romo

9.4

Soy, leaves, balsamic, persistence and length on the dark Vosne spectrum. Wow — 5 months ago

Peter Sultan

8.9

Entry level bottling. On the grapefruit pith & lime spectrum, both on palate & nose. Chew it & the slate & crushed minerals come out more. Drank over two days, with day 2 even better, clearer. On sale for about 13$, so a serious QPR. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; no formal notes. Consumed over two days and showed its best on day two. I knew when I opened this that I really ought to have waited a couple of years but it’s hard to resist the Chardonnays from Seavey. They are so refreshing compared to the majority of examples coming from Napa Valley. I find that they lean a little bit more towards Chablis in style, while still remaining true to Napa. Tropical fruits that lean more towards the pineapple side of the spectrum with some Kiwi, peach and lemon citrus. Good minerals and acid too. I found this to be a lovely pairing with the whole chicken I smoked this afternoon. Hold for a year or two if you can. Best after 2024 through 2030. — 4 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.2

The 2019 Sancerre Les Chasseignes has a ripe and open expression. It fills the mouth with a sense of effortlessness, which Stephane Riffault puts down to both the caillottes soil and the ripeness of the vintage. It is in the riper spectrum of Sauvignon aromatics. This wine leaves the variety's green flavors far behind and focuses instead on orchard fruit and almost heads into the realms of tropical fruit, which isn't something you normally associate with Sancerre. Gently refreshing with the caillottes providing a line of chalkiness on the finish. One for the short to medium term due to the vintage's ripe profile. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, August 2021)
— 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I do like this Polish immigrant’s craft.

The blend of fruits are a broad spectrum of, sour, candied and floral, ruby, mid & dark, red fruits, dark, smooth spice, cinnamon stick, floral heaven & flat out elegance. The blue fruits in Paul’s wines are incredible.

Photos of, two of his Southern California vineyards, Paul Lato at a Matter of Taste during our 40 minute chat & their concrete fermentation eggs. — 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

Evan Griffith

9.1

A bit more on the cherry cola rather than just cherry end of the spectrum than I prefer, but nonetheless nice — 7 years ago

Emily Kresie-Harrington

9.2

2017 vintage. Very forest-y with cranberry, crab apple, walnut skin, autumn leaves (both dry and damp), birch, red flowers, pomegranate, dry herbs. Good typicity and balance between earthy and fruit flavors. Definitely in the lighter spectrum and higher acid than any New World examples. — 7 years ago

Vanessa

9.5

Cornas AOC is a small and distinctive appellation in the Northern Rhône of France. 🇫🇷 Unlike its neighboring appellations, Cornas wines must be made with 100% Syrah. 🍇 This makes it a singular expression and benchmark in the world of Syrah. 🍷🍷

This particular wine is pronounced with harmonious aromas and flavors spanning the spectrum from primary to secondary to tertiary …

Offering generous notes of blackcurrant preserves, ripe black cherry, boysenberry, violet, cured meat, peat, forest floor, dark chocolate truffle, mocha, black peppercorn, star anise, fennel, cardamom, spice box, tobacco, cigar, clove, & saddle leather. — a year ago

with Deked1

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Deep Ruby, evolves with spectrum of aromas, berry fruit, dried herb, complex spice, notes of cocoa dust. Blend: CabSauv/Franc/Merlot/Malbec/PetVerdot. Palate, ripe blackcherry/blackberry flavors, rich tones, subtle oak, espresso/black pepper. Graceful/elegant, displays super fine “dusty” tannins, perfectly balanced, pleasing length, complex ending with fruit/mineral edge. Ultra-premium fruit, world class hand-crafting, limited production exceptional wine. Wonderful now, get better with age. Tasting Sample! — 4 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.3

Exotic citrus, green, a little wooly, medium body and acidity. Good dry Chenin, showing more on the citrus and herbal spectrum now. Impressive concentration. This started a bit simple, and the open bottle was left in the fridge while I traveled for 3 weeks, and when I returned it was singing! 9.1->9.3 — 5 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.2

2020 fall. Cellared since release. This was really nice - developed, but not premature in my opinion. (I think this whole thing is a spectrum rather than a binary.) — 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.3

