Jay Kline

9.3

Holly and I celebrated 19 years together this week so naturally, another bottle of 2005 emerged from our cellar. Clarendon Hills is known mostly for their Rhône-styled wines but their Cabernet Sauvignon’s are of equal quality. The 2005 Hickinbotham was poured into a decanter about 90 minutes prior to service and enjoyed over the course of a couple of hours. The wine pours, a deep ruby color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and some desiccated, dark fruits and red fruits: blackberries, black currants, red plums, dried tobacco leaf, Herbs de Provence, oiled leather, mocha, dusty gravel, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose however the fruit seems riper in profile. The finish is long and rich; decadent. A dense wine of strong character and a lovely pairing with grilled lamb chops and kofta. Drinking so well right now and I expect this will continue to do so well past 2035. — 10 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

My 16th Valentines Day with Holly so why not celebrate with a wedding year wine from one of my favorite producers in Montalcino. Cork pulled perfectly. Decanted for about two hours before our meal. On the nose, dark cherries, candied almonds (the ones you get from a German toaster), sandalwood, smoldering piñon, and leather; on the palate, hommade cherry/rhubarb pie, balsamic, mushrooms, black tea, and dried herbs. After a couple of hours, chocolate covered oranges entered the profile. It was awesome. Still quite tannic. Very dry. Acid is medium plus. The 2005 vintage is often overlooked but these wines are drinking fabulously right now. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Celebrating 15 years since Holly and I first met each other at a rather life changing Super Bowl party. This 2005 Henriot is not life changing...but it’s is quite good. Cellared since release, it has held up quite well. The color is a striking gold with a persistent mousse. Slightly oxidative, I would categorize this as leaning towards the richer end of the spectrum with lemon curd, nuts and a light touch of brioche. Actually, it sort of reminded me of an English lemon tart. Anyway, it was tasty and it hit the spot. You could hold these longer for sure but I would probably just drink’em now as I don’t anticipate and further positive development. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Happy 40th Holly! I opened this about five hours prior to service and poured into a ship’s decanter. The cork was nearly perfect with some saturation about 1/3 up the length of the cork. This bottle of the 1983 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo “Brunate” currently pours a deep garnet color with significant browning and rim variation. Loads of fine sediment contribute to an opaque core. On the nose the wine is vinous. Predominately desiccated cherry, old leather bound books, tobacco, dried roses, tar, mushrooms and earth. On the palate, the wine is dry…the tannins have mostly integrated however they’re still showing up in the medium category. Acid is medium+. The notes from the nose are confirmed. The finish is long and satisfying. This bottle of ‘83 was very much alive but not particularly pretty to look at and drinks like a wine that has been well down the path towards its eventual expiration for many years now. That being said, the few of us more accustomed to drinking older wines found it quite lovely while others enjoyed a small glass and moved onto a more youthful bottle. Drink’em if you got’em and enjoy the twilight of this wine’s life. — 2 years ago

Anthony Mazza

9.5

Holly smooth Batman….. so good so smooth pure delicious in the pallet — 4 years ago

with Rich

Jay Kline

9.2

Brought to my parents place for a socially distant, outdoor dinner on their driveway. Holly and I celebrated 15 years of marriage last week so we thought this might be fun to share. Popped and poured with the cork intact and little sign of any seepage. In the glass, this was a light garnet color but showing a good amount of sediment. On the nose, there was an initial impression of stewed cherries but that disappeared rather quickly and freshened up within about ten minutes of air. It evolved into ripe red fruits, dry leaf tobacco, tar, and mushrooms. On the palate, it was cherries, tar, dried herbs and earthy characteristics. While the attack was sweet, the finish was long with firm drying tannin; very satisfying with good acid. This is drinking very well right now. — 5 years ago

David Kline

9.4

Lovely nose of slow cooked beef and heirloom pork, red and black roses, brown bread stuffing, fine tabak, vanilla-in-bread, dusty black cherry, dried black currant and espresso powder. Black olive rounds the palate in a textural wave that intensifies to charred grape gravy, very sharp forest berry, lavender, holly, pine nettle, and sage. Younger offering here but fully integrated and freshly offering dark bark and dark castings with lively fruit and floral punctuation.


#chateaupontetcanet #2014 #bordeaux #pauillac #grandcruclasséen1855 #appellationpauillaccontrôlée #misenbouteilleauchateau #leftbank — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

The wines of Marc Hebrart are always punching above their weight class which made this a perfect choice to celebrate Holly reaching a new professional goal as she too, routinely exceeds expectations.

This bottle of “Cuvée de Réserve” was disgorged in October of 2019 and made exclusively with 1er Cru fruit from a variety of vineyards. As usually, predominately Pinot Noir with a dollop of Chardonnay. In the glass, it’s a deep straw color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, there are slightly oxidative notes of apples, brioche, meringue, and nuts. On the palate, the wine is dry and the bubbles are tiny and almost creamy. Confirming the apple fruit, but also with some peach, toasted nuts and and hit of lemons and minerals on the finish. Everything is very nicely balanced and satisfying. To me, this is a way more interesting alternative to Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. — 3 years ago

Will pope

9.5

Cuvée 151. Another from Holly. Really really great. — 5 years ago

Julia Geisler

8.9

Thank you so much to Holly at The Whitby for sharing this pick! Very pleasant to talk with and a wonderfully versatile palate.
I received for Xmas one of those nice sunlight alarm clocks that goes off with chirping birds in the morning and weirdly that’s what I thought of when I took the first sip of this. Acidic but not in a way that makes you want to throw it out the window. A nice little wake up call (but for the evening! not the morning) with just a nice lil fruity kick to make it pleasant for sipping.
A reminder that I’d really like to try more orange wines for the sake of simply Understanding. — 5 years ago

with Chantelle