Jay Kline

9.6

Paolo Bea dinner at Semo. All wines were prepared by opening and slow-ox, prior to service. Abbreviated notes due to the setting. The wines of Paolo and Giampiero Bea are very special to me and I am grateful to have enjoyed so many of them, over the years. However, the Passito is extremely rare and this is my first encounter. The 2011 pours a garnet color with a most interesting and attractive nose of Castelvetrano olives, dark cherry, salmiakki, and palo santo. I would categorize this as off-dry; certainly not sweet. There’s excellent structure too so that may play a role in my perception of sugar. Perhaps the profile varies from vintage to vintage however, if this is representative, I could see myself going well out of my way to drink this. Brilliant. Drink now through 2036. Bottle No. 1716/3699 — 5 months ago

Brad Bader

9.0

This definitely changed my perception of Zinfandel. Incredible character and taste. — 3 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.5

Blue flower perfume. Anise seed. Dusty minerality, granitic. Delicate tannins within a supremely long, tart, palate of purple raspberries. Elegant and juicy body and finish, with a firm mineral spine. Fantastic. Such elegant wine. Subtle and pretty. Nice perception of sweetness. Will only get better. — 5 years ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Lovely older Porto, seems consistent with my perception of Taylor as big structure, and a tad drier style, only nit might be that it seemed initially like the spirit and Porto were no longer in total harmony, but still really fine! — 6 years ago

with Jim

Rhonely Boy

9.1

Fantastic Zin, varietally correct, balanced and not overblown in any respect, read a newspaper through it clarity (Saignée/racked/filtered, unsure), nice fruit with good acidity balanced by sugar content (without being overblown). Label states 15.5% abv, but believe this is to cover a wide range(14.5-16.5) Im gonna says its 14.8ish, fruity body (cherry, red raspberry)exceeds perception of alc. oak is most appropriate. Drink and enjoy now. More please. — 6 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

9.1

This is a perfect example of how your state of mind or the position of the moon can change your perception of a wine. Until tonight this wine has never “wowed” me but right now I’m digging it. Medium gold colour. Ripe pineapple, gasoline and diesel, pine resin, thyme honey, and butterscotch. On the palate it has an incredible balance between sweet ripe fruit and tart acidity. #lateharvest #tokaji — 6 years ago

Matt

9.2

Substantial texture and weigh albeit very tight and wound up. Dark, meaty, filled with spices, tobacco, tar, and mixed black fruits. There’s a considerable amount of brett but it integrates into the wines richness and earthy minerality. Struck by the length of tannin perception and mineral core that envelopes the wine across the palate. Definitely a more masculine expression than LBT. — 7 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.7

One more to finish of the bubbles theme over the last couple days! Made by Selosse's cellar hand, the wine is a dead ringer for a Selosse. Not just from the almost identical label (font is the same) and foil capsule. These were, like this 2018 disgorgement, made in the Selosse cellars. Blanc de Blancs and very dry, good oxidation, but with no other details on the label I don't have more details.

Med+ gold, mild petillance. The nose rises easily from the glass with a multitude of fruits, spices, savory and mineral nuances...lemon, lemon oil, mandarin, oyster shell, chalk, saline, with dried florals, subtle spices and toast, ginger. The palate is med bodied, the flavor density gives the perception of a fuller wine (med+), it is just a modest 12%. The palate is rich, powerful, and full of complexity. The finish is long, complex, and finishes with some serious cut! Outstanding! — 6 months ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.3

Beautiful transparency, but also very ripe with great fruit density. Raspberry and brambley herbs, slight perception of sweetness. Clean as a whistle. — 4 years ago

Winston Jones

Host OrganicWineReview, Assistant Buyer Savvy Cellar Wine Bar

9.0

Consistent! I’ve tasted several vintages and I’m mostly very pleased. Drinking Very Local. I may be biased, as I am currently living 3 miles south of the winery, sometimes that can cloud your perception. But this stuff is good. The QPR is out of this world. Can’t wait to visit the winery and taste through the lineup. — 5 years ago

Matt

9.6

Effusive and elegant. Poached black plums, macerated black berries, spicecake, clove, dried rose petals, Ceylon cinnamon, star anise, cool herbs, moss, fir, gravel, leaves, leather and a kiss of cured meat. Big time deliciousness right here, just enough heady richness balanced by wonderful whole cluster perception of tannin and acid. Love the development, in the zone for my palate. There’s some serious wine in the glass right now. — 6 years ago

