To Kalon Vineyard

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2008

This needed lots of air showing mostly black fruits, menthol, leather, graphite, earth, sweet spice & wet tobacco. Although enjoyable now this will continue to develop for many years — 5 days ago

Tom, Juan and 8 others liked this

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2017

Excellent follow up to the classic 2015 Vintage. Blend of Mourvèdre (30%), Grenache (30%), Syrah (15%), Counoise (10% and 15% of other approved CDP varietals led by Vaccarese’. Aromas of red and black fruit, garrigue, leather and earth. Flavors of black raspberries, currants and cherries, Asian spices, smoked meat and truffles. Long and lingering (slightly spicy) finish and beautiful balance. Full bodied and dense, but not overpowering. Fine grained tannins. Great now, but there is another decade (or so) of aging potential. Just incredible. — 5 days ago

Joel, Paul and 6 others liked this

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Quite deep with a ruby core , light garnet rim . Quite young looking . Quite tertiary , with cigar box , grafite some cassis and a grafite note , still very alive and relatively young . On the palate this is quite dusty and earthy , menthol, cassis , tobacco and that grafite hint . Ripe but noticable tannins and refreshing acidity with good lightly grippy length, quite classic . Compared to the Poyferre this is younger but sterner and more foursquare , but classic and unapologetically traditional claret in style. From now with a decant , but this will probably keep well and perhaps improve over the next 10-15 years . — 9 days ago

Jeroen, Jan and 7 others liked this

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1990

Cedar, graphite, and dried tobacco on first sniff, leather and forest floor underneath. Fully tertiary — the cassis has gone to dried blackcurrant, the tannin's resolved into a fine powder. — 17 days ago

Dave liked this

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2017

Light golden in color.

Beautiful nose of honeydew, apples, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, spices and melons.

Full-bodied with high acidity and long legs.

Sweet on the palate with apples, citrus, mangoes, spices, honeysuckle, herbs, honey and light earth.

Long finish with sweet honey notes.

This delicious 9 year old Sauternes is drinking beautifully now. Complex and interesting. Elegant and fruit forward. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.

Feels very fresh, but a bit subdued and earthier right now, compared to other vintages. Will continue to age nicely in the next 40 years.

Loved the nose more than the palate here. So expressive.

Wine Spectator 96 points. Robert Parker 99 points.

A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in all new French oak barrels for 24 months. Drank from a 750ml bottle.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$450.
— a month ago

Juan, Rob and 16 others liked this
Daniel Bloom

Daniel Bloom

@"Odedi" Nice bargain sipper!

Silver Oak

Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Great improvement from the last btl. Unfortunately my last & not on the top of my list to replace. — 2 months ago

David, Dave and 4 others liked this

Realm Cellars

Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

So we are tasting the 2007 side by side with the 2005. Both decanted and both are singing. This is a difficult call and I am giving both a 9.6 rating, not willing to rank one above the other. Deep and complex flavor profile. Incredibly smooth. Fantastic wine — 2 months ago

Billy and Eric liked this

Bedrock Wine Co.

Ode to Lulu California Old Vine Rosé Blend

Total sleeper: while the label simply says ‘Syrah’, the reality in the making of it is that it’s a co-fermentation of 85% Syrah from some of Bedrock’s prized vineyards and (about) about 15% Viognier. And man does it work- particularly for the price.
@grabbitbeforeyoudonthave the option.
— a month ago

Laura liked this

Taittinger

Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2014

Medium lemon yellow . Quite closed at first , with some toasted brioche and touch of lemon peel , white flowers, stem ginger , quite rich impression . On the palate this is quite creamy and rounded , candied peel , honey , rich pastries , with quite high mineral tinged acidity . Good long , mineral tinged finish . Needs a bit more time though I don’t get the feeling this will be as profound or as long lived as the 2012. Better in 5 years and will continue to drink well a further 10. — 4 days ago

Jan, Jeroen and 6 others liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1996

Tasted blind. Deeper slightly brighter in colour, deeper ruby and a thinner garnet rim . Bit more closed and deeper in fruit , grafite , blackcurrants , wet stones , mineral . There is also a seaside , sea shore hint coming back to this . On the palate this has more volume than 1 , richer in style . More dusty and drier tannins , balanced acidity and good grafite tinged length . Mouton ? Lovely depth and expressiveness , exuberante, young still but with time really shows well. From now and over the next 10 -15 years. This was the Lafite , which surprised me , but still a beautiful wine. — 9 days ago

Jeroen, Tom and 16 others liked this

Beaulieu Vineyard

Private Reserve Georges de Latour Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1980

Somm David T
9.1

I’ve had this vintage several times over the last few yrs. I had it two yrs ago w/ Andy Beckstoffer & Tor Kenward. This is the weakest link I’ve had. It simply lacked the proper storage of the previous bottles I’ve had.

The color is still dark and the fruit is still intact. But this bottle has just started its plum, date, dark raisin and fig stage. Let me say again…just.

This is 13% ABV…love it. As I do with many 80’s Napa & Bordeaux’s. It does get better with each coldish coravined sip.

