Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2022 vintage. Forced to mine the margins given the pricing in white burg. Medium-heavy body. Trace of minerals. Medium oak. Unified, present and ready to fold, spindle and mutilate. It's on. 2.18.26. — 7 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Bodegas Muga – Aro 2019
Rioja DOCa – Spain 🇪🇸

Overview
A prestige cuvée from Bodegas Muga, Aro represents one of the most refined modern expressions of Rioja. Crafted in small quantities from Tempranillo with a touch of Graciano, the 2019 vintage balances juicy fruit with structure, elegance, and longevity. (Educational note: Muga ferments with indigenous yeasts in oak vats and ages Aro in French oak, blending traditional Rioja methods with modern precision.)

Aromas & Flavors
Juicy red berries (raspberry, strawberry, and red plum) lead the way, framed by subtle blackberry and cassis. Layers of vanilla, cocoa, and spice from oak intertwine with floral and mineral notes.

Mouthfeel
Medium to full-bodied with polished tannins. Decanted for 2 hours, it opened beautifully — long, elegant, and persistent, with a finish that shows both fruit purity and savory depth.

Food Pairings
Pairs well with roasted lamb, Iberian pork, or grilled steak. Also excellent with manchego cheese or mushroom-based dishes.

Verdict
A superb Rioja — juicy, refined, and complex. The 2019 Aro is a treat that shows both immediate charm and long-term potential. A true collector’s Rioja with class and depth. 🍷

Did You Know?
The name “Aro” is a nod to the hoops (aros) that bind the staves of Rioja’s traditional oak barrels, symbolizing craftsmanship and unity.

Collector’s Rarity 📌
Produced in limited quantities, Aro is one of Rioja’s most sought-after wines — a modern icon that rivals Spain’s greatest reds. — a year ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2011 vintage. Decanted with some sed and tasted after 1 hour. Bigg structure with plenty of tobacco, underbrush and dark fruit. A complex kid. Lots of moving parts but really unified currently and moving towards a common goal. Total BDX ringer in a pricey blind. This has miles to go. 8.2.24. — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2015 vintage. Last tasted November 2021. FFN (fantastic effing nose). Still dry as hell. Still gigantic blueberries in the nose and flavors. Yes, the toffee and the (black) coffee hither and yon. A year and a half makes a difference as this drinks a tad more unified now. Looking for best drinking result? Dü it after 2028 till 2035. 4.10.23. — 3 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

1997 vintage. Still dark as all get out. A quarter century has thinned out the massive body to medium body but the unified nose/flavors are full of chaparral/scrub, cassis, baking chocolate, gravelly dirt and blackberry reduction. Tasted approximately two hours after decanting. Miles to go before this one sleeps. In the zone now and likely so for another decade before any noticeable drop off in this old school Dunn experience. — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2018 vintage. First visit in a few months. Unified nose. Spearmint component emerging in the frontal palate. Medium body but seems to have gained a little weight in the last few months. Sandalwood, cinnamon and eucalyptus nose on the slightly astringent finish. Still a 9.3. — 5 years ago

Megan

9.5

Loving this! Picked this up in Oakland on my way to the California coast. The wine merchant told me this is one of the few producers who still ferments in oak. I was intrigued! Tasting it, I’m totally sold. Toasty brioche and caramel on the nose, full body, roasted pear and apple cider notes on the palate. Will definitely go out of my way to buy again! (D: 3/2018) — 6 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2017 vintage. Staff Burgundy tasting. Last tasted 1.24.26 (9.2), 7.7.25 (9.2) and 1.5.25 (9.3). Really unified and consistent with a medium body currently. 10 bottles left but stock option of 3 cases of the selfsame 2017 available. Will be exercising that option. This was showing really well today. 2.17.26. — 7 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

1995 vintage. Not decanted. Appropriate color. Good fill and cork. Beautiful, integrated nose. Flavors same. Medium-medium heavy body. Dark fruit, earth and spice coalescing into a unified experience now. This is at the top of the bell curve for the next half-decade and probably longer. Still, undeniable power under the hood and completely bewitching. 05.28.25. — a year ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2018 vintage. 375 ml format. Slight sharpness at the outset but smoothed out afterwards. Needs a lot of air or 5-6 years to present a unified front. Need to stash a few of these halfsies for future holidays after 2030. 12.17.23. — 3 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2010 vintage. Just starting to enter Phase Two of life. Knitting together rather well with consistent nose/flavors of spiced plum, beef stock and baking chocolate. Medium body. Smoothish and unified except for a small, unripe berries hiccup in the center palate. Expecting this to resolve in the next few years but will taste for it next visit. 2.20.23 — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1986 vintage. Tasting like it was nearish the top on the downward slope. Unified palate push. That great old Bordeaux nose. Light-medium body. Ullage appropriate. The feminine characteristics that are the lifeblood of this producer almost completely absent with this bottle. Had this been blind, woulda speculated this to be a 1985-1989 upper-crust St. Julien. All that said, still very very nice. The near-perfect 1989 specimen tasted a little more than a week ago reminded me more of the previous encounters with the 1986 than this encounter with the 1986. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Pale to mid Ruby in colour with great clarity. Aromatic red and black Cherry notes with rose petals. A stalky whole bunch note with a little spice. Those fresh cherry notes of medium weight but medium plus intensity transfer through to the palate. Very fresh, young with great potential for future complexity. I can see why it won the Trophy for Best Pinot Noir at both Royal Adelaide and Royal Hobart - both shows with extensive and high quality Pinot entries. Too young but I had to try the first of 6. Next in a year plus. Technical background: (whole berry ferments with 20% whole bunches. Aged in 25% new puncheons and Barriques). Ended up having the 2nd bottle 195 weeks later on 25th October 2024. Just a stunning Pinot Noir and even improving on that 2 Trophies standard. — 6 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

