Ericsson

9.4

With The Bored. Oakville Cab Franc: med plus body, opulent fruit, big tannins, high alcohol, a bit dusty on the finish. Great while young and better with age. — 3 months ago

Ted

8.9

Soft and smooth. Nice ripe fruit. — 9 months ago

with Jeni

Bob McDonald

9.3

Brief notes. Family dinner at my brothers house - sister and her hubby visiting from England. This selection from Mike’s Wall of Wendouree “. This was more black fruit plummy opulence than usual for Wendouree. Rich and intense which is par for the course with this producer. Consumed a little young at only 14 years of age. This is the Cabernet Malbec not the Shiraz Mataro. — 3 years ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.0

v14. Delicious! Dried herb nose. Rich, deep, black cherry and plum fruit. Velvety smooth, long, slightly tight, mocha and leather finish. — 4 years ago

Renato Hoyle

9.4

Best vintage I’ve tasted. More balanced and a lot smoother than 13,14,15. A bright wine in a very tragic fire year — 5 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.0

Sparkles! Fruit! But also herbs and savory fruit pie were there such a thing. Enjoyed sporting pigtails because one must venture outside the box, time to time. — 6 years ago

Katie Sanders Boyce

9.0

Thought it would be a little too sweet for me, but I really liked it — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Finally getting around to posting wines from my annual Napa trip from two weeks ago. Always goes by quick! Lots of fun new stops this year.

Really enjoyed my visiting with Will at Mending Wall where he poured Rivers-Marie as well as his personal label William & Mary.

Not quite pop and pour, but close! Will poured this as we walked around the facility and it rapidly evolved, showing baking spices (lots of cinnamon), sweet mixed berry pie, with a touch of graphite...profile had very fine grained tannins, lush and balanced, finishing more to the red fruit dominated side of the spectrum. Nice. — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.7

Needs an hour decant.

N: white flowers. Faintly tropical. Intense white flowers as this opens.

P: crisp. Mineral. Delicious. Silky peach. Very elegant as it opens. More an enveloping hug of flavor than a wall. More profound less powerful. So silky. So perfect. Perfect mountain stream.

An hour in this is German Puligny. From sylvaner. Yes. I know.

Like a 10 minute finish. Lemon peel. Savory a bit.

Sick.

Fass selections — 3 months ago

Daniel M

9.2

Opened yesterday, drank over 2 days.
The nose is very fruity and intense with dark cherry touches, earthy notes, some raspberry and blackberry scents too. I could even smell some peony notes too. This is really inviting. The palate is wide and long and quite complex. A good acid drive, some dark cherry notes all along, some very soft and easy going mouthfeel that is changing in mid palate with a great tannic wall, which adds a layer of dust over an otherwise quite juicy and fruity finish. In the back-end though, there is a tiny savoury note that pops along with a subtle bitterness. This is really my kind of cab franc. Really good stuff! — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

1975 vintage. Decanted with oodles of sed. Ambitious, older Graves nose. Medium (still) bodied. Frontal and mid palates satisfied but finish/end palate hit a wall and flatlined. Still, fairly nice showing with a decent amount of fruit kicking about. 9.21.23. — 3 years ago

Jason and Jennie

9.2

Dense dark smooth Fruit and minerality. If you’re looking for funk, look elsewhere. — 5 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.0

If you need to make peace this will bridge the gap betwixt bitter and sweet. — 6 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Nose has smoked & partially-dried plum, sliced cherries dredged in cocoa powder, faint baking spice, mashed black cherries, old cigar box and dried blackberries.

Palate has grilled plum, savory herbs, over-ripe blackberry, bittersweet chocolate chips, faint fire-roasted tomato and raspberry puree.

Decanted +3H, needs lots more time to uncoil. Medium to heavy tannins with a drying palate texture similar to eating a spoonful of cocoa powder, dry + chocolatey. A wall of tannins, if drinking this before 2026, decant at least 8-12H. — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.6

Nose: intense white and yellow flowers. Expansive. Hints of grapefruit peel. Complex. An element of aged profundity.

Palate: the wall of flavor. Mineral. Citrus. Dense. Elegant. Grippy. A minor hint of slutty sexiness. Grapefruit.

Long. — 4 months ago

Vanessa

9.5

Prior notes continue to apply…

When we visited Billecart-Salmon in October of 2021, we received a tour of the stunning estate. Along the way, our guide, Jerome, paused near a traditional “Clos” (a single vineyard, enclosed by a wall) on the property. 

We could see a beautiful stone wall, surrounding a tiny 1 hectare parcel of “Clos Saint-Hilaire,” named after the Patron Saint & local church in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, where Billecart-Salmon is located. 

Although we didn’t go into the Clos, we learned about how special this parcel is to the family; how it’s exclusively planted to Pinot Noir with vines dating back to 1964; how work in the vineyard is performed by hand and horse-drawn plows; how this parcel is farmed according to an age-old savoir-faire, adhering to principles of sustainable viticulture.

The wine is pale gold with a prominent bouquet of yellow apple, Anjou pear, raspberry, lemon curd, white peach, white blossom, desiccated white rose, wet stones, biscuit, brioche, almond paste, marzipan, crusty croissant, pie crust, toast, creamy texture and persistent, fine-beaded mousse and long elegant finish.

This is a 2005 “Blanc de Noirs” Champagne, comprised of 100% Pinot Noir, all coming from Le Clos Saint Hilaire, vinified entirely in oak casks to lend texture and body, and aged over 13 years sur lie prior to its recent release.  Due to the vineyard’s small size, production is very limited, and wine only produced in the best vintages.

Cheers to beautiful wines expressing a singularity of time and place!

Billecart-Salmon Le Clos Saint-Hilaire (2005).  — a year ago

with Deked1

Tree Kilpatrick

9.5

Dark purple. Tastes wonderful. Complex and dynamic. Zinfully delicious, — 5 years ago

Ellen Clifford

8.9

Oh fun low key on the tannins for Tannat and it is working for me even though I do like to abuse my mouth with too-young Nebbiolos but let’s all treat ourselves well in this pandemic ya? — 6 years ago

Renato Hoyle

9.0

Deep color and flavors. Very long. Big but balanced wine. — 6 years ago

Paul Woolls

9.0

A lovely rusticity, spiciness and pepper. Solid flavor profile. — 6 years ago