The tannins are well resolved and there is complete integration & evolution. Plum,s date, dark raisin & fig. Ripe, juicy; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries & dark spiced circling raspberries. Potpourri, baking spice delight-soft clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanilla, understated caramel, dark chocolate baking bar to chocolate pudding, milk chocolate, moist herbs, hints of mushrooms, saline, dry soil/limestone powder, forest floor with leaves, used tobacco & leather, gentle graphite, moist clay, dark spice w/ mid palate heat, withering dark, red flowers, violets & lavender, round, rainfall acidity with a well balanced, elegant finish that lasts 90 seconds and long sets on earth & spices.
— 14 days ago

Jay, Matt and 12 others liked this

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2022

Dark ruby in color with a wide purplish rim.

Earthy nose and medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with nice complexity.

Showing red and black fruits with cedar, earth, tobacco leaf, herbs, peppercorn, mediterranean spices and chocolate notes.

Tangy finish with fine grained tannins and raspberries.

This Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley is extremely young and needs 10 years in the bottle to mature properly. Elegant and fruit forward, yet restrained.

I've had many different vintages of this wine, but never had it so young. Not as powerful as some other vintages, but already complex and nicely balanced.

Feels like a good quality Left Bank Bordeaux, and will continue to age nicely, and get better in the next 20 years.

Robert Parker 95 points. Wine Spectator 92 points.

A good sipping wine that will also pair nicely with a big piece of steak.

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 1% Malbec. Aged in new French oak barrels for 18 months.

14% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$490.
— a month ago

Dave, Dick and 14 others liked this

Silver Oak

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

2007 vintage. Nice fill. Used a Durand to open but good cork nonetheless. Decanted and tasted after 15 minutes. JFC...does the oak ever die on this nonsense? Tried to bushwhack through it without success. Even the Alexander Valley product has the good sense to have the oak minimized/integrated/drop off after a decade. Not the case here. There's a reason why I haven't even considered carrying this on a wine list since the late 90's. This go round didn't exactly convert my opinion. 8.16.26. — 2 months ago

Ted, Tom and 9 others liked this

Château Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2003

+1 hour decant(some sediment). A gorgeous dark garnet with bricking. On the nose: mesmerizing areomatic notes of dark red fruit, currants, forest floor, floral, cigar wrapper, pencil shavings. Taste: velvety, vibrant, fresh wine with brambly dried blackberry/cherry, earth, graphite, wet stones, and a cedar gamey raspberry long finish. YUM! What a treat to drink, and a success for 03...not too ripe, hot, or roasted. — 7 days ago

Tom, ESF and 18 others liked this
Dave

Dave

Wow!

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1996

Tasted blind. Medium ruby garnet , medium garnet rim . Quite classic and elegant, with cigar box , grafite and some dried earth , some slightly toasty notes also . On the palate this shows good balance , fresh acidity , classic blackcurrant , cigar box , earthy touch . Good depth and length , grafite tinged finish , quite correct and no extra sweetness or weight . Good length and a spicy , mineral , blackcurrant tinged finish . Lafite ? Still young , really well balanced. From now and over the next 10 to 15 years. This was actually the Mouton , which was a great surprise, but certainly a pleasant one ! — 9 days ago

Jeroen, Tom and 9 others liked this

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

Yellow Label Brut Champagne Blend

Cracked open The Veuve again. Perfect acidity, complex nose of citrus (lemon, apricot, apple, and pear), good balance of yeast, a hint of brioche and pear on the palate. Solid go-to for the price. Happy Saturday! — 7 days ago

A Tribute to Grace Wines

Santa Barbara Highlands Rosé of Grenache 2025

So good, floral, berries, acidity, crushable! — a month ago

Tom liked this

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2008

Somm David T
9.2

Better with the Rib-cap. The 08 vintage was spotty to good. This one shows the shortcomings of the 08 vintage. Really good fruit, but lacks typical, depth, mid palate, and length.

The nose is class Bordeaux.Ripe to ruby fruits of, black plum skin, slightly syrupy blackberries, plum, dark cherry liqueur, strawberries, dark currants. Dark chocolate cake with glaze, screaming, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, leather, dry riverstone, limestone marl, forest floor with dry leaves, soft, incense, black, licorice, red, cola, dry herbs, tomato, leaf, with dark and red flowers, framed in violets.

The palate is ripe to ruby fruits of, black plum skin, slightly syrupy blackberries, plum, dark cherry liqueur, strawberries, dark currants. Dark chocolate cake with glaze, screaming, lead pencil shavings, deep, dark spice that expands wide, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, caramel and vanillin, dry tobacco with ash, leather, dry riverstone, limestone marl, dry crushed rocks, forest floor with dry leaves, moist clays, soft, incense, black, licorice, red, cola, savory dry herbs, tomato leaf, dry oak barrel shaving to cedar with dark and red flowers, framed in violets, acidity is ok, just not right, finish is good, not great, it falls hard on spice and is short of a minute.

93 with the Rib-cap. Green Bean from my organic gsrden. Drink now through 2035.
— a month ago

Jay, Rick and 12 others liked this