Tony T Chang

9.8

Never been a big fan of Syrah. Always been too sour and simple for my taste even as a daily drinker. But boy did this one change my opinion of Syrah! Drinking in 2020 this 2002 vintage is definitely aged enough, perfectly. Upon opening of bottle the color is a nice beet color. First drink really blew my mind. A bit sweet but very very refreshing? Don’t know how to describe the feeling I can only say refreshing. Lots of lighter berries such as strawberry but I also tasted undertones and aftertaste@of Japanese soda candy! My mouth also felt tingly like a mint but of course no mint flavor. Some dark oaks but very very subtle. The nose was very faint. On the second day of drinking the berrys overtook the Japanese soda candy and the nose became more pronounced. Thoroughly enjoyed this wine and changed my perception of Syrah. Will be looking to try out more Syrah in the future. — 6 years ago

with Peter

Alex Lallos

Owner No Limit Fine Wines, Private Wine Consultant

9.3

Wtf? This is amazing. Almost marsanne like.. super dark yellow gold that actually becomes lighter with air (Wierd but maybe it’s just my perception because the fruit goes from rich to lean with air as well) with aromas of dried almond, quince, apricot and wet hay. It needs time to open up and while it may be a ‘fat’ for my taste, there is a never ending mineral component to keep it fresh in intriguing. A benchmark wine for sure! Drink now through next decade — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; consumed over two days. Today, the 1989 Grattamacco pours a translucent light garnet color with a slightly watery rim. There is some browning around the edges. There is quite a bit of fine sediment (which some might prefer to decant off; we didn’t bother). Medium viscosity; no obvious staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is initially a bit musty, funky cherry and leathery, showing off predominately secondary characteristics. However, after 90 minutes of air it really started to brighten up and after the old musty character has lifted, the wine revealed beautiful desiccated cherries, black tea, mushrooms, leather, dry leaf tobacco, and just a touch of bell pepper. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium/medium+ acid. All of the notes from the nose are confirmed. The fruit is wizened but gives a perception of sweetness that is just lovely. The tannins are completely integrated and the acid gives everything a nice lift. The finish is long and elicits a Duchenne smile. A delightfully aged bottle with obviously super provenance (thank you Tim!). We spent several hours enjoying this wine and it only became more ruddy and seemed to gain freshness with air. Drink now and enjoy. — 3 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

9.1

Pours a surprisingly deep yellow. Nose offers plenty of ripe golden fruit. Palate entry medium sweet and seemingly a bit simple.
Day two paired with German brats braised in caramelized onions/carrots and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut completely changes this wine converting the sweetness to a fresh acid and the flavor profile to an almond tinged white cherry and plum. Very, very interesting food and wine pairing.
Try this with picked/fermented foods as umeshu, kimchi, sauerkraut etc for an interesting change in perception. — 4 years ago

Mike Duffy

9.2

Absolutely stunning nose, classically riesling. Bright, zippy, fresh, and every other adjective to describe the vivacity of this taught and angular juice. Tons of citrus washing over the mineral backbone like a tsunami, this wine is extremely expressive and approachable, even if you dont like riesling because its “too sweet”. This wine will change your perception tout suite. Its fully dry and is fantastic with food ( currently enjoying it with some rouge creamery oregon organic blue cheese, [voted best cheese in the world in 2019!] value wise, I dont think it gets better than this, this wine will continue to be amazing in 10-20 years, hopefully some of it lasts until then — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Tasted double-blind. The nose showed white flowers; sort of a mix of magnolia, jasmine and citrus blossom. The palate came across off-dry with some potential residual sugar. Pastilles and honeysuckle. I thought this was well balanced and seemed to have higher acid. My call was a Chenin Blanc; a Vouvray, demi-sec from a recent vintage. Obviously, I was way off. I’m told the relatively higher ABV in these wines, plus the fact that they are made in stainless steel, give the perception of higher acid. Anyway, it’s nice to drink Viognier that tastes like this. Now I wish I had a dozen oysters! — 6 years ago

Andrew S

9.3

Interesting and fun wine. Nose of red fruits, mint/menthol, and touch of cedar. Palate adds prunes, dried berries and a nice acidity. Tannins are completely resolved, and approach bare perception. Given the riper fruit notes, the lighter abv (13.5), make for a fascinating glass. Would like to taste this next to Monte Bello. — 6 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.3

Love. Pears, white peaches and some florals, medium body, well-proportioned acid, rounded out with a hint of bitterness. A ghost perception of sweetness, not sure if from a small dosage or just the brilliance of riesling.

A wonderful new expression of the grape for me... will be seeking several bottles of this out for aging. — 6 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.1

Passion fruit - fresh and stewed. Canned apricot, tangerine, orange peel. Lemon curd. Ginger candy. Medium+ acidity and finish. Aged beautifully, pairing it with Maracuia chocolate probably elevated my perception... — 7 years ago