Chris Buggy

9.0

California gamay, with some spice, very nice — 5 months ago

with Jennifer

Neil Blaze

8.9

Tart cranberry and cherry flavors and racy acidity. There was also a sour, yeasty component on the back palate that was slightly redolent of sourdough bread. Interesting. Nonetheless an enjoyable bottle for all its funkiness. 100% Valdiguie. 7/4/22. — 4 years ago

M

8.9

$25ish org, tart, acidic, mild, cherry tomato -Sam liked more than Mimi — 5 years ago

steph I

10

Perfect to pair with Thanksgiving dinner — 6 years ago

Peter James

9.0

Thanks Leon! — 6 years ago

Jean-Phillippe Landry

9.1

Really enjoyed this, very much a burgundy style at a good price. — 7 years ago

Tom Garland

9.2

Double decant (lots of fine sediment). Taking the time machine back to 1990! Still a glorious dark red with some slight bricking on the edge. On the nose: red fruit, earthy, plum, and slight barn yard funk (which I luv). Taste: red fruit, plum, smokey, floral, currants, sweet still there tannins...low acidity and medium finish....took a chance buying a few bottles and drinking really well! Glad I did. — 7 years ago

with Brenda

Kimberly Bastian

10

Racey plum, dark fruit nose. Round mouth feels. Super balanced, easy drinking. Beautiful purple colour. Long finish. Nice acid, throws cranberry. — 7 years ago

ESF

9.2

@S.S. Mandani really nailed this note: didn't hesitate grabbing an obscure southern French varietal from Redwood country in northern CA. there was a distinct genuineness to this wine, a juicy savory engaging mouthfeel, very cerebral & well made (11%!) - you can tell they just got out of the way and let the grapes shine... — a year ago

Vanessa

9.4

**If interested, I’ve posted more pics of this visit and trip on my Instagram account - check me out @sips_ensemble**

We also had the pleasure to visit Champagne Paul Bara, another family-owned and -managed winery with only 8 employees! 💪 💪

It is a small but high-quality operation, producing approximately 100,000 bottles per year made exclusively from the free run juice. ✨✨✨ Thanks to the likes of @kermitlynchwine , the U.S. is a major exporting market for this wine. 🙌🙌

Paul Bara’s wines are sustainably farmed on numerous vineyard plots located throughout Bouzy, a Grand Cru village within the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne. 🏔 🏔

Bouzy is known especially for its Pinot Noir-driven Champagnes and also for its still red wines, a specialty of the region, called Coteaux Champenois. 🍇🍇

Paul Bara uses mostly stainless steel vessels for its vinification, designed to accentuate the purity of the fruit. They also use subterranean concrete vessels for the Pinot Noir used in rosé blends and for the Coteaux Champenois (still reds). 🥂

On our tour it was fascinating to see bottles being disgorged, dosaged, corked, capped, and caged on a machine in seconds — these are some of the last stages of the Méthode Champenoise. 🤓

We also learned that Paul Bara is a member of the ‘Club Trésors de Champagne’ an association of 28 vignerons formed to promote quality wine growing and winemaking practices and to highlight the beauty of terroir, demonstrating the excellence achievable outside of the major houses whose names are globally renown such as Veuve Cliquot and Moët & Chandon. 👏

Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2010 Brut Comtesse Marie de France 🇫🇷 made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes 🍇 It had a richness and abundance of orchard fruit, including baked yellow apple, also toast, bread dough, yeast, and dried white blossom notes, still offering finesse and precision, retaining incredible vibrancy.

We are grateful for our visit to Paul Bara and we look forward to visiting again the future! 🙏❤️ — 5 years ago

with Deked1

Jillian Meyers

8.9

Bright. Light funk. Delicious. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

2002 is such a beautiful vintage IMHO. In many ways, I think even better than 07. We’ll see in five years from now as I lack a time machine.

I’ve said this a couple of times over my nearly 4,200 Delectable notes. There is no amount of decanting a young wine that can reproduce the beauty, elegance, florals, integration, balance and finish as long bottle age. If you are buying expensive Cabernets and drinking them young, you are simply short changing yourself out of your deep investment.

This largely under known Napa producer is a shining example of that tonight. Proof in the pudding so to speak.

The nose reveals, sweet, ripe, lush, ruby, slightly baked/liqueured fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, black plum, understated blueberries and baked strawberries haunt the backend. Dark Asian & Indian spices, black licorice to anise, sweet tarriness, black tea, dark expresso, crushed dry rocks, limestone minerals, herbal notes, mint, incense, graphite, dark chocolate, caramel & mocha, dry top soil, moist clay, dark rich, turn earth with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue flowers & just a touch of violets.

The body is; round, rich & luxurious. The tannins still have baby teeth and show chewy tarriness. The tension, structure, length and balance have hit their peak. It’s not going to improve, it will simply show you descending changes which, can be quite enjoyable but, not necessarily for the ones that appreciate wines young. Interesting, none the less, for the ones that enjoy all sides/aspects of wine evolution. Sweet, ripe, lush, ruby, slightly baked/liqueured fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, black plum, mulberries, boysenberries, more blue fruits than the nose, cherries and baked strawberries haunt the backend. Dark Asian & Indian spices with just the right amount of heat, black licorice to anise, sweet tarriness, black tea, dark expresso, crushed dry rocks, limestone minerals, herbal notes, mint, graphite, dark chocolate, caramel & mocha, dry top soil, moist clay, dark rich, turn earth, fresh tobacco, suede style leather, saddle-wood with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple, blue flowers & just a touch of violets. The ABV on this wine is really nice given today’s hotter wines. Climate change, it’s a bitch. The round acidy is as good as it gets. The long, excellent, elegant, rich, ripe, ruby, gorgeous, sexy, floral, perfectly balanced finish falls into persistent heaven.

This is a gorgeous example of what Napa Valley is capable of in grand vintages, if you have good storage & can show patience.

Photos of; an arial view of Jones Family Winery, patio tasting area, beautiful Jones Family Cabernet fruit and their amazing vineyards. — 6 years ago

Dana Silver

8.9

Easy drinking, bright, light. — 4 years ago

Gates DePodesta

9.0

Nice effervescent rosé — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2014 vintage. Super dry and powerful. Medium bodied but drinking like it’s (ballad of a) the thin man. Smoke/char in the nose. Upfront coffee/tobacco and raspberry flavors but little else. Not a good introductory Bordeaux for the masses. For those already smitten, I can see this going 40+ years but there will never be fat years. This is a (c)lean machine. Monolithic and totally old-school Bordeaux. — 5 years ago

Steve Cunneen

9.2

Very nice. — 5 years ago

Joe T

9.0

Easter 2020 quarantine — 6 years ago

John H Duncan

9.6

‘16. Wow. Like a time machine. All 13 varietals. Not over ripe! Nuanced, complex, balanced. $55 retail more or less. — 6 years ago

Ian Pecoraro

9.5

Perfect everyday white. Aromatic, fruity florals with notes of lychee, white peach, and apple blossom with a Meyer lemon candy twist. — 7 years ago

Rajiv Pramanik

8.9

Great fruit forward table wine. Can drink this everyday — 7 years ago