A rush of citrus, floral and tomato leaf aromatics lead into beautifully sculpted orchard fruit flavors, nicely balancing vivacity with depth. The Sybarite offers plenty of bright Sauvignon character (without veering into the green/grassy end of the spectrum) and tons of sheer appeal. $25.00 (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, September 2020) — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Celebrating 15 years since Holly and I first met each other at a rather life changing Super Bowl party. This 2005 Henriot is not life changing...but it’s is quite good. Cellared since release, it has held up quite well. The color is a striking gold with a persistent mousse. Slightly oxidative, I would categorize this as leaning towards the richer end of the spectrum with lemon curd, nuts and a light touch of brioche. Actually, it sort of reminded me of an English lemon tart. Anyway, it was tasty and it hit the spot. You could hold these longer for sure but I would probably just drink’em now as I don’t anticipate and further positive development. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Picked up a couple of these from a local cellar sale at a crazy cheap price and have been happy with each one.

Classically older SLD Cabernet. The fruit spectrum is on the red and black side (as I expect from SLD) with a mocha/cocoa layered sweetness. Some older fig, sweet pipe tobacco, and a core of fruit still in-tact. Soft on the mid-palate but retaining nice structure throughout the finish. Exactly what I expected from 34yr old Napa Cabernet.

Hope to try the Realm X Hartwell wine to see the vision from where this was to what the profile goal is in the future. — a year ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured, no formal notes. The 2018, Rafanelli is throwing a lot of sediment already in its relative youth. It’s also restrained in the typical Rafanelli, but atypical Zinfandel way. Great balance, and quite delicious however the fruit shows on the slightly under ripened end of the spectrum. That being said, I expect age to be very kind to this vintage. Drink now with a short decant and over the next 15+ years. A lovely pairing with grilled steaks. — 3 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.2

Light and perfumed, violets and pepper—a nice intro to northern rhone, somewhere in between guigal and the Levets of the world on the polished vs rustic spectrum — 4 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.9

If you could guess this white wine was 20yo i would be highly impressed
Colour is still pale to gold
On the light spectrum of the SMARAGD(😉) category, being only 13% in alcohol
It has a ripe pear, nectarine
Then moves to hints of marzipan and hay
But what it stands out is the mineral
Chalk and wet stones are extremely pronounced on the nose and on the palate
It drinks still extremely young and i am sure it will flesh out in the future i reckon
Long and too easy to go down
I had another bottle of this wine perhaps 5 or 6 years ago and i think this looked younger and with more potential than that, but i will go and cross check what i am saying now.
Few things i figure out from tonight bottle:
Firstly Hirtzberger IS my favourite producer in Wachau, then that Spitzer is surely a fresher subclimate than, for example, Dursteiner and lastly that light Smaragd and Federspiel are more my cup of tea rather than huge 14-15% smaragd(and in saying that i dont deny the bigger potential of the latter, i just enjoy more the former). Ok, i got it down for future reference so that i can't forget. — 5 years ago

Ian Staub

9.3

Revisited this bottle this past weekend to check condition before pulling the trigger on a re-up. Simply gorgeous, expressive, terroir-driven wine in its absolute prime right now. Nose is, to loosely quote @Alex Spoto, like taking a hike through the High Sierra wilderness, with intense eucalyptus, bay laurel, pine needles and cedar. Fruit is secondary on the nose, but it erupts on the palate with ripe black plums, blackberry bramble, and red and black cherry. All very ripe but slowly moving towards the intense, dried end of the spectrum. There is so much concentration and freshness to the fruit quality it is unbelievable that the wine is nearly 20 years old. Tannins beginning to soften and acid is still holding strong! In its prime now, I think, but I’m holding some for 5-10-20 years more. Legendary Cali vino for a song. Gideon’s final vintage! Enjoy! — 6 years ago

with Alex

Shay A

9.2

Monthly WTF wine group night. Our theme was American oak vs French oak. All wines tasted blind. We started off with two bottles of bubbly and finished with two non-themed reds.

Posting my review from a few months back as my experience was the exact same.

Very ripe and integrated. Full spectrum of red and black fruit, cassis, pipe tobacco and worn saddle leather on the nose. Structure was still very solid with plenty of tannins at the finish to keep this upright. Round on the palate...dark cocoa dusted dates, roasted plum, cardamom and muddled raspberries. Drinking really well but will probably hold in this window for a few years. — 7 years ago

with Jack, Mark and 4 others