zip and a long luscious finish. — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Pop and poured; consumed over five days. Best on day three and four. The 2016 pours a deep garnet, bearing purple with a near opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with some fine sediment. On the nose, brambles, garrigue, lavender and borsellino. It sort of reminds me of a damp earthen basement in the most endearing of ways. On the palate, the wine the dry; medium+ tannins that build through day four before softening. Acid is medium. The fruit set from the nose is confirmed…it’s a lot of delicious fruit with some leather, black pepper and earth. Long finish. These needed some time and the rewards are beginning to show. I have another bottle left and I’ll save that for a few years down the road. — 2 years ago

Gabriele Rotti

9.1

What a baby, keep it in your basement for 10 years!! — 2 years ago

Dave Schneider

9.4

What a beauty. I bought this a few years ago at a bargain basement price and put it in the back of the cellar and forgot about it. I wish I had another one. This wine is gorgeous. A classic mature Bordeaux at its peak. This wine can easily stretch it out for another decade. Notes of cedar and tobacco — 3 years ago

Hugh O'Riordan

9.5

This is a delicious wine. Found in basement. I’ll look for more. Layers of flavor. Evolved over time. — 4 years ago