League Of Rogues

Azienda Agricola Valentini

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006

While not in the same league as the legendary 2000, 2006 is showing well after sufficient air (3 hour decant), but still incredibly youthful and even a bit rustic with noticeable tannins. This is not an elegant vintage, but rather immensely structured, dense and dark fruited with Rhône-esque camphor and bacon, coffee beans and black tea. I’d give this several more years for the tannins to soften and palate to integrate but I’m not sure this will reach the heights of 02 and 00. — 9 days ago

Jan, Shay and 3 others liked this

Buil & Giné

Giné Giné Priorat Garnacha Blend 2018

Fantastic bottle. Bunches of lavender and a handful of violets mingle with red and blue fruits to form the very fragrant nose. Also, there was a whiff of grape Big League Chew, like putting your nose inside a freshly opened pouch. Big fruit flavors on the palate mix with cinnamon to produce an extremely enjoyable wine. 50% Cariñena, 50% Garnacha. 10/2/22. — 2 years ago

Maxime Magnon

La Démarrante Vin de Pays de la Vallée du Paradis Red Blend 2019

I love this wine. Delicacy and complexity that keeps unraveling. Brambly, but focused, Carignan fruit profile with the addition of a stony minerality that put this in another league. Soft tannins, structured acidity, and purity of fruit in spades without coming off as another generic “natural” wine. — 3 years ago

Andrew, Josh and 10 others liked this

Dominio de Pingus

PSI Ribera del Duero Tempranillo 2018

Intense sundrenched dark berried fruit with a lovely fresh energy, blackberries, blueberries, cassis. dark cherries and peppermint. Very integrated oak profile with a gentle touch of vanilla and sweet tobacco followed by a underlying stony minerality.
Dry palate with a medium + acidity, high tannins with a fine grained qualititave texture, well integrated alcohol in a full body that is balanced by a fresh acidity. Nuanced palate with a good complexity and characters of ripe dark berried fruit, vanilla and sweet licorice that evolves through a solid lenght that falls a bit short from the major league.
— 3 years ago

Ira, Andrew and 13 others liked this

Louis Claude Desvignes

La Voûte Saint-Vincent Morgon Gamay 2021

Cherry, violet, hay, a tiny touch of licorice too. This is quite exciting and profound. The palate is showing a massive acid backbone, some width and grip, some cherry notes, but the fruit is a little discreet. There are tannins popping up in the rear, disturbing the mouthfeel, powering up a tangy finish with cherry and a nice bitter note along with a tiny salty touch, almost sea breezesque if that makes sense. This is a serious beaujo, very different from fruit bombs and other crowd-pleasing usual expressions that people tend to rave about. This is gastronomy wine and playing in the same league as some other wines from a different varietal that grow a bit farther to the north. — 9 months ago

Peter, romo and 12 others liked this
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Château de la Gardine

Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Cuvée Tradition 2015

2015 vintage. Not in the same league as the 2016 and 2017, but nevertheless an attractive wine. Golden yellow. Honeyed nose with subtle hints of rosemary and fresh mint. Round mouthfeel, lacks a bit of tension, but charming. Good spicy length. — 3 years ago

Hermes, Ericsson and 1 other liked this

Ridge Vineyards

East Bench Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2019

Intense and dense but vivid aromas of strawberries, raspberry toffee, bramble, roses, Pronounced savoury and earthy spice character of cinnamon, nutmeg and a sweet vanilla note that brings a balanced complexity.
Palate is dry, medium acidity and Medium fruity tannins, soft and approachable but still it provides a solid framework that guards the palate, well integrated alcohol in a full body with a sweet and ripe, toffee like red fruit, profile that remain its nerve and tension and is far from feeling heavy. A dimensional complexity of vanilla and spice brings nuance a cross the mid palate through a solid finish that falls a tad short from the major league.
— 3 years ago

Ira, Ericsson and 7 others liked this

Clendenen Family Vineyards

Punta Exclamitiva Santa Maria Valley Nebbiolo 2014

Unbelievable after two hours of air. It is so much dark fruit with a bunch of herbs, lavender, thyme, some leather, but also floral notes. Just insanely well balanced with great nose and palate. Perfect with pasta dinner. Waaaaay better than the other two lower end Nebbiolo they sell at the tasting room. Don’t even bother with those. This is a whole other league. — 2 years ago

Eric and Raul liked this

Maxime Magnon

Campagnes Corbières Carignane 2018

An impressive first run with this producer. Started off very pure fruited with high-toned black cherries and cassis, along with some light reduction that gave it a flinty quality. As the reduction blew away, it revealed beautiful stem aromatics - flowers and incense, with a strange, yet attractive iodine-like twist. Excellent structure, with chalky tannins, fleshy fruit, and limestone-derived minerality/verticality. A little volatile acidity perceivable in the backend, but it doesn’t detract from the lengthy finish. Frankly, it drank like a cru Beaujolais (would have called it if blinded), but perhaps with more weight and tannins (rougher too). Paired with some lamb tacos, this was in a league of its own. A one on the binary scale! — 2 years ago

Peter, Ron and 16 others liked this

Arnaud Ente

Meursault Chardonnay 2015

This bottle was showing less reduction and was a lot more giving from the get-go than the one I had last fall. It shows such incredible layers of stone fruit, citrus, hazelnut and smoky minerals. It continues to gain both volume and focus with air and the palate has amazing texture, weight and such impressive depth for a village wine. Coche and Ente truly do play in a different league. — 3 years ago

Matt, Severn and 3 others liked this