Byron C Mayes

9.1

Star bright pale straw. Subtle nose of white flowers and white pepper. Full-bodied palate with medium minus acidity yields soft white peach, Meyer lemon, and honeysuckle. Smooth and silky, but not oily, mouthfeel. None of the “darkness” on the finish that can occupy many New World Viogniers. Instead, the soft bright fruit and floral notes continue through the end. The low acidity is balanced by the bright fruit making this a great food wine for hearty poultry, fish, or root dishes, particularly those with a cream or light cheese sauce. The gold standard for Viognier. Drink now through 2021. — 6 days ago

Chris Shultz

9.6

Wow. Super perfume right away. In the first 10 minutes it’s changed five times. Now it’s really tingly in the nose. There are none of the super black austere fruits I’m accustomed to with the northern Rhône. Really rich and fragrant raspberries and black raspberries and purple florals. It’s like candied but without sugar. There is a feral edge, like great sweet charcuterie. The finish is really long and clean and mineral with good full tannins. Really in a class by itself (For me). Wow. — 4 days ago

with Lyle

Chris Shultz

9.6

This is really fragrant and perfumed, but wild as hell. There’s not a fruit in here that isn’t wild: wild strawberries and raspberries, and maybe even watermelon at first. But meaty and wild. Savory rich florals: curry plant and violet and rose. Really soulful and organically balanced. Unique as all hell, has a human feel. I’ve never had a cote rotie like this one. Really drinkable tannins. Excellent. — 4 days ago

with Lyle

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

What a nose. Wow. So precise. Peach. Apricot. Crazy florals. White flowers. Superb minerality and wafting with a brilliant perfume. Stops you in your tracks. 9.6 nose. Palate is superbly elegant and crazy fresh with unreal pithy tropical fruits and endless depth. So pure. This is a great wine. Long, elegant, energetic and so so pretty. Really balanced and sappy. Terrific acidity. The elegance pushes this from 9.4 to 9.5. — a day ago

Mike Saviage

9.3

Tawny with thin amber rims. Dry fruit nose. Notes of dried cherries, some cranberry, a fresh cigar cut, a dollup of raspberry jam and a hint of menthol. Silky in the mouth. Tannins resolved with enough fruit to balance with the structure. Probably past it’s prime showing but very nice tonite nonetheless. — 12 days ago

Eli Barton

8.9

Super violet color, a bit grapey on the nose, but good fruit flavors and acidity. Tasted younger than I expected. Maybe it would’ve helped to let it breath a bit more... — 15 days ago

with Jennifer

Ron Siegel

9.5

Another amazing wine from the Master of Cornas. Elegant & floral with a silky texture showing a perfumed nose of dark cherry, berry fruits, graphite, licorice, olive tapenade, forest floor, lavender & violets. Rich & deep on the palate with good balance & length. — 13 days ago

Matthew Cohen

9.5

Nose is graphite and lavender. Maybe some rose petal.

Palate is rehydrated dried roses. A hint of old burgundy water on hot brick.

As this opens some cherry liquor.

This bottle is like drinking old Burgundy or Bordeaux in its twilight. Very interesting. Some beauty. Some echoes of beauty. I have no idea what the average of 10 bottles would taste like.

Still a thing of beauty.

Bought from fass selections. — 11 days ago

Chris Shultz

9.3

Lots of blackberries to start, then the cured black olive savoriness is on the palate. It’s dry and rich at the same time, rich/dry. With air the blueberries start to grow. They ripen with time. The long finish becomes eating huge and hugely ripe blueberries from deep Maine. Some camphor opens too, when you first open it it’s charcuterie, but it gets more smoky. There’s a bit of black and roasted red pepper on the aired-out finish. Good, easy but complex. — 20 days ago

Conrad Green

9.3

A lovely perfume nose with violets, some roses, dark cherry. On the palate good savory backbone with some dark sour plum flavors and real purity. Intense and quite long, this has a lot of life ahead — 11 days ago

with Bex and Major-General