Modicum

Lucien Le Moine

Echezeaux Grand Cru Pinot Noir 2020

2020 vintage. Opened and decanted. Tasted after 3 hours open. Medium/medium-heavy body. Big cranberry, baking spice, plum and pomegranate nose + flavors. Expectedly intense and full throttle Much too young to exhibit any modicum of tea-like or earthy notes. Think we’re gonna hafta wait (at least) 15 years for those to creep in but it’ll be worth the wait. 4.23.26. — 2 months ago

Douglas, Tom and 6 others liked this

Domaine R. DuBois & Fils

Les Chalandins Vosne-Romanée Pinot Noir 2009

2009 vintage. Completely unfamiliar with this producer (which I love new producers). Opened but not decanted. Age appropriate color. Variety of tea scents in the nose muddled with a modicum of drought dirt/earth. Light body. Tasted 20 minutes and 1.5 hours after opening. Total transference of the nose into the flavor profile-no surprises. Wine seemed to gain more strength/concentration of finish and dirtied up a tad but not more body or complexities. Doubtful another hour open/more air would have unlocked an achievement or improved the standing in the community. Will say it was a pleasure tasting a Vosne-Romanée vineyard with some age on it that was on the lighter side of the ledger vs the usual super intense. 11.28.25. — 7 months ago

Paul, Alexandre and 15 others liked this

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)

La Tâche Pinot Noir 2012

2012 vintage. Nearly perfect fill and cork. Decanted with infinitesimal sed. Aggro rhubarb and cranberry nose. Tasted 30 mins, 1 hour and 3 hours post-decant. Medium body. Excellent focus/concentration. The rhubarb and cranberry still chilling along with a modicum of lemongrass (?!?!) and dark cherry. Lengthy finish redolent of artificial strawberry/strawberry Jolly Rancher candy. Bit of a bucking bronco versus finesse and souplesse. 08.01.25. — a year ago

Dave, David and 18 others liked this

Château Lynch-Bages

Echo de Lynch-Bages Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

2019 vintage. A modicum of frontal palate richness to excite and stir the blood. For the price and vintage, not close to approximating quality/QPR in the BDX region but, with the name, don't suppose they have to. 8.14.24. — 2 years ago

Ron, Tom and 9 others liked this

Sea Smoke

Southing Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021

2021 vintage. Magnum format. Medium body. Decently aromatic nose but not striking. Smooth draw with a modicum of raspberry and clove on the finish. Needs to drop a little bit of the oak influence which will likely take 7-10 years. 6.6.24. — 2 years ago

Andrew, Severn and 7 others liked this
Norman

Norman Premium Badge

Used to love these guys but have not had in ages. Will need to search it out.

Kongsgaard

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

2005 vintage. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Good fill, great cork. Perfect picture show sed. Vibrant color and nose. A modicum of richness up front initially but not to return. Medium body dropped down to light medium body. Thinning out meant slightly more acidity. That wasn't exactly undesirable. Currently tasting like a Napa version of LLC St. Julien (non-mountain terroir lean and mean). As it stands, will hold fast in this presentation for another 5 years. Not improving and feel it's goin' south after that 5-spot. 12.10.23. — 3 years ago

Ron, Bob and 12 others liked this

Rochioli

Estate Grown Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007

2007 vintage. Holy bleep! Mature, mysterious nose replete with leather, must, brett, barnyard and a modicum of whatnot. The usual, candied intro long gonzo. Light, silken body. Great color. Tasted one, two and three hours after decanting. Normally, a 15+ yo CA pinot would be long gone geek but this one seemingly at the top of the bell curve and with attitude. More than surprised. 4.2.23. — 3 years ago

Ira, Bob and 8 others liked this

Colgin Cellars

Tychson Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Inky cab with purple-tinged blood blackness from rim to rim. Glass painter with star bright reflectivity. Viscous Frankenstein hair tears over glacial-carved canyon. Nose of black cherry, raisinated currant, light toast, lighter pepper, carnation, violet, licorice, blackberries with honey. Mouth-coating with a luxurious mouthfeel showing silky tannins with a modicum of grain. Cassis, graphite, baked blueberry, black currant. Sustain. Bold and unabashed.

#colgin #ColginTychsonHill #Cabernet #cab #cabernetsauvignon #napa #napacab #estategrown #estatebottled #2019 #nspavalleycab #napavalley
— 3 months ago

Tom, Somm and 9 others liked this

Château Lafon-Rochet

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014

2014 vintage. Last tasted 07.04.25 (9.3) and 01.30.25 (9.3). Decanted with some sed and tasted after 30 mins. Consistent with previous tastings in 2025. Hint of richness up front, then very businesslike afterwards. Fairly dry but began to fold a modicum of fruit into the proceedings a spell ago. Quintessential, affordable BDX with a decade of service tendered out in the boonies but back in town again and starting to hit the hot spots. Lean but not mean. Strike up the conversation in the next year or so and you two just might hit it off. 09.25.25. — 9 months ago

