Chris

8.9

Average wine. Nice start but an under whelming finish. $20 — 2 months ago

Douglas Braun

9.1

2019 Vintage -Mark your responsible for this - love this wine it is always so balanced honey dew melon, yellow apple , honey, mineral great acidity — 2 years ago

Vanessa

9.3

Our first visit today was to Champagne Larmandier-Bernier. ✨
@larmandier.bernier

This is a family-owned and managed winery, responsible for growing all of the grapes used to produce their champagne. 🍇

All of their vineyards are located in Premier Cru and Grand Cru villages within the Côte des Blancs. The Côtes des Blancs appellation is known especially for Chardonnay grapes, which tend to have a lighter, more delicate style of wine. Larmandier-Bernier’s blends are made predominantly from Chardonnay with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier playing supporting roles. 🌸🌸

We had a tour of the cellar and winemaking facilities. Most of Larmandier-Bernier’s wines are vinified in Austrian (delicately toasted) oak vessels of various sizes. 🪵

These vessels allow a little oxygen to interact with the wine, which can enhance richness, development of aromas/ flavors, and complexity. The wines also undergo malolactic fermentation for some of the same reasons, but also to soften the acidity, given Chardonnay is a neutral grape and can have higher acidity in a cool climate like Champagne. 👍👍

Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2015, non-dosage, Terre de Vertus - it was so unique; a beautiful wine with a lot toasty, brioche, almond, marzipan, and round orchard fruit notes. 👏👏👏

We are grateful for our visit and hope to return soon. Santé 🥂🙏

P.S. If you’d like to see more pics documenting the tour and trip, check me out on Instagram @sips_ensemble !! — 3 years ago

with Deked1

Alan Creswell

9.0

Lighter and mineralier than Shirazes from Barossa. More to my taste. Different terroir? — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Brought from my cellar and opened just before dinner at Casa Bovina where it was decanted with the expectation that it would be paired with our “Della Terre” course of duck and our “Bistecca” course of Certified Piedmontese rib cap. In the glass, the 2005 Luigi Baudana, “Baudana” pours a gorgeous, almost youthful garnet with a transparent core. On the nose, oooof…be still my beating heart! Cherries, strawberries, and blackberries with tar, truffles, roses and earth. I could just sit and sniff this for hours; my God it is absolutely divine! On the palate, the wine is bone dry and the tannins are well integrated now; acid at medium+. The finish is long and silky. What a gorgeous, elegant example of the 2005 vintage that comes across as Burgundian as any I’ve had from Serralunga d’Alba. This is drinking well now and will continue to do so well past 2030 but unless you have a bunch of this in your cellar, why wait?

It should be noted that Luigi was still responsible for the winemaking back in 2005. Just a few years later, the Vajra family took over and they continue to carry on the tradition and spirit of this small, traditional producer as Luigi and Fiorina have since retired and have no heir. The Baudana’s holdings lie on opposite ends of the Baudana MGA. Production remains minuscule; maybe 300 cases a year. — 2 years ago

Vanessa

9.0

Late brunch with these Bugey bubbles on a rainy Saturday afternoon was pretty fantastic. 👌🥂

This sparkling wine was made using the Méthode Traditionnelle which notably involves a second fermentation in the bottle and aging on the “lees” for at least 12 months. 🕰

In essence, “lees” are what remain in the fermentation vessel after the active yeast has consumed the sugar in the pre-fermented grape juice during the fermentation process; when they die they undergo a process called autolysis, which is responsible for releasing unique flavor/aromatic compounds and enhancing richness and complexity of the resulting wine. The more contact a wine has with the “lees” the greater the “lees” influence the resulting wine. 🤓

This wine comes from the cru of Montagnieu in the alpine appellation of Bugey within Savoie France, situated in the foothills of the Jura mountains. It is a blend of the Altesse (local), Mondeuse (local), and Chardonnay (international) grape varieties. 🇫🇷

I loved the complexity of aromas and flavors with notes of sweet herbs, watercress, a funkiness of cheese rind, also baked apple, pear, brioche, honeysuckle, peony, and toasted almond. 💕💕

This wine was smooth and dry on the palate with medium(+) acidity, a medium body, and medium alcohol. 👄

We paired it with an aged cheddar, chive, and arugula omelet and it was deliciously complementary.

