Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Pale lemon color with aromas of stone fruits and blossom and spice, fruit from the Martinelli Charles Ranch, two miles in from the Pacific, aged for 12 months in 25% new oak. On the palate flavors of apple and pear with a touch of zesty lemon, crisp, with nitty vanilla notes. Nice mouthfeel, vivid acidity, medium+ finish ending with fruit, vanilla and citrus mineral character. Nice! — 9 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

No formal notes . Medium deep garnet ruby . Quite closed at first more mineral , but with some earthy, smoky notes . A bit rounder on the palate , earthy , with some cassis, red pepper , truffle notes , tobacco. Good acidity and quite gritty tannins still . Showing really well , bit more linear and strict, but enough substance and good tobacco, mineral tinged length. Drink now with a decant and over the next 5 perhaps 10 years . — 2 months ago

Andy Thomson

9.0

Fruity almost a rose in colour — 4 months ago

with Cheryl

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Medium ruby , quite wide garnet rim, clear and bright . Cassis , blackberry , sous bois , mint , cedar , grafite , good clarity and surprisingly fruit driven still . Good volume on the palate , dark fruits , mint , good acidity and still quite gritty tannins. Saline and grafite tinged finish . Good length . Drinking very well now and over the next 5 years . For 2002 this is showing very well, classic and surprisingly elegant, a really nice surprise! — 6 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Medium ruby garnet core with quite wide garnet rim . On the nose this shows some development with dry spices , leather , dark cherry, cedar , dried rosemary , sage with some meaty hints . On the palate there is quite a lot of structure with gritty , somewhat rustic tannins and fresh acidity . Menthol tinged dark cherry , liquorice , dried sage and dry spices . Good length and balance with fresh acidity , the alcohol though is a little warming so I would drink this on the cooler side . This is quite a structured , traditionally styled Brunello but with personality and presence . Drinking quite well and showing some development, will perhaps continue to improve over next few years and last well a further 5-10 . — 12 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Medium ruby , wider light ruby rim . Touch more closed and mineral on the nose with, red currant , grafite , cedar . Quite aloof . On the palate this is quite strict , excellent refreshing acidity and very noticeable gritty tannin , more red fruits on the palate , red currant, cherry, cranberry hints alongside the cassis and mineral backbone . Very young , mineral , quite linear and saline . This shows a lot of intensity and salinity after a while in the glass , improves with time in the glass but really needs time in the cellar. Come back in 5 - 10 years , will show well for a further 10 perhaps 20 years. Very classic and aristocratic . — 4 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

Medium ruby garnet , quite narrow terracotta rim . Quite aromatic , sous bois , dried rose , some spice , truffle . On the palate this is lean in style , with some dried rose , red fruits , liquorice and mint . Quite dry , gritty tannin , balanced acidity . Medium length , liquorice, dried rose finish . Drinking well now and over the next 5-8 years . — 4 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Deep ruby , thin pink rim . Fresh cassis , blackberry , quite spicy with a touch of vanilla, red plum . Quite open and enticing . On the palate this is somewhat linear with cool dark fruits , cassis , red plum , grafite and saline touch . Fills out well with quite grippy , cool tannins , fresh acidity , and good length with grafite , cassis finish . This is obviously not ready , however it was an enjoyable wine to drink over dinner , the freshness and cool fruit character are quite apparent , and the tannins though gritty are somewhat in the background . Though it was worth the experience , I would leave bottles a further 10 years before trying another. This is an elegant and well judged wine . — a month ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.2

Solid, gritty and aromatic Fichots. Even in a forward vintage like 17 Fichots is still a bit closed at 8 years old. Needs 3-4 years as Fichots needs more time than any Pernand 1er Cru. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Médium ruby, ruby rim . Quite deep and intense on the nose , with smoky cherry , red plum and fresh herbs . On the palate very high acidity and bright herbal tinged red cherry , red plum , strawberry and mineral , saline touches . Gritty quite firm tannins. Very intense, but also elegant and bright , vivid . Long cherry tart , grafite tinged finish . Very promising . Come back in 10 years and see how this ages over the following 10-15 . — 4 months ago