2000 vintage. Great fill and cork. Opened with a Durand and decanted. A little sed but manageable. tasted 40 minutes and 1.5 hours after opening. Medium body. 14% ABV on the label and not questioning it since this effort was throwing nearly zero heat. All secondary and tertiary impressions at this point and they were unified and present. Some dark fruit still but emphasis capably drawn towards the black olive, durty earth, finish. Really knitted together currently. Maybe another 5-spot in this guise? Maybe another decade? Hard to tell but showing beautifully now. 01.28.26. — 8 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1996 vintage. Really nice specimen. Opened (not decanted) and tasted after two hours. Unified earthy, funky, lived in BDX nose paired with medium body. Surprisingly, still a splash of baby fat evident on the cheeks along with a blue fruit accent. Ripe plum, cassis and leather followed. Drinking great currently with extensive follow-through on the finish and should hold as such till 2030. 02.28.25. — 2 years ago

Vanessa

9.3

Marie-Courtin was established in 2005 by Dominique Moreau, who named her winery after her grandmother – a “woman of the earth” – surely an inspiration behind Dominique’s unwavering commitment to organic & biodynamic viticulture. She’s among the few (but growing # of) producers pursuing organic / biodynamic practices in Champagne, a notoriously challenging climate for mildew & rot.

Champagne Marie-Courtin is a Grower producer located in the village of Polisot in the Barséquannais, specializing in compelling terroir expressions, using a low intervention approach in the winery, with wild ferments and minimal (if any) dosage…

This wine fermented and aged in used (neutral) French barriques, allowing delicate oxygen influences w/out the oaky flavors. It spent 36 months aging sur lie (on the lees).

The result is a precise and chiseled wine with toasty notes next to layers of blossom, lemon peel, bright raspberry, strawberry, peach skin, kumquat, ripe pear, oyster shell, saline, blanched almond, bread dough, pastry, and baked red apple.

This wine represents a singular expression of a particular year, vineyard, and variety – it offers a sensory glimpse into a specific place and time. A magical & lovely wine. Cheers! — 2 years ago

with Deked1

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2018 vintage. Rich and precocious with some barely discernible, yet viable, acidity/tannic structure beneath. Could be a while (7-10 years +) before the fruity and flirtatious ripe side dwindles enough to fall into anticipated, bean counter territory. Great now but much like licking the chocolate off the hand blender beaters before the cake comes out of the oven. Sweet, furtive and short-term satisfaction vs complete, shared and unified. Sometimes, you just gotta lick those beaters but try try try to give it your best attempt(s) to hold for at least a decade. 3.8.23. — 4 years ago

Shengli Hu

8.9

Since 2020 wild yeast fermentation with at least 20% whole cluster (layering in fermenter). They’ve been using whole cluster since 2010 hovering around 10-15% gradually increasing. 1992-1995 vintages not destemmed completely either. Sweet cola nut, cranberry, red juicy cherry, sweet baking spices. High acidity, medium soft tannins. 2018 meatier and weightier locking in at 13.6%. In 2020 they separated the native yeast vs non native yeast ferments. According to Tim, native yeast led to better alcohol conversion, richer wine at same alcohol compared to without.

Precious old vines and newly replanted vines. Completely dry farmed no drip lines at all! Some of which are suffering from Pierce’s disease and leafroll virus.

I was told back in 2016 Kelli White and her husband had a deal with John and Nancy to lease their vineyards but they backed off at the last minute… I for one memorized every little detail about School House from Kelli’s tome Napa Valley Then and Now
— 4 years ago

Paul Masson

9.2

Floral and peachy, with a racy saline palate, but also an appealingly dirty complexity from natural ferments in oak — 5 years ago

Tom Dare

9.3

2011 is about the most solid Blaufrankish you can drink, excellent offering by Velich and Schuster under Moric. Their motto is “Fruit ferments. People ferment fruit. It’s a challenge.” 2011 is fresh black cherry, a funky acid core, with an after taste that lasts a weekend. Buy it all, it will last a decade and provide solid street cred with your wine snob friends. — 7 years ago