Franck Peillot, Brut, NV, from Montagnieu, Bugey AOC, Savoie, France. ABV 12%. @franckpeillot
— 4 years ago

with Deked1

Pooneet K

8.9

Albariño was one of my gateway white wines and perhaps is partially responsible for my continued love of high acid low oak whites. This is really lip smackingly crisp, quite high levels of acid, but also a bit more body than I normally associate with Albariño. Nice. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

As someone who has been described as an Italophile, I’m particularly enamored with the wines of Piemonte. You’ve probably all heard the saying, “the more you learn, the less you seem to know”. Yeah, I don’t know that it really makes sense. Yet, it seems to apply more and more these days. This wonderful bottle from Giovanni Rosso was an entire lesson of its own for me.

Okay, so I’ve been enjoying the Barolo’s from Giovanni Rosso for almost a decade now and it was not until this bottle that I realized this is not their “classico” but instead, a blend of their holdings exclusively throughout Serralunga d’Alba. A sort of “super classico” (I just made that up) I guess one could say. Since the mid-1990’s, they have been best known for their Serralunga parcels in Cerretta (Bricco). Later, in 2004, they were the first to release a single-vineyard bottling of the Serra MGA (not to be confused with the La Serra MGA in La Morra 🙄). More recently, they have picked up parcels in other Serralunga MGA’s including Costabella, Sorano, Lirano, Damiano, as well as the up and coming Meriame and their most famous of all, Vignarionda (the only other MGA from which they do a single-vineyard besides the aforementioned Serra and Cerretta). I know…it’s a lot to absorb. Let’s just get to the notes.

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2019 “Del Comune Di Serralunga d’Alba” pours a pale garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful, heady notes of red (mostly) and black fruit: fresh raspberries, pomegranate, blood orange, roses, talcum powder, freshly tarred roof and dry earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is a powerful expression of the 2019 vintage that needs some time to settle down. The fruit profile is quite big but the classic Serralunga structure is there in the background. You can drink now if you’re a hedonist (guilty) but I suspect a bigger reward to come from 2029-2040+. — 6 months ago

Christy

9.1

Sunshine. Nice wine at a responsible price. — 3 years ago

Vanessa

9.1

Marcel Couturier, La Cour des Bois, Saint-Véran AOC, Vintage 2015, ABV 13%.

This is a Chardonnay from the Saint-Véran appellation in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy, France 🇫🇷

Mâconnais is generally known for its richer, fuller-bodied Chardonnay expressions, in part due to its more southerly positioning in Burgundy and its warmer temperatures; this wine is an excellent example. 💕💕💕

This wine was produced using older French oak barrels, softening the edges of the orchard and stone fruit characteristics and imparting complexity. A little exposure to oxygen happens naturally when fermenting or aging wine in oak barrels and this exposure may be responsible for the beautiful golden hue I see in the glass, along with time spent in the bottle. 🌞

👃 On the nose this wine has a medium intensity of developing aromas. The aromas include primary notes of tart peach, apricot, yellow apple, lemon rind, also chamomile, orange flower, white blossom, flint and wet stone, also secondary notes of toast, cream, brioche, delicate vanilla and baking spices, and tertiary notes of caramel, butterscotch, and honey. 🍐 🍑 🍎 🍋

👄 On the palate this wine is dry. It has medium(+) acidity, a medium(+) body, medium alcohol, medium intensity in flavors consistent with the nose and a medium finish.

I love the weigh, richness, and complexity of this wine, which we bought at @france_44 recently.

We have paired this wine with sautéed shrimp, roasted veggies, and jasmine rice. It’s a lovely pairing, but I suspect this wine could stand up to an even richer meal or white meat.
— 4 years ago

with Deked1