President Obama

9.6

A gentleman told me that he and I would always be friends. We shared a plate of cherries and drank this wine while watching a sunrise. I never saw him again. — a year ago

Sarah

10

Met a fabulous couple representing this winery at the Uncorked KC event. They told us about the history of this winery and the awesome owners. This particular wine was so inviting and bold. Hints of tobacco, blackberry and leather, this wine is going to be a staple for us! — 4 years ago

with Chris

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.3

1630 bottles produced
Old school natural wine
Niccolaini was the avant-garde of the movement without ever being in it himself.
I got told stories of a farm with no electricity perhaps a decade ago or so
Massa Vecchia is appreciated for all its labels and you can find out which one is your favourite
Personally i am not a rose drinker, but i knew i wasn't going to be disappointed here
This is more like a Valentini cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, but even more extract, i dare to say if you sell this wine for a red nobody would argue.
It's funky to start, it gives you cola and china and its fresh and fun, plus very long and mineral.
Quite earthy perhaps not a precise fruit to define, but real good altogether
For my understanding this is the last vintage made by Niccolaini' daughter in law as a winemaker and i keep a bottle of the next vintage..i am very curious to how he has come back to his captain seat. — 4 years ago

Brian Hearty

9.3

My daughter is making French Onion Soup and the recipe calls for vermouth, so I told her I thought I had some in the cellar. I bought this bottle on clearance at a favorite wine shop a few years ago and didn’t get to it as soon as I hoped... I tried a glass to make sure it was still good and it is so much better than good. It is a little thicker and slightly sweeter than many white vermouth I’ve had with a moderately spicy/herbal finish. Should be great in the onion soup too! — 5 years ago

Greg Viola

9.2

Grk is really a lovely grape. A shame it only grows in this one village on this one island off the coast of Croatia. Well, a shame for you if you’re not here, but a delight for me!! Really minerally and refreshing. Must be something in the sandy soil here that gives everything that vanilla hint. Paired by the vineyard with salty feta. I’ve been told that there are less than 50,000 bottles of this varietal produced each year. Get some if you can! Only $14 at the winery. Costs more elsewhere. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

The nose and palate of this wine is primarily watermelon. Sweeter side of things. Perhaps a hint of black pepper on the finish. Based on what I was told, these are good to drink young. I think that this wine is probably going to be better after a year. Not doing badly now. I think the drinking window of this wine is probably a bit on the short side. I think this wine will be on the downward slide by 2020. — 8 years ago

with Dan, Keith and 2 others

Norman

8.9

Fernando De Castilla Antique Amontillado Jerez Xeres Sherry, Spain NV. He told me this would be sour and fade. It did but still didn’t love — 2 years ago

Thomas Faith

8.9

Took a while to come out but when it did it was excellent. A few too many high notes and spice to be a higher score and the nose wasn’t my favourite. Cherries and cigar box on the nose, morello cherry on the palette. All told, I’d certainly recommend it, perhaps I’d give it another 5years though. — 3 years ago

with Penelope and Isabelle

Evelyn Manlove

9.2

Described to me as an easy drinker but with enough interest to chew over with grassy, herbal notes. I found this to be spot on. I was also told it's a grape usually used in blends, but put center stage here. That intrigued me. I really enjoyed it and hope i come by it again. — 5 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.2

Back in the day a friend and I went in on 2 cases which got us a nice discount and I think we paid about $23 a btl. I was clueless back then and finished my case rather quickly. Fast forward my friend called today and said I’m having people over for dinner on Friday take a look at my inventory and let me know what you think I should serve. I was shocked to see he had almost a full case left. I told him I think this would be a great choice if it was alive. Why I say it’s always good to have great friends. He sent a bottle over for me to try. I was very happy to oblige. A pristine bottle with a great fill. When I took my first sniff , I was immediately taken by the scent of green peppercorns and earth. The flavor profile was that of currants, plums, a hint of olive, tobacco and mostly resolved tannins that combined to provide a surprisingly long finish. Simple joys!
PS, I would decant for sediment but would return it to the bottle because I found extended air time was not a friend. — 5 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.3

