David Hale Smith

9.6

Stunner of a right bank Bordeaux. Sensational fruit, menthol lights. Lush and soft. Wish we could have gone into the future and decanted it 6 hours earlier. Got better and better and better as we lingered over dinner and tried not to slam it. — 7 months ago

Perry Riddle

9.2

It's pretty much a slam dunk for the price. It's like a perfect medium between a Rheingau Riesling and Alsatian Riesling. Can't recommend enough. — 2 years ago

with Steven

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Another grand slam from Sylvain Bernard. Nose is ultra granite. Some black berry but man is this stoney. Smells like the Cornas but more Burgundian. Maybe the most expressive mineral nose I’ve ever had in a St. Joseph. 9.8 nose. This is doing it for me. It is so expansive. Intoxicating. The level of herbs are incredible. Just a knockout. Elegant and deep on the palate with terrific ripeness and intense concentration. But man is this painfully young. Awesome blancs, purity and length and so juicy with intense mineral grip. This needs to flesh out and the fruit needs to become more prominent. It will. My last French wine for a while! — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Christmas lunch date at V. Mertz. Popped and poured from a half bottle. No formal notes. From the pour, this was ready to rock and faking the funk on a nasty dunk. Ripe red fruits, garrigue and pasture land. Tasty and paired well with the carbonara and kimchi bucatini. — 4 years ago

Kaela Myers

9.2

Kind of a slam dunk w a leek pizza — 5 years ago

Sam Shepard

9.6

Slam dunk. Sourdough, nutty, and so easy to drink — 7 years ago

Eric

9.2

Herbed cranberry, raspberry jam, white pepper, and pencil shavings. Chunky snout for a -12. Slam dunk for $50. — 8 years ago

Raquel Schrumpf

9.8

This is wonderful with food or without it’s a beautiful red blend — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

8.9

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of several hours. The 2019 pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of tart and ripe red and black fruits: Montmorency cherry, plums, horse barn, purple and red flowers, crushed rocks and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium- tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium and laden with minerals. This is not faking the funk on a nasty dunk. Drink now through 2029. — a year ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Poured into a ship’s decanter about an hour before service. The 2015 “Les Chailles” pours a ruby color with a translucent core; moderate staining. On the nose, powerful intensity with developing red fruits, brambles, pomegranate, black fruits, orange zest, purple flowers and just a whiff of leather. Shaquille O’Neal is also there… as this wine is not “faking the funk on a nasty dunk”. Translation: this does have a feral quality to it but it’s just wonderful. On the palate, it’s bone dry, with medium+ tannin and acid. Medium alcohol. Long. Ass. Finish. Overall, you just want to drink this wine as there is just so much to like. That being said, this is still quite the baby…even if this is considered Voge’s “generic” Cornas. Drink now with some extended air (in hindsight, I would have audouzed the night before) but probably better after 2025. Easily has the stuffing to be enjoyable past 2030. NOTE: I left about one glass in the bottle and came back to it two nights later and it was still outstanding with only slight evolution. I suspect the aging potential of these wines is well beyond what is advertised. — 4 years ago

Andrey Pertsov

9.1

exquisite tension with some luscious orchard fruits, hazelnuts and minerality 🤌 this + scallops = vince carter circa 2000 dunk contest game 👏🏼 over 👏🏼 — 5 years ago

Wil Chow

8.9

That’s some apropos naming right there. You got some green apple rounded out with pears and like a squeeze of pomelo. Take all that and dunk slab of metal and a granite flint with just the right touch of petrol to fire off those taste buds. I imagine this would taste amazing as a an accompaniment to shrooms. I mean I wouldn’t know... — 5 years ago

Bob Colman

9.1

Juicy, tart cherry & cola. Cool it and slam it down with prosciutto, figs & salami on a warm night in Palermo — 8 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

This bottle was faking the funk on a nasty dunk. Dark fruits and spice. Tannic still. Lots of life left. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

This 96 Citran seriously over delivers @Cole’s Chop House Napa. Bought this 8 months or so ago for $39.99 at K&L. Clyde has brought in another grand slam value -golden gem.

Previous notes apply. Nearly 94 with the Cowboy Bone-in Ribeye. The Cowboy is their best steak and the only one I order.

I am mostly disappointed in most steakhouse recommendations or read, not Cole’s. — 10 months ago

Allison Kohl

9.3

why buy sancerre when you could buy welches white grape juice for a fraction of the price??
SALM DUNK. fruity yet clean with a hint of mineralogy — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

My first time trying the 2016 vintage. This bottle was opened about 90min before service. The wine pours a deep garnet, fading to magenta, with a watery rim. It has a slightly turbid appearance and a nearly opaque core with slight, staining of the tears. On the nose, holy whole cluster city Batman! This Moulin-à-Vent is not faking the funk on a nasty dunk. Notes of dark fruit, curry, cheese rind, wet asphalt, and minerals. Fabulous acid and medium+ tannin. The finish is long, lingering, and slightly green. I fell in love with Thibault’s wines from M-à-V with the 2010 vintage and I’ve been smitten ever since. They are among the most exciting wines made in the Cru today. In 3-5 years, these will really slap. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

The 2011 “Cuvee Orience” currently pours a deep garnet with a translucent core and watery rim; medium+ viscosity. On the nose, medium+ intensity and I’m here to report that this wine is faking the funk on a nasty dunk. Horse blanket, desiccated blue and black fruits, grilled meat, scorched earth, grilled mushrooms, and dirty wet rocks. On a palate, this wine is dry with medium tannins…much of most of which have integrated; medium maybe medium+ acid. Confirming the dark desiccated fruit, brandied cherries, black pepper, lavender, earth, salmiakki, and wet stone. Very long finish. Alcohol is medium+. My very last bottle of the 2011 “Orience” and it was a cracker. So long, friend. — 5 years ago

Joe Gillies

9.0

Wonderful blueberry aromas, wow so aromatic. Still so vibrant and youthful. Pnp but I'd recommend letting it breath a bit before drinking. BlackBerry plum violet and slate. For a $6 on clearance wine, this is a grand slam! — 6 years ago

Andy Mc Nees

9.2

Opened a little tired. Thought I over aged it. Came around. Still gritty tannins. Perfectly ripe. Bang for your buck slam dunk — 8 years ago