K. Syrah

9.4

1999: Yeah. Outstanding 25-year old Barolo still an explosion of Nebbiolo flavor. Brick color but plenty of depth, with strawberry fruit well-balanced by typical leather and tar. A treat now, and wouldn’t wait any longer. — 2 years ago

Chance Miller

9.0

Revolutionary wine maker... desert island & Randall Graham wines, yeah, I can dig it🍷 — 6 years ago

Jim McCusker

9.4

Oh yeah... — 7 years ago

Frank

9.4

Dude needs a manicure but hello yeah this is delicious! Deep. — 8 years ago

Kyle Groombridge

9.3

Yeah, this is alright. Pour me some more... lemon curd, soft toast, insanely fine tuned bubbles. Makes the knees weak. — 8 years ago

Jim McCusker

9.5

Yeah. Fantastic. — 8 years ago

with Chris and Jeffrey

Matt Richards

9.5

Yeah, it is fantastic. Rich and meaty. — 9 years ago

ESF

9.3

Yeah yeah, I know this is not considered a great vintage, but this is a Cracking Claret! Leaner in style and not a verbose powerhouse, it still delivers an elegant rendition of traditional Pauillac flavors. The cherry was more like kirsch liqueur, the cassis, graphite, leather, gravel, tobacco, the bay leaf... all beautifully delineated and intense. The mid palate was polished to perfection. Tannins are sturdy enough but seamless & integrated. The finish persists and invites another drink. Got these on a great deal from K&L back in the day and glad I did! In a great drinking window right now. — 5 years ago

Chris Gillespie

8.9

Yeah that's a gem from red mtn! Great price too! — 7 years ago

Jessica M

9.7

Yeah, pet nat rose I just love always... bar Norman — 7 years ago

Atari Gonshor

9.2

Oh hell yeah! — 8 years ago

John Van Trijp

9.8

Oh boy.....the owner of this 1 Michelin * restaurant wanted to surprise me....please John....a bottle from the restaurant....What do you think..? Wooow! I love it!!! Let me Guess.....new world, Classic winery, 10 years old, Cabernet......yeah right! 1954 Spain.... — 8 years ago

Jim McCusker

9.4

Oh yeah. Happy Birthday to me! — 9 years ago

with David and Phil

Alan Weinberg

9.3

Oh yeah, Raveneau! Heading out soon on a wineless trip (though I might whine), so I opened this on a whim and it stuns. Essence of Chardonnay with incredible minerality, acidity, intensity, focus--citrus zest magnified. Screaming for oysters, the wine has to be happy with just us drinking it. Great wine rising above its premier cru status. — 10 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

8.9

Checking in— 3+ hour decant and yeah it’s very young and very tannic. Not much to show at this point, mostly smoke, black pepper and some subdued fruit. Hold, or really don’t buy at all because there are too many better wines at its price point. Jaboulet, I think, is yesteryear’s news. Really nothing impressive since 1990. Young or not. — 5 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.6

Open that bottle night! We’ve had this kicking around the cellar for nearly a decade and it was time. I’ve drank many Sauternes but have dreamed of tasting Yquem since devouring Richard Olney’s monograph (and Jeremiah Tower’s descriptions of Yquem bacchanals) as a boy—yeah I was a maybe a bit precocious.

Nose of muscat grapes. A brilliant medium amber, luscious mouthfeel. Mature. Honey, almond essence, crème brûlée, coconut, candied pear. The richness sets Yquem apart. What a treat. Happy birthday @Alsu Shakirova 🥰🥂🎂 — 6 years ago

with Alsu

Scott Cowan

8.9

Cherry jam nose. The heat wafts up with the vanilla scented jam too, and remains in nice, not over-powering, ways through first sip - mid-palate - finish such that I think the stated 14.1% alcohol under-states the actual case. I’m drinking this 2017 vintage Feb 12-13 2019 and it tastes good now with promise of tasting very good, with some potential complexity in a few years. Just now, this wine packs a punch well above it’s weight class: $18 at Berkeley Bowl. It’s far below the quality of top Paso cabs but it’s far below their sticker prices too... so, hey, why not enjoy this as a more than serviceable table wine for hearty and even some spicy fare now, cellar several bottles to taste 1-5(+ ?) later as a cheap investment that could pay off huge? One can always pull out the Justin Isosceles Reserve and Tablas Creek bad boys for special Paso-wine occasions. I do miss a longer finish ... but tiny hints of licorice, shiitake+hedgehog and maybe also portobello mushrooms, and slightly larger suggestions of smoke plus some leather lead me to believe The Fableist is working on some delicious stories to tell in coming years — and will then, perhaps, linger longer on the finish. Yeah, I do think the yummy plummy jam will give way to more flavors in time — and if this hunch/hope/faith proves true, Ill increase the rating a fair amount over 9.0 for some tip-top QPR. — 7 years ago

Ryan Humenick

9.1

Yeah, it was good. I’d pay ~$30. First glass needed to breath a bit. — 8 years ago

Josh Grove

9.6

Hell yeah! #gamayallday — 9 years ago

Bobby Gilbane

9.7

Yeah so this wine kinda made me feel like Veruca Salt. Soooooo.....

Gooses! Geeses!
I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter
At least a hundred a day
And by the way
I want a feast.
I want a bean feast!
Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts
So good you could go nuts
I want a ball
I want a party
Pink macaroons and a million balloons
And performing baboons and ...
Give it to me
Righhhhhhhht
Now!

I want the world
I want the whole world
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me
Now! — 9 years ago