Aaron Tan

8.9

It is as @Jay Kline puts it, these are liquid desserts. You can pretty much expect what it taste like based on the name - it's spot on. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

Wow. This was delicious. I knew Peter Dredge was good, but I didn't expect this. An enormously complex chardonnay. Still tightly wound on the nose - smokey, flinty, herbaceous, with whiffs of the sea. The palate's got a lovely texture, chewy white phenolics of sorts - like in my favourite rizza's. Green apples and lime, a nice lactic feel, feels like yoghurt, but the finish is straight with good focus and length. Easily one of the best Australian chards this year. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

GP in the blind, "Exotic aromatics, racy, juicy, salty. Could it be scheu?" Great job, GP!

I'm gonna give it a win for me on producer, even though I totally forgot the name "Muller-Catoir". Instead, I described the estate - in the Pfalz, famed for its wildcard varieties, especially rieslaner and scheu, and KP started making rieslaner and scheu because Julia fell in love with the varieties while interning there.

I guess it wasn't a hard guess once the variety was revealed - mainly by method of elimination since hardly any scheu enters Australia, short of the occasional Keller, and none of KP's 17' scheu got in. I think like KP, Muller-Catoir really nailed the 17' scheu trocken. Juicy, dense, spicy, and super energetic. So delicious right now, but I reckon it'll stand the test of time. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

Better than the last time we had this. Still very powerful at its core, but kept in check by lots of herbs and minerals. Can't complain. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

My first encounter with this Moncuit and it's safe to say that the quality here is at least as good as their more famed namesake (at least for me). On a side note, does anyone know if or how Pierre and Robert are related?

This juice is plain electric. Not viciously austere like some growers these days, but definitely lean. The nose is fresh, floral, and chalky. On the palate, it is airy yet quite punchy with the citrus and mineral notes. There's a sliver of biscuit and nuts in the lingering finish. Builds with more minerality as it opens up with air. Really enjoyed this wine with dinner. Superb value! — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.7

I've said this time and again - I love Amelie's wines, but I guess it's time to stop... since Nicolas has now joined the estate. What a dream team! Amelie's Rousseau-like touch on the wines, with Nicolas' DRC-emboldened viticulture skills. I love Berthaut-Gerbet!

The 2015 Clos Vougeat is the first vintage of this wine. Got this straight from the domaine and was planning to keep it around a little longer, but I got tempted. Plus I wanted to share my love for Berthaut-Gerbet with a good friend.

Sure it's practically murder, but gawd, it's so pleasurable. The bouquet was filled with red and dark berries, rose and sweet spice. Palate's so rich, yet energetic. Oak, seamless. Texture, supple. Finish, endless with an underlying minerality. The wine was just vibrating with energy. A fine and pure example of CV. So glad this showed so well, given how lots of 15' red Burgs have just shut right down. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

Madeirised, with plenty of acid. From the same case as the stellar 64' opened a week later. First and only bad bottle in the batch according to G. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.2

Safe to say we were committing infanticide in drinking this. Dark purple right to the rim and still unyielding in it's massive structure, the wine hardly even developed over the course of our 5-hour lunch. The nose opens with sweet almost-candied blackcurrants, tobacco leaves, and plenty of fresh herbs. It comes off as almost green, courtesy of the Cabernet Franc, which is really positive in this wine's case as it helps balance out the brooding fruit. The palate is dense and mouth-filling, with plush carpet-like tannins, and vibrant acidity. Finishes long, peppery, and a little gravelly. It's quite mind-boggling how much was packed into this wine without compromising on alcohol levels. While it's no blockbuster Lafleur, there's a sense of purity and old-school Bordeaux elegance that I really appreciate here. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

A stellar expression of chardonnay. The density, length, and energy reminded me of a great Chablis!

Lemons, sea spray, flint, hay, like having electricity running over your tongue. Such a deep minerality. Needs lots of air to flesh out some fruit richness. What a beautiful wine - if only it was easier to come by these days. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

This was my favourite in a very interesting blind tasting involving 17' rieslings from 4 different German regions - Nahe, Rheinhessen, Rheingau, and Pfalz. The wines were hauntingly similar at the start, but started to reveal themselves when left to their own devices. The tasting reinforced my belief that German rieslings best show their terrior aged or post-ferment, unsulphured and straight from the tank/barrel.

Regardless, I kept coming back to this wine. It was perhaps the most open of the lot. I guess the vineyard does help here, given the typical opulence of Goldloch - something I picked up while helping Caroline at Diel. The nose definitely shows some ripeness, with apricots and quince dominating, but pulled back with aromas of fresh herbs. The palate's fleshy and salty, with some spicy intrigue, oily texture, and a driven acidity. It's so drinkable at the moment.

NB: I think I need to pay a little more attention to JB Schafer after this. I gotta admit, I might have gravitated towards the Wagner-Stempel if it wasn't a blind. JB Schafer doesn't have the rep yet, espeically given how little their kabi sold for in the last VDP auctions, but I reckon riesling drinkers will be caught off guard in the future if this winery continues in this trajectory. — 6 years ago