Prize
Domaine Vincent Paris
Granit 30 Cornas Syrah 2016
Quiz prize so unexpectedly excellent food wine.
Straight evocative messenger from the Northern Rhône.
Drank it with Angela with aubergine/goats cheese burgers. — 5 years ago
Thelema Mountain Vineyards
Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
We had this with Oxtail dinner at Rattray’s in Mala Mala last night.
Not my usual detailed notes. This is ripe & lush like the Nederburg but with more complexity.
The palate showed ripe and slightly candied fruits of; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries and a hint of blue fruits. Nice softly layered baking spices, dark chocolate, mocha, rich, dark soils, some dry top, well done granitic minerals and fresh red and dark florals. The acidity round & beautiful. The finish, ripe, lush, well balanced & polished. Good QPR here.
Photos of, today’s Mala Mala sunrise, baby calf elephant along with the nearly 40 in the herd and a total of over 100 Elephants seen today, playful male dominance of the Giraffe’s intertwining and smacking necks/mid section and the grand prize, male spotted Leopard. An amazing finish to our last day. — 5 years ago
Château Le Prieure
Saint - Émilion Grand Cru Classé Red Bordeaux Blend 2016
Very modern style, extracted, oaky. Plenty of good fruit. Silky tannins. But lacks character, one cannot tell where it comes from. Not our thing. But better than most modern styled Bordeaux. We dont understand the high prize by some pros… — 2 years ago
Catherine et Pierre Breton
Franc de Pied Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2014
Loire power couple Catherine and Pierre Breton have cab franc all dressed up. 2014 Les Perrieres is their prize - pretty now, will be beautiful in time.
Elegant and deep - traditional the way cab franc contributes to Bordeaux blends.
Old cedar and pencil shavings. Fresh raspberries and stewed plums and black cherries.
Concentrated perfectly - salty solution with a little grip. Plenty of time to mellow out. — 4 years ago
Equipo Navazos
I Think Manzanilla Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Palomino Fino
Sanlúcar de Barrameda was the port that Christopher Columbus set off from in 1492. Just 1 year earlier, duties on wine exports from Sanlúcar had been abolished to take advantage of English merchants desperate for new supply after the loss of Bordeaux.
It began a centuries-long romance between Sherry and English wine lovers, as immortalized in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 2, when Falstaff glorifies sturdy Spanish 'sack' over thin Bordeaux 'claret' and Rhine 'hock'.
But the honeymoon, quite literally, was not to last. Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon drove a wedge between England and Catholic Europe, and left English wine lovers in need of a new source once again. But Sherry fanatics wouldn't have to go entirely without. When Sir Francis Drake sailed into Cádiz and burned the Spanish fleet in 1587, he carried away 2,900 butts of Sherry - enough to supply London for years - as his most famous prize.
(This is adapted from notes for Le Dû’s Wines ‘History of Wine 1453AD-Present’ seminar, where this wine was poured) — 5 years ago
Glenmorangie
Signet Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 46% abv
Jeff Carrel
Les Darons Languedoc Grenache Blend 2017
75% Grenache / 5% Carignan / 20% Syrah
Eur 7.95
Les vins du terroir
The best vine/prix experienced in Paris, well competitive with bottles of a multiple prize — 4 years ago
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego
2021 vintage. Classic Napa Cab without all the current bells and whistles. Eye on the prize. Medium body with balanced bouquet and shows across the entire palate. It’s Cabernet like this that built Napa into the 800 lb gorilla that it is. 79% Cab, 8% PV, 7% Malbec, 6% Merlot. 4.3.24. — 5 months ago