Jay Kline

9.3

Presented double-blind at dinner. The wine pours a deep garnet with a near opaque core and a slightly orange rim with considerable variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and desiccated fruit: black currants, blackberries, plum, pipe tobacco, capsicum, pencil shavings, a touch leather, organic earth and a mix of dried herbs and some fine warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. Really tasty stuff.

Initial conclusions: this is an old wine, likely 30-40 years old. That being said, it’s still very distinguishable as it’s showing varietal characteristics. This could be Cabernet Sauvignon (or a blend thereof), Cabernet Franc (or a blend thereof), or Merlot (or a blend thereof). I can see this being Napa because the fruit is still showing some generosity. But there’s a lot of non-fruits there too. Regardless, this was giving Left Bank vibes so I could also see this being Bordeaux from a great vintage like 1982. And that’s my call, Cabernet Sauvignon-blend from France, Bordeaux, Saint-Estèphe, from a classified growth like Calon-Ségur. Shucks. But I’m not mad about my choice! Old Opus One’s are tricky to differentiate. Drinking very well right now but this will live well past 2035. — 19 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

See several previous tasting notes for this wine. This was made back in the day when Hunter Valley reds had strayed from their medium bodied, savoury, sweaty saddle origins to being riper and more full bodied like a South Australian Red. This was declared in a speech by Chief Winemaker at the time, Jim Chatto, at a dinner I attended at the winery. Also plenty of oak still evident at 15 years of age. I prefer the original Hunter Valley style which Mount Pleasant has wisely reverted to utilising the wonderful old vine fruit at its disposal. Tasted again 35 weeks later on 26th March 2022. Nothing to add to the note here. A Hunter Valley wine trying to look like a South Australian wine back in 2006 with ripe fruit and oak. Thankfully HV reds have returned to the medium weight savoury long living style that Maurice O’Shea made in the 1950’s. — 5 years ago

Laura McLaughlin

10

Delicious and bold — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

From Polar’s Australian wine tasting. Mellow with soft pliant Tannins in a more drink now style. Interestingly John Duval was chief winemaker at Penfolds for 29 years when most of the previous Penfolds wines just tasted were made. This wine made very differently to how he made them at Penfolds. — 7 years ago

with Andrew, James and 1 other

KG

9.3

Delicious! Had it as part of a wine flight at Salish Lodge in WA. Celebrating our 2yr anniversary of the day we met. — 8 years ago

with Eric

Sardine House

8.9

Beautiful pale-clear straw robe. Nose of peach, passion fruit, melon and pine. Lightly savoury taste with a medium body and light, elegant tannins. Medium, fruity finish. Lovely. — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Pepper and spice and all things nice as the saying goes as well as a violet note. Very youthful at 10 years of age. The following night a blackcurrant peppery note. Good persistence and length on the medium bodied palate. Tom Carson, the owner and winemaker of Serrat (a Catalonian word meaning close planting - in this case 8800 vines per hectare - one bottle of wine per vine). Tom is also the chief winemaker at Yabby Lake and an in demand Show Judge with a very good palate - Serrat is his private venture with French wife, Nadege. They also import a small excellent range of Burgundy. Had my last bottle 111 weeks later on 14/8/25 with no discernible change to my previous notes. — 3 years ago

M T

9.1

Fruity and a good combo of dry and light — 5 years ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.0

Jgi
Err
Estu 6/16 — 6 years ago

Jeff Murray

9.0

Excellent blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Tempranillo instead of Syrah. Works very well. I saw this described as “dusty fruits” which I take to mean earthy, and just slightly subdued. Relatively smooth and opens up nicely with air time. Will keep the other bottles for a while to see how the evolve. Another good effort from ONX wines out of Pasa Robles. Cheers — 6 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.5

It can’t all be wine. — 7 years ago

with Tyler

Kelly Anne Collins

8.9

tastes like... berries? not too dry, drinkable af, bottle will make a nice flowerpot in my bathroom 🍓🌺 — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

Our first wine from the Wynns dinner with chief Wine maker Sue Hodder. This is a very approachable young yet soft Riesling aimed at early consumption. A fuller fruity palate with light acid. I could happily drink this now. Short term cellaring. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

No notes made at the time and it was tasted a week ago. This is one of the Cuvées produced by Jim Chatto who was once the chief winemaker at Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley and now makes award winning Pinot Noir in Tasmania. Delectable. This is BIRD Pinot Noir. — 4 years ago

L Bram

10

I cannot put into words how delicious this dessert wine is. It’s lush and sweet, but beautifully balanced with an acidity and a clean finish that means it’s not overly sweet and infinitely drinkable. It’s the perfect choice for both the sweet toothed, and those who think they don’t like sweet wines. — 5 years ago

Chris Klein

9.0

Great flavor, just a tad thin. Overall, another great wine from Ojai! — 6 years ago

with Jim

Ellen Clifford

9.4

Wine as art. Wine like the book you reread or the movie you rewatch and find something new each time, except with sips. I will restrain myself so I can try it over a couple days but ohhhh Boudignan how I love your work. Acid lasers cutting honeycomb onto beds of greens like lemon verbena composed in sheepskins (lanolin!) in a pear orchard. Rich complex and every sip is a new season in the orchard revealing new things. Omg this wine. It makes me MAD. Because I only got one bottle of it. — 6 years ago

Sara Thomas

8.9

Citrusy, herbaceous, mineral notes — 7 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.5

More on the delicious end of the scale on open. Very fruity tangerine. Citrus. Awesomely mineral of course. Nice acidity. Lovely nose. As it opens becoming more serious. Rocky finish. ... fast forward 15 minutes. Ok ... now it’s liable. I’m chewing on rocks in a lemon vineyard. Best lemons ever. Sweet lemons with the acidity of regular lemons. Ok that makes no sense unless you are a lemon geek. Nose is insane. Gods lemon oil. Mad love. Bought from Fass Selections. — 8 years ago

with Lyle

Paul Cox

9.1

Delicious, dry, citrus fruits — 9 years ago