Ely Cohn

9.2

E&M Weissburgunder goes feral beyond their trademark restrained wild spirit.

4 days of skins, it's copper tones, grippy, and full of acetone. And it's really good. Wild but grown up, responsible.

Expressively generous aromas loaded up with sour fruit and vinegar - naval orange, apricot, basil, and VA that tickles the back upper parts. Powerful long flavors too - sour apricot, pear, and sweet orange. Wonderful. — 3 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Ripe red cherry and red floral aromas. On the palate quite sweet, rich and delicious. Grapes were obviously picked late and ripe to give this concentrated Pinot Noir. After a while, the trademark compost heap, Sous Bois characters. The quality of the fruit is undeniable- it just lacks a little bottle complexity. The first of 3. Have the 2nd in a year or so. Arguably the 2nd best Pinot Noir in Australia after the Bass Phillip Reserve. — 3 months ago

Jeremy.Buss

9.0

Have to say I like the 2014 vintage better but guessing this will get even better with age. Very good representation of KS wine! — 5 months ago

Joshua Fisher

9.6

My great friend Richie. Who died. And now lives in Kansas — 24 days ago

Big Wave Dave

9.2

Very good balance. Trademark rose petals, and red fruit but greater depth of dark fruit and savoury spice here as well. Good mid-palate weight. VG. With Ferlonda — 2 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Rich and powerful - Cassis Blackcurrant and that trademark Coonawarra mint. From the warm 2008 vintage giving a full bodied palate - heavy and luscious in the mouth finishing with fine persistent tannins. Amazing to say a wine is still primary at 14 years of age but this is with a long runway in front of it. One of Australia’s best Cabernets and in Langtons Exceptional Category. Next one will be a few years away. — 4 months ago

with Hugh and Georgina

Bob McDonald

9.5

Dark Ruby - almost black. Blackberry and herbal notes. Full bodied palate with good concentration and M plus intensity. Rich textural fleshy flavours with that trademark herbaceousness. Finishes with soft persistent tannins. A classy Cabernet by any measure. 2011 was a mixed bag in Australia largely being poor everywhere except in Western Australia and the Hunter Valley. This is the first of 6 bottles. — 7 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

As usual this is a preposterous wine and a preposterous value and the best of its kind. The fruit has a lipstick like intensity that boggles the mind. Black cherry, dark red cherries, dusty earth, pulverized rocks and so much more. There is a tiny berry fruit intensity that is a trademark of this wine. Smells like elite village burg. Palate is Uber concentrated with dazzling purity and freshness for days. Black cherry, dark red cherries and so much sapidity. Elegant, complex and so deep. Amazing black raspberry as well. This just keeps pushing on the finish. As this airs the limestone intensity just keeps getting more and more defined on the nose. Superb cut and delineation, with such unreal concentration. Never heavy always elegant and a finish you will not believe for this level. It’s superb in its compactness. Some wood shavings character now on the nose after air. From high school woodshop. Gorgeous fruit. This is just dazzling. A skoche behind the 19 but still the best of its class. Let’s see what air does. — 17 days ago

Aaron Tan

9.0

Aced this blind, though I felt the palate weight does lean more towards a Langhe Nebbiolo by convention.
Like the blinded Margaux on the table, the nose led with Morello cherries, but without new oak and more layers such as aromas of dried roses, leather, star anise, and earth. The trademark Nebbiolo tannins and acidity on the palate was what scored the clincher for me. Lighter than expected for the level of tannins, but I felt it was still balanced especially with the mouth-filling mid-palate fruit (mixed berries here). Finishes with spice and fresh acidity. It’s a dangerous drink given how elegant it is at 14.5% abv. Best red of the night!

NB: The 2017 Blue Label Ascheri Barolo was made with a blend of fruits from La Morra, Verduno, and Serralunga. Fermentation was a 50% mix of 15-day batch and 25-day batch with submerged cap. Aging was for 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels (70% new oak and 30% used) and for 12 months in stainless steel before bottling. It’s interesting to note how little wood character was imparted into the wine using large format barrels, despite the high percentage of new oak. I would imagine that one of the roles of this cuvée at Ascheri is just to season the new barrels for use in the better cuvées. — 2 months ago

Bret Weingart

9.5

Having dinner at YaYa’s in Wichita Kansas and this wine is fabulous. — 7 months ago