Rhône, France

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave

Hermitage Syrah 2008

Excellent 08. Chave and Allemand really nailed the difficult vintage in Northern Rhône, and 2008 Hermitage is showing beautifully tonight, fresh, elegant and detailed with aromas of juicy red berry fruit, bacon, roasted herbs and smoky minerals. While not an exceptionally deep and concentrated rendition in 2008, it’s really a considerable success, and it’s fully open, giving and ready to drink. — 12 days ago

Russ, Jan and 14 others liked this
Neil Valenzuela

Neil Valenzuela

Wow!! 🤩

Domaine du Pegau

Cuvée Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 1998

Wine auction winner. Smooth and subtle. Finish to match. Cherry tobacco notes. Paired with grilled ribeye steaks — 11 days ago

Rob liked this

Louis Roederer

Cristal Brut Champagne Chardonnay Pinot Noir Blend 2002

Medium lemon yellow , persistent fine perlage . At first quite shy , needs a bit of time to get going . Then buttered pastry , confit lemon and roast nuts , quite bold and rich , just a hint of chalky minerality . On the palate the richer , deeper theme continues , those pastry and buttery notes , confit lemon and a creamy mouthfeel . Long balanced finish , the chalky acidity really helping to cut through richer , mouth filling profile . Coming back to this at the end of the meal , having sat 6 hours in the glass , this still shows remarkable freshness and life. This seems young to me still , certainly has everything for a long life ahead , better in 5 years perhaps and will show well a further 10-15 perhaps . — 11 days ago

Jeroen, Andrew and 14 others liked this

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2006

Age is this bad boys friend. Rich black fruit on the nose. Smooth and buttery tannins. Blackberry is dominant Macerated black olive on the mid palate with eucalyptus on the longer finish.  — 8 days ago

Shay, Bob and 9 others liked this

Domaine Auguste Clape

Cornas Syrah

Imprecise, rustic and truly arteasanal. Despite this I have the feeling it will improve a lot with time. Perfect wine for food pairing. 93-93+ — a day ago

Paul liked this

Paul Jaboulet Aîné

La Chapelle Hermitage Syrah 1989

This was still incredibly youthful. Would never have guessed ‘89. — 5 months ago

Domaine François Raveneau

Montée de Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2013

Not sure there are better 13 whites than Raveneau. Lafon also comes to mind. It’s an early drinking vintage (by Raveneau standards) while you wait for 12 and 14. Also, no Chapelot this year so it’s blended in here. A multi hour advance decant has it rocking, stunningly aromatic, soaring with layers of créme fraîche, baking spice, crushed stones and a whisper of botrytis influenced saffron. The palate shows immense power, concentration and depth of waxy yellow fruit chiseled with Chablisen minerality. Brilliant tension and racy lemony acids provide a seamless balance to its power and richness. MDT always hits 🫰🏻 — 4 days ago

Mark, Paul and 7 others liked this

Domaine Jamet

Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2012

Another great btl of this vintage consistent with my prior notes showing clean & pure aromas of dark cherry, raspberry, smoked meat, bacon fat with savory spice, graphite, pepper, olive & violet — 12 days ago

Ira, Jeroen and 10 others liked this

Château Rayas

Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grenache Blend 2011

Almost perfect. Stewed fruit, great bitterness, extremely round and perfect tannins. Close to a grand cru burgundy in a good year with 10-15 years of age. — 18 days ago

Jan, Brecht and 1 other liked this

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe

La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 1988

Lovely mature CdP, redfruits, nice balance, medium-long finish, starting to show just a little oxidation. — a month ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Aravind, Bob and 4 others liked this