Jenn Ingle

9.0

Nose - lilacs, soil, clay amphora and erasers! (Haha) Flavors - cranberry and tart blueberries. Mouthfeel - a bit sharp and acidic with a semi dry finish some tannins but not too much. Look - gorgeous garnet color. Food - went sooo very well with the lamb my hubs made. — 2 months ago

with Jay

Diane Is Moving To CellarTracker

9.3

From Williston Ave. Wine and Spirits. Boozy, dry, dark chocolate-covered cherries, a bit herbal, a bit funky 🤔 — 2 years ago

Ron from VA

9.3

Stunning example of how to handle Viognier in Virginia. Matthieu! Par excellence - the mouth… The balance between oak and acid was glorious! at just four years from vintage, amazing quality, and so beautiful with the food. — 2 years ago

Austin Arnold

9.4

Rose, cherry, pepper — 6 years ago

JKT

9.0

Very nice Cahors Malbec. Dark inky color but showing hints of purple. Blueberry and forest leaves firm still lively texture ABs medium finish. At a very good place. Good Acker buy. — 6 years ago

Ella Grace Downs

9.0

Complex but easy drinking — 8 years ago

John Hagood

9.5

Whence? Extremely pleasant. With poached salmon — 8 years ago

Erica

8.9

I liked the wine but the 70 degree weather didn’t feel as warm as I hoped — 4 months ago

Chris Buggy

8.9

I have to agree with @romo - it is indeed funky, savory and divisive. I enjoyed, @Jennifer Jenkins did not — 2 years ago

with Jennifer

Ron from VA

9.3

Fee-nominal…the winner (so far) of the 2010’s PV challenge. At 11.5 years from harvest, this beauty from Matthieu Finot sang like a concentrated Right Bank medoc…layers of dark berries, violet & herbs with smoky matting. Still proving enough tannic punch to cut through house grilled cheeseburgers and squash. Bold yet balance. Thank you Ellen for this wonderful gift :) — 4 years ago

Sagee Aran

9.0

2014 vintage. Black olive and earthy aromas with some violet floral, tannins are round with cassis on the palate. Some mild cigar box notes after a couple of hours. — 6 years ago

Stefanie Cantelmo

8.9

Spicy, bold — 8 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.6

Cool label, but can you explain what the hell "sérine" is? Apparently it's some tight clustered Syrah clone that's both "highly precise" and "vulnerable to disease". Sounds risky... Especially considering this comes from the frighteningly steep terraces of Cote Rotie. Not only that, but the wines were made without new oak or sulfur. He also picks early and uses some amount of carbonic maceration. Jean Michel Stephan uses to work for Guigal, but I guess he must of learned "what not to do" instead of mimicking the style.

The intensity is beyond belief! Cote Rotie is already aromatic, but this is amplified by the carbonic quality. Further, there's a large amount of Viognier here too, which lends a bright tropical punch in the midst of classic Syrah notes (tapenade? meatiness?). There's some similarity to the Matthieu Barret Cornas I just drank, but this has far more clarity in the aromatics - a quality both important and underrated. So striking here are the aromatics, it's hard to even move on to actually tasting the wine - but once you do, it surprises again.

This wine's balance is very strange... No oak, but the high acidity is tapered by carbonic maceration. It's soft, but lean at the same time. There's a slight oily texture which might be from the Viognier, but it's counter balanced by an amazing display of fresh fruit. Raspberry, pear, black cherry, and even pineapple. From the nose to the mid palate it's an exhilarating wine., but the finish is noticeably abrupt. The tannins are tart and bitter like the skin of an under ripe plum. Aesthetically it works. From the nose all the way into the mid palate, this wine is so "over-the-top" that a sudden, unexpected bitterness comes across as a moment of clarity instead of disappointment.

I highly recommend the wine. I hope to taste other vintages and bottlings.

#syrah #naturalwine #coterotie #northernrhone #jeanmichelstephan #syrah #biodynamic #rhone #northernrhone #rhonevalley — 8 years ago

Ted

9.2

Black olives. Bacon fat. Hints of black licorice. Herbal. This is all over the place. — 7 months ago

with Jeni

Marlos Silva

9.0

Simples mas muito bem feito e prazeroso — 2 years ago

Ruud Verhagen

9.4

more Bordeaux like… — 2 years ago

Brandon Boesch

9.4

This wine is expressive. I read a kids book series called “a year in brambly hedge” to my children and this tastes like the pictures of mushrooms, blackberries, cherries, in their stores under the hedge. There’s also a game/olive component in the background. I like it! — 4 years ago

Jonas Palmqvist

9.2

Very big and interesting on the nose, sometimes fruity, sometimes bloody and meaty. Elegant in the mouth with some initial dark fruit until the savoury elements take over for a long finish. — 7 years ago

Kenta Hayashi

9.2

An elegant Burgundian Rhone. Blackberries, currants, plums and definitely olives. Very airy and just wished the finish was longer. A delicate Cornas. — 8 years ago

Chris Zitzman

9.5

Had to pop this to help celebrate the crowning achievement that the incredibly astute Matthieu Finot has been awarded- and more over to toast to all the BEAUTIFUL work that’s been (& BEING) done by the “3”. Jake & Emily I sing all of your praises- and this beautiful wine of its very own impressive “conversation” is an even richer conversation than when we first for to wrap it around our ‘thirsty palates’.
BRAVO TO THE THREE! The three...with lamb chops tonight. Baby. — 8 years ago

with Beth