Yum!! Wonderful aged notes of sweet tobacco, raisins, and honey greet you as they are lifted from the vibrant dark red fruit of current and dark plum and supported with fine polished tannins leading it to a mouth smacking finish. Ahhh, one of those rare wines that elevated your spirit to a higher place. Visited the winery last summer and hand carried the wine back home. Paired fantastically with Tammy’s from scratch Italian dish of sweet Italian spiced tomato sauce and over penne noodles and Italian sausage. — 2 years ago
On to the 2012 Pontet-Canet from Paulliac paired with grilled lamb chops and made from scratch boulonese sauce. Fantastic. The wine expressed it selves very well after a good hour and half of decanting at about 60 F. The earthy umami flavors of the food propelled the wine above its weight. But the absolute best ever tasting quartered, seasoned potato wedges/fries from our guests brought the wine into outer orbit. The duck fat tasting fries revealed herbaceous floral notes on the mid palet and created a soothing long finish. With smooth fine grained tannins. — 3 years ago
Served blind alongside what was eventually revealed to be the 1971 Mouton Rothschild. This almost had me leaning Napa by a classic producer due to the gorgeous fruit and generous, scratch that, lavish use of new French oak. After careful deliberation with those at the table with more experience drinking Mouton both young and old, I was able to come alongside the others that this was indeed young Pauillac. All the cassis, cigar box, tobacco and baking spices ones heart could desire with some of the loveliest acid. Speaking of, the structure still has quite a grasp of this one but with all the lovely fruit, everything is in brilliant balance, even at 18 years young. Given that, I expect this wine to drink well for decades to come, particularly since secondary characteristics have hardly entered the chat. Definitely a wine I hope to enjoy many more times over the years but so grateful I got to try now. — a year ago
Scratch and sniff orange peel. — 2 years ago
OG California Field Blend Goodness… inky black with waves of Ripe blackberry bramble, cherry, and a touch of smoke. I fell in love with these hyperbolic field blends 30 years ago. Rice, ripe, smooth, with s hint of green stem and leafy forest flooor. I forgot just how these wines scratch my zin/oak/mid-weight itch. I am making my response to find more… — 2 years ago
I adore this wine. Elite Bordeaux blend from a Italy for not much scratch. Nose is closed but some black plum, red plum, cassis but barely peeking through. But palate is a banger. Juicy, fresh and so linear with such fine tannin! Wow this is dynamite. So fresh and precise with flavors of plum and cassis and such refinement. What a finish. This is outrageous and been open for 10 minutes. Wow. I expect the nose to really go off soon. Now the nose after 4 hours is smokey, with sweet incense and pure black plum. Terrific high quality subtle sweet oak and tons of earthy notes. So complex and unique. Ethereal and subtle. Concentrated and refined but has a bit of Tuscan grittiness that just adds to the allure. Long with an earthy sweetness on the finish. Exceptional and classy and just so Tuscan. The finish lingers for so long and there is a creamy opulence that develops after 4 hours. The balance between the Cab Franc and Merlot is terrific. This is Tuscan St. Emilion. — a year ago
This wine is essentially one of our “house wines”. House wine is not very expensive, it is very drinkable and also flexible with different cuisines. Tonight we made fish tacos from scratch. Beautiful, mango salsa with halibut. This wine paired up very well. It picked up the cilantro and avocado overtones of the food. Some pear, charcoal, and earthy flavors. A bit dry, not too much and can stand up to spice. — 2 years ago
Chianti Classico is exactly what one needs with spaghetti & quick-from-scratch sauce from ripe garden tomatoes (+ garlic + basil). Simple, classic and hits the spot.
Red plums and cherries (ripe and stewed), fresh herbs. Vanilla and cloves. More depth and roundness than your average Chianti Classico. Probably the warmer vintage + judicious use of barrique + bottle age to soften the rough edges of the Sangio tannins and acid. — 3 years ago
Paul J
Drank over a few days. Very light gold color, which is surprising after smelling and tasting it. Very rich nose of sweet apples/pears, lychee, and subtle perfume. Smells like a scratch and sniff book :). Similar on the palate but more refined. Medium depth and finish. Pretty darn good for $30. Probably gets better with age, but ready to go now. — 2 months ago