Ian Blackburn 
Dom Pérignon
Brut Champagne Blend Rosé 2006
Dalla Valle Vineyards
Maya 1997
Stop! This wine needs air! Do not drink it straight out of the bottle; after two hours in a decanter this wine is a rockstar! Allow the fruit to wake up if you were trapped in the bottle for 20 years you would want to little stretch too!! and this wine did exactly that... closed on opening - two hours later a beautifulbeautiful Napa Dusty cherry fruit nose with structured hillside chewy tannins and surprisingly length and Richness emerged - opened on 2.8.17 at the best bottle dinner at Gwen - hosted by wineLA - we give wine the proper treatment & service; paired with amazing food. 95 points in a very competitive blind wine flight with screaming eagle 96 and Aubreu Madrona ranch 2007 this one came in second. — 8 years ago
Château Angélus
St. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend 1995
1995 is drinking way above its weight class... still with energy & beautiful style... nose of graphite, pencil shavings, black cherries and chocolate shavings, wet clay, cedar/cigar box - a winning coming in second next to wines five times more expensive featured at Gwen restaurant " best bottle " dinner hosted by WineLA on 2/8/2017 — 8 years ago
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)
La Tâche Pinot Noir 1993
1993 has the grip of a much younger wine - after two hours in the decanter - this beast, cut like a professional athlete starting to show some charm. hard to drink because we did not want to stop smelling the glass - exotic, punctuated and defined.... 23 years young I recommend waiting till 2025... but I will gladly open your bottle with you anytime. Tasted side-by-side with J-F-Mugnier Musigny 1996; 15 out of 16 of us got the wines backwards. Gwen restaurant at the best bottle dinner hosted by WineLA
— 8 years ago
Giusti
Tenuta Emily Augusto Recantina
Really enjoyed this unique varietal and the way is piloted the mineralogy in harmony with detailed bright red fruits and a signature Italian spice rack. — 5 years ago
Screaming Eagle
Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
The problem for this wine is that it is understated....typically sitting next to monsters of mammoth proportion this wine will not impressed you're overwhelmed pallet. And unfortunately at $2600 a bottle you want to be overwhelmed. My suggestion is you drink it next to great burgundy and champagne .... this wine has wonderful structure and wins over the hearts and minds of critics with its poise-restraint-balance-and dare I say finesse even though it has 14.8 alcohol which is higher than normal for this one. But it is a very dependable and predictable profile which I enjoy and carefully frame - but I also enjoy tasting it next to the beasts especially with great food like we enjoyed at Gwen Restaurant Best bottle dinner hosted by wineLA on 2.8.17 - The eagle was singing but definitely not screaming — 8 years ago
Château Cheval Blanc
St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1990
Once again Cheval Blanc shows why it's such a legendary wine. The perfume (pencil, leather, Stone, braised beef, patchouly) is so hypnotic it draws you in and you do not want to let it go. Some of my favorite wine experiences, have involved various vintages of the "white pony." 1990 has an amazing reputation in this bottle did not disappoint the etched St-Emilion earth meets cab franc and merlot - like a great romance novel ... this wine me live happily ever after. Coming in first place next to Petrus (95) and Angelus (95) - in a blind tasting at Gwen in LA at wineLA "best bottle" dinner 2.8.17 — 8 years ago
Château d'Yquem
Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1990
Ian had this 7 years ago
Abreu Vineyards
Madrona Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Only 250 cases of this rare beast bottles were made and this is the first I've ever tasted; it will not be my last. The 2007 has a long life ahead of it but I do believe collectors will enjoy it at this moment; the reputation dictates a decade before opening and I gave it that +2 hours in a decanter and I'm very happy to have discovered this now...I will be looking for more. Some wines from the Napa Valley try to be too pretty and this wine is a monster that has been kissed by time and evolved into a very distinguished representative. The tannins are now approachable but there is a very unique and definitive structure here. a great wine to collect and a relative value inside of collectible Napa Valley Cabernet. This was my favorite of three fantastic cult cabs tasted blind at Gwen restaurant "best bottle" dinner hosted by wine LA on 2.8.17 — 8 years ago
Pétrus
Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend 1995
1995 - Chewy chewy skins - mocha and clay - Nice balance and concentration but not the brightest example I've had this wine ... came in third (3rd of 3) in our blind Boudreaux flight at Gwen restaurant on Sunset Boulevard "best bottle " dinner Hosted by WineLA 2/8/17 — 8 years ago
Ian Blackburn
Dom - is it cliche? Hell no! This is as good as Rosé gets!! wonderful soft cherry and berry, spices, chalk - the autolytics are there but in the background so they don’t destroy the fruit or voluptuousness -ness - ness!! — 4 years ago