Seam
Red Tail Ridge Winery
Seneca Lake Blaufränkisch
Quite a complete wine...while built for food, this has precision of a old world Soliloquy. Emotional as it is articulate, for a barely medium weight build. Not overly artsy, this balances floor Audi, mineralogy, herbal and dark red fruit tones… Without any edge or seam. This should go toe to toe with any East Coast top shelf Pinot Noir… Food pairing would be effortless!  — 4 years ago
Château Pape Clément
Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2015
The 2015 Pape-Clément has a fragrant bouquet with quite plush, generous but well defined red berry
fruit mixed with rose petal and incense, smoke and cigar humidor following later. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, crisp and focused.
A seam of graphite emerges toward the finish. This is linear and correct at the moment. This should develop into a very fine Pessac-Léognan, one full of breed and sophistication. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2019) — 5 years ago
Château Rauzan-Ségla
Margaux Grand Cru Classé Red Bordeaux Blend 2012
The 2012 Rauzan-Ségla has a similar colour to the 2015 although it has a hard time competing with the delineation, the crystalline nature of the 2015. Yet it compensates with the sheer aromatic flamboyance. This has really opened up in the last 18 months or so, quite lush and precocious black fruit, loam and iris, just a slight hint of bell pepper emanating from the small amount of Cabernet Franc. The palate is medium-bodied with fine grain tannin. There is a lovely seam of acidity here that lends the 2012 a sense of focus. It is not a deep or lavish Rauzan-Ségla, in some ways a little more conservative than I recall. There is fine grip on the saline finish, perhaps a Margaux that is just beginning to close up for a while? This still has great potential. Tasted at the Rauzan-Ségla vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2018) — 5 years ago
Envinate
Táganan Parcela Margalagua Red Blend 2019
Sanshugong.
12% alc. Margalagua is a charismatic parcel of the Taganan vineyard comprising 100- to 300-year-old vines on a uniquely iron-rich seam of rocky volcanic soil. This treacherously steep vineyard site is planted with a mix of mostly indigenous red grapes, such as Negramoll and Listán Negro, with a small amount of Listán Blanco. This parcel is about elegance and depth rather than power: due to the silky character of the wines, it is vinified differently with a much longer (30- to 45-day) maceration and 100% stem-inclusion, yielding a darker, bolder, richer wine.
[Vintage 2018:] “This vineyard has been vinified and bottled separately since 2012 because it has a very strong personality, not surprisingly, because it's one of the most fascinating and exceptional vineyards I've ever seen in my life. . . This is a translucent bright ruby color, and it's aromatic, floral, spicy and mineral, expressive and super fresh, because of the year and because they have new cooler vineyards. It has lots of notes of violets and lilies. The flavors are pungent, precise, clean, symmetric and very elegant, with refined tannins and a tasty, somewhat salty finish. This is the best wine they have produced to date. Truly word-class.” WA 98 (Luis Gutiérrez) — 2 years ago
Llopart
Reserva Brut Nature Cava Macabeo-Xarel-lo-Parellada
A nice fine mousse, nose hints at some age though it’s not vintage dated. Good seam of acidity running through it, more fruity than yeasty. I’d buy it again for €12. Certified organic and from estate owned vineyards. — 4 years ago
Sanzon
Rány Tokaj Furmint 2016
This 100% Furmint has a crisp, pure nose of honeysuckle and jasmine, and a suggestion of caramelized pear in the background. The waxy-textured palate is well balanced with a seam of acidity, offering pear and quince and a twist of sour lemon on the finish to urge you back for another sip. $22.00 (Neal Martin, Vinous, April 2019) — 5 years ago
Bauget-Jouette
Brut Carte Blanche Champagne
Solid two-seam FB nibbling at the edges of the plate: good control, decent oomph, and a good workhorse. The price is outrageously good, though, which I reckon makes it matter more than a standard nothing btl. — 3 years ago
Junius Lindsay Vineyard
Second Leaf Viognier Roussanne 2017
A bit of rollercoaster ride…the aromatics throw you what looks like a fastball, however it’s a 2-seam splitter ;) still evaluating…. — 3 years ago
Beau Vigne
Juliet Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Picture is from a great street vendor in NY. Focus is on flying rats. The wine is in a great spot. The nose displays kitsch and hints of tobacco. Palate is a power-play of pristine fruit, and slightly underripe tannins. Acidity acts as a counterweight to the tannins. It’s multi-layered with a seam of minerality. Leave this a little while longer if you have it, but it’s excellent now, if you like palate domination. — 5 years ago
I didn’t notice you wrote anything, I’m just here to look at pictures. I’ll read it now
Ely Cohn
On the Gruner Meyers Briggs, a spectrum from smokey green to glowing yellow, this is a thriving golden extrovert through to the seam, loaded with fruit and zippy acid. And I'm shocked as this has 12 years on it.
Rich, opulent, complex, textured, outspoken. A very tropical wine with complexity and nuance. Sugar coated dried pineapple wedges. The thickest slowest seep of canned peach syrup. Papaya, Guava. Passion fruit. A touch oily but so much acid to go along with all that fruit.
It has that Gruner note. The peppery one - kind of barely there, for just a little seasoning. — 2 years ago