202 spring / summer. I wonder if my ratings are suffering from inflation, but the truth is often I would be happy doing all of my drinking from de Villaine’s range. This particular Fortune was notably more developed than the 2017 or 18, in a good way - lots of woodsy complexity over the brighter berry fruit. — 6 years ago

Maggie Harrison

9.7

This was amazing. I’ve never had anything like it. The story told to me about this liquor is that the fruit comes from old old orchards on or near the Chave estate. Apricot trees used to be a big crop for the region a long time ago! this is a sublime drink — 7 years ago

Keith Herrick

9.5

😂😂😂 this was popped with no expectations, next to the sink so we could quickly pour it down the drain. the wine ended up being beautiful! The fruit is all secondary of course, bust still tons of dried tart cherry and forest floor. It is refreshing and zero signs of oxidation. Not sure if there is truth to this, but I was told that it had belonged to R Welland. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.

The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.

The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.

The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — 2 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.5

Not sure if the ‘07 was the best in the comparative line up (12,10,07), but it was the most generous at the moment and the glass I kept returning to and the bottle I wanted to take home and drink now (yes, even though it *could* hold for another decade or two, why wait?)

Incredible aroma: black cherry (fresh, ripe and also developed with some baked), underbrush, fragrant mint/eucalyptus, balsam (old wood oil quality), fragrant cedar.

‘12 (we were told) was a similar vintage to ‘07, easy going. The wine was a younger version of the ‘07: riper tannins, and similar flavor/aroma notes etc — just not as expressive & developed yet. More fresh black fruit, licorice spice and cassis.

‘10 perhaps the most restrained and elegant of the line up, but based on the tannins (still very intense and even a little rough of the finish) either needs the most time to come around or a rib-eye. This was a more challenging vintage (heavy rains early on) but I predict the wine will be just as good - if not better - than its peers with time. — 4 years ago

Meg Herring

9.4

GG magic from a producer close to my heart. I might be biased 🤷‍♀️ My first bottle of their wine was one my BFF gave me from a trip to Germany. She gave it to me the day she told me she was pregnant with her first baby. So i got happy news and to drink the bottle myself 😆 — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny and young looking. Intense nose. Notes of raspberry, rhubarb, camphor, mocha, Asian spice and dark soil. Rich and intense in the mouth. We’re told this was given lots of air – which led guesses to be red burg more in the late 90s or 00’s. The reveal was exciting as none of us have had a bottle from this vigneron before. Super high quality juice, still on it’s upward climb. This juice will be around, giving pleasure to those that have it, for another decade or two and will undoubtedly improve with more age. — 5 years ago

Romain Fitoussi

9.0

wine to decant two-three hours to fully enjoy its aromas. Strong notes of caramel, chocolate or tobacco. the tannins although present remain flexible. it is an organic wine from the south west of France that tells the truth. no oak barrels or other artifices, the fruit and the earth speak and give us to taste a robust wine without exaggeration that will be associated with a southern meal. Very good value for money. — 7 years ago

Ryan Hayward

9.6

Top of the line Gavalas single varietiel Assyrtiko from Santorini, very mineral and extremely dry. Perhaps the best Assyrtiko I’ve had - the blue Santorini is surprisingly better than Gavalas’ regular Santorini... In 2017, he bottled in batches rather than all at once so there is a variance for the 2017 vintage, since the bottling was spread over several months. I haven’t tasted all of them, but I’m told the later months are even better than usual, but unless you’ve had the different ones I’m not sure you would be able to tell the difference since there is no apparent markings of which batch each bottle comes from. I bought this one from a market late in the season (after he was sold out already), so it’s possible this was a later month not sure, really a great Assyrtiko! — 8 years ago

Thomas Brenner

9.2

There are some places in the world where they view present day America as a place where we expect to be happy. Should we feel bad they live in places where you should just expect hardship? We live in a time and place where we can focus on building our inner selves and have a chance at....When we're not constantly putting out fires we can really focus on...should that be a source of shame. When the desperate struggle to find food and shelter is finally behind us, we can turn our attention to other sources of pain and truth.
This is the kinda wine you feel bad about being able to enjoy. I feel privileged. — 8 years ago