Jan, Daniel and 12 others liked this

Mainerdo

Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba Nebbiolo 2019

2019 vintage. Light-medium/medium body. Surprisingly approachable for a 2019 Barolo. Big spice box finish at $35.10 USD resto cost. Feel like this will add a modicum of body in the next year or two. Always nice to find substantial Barolo under $45. Picked up a case. 04.30.25. — a year ago

Ted, Tom and 8 others liked this

Château Beychevelle

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

1982 vintage. Last had on 3.1.23 from a magnum (9.4). Top shoulder fill and 100% saturated cork. Subtle nose. Not decanted. Tasted after one hour and two hours open. Color more vibrant than expected. Lean and Beychevelle thin as always. Dusty. Earthy. A modicum of plummy/kirsch flavors. Fading sense of harmony and descending from the top of the bell curve at an alarming rate. If ya got ‘em, drink ‘em. In maggie or even larger format, it wouldn’t be improving so hit in the next handful of years. 11.01.24. — 2 years ago

Daniel, Andrew and 11 others liked this

Château Le Tertre Rôteboeuf

Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1998

1998 vintage. Top-notch fill (almost too good) and perfect cork with very little lower-level saturation. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Appropriate, chunky sediment. Last tasted 12.17.23 (9.2). Had some nice older leather, dry summer earth and ripe plum in the nose throughout with only a modicum of "funk" that blew off quickly. Medium body. Still vibrant color. Initially, the experience was front-loaded but, after 30 minutes or so, the fruit and structure began to fill in/slide back and balance out the mid-palate and finish. More consistent specimen than the one tasted almost 3 months ago. Don't feel it needs more time to knit/resolve affairs but can likely hold in this phase for 4-5 years without degradation. 3.10.24. — 2 years ago

Ira, Ron and 15 others liked this

Domaine Tour Saint-Michel

Feminessence Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2017

2017 vintage. @ Mister A’s Restaurant, San Diego-Les Caves de St. Charles CDP dinner. Initially, an absolute ballbuster. Massive tannins with a modicum of velveteen fruit at the end of a long tunnel. After two hours? Surprise! Change partners and the nearsome, fearsome tanninfest coalesced into the velveteen fruitfest. Remarkable concentration, tho, from start to finish over the course of the dinner. Best newer-vintage CDP, out of roughly 200, that I’ve had in the last two years. Just a remarkable chameleon. Supposedly 50/50 Grenache/Syrah. Worth the hunt. 11.16.23. — 3 years ago

Severn, Jan and 8 others liked this

Modicum

Hestan Red Blend

Glorious 18 hours after a rain dirt floor nose with some early in process stewed fruits. Doesn’t need food but if you do have food, needs a well prepared steak or other protein with strong legs. — 4 months ago

Story of Soil

Gold Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir

2023 vintage. Tasted with the winemaker-Jess. Hadn’t seen this vineyard in a spell. Full, rich nose and first flavor impressions. Smooth, lengthy finish with a modicum of dust/earth. 2.25.26. — 4 months ago

Jonathan, Bob and 11 others liked this

Saxon Brown

Cordell Bank Petrali Vineyard Syrah 2019

2019 vintage. Tasted via Coravin. Medium/medium-heavy body. Improved nose vs the side-by-side tasting of the selfsame 2018 vintage. Modicum of mid-palate and back end flourishes but not nearly enough to warrant interest. 08.15.25. — 10 months ago

Bob, Ted and 8 others liked this

Loren Crossing

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

2023 vintage. Medium body. Dark fruit mated with grip. Good balance with a modicum of richness at the start. Resto cost $15 a bottle on 3 cases. This is easily the most ridiculous, cheap chicken, Napa Cab offer I've come across in a decade. Word in the barrel room is that this is declassified juice from a major Cabernet player/participant that can't be tied into this effort. Tasted their Sauvignon Blanc (and I intently dislike SB) as well and it rocked for a similar price. Approx 5k cases of this Cab made so you might actually come across it. if you do, grab a case. 03.21.25. — a year ago

Douglas, Ted and 6 others liked this

Realm Cellars

The Bard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2019

2019 vintage. From a 375 ml format. Amongst what passes for the ne plus ultra in Napa cabbage these days. Rich. Overtly sumptuous. Modicum of umami on the finish. Restrained/polite company version of a fruit bomb. Too extracted/manipulated without representative tannins for this old-school Dunn/Diamond Creek/Mayacamas/Montelena guy but still verry nice for this style. Dunno where this settles in twenty years but that's someone else's problem down the road. 7.7.24. — 2 years ago

Andrew, Jan and 15 others liked this
Norman

Norman Premium Badge

Didn’t even know they made 375’s

François Villard

Les Terrasses du Palat Condrieu Viognier 2017

Needs 30 minutes for the modicum of oak to blow off.

Nose: white flowers. Hint of elegant richness.

Palate: white nectarines. Light for a viognier. As it opens juicy. Almost a silkiness.
— 2 years ago

Andrew liked this

Modicum

Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2018

Bright crisp fruits. Thomas Keller private label with grapes from Schramsberg. — 3 years ago

Tom, Shay and 2 others liked this